Chapter 12: Seeing is Believing
Nestled on a plush pillow lay the resting ember fox kit, its black fur strewn with white specks, mirroring a starlit night. The ghostly, dark blue flames dancing gently at its feet. Its small chest pulsed, in sync with its quiet dreams. Nearby, Darius sat cross-legged at the room's heart, the azure-blue depth of his eyes boldly contrasting his short, black hair, showcasing a blend of anger and resolve. Despite his tender age of six, the demeanor he held was akin to an elder, steeped in wisdom. Fresh from administering healing potions and wrapping enchanted gauzes, he looked upon the recuperating fox kit with a sense of achievement.
His brows creased in frustration, a turmoil brewing within his small frame. His thoughts, much like a raging storm, reflected his troubled face. "I thought I had been through almost anything life could throw at me. I was born a mortal. Traversed the path towards immortality for over 800 years. I carved my name through the Heavenly Courts and Dynasties of Mortals wherever I went! No inn was safe!"
His small frame shook, evidence to the weight of his frustration. "Who else would abandon 400 years? Who?! Who else could destroy their foundation to embark on an uncharted technique?!" Darius’s voice was only a whisper in the dim room, yet it carried the resonance of a thousand years.
To forge the Taiji Talisman Technique, Xue Feng was forced to break his prevailing cultivation, a plunge into the unknown so profound, it was a venture only the truest pioneers of cultivation would dare undertake. "Is this legacy for naught?! To fall to pieces so readily. I exist as Darius Valdene, I am also Xue Feng. I am the progeny and destined successor of the Valdene lineage. I am the Grand Elder of the Ling Xu Sect."
As he wrestled with the profound questions of his dual existence, his face began to adopt a serene calmness, mirroring the slow yet certain enlightenment unfurling within his soul. "I let the essence of Taiji slip my grasp. I lost sight of balance. I am the sum of two, yet I am one in the same."
Slowly, his eyelids lifted, revealing eyes as calm as a tranquil lake, radiating a steadfast determination. With a voice that echoed both his resolve and his defiance, he spoke aloud. "If Gaia rejects me, so be it. I will fight against this fate and stand on the top of this world."
As if etching his oath into the very foundations of his new world, he vowed, "I will bring a new balance to this world." His identity cemented, and his will reforged, Darius set his sights on his first step towards his new goal.
With a determined stride, Darius Valdene approached the grand doors of the Valdene Library. His eyes shone with the fervor of new discovery and hope. His heart pounded, a drum of perseverance echoing within his chest. The thought of what lay beyond his reach ignited an uncontrollable excitement within him. The Library – an institution revered for its vast collection of wisdom, now held the key to Darius's future.
"I must start at the beginning," he murmured under his breath. His small, yet determined, figure stood at the threshold of a new beginning. As he pushed the doors open, an endless expanse of knowledge lay bare before him. Parchments of ancient arcane texts, chronicles of histories long past, and shelves stacked with tomes dedicated to every conceivable magical theory – this was his sanctuary, his battlefield.
Darius’s mind teemed with thoughts, like a maelstrom swirling with potential solutions. “The spiritual qi in my previous life was the lifeblood of my cultivation, and now it is replaced with an alien energy form – mana.” He pondered, drawing upon his past life's wisdom and experience. “While qi is cultivated internally, mana is cultivated externally, drawn to reside inside your aura. The difference is like night and day, but the objective remains the same – to perceive and manipulate it.”
What Darius first set out to do was adapt a qi-based eye technique from his past life to the mana-rich world he now inhabited, this led him straight to the heart of the Valdene Library. His journey would not merely be a task of external translation, but a deep internal transmutation, a synthesis of two divergent worlds' wisdom.
Beginning his pursuit, Darius engrossed himself in "A Treatise on Elemental Arcana". This pivotal work explained the external, elemental nature of mana. It differed vastly from qi, which was a heavenly life force energy cultivated within the body. Yet Darius's goal was not to bend to the rules of this world, but rather to bend them to his understanding. Thus, he began his quest to draw mana inwards, to make it function like the qi of his old world.
Over the course of countless moon cycles, Darius immersed himself in the timeless text of "The Mystical Flow of Mana." The tome, as thick as the ancient oaks that lined Valdene estate, was considered a seminal work in the realm of arcane studies. Its depth of knowledge was a treasure trove of wisdom, dedicated to the complex interplay of mana within the environment and within living beings.
Each day, under the muted glow of an crystal lantern, Darius diligently delved into the book’s boundless depth, attempting to comprehend the world of mana, both in its simplicity and complexity. From the break of dawn until the wee hours of the night, he was engrossed, seeking answers in the parchment's cryptic words, symbols, and diagrams. It was like assembling an intricate jigsaw puzzle where each piece of knowledge brought him closer to a complete understanding of the ethereal force he sought to manipulate.
In this literary world, Darius learned of the behavior of mana. He discovered its ever-present nature, flowing like an invisible river in the air, nourishing the world around it, much like qi does in his old world. He learned how it swirled around every living being, creating a symphony of energies that interacted, reacted, and reshaped itself constantly.
Often, he found himself exasperated, hands buried in his hair as he stared at the ancient glyphs dancing before his eyes. "I've spent over eight hundred years studying, and now I have to start all over with this... mana," he would mutter to himself, frustration seeping into his tone. But alongside this frustration was an undercurrent of exhilaration. He was a scholar at heart, after all, and the challenge presented by mana was an intellectual feast he could not resist.
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The more he read, the more questions emerged, turning his pursuit into a complex labyrinth of knowledge. He found himself murmuring aloud one day, a mix of frustration and wonder in his voice, "I've studied it for months, and yet there's still so much more to learn."
"From the grandest mountains to the tiniest blade of grass, mana is everywhere, yet remains aggressively elusive," he voiced late one night, his face etched with fatigue and awe.
This wasn't merely a process of learning and understanding; it was akin to reorienting his entire perspective, a challenge he relished with a heart filled with the determination to conquer.
As he dove deeper into the topic, Darius studied the practical applications of mana perception through "Arcane Vision: A Mage's Guide". This book taught him the technique of the Arcane Eye, which allowed mages to visually perceive the flow of mana in their surroundings. But instead of externalizing his perception as the mages did, Darius sought to both externalize and internalize the process, drawing inspiration from a eye technique from his memories, the Heaven's Gate technique. This was a common technique short-lived mortals used to start on the path of immortal cultivation, granting them the ability to perceive immortal Qi.
Adapting the Heaven's Gate to the world of mana required rigorous experimentation. Using the guidance from "Arcane Body Training Methods", Darius reoriented his perspective. These methods focused on manipulating and refining the body. He trained his ocular muscles to adapt to the possible changes mana would produce, making them resonate with his internal life force instead of mana, an upheaval of the standard practice in this world.
In his relentless pursuit, Darius started to sense the subtle alterations within him as a result of his adaptation efforts. Very slowly, he began to notice some changes, although he was yet to see the flow of mana, the feelings were undeniably familiar. It required extensive time and numerous trials, but he slowly began to experience the transformation, similar to the energy shifts he felt in his eyes when practicing the Heaven's Gate technique in his past life.
Once he had achieved a level of comfort with his muscle control, Darius spent more time refining the technique. He cross-referenced "A Treatise on Elemental Arcana" and "Arcane Vision: A Mage's Guide", studying more about mana behavior and reinforcing his altered mana perception method.
Months turned into seasons, and seasons into years. For two years his persistence did not waver, fueled by the driving force of determination and the hope of seeing the invisible energy that saturated his world. Every failure was a stepping stone to success.
Eventually his diligence bore fruit, as he slowly found the common ground between qi and mana. He delved into the elemental nature of mana, understanding the complexities that intertwined to form this lifeblood of magic.
After an arduous journey of ceaseless trial and error, triumph kissed Darius's brow. His chest swelled with a joyous pride, his pulse quickened, and his eyes shone with a victorious gleam as he finally discovered how to adapt the Heaven's Gate technique. "I've done it!" he triumphed, his voice echoing through the vaulted spaces of the library.
Two years of diligent study had passed, leaving Darius a boy of eight. His short hair, once just above the ear, now spilled down just above his shoulders. The skin on his face had grown somewhat paler, a reward for his countless hours nestled within the library's embrace. Yet, despite the pale hue, a robust glow tinged his cheeks, his vitality unabated. A spark of life danced in his eyes.
His hand clenched tightly around a piece of parchment, its surface freshly inked with his eureka moment, the culmination of his relentless pursuit. "This technique... it's not Heaven's Gate anymore," he declared, a note of finality and triumph resonating in his voice. "This is a new path. A path of my own forging. I hereby name it the 'Arcane Gate'."
As he spoke the name, it was as if he breathed life into it. It was his triumph, his creation, embodying his relentless dedication and unwavering tenacity. This was a monumental step, a vital breakthrough that defied the norms and established traditions.
"I have made the invisible visible," he declared, his voice ringing out with sheer jubilation. "The Arcane Gate, it will become my third eye in this world, allowing me to peer into the unseen workings of mana."
Every word echoed the essence of his triumph, his voice resonating with a surge of newfound confidence and purpose. His feat had thrown wide open the doors of his destiny. There was a sense of irrevocable change in the air - the dawn of a new era, an era of the Arcane Cultivator!
The inaugural success of Arcane Gate brought about an awakening within Darius. He activated his new technique, his eyes taking on a glowing mystical hue, no longer limited to the mundane colors of the physical world, but now teeming with an ethereal panorama, vivid and pulsating.
Where before there was only the library’s mundane reality – stone, parchment, and wood – now, there shimmered a mesmerizing dance of enchanting hues, each tincture a vibrant reflection to a different element. Blues of cerulean depth flowed like water, a translucent river of energy, rippling through books and pooling around scrolls, as though manuscripts were islands amidst a flowing river of knowledge.
Earthen tones, rich and nurturing, sprawled across the stone walls and wooden shelves, infusing them with an indomitable solidity. It was as if the sturdy oak and steadfast granite had taken on a life of their own, pulsing and breathing in sync with the world's rhythm.
Fiery oranges and reds blazed brilliantly in the air, flickering like tongues of dragons, bringing warmth to the otherwise cool library air, while imbuing parchments with an warm glow, making them appear as embers carrying ancient wisdom.
Wispy whites and airy blues twirled, twining themselves around the scrolls and books, as free and light as the wind itself, their dance a graceful waltz of the wind mana that breathed life into the stale atmosphere of the library.
Flickering amid this elemental symphony were streaks of vibrant purples, darting and sparking like lightning in a stormy sky, charging the library's magic tech with an electrifying vibrancy that made every strand of Darius's hair stand on end.
The dance of elemental mana brought the library to life in a new, captivating light. Each object, each corner, was infused with an delicate aura, the arcane energy coiling around them, pulsing, vibrant, and utterly alive. The spectral spectacle unveiled by his Arcane Gate was more than just a magical display; it was an intimate glimpse into the world's hidden pulse, a harmony of the elements, singing in colors unseen by the mundane eye. This was mana – the lifeblood of magic – at its most visceral and captivating.
Two years since that fateful day when he had first set foot in the library, Darius was not the same boy anymore. He had taken a significant stride towards his goal. Standing amidst the endless sea of knowledge, his heart filled with a sense of achievement, but his thirst for knowledge remained unquenched.
He closed his eyes, only silence escaping his lips. Then, his lips curled into a smile. He knew the path would be thorny, the challenges overwhelming, yet he was ready to face it all. His small frame housed a spirit as vast as the cosmos, resolute, indomitable. His trails had just begun.