Chapter 4

Space was warping around Yuha as she stood still in shock. She had lost her parents and sister in what seemed like an instant. Before she could cope with her raging emotions the warping space stopped and she appeared in a foreign space. She looked around and noticed a middle-aged man walking towards her. Seeing the man approach Yuha began channeling her fiend essence.

The middle-aged man chuckled while holding up his hands. “ I mean you no harm little birdie,”

Yuha stared at the man with a hostile gaze. She was confused and unsure of what to do. All she knew was that her family had sacrificed themselves so she could getaway. With that being the case she was unwilling to take a risk in trusting a complete stranger. “Who are you and what is this place?” She asked nearly snarling.

The man remained calm as he answered. “ I am known as Treasure Spirit Soulblood and this is Soulblood Palace,”

“Soulblood palace? Why was I teleported here? Can I go back? My family needs help!” Yuha said in a rush.

The middle-aged man looked sad and gently shook his head. “No, you can not go back that is one of the rules. You were sent here as a last resort to ensure the survival of your race. As for what this place is, it is a training ground and treasury of the ancestral soul gods.”

“So what's the purpose of sending me here?” Yuha asked still confused.

“The reason is that in order for your race to survive you must survive and in order for you to survive you must be trained and equipped to face the world,” Soulblood explained.

Yuha slowly let down her guard as she approached Soulblood“So its a training ground set up by my ancestor. Where exactly are we and how do I know its safe?”

With a chuckle, Soulblood waved his arm causing the walls of the palace to turn transparent. Outside was pitch black but within the void were massive stars. There were about a dozen stars surrounding the palace each giving off divine might. “This is the Soulblood realm and is the source of power inherited by the descendants. Over there are the stars of your ancestors,” Soulblood said pointing to two stars that were circling each other, one gold and one silver. “Your people are lucky that you are descendants of two soul gods.”

Yuha stared at the two stars for a moment before turning to look at Soulblood. “Alright, what's the next step. I need to get stronger so I can see if any of my people survived,”

“Well, follow me,” Soulblood said as the walls returned to their solid state. He took Yuha into an ornate hall that contained countless jade tablets. “This is the hall of knowledge where all the cultivation techniques that the many clans have collected over the years. Some are tried and true while others are incomplete masterpieces. It is up to you to choose one that resonates with you,” Soulblood explained.

Yuha looked around overwhelmed by the amount of choices that were available. She slowly began looking at all the different techniques. Some had powerful and imposing names such as “Cleaving Sky Sutra” or “Essence of the Tyrant”. While others had more subdued names like “Hidden Breeze” and “Whispering Light”. Yet none stuck out to her. She wanted something that was incomplete so she could make her own path once she was strong enough so the completed techniques were out. So she was stuck with the brilliant unfinished techniques. To narrow it down further she discarded all the brutish ones as well.

Soulblood smiled as he saw Yuha being so serious with her decision. This was a choice that even the strongest cultivators would give nearly anything for. Hours passed causing Soulblood to become slightly worried. Don't tell me she is going to pick one of those wicked skills. The deeper into the hall the more wicked the skills would get. Not that the skills were bad but it could lead a person down a very dark path.

As they moved deeper into the hall the atmosphere began to change as it became gloomy and smelled a little bit of blood. They had finally reached the end of the hall were five great monoliths stood each emitting an absolutely horrific aura. If a normal person had stood in front of these monoliths they would be suppressed to death.

Yuha stood before the five monoliths feeling their aura wash over her. She walked to the first monolith and examined it. The monoliths were different as they contained more information than just the technique. They explained the history of these skills and the dangers of using them. The first one was “Whispering Shadows”. It was created by the same genius who had made the “Whispering Light” skill. The skill created terrifying illusions combined with an erratic and stealthy style would usually lead the enemy’s mind to break before their bodies.

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The next skill was a skill filled with death energy and was called “Entropic Soul”. Yuha immediately discarded that choice as it did not fit her. The third monolith gave off a subtle feeling that was hard to pin down. It was invasive and seemed to invade the very fabric of space and then slowly broke it apart while feeding on the energy that was generated in the destruction.

The skill was called “Crumbling Empyrean”. Yuha eyes lit up as she finally had found the technique that resonated with her.

“I chose this one,” Yuha said pointing to the monolith.

“Are you sure that's the one? It is a dangerous skill to learn because if you lose control of the cursing force you will end up disintegrate yourself,” Soulblood explained.

“I understand but risk and reward walk hand in hand! If I am to survive and reach the strength required to seek out my family I can’t play it safe!” Yuha said with conviction. Hearing her reasoning Soulblood nodded his head.

“FIne but first I have to put your bloodline into hibernation or else you will not be able to properly learn the technique. Don't worry your bloodline will still grow more powerful while it is sleeping and will even take on attributes of the skills you practice.”

Yuha frowned at hearing what Soulblood had said. “So what you're saying is I will pretty much have to start cultivating all over again.

Soulblood nodded. “Yes, but it will reap double the rewards and set a much stronger foundation. Also, the world is dangerous for fiends as many cultivators can use your body in many of the crafting arts that exist. So it is safer to hide the fact that you are a fiend until you grow stronger.”

Yuha pondered for a few moments before nodding her head. “What do I have to do?”

“Give me the feather that brought you here then enter into a meditative state,” Soulblood explained. Yuha followed his instructions and entered into a meditative state after handing over the feather. Soulblood held the feather as he drew strange symbols over the feather. After he finished writing the symbols were absorbed into the feather. With a flick of his wrist, Soulblood tossed the feather towards Yuha. The feather melted into silvery light before merging with Yuha. As the feather merged with Yuha the fiendish features disappeared leaving her to look like a normal human.

Yuha jolted awake as she felt her usually powerful blood be sealed up. She frowned as it was an uncomfortable experience. She felt her strength drain from her causing her to shudder as the last wisp of bloodline strength faded.

Soulblood waited a few moments for all Yuha to recover before continuing. “Now you are ready to have the “Crumbling Empyrean” passed on to you. Sit in front of the monolith and open your mind,”

Yuha sat in front of the monolith and opened her mind. A beam of light shot out of the monolith entering into Yuha’s head. A burst of knowledge flooded her mind as the skill took root.

“Curse the body! Curse the mind! Curse the Soul! Curse the Earth! Curse the heavens! Everything in creation can be cursed!” a loud voice seemed to explode in her head. After the voice faded she began to study the knowledge that had been imprinted into her mind. The skill focused on cultivating a special type of curse energy that could integrate with nearly anything and curse what it had merged with. Outside of cultivating the curse energy it had no other techniques. In order to cultivate the curse energy an object containing strong essence was required.

Even though the technique did not come with many of the built-in skills that other techniques it was extremely flexible. The curse energy could be integrated into most techniques as a supplement. The first step was to cultivate the curse energy to the point where one can infuse their entire body with the curse energy. This process was one of the most dangerous steps as losing control would lead to instant death. Yuha slowly opened her eyes and stood up.

“You will have one month’s time to reach the first level. After a month you will be sent to the original world where the skill was developed since that would have the best environment for you to grow. Also before I send you away you will be able to pick one item from the treasury,” Soulblood explained.

“Alright, can I chose my treasure now so I have time to familiarize myself with it?” Yuha asked.

“Of course follow me,” Soulblood answered. Soulblood led her into the treasury that was filled with countless items. “You can pick one of the universal items that don’t require a certain cultivation level,”

Yuha browsed the items looking for one that she liked. There were countless weapons, sets of armor and even crafting tools. None of those interested Yuha. “I need something that can help me avoid trouble since i am sure i will end up making some enemies,” She thought to herself. After some time she finally found an item that piqued her interest. It was a white mask with strange black markings engraved on it. She read the details on the plaque to get a better idea of what it did,

“The Nutuin Mask has the ability to conceal one's identity and aura from anything below a deity” The plaque gave a simple explanation. “This is the one I want,” Yuha said pointing towards the mask. Soulblood raised an eyebrow as he was not expecting the mask to be picked.

“It is yours though I am surprised you didn't pick a weapon or armor,” Soulblood said as he handed Yuha the mask.

“A weapon or armor may help but I need something that I can hide all the bad deeds I will inevitably end up committing,” Yuha explained. This caused Soulblood to frown as she was openly admitting that she planned to do bad deeds. “Don’t look at me like that. I will do whatever it takes and that means committing offensive deads. So if I can blame those deeds on a masked mystery person I can act with impunity.”

“Why do I get the feeling you have used that same strategy before?” Soulblood muttered causing Yuha to let out a slight laugh.

“Can you show me to my room so I can begin training?” Yuha asked.

“Of course follow me,” Soulblood answered as he led Yuha to a large room. “If you need me just call for me,” Soulblood said before walking off. Yuha entered the room and sat down on the soft bed. She curled up on the bed and began sobbing uncontrollably. The sheer weight of losing her entire family in the span of a day came crashing down on her. She had been distracted by gaining all the gifts but now that she had time to process what exactly was going on it was tearing her apart. She thought about her mother and father how they had been loving but strict. She remembered her sister always bailing her out of trouble with their parents. She recalled all her friends that would help her with whatever ridiculous plot she would come up with. Slowly her grief began to turn into determination to get stronger. She fell asleep exhausted but determined to put her heart into becoming stronger so she could reunite with her family.