In Aterna, there was an entire significant segment of land that very few people of the new races had seen. It was naturally the land of god-beasts. It was about as large as the light empire. Considering the difficulties in the procreation of the five surviving god-beast races, this area was simply too huge. If someone went to the land of god-beasts, they will find huge farmlands. It was a sight that was majestic in its own sense. To where one's sight reached, one would find spiritual farmlands. Spirit medicines that were considered expensive were planted in millions of acres. It was unlike the other parts of Aterna which were predominately covered with forests. This was the entire use of land that the ancients had achieved. How they managed to grow these herbs was another mystery.
In this region, there were several distantly spaced cities. Each city was like a glorious country in itself. These cities were huge - much larger than Atrexia or Redster. One such city was Roman. The scales of buildings and infrastructure was simply incredible. Huge manors and castles were situated at one side. Each castle could give the royal castle of humans a run for its money. There were many buildings in another region of the city - each one gave an air of ancientness and majesty. It was the research and education sector of Roman. In terms of lineage - the research institute of Roman was no worse than the light tower.
There were also markets and entertainment sectors. Each could easily be said to be the best in Aterna. This was the peak of the glory of the ancients. There was a reason why the god-beasts were called the overlords of Aterna. Even without the several powerful experts that they had, the resources they had could easily double or triple the rate at which immortals appeared in the other races. Alas! fate was not as kind to the ancients.
In the city of Roman, at the centre was a humongous castle. The castle was much larger than any royal castle among the new races. This was the castle of city lord. In the castle, Astang was sitting in the main hall presiding over the city assembly. Several issues were being discussed.
A few years ago, Astang had led the expedition of the forbidden forest. He had successfully completed the mission and obtained more than 10 crystals. This was equivalent to a new life and beginning for 10 for the race's geniuses. Thus, the leader of god-beasts revoked Astang's duty as an observer. This was Astang's city. Naturally, Astang was the city lord. In his absence, his wife had been taking care of governance. Now, after returning, he was the one presiding.
Astang was very worried these past few days. The god-beasts had a secret region that was quite unique in Aterna. It was called the lake of laws. It was a naturally occurring region of law convergence. At that place, the laws were extremely condensed - so much that even ordinary mortals would be able to feel the power of laws. This was the training ground of all geniuses of the entire god-beast races. Astang had been the first person to use the life essence. As soon as his daughter - Maria woke up, she went ahead to the law lake. Astang too did not want to stop her. While he wanted to spend time with her, he was quite clear that this was his daughter's last chance.
There was another feature of the law lake. Due to the law of time being extremely concentrated and its interaction with the other laws, the flow of time was much slower in the lake. It was roughly a hundred times slower - meaning that a hundred days in the lake would be only a single day in the everyday world. His daughter had already been in the lake for the past 4 years. That meant that she had already used 400 years of her longevity. Her total vitality would hardly allow her to live for 2000 years. Thus, quite a significant amount of time had passed and she had yet to achieve her breakthrough. Astang continued to worry day and night.
Every hundred years, Maria would take a break from her comprehension and come out to meet her parents. The time for her break was coming near. But, this time, there was someone else who was going to use the lake for 3 days. It was Karslon's student - Michael Rageberg.
Astang naturally remembered the kid. After all, it was not an impression that anyone could make. He was looking forward to seeing the kid again. Astang was quite surprised that Karslon would pay such a huge price for his student to use the lake. As he waited, the day of their meeting grew closer.
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Michael, in his past life only had some ideas about the law lake. He had never cultivated any law. So, he was not interested. He just remembered that when the land of god-beasts had fallen to the devils, the experts of the entire plane were quite saddened by the loss of the holy land.
After learning about the place, Michael was naturally excited. His progress in the laws had been quite slow. Given 300 days of time, he was confident to make sufficient progress. While 300 days would be reduced from his optimal cultivation period, he needed to better his combat power to survive in the war. Currently, his usage of the laws was very crude. As long as he could complete the first chapter of life and death scripture, he was confident of surviving against even peak-saints.
On a fine morning, Michael reported to Karslon.
> Michael : Teacher, I have finished preparations. The ride is waiting at the roof. We can leave anytime.
>
> Karslon : Hmm. Okay, I have also prepared. You should be able to handle a slower bird. It will take us around 10 days with constant stops. We might have to camp in between as well. Let's go.
And so, Michael and Karslon disappeared in the clouds.
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Maria had a very hard life. She was a heavenly genius of her race. She had the bloodline of both dragons and phoenixes. This had given her a talent that surpassed the countless geniuses of Aterna and placed her at the very top. She was not one of the best. She was the best. Thus, when she could not break through to immortal realm, it was a devastating blow. Not only to her but to the entire ancient races. She still remembered the despairing look on the face of god-beasts' leader. The leader had been a close friend of her father and one of the greatest warriors in Aterna. He was fully qualified to be called an immortal-slayer. But even this legendary man had felt hopeless after looking at the cruelty of heavens.
Thus, this second chance that she had received was not something she wanted to waste. After waking from hibernation, she had been comprehending the laws continuously. She hardly took breaks. Sometimes, her single session would last for several months!
This was going against the heavens with effort. She believed that even if she was not rewarded for her talent, she would reach the peak through pure raw effort. Thus, she was spending her time arduously cultivating for years.
As she sat in the centre of the law lake, the laws of fire were surrounding her as she was constantly trying to decipher them. After a long time, the laws scattered and the entire lake returned to being fog. She opened her eyes.
Her eyes looked as if flames resided in them.
I have been cultivating for quite long. It should be time to leave. I should meet mother and father once more. If I fail, these would be their last memories.
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She stood up and vanished from her place. As she came out of the law lake - she found a few people waiting on the shore.
She could easily recognize her parents but there were a familiar man and an unfamiliar boy standing alongside them. It did not take her long to recognize Karslon. Karslon was her senior. But the gap between them was not much. In fact, they were only a few decades apart. But, she had spent all her time hibernating, it was not wrong to call Karslon an ancestor.
She clasped her hands and greeted Karslon. Then she noticed the boy in detail. The kid looked like a teenager. His eyes were quite noticeable - sea green and seemed to contain determination and intelligence. His face was quite handsome as well. He had silky black hairs which were unkempt. She easily saw through his cultivation. Mid-emperor-realm.
She looked at her father hinting with her eyes to introduce him.
Astang naturally saw through the reaction and said:
> Astang : Maria, this is Karslon's personal disciple. This is the first time this guy has taken an apprentice. His name is Michael Rageberg. He is a human. You might not know but the humans have progressed quite well. They can be said to be quite stable in the plane nowadays. And Michael has been ranked as the king of geniuses. His potential is quite terrifying. So, Karslon has brought him here to try comprehending laws. He will use the place for 3 days in our time.
Michael too greeted her. Looking at the kid, she smiled. But, in her mind, she was already smirking at the kid's overconfidence and naivety. Laws were the highest form of power known in Aterna. Those who wielded them were the topmost powerhouses.
This kid is overestimating himself by too much! To think that he would want to wield laws at so low cultivation. This is clearly showing off. Karslon has also gone senile spending so much for giving the kid this chance. He should have brought a perfect realm expert. Anyway, it's got nothing to do with me.
Thinking as such, she refused to comment. As such, she engaged in some small talk before departing with her parents. Karslon sat at the edge of the lake to protect Michael in case anything happened. Michael lifted a huge bag of food and water and stepped inside.
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After 2 days, Maria was quite satisfied with her break. She had spent her free time quite happily with her parents. They went around the city. They went for a tour around the closer areas to hunt and enjoy. She had also met other people she wanted to meet. Thus, she wanted to return back to cultivating. But as the lake was occupied, she could only wait another day.
It was not that the lake was small that two people could not be there. It was just that when one comprehended the laws, the power of laws descended around them. This would cause the other laws to distort. This pretty much made two people simultaneously cultivating irritating.
As she remembered the overconfident teenager, she asked her father about him.
> Astang : Don't underestimate him. He is indeed what the others say about him - the king of geniuses. His age is only 14 and he reached the mid-emperor-realm. His soul arts are quite formidable and he has a few secrets as well which even I am not aware of. He is also very intelligent - the type who would not die easily. In the future, he would perhaps become someone extremely powerful. I am quite looking forward to him growing up.
>
> Maria : That is all good. But law comprehension? Seriously? It is simply wasting the law lake. I think he is just sitting listlessly there trying to find which law he would comprehend.
>
> Astang : That is also very important. If he can actually remember the feeling of the law he chooses, he would have an easier time when he reaches the perfect-realm. Anyway, he is not a pushover. I would advise you to not redicule him. In the future, he might be comparable to you.
>
> Maria : Yes, yes. Anyway papa, I am going to the law lake. Since you believe in him this much, I want to see what he has been doing.
>
> Astang : That is rude, Maria. You should not do such things.
>
> Maria : You think too much. I might even help him a bit. Why do you think I am going to ridicule him? He is just a kid and I am already so old. He is pretty much a fledgeling.
Maria's reply caused Astang to raise his eyebrows. He looked at his daughter for a while with an open mouth. Maria seemed to not notice his ridiculous look.
> Astang : You, you, you. You are interested in him?!
>
> Maria : What are you talking about?
>
> Astang : I know you kid. I have seen you grow up. I know you inside out. You giving advice or helping someone on your own - impossible! You like him. He is your type?
>
> Maria : Well, hmm. He is handsome. A bit too young right now but with time he will become more and more handsome. After reaching immortal realm, I might kidnap him.
>
> Astang : You want Karslon to declare war?
>
> Maria : You are taking this too seriously father. I will just borrow him for a while a few times. Karslon would not have a problem. And that is all in the future after I become an immortal. At that time, I will be stronger than him.
Astang could only look speechlessly at his bandit of a daughter. He was now getting genuinely worried for the kid's safety. Dragons were a very promiscuous race. The phoenixes' females were quite dominant as well. Mixing the two together, his daughter was quite straightforward in these matters. Many years ago, she had captured many princes and nobles from all kinds of races and built herself a harem! Though she grew up and became serious towards cultivation, her nature was definitely not easily changed. After becoming immortal, she might really take the kid.
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Maria entered the law lake after debating for a while with Karslon. Karslon wanted to refuse her but she managed to goad him into allowing her by saying that he was being a coward by letting her not know his disciple's progress. Karslon looked at her for a moment before agreeing to let her go in.
As she entered the familiar lake through the fog, she could finally make the outline of the kid. But the next moment, she was shocked beyond words.
Her eyes went wide as she kept looking at the breathtaking scene in front of her. The entire lake seemed to be separately forming a world with Michael at the centre. Michael was surrounded by dark and rotting energy on one side and vibrant and glowing energy on the other side. Both types of energies were spinning in a vortex meeting at the centre. The speed of rotation was already like a hurricane. The amount of energy was simply unbelievable!
The level of laws was not extremely high though not very low either. But the sheer magnitude was beyond terrifying! She had never managed to extract so much energy even though her comprehension was much higher!
As she looked at the scene in front of her, she was mesmerized. Michael did not notice her approach as he was completely focussed on his comprehension. Maria too did not do anything except watching. She watched for a long time before coming back to her senses. She quietly left the lake an emerged outside.
Karson was still sitting there. She went over to him.
> Maria : You taught him the laws? You cultivate wind. How did he learn two powerful grand laws? And what is up with the size of that vortex? How can someone make a vortex that size. Even you might not be able to do so!
>
> Karslon : That kid is special. I don't know all the secrets he possesses but know this, his secrets are dangerous. If you recklessly get involved, you might die even after reaching the immortal realm.
Karslon too had never seen Michael's full power when using laws. When he saw the power, he understood somewhat why the otherworldly expert decided to watch him. If he could bring so much power at such a low level, as he reached the higher levels, he would become a monster!
Thus, Karslon decided to guide him even more seriously. He had a feeling that the fate of the upcoming calamity might rest on his student.
Maria just looked at Karslon for some time before departing. She had to discuss some things with her father.
Michael was totally immersed in his comprehension and did not notice anything. As time passed, his comprehension of the first chapter of life laws was completed. Following that, he deciphered the first chapter for death laws. The progress he had made here was several times more than his 4 years of work. After finishing his session, he finally managed to completely grasp the first chapter of his life and death scripture.
As he had finished his objective, he decided to end his cultivation. He could try breaking through to the second chapter but he knew from Karslon that each breakthrough in the law comprehension came with a huge power increase. Accordingly, the difficulty of breaking through was also unbelievably high stumping several perfect realm experts. As Michael did not have much time left, he came out of the lake.
He went up to Karslon who was looking at him with eager eyes. He then made a victory sign bringing a smile to his teacher's face.
Michael had engraved Karslon's generosity in his heart. He would go through heaven and hell for his teacher if the need ever came.
As the two returned, Astang was looking towards them from some distance away. He was looking at the boy who seemed to have so many secrets that the more he peeled them, the more shocked he became. He was waiting for the next surprise that he would get from the kid.
How was he to know that the next surprise would cause even him to be slack-jawed for a long time?