by Pegaz
Bang!
Dust, rocks, and ice rose up and spread out a little before the comet’s movement forced them back down onto its surface.
Even though he managed to reduce the impact, he was still buried inside a hole that his body created in the comet when he landed.
Ignoring his surroundings for a bit, John opened his universal map and watched the comet inside it for a few minutes. His heartbeat quickened as he stared at it, hoping he didn’t change its course.
He only closed the map and calmed down once he realised he hadn’t.
Looking around, it was nothing but grey rock, some minerals, and ice, so he tried to look out the hole he made to keep watching the universe pass by. But the comet was spinning both longways and sideways, so he was unable to see anything clearly.
Opening the universal map again, he watched where the comet was going through it. All he could do was close his eyes and watch the universal map.
John stayed inside the impact hole he had created and used the ice, metal, and earth elements to move some of the comet in front of him, blocking the hole. He rode inside the comet for another month.
The comet wasn’t going directly towards planet zero but would pass it by a few million miles at least. During these two months, John had calculated that this comet was travelling about twenty times his maximum speed or about Mach 130.
On his universal map, John could see the comet was almost at the closest point to planet zero it would ever reach, so he used the ice, metal, and earth elements to open up the hole again. He then pushed as much Toxin Power and time element as he could and pushed himself out of the hole.
When he got out, he kept pushing Toxin Power and jumped to the side to get off the comet with everything he had. He didn’t get very high, but he got high enough for the comet not to drag him any longer.
Looking at the comet, John watched it get further away while he was trying to stop the speed the comet had given him.
It took him over an hour for his speed to stop, and during that hour, he had travelled tens of thousands of miles away from planet zero.
Where he jumped off the comet, the planet’s orbit around the sun would head towards him as long as he went in a certain direction. Though, if he missed the timing, the planet would pass him and keep orbiting the sun, leaving him in the dust.
There’s no chance that I would be able to catch up to the planet’s orbiting speed, so I would have to wait in space for a whole year to get to the planet if I missed it this time. I’m already short on time and don’t want to waste an entire year!
He didn’t waste any more time and pushed Toxin Power and the time element to reach his maximum speed again.
It took another month for him to get into the planet’s orbiting path, but he had made it in time. John changed directions and travelled directly towards the planet.
He soon entered the planet’s atmosphere. He was still travelling at Mach 6 speed, and as he entered the atmosphere, a small red glow formed in front of him as the temperature around him climbed higher. Looking behind him, he saw a long red tail.
When he entered the stratosphere, John slowed his speed down until he came to a stop. What greeted him was a planet almost completely covered in lava.
Most of the lava stayed still while a few bubbles popped on its surface. There were a few places that had lava which flowed like a river, its colour changing from a dark red to a bright yellow.
When he was in space, he saw it was a red planet, but he didn’t think it was a planet covered in lava.
The world and area maps I bought from the Adventurers’ Guild don’t show that the planet is covered in lava. Did this just happen, then?
Let’s see, according to the world map and the system’s analysis, the clue about transcending is on the other side of the world. I just hope that wherever it is, it’s not under the lava.
John tried folding the space again to see if it was possible to teleport to the other side of the planet, but it was still impossible for him for unknown reasons. Eager to explore, he took off flying towards his goal.
Chapter 28: The Way
Fifteen minutes later, John was on the other side of the planet.
He noticed that the lava was like the sea on any other planet. It covered almost all of the planet, and there was only a large island where the map had led him to.
There were shorelines full of rocks which the yellow moving lava hit on a regular basis for half a mile before any flora appeared. Even then, there were only a few species that could survive the heat caused by the lava.
His Scan couldn’t find any living creatures at all, not even insects.
In the middle of the large island was a giant mountain. John was flying over a mile in the air, yet the mountain still towered him. Looking up, the mountain passed the clouds and kept going.
John lowered his altitude and came to its base.
The old map that I bought from the auction doesn’t show this mountain on the island, but the maps from the Adventurers’ Guild shows it. No wonder it took over thirty years for the system to finish its analysis.
The maps from the Adventurers’ Guild show a few smaller islands around this one, but there aren’t any. Does that mean the lava’s rising?
If this mountain isn’t on the ancient map, then that means the clue to transcending must’ve been underground. Did the rising mountain bring that underground clue aboveground?
John flew close around the base of the mountain while looking in his Scan, trying to pick up a hidden cave or a part of the mountain being hollow.
When he did a full circle around the mountain and didn’t find anything, he gained altitude by a few miles and flew around the mountain again.
In his Scan, John found an opening near the top. He flew up near its peak and entered the opening.
When he was close enough, his Scan picked up a trail throughout the mountain. His Scan didn’t pick it up earlier because the entire mountain was blocking it.
He thought it was blocked by an air lock, or a sealed space, but he was wrong. It only worked when his Scan could go through the current opening he had just entered.
Looking at the sides of the opening, John ran his hand down its smooth grey walls.
I’ve seen smooth walls like this only once before: when Tim McNeil, the first Sider king of the Eastern Kingdom, built that underground lair to pass on his message and knowledge.
Does that mean this was created by someone else and not naturally made?
John ignored the questions he had and ran through the tunnels that went through the mountain since his Scan had picked up an airtight door at the end. The tunnels ran through the entire mountain and the mysterious door was at the base.
When he arrived at the door, he concentrated on the writing that decorated its surface. It looked like the origin language, but he couldn’t read what it said.
The door was over ten feet high and five feet wide. It was a light-grey colour and the writing was pale red, like blood that had faded over many years. In the middle of the door was a line going from top to bottom, so John figured that the doors would open sideways like normal doors.
He placed both of his hands on the middle part of the door and used all the strength he could muster as he tried pushing and pulling them open, but they wouldn’t budge no matter how much strength he used.
John clenched his fist and tried punching the door, trying to break it down. The door vibrated a little, dust fell from the door, but there wasn’t even a dent in it.
When the door finished vibrating, John heard something click, and his Scan picked up a small opening to the side of the door.
Walking over, he found a small squared hole in the wall. When he looked inside the hole, he found a small book.
What’s this book doing here? There’s got to be instructions on how to get inside, but since I can now confirm this is man-made, who knows if there’s a trap.
John’s hands crept towards the book and picked it up carefully. Once he
confirmed there was nothing resembling a trap, he pulled the book out of the hole and opened it.
Flipping the pages, he realised it was a translation for the origin language to a more common language John had already learned.
Why would this be here? Isn’t this a bit too convenient? Did the people who made this room leave the language translation here because they knew the origin language would die out?
Flipping through more pages, he didn’t know if this was an accurate translation or not or if it had the entire translation, but it was the only thing he had that could point him to his goal.
Taking a table and chair out of his Storage Space, he sat down and studied the translation.
It took him almost a week to memorise and learn how to read and write the origin language.
When he looked at the door again, according to the translations that he learned from the book, the writing on the door said, “Use five different elements on the door to open.”
John first placed the book back where he found it, causing the hole to close again.
This must be set up by whoever did this to preserve the clues on how to transcend for future generations.
He then walked to the door, spread his hand open, and used a different element on each finger and thumb. He used the five basic elements of fire, water, earth, metal, and wood.
When he placed his hand on the door, it made a loud bang before stacks of dust fell off them as the doors swung inward and away from him.
What greeted him behind the doors was a tunnel that only went a few feet before a perfectly large round room. The walls were round and shaped like a dome, and the floor was flat with some markings etched into it.
John couldn’t recognise what the markings on the floor were, but he noticed writing and pictures on the walls. They started from the left of the tunnel as he walked into the room and went all the way to the other side of the tunnel.
Walking further into the room, John stood in the middle to check everything out without the Scan. But when he stepped in the middle of the room, the doors closed at an insane speed and without any warning.
Shit!
John ran back to the doors to see if there was a handle or a locking mechanism he could use to open them again, but there was nothing he could do to open it.
How the hell am I supposed to get out of here now? I could try teleporting, but if this thing is airtight, then it might have a seal on the space to protect it, too. For now, I don’t have to resort to drastic measures and should focus on what the drawings are.
He walked back into the middle of the room and looked at the pictures and writing on the wall.
The first picture showed a man with long silver hair, but he didn’t know what it meant. Reading the writing, it explained that one must have reached the purified realm to continue.
I remember Frank Knight—the retired sect master of the Sword Sect—once called our Silver Grade Life Power the purified realm. It should be the same thing. The first step is done at least.
Looking at the next picture, it showed the same man as the first picture, but this time his entire body was glowing silver.
The writing next to it read, “Nourish the body and fill the cells.”
So you need a nourished body and the maximum Life Power your body can store?
Then how did my master transcend? He might have reached maximum Life Power of the neurons, but the proper cultivation method was stuck inside the battlefield and my master didn’t nourish his body.
Is this a guideline type of thing more than a list of requirements needed to succeed?
He carried on reading since he had already done that step, too. The third picture showed small pictures which referred to the thirteen elements in a circle. Next to the picture was a bit of writing explaining what it meant.
Find the balance between the elements. They will neither devour nor enhance each other, achieving equilibrium. Minimum of five elements needed.
John thought of something after reading it.
Isn’t that what happened on the battlefield? The beastman’s nails turned purple while my Demon created a purple sword. I later did the same thing to poke a hole in the force field. I used all thirteen elements, and they neither devoured nor enhanced each other. That must be the equilibrium.
Before he did anything else, he looked at the next picture.
It showed the same man as the first two pictures, but this time there was a circle inside his head and chest. The circles didn’t have anything inside or around them, so John read the writing.
Empty the remaining Life Power from the brain and body after creating equilibrium and discard all Soul Power.
John didn’t think too deeply this time and just looked at the last picture. It showed the circle of elements inside the man.
Reading the writing, he knew that he had to take that balance of elements he’d create and absorb it with his body without Life Power or Soul Power to resist whatever damage it would cause.
Is this really how you transcend? Wouldn’t this simply kill the person?
Would my system give me immunity to the elements if it was created by my own power? Most of my immunities have the flaw of not working against my other skills.
Then there’s the problem of actually creating that equilibrium! The beastman, my Demon, and myself have only achieved that by using something as a medium.
The beastman had its nails, while my Demon and I used swords that we created using the threads. This needs me to absorb the elements back into my body, so I can’t use anything as a medium while doing it.
Well, this room might only open up after I transcend.
Without transcending, I could be trapped here, and even if I do escape without transcending, eventually that man will find Sarah and Kelly.
I’ve got no choice but to attempt it.
But, according to this guideline, the minimum requirement needed to transcend is five elements reaching equilibrium, so wouldn’t the maximum of thirteen elements give me a much stronger transformation?
Since I’ve got a Transcendent as an enemy, I’ve got to take the number of elements into account. He might have only used five elements to transcend, but if he used more elements, I might not be able to kill him even after transcending.
The only way to be sure is to use all the elements possible. I’ll either be his equal or be stronger than him. Anything less is risking my family’s lives in a gamble. That’s unacceptable!
John sat down on the floor in the middle of the room, took a deep breath, and then created small amounts of all thirteen elements that floated in the air around him.
He began trying to find an equilibrium without an item being used as a medium.
Chapter 29: *Spoiler*
With the five basic elements, all of them would interact with the others in one way or another.
According to his knowledge of the elements, fire was created by wood, destroyed by water, created earth, and destroyed metal. All the other elements had their weaknesses, strengths, and simple interactions with each other, too.
When John used the swords as a medium on the battlefield, the elements inside the swords were less volatile. He remembered the order that the elements merged together from when the Demon did it, and when he needed to create that purple sword to break the forcefield, he only copied what the Demon had done.
Using those small amounts of elements he created, he tried copying the order he used on the battlefield.
He made sure to use the same amount of Toxin Power when creating the elements to ensure that they all had the same amount of strength, which would make the balance easier to achieve, but the first attempt still caused a small explosion after the sixth element was introduced.
When the fifth element was introduced, they merged together and turned into a light-purple ball. The colour was much lighter compared to when he merged the thirteen elements in the sword.
So, the purple ball is what I need to absorb to transcend? The pictures and writing expla
in how to transcend, but not how this works.
Only way to find out is by doing it.
John sighed and tried again.
No matter how much he tried, the sixth element always caused the purple ball to explode.
He had his arms crossed in front of his chest as he was thinking of why the sixth element always failed when he got an idea.
When I used a medium on the battlefield, the elements never made a purple ball. Maybe creating that ball isn’t the correct method.
This time, he created all thirteen elements and made them float in front of him. He moved both of his hands in a clockwise direction as they got closer together. All thirteen elements inched closer together at the same time while following his movements.
John’s idea was that the purple ball would form when five or more elements joined together perfectly, but once it was formed, no other element could be added. If that were true, then it would be better to combine all thirteen elements together at once and see what would happen.
When the elements were mere millimetres apart from each other, John’s hands came closer together like he was trying to clap. It forced the elements to merge together at the same time.
His first attempt ended in… success!
His mouth was open, eyebrows arched in shock, and his hands bolted to his sides as he was afraid to damage his creation by accident. He was expecting to fail a few hundred or thousand times before succeeding.
The purple ball he had created was only a few inches in diameter. It was a much darker purple compared to the one that was created from only five elements. The purple ball floated in the air, unmoving.
Looking at the purple ball, he wanted to touch it, but he thought that if he touched it soon after it was created, then it might explode on him. He might not get lucky again if it did explode, so he curbed his curiosity and began doing the next step the pictures showed: Pushing Toxin Power and Soul Power out of his body.
With his body in the centre, a wind picked up and circled around the dome as he released it all at once, hoping to save even a second of time and get back to his family. He kept an eye on the purple ball in case it got blown away and smashed on the wall or floor, but even when the wind picked up, it never moved.