Warhammer Cultivation: Cultivating the Tao Te Ching in the 40K Universe

She looked at Hector with an expression that didn't seem like she was looking at a "person".

It's like looking at a "mistake" that needs to be completely erased from the perfect picture of the real universe.

She abandoned her anti-psychic methods and the "negative aura" that would make any psychic tremble. She drew a specially made dagger from her waist, crafted from an unknown black metal, as precise and slender as a scalpel, and decided to use her assassination skills—the skills of the Empire's top assassin—to conduct this silent examination.

Hector gazed at the breathtakingly beautiful, icy face before him, a flicker of admiration crossing his eyes, which were as calm as an abyss.

"Skin as smooth as ice and bones as fine as jade," he said softly, as if appraising a perfect work of art. "Unfortunately, it lacks a soul."

There was no response from the "echo".

There was no warning, no murderous intent.

Her figure vanished from the spot in an instant, like a wisp of smoke merging into the wind!

The next moment, a cold, serpentine glint appeared before Hector's throat!

It was so fast that it surpassed the limits of ordinary vision! So fast that even the air didn't have time to utter a single cry of distress!

However, just as the dagger's edge, sharp enough to slice through terracotta armor, was about to touch Hector's seemingly fragile skin—

Hector remained quietly seated cross-legged on the futon.

He didn't even blink.

He simply and slowly raised his right hand.

With the index and middle fingers together, it's like the most elegant scholar casually picking up a tea leaf while sipping tea and discussing philosophy.

Then, gently, clamp!

The sound was not like the clash of metal, but rather like the clear and melodious ringing of a morning bell in an ancient temple!

That deadly dagger, carrying the force of a thunderbolt and capable of instantly beheading an unarmored Space Marine, was actually held firmly in mid-air by his two seemingly delicate, jade-white fingers!

The high-frequency vibrational force field on the dagger, powerful enough to tear molecular bonds, subsided instantly upon contact with the invisible true essence at his fingertips, as if it had encountered a natural enemy!

A flicker of disbelief crossed Echo's icy, purple, star-like eyes!

With a flick of her wrist, the dagger, like a living venomous snake, slipped from Hector's fingers in an instant, transforming into a black lightning bolt that pierced his heart at an even more cunning and deadly angle!

However, Hector remained unmoved.

His figure remained perfectly still from beginning to end. Faced with that deadly glint of light capable of piercing a Space Marine's heart, he simply raised his right hand once more.

It was still those two white, jade-like, seemingly fragile fingers.

It was still that same light, understated gesture, like plucking a flower, full of Eastern Zen.

He didn't even blink; just a moment before the black lightning struck his chest, he gently pinched it again with his two fingers!

Chapter 143 Untouchable Genes (Bonus Chapter 2)

The second, crisp sound! Even clearer and more despairing than the first!

Once again, the deadly dagger was firmly caught in mid-air! This time, it was less than half an inch from his heart!

A chilling killing intent flashed in Echo's eyes! Her hand, gripping the dagger, suddenly lashed upwards! She intended to seize this opportunity to completely rip open this mortal's chest!

However, she was fast, but Hector was even faster!

In that split second, just as she was about to change her move, Hector's left hand, which had been resting on his knee, shot out like a ghost! His hand neither blocked nor attacked.

Instead, like a loving caress, it gently pressed against her slender waist, which was taut from exertion and clad in a black bodysuit!

Martial arts technique – “Inch Force: Mountain Collapse”!

A terrifying, muffled thud, unlike anything that could be produced by flesh and blood, like a battering ram striking a city gate, suddenly erupted from that seemingly gentle point of contact!

A concentrated burst of explosive power, like the most violent volcanic eruption, instantly penetrated the body!

Echo felt as if her incredibly resilient body, enhanced by countless biological modifications and inhuman alterations, had been struck head-on by a charging Fenris giant wolf! An overwhelming force instantly shattered all her defenses!

Her prized, feline-like perfect balance was utterly destroyed in that moment!

She was like a small boat thrown into a stormy sea, uncontrollably crashing into the indestructible alloy wall of the quiet room!

However, just before her back was about to make intimate contact with the cold wall, a warm, strangely rhythmic aura appeared behind her again, like a ghost.

A hand, gentler than her attack yet possessing an irresistible strength, steadily supported her lower back, completely neutralizing the terrifying impact that could have broken her bones.

"Madam, your murderous intent is not pure enough."

Hector's warm, almost imperceptible breath gently brushed against her ear, which trembled slightly with shock.

The sound wasn't loud, but it was the first thunderclap to resound in her heart, a heart that had long been frozen.

Echo's body froze completely.

She could clearly feel a warm hand pressed tightly against her lower back. That hand didn't release any energy, but it was like a miniature sun, continuously pouring streams of warmth, full of "vitality" and "harmony," into her body, which had become cold and tool-like due to years of inhuman modifications.

She could even smell the unique, refreshing fragrance emanating from the man, like a cup of fine tea.

This feeling……

It is "warmth".

A warmth she had long forgotten, and had never even experienced before...

For the first time, her hand holding the dagger trembled slightly, uncontrollably.

Hector's other hand, which was supporting her back, suddenly changed! Her five fingers, like lotus blossoms in full bloom, instantly spread from her spine with a smooth and unobstructed power full of "entwining silk," locking all the joints in her body that exert force!

"Echo" felt as if its powerful body, which could easily break free of the shackles of refined gold, was completely imprisoned by an invisible spider web!

All her strength was like a mud ox sinking into the sea, completely neutralized by the opponent's seemingly gentle but actually indestructible "round" force!

She was completely subdued.

In a way that was almost "teasing," full of ambiguity and repression, which she had never imagined.

The black dagger, powerful enough to keep any assassination target awake at night, slipped from her limp fingers and fell to the ground with a crisp sound.

The quiet room returned to tranquility once again.

Echo's body froze completely.

She is not unable to move.

Hector's grappling techniques, imbued with the essence of "entwining silk," had already loosened the grip the moment she was completely subdued. Yet, she remained motionless, pinned against the wall, her body slightly leaning forward, a posture filled with humiliation and ambiguity.

She could clearly feel that the warm hand that had once been on her lower back was gone, but the warm current, full of "life" like a miniature sun, seemed to still slowly flow and spread from her back and waist, bringing a strange feeling that she had never experienced before and could not even comprehend.

Her heart, long frozen by the cruel training of the Temple of Chulisas and the eternal "nothingness" curse of the Untouchable genes, cracked slightly at this moment.

With difficulty, she forced out a hoarse syllable from her throat, which had long been accustomed to silence. She wanted to question, to roar, to tear this man before her, who had shattered all her understanding of humanity, to shreds. But in the end…

"...How...did you do that?"

Hector, unaware of what had happened, had returned to the futon carved from white jade and sat down again, as if the "dance of death" that had just been filled with danger and oppression was nothing more than a harmless pastime.

He didn't answer directly, but instead picked up the cup of spiritual tea, which had long since cooled but whose aroma had become even more refreshing, and gestured for her to drink.

The "echo" remained still.

She simply stood there quietly, her icy purple, star-like eyes fixed intently on Hector, as if trying to see through this mysterious "anomaly" from the most basic particle level.

She couldn't understand.

She had exhausted all her knowledge in her life, and her top-notch assassination skills, which were enough to kill a Space Marine on the spot in a fraction of a second, were easily neutralized, toyed with, and even... suppressed by this mortal in front of her, like a child's trick.

He didn't even use any... any "power" she could understand.

That was neither psionic nor technology.

"The tea is really getting cold."

Hector slowly drank the cup of tea in one gulp. Then, slowly, he raised his head.

His dark, calm eyes, as deep as an abyss, gazed at her, his gaze no longer that of a victor's gloating, nor that of a preacher's arrogance.

It was an equal and empathetic dialogue.

“Madam,” he said calmly, “your ‘soulless’ talent is a double-edged sword.”

"Soulless Talent" is the official name given by the Temple of Churisas to these Untouchable gene carriers. It's a...blessing. A sacred weapon that makes them the ultimate nemesis of psionicists!

But this mortal in front of me actually said that this is a... double-edged sword?

"What do you mean?" For the first time, her voice carried a hint of cold, human questioning.

“My meaning is very simple.” Hector slowly brewed another cup of tea for himself and for her. The warm, milky-white “qi”, like moonlight, rose slowly from the amber tea soup, filling the quiet room with a calming fragrance.

Chapter 144 The Grand Mentor Arrives in Person (Bonus Chapter 3)

“The Temple of Churisas is the Empire’s most powerful ultimate weapon for hunting psykers. That is beyond question.” Hector first affirmed the other party’s value. “Your ‘negative aura’ is the nightmare of all chaos wizards and all warp demons. You are the guardians of ‘order’.”

“But,” he changed the subject, “you are not the most ‘perfect’ assassins.”

“The core of a true assassin lies in ‘concealment.’” Hector’s voice, like that of the most composed tactical analyst, dissected the greatest “flaw” of the top assassin before him. “You can blend into the shadows, you can bypass scans, you can do everything physically possible to stealth. But you cannot ‘hide’ yourselves.”

He extended a finger and gently tapped his temple.

"Your inescapable 'negativity' is nothing more than an ever-burning black noise, filled with 'deathly silence' and 'nothingness,' in the noisy ocean of the subspace!"

“Any psychic with even a little bit of skill can clearly ‘sense’ your presence from hundreds of meters away! It’s not sight, nor hearing, but a kind of… instinctive alarm from the deepest part of the soul, like encountering a natural enemy!”

"This leads to a most fatal paradox." Hector looked at "Echo's" pupils, which had contracted sharply because of his words, and calmly delivered his final verdict.

"Your mission was supposed to be a silent 'assassination.' But your very existence is a grand 'announcement'!"

"It's loudly proclaiming to the whole world, to all its enemies: 'Look! I'm here! A Churisas assassin has come to kill you!'"

"The result will inevitably be that what should have been a surgically precise strike that ended in the shadows will turn into an unpredictable and unpredictable all-out melee!"

The entire quiet room fell into a deathly silence once again.

Echo's body trembled slightly!

On her cold, exquisitely beautiful face, a mixture of anger, humiliation, and a hint of... shame and annoyance appeared!

Because what Hector said was true!

It is the greatest pain in her heart, and in the hearts of all the Churisas assassins!

She recalled her countless failed missions.

She had been sent to assassinate a cunning Tzeentch cult leader hiding in the deepest recesses of Hive. She flawlessly bypassed all physical defenses, silently infiltrating his lair. But just a second before she was about to deliver the fatal blow, the wizard, as if foreseeing her arrival, prematurely detonated the entire Hive's plasma reactor, burying her and millions of innocent mortals in the inferno.

She was once sent to hunt down a powerful, possessed Khorne bloodthirsty freak. She used her soul-freezing "negative aura" to continuously weaken the demon's power. But as the demon lay dying, it used its last strength to unleash a furious roar, dragging all the Astronaut soldiers within a radius of tens of kilometers into a violent, bloody frenzy of infighting!

She is the natural enemy of psionicists.

But she is also a scourge to "order".

Every time she appeared, it was accompanied by enormous, uncontrollable chaos and casualties.

She is a weapon that is too sharp to be sheathed.

“You…” She looked at Hector, a glint of light flickering in his icy, purple, star-like eyes, “…You, have a way?”

“I am not an assassin, I cannot teach you.” Hector slowly shook his head, his answer taking Echo’s surprise by surprise.

"But I can guide you to 'realize' it yourself."

"Echo," the empire's most elite and enigmatic assassin, craved that kind of control!

She longed to be like the man before her, to become the true master of her own talent!

She opened her mouth, as if to ask something more. But her most acute, beast-like intuition, honed by countless battles, screamed sharply!

She felt a gaze, deeper and colder than any words could describe, silently descend upon this small, quiet room!

It is a higher-dimensional, absolute scrutiny that seems to freeze time and space itself into ice!

Before that gaze, her negative aura, which was enough to make any psionicist tremble, seemed as insignificant as dust!

Her frozen heart, which had just cracked a little, was uncontrollably forced to slowly close again in the face of this even larger and more merciless nothingness!

Subconsciously, she wanted to re-enter that state of absolute instrumentality, where she had abandoned all self!

However, at that moment, a warm hand, filled with a strange rhythm, gently pressed on her shoulder.

"Don't be nervous, ma'am."