Chapter 79 - Elemental Laws
Three months. Only three months to advance to the sixth stage and increase their strength as much as possible.
As soon as they returned home, Hei and Lian concentrated on cultivating all the time. Apart from sleeping and eating, they wouldn't stop cultivating, pausing even their usual physical workouts.
But it wasn't just them, Ye and Xing were also cultivating like them. Or rather, it would have been more correct to say that they were digesting the energy deriving from the spirit cores they had eaten. Indeed, even if the very act of eating spirit cores was something that took a few seconds, the energy contained inside would take longer to be fully assimilated.
That was why they waited until they reached the sect to eat the remaining two spirit cores at their disposal.
Shui, Mi, and other nearby residents placed the area under close surveillance. No foreign living organism could approach, not that there was any need, given the number of spirit beasts present there. But, it was also a preventive move towards humans who lived there with them as they only trusted Hei e Lian but still kept their distrust against humans.
Thus, under this intense cultivation cycle, Hei and Lian reached the peak of the fifth stage. All that was missing was to overcome the bottleneck that separated them from the sixth stage. At that moment, they would finally reach the much-coveted sixth stage and open their meridians.
It wasn’t just a matter of raising their strength by one stage. The sixth stage was the door that led to the Elementals Laws’ realm. If up until now, they could be considered humans with greater strength to ordinary people, by learning the Elemental Laws, they would become beings that transcended the very concept of humanity in a certain sense.
"Alright, I think the time has come. Lian, are you ready?"
"Yes, Hei. I'm ready."
The two youths, therefore, swallowed the Fortifying Metal Pills. Initially, they planned to divide it between the two of them, but thanks to the sect leader, that was no longer necessary since they had received another one.
The energy inside the Fortifying Metal Pill was genuinely extraordinary. Their whole body was vibrating with excitement, and spirit power was penetrating their bones. They could feel their body getting stronger.
But they didn't have the luxury to stay still and admire that reaction. In order not to miss a drop of the pill's energy, Hei and Lian closed their eyes and continued to cultivate.
They remained in that cultivation state for a couple of days. During all that time, they didn't even stop to eat or sleep. They couldn’t stop anyway, or otherwise, they would have thwarted the process, nullifying all their work up till now.
In the end, however, their efforts were rewarded. When the last grain of energy contained in the pills was absorbed, Hei and Lian opened their eyes and looked at each other. On their faces, there was a bright smile, a sign that they had succeeded in their intent of advancing.
Sixth stage!
Finally, they had reached the sixth stage!
Although there was still the seventh stage, the marrow stage, for martial artists, the most crucial stage in the spirit apprentice rank was undoubtedly the sixth.
‘Well done, my little ones. You succeeded.’
Bao Bei complimented his son and Lian. She was thrilled with the result. Meanwhile, Ye and Xing had also finished digesting the energy of the spirit cores.
Although there were no apparent changes, Hei knew it wasn't. They had become even stronger than before. If before they were comparable to a fifth stage, now their strength was equal to a sixth stage just advanced. Meaning, they had the same power as Hei and Lian had.
‘You too, my treasures. Well done.’ Bao Bei said as she gently stroked her daughters.
Then, she prepared a nice big meal before sending everyone to sleep.
They were still tired from the advancement process, and although they had a deadline, it wasn’t so imminent as not to give them a day off. Moreover, it was better they were at full strength to understand the explanations concerning the Elemental Laws.
*
The following morning, after a long sleep, Hei woke up with a start.
Due to the excitement and fatigue resulting from having reached the sixth stage, he totally forgot about it. But finally, he could know his second element as well as that of Lian and his two little sisters.
Sensing his restlessness, Bao Bei smiled inwardly and calmed him down.
‘Be serene; there is plenty of time. Wake up, Lian and your sisters. After eating, we will proceed with verifying your elements.’
Hei nodded his head as he carried out his mother's command. His two little sisters were still a little sleepy, but after smelling breakfast, they woke up completely. Lian was as usual; the only change was a slight excitement in her eyes.
Immediately after eating, Bao Bei took them out of the spiderweb house and placed them in line, side by side.
‘Okay, now that you have opened your meridians, we can know your elements, Hei, Lian. As for you two, my little ones. Those who are divine beasts by birth don’t have something like the opening of the meridians, as they are already open inside your bodies. Consequently, you could have already begun to understand the Elemental Laws. However, this process is best to be performed after reaching a certain rate of maturation of your bodies. That's why I've made you wait until now.’
Bao Bei's gaze swept over each four of them. Two humans and two spirit beasts. Together they would take the first step towards the realm of Elemental Laws.
‘Before starting, I need to explain a few things. As I mentioned to you before, there are 18 elements - Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Lightning, Light, Darkness, Ice, Metal, Wood, Poison, Blood, Gas, Illusion, Ghost, Energy, Space, Time.
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Excluding Space and Time, living beings can awaken one of these. In truth, the Energy Law is combined with Space and Time simply because, throughout history, there has only been one being able to learn it. No, in truth, it isn’t even totally correct.
If you think about it, the neutral spirit power you possess now is nothing but the Energy Law. However, you use it unconsciously and aren’t able to perceive it as a Law and comprehend its secrets. For years, martial artists have tried to understand this law without success. After all, the Energy Law can be considered as the origin of all other laws.
But since it is too difficult, we have abandoned that road to focus instead on the remaining laws. And here comes what is called Elemental Conversion. By absorbing objects containing the energy of one's element, a martial artist can convert the neutral energy of their spirit power into their element of belonging. When the conversion is over, a Spirit Seed will be formed. This is nothing other than the condensation of the Elemental Law itself in your body, allowing you to use the techniques of that element.
Theoretically, one can form in his own body a spirit seed for every Elemental Law. However, it isn’t something beneficial to do. In the past, there have been some who formed more than one spirit seed without the help of a bloodline. But, by the time they finished creating their second spirit seed, their potential was exhausted due to having spent too much time converting their spirit power. For that reason, all martial artists focus only on one element, or at most two if they have a bloodline. The same goes for us, divine beasts.
The process of increasing your understanding of your Elemental Law is simple but complicated at the same time. When you learn a move, to increase its power or range or add other effects, you will only have to practice that.
As you practice, the spirit seed within you will grow, giving you more power. From its seed stage, it will become a spirit root, and from its root stage to spirit tree. And the more the tree grows, the stronger your attacks’ power will be.
However, there is a problem. You will have to balance the time spent studying your Elemental Laws with the time spent on cultivation. If you spend too much time on your laws, there is a risk that you will waste your potential, and you won’t be able to move up to the next stage or rank. But if you advance too fast, your techniques will be too inferior to the ones used by other martial artists of the same rank, not to mention that it will be more challenging to understand the laws as your spirit power is lacking.
It is precisely because of this problem that bloodlines are of such priceless value. They make it possible to speed up the law comprehension, leaving more time to cultivate or do other things.’
Then Bao Bei paused. The notions inside her speech were numerous. It wasn’t so easy to understand all of them at the beginning. For that reason, she let Hei and the others completely digest what she had said before continuing.
"Okay. After so many explanations, I think it’s time to pass to determinate your elements. Arrange yourselves in a circle and grab this object simultaneously. Then close your eyes and let your spirit power flow. After that, wait until you see something."
Having said this, Bao Bei gave them a crystal ball with 15 small fragments of different colors inside. These fragments weren’t simple stone or mineral fragments but were pieces of elemental essences. Although they weren't big enough to be absorbed, by inserting them inside an object, martial artists had developed a system to perceive the innate elemental law hidden in their body.
This sphere belonged to the personal collection of sect leader. It must be known that last night, Bao Bei was sneaked into the sect leader residence and "borrowed" that sphere. Although they were allies, it wasn’t wise to ultimately reveal their cards. The sect leader had said that they had to get to the sixth stage by the end of the three months, so it wasn’t necessary to let her know when the two youths managed to achieve it. In any case, as soon as they ended here, the sphere would be returned to its place.
Hei, Lian, Xing, Ye touched the crystal ball together and poured their spirit power into it. The fragments inside received their spirit power and began to light up.
After some time passed, the first to speak was Xing.
‘Mother, I saw some things... I saw our spiderweb house, but it was purple and contained poison. But it wasn't just that. Although it was visible to me, at the same time, it wasn't because the leaves, dust, and other substances passed through it as it didn’t exist.‘
‘Uhmm... I see. The poison comes from your bloodline, and we already knew that. As for the invisible effect of the web, it is due to your innate element. Like me, you are apt to study the Law of Illusions.’
‘Woah, like mother. How beautiful.’
Meanwhile, Ye had also ended up seeing something, but she asked a question before revealing what she had seen.
‘Mother, father, instead, what elemental laws he had?’
‘Your father possessed the Poison and Darkness Laws. Why? Is there something wrong?’
Ye lowered her face as she answered,
‘I saw a black metal that glistened but no poison.’
‘Metal?! I understand. The darkness is your father's bloodline. But your innate element is none other than the Metal Law.’
Upon hearing her mother's confirmation, Ye appeared even more downcast. Usually, she would have been cheerful, but now she was down in the dumps. After all, Xing had the same configuration as their mother, while she managed only to gain one of her father elements.
Understanding her daughter's thoughts, Bao Bei hastened to reassure.
‘It's not a bad thing to be different. Diversity is what makes us special. The Metal Law fits you perfectly, and it’s very powerful. Don't be sad; it doesn't matter if you don't have the Law of Poison. You have something that none of us has. Whether you follow the footsteps of those who preceded you or take a totally different path, it doesn’t matter. The important thing is that you give your best to make your dreams come true. Besides, you still have your father's bloodline. Don't forget it.’
At her mother's words, Ye appeared to cheer herself up a little as she raised her head. Even though she was still a bit sad, it wasn't so bad after all to have something unique from the rest of the family. Moreover, as her mother had said, she still had something in common with her father.
At that point, Lian also spoke. She waited until Bao Bei had finished talking so as not to disturb that critical moment between mother and daughter.
"I saw something too. I saw water streams coming together and then forming big waves."
‘Waves... then you have the water element. Interesting. The ideal would have been to awaken the Wood Law, but the Law of Water is the second-best option for the Lotus Style.’
Finally, Bao Bei's eyes turned to her son, Hei. For some reason, she was more agitated now than when she had been before with the others.
Hei opened his eyes and communicated what he had seen.
"I saw our spiderweb house. As in Xing's vision, it was sprinkled with poison, but it wasn’t invisible or had other particular effects. Instead, we were all present there and the darkness…”
‘The darkness was wrapping us gently as it stretched its arms as if to hug us.’
"Yes, mother. How did you know? "
Bao Bei didn’t answer Hei but looked up. She clearly remembered what she had heard many years ago.
‘Hei An, what did you see when you reached the stage of divine beast?’
‘I felt the Darkness. I thought about my birthplace and my family. The darkness was wrapping us gently in an embrace with its long arms.’
‘Hei An, your son looks more and more like you. If only you could know him, I bet he would make you proud. But the fact that he looks like you is what worries me. Because you are both loved by darkness, I don't want Hei to be swallowed up by it as it happened to you. For this reason...’ Bao Bei looked at Lian and her two daughters, ‘he must not remain alone. He will take his own path, and eventually, he will accomplish what we wanted.’
"Mother?" Hei asked worriedly. His mother became suddenly silent as she was thinking about something in her mind.
‘I'm fine, don't worry. As for your elements, you have Poison and Darkness. Exactly like your father.’
On hearing that, Hei smiled. He was happy that his innate element was darkness. Although he had never known ‘his father’ and knew that he wasn’t his biological father, it didn’t matter. For his mother, his father was an unforgettable existence. And just because he gave her a chance to survive and letting her meet him, Hei was immensely grateful to this father he would never know in his life, but whose legacy he was carrying.