The Path through the Heavens: A LitRPG Wuxia Series (The Heavenly Throne Book 6)

by Yuri Ajin

  “That’s right. Our lord has given you such an honor. If you break the promise, you’ll only be responsible for yourself. You should know that dwarves don’t forgive betrayal, and that it won’t be difficult for us to find out if you decide not to keep your word.”

  “Well, in that case, I promise to never tell anyone outside this door about what I see and hear here today.”

  Eric nodded and headed for the door. The other two dwarves stayed outside.

  “What’s he doing here?!” one of the dwarves winced, noticing a human enter the room.

  “I asked Eric to bring him to me, Brann,” Kenji said. He was broad-shouldered with a dark red beard, a large fleshy nose, and two wide brow ridges.

  “Are you serious?! What the hell?! My healers can do the job on their own! Why do we need him?!” Brann hissed, looking at Kai with inexplicable anger.

  “Because it’s only thanks to his potions that Toji is still alive!” Kenji growled, looking menacingly at his brother. His voice shook the air and made his disgruntled sibling shut up.

  In addition to Toji, Kenji had six younger brothers and two sisters. Three of them were currently studying at the Abode. For dwarves, such large families were considered the norm even though they carried a child three times longer than humans. Because of this, they were considered the most prolific race.

  “I agree with Kenji,” Idlin, the fourth brother, nodded. “We have to use all the available resources to help Toji.”

  The only one who didn’t say anything was the fifth brother, Navas, who entered the Abode at the same time as Kai. He was also on the fifth floor thanks to a one-time pass.

  “My lord.” Eric bowed as he approached.

  “Well done. You did an excellent job,” Kenji praised him, and then went up to Kai, carefully examining him. “I thought you’d be taller.”

  “I’m of average height.”

  “I am Kenji, nicknamed the Symbol Binder,” the dwarf said and held out his hand.

  “Kai Arnhard,” Kai replied and shook his hand.

  “Come with me.” Kenji nodded to the side, leading Kai to another part of the room, separated from the rest with closed curtains.

  Behind the veil were several elf healers, a couple of alchemists, and even one Master of Souls. They stood in a semicircle around a bed, on which lay a barely alive dwarf.

  Toji’s skin was as gray as ash. He was breathing heavily, wheezing, and trembling incessantly.

  “Poison?” Kai guessed.

  “That’s right,” Kenji said. “Three days ago, he was attacked by a Ghost Sea Viper on the Alokai Grave Coast. An initial-level Tyrant. We have never heard of such a thing before. Apparently, this was some kind of a mutant... The poison has entered his bloodstream. The usual medicines aren’t helping. This made us come to the conclusion that the poison has a physical structure aside from an energy one. We decided to cleanse his body but of all the drugs in the Abode, only your Enhanced Clear Body Potion worked. However, even it couldn’t heal him completely. All it did was temporarily weaken the poison’s effect. That’s why I sent Eric to find you. Can you help him? Please.”

  “I can try,” Kai replied, glancing into Kenji’s emerald eyes. They were full of worry even though his voice and face were calm.

  “Bah! What can he do?” the skeptical Brann grumbled to himself as he walked in after Kenji and Kai. “He’ll probably only make it worse. If you want to save Toji, you should activate the portal. Let’s return home. The elders will be able to help him.”

  “Calm down, Brann. You’re beginning to get on my nerves,” Kenji snapped. “Leaving the Abode is the last resort. You’ve seen what happens when someone tries to move him. I’m afraid Toji might not survive the trip. So, please, shut up.”

  Brann grimaced and stared at the floor.

  “What happens when you interact with his energy?” Kai asked.

  “He begins to vomit blood uncontrollably, and he clearly experiences severe pain. At the same time, his condition worsens. We still don’t understand why this is happening.”

  “As far as I understand, that prevents you from examining his energy channels and body?” Kai looked at the healers.

  “We only did it once,” one of the healers replied. “At the beginning of the treatment. The technique showed that his whole body is infected with some kind of energy poison. It was too dangerous to use techniques on him again after we gave him some common antidotes. As you can see, they didn’t work.”

  “What about the physical structure of the poison? Didn’t you find it right away?”

  “Strangely, no. The technique showed that the poison was definitely energetic. I remember that very well. I was also surprised that a cleansing potion helped. Initially, the hypothesis of the double structure was just... an assumption.”

  “I see.” Kai nodded absentmindedly. “Do you have any blood samples?”

  “Yes. Here.” The healer handed him a couple of ampoules. “The first one has been taken before administering your potion, and the second one after.”

  “Is there a workshop here? I’d like to perform an alchemical inspection of his blood.”

  “There is. The servants will show you the way and give you everything you need,” Kenji said. “We’ll wait here.”

  Once he had asked the healers and alchemists a few more questions about Toji’s condition, he followed the servants to a huge workshop, which surpassed even the private rooms of the Masters Pavilion on the third floor. There, he found a Royal-rank Alchemical Cube. Taking out the ampoules, he began preparing to create a special recipe for blood testing.

  All his questions were nothing more than a show. The moment he laid his eyes on Toji, the energy vision showed him the cause of his strange condition and the way to heal him.

  However, it would be suspicious if he tried to do it right away. So he had to put on a show, using all his knowledge about medicine, and then go to the workshop and work his magic.

  Either way, he’d keep his promise to Kenji.

  ***

  After an hour and a half, Kai returned. The atmosphere in the room was depressing. Judging by Toji’s appearance, he was getting worse. His skin was now almost black.

  “Well?” Kenji asked, getting up from his chair.

  “Here. This should help.”

  Whispers filled the room. The healers couldn’t even imagine that he’d really come back with a solution. The best they hoped for was a piece of new information that they had overlooked.

  Brann jumped up and snatched the bottle from Kai’s hands.

  “Give it here.”

  [Enhanced Clear Body Elixir]

  Rank: Gold

  Quality: Peak

  This potion removes most alchemical impurities from the body, restoring its physical strength and speed of development by suppressing them. The final result depends on the number of impurities and their severity.

  This potion can only be used by initial-level Holy Lords and cultivators of lower levels.

  “Isn’t this the same potion, only upgraded?” Brann frowned. “You say this will help? Are you kidding me?! We gave him so much of your potion that he’s probably immune to it by now!”

  “You’re wrong,” Kai replied, narrowing his eyes. He was tired of his unfounded accusations, so he decided to speak up. “Ingesting several similar potions at the same time can’t have the same effect as an elixir. You can feed him all the potions you want, but it’d never be enough. You won’t lose anything by giving him the elixir. After all, it’s just for cleansing. Still, if it doesn’t help, it’ll prove to everyone that they’ve been wasting their time on me.”

  “Perfect! Let’s see what it does then, shall we?” Brann grinned and turned to one of the healers, handing him the elixir. “Give it to him.”

  Nodding, the elf poured the drug down Toji’s throat. Holding their breath, everyone stared at the dying dwarf, waiting for a reaction. At first, nothing happened, but after a minute, his skin began to turn gray again. The frigh
tening blackness was disappearing.

  Five minutes later, his skin color returned to normal. He stopped trembling, and his breathing evened out.

  “It may just be a temporary effect, but I’d take the risk and do a scan,” the senior healer spoke first. Staring at Kenji, he waited for his approval.

  The dwarf hesitated for several seconds but nodded in the end.

  Having received permission, the healer activated the scanning technique. A stream of energy surged into Toji’s body, forcing everyone present to tense up. However, the expected reaction didn’t occur. Toji didn’t arch his back, his skin didn’t darken, and he didn’t begin to vomit blood.

  “What do you think?” Kenji asked the healer.

  “His energy body is still severely depleted. There are a lot of internal injuries. But… There isn’t a hint of the poison left...”

  There were sighs of relief, after which everyone turned to Kai.

  “How did you know that this would help? What did the blood test tell you?” Kenji asked.

  “I tested the blood for a special kind of impurity, which confirmed that they’d disappear after applying my potion.”

  “What kind of impurities?”

  “To put it simply, I looked for semi-energetic gunk which caused his skin to darken.”

  “I’m not sure what exactly you’re talking about… What does the potion have to do with it?” the healer mumbled to himself. And then it dawned on him. “Was it a parasitic type of poison?”

  “Yes,” Kai confirmed.

  “A parasitic poison?” Kenji asked.

  “It’s very rare. It practically doesn’t occur on its own in the wild. At least, I haven’t heard of such cases. Usually, it’s made by masters of lethal alchemy,” the healer explained. “Parasitic poison not only kills the target but literally grows in it, killing by absorbing all the victim’s power and strength.”

  “I see…” Kenji nodded.

  “Wait a minute! How did you know what it was? You heard that some monster bit him, but, as we’ve just heard, such a poison doesn’t just happen. So how did you know that it was necessary to test the blood for these particular impurities?” Brann frowned, full of suspicion.

  “That is an interesting question,” the healer added. “We would’ve probably figured it out eventually... However, too late, I’m afraid. But to hit the mark right away...”

  “You gave me the answer yourself. He was bitten by a Ghost Sea Viper. It’s an unknown species, right?”

  “What are you trying to say?”

  “I’ve already met ‘ghost’ creatures,” Kai lied without batting an eye. He figured it out using energy vision and knowledge of the corresponding section of alchemy. “Not here, in another world. Most of them were poisonous. The parasitic kind. I know the poison evolves by sucking the power from its victim and drugs, nullifying the healing. But it can’t absorb someone else’s energy. For example, the one used during the scanning technique. It begins to resist, drawing even more Forces from the patient. My potion helped because it contains Yang particles. As far as I know, various ‘ghost’ beings are mostly based on Yin. The elixir contains a large dose of particles, which makes it possible to destroy all of the poison at once.”

  Kai lied again. Both his potion and elixir couldn’t completely remove the poison in Toji’s body. There wasn’t enough power. He could’ve tried to use Yang directly, but he was afraid that it wouldn’t have worked as expected, and probably would’ve hurt the dwarf.

  So he just did what he planned from the very beginning. When Toji drank the elixir, he subdued all the energy in the poison, which had lost connection with its owner. After that, he dispelled it, turning it into ki.

  “But why didn’t you tell us about it immediately?”

  “I had to check. I wasn’t a hundred percent certain. I didn’t want to lie to you.”

  There was silence.

  “I see…” Brann sighed and headed out of the room. “Fine. You were right. Sorry.”

  ***

  “Forgive Brann. He doesn’t really hate you, and he apologized sincerely, despite his facial expression,” Kanji said when an hour and a half later Kai and he retired to his office. “He can be like that sometimes. He hates strangers. He’s always suspicious and even somewhat bitter. This was a tense situation. I’m sure you understand.”

  “I won’t hold a grudge against him. Don’t worry.”

  “With your poker face, I can never be sure,” Kenji chuckled. “Now, let’s move on to a more important topic... I’m very grateful to you. And I’m not used to being indebted to someone. So tell me, what do you want in return for saving my brother?”

  “Can I use your palace to cultivate?” Kai asked after a short pause.

  “I see you’ve already thought about this.” Kenji smiled. “Unfortunately, that won’t be possible. Only the palace owner can enjoy its benefits. That’s the Abode’s will, and there’s no going around it. The only exception is the workshop. But that’s nothing in comparison to what palaces can offer. Anything else?”

  This time, Kai took time to think about what he wanted. At first, he thought about Spirit Fruits with a soul attribute. But in light of his recent experiments, this wouldn’t be enough. Also, he could soon get that on his own.

  “Swords...” he said absentmindedly.

  “What? I didn’t catch that.”

  “I need a pair of swords,” Kai said, realizing what he was missing. “Custom made.”

  “Hmm...” Kenji thought, stroking his beard. “Interesting request...”

  “And I already have the materials you’ll need.” Touching the table, Kai summoned the demon bones that he had found in the Abyss and hidden in his Ring.

  Seeing a pile of unnaturally black and metallic bones appear on the table, Kenji frowned.

  “What...? Is that...?” he whispered dumbfounded and began to rise from his chair. “What... What is this?! Where did you get this?! How?! This kind of material...” With eyes as wide as plates, he picked up one of the bones as if he was picking up the most delicate porcelain and brought it closer to his face. “By the Heavens... The conductivity... Such deep energy space... And such strength ... How is this even possible?” Looking up at Kai, he finally pulled himself together, and sat back down. However, the smile never left his face. “This is some truly incredible stuff. I want to make one thing clear right away. I’m an artifact maker, not a blacksmith. My main task is to put energy structures into objects. Toji is a blacksmith. More than one great sword was forged by his hammer. Except he wouldn’t even think about thanking you. He doesn’t care about anything but money. For saving his life, he’d just pay you whatever the elixir cost. And he’d probably even try to haggle you for it! But this...” He waved the bone. “This changes everything. He’ll want to work with these for free. He’d even pay you! I think we have a deal. Let’s make a contract,” he proposed, summoning a scroll from his Ring. “It’ll help my brother and me to sleep peacefully, knowing that no one can accuse us of stealing such valuable material if there is a surplus left at the end of the process.”

  “You too?” Kai asked.

  “Yes. I’m also interested in these bones. And if Toji makes a weapon, it’s usually me who turns it into an artifact.”

  Kenji got up and held out his hand.

  “So, you haven’t changed your mind?”

  Instead of answering, Kai shook his hand.

  ***

  Kai arrived on the fifth floor in the morning and stayed there until the evening. The discussion regarding the swords dragged on for several hours. And when Toji woke up, he and Kai had a lot to discuss. Kenji immediately showed his brother the demon bones, which shocked and fascinated him at the same time.

  After several more hours of discussion and at least a hundred questions, the brothers decided to rely on scrolls containing the memory of his fight against Ranmaru as a guide for making the swords, or rather, to understand what exactly Kai needed.

  Returning to the t
hird floor, Kai went home — a modest house he had rented a month ago. He managed to do a lot in one day. As tough as he was, even he had his limits and needed to rest.

  The living room greeted him with darkness and silence. As he made his way to the bedroom, he pondered if he should replace sleep with meditation. Still, he was a mortal, which meant that he needed to rest sometimes.

  “You sure took your sweet time,” spoke a calm male voice.

  Five Weightless Steps, Body Gates, Ultimate Focus, Life Rampage, Field of Superiority, and Eight Flashes of Yang were activated and both Spirits summoned in an instant, ten years of his life were also contributed in the form of soul energy to increase his power.

  A spare sword materialized in Kai’s hand. The air hummed from the amount of physical power put into the blow, and the blade trembled. Kai could feel that the intruder was standing right behind him. He couldn’t let this attack go to waste.

  Turning around with incredible speed, Kai swung his sword, and regretted his brash behavior almost immediately. He tried to stop, realizing that he’d kill the intruder, but the blade froze on its own, stopped by the tip of the stranger’s index finger.

  All the physical power put into the blow evaporated, transformed into energy that then disappeared in the direction of the body of the unexpected visitor.

  Kai’s eyes widened in shock for a split second. And then the Cold Void did its thing, freezing his emotions and focusing his attention on the stranger.

  Observing him from the darkness was a man of medium height. He was dressed in snow-white wide clothes. Black hair framed a face hidden by a white and blue mask without any holes.

  No aura emanated from him, which indicated that he knew how to conceal it. Energy vision showed Kai that he was dealing with a mid-level Exorcist.

  But what caught Kai’s attention more than the stranger’s odd appearance and power was his mark, in the center of which was only one number... Two.

  “That can’t be! I can’t believe it! It’s him! Where did he come from?!” suddenly came Rune’Tan’s frightened voice.