novelraw Chapter 1555 - 1554 - Soul Cleansing
Chapter 1555 - 1554 - Soul Cleansing
It still took months to get the necessary experts but the Frey Clan and a couple of Harmonic Dragons showed the Forging Maesters they had far to go on understanding 6 elementals let alone Lind, himself.
Even so, tweaking a rare phoenix artifact was not easily done. Lind could not use his own abilities to even study it so he could only observe and grasp it by his experience alone.
He was unaware that his ability to dissect an artifact meant for a wholly different race from him in a matter of days broke the pride of both the phoenix crafters and his fellow Forgers.
Still, the results could not be denied as he not only adapted it to his own needs but improved the entire apparatus.
Previously, each subject would be surrounded by helpers that used artifacts to focus their soul power to help refine a soul to the next level. Now, no consumable artifact was needed at all!
Instead, the platforms themselves would resonate with their host and then condense the soul power into a concave disc pointed downward to the subject on the golden disc.
The crystals would still be needed and some Qi stones but not nearly as many as before.
Lind even went and made a whole schematic Helsgath could sell to other beast clans and powers to make their own!
The soul was the most delicate part and could be the final hurdle at the end of the Immortal Realm.
The phoenix race had a far deeper grasp of it than other races and thus had been able to make the artifact in the first place. Yet, the principle could be applied to anyone.
The council had been floored but happy! Lind had given them a new avenue for resources they desperately needed even with the Seeds starting to work properly.
Cultivation was a bottomless well of greed for resources and any way to gain more would be much appreciated. Fixing those artifacts would require a phoenix to calibrate them each time so it was not a one off either!
Even the now famed 6 elementals did not have the ability to replicate their senses. They did, however, form a strong contract to interact more in the future as they found kindred spirits in the realm of souls in them.
Lind was now sitting in the lotus position as Bori stood on a platform directly in front of him. The other 2 phoenix grand elders were in human form to his left or right behind him. The positioning was not accidental. They had to be equidistant from each other for things to go smoothly.
"I will now begin. Please allow me to control the flow." It was another modification that Lind had made. The old process required each platform to harmonize with each other but Lind found that a single leader could regulate the process via the platforms.
Essentially, the artifacts did the work instead of the cultivator.
Lind felt his own platform rumble beneath him as his emerald harmony flared. He took control of it with his will alone. He then carefully allowed a new flow of energy into himself.
He had never felt so frail than at that moment.
Bori might be a fresh Sovereign Tier but his soul was far more powerful than Lind's!
Ever so gently, he felt 2 more energy flows enter him. They were unlike Bori in everyway but he also recognized that all 4 of them shared a connection beneath what hae forged their existences
The full apparatus finally kicked off and Lind felt pain. It was slight but increasing until it seemed to plateau.
[We begin.] Lind had no idea how Bori knew but as a Soul Flame Phoenix, he trusted his instincts. Still. The platforms began to rotate and his harmony tried to rebel!
It wanted the invaders removed! It was the first time he had felt the brunt of his own harmony! The Dao of Defiance was terrifying!
He felt like an ant trying to stop a boulder. Even so, he held on as the process began to show improvement. His soul was one of the major limitations in regards to his elemental nodes.
As it was improved, he began to get a dim sense of them again! He could not control them, but they were no longer voids in his dantian!
He could also feel the once stagnant Laws advance! His crystal shimmered and he realized he had vastly underestimated his benefits of the current ritual!
Time became nothing to him but then something happened during a moment of stability. He had begun to tame his harmony even better than before yet he suddenly felt a massive drain on his vitality!
Pain unlike anything he had felt made him loosen his hold on his harmony! The trio were in danger but he had no capacity to spare! His body was going to be destroyed shortly then his soul not long after at the current rate.
The Great Bastard had figured it out somehow! Far sooner than anyone had expected.
Lind was not able to do a thing as he was essentially locked in place but a shocking thing occurred after that.
[It is all right, Master. I am here.] Pure white flames shot into his soul and mixed with his harmony.
Unlike the violent reaction he had expected. The white and emerald flames resonated! Bori had no harmony but phoenix flames were an outward expression of its soul.
The 2 powers merged and a massive column of light leapt from the Soul Cleansing ritual. It touched the faint dome of emerald and Lind briefly saw many corridors filled with screaming people.
They were not screaming from their counter but from the Fiends tossing them into the shield! They were innocents!
The Fiends seemed to sense something as their impossible dark beauty shifted but it was far too late!
A screech filled the air as a phoenix made of white flames swept the corridors! While Bori did not have the same ability as Lind, a Soul Flame Phoenix was a terrifying enemy of anyone due to their ability to shatter souls!
The Fiends dropped dead and the people fled away from the barrier. The chaos dimmed but not before Lind saw each iteration of the phoenix toss the soulless Fiends into the barrier.
His vitality skyrocketed and he actually got younger! Lind knew such a move would cost Bori a lot! Still, a phoenix had an advantage in that arena. He could only trust in him.
The ritual was not lost but it did take time to resume the process. His harmony no longer reacted as before either. It seemed to acknowledge that Bori was not a threat.
Lind doubted it was that simple but it was the best he could do to explain it. The pain was still there and he kept a hold of his harmony as finally his soul reached the level of his body and Nodes.
He could not, just barely, cause a trickle of elemental Qi to flow in his meridians. His body felt revitalized but he frowned as his aura could not go outside his body at all. It was just beyond him!
He also felt the Daos at the periphery of his senses once more. Again, that was all he could do. It was like his vision had been restored but his body could not use what it saw to respond.
He then carefully stood up as his body overflowed with strength he had not had in some time. He could now tell the vast difference between pure physical strength and his spiritual foundation being brought back to the fore.
He flexed his hands and then suddenly snapped up his arm to stop a strike from Bori! He had hidden himself but Lind felt the flow of Qi just in time!
He was about to smile when Bori's condition became apparent. He was originally still a barely grown young man in physical shape but now he was a very mature man. Very slight gray hair now showed on either temple!
"Bori–!" Lind reached up and was shocked when his harmony responded to his distress. His Art of Defiance flowed and some of his vitality was used up to restore a portion to Bori. It should not be possible but the desperate act during the Soul Cleansing allowed it.
Lind suspected he could help others if he so wished but the return was not worth the cost. He had consumed something like 10 million years to give Bori back just 1 million.
Still, the other 2 were fine so it was clear Bori took action alone and faced the consequences alone.
They had to speed up the process so he could use the Rebirth Grounds!
"How long did it take?" He looked at the trio but Bori had to look to the path that led to the whole apparatus. Shock crossed not only his features but the other 2 as well!
"50 years?! It took 50 years to make a soul advance?!" Lind was confused. That seemed fairly short and worked in his favor so why were they acting like it was insane?
"Father, the Soul Cleansing Ritual is dangerous for all involved but it should take no more than 5 to 10 years for a Sovereign Tier so close to the peak. I think the record was 15 years at most." Bori's words floored him.
He was starting to appreciate what he had done to himself. He also could see other 6 elementals facing similar issues in the future. He had Haro summon some jade slips for him and made Bori report all he felt and found during the process.
It was critical that 6 elementals become Divine Realms. Their ability to fight Fiends would be critical in the centuries ahead! He would not catch up magically by becoming a Divine Realm himself, he simply would be the bulwark behind which the army would arrive!