After a day passed, Mira finally stopped inspecting her brain. Even with her comprehension speed, the brain was still a mystery. Still, she did understand how it worked, which led her to conclude that she didn't want to take over the brain's job.
'There's no way I can process information better, faster, and more efficiently than my brain. If I had to do it manually, I'd die from a sensory overload!'
Although that was a bit of an exaggeration, she really didn't want to do what her brain did. She'd never get anything done if she were to do that!
"You don't need to actively do what your brain does. You just need to have the ability to control certain aspects of it when needed," The Guardian said.
'Yeah, I know. I already have a solution to that problem.'
She wasn't trying to replace her brain in the first place. She just needed to gain authority over it.
'To do this, I need to tweak the hierarchy in my brain, making my consciousness the Master and everything else the subordinate. I don't need to change anything else,' Mira said.
"That's… an interesting way to go about it. I thought for sure you'd want to control every aspect of it."
Mira snorted and shook her head, 'Hmph! Why would I want to do that? It'd be a huge waste of time for no improvement. What can I do that my brain can't already? Nothing! It works perfectly fine, and it would stay that way whether I controlled everything or not.'
"If you say so," The Guardian shrugged.
Mira no longer bothered with him and began implementing her idea. Now that she had a rough understanding of her brain and a near-perfect understanding of her body, it wasn't difficult to set up this Master-Servant relationship.
Mira activated her Martial Intent but didn't use it to strengthen her body. Instead, she wrapped around the part of her brain which housed her consciousness and, supposedly, her soul.
*Vwoop!*
Now that the consciousness part of her brain was stronger than the rest, she went around and 'beat' the other parts of her brain into submission, then 'tied' them to her consciousness.
It sounded impossible to do, and usually, it would be, but with Mira's Martial Intent, the Hell of Pain, and her vast experience with her mind and body, she could bridge the gap between the impossible and possible.
After she finished subordinating her brain, Mira felt a weird sensation come over her. Nothing about her was different, but she felt more…
'...In control?' Mira mused, but suddenly, her mind settled, all thoughts cleared, her eyes became hazy, and she entered a trance-like state!
In her mind, from a 3rd-person perspective, she saw herself sitting in a lotus position. She could also see her bones, muscles, organs, blood, and every other part of her body as if she had X-ray vision.
However, there was nothing in her head, as if it was a void.
But that all changed in the next second. Above her body, Mira saw an illusory skull and brain descend upon her.
When the skull entered her body, it didn't immediately connect with her spine, leaving things somewhat out of place.
It then started shifting into place, and after a few minutes, like the last piece of a puzzle, something clicked.
*Click!*
A bright light shone out of Mira's body, blocking her view!
Then, as if the floodgates were broken, Mira felt a surge of power and information enter her body! Her comprehension of Martial Intent rose until it reached the peak of the 1st Realm, her Scythe Intent comprehension increased a bit, power filled her body, and she felt… complete.
It felt like two halves, which used to work together, became whole.
A good example would be the difference between driving a car virtually and actually becoming a self-drive car.
There's no middle-man anymore. No latency.
No more mind-body delay.
Mira even felt like her reaction speed had reached a near-perfect level. If she were to see an attack coming, as long as her opponent wasn't overwhelmingly stronger, she would be able to dodge most attacks.
Not to mention, her senses were improving at a rapid rate. The pores in her skin could feel the wind blowing across them.
She could feel the subtle fluctuations in the air caused by Maria and Dominique's breathing. She could feel the earth tremble as her subordinates walked around the valley.
Every little thing, as long as it caused a disturbance, she could sense it.
'Fucking hell… This is amazing!' Mira's mouth hung wide open as she became speechless.
"Congratulations on passing the 1st Hell, the Hell of Pain. You have eight more to go!" The Guardian said, waking Mira up from her stupor.
'What? So fast? Didn't you say it was supposed to be hard?' Mira was skeptical. Although she didn't feel any more pain, she didn't think it'd be over so fast.
Mira couldn't see it, but the Guardian smiled bitterly, "Yes… It's supposed to be difficult, but you're too abnormal! You've experienced numerous reincarnations, comprehended Martial Intent, and have an unreasonably high comprehension speed. As soon as you started this Hell, you skipped to the finish line."
Mira nodded as he was right. She had already laid the foundations to complete this Hell. If anything, she'd be disappointed in herself if it took any longer than it did.
"However, don't be too proud. The Gates of Purgatory isn't to be underestimated. The difficulty will spike once you reach the 3rd Hell. From then on, each one will be a long, arduous journey."
Mira caught the hidden meaning in his words and became a little excited, "So, you're saying the 2nd Hell is easy for me?"
"...Yes. It's more straightforward than the first one. It might've been a bit hard if you began Inner Body Cultivation a year ago, but now, you barely have to lift a finger."
Mira's eyes opened wide in surprise and immediately sent her consciousness inside the Gates of Purgatory.
There was no reason for her to wait. It's not like she needed to consolidate her Inner Body Cultivation's foundation.
When she stepped into the Gates of Purgatory this time, she didn't black out before she could look inside. Instead, she was actually able to step through the gates.
However, she was left a little disappointed as other than nine doors, the rest was a black void.
Shaking her head, she pushed these thoughts out of her mind and looked at the doors.
They were all the same size but different colors. From the left, the color of the doors was Purple, Red, Grey, Bright Orange, Black, Dark Brown, White with Black Runes, Multi-colored, and Red and Blue swirling around each other.
The one at the leftmost position was open. The door to the right of it was unlocked, while the rest of them were behind a lock and chain.
Mira looked at the one on the left and guessed it was the door to the Hell of Pain.
Then, she looked at the one next to it, the Red door.
'I suppose that's the entrance to the 2nd Hell.'
"You're correct. To start the 2nd Hell's trial, open that door."
Mira nodded and walked over to the door, but before she opened it, she got curious about something.
'Is the Gates of Purgatory real? If yes, then are the Nine Hells also real?'
"..."
The Guardian went silent for a moment, which surprised Mira. Usually, he likes to spew out nonsense whenever he has the chance, but this time he seemed oddly hesitant to speak.
After a while, he spoke, "Yes, the Gates of Purgatory is real, but the Nine Hells are… well, they aren't fake, but they aren't the same as what you're going through. The Nine Hells you're facing is unique to you. At their core, they are meant to be used as a tool for your growth."
Mira nodded and pushed these thoughts to the back of her head. Whether or not they were real had no bearing on her immediate future.
She placed her hand on the door to the 2nd Hell, gave it a gentle push, and-
*Swoosh!*
-she blacked out again, and her consciousness returned to her mind.
***
Outside Mira's body in her room, everything was peaceful. Maria and Mira were cultivating, Dominique was sleeping, and Rhydian was doing both.
Mira's body had stopped trembling in pain a few minutes ago, allowing Maria to breathe a sigh of relief as it seemed Mira had got whatever happened under control.
About a minute later, Maria opened her eyes as she couldn't concentrate on cultivating.
She stared at Mira with all kinds of emotions evident in her eyes. She knew Mira had been in a bad, no, terrible mood ever since she learned of people scheming against her, but she wasn't sure how to comfort her.
'The only thing I can do to make her feel better is to get stronger, but will that really help? It'll take years for that to happen, but we don't have years. She needs me stronger now.'
As she was thinking about this, something suddenly happened to Mira's body.
It was unmoving like usual, but now she was leaking blood out of every orifice!
"Mira!!"
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