The First Peak of the Force

by Yuri Ajin

  U’Shor had realized that he had reached his peak and that he wouldn’t be able to achieve anything else if he remained on Saha. He needed to move on.

  And so he did.

  The Sea Dragon clan was left without a leader. It moved away from the rest of the clans, and settled east of the Plateau, near the ocean. Their main goal was mastering the Cold Void in order to follow in their leader’s footsteps.

  The Sea Dragon Clan secluded itself, having decided to continue developing in isolation, away from the rest of the world. They turned into hermits who cared not for strength, but for wisdom. They wanted to know the world through the Forces, or at least one tiny particle of it.

  But that simply wasn’t meant to be.

  Over a hundred years ago, the Salamanders declared war against the Sea Dragons, wishing to get their hands on U’Shor’s legacy. After all, some of his blood still flowed in their veins, so they believed that they had every right to demand a part of what was theirs.

  The Sea Dragons weren’t ready for war at all. But even when they agreed to surrender, the Salamanders refused to end the war. Extermination began. The blood of the Sea Dragon was too strong, so no one wanted to risk U’Shor’s descendants coming back, seeking revenge.

  As it turned out, at that time, Jongo was still a child — a young student of the Sea Dragon Clan. He had just embarked on the path of cultivation when the war broke out. It took only a few months for the Salamanders to kill the few Sea Dragon Elementalists and break the clan’s defense.

  Some of the survivors decided to escape from the Plateau, moving across the ocean through an ancient teleport. Alas, almost no one survived the journey there.

  Except for Jongo, who, together with his wounded teacher, managed to escape and get to the teleport. His teacher handed him the last copy of the scroll (the only thing he managed to save) and then activated the teleport. But the elder decided to stay behind. He was already badly wounded, and he planned to destroy the teleport before he died so that no one would ever know where his student had gone to.

  Thus ended the history of the Sea Dragon Clan and began the journey of a lonely boy in distant lands across the ocean. As for the Salamanders, the war brought them nothing but loss. Everything except for the scroll was either destroyed by U’Shor’s descendants, or it remained in the temple, where the Salamanders couldn’t enter.

  Chapter 24

  THE TEST

  “How did you find out about Jongo’s escape and the war?” Kai asked.

  “My vessel is this statue, so I could not leave the confines of the temple and help the Sea Dragon Clan. But thanks to the mark on the scrolls and other artifacts, I can observe the world around me. Unless, of course, they are too far away.”

  “I see.” Kai heaved a heavy sigh and clenched his fists. His hatred for the Salamanders only grew stronger.

  “Kai, would you like to master the Cold Void?” the Spirit asked seriously.

  Kai nodded. There was nothing but determination in his gaze.

  “Good. But know that it will be difficult. And bear in mind that you might fail. Only one of the fifty disciples of the Sea Dragon Clan has managed to learn it so far. Only U’Shor’s descendants ever came close to grasping its true essence. The rest are not even worth mentioning. Even touching the Cold Void is ten times more difficult if the Sea Dragon’s blood does not flow through your veins. However, my master and creator was very generous, wishing to give the ordinary people a chance to master this element as well. But for this, you need to pass a test.”

  “I understand.”

  “Here, take a look.” The Spirit opened his translucent palm. On it appeared a scarlet crystal, surrounded by a thin ring of frost. It was small, not larger than a fingernail, but filled to the brim with power, Forces, and fragments of someone’s will. “This is one of the thousands of drops of my creator’s blood. Before leaving, he created these frozen beads for his descendants, in which he sealed his own understanding of the Cold Void. If you swallow one such crystal, you will be able to contemplate these Forces. Bear in mind, however, that success depends only on your talent.”

  The Spirit fell silent for a while. The crystal evaporated from his palm in a cloud of sparkling steam. The cold Kai felt coming from it, even though he was standing a few feet away, disappeared in an instant.

  “But, as I said, you are not his descendant, and therefore it will be much more difficult for you to use his blood. Maybe you will even die,” the guardian continued. “Therefore, we must make sure that you are up for the task. Just one crystal is enough to freeze not only your body but your soul as well. If you cannot handle its sealed power, you will definitely die. The chance of success is one in a hundred. That is why I am asking again — are you sure that you want to master the Cold Void?”

  The Spirit’s words echoed loudly throughout the temple. There was so much power in them that even the walls shook. Kai felt his heart flutter.

  Despite his warnings and hallow voice, the Spirit actually enjoyed chatting with the young cultivator. After all, it had been a hundred or so years since he had last spoken with someone. Because of this, he didn’t want the young man to risk his life. By telling him all of this, he hoped that he’d be able to talk Kai out of this foolish endeavor, so when he saw the young man stare at him blankly, he smiled, sure that he had achieved his goal.

  “Of course I’m sure of it!” Kai grinned.

  Now it was the Spirit’s turn to stare at him blankly. He didn’t expect that someone at Kai’s level would agree to this. Having quickly pulled himself together, the Spirit did the only thing he could ― he nodded.

  “Well, if that is what you want…” he said and waved his hand. One of the lights that had previously illuminated the statue turned into a flaming ball that took the shape of a door. “Go ahead. In there you will find a tundra. It is ruled by the Forces of cold. Be warned, however, that the cold is strong enough to kill even the most powerful of men and beasts. The Forces will become more and more powerful with every passing hour. Survive for at least twelve hours and I will give you the crystal with the master’s blood. If you find yourself in mortal danger, call me and I shall come to your aid. The rules forbid me to interfere otherwise. That is all, you can begin.”

  Glancing at the Spirit, Kai nodded and headed toward the portal levitating above the floor. The passage closed behind him as soon as he stepped through it. Once on the other side, he found himself in a spacious room, up to his knees in snow. Opposite him was a huge hourglass which had just been turned over. The twelve o’clock countdown had begun.

  Having cleared the snow around him, Kai assumed the lotus position. The temperature was slightly below zero, which his hardened body didn’t feel at all. However, he needed to prepare for what was about to come.

  Making himself as comfortable as possible, Kai closed his eyes and focused on his breathing. He was sure that both the cold and the frost would probably be the Spirit’s doing, which meant that he’d need to resist the influence of someone else’s power with the help of his own. His future development depended on this, so he needed to give it his all.

  He was sure that if he was at the Soul or the Exorcist Stage, this test would be much easier for him. However, it wouldn’t be as meaningful. The main reason for mastering the Cold Void was the fact that it could be used for developing one’s soul or reaching a new level. That was why the Sea Dragons sent their students to the underwater temple when they were as close as possible to reaching the Opening of the Acupuncture Points level.

  Kai wasn’t going to let this opportunity slip through his fingers.

  A minute passed, and the cold began to fill the room. Kai felt frost prickle his skin and settle in his bones. However, he continued to sit calmly. He couldn’t take control of this alien power since it had a master — the Spirit. All he could do was wait and endure. For the first three hours, he felt almost nothing. Immersed in light meditation, he didn’t even try to fight. Natural resistance was enough.

&nb
sp; However, at the beginning of the fourth hour, something changed. The cold had finally filled the entire area, and the Forces abruptly increased its power up to the Seer Stage. For the first time, Kai felt himself slowly freezing. It was time to fight back and use his ki. He had to rely on his inner energy because, unfortunately, neither the Sword energy nor the Forces of Space could help him in this situation as they were both useless against the cold and were only at the Hearing Stage.

  Kai had a theory that fighting back from the inside, rather than outside was a better option because the crystal with U’Shor’s blood would freeze his body from the inside anyway. He needed to resist the cold in the body itself.

  For two hours, he slowly rotated ki inside his body. Things were going rather well until the sixth hour when the temperature dropped again, forcing him to come up with a more effective way of fighting back.

  Chuckling, he recalled the times when he had trained in the underground city under Rune’Tan. The redhead had taught him how to dramatically raise the body’s temperature — the Spiral Rotation of Ki’s Life Technique. He had before used it to harden parts of his body, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t use it for something else. This time, he’d just have to rotate ki without trying to harden his body.

  The sixth and seventh hour passed unnoticed, after which the temperature dropped again. This time, even the rotation of ki did little to keep his body warm. It was time for more radical measures. Kai began to fill his body with ki, as he’d usually do in difficult battles. He activated regeneration, and the cold immediately receded.

  So the eighth hour passed, after which the cold finally rose to the Learner Stage. Kai had to not only increase the speed with which he was filling his body with ki but also took several Energy Pills. He didn’t recall the Spirit mentioning anything about using items to aid him, so he wagered that this wasn’t against the rules.

  He also noticed that the Thunder Serpent robes were affected by the cold, so he quickly removed them and placed them in his Ring before they got damaged beyond repair. They couldn’t protect him from the frost anyway, so there was no difference if whether he was sitting fully clothed or naked.

  Kai tried to preserve his strength for as long as possible. He didn’t waste his body’s natural reserves as he knew that at some point he wouldn’t be able to resist the cold with only his ki. And that happened when the tenth hour struck. The temperature dropped to a critical point and he could no longer continue to sit still.

  Trembling with cold, he slowly rose to his feet and hugged his shoulders. Closing his eyes, he reached out to the Ring and pulled out several ordinary cobblestones.

  The Spirit, who was watching him, stared at the scene in confusion. No one had ever done anything like this before. Tilting his head and furrowing his brow, he tried to understand what was going on in Kai’s head.

  “What is he going to use that for? Maybe... Whaaat?!” he suddenly exclaimed. “Is he…? By the sea, he is training! A-ha-ha-ha! Oh, what a clever young man! Not bad, not bad at all... But how long will he endure?”

  The Spirit continued to watch, gradually increasing the cold and decreasing the temperature. He was amazed to see that Kai was still exercising after an hour and a half without looking the least bit tired.

  “By the seas, he is a beast!” He stared at Kai with his eyes wide open. “He is only at the Brain Endurance level, but he has so much strength and stamina. Curious. I wonder if this is due to his bloodline.”

  The test was slowly coming to an end. There was still one important milestone to reach — the twelfth hour.

  Kai continued to exercise when suddenly everything changed. A new and incredibly powerful Force filled the room. As if summoned by its appearance, the cold and all the other Forces rushed over to it.

  He immediately recognized the Force in question. It was the mysterious Cold Void. Unlike the ordinary Forces, which looked like distorted symbols and signs, this one didn’t resemble anything he knew. Even with his energy vision, all he saw was an indistinct shape. He couldn’t even determine its level. It was as if it didn’t have one. It had truly lived up to its name — it was inexplicable, like a void.

  As soon as it appeared, the cold became unbearable. Kai tried to continue training, but it became difficult for him to move. Very soon, his limbs were numb and covered with an icy crust.

  However, what worried him more than anything else was the coldness settling in his soul. He was horrified to think that he’d lose this battle.

  Without wasting ki, Kai put down the stones, swallowed a whole bunch of Energy Pills and quickly assumed a meditation pose. He needed to survive for another hour. Giving up wasn’t an option. Taking a deep breath, he focused with all his might. With a part of his mind, he entered his soul world in order to completely detach himself from his surroundings.

  Fifty-eight more minutes to go. I do have the Fruit, but I better leave it for when I get the crystal, he thought. It’s of vital importance that I protect my torso and head. If my internal organs get damaged... I can easily restore my limbs, but organs...

  The problem with the Cold Void affecting his soul remained unresolved. Even the soul world seemed to grow colder. And it was even more difficult for him to fight in there.

  Continuing to ponder the best way to fight back, Kai kept his eyes on the Cold Void. He was slowly turning paler and paler. It became harder for him to breathe, and even his thoughts seemed to have slowed down. Within ten minutes, his limbs were completely blue, and he could no longer move them.

  After half an hour, he was barely holding on. It seemed like he was about to faint. But he resisted. Giving up wasn’t an option. He had a plan; he just needed to hold on a bit longer.

  The Spirit continued to watch him, maintaining the temperature at the same level. He didn’t need to continue increasing it as it was already enough to kill.

  “Why is he not giving up?” the Spirit pondered. He was worried about the young man’s well being. “He is barely holding on. Does he truly desire power so much? Is his goal truly worth risking his life?”

  The more time passed, the more he disliked what was going on. He was barely holding back. U’Shor had forbidden him to interrupt the test until the candidate surrendered. However, there were no rules that prevented him from talking to the candidates.

  “Surrender! You cannot go on anymore! I can feel your body collapsing! But most importantly, your soul is freezing!” Kai heard the Spirit’s voice in his head. “I understand that there is very little time left until the end. But even if you survive by some miracle, your body and soul will be crippled. It is not worth it. You are allowed to retake the test. You can come back once you have become stronger and try again. Stop this foolishness!”

  Kai didn’t even flinch. He figured that due to the influence of the Cold Void on his soul, the Spirit had a similar connection with him as Rune’Tan did.

  He chose not to answer. The truth was that he was unlikely to become stronger at the Brain Endurance level and that it may not be possible for him to develop further in the future. One thing was sure, however: he wasn’t going to give up now. He was almost there.

  Drowning out the Spirit’s restless voice, he continued to fight.

  “You fool!” the Spirit spat angrily. “Silly boy! Well... You choose your own destiny, I suppose.” He sighed. “A pity. His spirit world is already open, so it is easier for his soul to resist, while our students have to learn how to do it. What a shame... He is so talented but so stubborn and naive...”

  Sighing, he continued to observe Kai’s futile attempts in silence. With each passing moment, the young man looked even worse. The frost had encased his soul. In his opinion, Kai had no more than a few minutes left.

  In the next moment, his eyes widened in shock. A tiny fraction of the Cold Void was gone. It took him a moment to realize that Kai had absorbed it — he had voluntarily let it into his body while meditating.

  “But how?” the Spirit wondered.

  He knew t
hat Kai had to protect his breath from his ki and the cold, for which he had to temporarily stop breathing in prana. Kai had just begun to consume it again. This wouldn’t be the first time the Spirit had witnessed the death of a candidate, who, too focused on their goal, didn’t hesitate to do anything in order to finish the test.

  Only one piece of the puzzle was missing. The particles of the Cold Void were hovering in the center of the room, under the ceiling. Then how did they end up close enough to Kai for him to absorb them?

  By the end of the test, he couldn’t sense any traces of life in Kai’s body. He supposed that the absorbed particles of the Cold Void had finished off the poor fellow.

  Having severed the mental connection with the testing hall and removed all of his strength from it, the Spirit transferred himself close to Kai.

  Looking down at the poor man, he let out a saddened sigh. Another young soul had left this world. And he was so interesting to chat with. Who knew how many hundreds, if not thousands of years would pass before he met someone again? And would it happen at all? The entrance to this place couldn’t be forcibly opened even by a crowd of peak Elementalists. Without the scrolls, the teleport couldn’t be activated. And Kai had the last copy of the scroll outside the temple.

  The Spirit sighed sadly again and sniffled, like a real human mourning the loss of a friend.

  Kai suddenly opened his eyes. His heart began to beat again and warmth spread over his body.

  Confused, the Spirit took a step back. He almost chuckled at himself for recoiling in fear. He, a creature capable of tearing Elementalists to pieces that had existed for over ten thousand years, felt fear upon seeing a mortal escape death’s clutches? The young man’s piercing gaze was rather frightening, he had to admit, cold as the ice that had almost ended him.