The ground was dark and damp.
The air was grey, almost opaque. Two people could stand next to each other but all they would see of their companions was a silhouette.
But in this environment, a lively song was sang; hundreds of voices joining together to praise a man.
…
The messenger of God has come to Kuhai
Stone horses ran rampant, their manes swaying
White spirits gleam in the sunlight
Shepherds chase down the young lion
But what do they know
This mere “little” boy will be empyrean over them
None will dread to meet with him
For in his presence, the wolves will rest with the lambs
All well fed
…
The subject of this song was seated a top a tribal altar decorated with patterns of various humanized animals all making exaggerated faces. Whether this was an altar built for the sake of a god or a demon, one could not tell.
The person on top of the altar was young and strong. With every breath he took, his muscles rippled across his skin like thick wires stretched taught. Apart from a pair of grey shorts, the person was shirtless showing off his Olympian body. But from his face, his youth was evident. This was not a man, but a boy, a boy who was coming of age, a young man.
“Haaaaaaaaah!”
Along with a powerful shout, an otherworldly aura erupted from the young man’s body pushing back the circle of voices gathered around him. The young man’s long silver hair violently fluttered as arcs of milky white static electricity emerged and disappeared rapidly like flickering stars.
At the same moment, an illusory white shell with black stripes appeared in the gray void.
“Kraaak!”
A crisp sound emerged from the shell. Then it disintegrated, slowly cracking and then breaking completely. The shell turned into nothing but silver dust which was then absorbed by the young man.
“The shattering of the mortal shell, it is done.” A voice muttered from the gray. However, no matter how low the voice was, it could not hide the owner’s depth or power.
The speaker was the young man’s father.
The young man was not a nobody. In fact, many in this eternal town viewed him as the successor of the town’s hidden reins. His name? Silver Mane – Fedha Arufu.
“Mortal Shell, Otherside Transformation, Earth Deity, Sky Spirit, Void Walker, Heavenly Ascendant, Polar Sanctification, Supreme Divinity…You have finally taken the first step towards the great road. You have overcome your mortality. Congratulations, son.”
Mortal, Solid, Earth, Sky, Void, Heaven, Sacred, and Divine – this was the common martial path.
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As for the young man, the path he followed was the exorcists’ ascendant path – Mortal Shell, Otherside Transformation, Earth Deity, Sky Spirit, Void Walker, Heavenly Ascendant, Polar Sanctification, and Supreme Divinity.
Although these two paths shared similarities, there were differences in the interpretation of ‘the divine’. The common martial path emphasized the transformation of the body into a weapon. Meanwhile the path taken by exorcists emphasized getting rid of the mortal shell to ascend into divinity.
At the root of these two martial paths was the Royal Path originating from the Jinfire Clan on Purple Moon Star:
* Primary Martial Arts [Martial Arts Student: Level 1 to 3] – >
* Secondary Martial Arts [Warrior: Soldier, Elite, Commander, Grand Commander, General, Grand General, and Warrior King] – >
* Tertiary Martial Arts [Elemental Master: Elemental Chief, Martial King, Domain Monarch, and World Emperor] – >
* Transcendent Martial Arts [Sage, Saint, Phaseless Shadow, and Supreme].
But over thousands of years, most of these realms had been changed and castrated over in the Zika world. All that remained of the old system were the four realms of Lord, King, Monarch, and Emperor.
When the young man on the altar heard his father’s voice, he stood up and walked down the steps of the altar. However, when he left the altar a body was still sitting there, eyes-closed, cross-legged. It was the young man’s body!
“The deity walks out of the mortal shell.” A figure dressed as a traditional priest commented in the dark, “Young Lion, you have finally taken the first step towards deityhood, otherside transformation.”
Walking out of the mortal shell was the first step towards becoming an Earth God in the Exorcists Path.
Unlike the martial path where one concentrated on strengthening and solidifying the body during the Transformation or Solid Body stage, the exorcist path completely abandoned the physical shell.
“Since you have taken the first step on this path, there is no going back.” The young man’s father commented once again.
“It takes a decade for the mortal husk to decay and mummify. Once that happens, the earth deity will instantaneously transform into a sky spirit regardless of whether they keep up their training or not. So within that time you have to become as strong as possible lest your strength be affected in the Sky Realm. So if you falter on this path, you will be nothing more than a hapless spirit floating around in the void of nothingness.”
When the young man heard this, he could not stop doubt from creeping up in heart. He had always been confident, but after finally taking this step, the sense of finality had now set in within his heart.
A sense of fear had already been born.
However, with his father’s keen eye, how could he not see this?
“It is okay to let the weight of this moment settle in your heart. Let that drive you. But of course there is not final thing in this world. There are ways to delay the transformation of the deity. But they are both rare and priceless. And even if you delay the process during the transformation stage, what will you rely on during the earth rank or the sky rank?”
“If the sky spirit is not consecrated within 100 years, it will be forced to go up the Heaven Ascension Bridge, fading into divinity. This is a process that starts when one takes about 2 steps into the sky.”
Overall, there are 4 realms in the sky stage with each has 10 steps.
“Each step you take, you will walk further and further away from humanity!”
After hearing his father’s words, a sense of depression had already started settling in the young man’s heart. Although he already knew a lot of the things his father was explaining, it was only now that his brain was catching up to this reality.
He could not help but ask in a somewhat resigned tone, “So when can one be truly free?”
“It is only a voidwalker who can choose where to stay and where to go and truly gain freedom in this world.”
“Once you begin transforming the mortal body, you must be prepared to walk to the end. Many in our line of exorcists have fallen halfway through this path. It is the reason why even though many experts have reached the earth and sky realm over the years, few remain in the world.”
Although the father’s words were depressing, this was the path he, his son, and many of their ancestors chose to walk.
Naturally, there were explicit benefits to this path that ensured its survival throughout the ages.
At the moment when the man and his son were still speaking, the body that was left on the altar suddenly opened its eyes!
“No matter what, do not forget why you chose to walk on this path.” Quevazikile said to his son before turning around and walking into the darkness.
This man, Fedha Quevazikile, was the most influential man in Milele town. However, not many knew his real name. Only the moniker Boss Q rang in the ears of many in the town, scaring not only humans but demons and ghosts alike.
Words and Meanings
Kuhai – Land of Life
Fedha Quevazikile – “those silver clothes from the othershore”
Fedha Arufu – Silver Mane