Hello, dear readers! Here's chapter 104 finally bringing a much more thorough explanation as to what that mysterious ring was. Ready yourself, because it's pretty cool!
Anyway, I've been resting a bit more last week and this one, which, adding that last interview last week and writing chapter 115 this week, which ended up as a 4000 words chapter, took most of my time. The result? I went from 12 advance chapters on Patre0n to 11. The upside is that the story is getting more and more interesting, so I don't feel too bad about it. Other than that, I've had a few ideas about my next book series, something that happens often. Some are good, some are forgettable. This one, though, feels like I found the 'one'. I won't spoil much since, not only it is a work in progress, with only a premise and not much else, but I would also like to finish this one first before plunging myself into the next one. The info I can share with you is this: It should take place in modern day in an imaginary American City, like Molvograd in this novel. MC cultivates Martial Arts and the world a 'normal' world, like ours. MC works in a bar. It will also be mostly Slice-of-Life (Romance and daily life drama included) with Martial Arts on the side, but mostly used for the longevity/wonder aspect. A bit like this novel but more grounded in reality and without the Blood-related romance. Hopefully, by the time I finish the 'A Knight's Journey' series, I'll be much better at writing which would make the story so much better. And yes, it's a bit like revisiting my previous unfinished novel 'A Simple Bar in the Multiverse', but it will be hundreds of times better. Anyway, that's just an idea for now, but I wanted to share it with you guys.
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Bright Star City, Bright Star Island, Flowing Stars Archipelago, Earth
Demian's P.O.V.
After the conversation with Sergei and Ling, Demian spent the next few days comprehending both the Tide Intent he planned to condense inside his Lower Inner Core and 'dig up' the unknown Water Intent 'buried in his Essence', as his teacher phrased it. The results were... Minor, to put it mildly. If he had to put his progress into words, it would be something like 'sensing the direction and being not too far from a light brush'. However, when it came to grasping that understanding firmly, he was still far away. Too far to even think about succeeding without at least months of deep contemplation, if not longer. After taking a deep breath, his eyes fluttered open, a glint of frustration hidden in his eyes. 'No wonder Teacher said you need a Heaven-Grade Talent to condense an Intent at the Peak of Tier 1... Even with my foundation, I feel like I'm walking in a dense fog with only some intermittent and vague markings to help guide me forward. Good thing I've got my Perks to help push me along, or it might have taken me years or even decades to succeed instead of months...' He thought absentmindedly, observing the Serene River flowing peacefully in front of his eyes, its pleasant gurgling noises accompanying the small animals' chatter and the sound of leaves dancing with the breeze to create an atmosphere matching the River's name.
Basking in the calming Aura, his irritation started to dissolve, and a new idea came to his mind. 'It's gonna take a while to see any progress, so I might as well start structuring my Soul Cultivation. I've been delaying it for too long.' He decided before recalling the Water Attributed Soul Cultivation Technique, his teacher had found for him. 'Source Earthly Technique', although only an Earth-Grade Soul Cultivation Technique, it was at the very peak of its Grade, which would be enough for him to cultivate for a while more. After that? 'I'll deal with that when I cross that bridge.' He thought briefly before the different steps of Soul Cultivation surfaced in his mind. 'Absorb the Elemental Energy from the top of his head and attract it to the Upper Inner Core located in my brain before refining the Energy to convert it into Elemental Soul Power. No wonder it's better to have specialized Cultivation Techniques. The efficiency is much better than when I cultivate my Inner Elemental Energy.' Indeed, doing it that way not only avoids the loss from Inner Energy conversion to Elemental Soul Power. It also allowed for more targeted effects, such as increasing Soul Power Purity and helping condense it enough to use it as fuel for Soul Skills.
All in all, using a Soul Cultivation Technique was only beneficial, and thus Demian had no qualm diverting his attention from condensing Intents to condensing his Soul Power. 'Who knows, it may even help me with those two elusive Intents. After all, although it's not the only factor, increasing my Soul Power should also help improve my Comprehension. As for how much, I'll need to do it to know exactly.' He contemplated for a short time before thinking about he general steps of Soul Cultivation. 'So, unlike with the Energy System where I need to fill my Lower Inner Core from the top, thus the Rain analogy, Soul Cultivation fills the Upper Core from the bottom, thus the name 'Brook Stage' for the first stage.' Now that he thought about it, Demian felt intrigued. 'The top is filled from the bottom, and the bottom is filled by the top... With the Middle Core, or my beating heart, being filled from the entire body, it is thought-provoking...' Although elusive, he sensed that he might have been touching some profound concept from the tip of his finger... Unfortunately, he could not grasp it. Was it due to his lack of knowledge or his low Cultivation Base? Maybe a bit of both?
In the meantime, he decided to file that information in one corner of his Mind before refocusing on his Soul Technique. Similar to his Energy Technique, Demian had to comprehend the equivalent of Nine Flawed Runes, which would lead him to condense the Source Intent Seed in his Upper Core. After letting out a sigh, he muttered. "Another Intent to condense... It better give me all those benefits Teacher promised me or I'll be really pissed off! Not that it would change anything, but still.' Shaking his head slightly, he then started contemplating the Flawed Runes included in the Technique, trying his best to be as quick as possible. Fortunately, his previous attainments in the Tide Intent comprehension helped him expedite the process somewhat. Unfortunately, cultivating the Soul was innately more complicated than cultivating one's Energy and Body. There was no mention as to why that was in the information Sergei gave him, but Demian could easily guess the two reasons behind it: not only was the Soul much more fragile, but any Soul injury could have irreversible consequences on a Cultivator's mental capacity and comprehension, permanently destroying one's Cultivation Path. Objectively, one could argue that it was similar for Energy and Body injuries, but having one's mental faculties permanently impaired felt more terrifying to the young man than any missing limbs or crippled Lower Core... 'I understand that one may not be worse than the other, but... Whatever, it's not like I'm without protection. With my Soul Shield Perk, I should be fine unless I really go too far, right?' Although he did not seem entirely convinced, he chose to ignore that thought since it would only fuel his worries further.
Instead, the young man focused on those Runes, and a few hours later, he was finally able to comprehend the first Three Flawed Runes completely, an achievement that brought a delighted smile to his face as his eyelids fluttered open, his blue irises shimmering with Elemental light before they returned to their usual marine blue, although gaining some additional depths, adding a hint of mystery to his powerful presence. After letting out a breath, Demian muttered with anticipation. "Now that I've comprehended those three Runes, I can finally start cultivating my Soul Power." At that moment, a powerful feeling traversed the young man, strongly hinting that a life-changing opportunity would appear as long as he followed through with his plan. That intuition was even stronger than the one he had about that traitor Reynard. 'Well, since even my intuition tells me that I should do it, I might as well get on with it.' He decided with a grin before closing his eyes and starting to step by step circulate the 'Source Earth Technique'.
The dense Water Elemental that was previously floating idly around him suddenly began to move in his direction, in particular to the Crown and Heaven Acupoints, the two being the 'gates' allowing external Elemental Energy to flood through the two Energy Channels of the same name. Located at the top of his head and between his eyes respectively, the two Acupoints were heavily attuned toward Soul Cultivation, the Heaven Channel leading pretty much directly to the Upper Core, which stored Soul Power. To be clear, Energy Channels were all interconnected, and thus, one could cultivate any of the three Upper, Middle, and Lower Cores using any of them, especially since the number of Secondary Channels connected to the Main ones was enormous. However, the efficiency was worlds apart depending on which one was used for specific cases. The Upper Core was cultivated the fastest with the help of the Crown, Heaven, and Source Channels, the latter being located at the throat. The Middle Core, located in the Heart, was best cultivated through the use of the Mortal, Merging, and Transformation Channels, respectively located at the Heart, Solar Plexus, and above the Belly Button. As for the Lower Inner Core, it was most attuned to the Earth, Creation, and Confluence Channels, located right below the Belly Button, around the Womb/Lower Abdomen, and the Tailbone, respectively. Each Channel had different characteristics, and the more of them were unlocked and the more extraordinary one became.
Interestingly, Demian's current unlocked channels tilted toward Soul and Body Cultivation with his Crown, Heaven, Mortal, and Transformation Channels unsealed while only his Earth Channel was usable for now, making it obvious why his Energy Cultivation was slightly lagging behind his Body Cultivation. Back to the situation at hand. Every unsealed Acupoint on his body started absorbing the Elemental Energy flowing toward him, first relatively slowly due to the need of directing it toward his Upper Core and not the Lower Core he was used to while refining it into Elemental Soul Power on the way, removing as much impurities as he could from the fluctuating Energy. It was not long before that newly refined Energy reached his Upper Core, crossing through the metaphysical sphere-shaped membrane and gushing liquid Soul Power akin to a small brook and beginning to fill the room, which had only contained misty Energy previously. Interestingly, the Soul Mist was slowly but surely being absorbed by the gushing Soul Power before being condensed into a similar liquid Energy, giving a strong boost to his Cultivation. 'I'm glad I'll be able to save some time! Not that I'm under any time constraint, but I did promise Sera that I'd seduce Liya once I break through to Tier 2... Anyway, no wonder that Technique has the word Source in it. Its Intent should fit perfectly with my Soul Cultivation.' He thought distractedly before his attention was suddenly attracted by something totally unexpected happening with his Upper Core.
As if something was waiting for the arrival of that liquid Soul Power inside the mist-filled space, violent tremors started seizing his whole Upper Core. Despite not feeling any different mentally, the young man could not help but worry. After all, any injury to his Upper Core, located in his brain, could have dire consequences on his mind, something he would rather avoid. Fortunately, those concerns were baseless, as the shaking, despite increasing in strength, did not damage anything. Instead, at the exact center of the ethereal space, some strange fluctuations began to slowly spread out before an object suddenly materialized, its shape strangely familiar. 'Why does it look like my ring...?' He wondered as one part of his Soul Sense examined the ordinary silver ring motionlessly floating inside his Mind, while another sliver confirmed the disappearance of the ring previously worn on his finger. 'So, we were right! That ring is definitely we...' His thoughts were interrupted once more when the silver circlet's surface started becoming unstable, its form changing swiftly. In an instant, the previous ring turned into a silver disk, erupting with a massive Energy pulse that induced incredible shifts inside his Core. Once the pulse reached the Core's membrane, even the smallest trace of Soul Power, whether in Mist-form or Liquid-form, was absorbed into the disk, bringing both confusion and heartache to Demian's consciousness.
However, those negative emotions vanished an instant later when a deluge of liquid Soul Power escaped the flying disk, filling the Space completely in a matter of a few instants. Strangely, the deluge of Energy seemed perfectly compatible with his Essence, as if he were the one who diligently cultivated it, which, as far as he knew, should have been impossible. It was as if someone else ate a meal, but you were the one benefiting from the nutrients. Utter nonsense! But that 'nonsense' was actually happening right in front of his 'eyes'. Or, more precisely, it had happened and was still happening. Indeed, as the quantity of Energy reached the limit of the First Level, the barrier stopping him from reaching the Second Layer broke... Maybe the word 'obliterated' would have been more appropriate with the speed with which it crumbled, as if its existence was merely an illusion. Immediately, his Core and his Soul Power started experiencing some improvements caused by the breakthrough, the former enlarging and strengthening while the latter became more refined. His entire body also benefited from the breakthrough, although due to the low-level breakthrough, the improvements were marginal at best.
All those changes would normally take both time and a massive amount of Energy. However, the mysterious disk seemed too impatient to wait as a second pulse of Energy erupted from it, recreating the previous scene of his Entire Soul Power reserve being absorbed by it one instant before being expelled again, not only in a much greater amount but also condensed to the limit of the Second Level. Interestingly, Demian could sense that each absorption-expelling cycle seemed to have a great purifying effect on his Soul Power, pushing his Energy beyond 90% Purity instantly. It also seemed to both have an enhancement effect on his Energy Channels, especially those located on his Upper Body, with even the sealed Source Channel vibrating slightly, while also visibly boosting the speed of transformation. Thus, it only took a few seconds for his body to completely adjust to his increased power, something that would take at least half an hour even with his Perks and Peak Tier 1 Cultivation Base in the Energy and Body System. Feeling a mix of confusion and happiness, Demian did not know how to react to the unexpected 'pie' falling from the strange object, and what followed did not help. As if planned perfectly, as soon as the breakthrough's side effects vanished, the amount of Energy reached a critical quantity, bringing Demian Soul Cultivation to the Peak Second Level Bottleneck, which did not hold longer than the previous one. With a resounding crack that only he could sense, his Cultivation Base jumped to the next Level with none of the hardship one usually experienced to move from one Level to the next.
At that point, Demian contemplated, in a daze. 'Three Levels in a few minutes... Why does it feel like the more I 'cheat', the more ridiculous the effects become each time? And it doesn't even seem like it's stopping anytime soon...' Indeed, the disk-shaped object continued to eject refined Soul Power until the empty space was filled again, the latter already a few times bigger than when that strange event started. Having reached Peak Brook Stage, with each Soul Droplet emitting a stronger Aura than before, the young man briefly wondered if the mad rush was over. However, that 'naive' thought was quickly discarded as soon as his Soul Sense caught the growing instability on the disk's surface, its Aura changing from undecipherable to something that seemed vaguely familiar to Demian. To be more specific, the Aura seemed to divide into two distinct fluctuations, one reminding him of some sort of indistinct light and the other its complete opposite, some kind of blurry darkness. The two contradictory powers were intermingling seamlessly, creating shapes and patterns he was unfortunately incapable of understanding, bringing a slight feeling of frustration at the missed opportunity. Nonetheless, he still did his best to glean something from the wondrous phenomena happening inside him. His focus especially sharpened when a Fourth Energy pulse burst from it, inducing a new change to the constantly growing Upper Core.
As soon as that Energy Fluctuation blasted off from the Disk, the metaphysical barrier blocking him from the next Cultivation Stage crumbled, triggering a massive qualitative change, unlike the previous breakthrough, which mostly affected the quantity of Energy and had very little incidence on its Quality. As for the increase in Soul Energy Purity that had now reached a staggering 99%, matching the other two Systems, it had nothing to do with the boost in his Level but was essentially brought by the Item's refinement of his Soul Power. Back to the current situation. Demian's attention concentrated on the changes in the Light and Dark forces, trying to discern some kind of logic or patterns he could use to further his own comprehension of Intent. His reasoning was thus: guessing that those forces corresponded to the Light and Dark Elements, the latter being Seraphine's Cultivated Element, he thought that by relying on the fact that each of the Nine Elements was connected in some way, he could infer some understanding of his own Water Element. Unfortunately, the next few minutes were fruitless as the so-called 'connection between Elements' was either a lie, or his Cultivation was too low for him to catch it. His intuition leaned toward the second possibility, despite not having any evidence to confirm it.
Unexpectedly, the proof he was not even searching for presented itself in front of him after what seemed to be both hours and seconds to the young man experiencing that mind-boggling 'incident'. Indeed, those strange Light and Dark Patterns suddenly started to pulse with a strange rhythm, the two Forces merging completely before separating again. However, this time was completely different as the Light and Dark fluctuations had disappeared, leaving two sets of connected Elements. The first one moved below and created a half sphere with the flat surface facing upward, while the other floated upward, connecting its own flat surface to the one below. The result was a strange orb composed of Elements that were as incomprehensible to the young man as the previous Light and Dark or whatever those forces were, although this time it seemed mostly due to how deeply interconnected they were. Unbeknownst to him, his Soul Cultivation had already reached the Peak of Stream Stage, or Peak Sixth Level, which was the trigger for the Disk's, now Sphere's, changes. After who knew how long, the peculiar sphere erupted with an Energy Pulse multiple times more powerful than each of the previous ones combined. Immediately, the process of breaking through repeated itself, although the scale was much grander since moving from the Mid Stage to the High Stage, or more specifically, from the Stream Stage to the River Stage, was both a massive qualitative and quantitative upgrade.
Interestingly, in the process, the sphere's appearance changed again. This time, the Elements that were previously indistinguishable separated, leaving only the faintest link between each of them. Thus, Demian was able to identify each of them, eliciting a flurry of conjectures in his Mind, along with a similar number of questions. 'The Earth, Metal, Water, Wood, and Fire Elements below. The Wind and Thunder-Lightning Elements above. Am I witnessing some kind of World creation?' With no one to answer his question, the young man chose to continue spectating a scene that few probably witnessed, if any at all. Following the Elements' divide, a part of the previously immaterial Energy turned into material 'objects'. Mountains rose, Ores materialized, Vegetation grew, Lakes, Rivers, and Seas formed, and Fire Veins ignited. Despite no other fully sentient lifeforms appearing, the lower half-sphere's current appearance reminded him of those flat-earth theories in his previous life, except for the round shape beneath the 'Earth' part. As for the upper half-sphere, although still in the same shape, Clouds condensed along with many different Gases, while Thunder boomed loudly and Lightning struck mercilessly, creating a sort of miniature 'Heaven'.
Feeling fully captivated by the fantastic spectacle, Demian did not notice that as the transformation kept occurring to this 'mini-World', some extraordinary transformation was also happening inside his Upper Core. His Soul Power, previously akin to a Stream, now resembled an expansive River, with dangerous fluctuations coming from each of the dense droplets it was comprised of. And, once again, his Soul Cultivation had actually reached the Peak of the Spirit Gathering, which was the specific name for the Tier 1 Rank in the Soul System. Not only that, but the Flawless Purity that was so hard to reach in the other two Systems was smoothly achieved for his Soul Energy, as if bottlenecks were just jokes in front of that mysterious Item. That being the case, it still was not the end of the whole improbable event, as his Soul Sense was suddenly pulled inside the previously inscrutable Item without leaving him any time to mentally prepare himself.
'What other surprises does it have prepared for me?' He pondered with a great sense of puzzled anticipation.