48 [48] The White Tiger's Awakening
Chapter 48: The White Tiger's Awakening
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[Third Person Point of View]
"That should have taken him out," she said as she looked far beneath, she could feel his life force still, but it was escaping him fast.
That human was quite strong for his age. Perhaps she'd revive him as a Reincarnated Devil later, after finishing the mission for which they were here.
"Rarzon," she said and looked at her eldest son, who was still lying on the ground after fighting the human. He was healing fast, and he wasn't knocked out. "What is the situation? Where is this?"
"Grandmother, let me," said Rargrig, her grandson whom she recalled was so young before she fell asleep.
"You are the current Head? You've grown." She said with a smile, "Now explain."
She had regained her consciousness not long after she was brought near the volcano. She just couldn't move. She could hear and sense everything around her though, that's why she hadn't hesitated to attack that human because she knew he was an enemy. Her eldest son had naturally sensed that she was awake, that's why he threw her to the volcano, where she willed for the Fire Stone to come to her. It was all a smooth process.
She still lacked the overall context of the situation, though. But Rargrid needed only half a minute to make her understand what was going on. She frowned after hearing his explanation. Personally, she wouldn't have picked a fight with the Shinto Gods, but oh well, here they were. It was for her own survival too, so she couldn't blame her descendants.
"Alright, I get the gist of it." she waved her hand and the sky split apart with a red hue. "The gateway to the Far Shore. Follow me, I'll deal with that Sakuya girl."
She said and rose towards the crack in the sky. At the last moment, Rarzon coughed and got up. "Mother, we still have someone here. Should we wait for him to return?"
"He is dead," she said. "There are two more rats here, so deal with them later if you want. It's not like they can escape."
"...Understood," Rarzon lowered his head and nodded. He felt bad that his brother was dead, but he had to follow his mother's cold and progressional role.
Then, the one devil ancestor led the three devils into the crack of space of time. They appeared in the heavenly realm of Sakuya, where she was winning the battle until then. Until Ranefer Phenex, the Phoenix Demon appeared.
* * *
On the other side of the mountain, opposite where the portal was created, Mem and Mai were together. They huffed, out of breath, as they looked at the messed up body near their feet.
"We just… killed someone," Mem-Cho cursed under her breath.
Near their feet, lay a devil man whose face had caved in his own skull, thanks to the kick he received from Mai.
The devil man was out of their league, he had strength and firepower beyond what they could endure. If they didn't react fast and deal with him, he'd kill them. They had no other choice but to go all out from the start, taking advantage of the fact that the old man didn't take them seriously and was playing with them.
Mem used her Power of Time to capture the man inside her time bubble, pausing him, and then allowing Mai to kick him in the face. Mai kicked him a few times, after which Mem let his personal time flow normally, except she kept his regenerative powers slowed down to a terrible level. That caused the man, whose body suffered from the wound but his healing didn't react, to die from the kick since his brain was mashed with his own bones.
This was the first time either of them had killed a person. They didn't feel guilty, that guy was after their lives after all, but it still left a bad taste in their mouth. Mem gulped while Mai was frowning at herself.
"N-nevermind this," Mai shook her head. "Let's go. Let's find Aqua. That phoenix made out of the fire just earlier, looked like it hit him. We have to make sure he's alright."
"Uh, y-yeah, you're right." Mem quickly nodded and then the two of them took off to the air in search of Aqua. They hoped he was alright.
* * *
[First Person Point of View]
On the Middle Shore, under the mountain where Aqua and Akane had fallen, the girl was crying her eyes out as she held my face in her hands and kept shaking me.
"A-aqua! O-oh my god, what do I do-" Akane was panicking, crying and trembling. "It's all my fault, uaah, what do I do…"
While she cried, I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate.
It would have been a smoother process if I was at the peak of the mountain, but I'll have to make it work here. I looked into my Void Storage and took out a box.
A treasure chest. It was the Box of Xolotl, the Aztec Dog God of Death.
I called it out, as it teleported to my side, startling Akane.
"Akane," I had a hard time talking due to the missing flesh on my back, but I had to tell her to get lost. "Go a bit far from me. The sky will rain lightning."
"What…" she began but quickly nodded, she had the wit to understand I had a plan.
She hesitated getting off me, wondering if leaving me in this state would be right, before she finally mustered the courage and rushed away. I noticed her stop a few dozen meters away from here, peeking at me from behind a tree.
The three [Lord] advancements are a little complicated, being Underlord, Overlord, and Archlord. There are three steps to reaching Underlord, all culminating in a personal revelation that looks backward in time and asks: Why did I first start my Cultivation? What pushed me forward? When this insight resonates within, one reaches outward, to the vital aura all around, and is then washed in soulfire, reborn, rejuvenated, body and soul.
To Master Yourself.
To Master the World Around You.
To Connect to The World Around you.
These are the three steps. In the first step, to master myself, one had to open a space in the very center of one's spirit, the center of their being. At that very point, they must flex their spirit, like expanding an invisible lung. There will be a strain, like pulling in a breath of mud, before the cultivator will feel space open in their soul. This opening is called a Soul Space and may be used to store a single item in one's very soul.
I have already done this in the waterfall earlier, this has been completed. When first opened this space, it is small, barely large enough to hold a bean. With time and effort, a cultivator may expand this space until it can hold a much larger and more powerful object. I don't need this to store objects, since I have my Void Storage, so I'll have to use it for its main usage. To store Soul Fire. That's the second step.
To master the world around you. All vital aura in the world is connected, and power flows from one aspect to another. Once one can sense this unity, one can begin to weave Soulfire from the vital aura. This process is fastened with the help of sacred artifacts, such as the treasure box.
"Hah…" I breathed out and pushed my will upon the box. I didn't need to open it to use it for this. Whatever the artifact that's inside won't be wasted either; for example, if it's a spear, I will be able to summon it in an ethereal form and use it.
I closed my eyes and breathed in. I pressed my will upon the world, condensing all kinds of aura around me into a hand that grabbed the box. Then, it crushed it. It's an impossible process usually, nothing should be able to crush it, but the world helped me this time as I was about to advance with it.
The box turned into white essence, slowly vanishing in thin air, as it rushed towards me. Towards my Qi Pool, in the little gap where I'm supposed to store Soulfire.
It took an entire minute for this process to end, but there was nothing to interrupt it. The area shook gently as the wounds in my back began to close faster. Soulfire had all kinds of uses, as it was similar to Divinity in many ways.
Now that I felt a little better, my head much clearer, I moved on to the third step right away.
To connect yourself to the world. Once a cultivator opens their soul space and fills it with soul fire, they connect themselves to the world around them by calling upon their soul fire and the vital aura of the world to reforge their body from soul fire. It's a similar process to forging my Iron Body, though not as long, I won't need the entire night.
However, the problem for most people is that igniting the transformation is quite difficult. To begin the soulfire transformation, one must have a true and deep understanding of themselves and have a personal revelation that causes the soul fire within to resonate with the vital aura around them, activating the advancement.
It's that self-revelation: Why did I first start my journey? What pushed me forward?
I sat up. I felt Akane smile looking at me, almost rushing to hug me, but I raised my hand to stop her. I sat with my back against a tree and looked at the night sky.
Huh. Why did I begin?
I didn't have to come across this sort of self-question in the past, as my past cultivation wasn't following this System but the usual, typical one. So it's a thing to wonder about.
I see.
How fitting.
If I were to talk about the very first start of my magical journey, it's in my 2nd life. I was a Hero there, who vowed to one day slay the Demon King. I did succeed, too.
"Odd for me to say after so many things happened, but," I muttered, "I started this to slay evil. To incinerate demons."
The Soulfire didn't react.
The answer wasn't accepted.
I chuckled to myself. Do I have to give a list of all my lives' inspiration to power? Or… this current one? Why did I choose to walk this particular path in this life?
My smile dropped as I stared at the sky again. There wasn't actually any reason. I mean, I started to train because being a normal human after so many lives didn't suit me. Then again, I usually trained after a certain age, not since the day I was born.
"Okay…" this is embarrassing.
I can't believe this. I felt a little heat on my cheeks as I realized what the revelation was. I sighed and closed my eyes, sitting in a lotus position.
'For I had to,' I chanted in my head. 'Keep my mother safe.'
That's why I started my training early in this life because I wanted Ai to not die.
The world shimmered at my answer as my Soulfire raged out. White flames came out of my body and engulfed me, and I began to burn like a white star.
The brilliant white flame surged within, scorching my very core. The heat was intense, yet I remained focused and still, allowing the flames to burn away everything. It hurt, but it was calming too. The flames mercilessly consumed my perceived weaknesses, leaving me engulfed in their fiery embrace.
Instead of annihilation, I felt a profound transformation unfold. I rose from the ashes as a new person, stronger and better than ever before. My muscles burned away and new, stronger ones reformed in their place. My bones burned and regrew harder, and my eyes burned to return cleared. The white fire healed my wounds, leaving me pristine and untouched, while my reserves of Qi too began to surge and grow, both the quality and quantity.
It took five minutes, until the fire died out, returning to my center, as I stood up, naked and anew under the moonlight.
"Finally. [Underlord]"
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