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91.18% Black Onyx: Phoenix Resurrection / Chapter 207: Abandoned

Kapitel 207: Abandoned

It was all so confusing and wild.
It all started when I accidentally destroyed the Portal Nexus of the Brilliant Sword Sect. It was an honest mistake, but they were unreasonable in their demands to get my head as payment.
Using that as an excuse, they began poking the bear, I mean the Myriad Beasts Sect, slowly escalating the conflict. The young generation from both sides was used to poke and prod each other until they were ready to throw down for real. Even then, the young ones were used as pawns for the two Sects while the leaders just watched from afar, scheming.
But holy shit, in the end even the Sky Realm Cultivators from both sides were but pawns of the old ancestor. How much of it was real? Was he even close to death, to begin with? He certainly played his part well, pretending to be feeble and leaving the world for centuries so everyone would forget about him.
Still, even though some knew of his existence, they never would have imagined he would use his entire Sect as bait.
What a crazy man. And after luring the overconfident enemy into a trap, he won without having to do any heavy lifting himself. Thousands of powerful Cultivators died. Thousands! And what did he do? He used their death to power his Formation! What a fucking genius lunatic. I had to give him that, he was patient.
But holy fucking shit, why did I have to get swallowed by a portal?! Why were the badges on clothes?! Couldn't they make rings or earrings instead?! Those would be so much harder to lose!
[Faaaaak!]
I roared through gritted teeth as most of my attention was on keeping my body in one piece. I tumbled through a chaotic tunnel, with the feeling like I was falling, getting squished, and torn apart, all at once!
Which way was I supposed to pull/push? My flesh just wanted to tear itself apart no matter how I tried to reinforce it. I had to focus entirely on keeping my cells connected, and even that wasn't enough. My impossibly hard scales cracked and peeled off, while simultaneously cutting into my flesh like sharp daggers as they pushed in.
The opposing forces didn't cancel each other out, they worked in tandem instead! What the fuck was that! The laws of physics didn't make any sense! Down was up, up was down, and my insides wanted to become my outsides.
And the travel didn't seem to have any ending in sight. I just tumbled through the void while trying my best not to get torn apart. Where the fuck did the portal even lead? The ancestor said it was random. Could it be in space?! On the moon even?!
I had to get out before my mind gave out. No matter how strong I was, the place was a prison for those much stronger than me.
I split my attention, searching for a weakness in the structure around me. It was fucking strong, impossibly so, and it was changing constantly. If I wanted to force my way through the shifting energies, it would be like crawling through razor wire, naked, while the wire was electrified and on fire. Oh, and it was spinning with the speed of a blender.
I pushed against the confines of my prison and felt my fingers get shredded. I pulled back and somehow reabsorbed my mangled flesh. The damage was insane, but at least it didn't curse me, or attack the Soul. The old man didn't lie about that at least. It was not an attack. It was just a portal, a dangerous one. Or maybe it was a wormhole, because it sure looked like one.
Anyway, I imagine if I was on the upper spectrum of the Sky Realm the travel might not even have been that bad. But as things stood, I was not made to deal with chaotic spatial distortions.
[Argh!] I focused inward and reverted my gigantic transformation, shrinking my body down into a more manageable, human size. It fucking hurt! I felt like I was going to explode. My stomach was bulging and I couldn't hold it. I blew up and expanded back to full size. I had things to digest, I couldn't transform before that.
While keeping my defenses topped up, I focused on absorbing the Essence. I had to be quick, so the efficiency was discarded. Black smoke began to escape my mouth and I absorbed the Body Essence of everything I ate, at extraordinary speeds. Faster than I had ever done it before. It was going to take a while to fully incorporate into my flesh and bones, but that wasn't the problem. I just had to get the bulk of the material out.
I kept healing as my body tried to decay and the tunnel began constricting. The edges of my body began getting torn to shreds, so I shrunk down again and again, as fast as I could. I pushed the mass into my bones, reinforcing the defenses over and over again. It didn't help much, but it alleviated some of the immediate pain.
[C'mon…]
I tried searching for any weak points in the structure, or any mistakes, but there just weren't any. I just really didn't want to go wherever the portal was taking me, especially since the travel time was so long. Wasn't it supposed to be instant? Or was that just for teleports while wormholes such as the one I was in took longer? Heck if I knew!
After some time I finally digested everything and burped out a big cloud of black soot. All the impurities were expelled. It was inefficient and I lost a lot of Essence that way, but at least it was quick.
Then I shrunk down again. I retracted all my muscle, all the blood and veins, all the sinew. It was all sucked into my bones. My black, obsidian-looking bones. They gained that glassy sheen after all was said and done. I was like a black crystal skeleton.
It felt uncomfortable, but it was the best idea I had. I took a moment to recompose myself and then did what I had to do.
I jumped.
I jumped into the embrace of chaos, into the chaotic energies that held the tunnel open, into pure carnage. My bones cracked, yet I pushed through. My entire body broke apart and turned into a puddle of black paste apart from the ever-expanding crystal on my chest which already took over my entire ribcage, and I kept pushing. I had to go through the barrier one way or another.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I found a pinprick-sized weak spot on the side of the tunnel. I pushed with everything I had, exploding all my Qi at once in a focused Disruption, and pierced through that tiny imperfection.
Instantly everything collapsed. Like an overinflated balloon, it popped.
The tunnel unraveled and the chaotic energies inside it destabilized, splitting itself open and spitting me out. I felt a sudden release as the pressure was gone, and was embraced by open space. My Soul was still bound to my bones, so I recalled every last fragment and began reconstructing my body.
Luckily I had done it so many times before so the process was easy. I just had to make sure I collected everything because I was basically out of energy. No mistakes were allowed, especially since I was getting really tired. All that effort was just too much and I just wanted to fall asleep. Didn't let myself though. Not until I was certain I was safe.
I slowly restored my body with only minor damage sustained, and just as I regenerated my eyes and opened them, I realized I was falling from the sky the entire time, and smashed face-first into the dirt.
After the shock of a crashlanding wore off, I just couldn't be bothered to care anymore.
[Guard me.] I mentally summoned Tiny and mumbled those two words, before finally falling unconscious.
***
I woke up, not feeling exactly refreshed, but still much better than before, and yawned. Crawling out of the crater I noticed Tiny standing just outside it, with a few weird monkey-like creatures with large faces and sharp teeth, dead at the golem's feet.
[Good job, buddy.] I patted him on the back.
The critters didn't seem all that strong, but they would have been annoying to deal with in the state I was in. I was still pretty low on Qi despite the passage of time. Actually, I realized the crater I was sleeping in and its immediate surroundings were already nearly devoid of Qi while I recovered just a fraction of my energy.
[Damn wilderness…]
I moved about a hundred steps away and sat down, absorbing the Base Qi at a rapid pace. I actively pulled it towards me, compressing it hundreds of times. It was a trickle. Compared to the density of Qi that was previously on the battlefield, the air around me might as well be empty. There wouldn't be much difference.
[Oh, god… This place fucking sucks.] I stood up and moved again, having already exhausted all the magical energies in the area. I really didn't look forward to being a wandering Cultivator.
But then I remembered I had prepared for such a situation. I took out a Qi Pill and tossed it into my mouth. Soon it dissolved, filling my body with its stored power.
It wasn't much, not even a tenth of my total, but it was much better than the alternative. I swallowed two more and then focused, spilling out and shaping my Qi. Soon a copy of mine formed, my doppelganger. I believe the name of the technique was Split Faces of the Crescent Moon.
Anyhow, we were at the foot of a small hill, so with a thought and a smidgen of Qi, I forced the ground open and created a shallow cave.
[Guard the cave.] I said to Tiny, and my twin also gave a nod and turned around, standing guard at the entrance.
Walking inside, I reinforced the walls a bit and then sat down in a comfortable spot, raising the earth around me for the best fit. I then closed my eyes and began to meditate. It had been a while since I thoroughly checked my Soul and considering all that happened, I had to make sure everything was in order.
I checked, and to say it was good, would be an understatement. While I slept, my Soul kept growing, absorbing all the other Souls still waiting their turn inside my Sea of Consciousness to be devoured.
Golden Core, Fifth Layer. That was my Cultivation Realm. And I was close to advancing again. How good was that? I grew stronger without even doing anything. Half a century of progress in a single day. Pretty good.
Of course, some of the Souls I had absorbed were pretty strong and survived the shock of death with their consciousness intact. An old man tried to take over and possess my body. How laughable. He was just at the Sixth Level of the Spirit Realm. He was too weak!
Trying to overpower my Soul was a futile effort. Despite being in a higher Realm, the density didn't even compare. His Soul was like styrofoam while mine was tungsten. He could attack all he wanted, I didn't even feel it.
[Alright ladies, settle down. Everybody will get their turn.] I spoke inside my mind. The hundreds of Souls tensed as I got to work. Such a feast was not easy to come by. I had to savor every morsel. And those Souls were oh-so delicious.
The feast came to a sudden stop as I felt my Soul being stuffed to the brim. A moment later I stepped into Golden Core, Sixth Layer.
[Okay… Let's see if I can advance five Minor Realms in one day…]
I refocused and continued my accelerated Cultivation. Seventh Layer, here I come.

next chapter

Kapitel 208: New Friend?

I was so close, so close to reaching the Eighth Layer. I mean, I could advance already, but then I wouldn't reach the maximum strength possible. Maybe another five Spirit Realm Souls and I could cross over that threshold. Still, advancing Five Minor Realms at once was nothing to sneeze at.
While it was theorized that reaching the absolute maximum possible density of the Soul would give a Cultivator unparalleled abilities, Cultivation was already dealing with huge exponentials. Maxing out every Minor Realm would transfer you to the path of double exponentials, and those numbers became stupidly huge, fast. I was possibly one of the few people in the world who could do such a thing.
I stretched and exited the cave. It was night. The coast was clear and nobody bothered me the entire time. I reabsorbed what Qi was left of my doppelganger and packed Tiny into my ring.
I then tested the space around me and noticed it felt soft. I used a fraction of my power to twist it and then flew up above the trees. Looking at the sky I sighed with relief. Two familiar moons stared back at me. I was still on the same planet.
[Thank fuck.]
I was really afraid I would end up in another alien world. That would be too much to deal with. Still, as I looked around, I recognized nothing.
I flew higher and the air became chilly, yet the wilderness just stretched out in every direction. Wasting no time, I blasted off higher, flying as high as my powers allowed me. Nothing.
No recognizable landmarks, no human villages, and no abandoned structures. It was just jungles, barren mountains, and frozen peaks. There were a few rivers, though none of which had any signs of human civilization.
I leaned forward and accelerated. I flew in a large spiral from my landing spot, searching ever wider from the middle. After doing that for a few minutes, and getting no results, I decided to slow down and replenish my energy first. I was still low on Qi, not to mention it was still night.
I dropped down to the forest floor and leaned against a tree. Not any special, magical tree. It was just a normal tree. The kind with tiny leaves and soft bark.
I closed my eyes and spread my awareness wide. I let my Spirit Sense, as weak as it was since I was not in the Spirit Realm, stretch across the land. I already knew how to use its weaker version since I had so many memories of Spirit Realm Cultivators. I just let it flow and quietly observed.
The night was mostly silent, with just a few night critters chirping.
I spread a web of Qi around me up to a few dozen meters away, sensitive enough to know if anyone came, but hidden enough so they wouldn't notice.
I knew my senses could detect them from farther away, but in case they were good at cloaking their presence, the web of Qi would break at the slightest disturbance, alerting me to movement.
Then, satisfied with my crude defenses, I replayed the recent events. I couldn't do much with all that happened the day prior, but that sniper I fought against… His magic bullets were interesting. They were extremely dense and full of destructive potential.
I summoned a ball of Qi above my hand. It was transparent, barely visible, like mist. I began filling it up with more energy. It slowly became denser and more defined, gaining a golden color. Golden Qi. It was logical.
But then I intensified my push, and the sphere shrunk. From the size of an apple to the size of a marble. Its color became much deeper and it felt more solid. I watched it hovering over my palm as it began to leak.
The Qi coming out of it was dense, but not dense enough. I compressed it further. It was getting more difficult. Any imperfection, anywhere at all, and the Qi would try to escape. It would burst.
I encased the sphere with my Intent and compressed it harder. I could feel the pressure radiating from it as I pushed and pushed.
For a moment I let it relax, and the sphere expanded. I filled it with even more Qi, and then compressed it again. It turned solid like metal and gained that distinctive polished golden shine.
I compressed it even further, my Aura suddenly exploding as I pulled on my emotions. I pushed harder. The yellow transitioned into a paler shade. On the way towards becoming white. Spirit Qi.
I held the pale yellow pea-sized sphere in my hand. It was a significant chunk of my Qi, and it didn't leak. It wasn't exploding. It was tightly held, its confines clearly marked by my mind.
I looked at it, observed it, and studied its structure.
I could change it. That's what I thought while looking at that tiny ball of energy. I expanded it ever so slightly and then turned it into a raindrop shape. I then mentally flicked it, and it disappeared from my hand, into the distance. I saw the tiny glowing yellow dot get smaller and smaller as it pierced through trees, rocks, and small hills in its way.
A few seconds later I saw the sky light up for a moment in the distance, and then a loud boom and a shockwave blasted past me, ruffling my hair. A small smile formed on my lips.
I made finger pistols and play-fired at the center of that destruction.
[Headshot.]
My Magic Bullet was pretty effective. It used about 5% of my Qi, but considering how much that was, and how tightly it was packed, I wondered if it had a good penetrative power. It was quite fast and packed a punch, if it could just pierce through defenses like the sniper's gun did, then it could become a perfect spell.
Though it was probably more suited for Spirit Realm Cultivators, considering I used inspiration from them. But who cares? I made it, I could use it. It was fine.
I stood up, satisfied with my little experiment, and stretched a little. I then summoned Tiny and went on a slow walk through the forest, first to see the destruction up close, but then to recover my Qi on the move as well. Staying still in one place for ten minutes and then moving after the Qi there was exhausted didn't appeal to me.
I came to the clearing the explosion created. I stood at the edge of a massive crater, with the forest leveled for a hundred meters around it. All around the destruction was about 500 meters across. Massive destruction from a single bullet. And I could make another 20 or so.
I pointed and another golden sphere formed at the tip of my finger. It quickly became denser and then shrunk down to the size of a marble. I just needed to give the order and it would fly in a straight line at hypersonic speeds. I reabsorbed it all and dropped my hands. It was getting too easy for me to move and waste my energy.
The only problem was that I didn't have enough. I needed to get more of it.
Of course, my Dantian would slowly grow over time to catch up with the size of my Soul. But that was so damn slow, one of the disadvantages of growing so fast. Energy capacity growth would be delayed. But for that, I just had to wait and my Qi reserves would gradually increase over time.
[Sigh… It is what it is.]
I took a deep breath and crossed my hands behind my back. With my stone guardian by my side, I took a leisurely stroll, breathing the fresh forest air. My life was peaceful and quiet. For the moment.
***
I flew hundreds of meters above the ground in an ever-expanding spiral pattern, searching for something. Something that would tell me where to go. But there was nothing. The jungles and hills looked all the same to me no matter how far I went.
Unlike the last time I got lost, I didn't even know the general direction my home was in. I was completely clueless.
After flying for a full day, I finally saw some change. The forest thinned, replaced by semi-desert terrain. The density of Qi dropped even further.
[Man, fuck!] I cursed and flew even higher.
To the west, the landscape was similar to the one where De Danw had his secret base, but I knew it couldn't be the same. The plants growing down there were completely different. I must have been transported to the other side of the continent or something, if I was even on the same continent still. I could just as easily be somewhere completely different.
While I was sure it would be interesting to meet some people living in such harsh places, I had no desire to do that at the moment. Maybe when I at least knew the area. I definitely needed a map of some kind. Whatever I already had didn't help in the least.
Having realized I probably went the completely opposite way to where I should be going, I decided to rest for the rest of the day and then turn back east in the morning. I dropped to the ground and made a small camp with a campfire in the middle. I wasn't cold, I didn't need it for cooking or keeping the beasts at bay, but looking into the flames was just something so relaxing.
I took a piece of meat out of my storage, flash-fried it with my flames, and then began to absentmindedly munch on it as I stared into the fire. After some time I heard a quiet squeak and saw a creature that looked like a small desert fox looking at me from behind a nearby boulder.
I scanned it and it could barely be considered a Cultivator. It was so pitifully weak.
[You want sum?] I said quietly and pointed at the meat in my hand. Its eyes were wide and clear with desire, but that was the flesh of a Spirit Beast. Or maybe it was Spirit Long Pig… Anyway, it would probably kill it if it had a small taste of it.
I instead took a small chunk of some random creature that found its way into my storage ring. Probably one of the Giant Rats or something. I tossed it over and the fox jumped back, hiding behind the boulder.
I urged it with a gentle voice, and after a while, it finally gathered the courage and poked its head out again. It carefully approached the piece of meat, sniffed it, and then bit it with its tiny teeth, dragged it a few steps back, and began tearing into it.
I smiled as I watched the poor creature devouring the meat like a starving beast. It made me feel a certain unfamiliar warmth in my heart. I guess that's how one should feel when faced with such cuteness.
My mind was at peace.

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