by Yuri Ajin
[The Favorite of the Forces]: You are able to see what is invisible to others.
Kai instantly felt a lightness in both his body and soul. It seemed like he got wings, and the chains that had held him back were now gone.
“An achievement?! The Favorite of the Forces?! What is that?” Rune’Tan wondered. “I’ve never heard of anything like that.”
It was then that the crystals finally released their power and froze some of Kai’s insides. His body temperature plummeted and continued to drop.
Turning pale, he barely stretched out his weakened hand to get another Fruit. The medium-quality, Gold-rank Berry of Seven Fires instantly engaged in a fight with the Cold Void.
Usually, he was able to adapt to the cold, but this time, the Void was so strong and there was so much of it that it had become destructive and his concentration greatly reduced. That was why he had to resist with the help of a Fruit.
Long and agonizing hours began, during which Kai’s body was repeatedly exposed to damage as he tried to maintain his concentration and contemplate the Cold Void. The fact that he had interacted with this mystical element and had adapted to the cold somewhat helped him a great deal.
Twelve hours later, the three blood crystals were exhausted. Kai had survived the ordeal. Another System message appeared, shocking even Rune’Tan.
Attention!
An attempt has been made to master one of the Forces of the Higher Paths.
The Higher Paths cannot be reached by mortals or masters.
Replacing...
Congratulations! You have mastered the essence of the Cold Void! Your understanding of the Cold Void has reached the middle stage of the second layer.
At the same moment, a light, but pleasant chill spread over Kai’s body and soul ― the Cold Void had become a part of his being. The understanding of how to summon and control it was instantly engraved not only in his mind but also in his soul.
The pleasant freshness helped him to calm down enough in order to finally continue toward the next stage.
There were three hundred and sixty acupuncture points left to open. The main thing was to do everything according to the Cold Void Meditation Technique. Wishing to make the transition as painless and as flawless as possible, Kai gathered all of his strength, and ingested the sixth slice of the Fruit. The remaining two he wanted to keep for the future. He also consumed the Energy Stone and the Crystal, together with a few rare Herbs.
An entire ocean of energy had accumulated in his body. All this power wanted to break free, but he couldn’t allow that to happen. He felt sick. Under the pressure of the force that would’ve ripped apart even a cultivator at the Source Creation level, his bones didn’t just crack but shattered into pieces. Some of his organs were torn apart, and there was a hole in his stomach, spilling blood and guts onto the floor. Regeneration couldn’t keep up with his wounds.
His heart stopped.
The Spirit was already next to him.
“Another... couple... of seconds...” Choking on blood, Kai pierced his chest with his palm and began to massage his heart, forcing the blood to circulate through the still surviving vessels.
If he died now, everything would’ve been for naught.
Seeing the unshakable resolve in the violet eyes, the Spirit retreated.
After a mighty struggle, Kai finally succeeded. He had tamed all the energy and directed it into his spiritual body. It poured first into the hidden acupuncture points, and from there hurried to the sixty nodes.
Kai knew that in addition to the importance of opening all the points and untying all of the nodes, there was another thing that reflected the quality of the soul hardening — the width of the points and the nodes. That was why he was now sending an amount of energy unthinkable for his stage through them, mixing with the Fruit’s soul energy as well as that of the Cold Void summoned by him. He was going to expand them as much as possible. He intended to open all three hundred and sixty acupuncture points instantly and simultaneously.
The energy finally reached its goal and began to crumble the barriers that the other cultivators couldn’t open for hours. It was over in a heartbeat. The force cut its way through. The energy channels were untied and connected to the nodes, and the acupuncture points opened.
A new stage awaited him…
…however, things didn’t always go according to plan.
Attention! Transition in progress...
Soul Stage, Opening of the Acupuncture Points level.
Progress: 99.99%
Error! The requirements for the bloodline evolution have not been fulfilled.
Further progress has been temporarily halted. The transition will continue after all the conditions have been met.
The Spirit hastily disappeared. In the next moment, the entire room was destroyed by a powerful attack. Kai was enraged. Even the insulating material, which could serve as a shield, couldn’t withstand the outburst of energy. He had not only released all of his strength but also the colossal amount of energy that was still under his control.
Not a trace remained of his surroundings.
***
Numb to the core, Kai woke up to find himself lying on the floor right next to the Sea Dragon’s statue. His empty gaze was focused on the dark abyss of the ceiling.
More than five hours had passed since he had almost reached a new stage and his outburst. Had he not immediately lost consciousness he would’ve probably gone on to destroy everything in front of him. As it turned out, there was an entire city located under the temple, where, apparently, many people used to live.
“You’re awake,” Rune’Tan said. “Now listen to me. You’re incredibly lucky. The evolution of the bloodline is a rare and powerful thing, which does more than just awaken one’s blood. Considering how powerful your regeneration is, you’ll reach a whole new level once you’ve met all of the requirements. As for them, you shouldn’t worry. Give me a couple of weeks and I’ll have it all sorted out. Besides, you’ve finally healed! The nodes and the points are still open, just temporarily inactive. Things aren’t as bad as they seem.”
Nodding, Kai slowly rose to his feet. He felt a bit better
“Ah, you have finally decided to get up.” The Spirit appeared in front of him. “What happened? Why did you not reach the next stage?”
Kai raised his half-empty gaze to meet the Spirit’s face.
“I haven’t fulfilled the bloodline conditions. The process has been put on hold,” he replied calmly.
The Spirit raised his eyebrows.
“Honorable guardian, I must beg your forgiveness. I’ve damaged your master’s temple. I know I deserve no forgiveness, but I’m still asking for it,” he said and bowed deeply.
The Spirit froze for a second, and then just laughed.
“Damage? You think you can damage this temple?” He smiled. “Do you really think that you can even scratch what Lord U’Shor had created? Do not flatter yourself, boy. What you destroyed belonged to the people who lived here before the war. I do not care much about those buildings. Better tell me, have you mastered the essence of the Cold Void? What stage have you reached?”
Kai straightened up.
“I have. I’ve reached the middle stage,” he answered after a moment’s thought.
The Spirit’s face turned grim.
This wasn’t what he had expected when he gave the boy the last crystals of the master’s blood. The middle stage was better than nothing, yes, but he had had higher hopes for Kai. Some of the Sea Dragon Clan’s members had managed to reach the peak stage after taking two drops of blood.
But when the Spirit realized that he had expected too much from a man who didn’t even have his master’s blood in his veins, he calmed down.
“Of the second layer,” Kai added, stumping the Spirit who just stared at him with his mouth half-opened,
What… What did he say? he thought. Is it even possible to reach the second layer on the first try? Has that ever happened before? No. Th
e best was the peak of the first layer... But nobody has ever gone this far. How is this possible?
“Show me!” he instantly demanded.
Kai focused, and then summoned into the world what had previously looked like an anomaly to him. Now the Cold Void looked like an iridescent sphere with a bluish glow, inside of which mystical symbols occasionally flickered.
The air instantly became colder. Kai’s palm was covered with frost, but it didn’t harm him.
“That truly is the second layer...” the Spirit muttered and suddenly disappeared.
He was gone for about ten minutes. When he reappeared, he offered Kai to become the clan’s successor. He had been thinking about finding one for a long time and had decided that there would probably be no better candidate than Kai. He explained that since the Sea Dragon Clan and the scrolls that gave people access to this place no longer existed, it was unlikely that he’d meet anyone else ever again. His mission as the guardian of the temple and the Sea Dragon’s treasure was coming to an end. And he really wouldn’t want the memory of U’Shor and his descendants to sink into oblivion.
Having said that he wouldn’t take no as an answer, he demanded that Kai accept his offer as a sign of respect toward U’Shor’s descendants. To his joy, the young man agreed without hesitation.
“Before the war broke out, the members of the clan who lived here took a lot of resources with them in order to try to survive. Quite the number of them was given to the students that showed promising results. So, unfortunately, there are not many things left here... You will not find any Royal-rank items here. They first appeared only a couple of centuries ago. If some members of the clan even owned them, they were definitely not stored here,” the Spirit explained when he and Kai entered the treasury. “As for your development, you need to know that there are only three layers of the Cold Void. Each of them is divided into four stages, the same way the Exorcist and Elementalist stages are divided into four levels. To put it mildly, the higher the layer, the stronger the technique is. But the peak of the third layer is very, very difficult to reach. However, with your talent, I think you could succeed one day.”
Kai began to examine the few items that were in the treasury. Almost immediately, his gaze fell on an extremely old scroll that emanated a strong trace of U’shor’s aura.
“What’s this?” he asked since there were no inscriptions on the items.
“Dance of the Sea Dragon. In that scroll, my lord recorded and illustrated everything he knew about how to use the Cold Void. From simple attacks to various weapon techniques.”
Kai walked between the shelves with rare artifacts for some time, after which he asked the Spirit a question that had been bothering him for a very long time.
“What about my pursuers? Are the Salamanders and the other two clans still at the temple gates?”
“They are, yes. Unfortunately, as much as I want to, there is little I can do to help get rid of them. My powers are limited by the walls of the temple. Actually, there is something that I can do, yes... However, it is unlikely to harm them.”
Kai nodded and began to ponder.
The time had come to introduce one ancient being to another.
***
“Boy, do not let me down,” the Spirit said at parting. “And get ready to witness the true power of the Cold Void.”
“Thank you for everything.” Kai bowed once again and headed for the gates.
Strange darkness swirled at the entrance, separating the temple from the rest of the world. Confidently stepping into it, he found himself outside.
He was met by curious glances that soon turned into angry glares.
“Bastard, you finally got out!” Shin Sei grinned but was in no hurry to approach Kai, worried that the statues might still attack him.
“As expected, he couldn’t sit in there forever.” Yan Liang rose from the ground. “You’re really a pain in the ass.”
“Wait, aren’t you the guys from the... The... The guys from the... Ah, Heavens, what was the name?” Kai snapped his fingers as if was trying to remember something. “Ah, right, right! You’re the guys from the Farming Serpent, Sun Kissed, and Blight Moon clans, right?” He grinned.
“Oh, you bastard!” Offended, one of the Salamanders hissed, preparing to dash forward. However, a sharp kick to the rear stopped him in time.
“Idiot, don’t let him provoke you!” Shin Sei shouted, equally angry. It was one thing when someone insulted one person, and quite another when they offended the entire clan. “This asshole is probably still protected by the statues. He’s trying to lure us out.”
“Hey, peasant,” Yan Liang spoke up. “At first I thought to just take your Ring, but if you want to die, that can be arranged!”
“To die?” Kai asked, glancing at him. He smirked and scoffed. “And who’s gonna kill me? You? Ha! Hilarious.”
His mocking tone pissed off Yan Liang to the point that he was shaking with anger. He had never been spoken to like that before. Fingers tightly clenched into fists, he began to emit a bloodthirsty aura. Those standing next to him hastened to move away.
“All right, all right…” Kai sighed wearily. “Since you’re so afraid of me, I’m going to leave. I have a Tournament to win and all that,” he said, waving his hand, and started walking.
Enraged, the other cultivators bared their teeth — their prey was coming straight to them. They all knew the line beyond which the statues weren’t active anymore. They just needed to wait. After all, they had waited all this time, a couple of more seconds wouldn’t hurt.
When Kai finally crossed the invisible line, Shin Sei rushed forward. He knew that he’d have enough time to stop and avoid the danger zone. He wanted to be the one to end Kai once and for all.
“You’re a dead man! The array has no effect here!” he cried, halfway to his target.
Kai just smiled.
The Spirit, watching what was going on through the eyes of the statues, noticed when Kai left the safe zone. In the next moment, the power of the peak-stage third layer of the Cold Void filled the entire temple and gathered into a small ball. Exploding, it unleashed a wave of energy.
Shin Sei had almost made it to Kai when a sudden wave of Force burst through the gates. Everyone present felt as if something had frozen their energy and the ability to use Forces. They felt their bodies become heavy, making them slower and weaker. Even their Rings were blocked.
Kai, however, seemed unaffected by all of this.
Having suddenly become exhausted, Shin Sei slowed down.
“I don’t want to see you ever again,” Kai hissed angrily and hit him in the chest with his knee.
Shin Sei flew to the side like a ball and fell onto the ground like a sack of rags. Kai immediately rushed forward. His plan was to escape while everyone was under the influence of the Spirit’s attack.
He made his way through the crowd, mercilessly attacking everyone in his path. Looking at their auras, he chose the weakest cultivators as his target. Was it moral? No. Honorable? In no shape or form. Convenient and clever? That it was.
It took him a couple of moments to break through the crowd and put the temple far behind him.
“Idiot, there’s only water down here! The teleport doesn’t―”
“It lit up!”
“Goddamn it, follow him!”
A couple of cultivators managed to get up and rush after Kai when one of the stone guards suddenly spoke.
“The passage is open! One contender!”
Shin Sei, who had just risen, realized that this was his chance. Others were distracted, while he and his teammates were the closest ones to the temple.
“Shin Zhang!” he called. “Go inside, you must find the heirloom!”
“Understood!” Shin Zhang replied and headed for the gates. No one attacked him, so he quickly went inside.
Shin Sei kept pursuing Kai along with the rest of the Salamanders. The teleport flickered and their target disappeared. The others followed. They were
finally about to leave this damn hell hole.
***
The stars in the clear sky cast a faint light on the Plateau. For the enhanced eyes of the cultivators, darkness wasn’t a problem. More importantly, they had regained their strength.
Kai was standing on the edge of a cliff when the teleport activated. One by one, the cultivators returned to the Plateau and surrounded their target.
“Time to die!” Yan Liang spat.
“You seem to have forgotten something.” Kai grinned and pointed behind him.
A dense beam of fire erupted from Shin Sei’s palm. As he didn’t want Kai to die right away, he aimed at his stomach. He almost screamed joyously when the attack pierced the bastard. Unfortunately, his joy didn’t last long.
Kai disappeared in a puff of smoke and sparkling dust.
The real Kai had used the Retreat Step and jumped off the cliff.
The cultivators were confused. Had Kai thought it better to die than to surrender? Even a peak-stage Exorcist wouldn’t survive a fall from such a height. Was Kai that desperate? Had he just been pretending earlier?
Damn it! He plans to lose his things in the water! Shin Sei realized. Fuck! I can’t let that happen!
“All of you, quickly to the ocean!” he ordered. “Find his body!”
A bright flash that came from where Kai had just stood made everyone freeze. The same kind of light appeared next to each student.
They really had forgotten something
Today was the end of the fourteenth day of the Tournament, and with it, the end of the first stage. The tokens automatically activated the transfer — all of them were returned home. Including Kai, who had been teleported mid-air.
Next to the organizers, no one would dare attack him.
***
A few days later, Shin Zhang returned to the clan. Due to the fact that he was in the Underwater Temple when the first stage of the Tournament ended, the token couldn’t teleport him back, so he was disqualified. However, this didn’t upset him much as he brought something extremely valuable to his family. He was sure that this would compensate for the fact that he wouldn’t compete further.