The sea of dense Qi inside the Teleportation Station of Rozcast was chaotic, its size incomparably bigger compared to the station in Insetel and incomparably more active. Wave after wave of Qi erupted as the teleportation chambers constantly performed and received the teleportations.

A new wave rushed in to fill the void as one of the many chambers received another teleportation. Inside the chamber three people appeared, two men, and one woman. One of the two suddenly bowed towards the woman and left without saying anything. It made the other one frown, and he was about to step forward to reprimand the first one but the young woman raised her hand indicating him to stop.

As he neared the chamber’s door, Inero-ie reduced his presence to the lowest possible degree, then used the things he had acquired in the settlements between Insetel and Rozcast to disguise his body and face. He wore a colorful coat, one that completely contrasted with his usual completely grey clothing.

Fria-al knew many people and had too many connections, people who were willing to do her bidding because they wanted to earn her favor, because they wanted to return her favors, because were impressed by her. Back in Insetel, and even here whenever he returned from outside, she would always be there, already aware of his return. This time he did not want her to know about his return, once she came to know of it, she would surely hinder his plan.

Out of the main body of the station, Inero-ie was now inside the busy sub-sector that housed the station and made his way towards the train station. In Rozcast, the teleportation station was not on the ground Layer but rather on the second underground Layer.

All the way from the teleportation station, to the train station, then to the lift station, Inero-ie had reduced his presence, while using other methods to camouflage his aura. As the lift accelerated upward inside the lift column, soon Inero-ie stood inside the first underground Layer. This place had a similarity to the ground Layer of Inero-ie because this layer too was used by the harvesters, and this place too had that eerie atmosphere. The only difference was in the number of harvesters, the numbers here were much greater.

***

Advancement chamber. A place that was used to advance to the next stages. It was a metallic structure and from the inside looked just like an empty room, though smaller. The only point of interest was in the center of the room, circular metallic plates fixed on the ceiling and the floor, other than that, there was nothing that would catch interest.

Inero-ie sat on the metallic plate in the middle of the room, preparing to shed his current state and metamorph into the next stage. Once he had mentally prepared himself, the process started. First, the Qi appeared inside the chamber, and the density of Qi started exceeding the ambient levels. The Qi got denser and denser, making everything inside appear hazy as though a mist had enveloped the metallic room completely but despite that, it showed no signs of stopping as the density kept on increasing.

Soon the density outside exceeded the most Qi-dense environments he had visited in the ice-covered world outside the settlement. Even then, there was no sign of stopping, it kept increasing and started affecting his breathing, both the air and the Qi. It still showed no signs of stopping and the Qi outside tried to rush inside, and as the Qi uncontrollably rushed into his body, right at that moment another change started occurring.

Above his head, on the ceiling, blue arcs appeared and disappeared just as quickly, lightning up the previously dark room, the arcs kept increasing and the heat inside the room kept increasing. Being more attuned to ice, the heat felt rather uncomfortable though nothing unbearable.

Stolen novel; please report.

The density of the Qi still kept increasing, as did the number of lightning bolts arching above his head. It felt like he was stuffed full, and then being cooked alive, a different kept of torture than what he normally had to endure but nothing outside his limits. Inero-ie kept enduring, correcting, and guiding the streams of Qi that rushed into his body while he endured.

That was his Path, endure and endure, even when faced with death, and survive. There was always a chance of death, a chance that had never triggered despite his utmost desire.

***

The ceiling was now completely hidden by the blue and red arcs, constantly flickering in and out of existence, disappearing but many more reappearing. Another change started occurring, the arcs of blue and red that lit up the room converged towards the center of the ceiling on the disk that was located atop Ineor-ie. The uncountable arcs quickly disappeared leaving an arc of lightning that appeared no different from its peers with its power fully isolated as the system searched for the right time to unleash it.

Below, Inero-ie focused on guiding the current that had become overwhelmingly powerful, trying to tear into his body, trying to tear out of his body, hellbent on making him a mangled corpse. It was painful, it was difficult, but then overloading his core had also been pain, had also been difficult each and every time. That experience helped as he was experienced in controlling and guiding this flow. This also made him aware of the capabilities of those at a higher stage than him. It was a meeting of events that had allowed him to kill those Lords, otherwise in straightforward confrontation, he would have been killed instantly.

He kept controlling, guiding the current but his body slowly approached the limit of what it could bear. It had always lagged behind the will. His body started spasming, and his control threatened to slip, but before it could happen, with a resounding sound, a bolt descended from the ceiling, a stream of bright light enveloping and rushing into his body and then on the metallic disk below, the circuit was completed and almost immediately, his body was fried.

His skin was burnt black, charred, followed by his muscles, then his bones. It was quick, almost instantaneous, so quick that his nerves had been burnt before he could feel anything. Though he did not feel any pain, he was dragged in front of the death's door and left there. He did not want to do anything, just a few seconds and he would die, he would not need to make such a simple thing so complicated. He wanted to die and he would be dead, all it needed was a few seconds of inaction.

Shaking off the desire, he started the process of shedding. He would die but not here, he would go to the Frozen Sea and die quietly, without anyone knowing.

***

The abnormally dense Qi was gone, the arcs of lightning no longer lit up the sealed room and the only thing present in the otherwise empty room was a charred body. An intense smell of burnt flesh filled the room, sticking to its every corner, capable of causing all but few to gag and vomit. The smell was oddly intense despite the lightning burning the body within seconds.

The body lay there, unmoving, as though dead, but that was just an outwardly appearance. Just as a snake shed its skin, the metamorphosis was a process of shedding the previous body in favor of a new one that would be better suited to the new stage. Just like now, before his body was suited to hold the Qi in an intangible state. A state in which it held boundless possibilities and endless paths but without any actual power.

To prune off the endless possibilities, to be tangible. To no longer be just thoughts, to become reality. Though the possibilities were no longer as endless, they were still vast enough.

From the burnt corpse, an extremely abundant and powerful vitality erupted, spreading throughout the body, not repairing it, but rather devouring whatever was left behind in it. The body crumpled, dispersing into fine grains of black ash. Only a powerful vitality was left behind.