Inside a large jungle was an enormous pyramid. For countless millennia it had been here, undisturbed, but in this time it had been decayed. Its once pristine walls were cracked and partially covered by the jungle around it and large sections had already caved in. But even though it was destroyed like this, the pyramid still held the air of its former glory. No matter animals or humans, no one could come near it. Not that much people had tried anyway as the jungle was located on a desolate planet far away from civilization and was a danger zone filled with monster. But the serenity of this place ended abruptly as a loud laughter suddenly sounded from the jungle around it.
Suddenly an old man appeared in the air about the pyramid. His clothes were tattered and small wounds were covering his body. It looked as if he had just finished a hard fight. He was breathing heavily, but that couldn’t change the big smile that was plastered on his face.
“I found it, I finally found it”, he mumbled before he slowly descended towards the entrance.
The interior of the pyramid was even more destroyed than the exterior. Debris littered the ground and the once beautiful paintings on the walls have become mere shadows of their former selves.
The old man was walking through the ancient hallways until he reached an enormous room right in the center of the pyramid. Under a small hole in the ceiling an old altar was standing. It was covered with gold and precious jewels, and looked untouched by the uncountable eons that had passed, but the old man didn’t pay attention to it. Instead his view was focused on the statue atop the altar.
Different from the altar the statue didn’t look remarkable. It was a foot height statue of an angel made out of plain stone. But the old man didn’t care for the lack of valuable materials, instead he touched it gently, as if he was fearing to break it accidentally. A slight golden glow appeared on his finger and suddenly a feeling of power could be felt from within the statue, causing a grin to appear on the old man’s face.
‘So much pure Qi. With this it should be possible to advance, even with a foundation as bad as mine’
The man wrapped the statue into a piece of clothes and put it in a pocket of his robe, then he turned to leave. But after a few steps he stopped and took the statue out again. With a fluid motion he pulled out a dagger and slit across his finger. A single drop of blood fell on the statue. Before the drop even hit the statue the wound on his finger was already healed.
When the drop hit the statue a slight glow was emitted and then, just like an illusion the statue suddenly vanished leaving nothing but air behind. But the man didn’t seem worried, instead he simply grinned and left the pyramid.
Outside the man crouched and then leaped into the air. The force was high enough to shatter the ground he had stood and propel him several kilometers into the air. And then, just as he reached the highest point of his jump the man suddenly vanished, leaving behind only a slight ripple in the air behind.
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High in the sky in a far different realm than the one the pyramid had been in the man appeared again. He stopped for a moment to orientate, then he shot towards the horizon. His flying speed was fast enough that an ordinary mortal wouldn’t even be able to notice him.
But even though his speed was fast he needed several hours before he reached his destination. An old tower was rising into the sky. Seeing this the old man smiled sadly as a nostalgic feeling rose in the depth of his heart.
This tower was the ‘Heavenly Arts School’, the place where he became a cultivator back in his childhood. But this was a long time ago. Now the tower was devoid of life. From the countless students that had lived here he was the only one left. And even he would die soon if he didn’t progress further into his cultivation soon.
The man landed on a large platform on the side of the tower. Slowly he looked over the platform. The once powerful runic inscriptions that were meant to make it harder to break were long ago faded into nothingness. Small cracks covered it instead. It was likely that the platform would be destroyed in a few years.
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With a careful motion, almost lovingly the man touched the wall of the tower, thinking back towards about his youth. Back then he had been much too hasty. He had made mistakes, some of which were still causing him problems. Neither a genius nor someone with heaven defying luck, he had been damned to never reach the heights of cultivation. Even his current cultivation of the Saint realm was only reached due the disappearance of the Heavenly Arts School. Everyone, from the youngest disciples to the elders, simply vanished as if they had never existed. As one of the few survivors due to his absence during that time he had access to enough cultivation treasures to last for a lifetime. And it still wasn’t enough to reach a cultivation realm in which he would become immortal. Just a few thousand years and he was soon about to meet his old friends again in death.
Or that would be the case if he hadn’t found the artifact. Now that he had it, he could use it to help himself cultivate. It hasn’t been created for that use, but as long as there was concentrated Qi inside of it he would be able to extract and absorb it himself. That would probably destroy the artifact, but he didn’t really care about that. No, in fact, if even half of the stories about the artifact were true it would be better for everyone if it would be destroyed.
‘I wonder why the ancestors didn’t destroy it. Instead they hid it in an empty planet without much protection aside from a few formations. Lunatics, what if someone else would have found and used it?’
The man shook his head. The thoughts of those ancestors were incomprehensible to him and anyway, they were long since gone, so he shouldn’t waste his time thinking about it. Now he had to cultivate! With a swift motion he opened the door in front of him and entered the tower.
A long hallway stretched in front of the old man. If someone would bother to measure it, one would quickly notice that this hallway was in fact even longer than the entire tower wide. One of the many usages of spatial formations. Slowly the old man walked down the hallway and passed by the doors to the old classrooms.
Alchemy, Runecrafting, Blacksmithing, Martial Arts, one by one the classrooms were passed. The Heavenly Arts School was one of the few schools that didn’t specialize at a single field but instead focused in giving their students a broad spectrum of knowledge. But as a result they also didn’t have one aspect where they truly excelled. Something the old man had often regretted. He had spent centuries to learn everything the school had to offer and he was still behind those disciples of the big sects in the higher worlds. Sighing he left the hallway behind and entered a long stairway
While mumbling curses he began to climb the long stairway. Higher and higher, the stairs stretched endless. With every step he once more noticed the age inside his bones. His high cultivation guaranteed that he could move almost as good as in his prime, but it didn’t help in alleviating small pains and other age problems. Not to mention if he got a cramp in his tight, those were the worst.
Finally, after a few minutes of torturous climbing the man reached the top of the tower. Back when the school was still active here had been the office of the headmaster, but with everyone gone the man had changed it to his own use. The many formations around the place made it the most secure place in the whole tower. Unfortunately this included a formation that restricted flying, otherwise he would definitely not use the stairs.
Slowly the old man sat inside a large chair in front of an empty fireplace. A wave with his hand and a small fire began burning. As he felt the warmth the old man let out a satisfied groan. Truly there was no better place than home.
His relaxed feeling was suddenly interrupted as the door to the room was opened. A young looking man came inside. It was Xiao Feng, the old man’s first (and only) disciple.
“Master, you are finally back. Did you find it?”
“Yes, it was exactly where I suspected. Prepare a glass of my best wine. I want to go into closed up cultivation as soon as possible.”
With a smile Xiao Feng bowed and left the room. Silently the old man looked after him. It had been already several years since he had met the boy. Back then the boy had been a weak cultivator of the Foundation realm, but now he had progressed with an almost inconceivable speed until he was only a single realm under his own.
After a few minutes Xiao Feng came back, carrying a large bottle and two glasses. After he filled them the two men sat on the chairs around the small fireplace. Tasting the exquisite fragrance of the wine the old man closed his eyes in delight. That is until he suddenly felt a strange drowsiness rising inside his body. Even his Qi, normally a steady flow within his body slowed down to a crawl.
‘This feeling… Nine Fragrance poison?’
Panicking the old man jumped up from his chair, before his body went totally still. Xiao Feng remained in his seat and smiled as he looked at him.
“Looks like you finally noticed it, Master”
With a ridiculing grin on his face he stood up. Unable to move anymore, nor able to use his Qi, the old man could only watch helplessly as Xiao Feng stepped closer. A groan came out of his mouth as he felt a sharp pain in his stomach. He looked down only to see a large bloody dagger inside his disciples hand. Unable to remain standing he fell to the ground. His disciple came closer and begun searching through his robes. All the old man could do was staring helplessly at his disciple. But with each passing second Xiao Feng became more and more irritated. In the end he screamed at the old man.
“Where is it!”
All the old man did was grinning a weak but victorious smile at him. Even if he died here he wouldn’t let go of this treasure. Seeing his grin his disciple paled.
“You… You’ve already bound it?! Dammit. Didn’t you trust me?”
“That *cough* is not something a traitor should ask”
Slowly the old man’s view began to darken and he could feel his life slipping away. His breathing became harder. But then, as he could already feel death itself, something happened.
Deep within his Dantian was a vast see made out of liquid qi. It was an enormous storage of power, but it was currently restricted by the poison. And within it a large Core made from solid Qi was floating. Dark spots covered its surface, giving it a muddy and dirty look. But within this core was something hidden. A small statue made from stone. Now, sensing its new master’s death approaching, it began to act. Glowing runes began to appear on its side as it used large amounts of the qi inside of it.
A pale golden light began to surround the Dantian and the old man could feel a powerful suction force coming from it. While his consciousness faded he felt himself getting dragged into his Dantian. And then came … nothing.