章 119: Memories
I quietly gulped.
"It happened so many decades ago when I visited a Mortal village as a favor to an old friend. He had a daughter… She was pretty, and we had plenty of fun while I stayed there. I, of course, wanted to take her back with me, but she refused saying she couldn't leave her family behind…"
Elder Li trailed off as his eyes stared into the distance, unfocused.
"I didn't even know I had a son until nearly three decades later when I received a letter notifying me of her death. After doing some research I found out the kid was under my nose the whole time." He laughed amid tears. "He joined the Sect alone and was a hard worker. I made an excuse to take him under my wing to teach him, but… I never told him who I really was. I never told him how proud I felt for him to be my son. And now…"
Elder Li fell into silence and lowered his head. The body of his son floated in the crystal coffin, never to awaken.
"I can't even avenge him…"
I didn't know what to say, the emotions too high for words, so I left Elder Li alone to mourn. And there was a pressure on my Soul I had to sort out, preferably sooner rather than later.
***
I ran into my room and closed the door and jumped on the bed. I thought the pressure and pain coming from my Soul was from the damage I had sustained, but then, as it kept getting worse, I realized otherwise.
You know how when you really have to go to the toilet and every second is agony and you just know it's going to happen whether you like it or not? It kind of felt similar. It was going to happen even if I held it back because my Soul was ready to advance.
That Sicario guy was nearly at Spirit Realm already, and with all the other Souls I have absorbed at the same time, they were more than enough for advancement, not Fragment required.
I mentally prepared myself and closed my eyes, sinking into the Sea of Consciousness.
My Soul was cracking. The outer layer was expanding as the last dregs of remnant Souls were consumed and refined. It was ready. I wanted to advance with the strongest Soul, and when it came to it, I couldn't hold it any longer. It wasn't getting any better than that. I released.
It happened so fast. The outer shell of my Nascent Soul split open like an over ripen watermelon and molten-looking Soul Essence spilled out, forming a fresh mist.
That was the breakthrough. I had reached the Nascent Soul VII!
Every subsequent time it happened became more intense. It was a clear sign of my Soul getting stronger. And as such it grew, forming a new layer, a new shell. Just three more times and I would step into the Golden Core.
I meditated for a few hours in silence, stabilizing my Cultivation. When I finished, I felt no more danger from the Fragment.
I took my Soul closer and there came resistance, yet no pain. I came right beside it. Over the time I kept it in my Sea of Consciousness, it had decayed a tiny bit, and I had consumed about 10% of it. The pressure it gave off, instead of being threatening, began exciting me instead. It gave me a Soul version of a good pump in the gym.
I placed a hand on it. The pressure increased and my Soul's misty outer layer visibly compressed. But, it felt so… good!
I felt it, the realization that I was almost ready finally hitting me in full force. I placed my other hand on the Fragment and my Soul shuddered. I was at the last step. Just one more cycle of adaptation and I would be able to feast on the dead Gods.
But then everything changed as I remembered the reason for my rapid advancement. Had there been anyone in the room when I first opened my eyes, they would most likely freeze in fear.
My eyes were full of silent fury. Because, apart from the enemy assassin that came after us, there were traitors in the Sect. A nest of vermin. A filthy rot I would soon cut out.
***
It was the next day. Elder Li hadn't shown himself since the tragedy, and nobody came to bother us from the outside. That was fine with me. I did not know I could keep myself mentally stable if anyone came asking questions about my dead Brother.
It was so pissing me off, the fact that the culprits were still safely hiding in the Sect, probably celebrating that the assassin blew himself up. That way there was no chance of him ever getting his Soul searched and clues about their involvement found. They were safe.
But what they didn't know, is that I knew them all. I had seen their faces, through the eyes of another. And I had imprinted those memories deep into my Soul. I would never forget them.
[Damn bastards! I'll kill them all!] I hissed through gritted teeth. My fingers were balled into fists, and the more I thought about it, the angrier I became. A Sect was supposed to offer safety. We were all Brothers, sworn to help one another, yet some dared betray that trust. Once I got my hands on them, I would break their bones and cripple them for life. They didn't deserve death. Death was an escape from suffering, something too good for the likes of them.
My thought slowly spiraled to a darker place, threatening to consume me. I already felt my hormones spiking, adrenaline in particular. I had to forcefully stop myself from thinking about revenge.
I did some breathing exercises and began Cultivating. It was slow, very slow, but it did the trick. I sank into my Sea of consciousness and remained there for hours, just looking at the Fragment in my hands.
So much power in such a little piece. Even though it was thousands of years old, it kept its value.
I mentally prepared myself. It was not necessary to consume it immediately, but I could wait no longer. It had to be done.
My Soul yearned for it for so long, I just had to let it go. And so I did. After countless days, I finally let it devour. Like an angry lion on a lamb, it pounced on the Fragment and swallowed it whole. It didn't even hurt… for a moment.
And then the pain came. A burning sensation, worse than what I have ever experienced before. My Soul was burning in golden flames! And the ironic thing was, I didn't even feel the heat on my physical body anymore. I was immune to flames, at least Mortal ones. But this was the Divine. And I was the heretic getting burned at the stake.
The pressure I thought I had mastered, erupted from inside my Soul, threatening to blow it up. I subconsciously roared and released the control I struggled to maintain. Black mist, mixed with fire and gold, sprayed out from inside. It was so much, like smoke from a coal powerplant, and it filled the area in the form of a dense mist.
That was my Soul Essence! It was decaying! My Soul was falling apart!
Despite the burning sensation through my entire body, I forcefully took hold of it all, stuffing the black mist back into my Soul, or the 7th Layer around it.
The Divine Fragment was still getting devoured and incorporated into my Soul even as its mere presence was breaking it down. Many more shining golden specks came to the surface, anchored into the outer shell, searing it like tiny pieces of ember. It was agony!
***
Sometime later, it might have been either hours or days, for I had no sense of time, but the torture came to an end. I gathered my outer shell, all the mist, and decaying Soul Essence, and it coalesced back, forming another layer. I stepped into the Nascent Soul VIII.
I gasped for breath as I opened my eyes and downed a jug of cold water in one gulp. Parts of my Soul were still black, yet more of it had shining golden streaks across it. I began to laugh. It was one of those crazy laughs you would hear after a person survived close contact with death. I had survived. I had survived the trial and reaped the rewards.
I opened my pouch and took out another ancient Memory Orb.
The experience was still fresh in my mind as I had just advanced my level by one. But why stop there?
***
I stood outside in the rain, the drops sizzling as they fell on my exposed skin.
My eyes were closed as I sorted through the myriad of memories that were now mine but did not belong to me originally.
I was close, so close to the Golden Core. I absorbed two more Fragments from the Memory Orbs, yet they were not enough to push me across the threshold. I needed a break for that final step, and I had to do it on my own.
That is why I stood outside, cooling down the raging inferno inside my mind and taking note of the changes that occurred.
I circulated Qi through my body, its form twisting and turning in an unusual way, to achieve an effect I was never able to consciously control. My brain became saturated with it, with the mystical energy, and I opened my eyes.
I looked at the drop of water hanging in the air in front of my face with awe. My concentration sifted and it disappeared, falling to the floor.
[Damn it...]
I focused again and the rain gradually slowed down until it once again stood still. In my perception, it remained so for about ten seconds. Then my thoughts wavered again and time returned back to its original flow.
Well, it was not actually time that changed, only my perception of it. My mind shifted into a state of flow and my thoughts sped up and slowed down as I wished them to.
But my skill with the technique was laughable. I knew how to do it, but had no experience. That bastard Sicario took decades to master it, yet even he sometimes slipped, especially if the pain he was experiencing was too great.
I didn't have the luxury of time to master it like that. That's why I had to train that much harder. With his memories, I knew this would not stop. If one assassin failed, they would send another. The Brilliant Sword Sect was preparing for war, that much was clear. They would not let the culprit for destroying the Portal Nexus go. However, since I hid my real face, finding me would be nearly impossible.
But I couldn't leave anything to chance.
I focused again, and my thoughts and perception speed up.
I tried to do magic in that state, but it was difficult. Multitasking was absolutely required, and it wasn't easy. But worse than that, I realized just how slowly Qi actually moved. It was like honey flowing through my veins. I thought it was fast before, but after slowing down time so much, it was agony.
It was as if it didn't want to move at all. Magic effects also formed incredibly slowly because of it, though I was certain it didn't take longer than a split second. But when a falling drop of water barely moved through the air, anything would seem slow in comparison.
My concentration slipped again and my perception returned to normal rate. It was mentally exhausting utilizing the Century in a Blink technique even for just a few seconds. That just meant I was lacking experience, so I tried again. And again. And again…
The day stretched into eternity as the dilation made a few hours seem like months, and I was alone with my thoughts the entire time. My mind was the only one that could take such a strain. Even Siciaro couldn't do it for more than ten minutes per day, and he trained for years!
When having pieces of the Divine inside your Soul, some things just become natural. For example, though my mind could tire, that exhaustion would revert almost as soon as I stopped the action. Mere minutes would refresh me as if I just had the best sleep in the world.
With all the time I had on hand, I compartmentalized all my memories and discarded what wasn't needed. Wiping a Soul clean was dangerous because if you accidentally removed a part of your personality, you could basically turn into another person, or cripple yourself. Maybe even turn into an idiot.
But I was careful and did only small parts that I was sure I wouldn't need. It was the mundane things the dead had done and I didn't need to see. I kept only the knowledge of Cultivation, the techniques, and some other things I deemed important.
The rain stopped and the evening sun shone on my face. It was cold still, the winter chill sometimes returning in the evening, but the heat of spring sunlight already melted the snow and made the trees and flowers grow.
I stood at the peak of Nascent Soul IX, only a single step from the Golden Core. My Soul was full and ready to advance at any time if I so willed it.
I did wish to, but I had to ask Elder Li, and he was still mourning his dead son. It also seemed inappropriate to do so now, right after my friend's death. While we didn't know each other for long, I considered him my true Brother. We fought, trained, ate, and laughed together.
We went through good times and hard times, side by side. We joked together and laughed, and teased each other like true friends, yet now he was gone. His life snuffed out in an instant.
I would sometimes forget how fragile human life was. I could take risks because I had ways to deal with the consequences, but many around me didn't. Being reckless was one of my greatest flaws, yet I found it nearly impossible to change. It is what made me, me. But for that same thing to lead to the death of my friend… It was demoralizing.
[...I really need to take a break.]
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