27 Chapter XXVII: Senior Sister?

The soul lake grew dark as I descended to its depths. The once tranquil experience was quickly shattered and the scorching heat of the mysterious like once again ran rampant. The energy infiltrated my body and flowed directly to my sea of consciousness. Gearing up for war, my mindscape trembled as I begin to cultivate, refining the energy that assaulted me.

However, the pain of the mysterious energy remained. I was just too deep in the lake and couldn't refine the energy as fast as it seeped into my body.

I understood that the majority of soul cultivators experience unimaginable pain during their journey. Nimue included. So how could I possibly succumb? With a family, friends, and Legion to protect and pull to greatness, I welcomed the mind snapping pain in hopes of overcoming and progressing.

Time went on in the dark abyss. The shards in my mindscape grew bigger and brighter. The single flame grew grand and intense before it also took on the form of a shard, signifying entry to the third part of the Six Nature Limit Breaker.

I released a sigh that caused bubbles to form in the water around my face. The refining began to get smoother and the pain slowly vanished.

'Part three of the Six Natured Limit Breaker….How amazing." I thought in my heart.

After refining the last of the energy in my mindscape, the middle level of the Soul Lake lost its effect. Looking deeper into the lake, then around me, the Seven Colored Water Lily was nowhere to be found.

Twisting my body, I kicked off, shooting deeper into the abyss as far as my pain endurance would allow me. After a certain point, I was forced to begin the refining process again. While the middle section felt like hours, the deep layer felt like days yet, it only managed to intensify the radiance of the sixth shard.

My resource needs had increased again. Though I was able to refine more energy, It only strengthened the foundation of my soul cultivation.

'Six sparks become flame, flames become shards, shards become one. One form to destroy all. In destruction comes creation…. Haiz! I'll need another four soul lakes at this point. Forget merging them, growing them will probably devour the entire treasury.'

Putting thoughts of the future aside, I continued to cultivate my soul until the energy was no longer effective. Then it happened.

A small vortex appeared where my third eye would be and swallowed the darkness. Meter by meter the water cleared and the light above the surface illuminated the depths of the mysterious lake. When the light finally reached me, I turned towards the lake bottom and couldn't believe my eyes.

There was nothing but aquatic herbs. Each is over thousands of years old and valuable. I expected more but accepted what was presented to me. Scouring the lake bottom, I collect the herbs and found the seven-colored water lily near the boundary of the lake.

Tearing through water, I was a finger's length away from seizing the treasure that would change little Wu's fate. It suddenly took on a will of its own then vanished into the wall that was supposed to be the end of the lake. Following with a thought of danger, I found myself in a field of odd roses after passing through the illusionary barrier.

A sweet floral fragrance wafted across my nose and it was pleasant.

'A pocket space beneath the lake. Who would have ever guessed? This temple master is truly something.' I thought to myself.

Though something felt off as the treasure I was chasing was gone and nothing but roses filled this pocket space. I then hear a low hum and looked towards the sky to see a bright crystal descending with blinding light rays. I shielded my eyes and felt I overwhelming danger of impending death.

The rose in the center of the field had ascended. Its blood-red petals pulled apart and the golden thorns on the deep green stem followed suit. Next were the three leaves. Each section began to orbit the stem around the stem at a high speed.

If that wasn't terrifying enough, the spike-like stem began to spin before it shot off like a missile with me as its target. My eyes went wide and I fled.

Rushing through the rose field, I was forced to push off the ground into a flip. The stem punctured the earth with a great crash. Once I landed, my feet slid across the ground destroying roses and puling up dirt. Once stabilized, I went through the first form of the cold water palm. Slipping the attacks, I managed to survive then called for my sword.

The battle raged on as sparks flew and a symphony of clanking metal filled the pocket dimension. I slowly began to realize that I was outmatched. As I somersaulted through the air, a thorn dagger hit me. My body hit the ground with a thud but I had no time to feel pain.

It was like a cord snapped and all of my bodily sensations were cut off. The crystals hum intensified and a second Rose weapon emerged. Petals, leaves, thorns, and a stem doubled before firing at me. I could hear the air being ripped apart, then a deafening boom as the steams broke the sound barrier.

A smirked graced my face. I forgot all about the way I ended the Dark Water Royal family. I had never been pressured in such a way. Not even the Bronze Crowned Gorilla had shaken me as much as this mysterious enemy had.

My sword swapped places with my Guqin instant.

Thung!

The string was strummed and the sound wave collided with the steams. My hearing grasped the area with two hands and the rose field became mine.

Thung thung thung ting thung ting!

My fingers nimbly worked and one wave after another combated the blades that sought to take my life. The Six Nature Limit Breaker also began to hum and circulate as light from two shards connected.

'Synergy?!' I exclaimed in surprise.

The next to follow was my sixth sense. The hairs on my body stood up and I kicked off the ground as rose peddles exploded from the dirt beneath.

My sixth sense then triggers my sense of sight. My eyes shined and the world slowed and I spun my Guqin then hit it with a palm. Without feeling, my strength was at a new high. The Guqin touched the heavens.

I allowed the shards in my mind to guide me and act innately as my sense of smell connected and a current of wind converged around me.

'This….'

The Dancing Pixie technique resonated with the wind, increasing my speed. Moving around the blades that seemed half a step slower, I not only used the wind to move but to strum the strings of the Guqin. It wasn't melodic in any way but the sound waves did the job of nocking away and occasionally destroy blades.'

"Theif!" a woman's voiced roared.

In a blink of an eye, my synergy was shattered, earth-ranked Guqin destroyed, and I was nearly torn to pieces.

Clothes torn to scraps, I was bleeding profusely in the rose garden. I faced heaven and many thoughts came to mind. But I knew I was done for. Even I had used all of my trump cards, that instant of defeat revealed my opponent was beyond me by rivers, mountains, and grasslands. From the other side of the world, how could I possibly catch up in an instant?

Even though my body began to heal, it meant nothing in the field of death.

"Six Natured Limit Beaker… Little Thief, how did you get your hands on my master's technique?" an alluring voice resounded as an ethereal existence formed from the bright crystal and descended like a goddess with bright celestial silver hair that had rainbow glimmers in it. Her eyes were deep and hauntingly pitch black. Her skin was lightly tanned.

Before I could answer, she flicked her finger, and a pill shot into my mouth. Once it melted into pure energy, all of my wounds healed instantly and robust nature qi was leftover.

"Lichen Heart Pill!" I gasped.

"That's not the answer I wanted." she hissed as blades surrounded my throat.

"Wait Wait Wait!" I shouted, frightened. I had too much left to do.

"Speak!" she commanded.

"Some old Faye lost a bet. My ancestor battled in a deathmatch. Instead of a life, my ancestor was given this technique."

"Hahaha," the woman laughed manically, "Fate is truly fucked up."

I was confused and still fearful. The woman didn't seem too stable.

"Listen, kid, If it wasn't for the Nature Sutra, I would have assumed that you just looked like them. But now, even without your bloodline awakened, I know you are an Elven Sage. Believe it or not, only the dragons want you dead. Come on let's talk, junior brother."

"J-junior brother?" I stammered.

"Hmm, Angela Khan Eldunari, that's the name of the ancestor that beat my master, the young miss of the Faye clan. Angela Khan was a half-bred bastard of an elder in your clan. To prove herself and make contributions to combat the biased treatment in the clan, she challenged my master. When she won, my master's older brother stepped in and offered a compromise. This compromise painted him as a loving brother and stripped my master of the only thing that she could use to win the seat of Heiress apparent."

"The Six Natured Limit Breaker…" I muttered.

"Yupp. I was her only student. And because she had to give away the technique, the clan forbade her from teaching anyone else. If we shared a technique with another clan and became reliant on said technique, then another clan would know the weaknesses of the technique and that would be potentially dangerous."

"So I'm your junior brother because of this technique?"

"Hmm." she nodded, "Come on."

Following my senior sister, the pocket dimension began to change. The rose field turned into an herb garden with a fresh intoxicating fragrance. Each of the herbs are soul-enriching herbs of a high quality. In the center of the garden is a canopy with twelve roses hovering above it with a single silver arrow in the middle.

Under the canopy is a table with tea, two chairs but a single cup. Once seated, the woman smiled at me looking expectant of my opinion about the tea in front of me.

After a bit of hesitation, I sipped the tea and my eyes widen as the drink nourished my soul.

"Good, right?" She asked.

"A lot easier than that damn lake," I replied before emptying the cup.

The woman laughed. "Please forgive my Lunar Demon King. That lake was created from my menstrual blood. Full of toxins and so on. But it was the only thing that I could give. If I was to cut a finger and bleed into your mouth, your soul would explode."

Large beads of sweat appeared on my forehead. "What are you?" I asked.

"A Faye of the Heavenly Realm. Though low, my bloodline is still tyrannical. If you want to use the real thing you need to ascend to the earth realm of soul cultivation." She explained.

"That won't be possible. The Six Natured Limit Breaker stops at the end of part five." I told her.

The woman smirked then sighed. "And it's definitely modified...Let me tell you a story," she said.

The sky of the pocket dimension changed and the scene of ancients appeared. Their aura was magnificent and grander than any mortal thought.

It showed my senior sister in her younger years and a gambling-addicted master that loved nothing but dice and her apprentice that she once saved from the gutters. Time went by as this master cared and nurtured my senior sister but her addiction worsened and those who wanted what she had, took advantage and maneuvered against her.

The scene shifted to 500 years later when my ancestor appeared and offered a wager that the gambling-addicted young miss of the Faye clan couldn't pass, especially since her father had passed away a year before.

The sky charged to the intense battle between Faye and Elf in front of the entire Royal Faye clan. The young miss was utterly demolished. Her opponent not only cultivated essence but the soul. Just before the death-stroke her bother appeared and the rest was history.

Looking over at my senior sister, I could see the sparkling tears that wet her face and fell to the earth with as much sorrow as welted petals in the spring.

"It's not over..." she spoke lowly. " Without a master life was hard. I was then saved by the lunar demon king and became a concubine. In the beginning, it was a blessing. It soon became a curse. Junior brother, tell me your story."

"Haiz...My story?" I asked.

The woman sniffed as she poured another cup of tea for me. "Yes, your story. You dive to the bottom of a dangerous lake for one woman but your heart is with another. But another is etched into your soul, never to fade. Junior brother, what kind of person are you?"

Though she asked who I am, under the gaze of her eyes I felt naked and vulnerable.

"Senior sister, you make me sound lecherous." I chuckled awkwardly.

"Are you not?" she raised an eyebrow.

"No. No. No. I'm a simple man in the world of cultivation. It is the dangerous and lecherous people that make me appear hungry and calculating. I was once such a man and it cost me the love of my life." I pause with a sorrowful sigh.

Taking a few sips of my tea, I continued, " You have to know your junior brother is a faithful man. To love, family, and friends. In order to survive this world, I must be raw in the expression of my love. I have to dive into the dark abyss that leads to the womb of death. I must lead an army and leave on blood and strife in my wake. I must face beasts and throw myself in between the swords of gods and my people because I want the best for them and I can not lose."

"Regret?" My senior sister frowned.

"Yes." I growled, "Only those who know and understand the pain of loss and where it comes from, can hold on and fight as stubbornly and unrefined as me. That little girl on the shore, Wu Zexi. I have saved her and her life is mine. I will see that she lives it with the strength of her sword, so I sacrifice. The one in my heart, Situ Qing, my lovely QingQing, words can not describe the feeling of the heart in its epitome of love. The one etched into my soul, my departed Chen Suyin, I will never forget her because she is the reason I live so strongly and cherish everything I have."

"This is who you are..." My senior sister looked at me with glowing eyes and mouth agape.

"This is who your junior brother is." I exhaled heavily and worked to calm the twisting sea of emotions within me.

"Will you ever have another woman?" She asked expectantly.

"Not if I can help it," I replied honestly and without a doubt in my mind.

My senior sister laughed happily. "Good! I hate a harem-seeking bastard! Becoming a concubine was the worst choice of my life. I should have struggled and built a life with my own hands. You must treat my sister-in-law as her own woman. Allow her to grow and become a goddess in her own right."

"I'll hold your words close to heart," I replied sincerely.

"Good, good." My senior sister looked at peace, " This place, is yours. Though it is filled with valuable things, only two are priceless and one has worth only to you. The bouquet of roses and the silver arrow are known as soul weapons. They grow with you. The last is the complete Six Natured Limit Breaker Technique fit for those with Faye blood. Be sure to read it thoroughly. And junior brother, If you make it to the top, my body will be worth more than any soul treasure you can find."

I suddenly felt a familiar sensation. A deep sadness erupted from me and tears wet my cheek. Before my eyes, my senior sister turned to dazzling dust with a content smile on her face. But the sensation I felt wasn't the road to reincarnation but the familiar presence of the void.