novelraw Chapter 131 - 130 - Rock the Boat
Chapter 131 - 130 - Rock the Boat
Cimmeria was rumbling in the streets. It was always a hotbed of rumors, explosive trades, and a source of solid information that was the lifeblood of all powers across the 3 continents and the Floating Isles. Two months before the commencement of a competition that made old monsters and fresh cultivators alike compete for articles to aid them in cultivation, the Starfire House announced a special addition they had hinted at previously.
The mysterious guest elder of the Heavenly Maiden Sect had broken through! They were a peak grade 3 elixir master! What specific elixirs would be up for auction was unknown but they would all be grade 3! Grade 2 elixirs still showed up from time to time in Cimmeria but grade 3 was extremely rare.
The other piece of news attached to the announcement poured cold water on the greed many powers had. The Starfire House had made an oath contract with the Heavenly Maiden Sect and the guest elder. Even if he was picked up, it would not do anyone any good. The moment they tried to force the elixir master to work for them, they would suffer the backlash of their oath!
If it was just the grade 3 announcement, that would have already sent the information gatherer's salivating trying to sift rumor from truth, but then another announcement about the competition itself followed. A Forger had come!
Elixir masters were rare, but Forgers were like finding a diamond in your attic. Further, like refiners, no one would dare cross even a grade 1 Forger. So far as the competition was concerned, it would be very stiff as supreme masters could still make a run for their money.
After these 2 big announcements consumed most of the rich and powerful, the governing body of Cimmeria was knocked over as Master Harold announced a new product commissioned by Starfire House for the use of Captain Drake's forces attending the folded space issue.
A new artifact defense item had been created that was no longer restricted by a dantian's elements! A true 6 elemental core had been created! The process was strictly regulated but many in the higher echelons suspected the rumor of a Forger was tied to this new creation.
Even so, they were ecstatic as the artifacts had already been paid for! There was a request for feedback as the artifact shields had only been tested in a rather direct manner. It meant that while the artifact was considered good to be used in their realm, the folded space interior may have unexpected results. Drake was happy to test it himself once it was announced.
The quick announcements that turned the whole of the world upside down did not stop. It was also officially endorsed by Starfire House and the Heavenly Maiden Sect that a new understanding of the 6 elements and their relationships had truth to it! There had been strange rumors about that issue for months but now it was confirmed as true!
Many quickly saw the veracity of it as Soul and World Realms saw massive improvements to their cultivation techniques, but only the Soul Realms got the modified Soul Arts publicly available. Legacy arts would have to be modified by sects and kingdoms themselves.
The greatest benefit to all of it, however, was the stability of the once thought useless 6 elemental cultivators. It was now possible that those trash would become treasure! It would take years but cultivators had time! Those that had already been trying to cultivate found they were able to stabilize their cracked foundations and temper their elements far better than before.
The name of Taren Cord was whispered by many but those that knew Lind Frey and Taren Cord were one and the same kept quiet. Knowledge was power but in that instance the benefits were already out.
No major power had any interest in 6 elementals beyond a few benevolent acts. Even the Divine Sword Sect and Heavenly Maiden Sect only took on such cultivators as they honored hard work and in the Soul Realm such cultivators were still useful.
The barrier of World Realm remained but with a stable foundation and well tempered cores, the odds of success jumped immensely.
The man that had shattered the relative peace of Cimmeria was currently in isolation from the world. He sat in front of a molten slag that was supposed to be a dagger but had imploded instead.
"You are still putting too much into your creations. Forging is about finesse of balancing the tolerance of your materials to what effects your elements can achieve." Delenn was harsh but her eyes were shining. She had seen many prospective Forgers in her time but the boy in front of her was a monster.
His mind was so open and flexible but he was in too much of a rush. His mastery in elixirs was interfering with his forging. Elixirs were a mystery to her but she had him explain the process several times. From what she interpreted, elixirs were about delicate control of essence but also bringing forth the desired effect by infusing elements and the essence of his ingredients like a hammer to steel.
Forging was also delicate but it was about the full potential of the materials as they blended together rather than the essence of the material. The difference was vast in her mind but Lind made it sound like there were similarities.
What made her fear his potential was his grasp of the unseen makeup of each material. His 'atomic theory' was an open door that gave her ideas as well. It was clear that once he understood what he was trying to do, it had cemented his grade 1 ability.
Grade 2, of course, was far more challenging.
Lind did not let failure stop him and he tossed the slag into a bin she would recycle later. He did not possess the skill to reclaim materials like she could yet. Only grade 5 and above could do so.
She left him to it as a familiar sensation filled her mind. A frown passed over her face but she hid it well and moved into her personal quarters. Inside was a simple home with a kitchen and sitting area downstairs while there was a bed and bath upstairs.
She had forged all of it.
She moved up the smooth stone stairs lined with dark wood railings as she arrived in her bedroom. Unlike anywhere else in the pocket dimension, there were profound formations ready to vaporize any intruder.
She had not had such fools lately. She was unsure if it was thousands or tens of thousands of years but as a Crystal Immortal, she could live close to a million years at the current rate of her life.
At the back of her bed there was a solid wall of stone. If Lind used his Sky Eyes to look at it, he would think it was as solid as a mountain but Delenn made her arm glow with fire and touched the portion just above her headboard.
The wall flared and reacted as if alive to reveal a hollow behind it. She pulled out a single storage ring. It glinted like gold but seemed to hold colors of other materials as it moved in the light of her artifacts that lit the room.
She put her senses into it and saw there was a profound communication jade glowing. She could not clearly remember the last time she had felt the pull of that jade. It was made by someone far more powerful than her long ago. It had been a gift from her master.
She summoned the jade and saw it glowed off and on but she knew the hope of who could be on the other side was futile. She had shared the connection to others over the millennia but few had ever used it as she was stuck where she was.
"Yes." She spoke a word and the flickering solidified. No image appeared as Delenn had no wish to see how much former acquaintances had aged since she last saw them. They thought living for 2000 years was a long time but to her it was a flicker of a candle.
"You sound the same as long ago. I guess to you that was yesterday." A female voice came through that took a moment for Delenn to place before a smile spread on her face. She remembered this person well!
"Little Est! You are still alive!" Delenn then covered her mouth at her rude comment but a giggle came from the other end as Delenn modified the flow of Qi as the image of an old woman behind a desk appeared.
Delenn was sad to see the wrinkles on Estelle as it meant she was nearing the end of her life despite the clear vitality. Cultivators were mortal if they could not advance. The Qi slowed the process or changed it depending on how high one reached, but death would still come.
Immortals were only different in how they died. Instead of aging, their bodies became brittle and began to disperse if they could not advance. Delenn was far from that but she was much closer than when she had first arrived.
"No one calls me that anymore, I miss those days." Delenn was glad Estelle had not changed despite how long it must have seemed for her. Delenn sat down and chatted for a bit. Estelle made a snarky remark about Delenn's wardrobe but there was little she could accept in this backwater realm.
Clothes made in Cimmeria would shatter or burn in close contact with her Qi.
"Ah, I miss talking to you Delenn. You opened my eyes and your lessons carried me farther than I ever imagined I could go. I am the head of Starfire House now." The smile froze on Delenn's face. She realized who she had threatened via Lind a week ago.
The look on her face made Estelle cackle in joy so much she had to wave over some water or a tonic. Delenn felt embarrassed now!
"When I saw that bronze badge I nearly wept with joy. Also, did you teach that boy how to negotiate? He is a monster! I want him!" Estelle had always been business minded but she had been satisfied running the auction house her family settled yet Delenn had seen more in the woman that dared to come to an Immortal openly.
Many knew Delenn was there, but few bothered her after the near cataclysm the greedy fools caused. As time passed, even information brokers hid her existence for their health. Information is only sold if it does not kill the seller.
Estelle then became serious and Delenn understood there was more than simple coincidence bringing them back together.
"I know you are cut off but how much has Lind told you about his work outside of there?" Delenn nodded and relayed most of what had rocked Cimmeria but she held back on their trade secrets as no one had a right to that. Estelle nodded as she sipped at her drink but then a grim look came to her face.
"Have you told him about the world beyond the Floating Isles?" Delenn immediately activated an isolation formation. If Lind was a World Realm he would feel it, but as he was still in the Soul Realm the other Immortal formations easily hid the changes in the room.
"What has happened?" Estelle was not an easily panicked person. The old woman was now a very tired and weary cultivator. The wrinkles were not just age, but stress.
"Nothing unusual from them and nothing I could do even if I wanted to. None of us can. I just see the light of that boy reaching across the world and wonder, can it help us?" Delenn thought long and hard about it. The new understanding of the 6 elements was vital. It would change the very basis of cultivation for until epochs to come.
The Celestial Fields would call Lind Frey a scholar among scholars for figuring that out alone. So in her mind it did make a difference but the question of time weighed on even cultivators in some aspects.
"How long can they hold on to the current front?" Delenn felt that was key. If the powers up there could hold on long enough, there was no telling what Lind Frey could do. He may not be powerful, but his knowledge could make wonders for those that were.
Estelle was sad now, but then she looked firm.
"It sounds long but as my grave looms closer it seems to fast. A few thousand years at best and we will be lost to the darkness like the others." Delenn felt a tear fall down her cheek. So short! The Mortal Realm would not notice much difference but those that breakthrough to the peak of Sky Realm would know their doom if that came to pass.
"I will teach him everything I can but my methods are as flawed as yours. He is blazing a path for others to follow. We can only ask the spirits to be merciful and give us the time he needs." Delenn had only known the boy a month but his tenacity was clear as day to her.
Estelle nodded and waved as she ended the connection. Delenn gently put the jade back into her ring and paused putting it back. If she wanted, the materials inside that ring could also change the world. Unlike a cultivator, materials did not suffer the punishment of Heaven being in a mortal realm.
"Not yet. I need to be sure." She used water to make the wall shift once more and it became a solid blank once more. She cut the flow of Qi to the formations and headed back to find Lind dancing in wild abandon.
On the pedestal in front of him was a piece of armor that happily glowed with elemental Qi. A low grade 2 item had finally been forged. Delenn was shocked but hid it well. Perhaps there was time enough if Lind could keep learning at this speed.
She sent a prayer up to the spirits for him to find the key to breaking through the barrier of World Realm before inspecting his work.