One week later. Harry spent the last week hiking across the empire, unable to stop thinking over Petunia Dursley's confessions.
Many questions that plagued his mind for his entire life were finally answered, and he felt he got some form of closure. At the very least, his grudges with the Dursleys were written off. Harry fully expected the townspeople would have killed Petunia and Dudley by now, that was just how unpopular they were.
But at the same time, his conversation with Petunia raised so many more questions. He didn't want to believe that his mother was a heartless, unfilial person who abandoned the family who adopted her, but at the same time, he felt Petunia was telling the truth. It certainly explained why she hated him so much.
'I suppose the only way to verify what Petunia said is to ask Slughorn,' Harry reasoned. But of course, that was easier said than done. He had no idea where Slughorn was. So, Harry had no choice but to put these questions out of his mind... once again.
His revenge against the Dursleys was just the beginning. Though they were his biggest source of grief, they were far from the only. There was still one other event that haunted each of his dreams at night, along with all his waking thoughts – the massacre of the Swan Sea Sect.
Sometimes, when he closed his eyes, he could still see Shaun getting killed, dying in his arms, his former friends and sect members massacred, the Elders killed off one by one, even the Sect Master fighting and losing. He saw his friends' betrayal, the Ivory Fist Clan's betrayal, the Alchemy Guild's despicableness, the New Port Sect's heartless slaughter, the Swan Sea dyed red with the blood of the Swan Sea Sect. He saw Theodore Nott raise his sword to kill him – and then woke up with a gasp, feeling as if he were drenched in ice cold water.
No, his revenge was far from over. There was still the New Port Sect, the Ivory Fist Clan, the Nott Sacred Clan, and the Alchemy Guild – at least, the Swan Sea's branch of it. They all had to pay.
But, the difference between getting revenge on them and getting revenge on the Dursleys was like the difference between the mud and the sky. His strength was still insufficient for that.
Fortunately for Harry, he knew how to gain that strength – by completing the Nameless Technique! He felt that once he filled his nine Qi Seas, he would gain an unparalleled power.
Because Harry started off with Water Qi this time, the next type of Qi he needed was Wood Qi. Or alternatively, he could try to search for Yin Qi, Yang Qi, or Violet Qi – but considering he had no idea what those types of Qi even were, it would be a fruitless endeavor.
So, Wood Qi it was.
And there was only one way Harry knew how to get it – by hugging trees and other Magic Plants. Therefore, Harry headed off to the nearest forest.
The closest forested area was to the southwest, and was a location known as Winter Fold Forest. It took a week of walking for Harry to reach it. Though Harry didn't know much about the place, he did know a few things. For one, this was one of the largest forests of the empire, larger than even the immense grounds of the Wyvern Woods. He was sure that there would be Earth Grade plants for him to find – and if he went deep enough, perhaps even Heaven Grade plants. But second, and more importantly, these woods were also teeming with Magic Beasts. The remote location of this forest, along with all the beasts, meant that very few humans lived or visited here. It was the perfect location for Harry.
'Haha, let's see who comes to bother me here,' he thought contentedly to himself. Even if he was cursed to make enemies, it didn't matter if there wasn't anyone around to become enemies with. He must have been the only human within hundreds of miles of the area.
And finally, the third thing he knew about the Winter Fold Forest was also the most mysterious – in some areas of the forest, it snowed year round, hence the name. Reportedly, even the middle of the summer, certain areas of the forest would be overcast with snow clouds. The reason for the snow was unknown, but it mainly fell in the center of the forest. Harry had no plan to journey to those dangerous areas, so he didn't concern himself over it.
Harry entered the forest early this morning, and walked straight towards its depths. He wandered around for half an hour, then stumbled upon some Magic Plants, three trees growing in a row.
These trees were the color of pure white, from the bark to the branches, but with bright green leaves. For a moment, Harry thought he was looking at snow molded into the shape of a tree. Just from that unique appearance, Harry immediately knew they were Magic Plants. And indeed, the instant he laid his eyes on them, their name appeared in his mind.
White Bark Birch – this plant can naturally grow through the Earth Grade, and even through the Heaven Grade if provided with enough Ice Qi. Unlike most plants, this tree requires Ice Qi in addition to regular nutrition to grow. The outer bark is cold to the touch, and acts like a layer of defensive armor. The branches spread in a pyramid-like shape, and the leaves form a spherical green crown.
A yellow color in the bark indicates the tree is unhealthy and is growing in a climate that is too warm. An especially healthy tree will appear silvery in color.
This particular tree has been growing for 25 years, and is at the peak of Ordinary Grade. If given more Ice Qi, it can easily become an Earth Grade plant.
The leaves of this tree can be used to concoct the Frosted Heart Chilled Blood Pill. Refine the essence of one hundred White Bark Birch leaves over an Earth Grade flame. Separate the strength of ice and wood, discard the wood and add in equal portions of the hearts and blood from Magic Beasts that can cultivate Ice Qi.
"Huh, interesting," Harry nodded, then placed his hand on the tree. Like the information in his mind said, the outside was very cold, practically made out of ice. He couldn't feel any Wood Qi from it at all. But when he peeled off a section of the bark and examined the hard wood underneath, he could immediately sense the Wood Qi.
"Ring of Elements!" Harry yelled, and behind his back, the resplendent five-colored ring came into existence. It started revolving, and then the next moment –
WHOOSH!
A flood of Wood Qi came pouring in, like a river of water forced through a narrow pipe. In just a few seconds, every drop of Wood Qi was sucked out of the tree, into the Nameless Seed, and then deposited into Harry's Sea of Wood.
'That – that was way too fast!' Harry's eyes grew wide.
He remembered back when he was in the Wyvern Woods, when he first started cultivating, it would take minutes to even an hour for him to refine the Wood Qi of an Ordinary Grade tree like this. He distinctly recalled hugging the tree and impatiently waiting for the Wood Qi to be extracted. Now, an entire cultivation realm later, and with the Nameless Technique advanced, his refinement speed increased by orders of magnitude.
It was also partly due to the fact this tree was just an Ordinary Grade plant, while he was in the Qi Absorption Realm now. If his refinement speed was very fast before, now, it could only be described as blazingly fast.
Harry made quick work of the rest of the White Bark Birch trees, and then checked the progress in his Sea of Wood.
Immediately, he face fell.
The amount of Wood Qi in the Sea of Wood was tiny. It wasn't even 1% full. Actually, Harry didn't even think it was 1% of 1% full.
"I wonder if I should have waited for these to become Earth Grade first," he mused to himself, before turning around to leave. If there was some Ice Qi, then he could have cultivated these trees for -
"Wait... what?" Harry yelped in surprise, and turned back to look at these trees.
"White Bark Birch – this plant can naturally grow through the Earth Grade, and even through the Heaven Grade if provided with enough Ice Qi. Unlike most plants, this tree requires Ice Qi in addition to regular nutrition to grow. The outer bark is cold to the touch, and acts like a layer of defensive armor. The branches spread in a pyramid-like shape, and the leaves form a spherical green crown," he read the contents of his memories out loud.
"What the – since when did the information become so detailed?" he stared at the trees in bafflement.
His ability even told him the grade of the plant, and how one could use parts of the plant for concocting pills. Harry even knew how to distinguish healthy ones from unhealthy ones. He didn't recall getting all this information in the past!
Since the information was like a switch being flipped in his brain, Harry didn't realize it initially. He just accepted whatever was in his memories without thinking twice.
"Just what is this?" Harry asked himself. Just what in the world was this ability?
And now that he recalled it, something similar happened when Lockhart tried to hand him that Pill of Living Death. Once he saw the pill, the ingredients and effects simply appeared in his mind. It was exactly like how whenever he saw a Magic Plant, he knew its name.
"Could it be, my ability upgraded? Did it happen when I finished the Five Minor Accomplishments? But no, I had this ability before I even started the Nameless Technique. Then, was it when I stepped into the Qi Absorption Realm? Ahh, I don't know," he groaned.
He had to start paying better attention to these strange occurrences!
"Is this ability related to Alchemy? At first, I thought it was just for Magic Plants, but now, it also works on pills! And besides, what do Alchemists use to make pills? Magic Plants! To make the pills, they need the ingredients and recipe – which is what my ability told me. And when Alchemists see a Magic Plant, they need to know what pills they can make with it!"
"Therefore, this ability should be related to Alchemy! I can't be sure... but it feels right!" Harry concluded. Harry had been ruminating over his ability for a long time now, but never found any answers – today, he felt he was one step closer to the truth.
Harry ventured deeper into the Winter Fold Forest, in search of Earth Grade resources. His current location was still considered the outskirts, and he knew he was heading deeper for a very simple reason – it was getting colder.
Throughout the day, Harry stumbled upon a number of other Magic Plants – Moonlight Ice Root, Chilling Pines, White Holly – and for each one, not only could he identify them, he also learned quite a bit of herbological information. Now he could determine the grade of plants, whether they were healthy, and how to use their parts in various Alchemical formulas. It was all information an Alchemist would need to know.
Another surprise to Harry came later that night, just as he was about to lie down and rest. He abruptly found himself facing a large Magic Beast. It was a leopard, a giant leopard, except its fur was white with large gray spots. At full height, its head was level with Harry's, and its body was three meters long. Once it saw Harry, it immediately bared a mouthful of razor-sharp fangs and pounced at him.
Judging based on the size, it was at the middle-level of the Qi Absorption Realm.
Once Harry saw the incoming beast, his well-honed battle instincts took over. He managed to block the attack with his arm, the leopard's teeth striking harmlessly against his flesh. But surprisingly, once the beast's mouth was wrapped around his forearm, Harry felt his arm grow numb, and a layer of ice spread, rapidly growing up his arm and freezing it in place.
Rebirthing Muscle! Burning Blood!
Around his other arm, Harry added a layer of his Qi. This was a move he was still practicing, but by encasing his arm and fist with Qi, his attacks gained more strength and power.
BANG!
With all his might, Harry landed a vicious punch at the snow leopard's chest. It shattered the beast's ribcage, bursting its heart from the inside and immediately killing it. Its grip on Harry's arm slackened, its eyes widened in surprise, then it toppled over, dead.
With his current strength, defeating that Magic Beast took little effort. The only surprise was that his other arm was encased with ice, but Harry easily smashed it apart and brushed the shards of ice off.
'It seems this snow leopard refines Ice Qi to cultivate, and it must be able to use it in its attacks too.' Harry reasoned. He recalled the first time he ever fought an Earth Grade beast – that disaster of a fight against the Scarlet Flame Wolf in the Wyvern Woods. That creature could use Fire Qi to spit out fireballs. This leopard had a similar ability, just with Ice Qi. If Harry weren't so powerful, that ability would definitely be troublesome to fight against.
'Ah, that takes me back, back to simpler times,' Harry sighed. They reminded him of the cherished moments he spent under the Exalted Cat's protection, hunting beasts and collecting Wood Qi in the Wyvern Woods.
"If you keep cultivating, we will surely meet again. Those who are strong are destined to cross paths."
Those were the last words the Exalted Cat had told him before it left.
'I will,' Harry resolved. 'I'll grow stronger, no matter what. The next time we meet – I'll make you proud of my strength.'
Another week went by, and Harry stood by a grove of depleted trees. Though the Winter Fold Forest was home to many Earth Grade trees, and he had refined almost 100 of them by now, his Sea of Wood was just too large. Harry checked, then double checked, then triple checked, and then sighed.
He had filled close to, but not quite, 1% of the Sea of Wood.
But even though it was a tiny percentage, Harry knew 100 Earth Grade tress represented an enormous amount of Wood Qi! That was practically how much Wood Qi he needed to complete the Strengthening Flesh minor accomplishment.
To complete the medium accomplishment, it was looking like he'd need somewhere between 100 to 200 times as much.
Harry had never been particularly good at math or numbers, but based off of that, he could still estimate where his strength would be if he actually filled up this entire sea.
For average cultivators, at the 1st level of the Body Tempering Realm, they could use their one open meridian to exert about 10 kilograms of strength. And when they reached the 9th level, they could exert about 180 kilograms.
But in the Qi Absorption Realm, refining Qi no longer resulted in increases to physical strength. Instead, cultivators focused on using it to exert force. There were countless ways in which Qi could be used in battle, but the most common was to use it to augment physical attacks, just like how Harry had done during the brief fight against the leopard. Qi could be used offensively, defensively, to increase speed, or to practice one of the myriad cultivation techniques. The only limits of its uses were the limits of imagination.
Therefore, it became impossible to assign a number like 10 or 180 kilograms to strength. In the Body Tempering Realm, those at the same level had more or less the same strength. But depending on how the cultivator used their Qi in the Qi Absorption Realm, their strength could vary widely.
That was why once cultivators got to the Qi Absorption Realm, nobody measured strength using numbers.
However, it was still possible to compare the levels in terms of rough proportions, which was how Harry planned to estimate the power of the Nameless Technique.
Back in the Swan Sea Sect, Harry learned a number of shocking things about the Qi Absorption Realm. Originally, Harry had foolishly believed the difference between levels was the same as in the Body Tempering Realm – so at the 9th level of the Qi Absorption Realm, one would be roughly two or three times stronger than at the 9th level of the Body Tempering Realm.
Very quickly after entering the sect, Harry found out that was wrong, very wrong. It couldn't have been further from the truth. In fact, just someone at the 2nd level of the Qi Absorption Realm would be three times stronger than someone at the 9th level of the Body Tempering Realm!
By the time they got to the 5th level, they would be 10 times stronger!
And as for someone at the 9th level of the Qi Absorption Realm, at the very least, they would be 30 times stronger!
When Harry first heard those values, he couldn't believe or understand how that was possible. But as it turned out, each level of the Qi Absorption Realm required more and more Qi to advance. Therefore, the value compounded and grew at a faster rate.
When Harry was at the 8th level of the Body Tempering Realm, he could defeat even those at the 5th level of the Qi Absorption Realm. But though he was now at the 2nd level of the Qi Absorption Realm, he was far from being able to defeat someone at the 8th or 9th level, like Lockhart. Even a group of people at the 6th level posed a challenge.
The difference between the 8th level of the Body Tempering Realm and the 2nd level of the Qi Absorption Realm wasn't much. But the gap between the 6th and 7th level of the Qi Absorption Realm was many times the former.
And the Core Formation Realm was even more exaggerated. At the very minimum, someone at the 9th level of the Core Formation Realm was 50 times stronger than someone at the 9th level of the Qi Absorption Realm!
Then when that was combined with Magic Spirits, weapons, cultivation techniques, or special treasures, that number grew even higher. The strength of those near the top of the empire was simply incomprehensible to Harry.
It was only when Harry learned of those awe-inducing numbers when he fully realized that in the overall picture, he was still very, very weak.
Therefore, Harry had wondered just big of an advantage the Nameless Technique could provide. But as it turned out, it was still an enormous advantage!
"Back when I was in the Body Tempering Realm, I could withstand the force of the 2nd level of the Qi Absorption Realm with just Strengthening Flesh, like when I fought Maynard," Harry contemplated to himself. Maynard had just been at the 1st level, but his strength was easily at the 2nd.
"But, that wasn't my limit. I could definitely resist the 3rd level too, and maybe even the 4th. Then for the 5th, I had to add on Forging Bone. But I'm just concerned about Wood Qi for now – that alone got me to the 4th level."
"To fill the Sea of Wood, I'm going to need 100, no, more like 150, times the Wood Qi..." Harry's thoughts tapered.
"That easily puts me beyond the 9th level of the Qi Absorption Realm, but still far from the 9th level of the Core Formation Realm. But, it's still a lot of strength! It should be... the 6th level of the Core Formation Realm?" Harry exclaimed out loud.
No matter how many times he redid the numbers, he arrived at the same level. Around the 6th level of the Core Formation Realm!
If he actually filled up this Sea of Wood, then he'd be a cultivator at the 3rd level of the Qi Absorption Realm, who's physical body could withstand even attacks from those at the 6th level of the Core Formation Realm! Such a thing was completely unheard of. It filled Harry with incredible excitement.
And of course, that wasn't even taking Forging Bone into account. At the very minimum, that would double his strength. Then when combined with the Five Element Battle Body... Harry could barely imagine the result. That would easily bring him to the peak of the Core Formation Realm!
"If it was before, I would have dismissed this idea. I wouldn't have believed it at all. But now, now I know! I know just how powerful this technique is, and how powerful my Magic Spirit is! I believe!" Harry placed all his faith into the Nameless Technique.
Though not everything was so simple and straightforward. He spent a week to just fill this little bit of his boundless Sea of Wood. At this rate, wouldn't it take him another three years to complete it? Harry simply didn't have that kind of patience, and couldn't help but wonder if there was a faster way. Should he try to head even deeper, and find some Heaven Grade trees in this forest? There probably weren't very many in the forest, and were all located in dangerous locations, but the risks were well worth the reward.
Now he knew, that Water Qi Natural Essence he got out of the Swan's Seamount was no low-quality Heaven Grade treasure. For it to fill up his entire Sea of Water, it must have been high-quality!
Idly, Harry checked the status of his other Qi Seas.
The Sea of Lightning was full, and rested above the Nameless Seed. Five more Qi Seas formed a ring around the Nameless Seed. Of the five, one was the Sea of Water, which was full. And next to it was the Sea of Wood, about half of 1% full. The other three of the five were empty, and must have been the Seas of Fire, Earth, and Metal.
Below the Nameless Seed were two more seas, also empty. But when Harry sensed his last Qi Sea, the one next to the Sea of Lightning, he leapt to his feet in astonishment.
To his pleasant surprise, that sea had a tiny bit of Qi in it!
"What the – am I sensing it wrong? No, I'm not wrong! There's definitely Qi in this sea!"
"I... found it! I found one of the three mysterious types of Qi – Yin, Yang, or Violet!" Harry marveled.
"But the question is... just which Qi is it? And where and how did I get it?"
Harry racked his brains, but he couldn't think of where he might have encountered Yin, Yang, or Violet Qi. Of course, it was made more difficult since he didn't actually know what they even were.
And when he tried to sense the type of Qi in that Qi Sea, that didn't help at all. Each elemental type of Qi had a nature to it, almost like a personality – for example, Lightning Qi was destructive, and Harry constantly felt it crackling in his body, waiting to be unleashed. Water Qi, on the other hand, had a healing property and was gentle and cool. But this type of Qi, whatever it was, didn't feel any particular way. There was just too little of it.
"Yin, Yang, or Violet... just which is it? Dammit, how can I find the Qi, but not even know where I found it?" Harry groaned in frustration. Perhaps in the whole world, a situation like this could only happen to him.
"Well, I'm not going to complain about finding the Qi I need. It's good that I – wait..." Harry trailed off as he suddenly realized an unpleasant thought.
If this mystery Qi was Yin Qi, then even if he found Yang Qi, he wouldn't be able to refine it until the sea was full. And similarly, if it was Yang Qi, then he wouldn't be able to refine Yin Qi. Just like how the Five Elements formed a cycle, so did Yin and Yang. If he was unlucky, which he knew he was, this could cause him to miss opportunities.
"In that case, it might not be good after all," Harry sighed.
WOOSH!
A sudden whistling noise startled Harry and interrupted his thoughts. It sounded like a high-speed arrow streaking through the air, then the next moment, something crashed against a tree nearby. Harry only saw a white blur flash in front of his eyes.
He leapt back a safe distance, scanning the forest for enemies, until he noticed a white object laying at the base of the tree. It was about the size of his forearm, and covered in white feathers.
When it slowly got to its feet, Harry realized it was a Magic Beast.
It was a bird, an owl actually, pure white in color. Pure white, that is, except for the streaks of red blood that marred its feathers. Its wings were bent out of shape, and a long gash nearly ripped it into two pieces. It was a miracle that it could even fly.
Harry ran over to help it – just as the owl steadied itself and looked straight at Harry.
"Please, help me," the owl pleaded to Harry.