A Brilliant Smile

Wu Pifu drifted unsteadily through dark chaos, his consciousness hazy and unclear. He did not know the present from the past, nor could he distinguish east from west.

Yet for some inexplicable reason, he felt strangely at ease, as though some burden or promise he had carried for so long had finally been fulfilled.

Because of that peace of mind, Wu Pifu curled into a peculiar posture within the dark chaos, like an unborn infant, his hands curled around his legs, forming an irregular yet wondrously harmonious circle.

Wu Pifu had used the Heroic Tribe transformation twice in total. Both times, he had faced enemies on the level of the Source, and both times, he had carved out a path to survival from utter desperation. The insights gained between life and death had sunk deepest—into his bones, his soul, and his instincts.

So now, as Wu Pifu felt secure and safe while his consciousness remained muddled, he instinctively assumed what he believed to be his most perfect posture. At the same time, he instinctively revisited the insights he had gained during the Heroic Tribe transformation.

Even with his consciousness clouded, even as he drifted between dream and wakefulness, this behavior still prompted adjustments and contemplation in the deepest layers of his instincts and thoughts.

So-called perfection was not a single breakthrough. It was the constant adjustment and correction of one's flaws, ceaseless evolution and improvement, one tiny breakthrough after another, gradually moving toward perfection...

There was no absolute perfection, only relative perfection. So long as life continued to survive and endure, it would always move closer to perfection...

So-called ascension referred to reaching a critical point through the accumulation of this ongoing pursuit of perfection, then integrating those perfected traits into a more perfect self-circulating system. At that point, an