The First Peak of the Force

by Yuri Ajin

  The confusion didn’t last for more than a second, however. He immediately came to his senses.

  “How did you...?” he began, but the answer instantly came to him. Shock seized him yet again. “Wait... Do not tell me that... Did you absorb the particles of the Cold Void so that they would merge with your blood?! Instead of fighting, you decided to get used to the cold? Decided to try to merge with it, adapt, and then enter suspended animation?”

  Extremely tired, but alive and actively recovering, Kai smiled and nodded.

  “You... You are mad! This crazy stunt could have cost you your life!” the Spirit uttered with slight anger, but he was still glad that Kai didn’t die. “But even if your bloodline is so strong in healing, in order to pull it off, you still had to…” His eyes widened. “…have at least the basic understanding of the Cold Void!”

  Kai’s smile grew even wider.

  “Yes, I was able to do it...”

  Using energy vision, Kai had been concentrating on the Cold Void for almost the entire last hour. And at some point, in the chaotic state of the mysterious element, he actually managed to see a symbol flash by.

  At first glance, it couldn’t help him much. To have it help him, he needed to attract a fragment of a Cold Void particle (creating a kind of rope out of his own ki in order to closely examine this mystical element), and then assimilate it into his bloodline, to develop immunity to the cold.

  “So,” Kai said, grinning. “Have I passed the test?”

  The Spirit’s answer was obvious, considering that no candidate before had ever gotten close to understanding the Cold Void before absorbing U’Shor’s blood crystal.

  Chapter 25

  THE END OF THE FIRST STAGE

  Having recovered, Kai, together with the Spirit, left the hall.

  The Spirit simply disappeared after a couple of moments of silence, leaving the bewildered Kai all alone in the room with the statue. He had just begun to wonder if the Spirit had abandoned him when he reappeared.

  “Based on your test results...” he said, trying not to show that he was amazed by them, and opened his hand, “...and the unfortunate truth that there is no one left who could have another copy of the meditation technique, I decided to give you three crystals.”

  Kai stared at the scarlet droplets in surprise. He didn’t expect such generosity. Bewilderment soon gave way to joy and a smile appeared on his pale face.

  “You should know that it was not easy for me to make this decision as these are the last drops of His blood in the temple. I have great hopes for you... I believe that you will be able to comprehend the Cold Void and, perhaps, even reach the same level as the master someday...”

  “I won’t let you down!” Kai said and bowed. He understood that this had been a hard decision to make for the Spirit and he wanted to show him that he took his words with utmost seriousness.

  The Spirit nodded and handed him the crystals.

  Kai shuddered the moment his fingertips touched the smooth, crimson surface. Had it not been for the test, perhaps he would’ve passed out from the cold. It seemed that the difficulties with the crystals began from the moment you got them, not from the moment you absorbed them.

  Looking up at the Spirit, Kai chuckled.

  Of course he knew.

  “Before they absorb the crystal, worthy candidates are given several hours to meditate upon the blood and prepare their soul and mind,” the Spirit said.

  “But with every minute outside the designated vessels, the blood gradually loses its strength,” Kai added, clenching his fist. The frost emanating from the crystals didn’t bother him anymore.

  “You are correct. So you better hurry.”

  “But before that, I wanted to ask you something. Is there a place for cultivation in this temple, with good energy isolation?”

  The question confused the Spirit but then he realized that since Kai had already passed the Brain Endurance level, his next step was reaching the Soul Stage.

  Having reached that conclusion, everything else fell into place. Everyone knew that the soul was the most vulnerable during the transition process. Because of that, any sort of interference could either cause serious injuries or even kill the cultivator. However, if there was a silver lining to this, it was that it was much easier to contemplate Forces in such moments.

  Kai wanted to take advantage of this, which required a well-protected and isolated place.

  “You are taking a risk again,” the Spirit said sternly and frowned. “That will surely make it easier to understand the essence of the Cold Void, but it could also impede your development if your will and talent do not prove to be strong enough. Be aware that you must master this Force immediately upon untying the nodes of your soul. If you start opening the acupuncture points without the Cold Void, but still follow the instructions from the scroll, you will not harden your soul as well as you could have with the technique... It will be better if you wait a bit longer before trying to reach the next stage...” Seeing the look on Kai’s face, he sighed. “And I see that you will not heed my advice...”

  “Honorable guardian, thank you for your concern, but I still intend to take that risk. If I don’t do this, if I don’t put my life on the line every time, then... How can I surpass those who have been lucky to have been born with privilege and talent? How can I make sure that no one but me holds the strings of my fate? How can I reach the peak of cultivation?”

  The Spirit was silent for a while, after which he sighed heavily. How many hotheaded young students had he seen in his life? And how many of them failed, disappearing without a trace? Too many to count, way, way too many.

  However, Kai had already done the seemingly impossible. Therefore, he decided to believe in him and give him a chance.

  Looking at the young man, he waved his hand, beckoning forth another light. Like the previous one, it, too, formed a door.

  “Thank you,” Kai said sincerely and bowed.

  After passing through the portal, he found himself in a small room. Its walls were made from a special and extremely expensive material capable of energy and Force isolation.

  Kai assumed the lotus position, but he was in no hurry to plunge into meditation. He laid out in front of him all the resources necessary for reaching the next stage.

  Just like before, the Spirit observed him. Unlike during the test, he was now allowed to intervene. In case Kai lost control during the transition, he’d come to his aid. He didn’t want the young man to lose his life in pursuit of power. Nothing in this world was worth throwing your life away so carelessly.

  He observed as Kai pulled out various items from his Ring. The first, of course, were the three crystals of U’Shor’s blood. Then there was a Medium Energy Crystal, and a box with an Energy Stone.

  Well, he has enough energy. He nodded. But it is much harder to reach the next stage without potions and special Spirit Plants. Does he have...? Can it be? He frowned when Kai revealed a purple Spirit Fruit.

  A soul-filled Spirit Fruit? Of the Royal rank at that? This guy... By the seas, where did he get such a treasure? Things like these are incredibly rare to find. What other secrets is he hiding?

  Having laid out a few more Gold–rank, rare Herbs and Fruits of the medium, high, and peak quality, Kai was finally ready. Closing his eyes, he entered his soul world. After finding the still-slumbering Rune’Tan, he began the transition process. In his left hand, rested the soul-imbued Fruit, divided into eight equal pieces. He immediately stuffed two into his mouth.

  The soul energy exploded like a volcano in his stomach. Kai arched backward due to the enormous pressure, barely managing to contain and subdue this colossal amount of energy. He immediately realized that he would’ve died had he consumed more than two pieces at once.

  Taming the violent outbursts of energy turned out to be a very heavy mental task as well. Slowly, he began to pour some of it into Rune’Tan. A minute later, the redhead began to stir, and after a few more, he opened his eyes.
<
br />   For almost half an hour, Kai directed energy into Rune’Tan, while he silently absorbed it, not wishing to waste so much as a drop of it.

  “I have just regained about four hundred years of my life,” he said once there was no more energy left to absorb. “Don’t forget to restore your soul energy as well. You spent a part of it on healing Julie and fighting that odd-eyed boy.”

  “I won’t forget, don’t worry.” Kai nodded. “I’ll heal first and then proceed to the next stage. I’ll need you to help me.”

  “Understood. You can begin now if you’re ready. I’ll guide you when you need it.”

  “Deal,” Kai replied and disappeared from the spirit world.

  Returning to reality, he took two more pieces of the Fruit. Having tamed its energy, he plunged into meditation again and mentally approached his soul.

  All of the nodes, including the fifty damaged ones, as well as the barely noticeable acupuncture points, immediately appeared in front of him. It felt like he was looking at his own body from the side, through the lens of some unusual apparatus.

  This wasn’t the first time that he experienced this in the past two years. He had mastered this “technique” of observing his soul structure while he was preparing for this moment. He did this following the instructions from the Cold Void Meditation scroll. And with Rune’Tan’s help.

  Looking at his stomach, Kai concentrated on the dark sphere hovering there — his soul. Having mentally prepared for what was about to come, he sent a small piece of soul energy into it.

  Expecting the same kind of agonizing pain that he had experienced when Rune’Tan was healing Julie, he closed his eyes and clenched his fists. However, there were no unpleasant sensations. On the contrary, as soon as the energy touched his soul, he felt bliss. A feeling of euphoria instantly took over him. He forced himself to come to his senses so as not to lose control over the rest of the energy.

  Having regained the lost years, he was finally able to start healing. If he remembered well, the first thing he needed to do was to open the one hundred and twenty hidden acupuncture points.

  “Get ready,” Rune’Tan said. “You’ll have twenty hours. After that, you won’t be able to see the points ever again.”

  Kai nodded. One of the most difficult parts of the process was about to begin.

  Suddenly, something clicked in his spirit world and one hundred and twenty previously invisible points appeared on his spiritual body. Sixty of them were highlighted blue, and the other sixty green. Deciding to start with those, he poured soul energy into them.

  Kai braced himself for another test. Opening these points would be incredibly difficult. A hundred and twenty deadly battles with his own soul awaited him.

  ***

  “Incredible!” the Spirit exclaimed when Kai swallowed the first two pieces of the Fruit. He was struck by the fact that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t feel the energy bursting out of Kai’s body. With each passing second, he became more and more convinced that the young man was somehow able to keep all the energy inside him. “This is the perfect absorption about which the Master spoke. Just who is this young man? He does not look like an elite cultivator, who has been stuffed with various drugs and Spiritual Plants from infancy. But he has so much talent. Could it be that Master had someone like him in mind? No, it is too early to tell. I should not raise my expectations. I must be patient.”

  An image appeared in his mind, interrupting the flow of his thoughts. The signal came from one of the statues at the entrance to the temple.

  “Is someone trying to trespass? Fools! No one can deceive the stone warriors created by the Lord U’Shor himself!” He laughed. “What a pity I have no power over the guards. It would be fun to play with these kids. Well, well… There is an offspring of the Flame Salamander among them. The wretched bastard. The guardians will take care of them on their own. I better concentrate, make sure that I can go and help the boy in case something goes wrong. And what if they get past the guards…” The Spirit smiled. “Well that's where it will get interesting.” He chuckled and returned to observing Kai.

  ***

  The fourteenth hour was passing. Kai’s face was almost completely covered with blood. All this time, he had been struggling to manipulate the violent soul energy. Vessels burst in his nose, ears, and closed eyes. Regeneration could have healed all this, but he didn’t want to waste a drop of his strength. It wasn’t too bad anyway.

  Kai was nearing the end of the transition process. The soul energy formed needles and attacked the bluish spot from both sides. However, nothing happened. Having surrounded the target with the soul energy, he began to squeeze it, applying pressure on the needles, and therefore on the acupuncture point itself.

  A few minutes later, during which Kai was on the verge of losing consciousness, all of the hidden acupuncture points were opened. The first stage of healing his soul was over, and now it was time to switch to the nodes.

  “Atta, boy!” Rune’Tan encouraged him. “You’ve just broken my record. Your control over energy and the overall level of energy manipulation is incredible! I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  Kai smiled faintly. He wanted to rest, but the journey had only just begun. He had to move on.

  Focusing on the nodes, he started with the first one to get a better understanding of the overall process. He felt such a relief when untying them turned out to be much easier than revealing the points. Unfortunately, it was still a long and difficult process.

  Finally, after another five monotonous hours, he had untied the energy channels and the ten soul nodes connected to them. Now all that remained was to maintain them in such a state with energy.

  Little did Kai now that he was about to face another serious test — the restoration and opening of the fifty damaged nodes. Unlike the others, they looked like shards of glass frozen in time. Glancing over his spiritual body, Kai realized that he could see both the ordinary and the hidden acupuncture points. The former were located on the skin of his spiritual body, while the latter were densely packed around the dark sphere in his stomach. This barely noticeable connection between the nodes and the soul was still present thanks to the hidden acupuncture points. This gave him a chance to restore the destroyed nodes.

  The healing process took over a day, during which he had to swallow several Boosting Pills. But he did it. Each node had been restored with the help of the soul energy. All that remained was to keep them under control, which wasn’t easy.

  Only now did he understand why the Soul Stage was the third step. It was all about the perseverance of the body and mind. A person wouldn’t have been able to go through such a process if they hadn’t strengthened their internal organs first. One needed to sit still without food, water, and sleep for a day, and to deal with a storm of alien energy invading their soul world.

  Because he had strengthened his mind first, Kai was able to withstand such a long and difficult process. In the past, he could control energy for no more than ten hours, but now he could easily do it for several days.

  The injuries that Helios had once inflicted on him were finally gone, and they no longer hindered his development. However, Kai was in no hurry to rejoice — he was yet to reach the next stage.

  Having untied the energy channels and bound them to the nodes that were connected with the ordinary acupuncture points, he decided to take a break. The remnants of the soul energy were used to keep the nodes under control. Opening his eyes, Kai reached into the special box where he had put the three crimson crystals. Retrieving them, he immediately swallowed them.

  His soul was now fully exposed, which increased his chances of successfully contemplating the Forces.

  While the crystals were slowly disintegrating under the influence of his ki, Kai’s stomach was gradually freezing. As Rune’Tan had told him, the soul of any creature consisted of three elements — the Soul Spark, which was a unique matter, indestructible even by the Gods, that went into the world beyond once a person died
; soul energies — a combination of Yin and Yang, which were united by the Forces hidden in the Spark; and the shell that contained the soul energy ― the dark sphere.

  Kai knew that the most important thing for a cultivator was the soul energy as it was basically fuel for life. Besides that, one’s talent, including the understanding of the Forces, depended on the amount of soul energy. This reserve grew smaller with age, which was why the older a person was, the more difficult it was for them to continue to cultivate.

  But there was a way to increase the amount of soul energy — by developing. With each successful transition, one’s soul changed. With each stage and level, the Spark evolved, and with it the shell grew, increasing the maximum energy reserve.

  However, by reaching a new level and expanding the soul, the cultivator didn’t immediately acquire energy for it. In a way unknown even to Rune’Tan, it was formed by the Spark for a whole year after a new stage had been reached. And Kai was about to take advantage of that.

  Throwing another piece of the Fruit into his mouth, Kai sent its energy into his soul. He had not yet reached a new stage nor did his Spark evolve and lifespan increase. However, by slightly undoing the first node, he began the process of soul growth. Currently, it was closer to the Opening of the Acupuncture Points level than to the Mind Stage. By filling the new space in his soul with the Fruit’s energy, he would temporarily increase his talent.

  “That’s right, fill the soul with energy, but just be careful not to lose control over it,” Rune’Tan warned. “In my time, I did the same, although not with such efficiency. Soon, you’ll feel a change. Your level of energy control will increase, and you’ll understand Forces better.”

  As soon as Kai finished, several System messages appeared.

  Attention!

  Achievement received: [Quality Leap!]

  Based on your previous successes in the study of Forces, as well as the sharp increase in the amount of soul energy, you receive the trait [The Favorite of the Forces].