Uria, Redwood Forest, 30 kilometres from Valerio.
Two young women lifted their gazes, identical frowns gracing their delicate features. Their vibrant green eyes, framed by flowing hazel hair, shimmered with intensity. With petite noses and high cheekbones, they carried an ethereal beauty that gave them the air of royalty, like living portraits of two princesses.
Their displeasure, however, was palpable.
Nothing, absolutely nothing, should have been able to sway the Ying Yang Redwoods in the way they swayed now. These ancient trees, grown over hundreds of millennia, stood as silent guardians of the planet's fragile balance. They were not merely trees but essential conduits, harmonising the delicate flow of Lu that sustained life on Uria.
The ongoing war had already wreaked havoc on the planet. Lu concentrations in the atmosphere fluctuated chaotically, thrown out of kilter by the cultivators who relentlessly drew upon and mixed the Neutral Lu for their battles.
Yet the Ying Yang Redwoods endured, steadfast anchors of stability in a world teetering on collapse. Losing even one could spell disaster, and the anomaly shaking them now was an ominous sign.
The twins exchanged a single glance, their expressions hardening as an unspoken decision passed between them. Without hesitation, they broke into a sprint, their movements synchronised with the urgency of the moment. Whatever was causing this disturbance, they could not allow it to continue—and they certainly couldn't afford to miss the source.
Back at the clearing, Valerio stirred awake, the golden hues of the setting sun spilling into the clearing. His eyes blinked against the light, expecting to be greeted by the tranquil beauty of the lake and the towering redwoods. Unfortunately, the scene he envisioned was perverted beyond belief.
The lake water had seemingly disappeared, a crevice left in its wake, filled with thick branches and giant leaves from the redwood, as if a beaver had suddenly decided to call the lake his home. The fish that should've been swimming in the lake were nowhere to be seen either.
Terrified, Valerio glanced up.
The redwoods were bent in unnatural angles, their once-majestic forms scattered around the clearing. The entire clearing had been covered in a mesh of fallen trees, forming a wall too high for Valerio to see over.
"What the... what the hell happened?" Valerio muttered, his voice trembling the slightest bit as he took in the devastation around him.
Valerio quickly stood, placing his palm against the floor and pushing himself up. He panicked midair, not because of his surroundings but because he had jumped way higher than he had intended to.
He flailed his hands midair as he clumsily regained his balance and landed on the ground. As he adjusted his pristine robes, Valerio formed two fists and jabbed at the air, 'Tier 7'.
"Tier 7!"
Valerio spun around himself, as he checked to see if any wild beasts or similar had come to check on the commotion.
Aside from the devastation around him, his quick, blurred sweep saw nothing critical.
'Good enough,' he practically fell on the earth, crossing his legs and emptying his mind.
Tier 7 was pivotal for one reason above all others: the soul sea.
Located within the soul bead, the soul sea mirrored one's state of mind and the essence of their very being. It was both a profound source of power and a perilous domain.
Damage to the soul could result in catastrophic consequences, ranging from a loss of vitality to irreversible soul injuries. After all, harm to the soul was the hardest to mend, often leaving lingering effects that no amount of physical healing could erase. This made the soul sea not only a cornerstone of Tier 7 cultivation but also a dangerous vulnerability for most cultivators.
Valerio disconnected himself from the outside world, the sound of the wind slowly fading into obscurity, only the sensation of his own body remaining. As his concentration grew deeper, he could feel another Lu, one much more ethereal than any other he had felt, his Spiritual Lu.
As soon as Valerio willed for it, the Spiritual Lu came under his control, becoming an extension of himself. The feeling was novel yet intoxicating.
Using Spiritual Lu made him feel and see wherever his Lu was, as if there was another miniature version of him there. It could be described exactly as an extension of his senses, but in a wider range.
He willed Spiritual Lu to stop transmitting the 5 senses, and the feeling was gone. However, the Lu stayed under his control.
He willed his Spiritual Lu to travel through his veins as it reached his brain. And soon enough, he felt a small bead in his optic chiasm. He focused on its location, a small point in the center of his head where his eyes and brain connected.
He would only have to do this the first time he entered his soul sea, every other time would become near instant, with him becoming aware of its existence.
Valerio was suddenly overcome with an unshakable urge to open his eyes…
And so he did.
What greeted him was a world of black and blue, a boundless space with a small sea below, its waters stained a deep, mesmerising azure. The space above stretched endlessly, a pitch-black expanse occasionally illuminated by flickering azure accents that seemed to pulse like distant stars.
At the center of his soul sea floated a lily pad, large enough to hold a couple of tables and chairs. Its forest-green hue shimmered faintly, blending harmoniously with the glowing blue sea beneath it. The lilypad's surface radiated an unearthly beauty, but its true centrepiece was the small budding lily at its heart. Only the size of a palm, the flower remained furled, as though patiently waiting for the right moment to bloom.
As if drawn by an invisible force, Valerio floated toward the lily pad. A gentle aura enveloped him, soothing every fibre of his being. The sensation was overwhelming—comfort so profound it bordered on intoxicating.
For a fleeting moment, he felt his mind slipping into a blissful haze, the urge to surrender to the tranquillity nearly irresistible. But with a sharp intake of breath, Valerio snapped himself out of the reverie, shaking off the stupor.
He approached the lily, only now noticing its vibrant pink petals, which glowed softly against the lily pad's green canvas. Tiny violet particles orbited the bud, their movement slow and deliberate, as though guarding its delicate form. Valerio couldn't help but feel a sense of reverence, as if the flower held a secret too profound to be disturbed.
'This must be the [Soul Lily Seed], what a beautiful flower, I wonder how it'll look once it's bloomed.'
Valerio started walking around the lily pad, gazing at the gorgeous lily from every angle he could find and as he was doing so, he found his [Soul Camera] lying on the lily pad.
A warm smile rose on Valerio's face. He reached down and picked it up, after fiddling around with the camera until he heard a subtle click, the camera flashed in all sorts of colours. Images projected themselves out from the camera lens, forming a hologram-like image a metre away.