Act 2: Infamy That Shakes the Empire
Back on the shores of the Swan Sea, Gwenog Jones stood next to a short, old man. The two of them were located next to a destroyed cliff. Under the pressure of eight powerful combatants, it had been smashed apart, and most of it had fallen into the Swan Sea. Tons of rocks and dirt were piled onto the sandy beach, mixed with the unrecognizable wreckage of a small cottage.
However, neither of them were looking at the scene in front of them. Instead, their gazes were fixed to the distance, where the Swan Sea Sect was. Normally, the sounds of human activity could be heard, even from the beach, but today, it was deathly silent.
Even if a few people managed to escape and survive, it was over for the Swan Sea Sect. It would never be rebuilt, and the Swan Sea area would never be the same again.
Soon, the news would spread across the Scarlet Phoenix Empire – that the Swan Sea Sect was destroyed.
"I thank Senior for your life-saving efforts," Gwenog Jones bowed low in front of the old man.
"I lacked the power to protect my sect. For the destruction of the Swan Sea Sect, I am truly sorry."
"Girl, you have done nothing wrong. It is me who should apologize. My presence implicated you and your sect," the man sorrowfully said.
"Then, they were here?"
"Indeed… seven of them… seven!" the man shook his head. "Can you believe how low the Sacred Clans have fallen? To send six Patriarchs, along with an ugly beast, just to fight against an old man?"
Gwenog Jones just smiled bitterly. Since the enemy had mobilized such a large force, then it was no wonder her sect had been razed to the ground. There was no defending against such an assault.
"Senior, were you the one who guided the Natural Essence into James' hands?" Gwenog Jones asked after recalling how the Heaven Grade fell straight into James' hands, almost as if guided by an invisible force.
"Would you prefer Macnair to have gotten it?" the old man smiled at her.
"Of course not," she quickly shook her head. "I firmly believe you made the right choice, but, why didn't you save him?"
"The boy needed the Water Qi, so I thought I would send him a gift. As for saving him…" the man sighed, and looked towards the sea, where Harry had sank.
"I may have gotten old, but those seven could not have stopped me from saving the boy. However, they believed I am sheltering the subject of the prophecy. If I acted just for the boy, then they would assume he is the child of prophecy. I cannot paint such a target on his back, and send the entire empire against him. For his own sake, I restrained my hand."
"Besides, I was told to not save his life, unless it is absolutely necessary. Though he came close to death, his life was never in danger. He has a life-saving treasure on him, a teleportation device. Even now, he is still alive."
"James is alive?" Gwenog Jones' eyes widened. "How? And where is he?"
"The boy entered the Swan's Seamount," the old man replied.
Gwenog Jones' jaw dropped. She knew James was crazy, and that there was something wrong with his brain that made him do stupid things, but even this seemed to be on its own level. James was constantly finding new heights of idiocy to reach.
Or perhaps, it was new depths.
"But… why?" she asked weakly. Could it be, even in the middle of a desperate war, James was still thinking about getting the treasures in the seamount? His love for money was well-documented, after all.
"He startled a Magic Beast, and had to escape. The seamount was the only place he could have gone – in fact, it was a rather smart move. Though the next bit startled even me. The Swan's Seamount shut on top of him."
Gwenog Jones' jaw dropped again.
"But – that's never happened," she finally said. She wholeheartedly believed the man in front of her, but at the same time, the words coming out his mouth were far too unbelievable.
"Indeed. As I said, it shocked even me. The Swan's Seamount lives up to its reputation as one of the Seven Mysteries of the Scarlet Phoenix Empire. Once the seamount shut, my Spiritual Sense was cut off. I could no longer sense the boy, and as for what happened inside, I have no clue."
"Then how can you be sure he's alive? Will you bring him out then?"
"I would know if he died. As for bringing him out… I am not sure if I can. But even then, there is no need to worry. Once he is teleported out, I will know."
"I understand," the Sect Master nodded. "But, isn't that too risky – "
"Of course, it is very risky. But a cultivator's life is one of risks, is it not? I cannot protect him forever, and in our world, it is necessary to brave danger to grow. Besides, he is too reckless, and too quick to offend others. Even if he is strong for his cultivation level, he is too weak in the grand scheme of things. I hope this incident will temper his mentality, though I suppose, it could just as easily send him down a darker path. But at the very least, I hope he will do some self-reflection – oh?"
The man stopped talking, and pulled a compass out of his pocket. It was made of a red metal, and fit perfectly in the palm of his small hand. The bottom of the compass was engraved with a bright red bird, and the needle was urgently vibrating, oscillating about a direction somewhere to the east.
It was the other half of Harry's teleportation necklace. If the necklace was a beacon, then this was the locator. It originally belonged to the Exalted Cat, but was handed to this man before it left.
"Speak of the devil. Remember our plans. Recover, and lay low until it's time to reconvene the Order. When it's time to take back the empire, we will need your strength."
"Yes, Senior," Gwenog Jones bowed.
"I will be heading on a journey now."
With a single step, the man vanished.
The world finally stopped spinning around him, and Harry was unceremoniously dumped onto the ground.
He tasted the bitter dirt and dry grass, felt the Sun beat upon his back, and leapt to his feet in a flash.
"I – I'm outside?"
He pinched himself, and found out that yes, he indeed was outside.
"I'm outside!"
He laughed in joy, and dived back onto the ground, kissing the sweet dirt and lush grass. The Sun warmed his body, dispelling the gloomy atmosphere in the depths of the Swan's Seamount.
"Thank you," Harry reverently said to the necklace hanging off his neck. Once again, it had saved his life.
Since the necklace didn't rescue him before he touched the Swan's Seamount, or before that bolt of lightning struck of him, he assumed that the enchantments on the necklace had worn off. But no, they still had enough power for one more activation.
More than that, he was surprised this necklace was able to get him out of that place. He was miles underground, trapped in a cage of ice. Even if the teleportation device worked, he thought he'd just slam into the walls. Apparently, it could teleport him through space itself, through physical objects as if they weren't even there.
But as Harry looked at the treasure once more, his heart skipped a beat. The bird was riddled with tiny cracks throughout its metal body, cracks that most definitely weren't there before.
'It's falling apart,' he thought sadly. He knew the necklace wasn't reliable, and was endlessly grateful that it worked in his moment of need. But the necklace couldn't be used much longer – the proof was right in front of his eyes. Perhaps it had one charge left, but even if it did, it would definitely shatter apart afterwards.
And as he stared at the cracks, he thought about those last words he had heard, right before teleportation.
'What did that woman mean "a phoenix flame"? Could the fire in my necklace really be from the flame of a phoenix?'
A phoenix was a legendary bird, a Magic Beast from ancient tales of legends. They were said to be birds of fire, immortal and indestructible, continuously reborn after dying. There were all sorts of legends around their powers and abilities – for example, some claimed phoenix flame was the strongest flame under the Heavens, while others said phoenixes had the ability to heal any injury, no matter how grievous. Many myths surrounded their existence, none of which could be confirmed.
More importantly, phoenixes didn't actually exist – at least, no one believed they did. They were like dragons, beasts that only lived in stories. No one had actually seen a phoenix before. Even if they existed, it was believed they went extinct countless years ago, in an ancient era.
But if this necklace truly contained a phoenix flame, then that shattered Harry's worldview. That would mean this necklace of his was incredibly precious – precious beyond description. It would be the most valuable thing in the whole entire world.
'How did the Exalted Cat get its paws on this then?' Harry wondered. The first time they met, it told him that it gave this necklace to his mother. Did the Exalted Cat know there was a phoenix flame inside?
Or perhaps the woman was wrong? That was easier to believe – but at the same time, Harry felt she wasn't mistaken. It was just his gut instinct, but her reaction, the shock and awe on her face, didn't seem faked. At the very least, she truly believed it was a phoenix flame.
Besides, taking another look at the necklace, Harry realized the red bird it was shaped in… might just be a phoenix! His entire life, he always thought of it as a regular red bird, albeit one that looked like a flame. But if it was actually modeled after a phoenix…
Now that he thought about it, the empire was called the Scarlet Phoenix Empire. Was that just a coincidence, or was there a connection there too?
'Well, there's no point in thinking about this,' Harry finally put the subject out of his mind. Whether it was a phoenix flame or not, he had no way of knowing. Only one thing was clear – he could never mention this to anybody, or he would be murdered for it without a doubt.
"Well, what should I do now?" he muttered while taking another look at his surroundings.
Rolling flat plains, dry scorched earth, a blazing Sun in the sky, and large patches of yellow-green grass dominated his surroundings. There wasn't another human, beast, or sign of civilization in sight, though far off in the distance, he could see a few hills that merged into the blue horizon. He had no clue where he was. It wasn't an area of the Scarlet Phoenix Empire that he recognized, in fact, for all he knew, he might not even be in the Scarlet Phoenix Empire at all.
"Well, Slughorn's definitely not here. Nor is the cat," he continued talking to himself. The necklace was supposed to teleport him to Slughorn, and the cat was supposed to be able to find him.
But, before they separated, the Exalted Cat confessed it would be occupied, and may not be able to help him. If he waited more than a day and the cat didn't show up, then he should assume that it wasn't coming.
And furthermore, it also said this necklace was old, and the enchantments on it wouldn't last forever. There was no guarantee it would work, and even if it did, there was no guarantee it would take him to Slughorn at all. It might fail halfway on the transmission, and he'd land in the middle of nowhere – just like now.
"Guess I'll wait for the cat," Harry finally decided. The Exalted Cat was the creature he most wanted to see again. He missed it more than anything else, and longed to tell it everything that happened to him in the Swan Sea Sect. But it hadn't been very long since they last separated, only a few weeks. Most likely, it was far away and busy.
Harry turned his thoughts towards another nagging topic on his mind – that terrifying and impossible bolt of lightning.
Obviously, it was impossible for a thundercloud to form underground. Yet, it happened anyways.
The woman in the ice had called it a Heavenly Tribulation, and his Magic Spirit had told him to survive the upcoming tribulation. Perhaps they were both referring to that.
"But why did it happen?" Harry couldn't figure it out. "It appeared right as I was about to enter the Qi Absorption Realm –"
He trailed off as he sensed his cultivation, and gasped.
He was in the Qi Absorption Realm!
Heavenly Tribulation… a tribulation…
'The lightning!' Suddenly, things began to make sense. There was a force preventing him from entering the Qi Absorption Realm, but once the lightning struck him, he was able to proceed. If the lightning was a tribulation, then it was somewhat akin to a test, something he had to survive to reach the next level. He didn't know why he had to do it, but it was the only explanation.
"I entered the Qi Absorption Realm!" he exclaimed in joy.
The Qi Absorption Realm was the second realm of cultivation, but it was the first realm where one surpassed mortal limits. Body Tempering Realm cultivators were just like regular humans, albeit stronger and faster. However, once someone stepped into the Qi Absorption Realm, they began to leave humanity behind.
To put it another way, even an ordinary human without cultivation, but trained his body, could match those at the low or mid-level of the Body Tempering Realm. But, no matter how much they trained, it was impossible to match the Qi Absorption Realm. Cultivators at this realm could refine external Qi as easily as breathing, and manipulate it with a thought. Further, Qi Absorption Realm cultivators could go long times without sleeping or eating, using Qi instead to nourish themselves and survive.
Harry took a deep breath, and felt the Qi in the atmosphere entering his body, easily travelling through his meridians. The amount of Qi here was very slight, not at all like in the Swan Sea Sect, but he was able to absorb it now. He could clearly sense Qi all around him, like a sixth sense had been awakened.
Then Harry examined the changes in his body… and almost collapsed in shock.
The Nameless Seed was still in his body, in the same place as usual. It was right in his navel area, where the Qi Sea was supposed to be. But what shocked Harry was – surrounding the Nameless Seed were nine seas!
Nine Qi Seas were arranged around the Nameless Seed! Five of them formed a ring around the Nameless Seed. Two more seas were located above, while the last two were below.
Eight of the Qi Seas were empty, but there was one filled to the brim with a foreign type of energy. Harry could tell it was an elemental type of Qi, and there was a destructive power within it. It definitely wasn't the ordinary Qi found in pills or nature. Though Harry didn't recognize it, oddly enough, it seemed to be familiar.
But more importantly…
"Why the hell are there nine?" Harry exclaimed.
There was only supposed to be one!
When a cultivator stepped into the Qi Absorption Realm, all the Qi they accumulated in the Body Tempering Realm was supposed to congeal to form the Qi Sea. That was just common knowledge, an indisputable fact that had been true from ancient times until now.
Yet, Harry could feel nothing of that sort happened to him. He still felt the Wood Qi in this flesh, the Fire Qi in his veins, Earth Qi in his muscles, and so on. Although one of the Qi Seas was full, it definitely didn't contain Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, or Water Qi. It was something else. As for the other eight seas, they were completely empty.
"It must be the Nameless Technique!" Harry finally concluded. Without any delay, he pulled up his memories of the Nameless Technique. The text about the Five Elements and the Five Minor Accomplishments were just as he remembered, but to his surprise, there was a new section at the end, one that most definitely hadn't been there before.
With rapt attention, Harry began reading.
The Detestable Heavens does not allow for the technique of the sovereigns to exist. It defies the Heavens, and goes against the Heaven's Will. The Detestable Heavens does not permit anything that can threaten it to exist, and sends down tribulations to stop it. Survive the tribulation and the Detestable Heavens' dirty tricks, and continue cultivating the technique of the sovereigns.'
"Technique of the sovereigns," Harry muttered. Indeed, the Nameless Technique was connected to his Magic Spirit, the Cursed Sovereign Spirit. Perhaps that was its name? The Sovereign Technique? But no, it just didn't quite feel right.
"What is the Detestable Heavens?" he wondered. The Nameless Rock had said that phrase, and so had his Magic Spirit. Now, even the Nameless Technique was saying it. It almost sounded like a title of some sort, but the technique refused to elaborate.
Harry read on, skipping some unclear parts, until he finally found a relevant section.
To cultivate through the nine levels of the Qi Absorption Realm, fill the nine Qi Seas, one for each level.
Fill the Sea of Lightning, and enter the Qi Absorption Realm.
Fill the Sea of Wood, the Sea of Fire, the Sea of Earth, the Sea of Metal, the Sea of Water, and complete the Five Medium Accomplishments.
Fill the Sea of Yin and the Sea of Yang, and hold life and death in your palms.
Fill the Sea of Violet, and step on the path of the Sovereign.
Submerge the seed within the nine seas, and become peerless within the same realm.
"So that's why," Harry muttered, everything becoming clear after he read the technique. The Nameless Seed was a heaven-defying object, one able to change his physical body and cultivation path. Somehow, with means Harry couldn't fathom, it created eight additional Qi Seas in his body. As for the sea that was already filled, Harry now recognized where he had encountered that kind of Qi.
It was the Sea of Lightning, and the destructive energy he sensed was the same as the kind in that terrifying thundercloud.
When he was struck by that powerful lightning bolt, the Nameless Seed must have sucked away the Lightning Qi. It almost killed him in the process, but he managed to make it to the 1st level of the Qi Absorption Realm. He was just so badly injured at the time that he didn't notice the changes in his body. He was more focused on trying to not die.
Harry read through the second part of the Nameless Technique again, and let out a long sigh.
He didn't know whether to laugh or to cry.
He wanted to laugh, because the Nameless Technique never let him down. Though he was unparalleled in the Body Tempering Realm, he didn't know if he would be able to maintain his strength in the Qi Absorption Realm. The gap between levels was greater there, and being able to fight above one's own level in the Body Tempering Realm didn't translate to the same thing in the Qi Absorption Realm. But since there was another part of the Nameless Technique, he felt at ease. He knew by now that when the Nameless Technique said "peerless in the same realm", it really meant it.
Better yet, each of the nine elements were associated with special moves. The moves corresponding to the Five Elements hadn't changed, but the more Qi that Harry gathered, the more powerful they would become. As he filled the first five seas, Strengthening Flesh, Burning Blood, and the rest would all upgrade.
As for the other four moves, the Nameless Technique only wrote their names and a brief description.
Heavens Asunder – To be used as a last resort
Devil Infusion – All thoughts to the Devil
Immortal Ascension – Great way of the Immortal
Violet Dyes the Heavens – Violet is the color of slaughter
The names and descriptions of the first three made Harry hesitate – especially "to be used as a last resort" – but it was the fourth that caused him to outright stop reading.
"Violet is the color of slaughter," Harry repeated out loud. This last phrase filled him with incredible emotion, and resonated within his body. He didn't know what that meant, but it was a profound statement nonetheless.
Though Harry wanted to laugh, part of him was also ready to cry. With a sinking feeling, he realized the enormity of the task ahead of him. There were nine elements now, nine types of Qi he had to collect and refine. Well eight, since the Sea of Lightning was already filled. But based on the size of the seas, he knew this time, he'd need far more Qi than in the Body Tempering Realm.
To his dismay, Harry found there was also an order to filling the nine seas. For the Five Elements, although he could start at any element, he still had to complete them in the same cyclic order as before. As for the others, Yin Qi and Yang Qi formed a two-element cycle. Once he started refining Yin or Yang Qi, he wouldn't be able to refine the other until one sea was full. However, he could refine Violet Qi as soon as he found it.
"Now that I think about it, what are Yin Qi and Yang Qi?" he frowned. Those two words were wholly unfamiliar to him. But based on the name of the special moves – he knew that one was related to devils, and the other was related to immortals. Most likely, Heavens Asunder was associated with Lightning Qi, and Violet Dyes the Heavens was certainly associated with Violet Qi.
Devils – they were mythical creatures, beings of pure evil said to be steeped in wickedness and malevolence. But much like phoenixes or dragons, nobody believed they existed. If anything, they were told in stories to frighten children at bedtime.
And Immortals – they were also mythical existences. Of course, to be immortal was to never die. In ancient legends, there were stories of people who cultivated to the point of immortality, and there were some who believed there was an Immortal Realm to cultivation, just as how there was a Body Tempering Realm. In Harry's opinion, there was no such thing as immortality in this world, or… was there?
But according to the Nameless Technique, it seemed like Devils and Immortals did exist. Could it be, cultivating the Nameless Technique to the end could turn him into an immortal? Or perhaps, into a devil? Harry didn't know what to think about that, and uneasily moved onto the last type of Qi.
"And Violet Qi… what in the world is that?" Harry had a feeling that it wasn't referring to the color violet, but rather, something deeper and more profound. Somehow, it was related to slaughtering – which only made him more uneasy.
"Well, I'll figure that out when the time comes. But for now, I can get to the 2nd level of the Qi Absorption Realm, can't I?" Harry realized. After all, he still had the Heaven Grade Natural Essence on him!
"Ring of Elements, come out!" he yelled, and behind his back, the five-colored ring appeared, lighting up the clearing with its splendor.
"Revolve!"
Like a massive hurricane sucking in everything in its path, all the Qi around the clearing was drawn into the center of the resplendent ring. The Qi found naturally in this atmosphere was very sparse, so sparse that Harry barely even noticed it. But out of the Natural Essence, a thick stream of Water Qi connected with the blue segment of the ring, which began to draw Water Qi in at a tremendous rate.
Now that Harry was at the Qi Absorption Realm, his rate of refinement sped up significantly. His refining speed could already be described as monstrous, but now, it got even faster. For normal people at the Qi Absorption Realm, it would take months to refine the Qi within a Heaven Grade treasure. Yet, Harry was doing it in a matter of minutes.
An unending amount of Water Qi was gushing into this body, through his meridians and into Nameless Seed. From there, it entered the Sea of Water, and Harry watched as the sea slowly filled up with Water Qi.
Although enormous quantities of Water Qi were entering his body, when it entered the Sea of Water, they were like drops in the ocean. The Sea of Water filled slowly, agonizingly slowly, so slow that Harry almost thought his body was leaking Water Qi somewhere. But no, it was just the size of his Qi Seas.
Minutes passed. The ring behind him spun around and around, like a loom unspooling a thread of Water Qi out of the Natural Essence. The Sea of Water gradually filled, and as it did, Harry felt a pleasant sensation spread through his entire body. His marrow was being washed for the second time, and he knew that his Washing Marrow ability must have been upgraded.
More time passed, then finally, the Sea of Water was filled to the brim. The Ring of Elements ground to a halt, then faded away, and the Nameless Seed settled down in his body.
Just like that, he was in the 2nd level of the Qi Absorption Realm!
Harry looked at the Natural Essence in his hand, and his face fell. Compared to before, it was far dimmer. He could sense the amount of Qi within had decreased significantly. Practically all of it was gone. Now, the Natural Essence in his hands was more like a high-quality Earth Grade item.
For a normal cultivator, a Heaven Grade treasure could get someone straight from the 1st level to the 9th level of the Qi Absorption Realms, then into the Core Formation Realm itself! That was just how precious a Heaven Grade resource was. Compared to the enormous amounts of Qi needed in the Core Formation Realm, Harry understood the Qi Absorption Realm's requirements were not much.
But for Harry, he used most of it just to fill up one of his nine seas!
There were still seven more seas left to fill!
'This is a Heaven Grade Natural Essence! Heaven Grade! It's the Heaven Grade! And it took more than half of it just to fill up one sea! Each of these seas is 100 times larger than my meridians, or how much I needed for the Five Minor Accomplishments!'
'Just how much Qi am I going to need in all? I have to find another source of Wood Qi, Fire Qi, Earth Qi, and Metal Qi! And then on top of that, Yin Qi, Yang Qi, and Violet Qi!'
'Earth Grade resources definitely won't be enough, and those are already rare. I'll need to find Heaven Grade items for each of the seven!'
'The problem isn't just how much I need! The real problem is, Yin Qi, Yang Qi, and Violet Qi! I don't even know what they are, much less where to get them!'
And that wasn't even the worst part. The worst part was…
'This Nameless Technique not just altered my body, but also my cultivation! This thing is abnormal! Back in the Body Tempering Realm, I could have just stopped cultivating the Five Minor Accomplishments. But that's not an option anymore, since I have nine Qi Seas! Nine of them! Who's ever heard of someone with nine Qi Seas? What am I supposed to do if I can't fill all nine?'
'If I don't find more treasures like this Natural Essence, I'll be stuck at the 2nd level of the Qi Absorption Realm forever!'
Cultivating the Nameless Technique – now Harry realized he had stepped on a carriage that he couldn't get off of.
'Dammit, I feel like I got scammed,' he bitterly thought. No one ever mentioned that such a technique would come with such a painful price. And no one ever told him it'd be an irreversible decision.
For all cultivation techniques, obviously, the cultivator could stop practicing it if they didn't like it. If they found it was incompatible, or didn't like the technique for some reason, they could stop and pick a different technique. That was just common sense.
Cultivation techniques were means to an end; they were ways for cultivators to get stronger and use their powers. But the Nameless Technique actually became his cultivation now. And due to how many resources it demanded, it was enough to drive anybody into despair.
The more Harry thought about it, the more frustrated he got. All his anger and stress built up in his body, and with all his might, Harry flung the Natural Essence into the ground.
'Dammit, dammit, dammit!'
He stomped his foot on the crystal, over and over, crushing it into the ground.
'Screw you, Nameless Technique! You Nameless Rock! You Magic Spirit! You said you created this thing, didn't you?'
'Why isn't this technique clearer? Why didn't you warn me earlier? Where am I going to find all this Qi?'
Each question was punctuated by another stomp into the ground. He must have looked like a crazed man, stamping the ground in useless fury.
"Damn it, come out!" he yelled into the empty plains. His frustration boiled over, no longer able to be contained.
"Come out! Come out!" his voice echoed back to him.
"You damned Magic Spirit, come out so I can give you a piece of my mind!"
"Hey! Whatcha doing?" a sudden and cheery voice from behind interrupted his thoughts.