Kaslana's assurance undoubtedly put Ren Amamiya's mind at ease.
Not only could the distortion caused by the Taixu Sword Heart not alter his mind as a Persona user, but the chasm-like restriction that should have been a man's limit was like level ground for Ren, posing no obstacle whatsoever.
This was undoubtedly good news for Ren.
"Furthermore, the existence of this feather itself is a hidden danger. As long as you carry it on your person, the feather's master can influence your thoughts and cognition in ways that are impossible to guard against, using the feather's power."
The so-called aptitude for cultivating the Taixu Sword Qi Heart Intent was, in fact, just a matter of the practitioner's own Honkai energy adaptability.
The stronger the practitioner's fundamental Honkai energy adaptability, the higher the level they could cultivate the Taixu Sword Heart to, causing their body to evolve further towards adapting to Honkai energy.
Because the Previous Era only had time to implant Stigmata into female genes at the very end, the Honkai energy adaptability of males in the current civilization was generally not high. Even the most outstanding males could only cultivate the Taixu Sword Heart to the Realm of No Dust.
But Ren Amamiya, as a Persona user, a perfect Stigma Awakener, possessed Honkai energy adaptability comparable to a Herrscher's. He didn't need to worry about bottlenecks or limitations in his cultivation of the Taixu Sword Heart at all.
After Kevin pointed out the key aspects of the Taixu Sword Heart, he paused briefly, then gestured towards the golden feather itself, which he held aloft in his palm.
The unknown master of the Mimic Fenghuang Down, capable of bestowing the Taixu Sword Qi cultivation method upon Ren in this manner, must harbor some goodwill towards him.
However, one could never be too careful. Kevin ultimately revealed to Ren the true function of the Mimic Fenghuang Down.
Carrying memories and knowledge was merely one way to use the Mimic Fenghuang Down.
Its true purpose was to pull targets selected by the feather into a disorienting illusion to subdue them.
The one who placed the Mimic Fenghuang Down on Ren could be a friend, or an enemy.
"Manipulating cognition again, huh?... In that case, this feather can be temporarily stored in your Palace, Kaslana. When I need to cultivate, I'll trouble you to take it out for me to use."
The effect of the golden feather didn't surprise Ren. After a moment's thought, he made his request to the expressionless Kaslana before him.
If it was something given by the False God that couldn't be removed, then so be it. But since it could be removed, Ren didn't want to keep that time bomb-like golden feather on his person.
However, the Taixu Sword Qi recorded in the golden feather did have extremely strong growth potential. Ren decided to complete his cultivation of the Taixu Sword Qi with Kaslana's assistance in the future.
The bizarre syllables of the Taixu Sword Heart were obscure and awkward; listening directly to the recording in the golden feather was the most convenient way.
As for the sword forms recorded in the Taixu Sword Qi, the Taixu Sword Forms...
Ren had spent what felt like a full month in his dream last night, watching the gray-haired, anciently-dressed figure in the golden feather demonstrate sword forms for an entire month.
Upon waking from the dream, Ren had already thoroughly memorized the variations of the Taixu Sword Forms.
However, as time passed, the memories retained from the dream began to silently melt away like spring snow under the warm sun.
Ren was only left with a general impression of the dream memories; the specific details he couldn't fully recall.
Fortunately, Ren's talent for swordsmanship was outstanding enough. The month of learning in his dream was not in vain; he had already integrated the Taixu Sword Forms into his muscle memory.
Ren still clearly remembered how to execute the Taixu Sword Forms. As long as he practiced them a few more times in reality, perfectly harmonizing his consciousness with his body's memory, the swordsmanship skills he practiced with the gray-haired youth in his dream could be perfectly and seamlessly utilized in the real world.
"Let's end the pleasantries here. I'm not here today to challenge Kaslana's Palace. We have another target to conquer and plunder."
Ren shook his head, shifting his thoughts away from the Taixu Sword Qi cultivation method, and then spoke to Kaslana.
Ren's appearance in Kaslana's Palace today was solely for the convenience of regrouping with Hare promptly.
According to Hare, she could only appear in the real world briefly. If she stayed in reality for too long, it would brew a terrifying disaster capable of easily destroying a city.
Only by staying in Mementos or a Palace could Hare avoid causing catastrophic phenomena that would lead to massive human casualties.
As a meeting point, no place was more suitable than Kaslana's Palace.
Under Kaslana's indifferent gaze, Ren gathered Hare and Mei to his side. He then took out his phone again, opened the MetaNav app, and spoke the name of his desired destination into the mysterious navigation software.
"Destination: Cocolia's Palace."
Upon hearing the destination name uttered by Ren, faint ripples appeared in Kevin's icy blue eyes.
"...Huh? Why is there no reaction?"
He had already spoken the destination name to the MetaNav app.
But the app didn't activate instantly as it had when navigating Ren to Mei's Palace last time. It merely remained silent.
Even after Ren repeated the activation command several times, it remained unresponsive, like a frozen program.
"Could it be... Cocolia doesn't have a Palace?"
Seeing Ren frown and stare intently at the MetaNav app interface on his phone, Mei, clad in her crimson samurai armor, voiced a highly probable guess with a hesitant expression.
"That's a possibility. Or perhaps Cocolia, knowing my identity as a Persona user, has strengthened the defenses of the Palace within her heart, temporarily preventing us from locating its coordinates."
Ren nodded lightly, affirming Mei's guess while proposing another theory.
Masayoshi Shido had once, through his research into Cognitive Psience, obtained a method to temporarily destroy the Palace within one's heart using a feigned-death drug.
Cocolia's Anti-Entropy organization clearly possessed a greater understanding of Persona-related knowledge and technology than Shido, even managing to create a Herrscher clone.
Since Anti-Entropy could create one Herrscher of Reason clone, creating a second or third wouldn't be surprising.
If Ren, a powerful Persona user, were their opponent, the outcome would naturally be different.
But based on the strength Anti-Entropy had displayed before Ren, the organization was undoubtedly powerful and mysterious.
Even if Anti-Entropy dabbled in another mysterious power system besides Cognitive Psience, it wouldn't seem unbelievable to Ren.
As the leader of Anti-Entropy, Cocolia certainly had the capability and motive to seal off the Palace within her own heart.
"Of course, there's one last possibility..."
Ren narrowed his eyes slightly, speaking calmly to Mei and Hare beside him.
"Cocolia... might also be a Persona user. Because she awakened a Persona, her heart naturally wouldn't have a Palace formed by distortion."
"If we can't infiltrate Cocolia's heart through her Palace to make her have a change of heart, then we'll have to launch a surprise attack on Cocolia in the real world. Fortunately, we're all types who can fight effectively in reality... It's just a pity Hare won't be able to participate in the operation this way."
No matter how powerful Cocolia was in the real world, in her own mental Palace, she was at best a somewhat stronger Palace Ruler.
Ren had originally planned to first explore Cocolia's Palace, collect the Will Seeds of Sin, determine the route to and location of the Treasure, and then find a way to send a Calling Card to the real-world Cocolia.
However, this plan had already collapsed before it even began; Ren simply couldn't enter Cocolia's Palace.
To retaliate against Cocolia, who had attacked him, and to free Mei from the fate of being controlled and manipulated...
Ren decided to tackle the problem directly from the real world. He and Mei would personally probe Anti-Entropy's depths and just deal with Cocolia in reality.
After all, if Cocolia truly was a Persona user, then changing her heart would likely be very difficult.
Just as Ren and Mei were discussing how to deal with Cocolia in the real world...
Kaslana, who had been silently standing by with crossed arms, listening to their conversation, suddenly interjected, speaking to Ren.
"If you want to confront this person named Cocolia, and she doesn't have a 'Palace,' then targeting someone else who does have a 'Palace' would be your most suitable course of action."
Kevin offered his advice to Ren, his tone flat and indifferent.
"Seele Vollerei... Perhaps you could try targeting her."
Kevin's main body was still drifting in the infinite Sea of Quanta. He had merely projected his consciousness into the Kaslana family's Stigma space, temporarily taking the place of the Kaslana Stigma Will.
And unlike in the past, Kevin now had a companion in the Sea of Quanta—the very name he had just mentioned.
Seele Vollerei, a seemingly fragile blue-haired girl, a natural Stigma Awakener of the current civilization.
If Ren wanted to enter someone else's Stigma space, then Seele Vollerei undoubtedly met the criteria as a target for Ren.
Furthermore, Kevin had once heard Seele unconsciously uttering names in her fear.
The name Seele mumbled most often was "Bronya-oneechan."
And the name she whispered afterward was "Mama Cocolia."
That woman named Cocolia seemed to run an orphanage and had even adopted Seele Vollerei, this extremely rare natural Stigma Awakener.
Being connected to a natural Stigma Awakener, the "Mama Cocolia" Seele spoke of was undoubtedly the high-ranking Anti-Entropy leader Ren mentioned.
If Ren could truly enter Seele Vollerei's Stigma space, then he would surely be able to find the clues and information he desired from Seele.
Provided, of course, that Ren could actually infiltrate Seele's Stigma space.
After all, Seele Vollerei's current environment was the Sea of Quanta, arguably the very bottom of the world.
Stigma spaces existed within the Imaginary Space on the Imaginary Tree. Ren might be able to freely enter Stigma spaces within the Imaginary Space.
But Seele Vollerei had already fallen from the Imaginary Space into the Sea of Quanta. He might not necessarily be able to infiltrate her Stigma space.
Of course, if Ren could actually do it, that would naturally be even better.
Ren had already created a miracle yesterday, projecting his consciousness to face himself in the Sea of Quanta.
Kevin stood here now, silently observing what method Ren would employ to enter the Sea of Quanta, and with what power he would infiltrate Seele Vollerei's Stigma space.
And waiting to learn.
If Ren could truly enter the Sea of Quanta by some method, then by reverse-engineering it, Kevin, currently in the Sea of Quanta, also had the possibility of returning to the real world using the same method.
The Honkai's Herrschers were already beginning to be born one after another. It was necessary for Kevin to escape his exile in the Sea of Quanta and return to the proper world of the current civilization.
And the closest hope for Kevin now was pinned on Ren Amamiya.
"...Seele Vollerei? Who's that?"
Ren frowned slightly, instinctively asking Kaslana.
BZZZZZZ—!!
The very next moment after Ren repeated the name "Seele Vollerei," the phone he held in his palm vibrated violently, emitting a dull hum.
MetaNav app, activated!!
"This reaction... Did it find the coordinates of the target's existing Palace?!"
Ren raised his hand to look at the MetaNav app's screen. Sure enough, the phone screen displayed a notification indicating that targeting was complete and navigation was commencing.
Under the increasingly profound gaze of Kevin's blue eyes...
The figures of Ren Amamiya, Raiden Mei, and Hare instantly vanished completely from the Kaslana Stigma space!