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106 - Birth of the New Guardian
🕑 Added 2024-10-25 15:36:48 +0000 UTCA flash of blue light spread within the underground chamber, bathing the world in its embrace. The disciples had no choice but to once again cover their eyes, unable to witness the subsequent events. Only Zou Lan and Qin Yun remained able to see what was happening.
A look of pain appeared on Xu Weizhe's face as the blue flame swirling within the globe rushed through his palm. It sought to enter his body and take root within his core, charring all of his qi channels in the process.
Zou Lan struggled to watch, clenching her fist and digging her nails into her palms until they almost drew blood. A simple wish bloomed into her heart, yet she couldn't bring herself to rely on it. She remained powerless to do anything, unable to even share his pain despite the fact that she seemed attuned to it. Their expressions seemed to be synchronized. Both were facing agonies of different kinds.
Not a single groan of pain escaped Xu Weizhe's lips, whether because his jaw was clenched so hard that it became immobile or simply because the pain had already numbed his nervous system. He seemed ready to collapse, unconscious, yet wouldn't allow himself to do so, for he knew the consequences. His only chance to survive the process was to endure the pain.
Still, this was a pain no man could endure. The flames were remodelling his body, forcibly elevating his cultivation to enable it to receive its boon. Either the transformation would be successful, allowing him to reach the Soul Formation realm, or he would be reduced to ashes by its infernal heat. There would be no in-between. That time had already passed.
The world stood still as his agony fostered. Whether seconds or hours, Xu Weizhe lost all sense of time. His mind was entirely focused on resisting this invading force if only to spare himself further suffering. It was then that he heard a familiar voice echo in his mind, resonating above the torture of the flesh, bringing him only slight relief.
"If you continue the way you are, you are doomed to fail. Do not cling to your mortality; all it will bring you is suffering. Learn to embrace the world, for it has everything you wish to gain. Relinquish your fears, and let yourself go; only then will you find what you treasure most."
While the voice was cryptic, Xu Weizhe instinctively knew what needed to be done yet had been too fearful to attempt it. The Soul Formation realm was still much too far for him. He had been unable to reach it on his own and, therefore, had resisted its allure.
Only then did he stop resisting, allowing the flame to run rampant in his body. The pain skyrocketed as his body burned from the inside out, yet the agony on his face was slowly disappearing. Somehow, he had learned to grow close to the pain, even cherish it, for he knew the boons it brought, what he would become.
Zou Lan nervously watched the changes, surprised by Qin Yun's intervention. While she didn't hear his words over the loud crackling flames, she easily read his lips and couldn't help but wonder. She had thought this man was unconcerned by anyone but himself, yet she couldn't help but be surprised when he offered Xu Weizhe some words of advice.
Advice even she was unaware of, as her process toward the Soul Formation realm had been wholly different. It was more like an awakening than a forceful transformation. She couldn’t help but frown when she gazed at Qin Yun’s slight smile, wondering what his end game was.
The orb's contents swiftly poured into Xu Weizhe's body, the blue flame integrating into his flesh, strengthening it. The sword intent Qin Yun had dutifully trapped into it was now infusing the lotus at the core of Xu Weizhe's being.
The phantom of his lotus appeared over his head, bathing the world in even more light as it burned with a blue flame. A slightly younger version of himself stood seated on the platform, eyes closed as if meditating while the flame slowly transformed the lotus, yet none of it seemed to touch the young man's ethereal clothes.
Instead, the man was now bathed in an aura of slaughter so thick that the disciples couldn't help but recoil in fright; some of them were unable to sustain the pressure and collapsed on the ground, unconscious.
Zou Lan couldn't help but frown as she felt the aura of destruction laced within this pressure. It was much more potent than her own as if the being to create it had been closely intimate with death countless times, almost to an impossible degree.
She knew this aura didn't come from Xu Weizhe, as even she was incapable of such purity of destructive intent. She turned toward Qin Yun, attentively scrutinizing this young man, only to be completely ignored. Qin Yun was too busy relishing the moment.
While he had hoped that Xu Weizhe might survive the process, he hadn't expected the man to be so compatible with his own sword intent. It might have been a fluke or the machinations of a world that liked to toy with him. Either way, this was something worth observing. In fact, seeing his own sword intent from an outside perspective allowed him to notice some flaws not born out of the weakness of his flesh but more of his understanding of slaughter, enabling him to further elevate its destructive nature. While he didn't need anything more potent, the feeling of improvement was something he scarcely had in recent years. He couldn't help but show a slight smile.
The sword intent was slowly fusing within the young man’s core, creating a third layer of separation. If Xu Weizhe’s fleshy body could be considered the first, and the young ethereal man sitting on the lotus the second, then the ball of sword intent fusing within the young man’s core was the third.
Zou Lan couldn’t help but marvel at the sight, yet her frown didn’t leave her face. She could clearly see that something was wrong. She waited for the ball of sword intent to disperse into the apparition’s flesh, yet it remained within his core, as if in a separate dimension. This was wholly unusual.
“What’s happening?” she couldn’t help but ask.
"You said it yourself. There's no such thing as shortcuts," Qin Yun replied, his eyes still glued onto the process happening before him. "Did you really think achieving the Soul Formation realm was that easy? How can an external factor allow him a complete understanding of the intricacies of a domain? All I can do is allow him to experience it for himself. Whether he can truly reach it will depend on whether he can truly make it his own. It might take him years, or he might never reach it. However, his path is already set, and he must walk this one whether he likes it or not. This is now his Dao."
The disciples who remained conscious could barely understand what these two were talking about. Yet, they were mesmerized by the sight now that the storm of flame and slaughter had died down substantially, most of it only raging within the lotus apparition. The look of agony on Xu Weizhe's face had also faded, replaced with a trance-like state as he absorbed the mysteries hidden within Qin Yun’s sword intent.
“He’s lucky that he practised the sword all his life,” Qin Yun added, breaking the tension that reigned within the underground chamber. “Otherwise, he might have never been able to integrate any of it within his foundation. While still shallow, it’s enough.”
Qin Yun abruptly stepped out of the blue flame, revealing himself to the world, but for a moment, before a new set of clothes appeared on his body as if from thin air. Some female disciples couldn't help but leer at him, if only on instinct, while the men showed jealousy once they noticed their reaction. Still, Qin Yun paid them no mind.
Zou Lan didn't even deign to offer him a look. Her gaze was glued onto Xu Weizhe, watching every minute fluctuation of his current state, seeking any single way to help him. Yet, to her dissatisfaction, she found none. She could only remain a spectator to the bitter end.
Without anyone to guide it, the formation destabilized even further. It was almost on the edge of breaking entirely. That was when Qin Yun plunged a hand back in, grasping a clump of blue flame within the crux of his hand, before walking back toward Xu Weizhe, who had distanced himself while battling the transformation.
Xu Weizhe’s mind swam between awareness and unconsciousness, in a constant state of flux between two extremes. Yet, he remained stable against all odds, almost as if something was sustaining him. Still, this was merely a transitional stage, a transient state that needed to end sooner or later. After all, even if his body was transformed by the flame, and his soul by the pseudo domain he had ingested, his mind was on the verge of breaking. Without any outside interference, it would do so sooner or later, as this was one of the consequences of seeking something currently out of his reach.
With the flame in his hand, Qin Yun pressed his palm on Xu Weizhe's forehead, enabling a connection between the man and the Dragon Vein. As if a living being seeking stability, the Dragon Vein offered the man a chance. It sought to form a connection with him, only if he could endure its might, but also the world's will.
"Will he succeed?" Zou Lan asked, unconvinced. While she didn't know the details of what Qin Yun intended with his actions, she could infer them by the fluctuations of her domain. After all, all domains were closely related to the world and could feel its intent, if only barely.
"Of all those present, he is the most likely to succeed," he replied, turning to face Zou Lan. "Except for you, of course. You have already been granted the world's acceptance, after all."
She couldn't help but bite her lips, feeling a slight guilt grow in her heart, yet she soon dismissed it. After all, she already had enough responsibility weighing upon her and could barely afford much more. The thought of being confined to this place for all eternity felt like a sentence worse than death. If only it was up to her, she wished she could be free from all this. The world seemed much too small to accommodate her will.
“Why not you?” she asked. “Despite your cultivation, you seem to possess all the qualifications.”
“Even if I wanted to, she wouldn’t let me,” he replied. “She has much greater aspirations for me.”
Zou Lan scoffed, thinking he was merely trying to mislead her. If she could glean anything from this man, it was that he had no interest in saving the world or in this conflict. He was a selfish man driven by self-interest—just as she was. Somehow, she couldn't bring herself to despise him for it, despite what he had done to entice her sect's elder into sacrificing himself.
The flame raged as it burrowed into Xu Weizhe's cranium. The three forces: the sword intent, the blue flame's power that Qin Yun had laced within the orb, and the world's will all intertwined together, giving birth to something new, a sword domain held together by the balance of the three. Still, the balance was precarious, each trying to get the upper hand at any moment. Any outside intervention could easily set them off, creating an explosion of power that would quickly raze this city if not contained. After all, it contained the power of the Dragon Vein itself.
After a moment, Xu Weizhe finally opened his eyes, the raging power now under his control, if only barely. He couldn't help but offer Zou Lan a smile, but just as soon as she felt relief and reciprocated the gesture, Xu Weizhe fell limply, only to be caught within Qin Yun's embrace. Before she could rush toward them, Qin Yun gestured for her to stop.
"Give him time," he said. "He needs to accustom himself to his newfound power. After all, he came into them in a most unorthodox way. It may take him some time before he regains consciousness. Still, do you feel it?"
Qin Yun offered her a smile. It seemed genuinely filled with joy as he supported the unconscious man. Zou Lan took a deep breath, calming herself as she let her divine sense wander around. She took in the sight of the devastated city above, only to be pleasantly stunned by what she saw. The formation was now completely stable. There was not even a ripple to be seen.
