After a few days, Ryu had successfully reached lvl 50 in all his reservoirs. His first reservoir was already at level 50 when he entered. His second reservoir dropped from level 59 to 50 due to healing the Judgment Tome. Right now he’s standing in front of the prince’s body with one of his hand on his chest and one hand on the essence. A gaping wound could be seen at where Na’Vi’s heart is at. Vi’Ta’En and Cao’Po’Li held their breath, even though they are just projections they are still nervous as ever.
After helping Ryu reach level 50 in his two latest reservoirs, the prince’s essence is still at peak Saint Level which is above 190. The prince actually insisted that Ryu take more essence but knowing his ability best, even if the prince is cured he won’t be left with much Qi so Ryu rejected. His third specialization with the Life Tome’s reservoir will heal the owner’s wound at the expense of his Qi. The problem is that the prince’s body is almost beyond saving, besides the fact that the majority of his heart has been destroyed he’s also infected by a deadly poison that can kill a Celestial.
The prince’s essence shrunk rapidly which caused concern for all of them. However, the wound at his heart is also miraculously regenerating! Signs of life slowly came back to the body. The problem is that Na’Vi’s essence was depleting at an alarming rate. In just ten minutes, his essence has dropped below level 150. After twenty minutes, the essence was just now at a meagre level 100 for this once peak Deity Level being.
At this point, Cao’Po’Li’s twisted face made him look like he was suffering from a stroke. Suddenly Ryu stopped when the prince’s essence had dipped to level 70. Everyone present sighed in relief. Na’Vi’s projection appeared once again, however the projection wasn’t as detailed as before. His essence has shrunk from half of Ryu’s body size to double his fist size.
“Don’t worry about my essence. Spirit power can be regained. I still have millions of years left in my original body. Thank you Ryu… I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to repay you.” Na’Vi said sincerely. He asked Ryu to heal Cao’Po’Li and Vi’Ta’En which Ryu gladly did. Their body were not as badly harmed as Na’Vi’s. They only chose to separate from their body to keep their prince company. Both of them had a cultivation of level 170 in their essences and after Ryu healed their bodies, they were still around level 130. The group chatted joyously for an hour.
“Ryu, don’t worry about us. Even though we were hiding here for over nine hundred thousand years, our bodies didn’t age one bit. Fusing our essences back to our bodies will take around a year. After that we’ll most likely need to regain our strength somewhere outside this temple. Before we begin I would like to thank you by passing down some of our skills and knowledge to you.” Na’Vi said softly.
“This is…” Ryu didn’t know what to say.
“This temple can completely suspend time in a small area like our real bodies. However, elsewhere it can speed up or slow down time by a hundred times as long as it had a source of power. The moment you stepped into the temple, we sped up the time by a hundred times. Right now six days has passed inside the temple but not even two hours has passed outside. Ryu your talent is out of this world and your achievements will be unimaginable in the future but you are progressing too fast. Accidents might happen along the way and it would be a shame if something were to happen to you.” Na’Vi said gravely. He was truly worried for Ryu. Ryu gracefully accepted the prince’s offer.
“Vi’Ta’En is was the former High Priest. She can guide you on our shaman healing arts. She’s also a Mystical Enchanter, one of the seven Forgotten Professions.” Na’Vi said as he pointed at her. Vi’Ta’En bowed politely at Ryu and Ryu instantly bowed back.
“Cao’Po’Li used to be one of our generals, he can teach you the offensive arts. He is also proficient in one of the seven Forgotten Professions, Sage Arts. Sages are the bane to magicians because of the ability to null spirit power.” Na’Vi said as he pointed towards him from Vi’Ta’En. Ryu quickly bowed towards him as well.
“I will teach you the shaman art of Spirit Fusion. As you may know, the great fire continent Infernia is known for its beast fusion techniques. This allows them to permanently become one with a chosen beast at a young age, granting them the abilities to have two souls and transform into that beast if one’s skilled enough. Spirit Fusion is something similar as you’ll see later. I am also proficient in one of the Forgotten Professions, True Alchemy. I’m not talking about potion or pill concoction.” Na’Vi said with a smile. The scenery around them changed and training began for Ryu.
Ten months passed by in a blink of an eye. The projection of Na’Vi, Cao’Po’Li, and Vi’Ta’En stood before Ryu near the entrance of the temple.
“Ryu you really surprised us over and over again. Learning what the three of us has to offer in less than a year.” Vi’Ta’En praised.
“You’ve done well.” Cao’Po’Li said simply as he was also shocked at Ryu’s growth over the ten months.
“The temple has been disguised into Silver Onyx which is not that special to us but low level cultivators still covert it. The Han-So tribe had unknowingly began two hundred thousand years after a few wounded shaman from our homeland chanced upon it. Somehow their descendants started worshipping us and even created a legend, please take care of them as they are also related to my Sky Continent. As you are now, I don’t think the bandits outside will give you much trouble. We will be in your care from now Ryu.” Na’Vi said with a bow. Cao’Po’Li and Vi’Ta’En followed suit. When the three masters begin fusing their essences back to their body, the temple will disappear into a figurine since the source of power is gone. Ryu will keep their bodies and essences inside the Infinity Tomes. This was a new discovery Ryu found out recently. The tomes can store living things with Qi reservoirs and essences! Regular storage rings can’t.
“Masters, I’ll never forgive this act of kindness. Actions speak louder than words and I’ll do my best to keep you guys safe. I’ll check in with you guys after a year as discussed.” Ryu replied with a teary eye.
“You can check in anytime. We will still be able to communicate.” Vi’Ta’En said as she gave him a hug.
“Unfortunately we’ll have to hide within your tome. Beings in the Saint Levels will be detected by other immortal beings. I’m sure my brother and possibly the people from the Dark Continent are still looking for us. We’ll have to find some place safe to regain our strength.” Na’Vi said with a sigh.
“Don’t worry masters. I’ll do my best to find such a place!” Ryu promised. The group said their farewells to Ryu disappeared. Their essences floated above their bodies, awaiting for something. A split second later three Infinity Tomes floated above the essences and the body and swallowed them. The moment that happened, the temple disappeared.
Inside the gorge in Mount Seya, a group of bandits guarding the prisoners beside the temple were gambling. Qi was nullified around the temple so the higher ups didn’t want to be around here too long since it made them vulnerable. The prisoners were chained up so there wasn’t much to do.
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Suddenly the temple disappeared without a trace and countless people replaced its place. These were the people that attempted the trials over the past countless years. There were hundreds of them!
Before the guards could react, a blur flashed around the gorge and knocked everyone out. Including the prisoners. Ryu walked back towards the center of the gorge and picked up a figurine of the temple, this was the Astral Spirit Temple’s true form. He carefully stored it inside the Infinity Tome.
Outside the Mountain, Fu-Ling and Joa-Wong had resumed their duties as vice-captains of the Vanishing Bandits. The incident with Ryu couldn’t be mentioned between them or to anyone. The captain came back from the top of the mountain three days ago and scolded at them for wasting his time. Suddenly they felt control of their bodies taken away from them. Did that boy come out of the temple? They thought to themselves as a shiver was sent down their spines. However, they couldn’t act out of the ordinary.
Jak-Wing was sipping wine in his tent. His mood was bad, he lost a vice-captain three days ago to some intruders. According to Fu-Ling and Joa-Wong, this person is one of the successor of the Toko Empire. Somehow he even has a sword from Wudang. The Vanishing Bandits couldn’t hold a candle to either powers. He had invested decades into the pursuit of treasures offered by the temple but it seems like he might have to give it up or face extermination!
“What to do… do I have to give up the treasures within the temple?” Jak-Wing muttered to himself. He knows that if Wudang actually intervenes, his whole group would be wiped out in less than a week. If it’s someone from the Toko Empire, he might have some time since it won’t be easy for them to move troops to the border of Lin and Yasha Province.
“Boss Boss! Help!” A scream came from the outside. It was a desperate plea for life.
“What is it now?” Jak-Wing growled, he was already pissed off. Suddenly numerous more screams came out. Rushing out of the tent, Jak-Wing was surprised to see that the entire base was covered in a thick mist! This was no ordinary mist as he soon found out, he couldn’t spread his aura around to detect.
“Ahhhhh” Countless screams kept ringing about around him. Jak-Wing tried his best to navigate through the mist but it was hopeless. He didn’t dare randomly fly in case of unknown dangers.
“Did a king or emperor level beast come here?” Jak-Wing said in terror, he couldn’t think of any other possibilities.
A musical tune rang throughout the screams all of the sudden. It was calm and soothing. The beat was random but steady at the same time. The bandits had over a thousand members but most were Master Domain or below. They couldn’t withstand the mysterious overbearing hidden force that came with the song and most were knocked out within a minute after hearing it.
When the music enters their ears, the circulation of Qi inside of their body becomes erratic. Some lost control and started releasing too much Qi while others couldn’t even bring forth an ounce of Qi.
Jak-Wing was level 60, the effects of the song were not as detrimental to him. He instantly circulated his Qi to protect himself and yelled out for the vice-captains to gather.
“Boss boss! Where are you?” Wae-Dinlan yelled out. The mist was blurring all vision and aura, these powerful bandits are blinded. Fu-Ling and Joa-Wong also shouted out from a distance but he couldn’t make out their words. Suddenly the mist slowly dissipated as if it was never there before.
“What on earth is going on?” Jak-Wing bellowed in rage. He couldn’t believe his eyes, in the span of less than five minutes. Almost everyone had passed out and not only that, half their bodies sunk into the ground and got trapped there. The bandit’s base was a kilometer wide, naturally the ones at the outer edges tried to escape but there were restrained by countless stone golems.
“Boss, are we under siege from another force?” Wae-Dinlan said with wide eyes as he viewed the surroundings. Not only were the majority of the bandits defeated, they even got restrained! Not in a million years would he have guessed that this was the work of one person.
Suddenly a robed figure descended. His face had a thin veil and he carried a delicate looking bamboo flute on his side. Obviously this person was Ryu.
“Is it you that did this?” Jak-Wing screamed at the incoming figure. Now that the mist is gone, his aura can detect the opponent’s cultivation.
“Boss he’s only early Grandmaster Domain, let me handle this. Maybe he’s the punk that had plenty of treasures and took the Five-Colored Lightning fruit.” Wae-Dinlan said with a sneer. He was near peak Heaven Domain, handling this intruder should be easy. Covering himself in black aura, he flew towards Ryu as a fast black blur. With his fingers in a claw like position, he swung both of his arms to form a cross. The moment he did that two black perpendicular streaks of light shot out towards Ryu.
Without even moving, Ryu took the blow head on. However, the black cross seemed to pass right by him.
“What on earth?” Wae-Dinlan cursed to himself. However, he’s not too worried and kept charging forward. Concentrating all his Qi into his right fist that’s still in a claw like position, he aimed for Ryu’s head. This was his specilization, in exchange for not using weapons he can reinforce his body parts with twice the efficiency. He can rip apart rank 4 weapons with his bare hands! This was extremely handy when it came to assassination. Ryu stood in mid-air unmoving as he watched the incoming claw, without much effort he raised his left hand to catch it.
“What?” Wae-Dinlan cried out in shock as he tried to pull back his arm that was caught by Ryu. To his surprise, he couldn’t move an inch. Somehow all the Qi that went into his right fist was missing and the claw shaped black Qi was gone too. In fact, he felt weak all over as if all the Qi within his body has been depleted. A horrible thought entered his head, Qi nullification?
“Here, you can have it back.” Ryu spoke his first words to him and released Wae-Dinlan’s hand. A large amount of aura could be seen on Wae-Dinlan’s fist but they seem to be fighting to enter his body. Wae-Dinlan screamed out in agony as he lost control of his body and dropped like a stone. Just as he was about to hit the ground, a quagmire formed underneath and he fell into it with a splash. Throughout the whole time he was falling, the only thought that ran through his mind was how could he lose to someone a whole domain weaker? Actually Ryu’s true cultivation is at entry King Domain but due to special methods from Sage Arts, he is now able to conceal it.