Nebulous qi collapsed into the centre of Vera's lower dantian, the store of qi. At the core of his dantian lay a higher form of energy.
Vera's mind observed each particle of qi in his dantian. His upper dantian, the link to Law, now opened, allowed him to see through the nature of qi.
In theory, other than the elements, there is one other way to classify cycles.
Each qi particle actually consisted of multiple small cycles that circled around a partially inert core.
There are three main groups of qi. Inert cycles, such as the Ten-Element-Cycle, and relative cycles.
At the core of the particles lay the Ten Cycle and a flame flourishing relative cycle. Circling around the core were multiple smaller water flourishing cycles.
While both cycles could end up restraining each other, their combined state would be stable. But for some reason, even though they attract, they don't collapse into the core.
Just then a brilliant light shot emerged within Vera's core. Two particles of qi collided among themselves.
Compressed under the pull of his intent, myriad particles struck one and other moment by moment, stripping away the smaller cycles that surrounded them. Each strike chipped off a portion of the small cycles that surrounded them, allowing for the space between the particle cores to reduce.
Vera's upper dantian vibrated; a mysterious power seeped through his body, coating each Ten-Element-Cycle.
This is where it all changes.
Each particle travelled at extremely high speeds; however, when colliding into another particle's outer shell, the Right of Compression could never come into play.
But now that those shells are stripped off…
Strong Binding Force.
A light far beyond the one he had seen before filled his core. Two particles with no shells struck each other. The gap between them was small enough for the Strong Binding Force to take effect.
At the very instant the two particles got as close as possible a force enveloped them, binding them together.
Ten-Cycle qi coalesced; yin and yang biases in the cycle found the other and melted into one. Forming two five-element cycles with no leaning towards yin or yang.
As for the relative-cycles…
It depends on luck. Relative cycles can only be balanced yin and yang cycles of three- and four-element cycles. If two flourishing cycles met, they would fuse into a three- or four-element cycle.
In this case, however, the core cycles restrained each other. The outcome was the birth of a new, stable Ten-Element-Cycle.
Vera slowly voided his senses from his dantian. As they reached the border, the image of trillions of such particles colliding and fusing struck him.
A brilliant cyan hue filled the entirety of his core. His breath stilled for a moment; no matter how many times he saw it, one question remained.
How did I mimic a star out of my qi?
As the overwhelming sensations within his core dimmed, the sound of the Mian Range returned to him.
Aspartese, who sat in front of him, noticed that he regained his consciousness. "Do you want to try it out?"
Vera's eyes fluttered open; his head recoiled backward as he saw Aspartese's stupid grin. His voice turned to a bark.
"Old Man! Are you trying to give me qi deviation? Retreat with your ugly face at once!"
Veins bulged over Aspartese's wrists; he lifted Vera off the ground with his bare hands. "Say that again, brat! Now that you've recovered, I have no qualms with beating you down."
Unwilling to back down, Vera grabbed Aspartese's arms, prying them away from his head. "Violence is the last resort of the incompetent, you barrel bum."
Aspartese flung Vera aside and leant back into the ground. A dry snap echoed as Vera crashed into a nearby tree.
A smile curled onto Aspartese's lips. "Enough playing around. Do you want to try using the compressed qi today or not?"
Vera crouched over the ground, rubbing the back of his head. He turned to face Aspartese with a gleam in his eyes.
"Where can I even use it? I'll end up waking everyone if I use it now."
Aspartese walked over to Vera and picked him up as though he were a sack of rice. "So conscientious. Could you use that empathy of yours next time you insult my demure appearance?"
Qi seared through Aspartese's legs as he shot up into the sky. Covering three li every breath, he reached the deserted forest in the sixth sector within a few moments. Vera, still unsure as to what happened, stared at Aspartese with a dazed expression.
A dull thud sounded as Aspartese dropped Vera to the ground. "Go crazy. No one will hear you."
Vera got off the ground and dusted his robe off with one arm, flipping Aspartese off with the other.
As for the offer of 'Go crazy', he had an idea.
Within the fusion of qi particles there is a caveat. If the collisions aren't strong enough, the unstable minor cycles bond with others and release energy. This is what we call combustion.
The definition of Law is to manipulate causality…
But that doesn't mean we have to fight against it. Rather, we must swim with the current.
Qi flooded through Vera's meridians. The sheer space within each meridian had grown threefold since his evolution; nonetheless, the amount of qi he released pressed at its walls. Its fleshy stretching permeated his body.
"Take a step back, ancient one. I have high hopes for this."
A dense orb of qi shimmered over Vera's fingertips. Nebulous clouds swirled in its orbit, slowly but surely collapsing into the centre. The heat at the core climbed to thousands of degrees.
The viridescent hue of his cyan qi was overshadowed by a brilliant white light. The air surrounding him grew scant, turning a single breath into two.
At this temperature, the minor cycles will be partially stripped, not completely.
As the heat grew, the pale marks over his arms shone a dull red. Not a single drop of sweat beaded over his skin.
But just then, a novel sensation surfaced. His legs weakened and a chill settled into his abdomen.
Creases formed over his face as his smile reached the corner of his eyes.
Around five parts of a hundred… This should be enough.
The skin over his fingertips flaked into ash from the heat, but the pain didn't reach him. The gleam in his eyes turned manic; his voice echoed through the desolate forest.
"Incinerate—"
White noise. The unstable qi particles, when left in the open, bonded with others rapidly, releasing an imperious wave of heat.
At its force, air clumped up into a thick barrier at its edges. The barrier of air hurtled through the forest, covering 20 li in a single breath, uprooting the trees and boulders in its path.
The flame was unlike anything Vera had ever created. The brilliant white light of the compressed qi turned to bluish violet.
At contact the earth vitrified. Any moisture present vaporised and broke down even further.
The ground directly beneath Vera was ripped to shreds, caving in by the depth of a manor house.
Both Vera and Aspartese were flung out of the forest as the blue light took over.
Finally, the blinding light dimmed. Stood over half a li from the blast site. Vera looked towards Aspartese with a subtle frown.
The ringing in his ears rendered the forest's cries mute. In what was a moment of silence to him, he said, "It wasn't as big as I expected."
Aspartese cupped his ears and leant toward Vera. "I can't hear you clearly; the wind is too loud—"
Leaves and dust hurtled back to the point of the explosion.
As the sharp whistles of the wind left Vera deaf, he realised one thing.
There can't be fire without air—
The second wave arrived.
A monolithic cloud of orange flames surfaced over the ground, spanning across the entirety of the forest.
As the second wave of air struck, blood seeped through Vera's ears.
His eyes were painted in the golden hue of the sky. The pristine robes he wore shrivelled and caught on fire.
As the second wave calmed, a cloud of dust covered the forest. Flames persisted over the molten earth.
As for the forest…
The term 'forest' was no longer fitting. Aspartese's voice came out muffled to his broken eardrums.
"What did you mean by 'high hopes', you damned pyromaniac? Run before they connect us to this wasteland."
His thick arms wrapped around Vera's waist as he yanked him away from the blast site. The wind combing through his hair, combined with Aspartese incessant words, didn't reach Vera. A viscous blue tainted with strands of purple settled in his eyes. Despite the damage he had caused, all he had was excitement.
With this much, I could beat that Longwang as well, right?
The brilliant flame faded as he was dragged back to the city, and so did the hue in his eyes. Bit by bit the viscous intent in his eyes seeped into his flesh. Beyond his notice, changes were taking place.
Aspartese, on the other hand, grew silent as he pulled Vera back to the Sixth Sector. Although the scene he had just witnessed was something far beyond the norm, his gaze sharpened.
In all Vera's silence, his excitement permeated the air. Aspartese, a master of the Fifth Synergy, could catch that faint leaking intent.
Despite how hard he tries… He's still just a child with a sword.
The myriad scars that covered his skin were testament.
I've gained my power over centuries. In that time I grew in both might and mind. But him…
His grip over Vera's waist tightened. The weight of responsibility pressed on Aspartese. As the silhouette of the Sixth Sector came into view, he thought to himself.
The boy has seen the battlefield. Now he needs to see the world.
***
Beyond the domain of the Blade Master, three Third Synergy masters gathered in front of the remains of a clan.
The eldest of the lot patted a young man's back. His voice ran steady and reassuringly. "Little Tan, this place has been empty for decades. The major clans don't check it anymore because there is nothing of worth to them."
Despite his words of comfort, Tan didn't budge. "Brother Lai, if there is nothing of worth, why are we risking it?"
Lai turned to his compatriots with a helpless expression, gesturing for the others to step in. A low sigh sounded as a mature woman stepped forward.
The corner of her palm struck Tan's head square. She spoke as Tan crouched on the ground, rubbing his scalp in pain.
"Tan, to stragglers like us the leftovers of the major sects make all the difference. Someone as talented as you could break through to the Fourth Synergy in a matter of years. But what Law will you study?"
Her jade-like fingers rubbed against Tan's head as he stood back up. "I know it's risky. But if even one of us breaks through to the next rank, we can start our own sect just like we always dreamed."
Tan looked at the woman with a conflicted expression. His voice hitched for a moment, but he resolved himself.
"Fine… Let's go in."
Lai walked over to Tan's side and patted his back.
"Damn brat! Do my words weigh less than air to you?" He laughed as he walked alongside Tan.
His head leant backward as he looked to the woman. "It seems the little man will only listen to his elder sister."
The woman let out a silent giggle. "Maybe if you shaved that unkempt beard of yours, elder brother Lai, Tan would listen to you."
Lai squinted as he looked toward his chin; long black hairs with the occasional white strand reached to his clavicles.
He responded while combing his beard. "Ruyu, as much as I care for the youngest, I care for my beard just a bit more. Anyways, shall we enter? The ruins of the Zhuge clan?"
A low 'Hm' sounded through the group. At this sound, Lai pushed the massive doors. As the door creaked open, tufts of dust filled the gateway.
The scent of stale air stung their noses. Hundreds of small houses lined up, growing in size as they reached the centre of the clan grounds.
But the immensity of the clan wasn't what caught their eyes. Rather, it was the fact that every house was stained red with blood, long dried under the passage of time.
Tan gritted his teeth at the sight. Lai's palm pressed against his back.
"Calm down. We will run through the civilian housing quickly; there is nothing for us here."
Taking Lai's words to heart, Tan trudged through. His eyes never left the small, brittle bones that lined the mudpaths.
As they walked through the civilian housing, the number of corpses didn't decrease. However, they did spot a few peculiarities.
Ruyu knelt down and picked up a piece of iron. Her gaze drifted over it. "It has inscriptions over it. Like a story of some sorts. The major sects sure are vain to think they make such crude drawings on their armour."
Tan looked towards Ruyu and shook his head. "That doesn't look like armour. It looks more like a carapace."
Ruyu hurriedly threw the piece of metal away. Her expression contorted into a grimace. "Eek!" she yelped while wiping her hands clean with her sleeve.
Lai, who had already reached the inner wall, looked back at the two. "Stop playing around. Didn't you guys want to leave as soon as possible?"
His feet dug into the mudpath as pushed the second gate open. Strained breaths filled the air as he struggled to open the gate.
He let go of the door and slapped at his cheeks. Qi seared through his flesh, fortifying his body to the limit.
"Let's try that again. You two get here now; I'm going to open the door."
Tan and Ruyu walked over to the gate, while Lai started pushing at it again. Soon the dull grinding of metal echoed through the clan grounds.
Cracks formed over the frame. Not a single ray of light shone through the inner sect area. Lai walked in; his figure was engulfed by the darkness.
Just then a loud, guttural scream resounded from the gates. Tan and Ruyu ran toward the entrance; their expressions ran thick with worry.
"Brother! Brother! Talk to me! What happened?"
As the two reached the gate, a face popped out from the dark. Lai looked at the two of them with a devious grin. His tongue hanging out, he said, "Come fast; I'm getting scared. And Ruyu, could you create a light this place is so dark."
Ruyu sighed with relief. "I'd hit you if you weren't my elder brother." She extended her hand to the gate, getting ready to illuminate the area.
However, Lai's playful expression disappeared. His voice trembled.
"Run."
Ruyu simply ignored him and formed the light.
"Stop playing around so much. The brat will run away without us."
Despite her chastising, Lai's expression didn't change. As the light shone against Lai face, the faint outline of a hand appeared over Lai's skull. Tears welled up in his eyes; as though he were a broken record, he repeated his words.
"Run—"
The wet snap of bones and brains echoed. Blood splattered across Ruyu's face as she stared at the mangled head of her elder brother, dangling lifelessly.
Tan fell to the ground; his breaths turned to gasps. A massive man walked through the gate; his body was lined with thick patches of hair.
A mist of blood stained the sky red as he swung his hand at Ruyu's head. Her beautiful face exploded into a red paste speckled with shards of bones.
Tan was rooted to the ground. The being before him beckoned every bone in his body to flee. But the lifeless corpses of his only family filled him with agony.
The man looked at Tan with an expression not far away from his own. His voice gurgled as though he were choking on his own blood. Through each rasp of a breath, the faint cries of thousands resurfaced into the present.
"How much more will you people take from us?"
Tremors shook the ground as he walked toward Tan; tears of blood rolled down his eyes as he observed the ruins of the Zhuge.
Imperious bolts of qi shot from Tan's fingers. The force of each attack caused the atmosphere to fold into thick rings. But as they struck the man's body…
Nothing happened.
Much like his siblings, Tan died with no ressistance. The man stood above his corpse; his teeth gritted, he stared at Tan with unyielding rage.
Just then his head snapped back to the inner gates.
"Father! Just hold on! I'm coming to save you!"
His resolute expression faltered. Eyes full of worry, he ran back to the inner gates. As his figure receded into the darkness, only his pained shrieks could be heard.
"Clan Leader! Your body!"
Cries that shook the earth and left the wind trembling.
"Father! Your legs!"
Tears of blood struck the ground uncontrollably. The doors to the inner sect creaked as they closed again. In their closing one last cry could be heard.
"Brother Jin?! Your arm? Why did you do this to your—"
While sacrifice was a boon that was gifted to the young…
It was also the greatest curse ever to befall the Zhuge.