novelraw Chapter 1557 - 1556 - Essense of the Phoenix
Chapter 1557 - 1556 - Essense of the Phoenix
Step forward, and debilitating pain wracked his soul once more. It was all he knew. His name, purpose, and even what he was had all been buried by his existence.
He had lost the capacity to ask why, yet he remained aware he had to move forward. Once the pain faded, he moved forward again.
It was only when nearly 4100 flames were merging with him that he realized he was losing himself. He was losing even the desire to exist.
He was neither bleeding nor damaged in any physical way, but death was looming over him.
It was at that thought that a pair of white eyes framed in a dark shape bloomed in his mind. Anger returned and with it he took another step into blinding pain!
The anger became a seed and the memory a beginning to his questions. Why was he angry? Why did he endure horrific pain without end?
What was it all for?!
Flashes of memory slowly returned but they were out of order. He saw faces much younger but his earlier memories were older versions. The confusion only fueled his need to grasp his original self.
It was critical that he hold on or he knew if he gave in, he would be completely wiped away!
His body could not help him. It was only a vessel. It could be discarded but the heart of him had to endure!
When the number of flames exceeded 1.3 billion, he almost gave in again. He almost let go but a vivid pair of virulent yellow eyes glared at him. A woman all in hues of blue joined those eyes.
The pair stared at him and he saw other figures that he refused to let go of!
A roar filled the path as a massive dragon replaced the human previously there.
The sinuous body was engulfed instantly but it was different. Shape did not matter, blood did not matter, and even the brain did not matter.
All that mattered was that he endured!
The flames seared into him until emerald finally rose up to swallow it all! The pain finally receded and Lind felt his mind reassert itself.
He shrunk back down to his human body involuntarily. Regardless of his current race, he preferred to be in his human form.
"What–what was that?" He had thought the Rebirth Grounds would be something like he just experienced but it was clearly more than that. If one of the requirements was that brutal, what was the actual Grounds like?!
He slowly sat up and realized the path was gone. He was not ejected but he was no longer looking at an endless trail of flames.
Billions of flames had fused with him and he suddenly realized his cleansed soul was far more powerful than before! He had fully incorporated the essence of the phoenix.
[Interesting. A dragon was able to walk the Oblivion Road when no phoenix could. I wonder if those foolish birds have gotten soft as time has worn on.]
A voice made him jump but he was shocked when a phoenix of pure EMERALD flames arrived in front of him.
Instinctively, he recognized what he was seeing.
The Dao of Defiance in another being!
The massive phoenix was massive, its claw was as big as him in his human form but his dragon form would hardly do better!
The obsidian beak was now in front of him as the emerald eyes looked right through him.
[I see. You are like I was when I was alive. Yet, slightly different too. You have taken the Dao of Defiance down a different path than mine. I fought for my existence but you shoulder a harder burden. Unwise, but not without benefit.]
"Junior greets senior." Lind was bone tired but he mustered the strength to cup his hands and bow. The massive phoenix snorted but did not dismiss his move.
[You would do well to not assume we are all like those preening idiots that believe just being alive longer makes them respectful.] The advice actually made Lind smile. He felt like he had found a kindred spirit after so long.
A flash of light blinded him and an ancient man stood before him. His rail thin limbs still vibrated with power but Lind could tell the man was barely holding on.
"I made this place with my Dao and fused it to my bloodline so my descendents could refine themselves into an unassailable race. Yet, none have ever completed any of my trials. It is not an inheritance, but simply what is needed for them to become more than they were." Lind tilted his head but then grasped what he was being told.
The being in front of him was claiming to have made a trial that would appear for the phoenix race under the conditions and offer a chance to grasp the essence of what they were! Such a dire trial was not about advancement but a restructuring of the foundation itself to become something far more powerful!
"How?" Despite all the miracles the Divine Realm seemed capable of, that feat seemed beyond them. The small smile was Lind's only answer.
"Regardless, you made it here, the end of Oblivion Road, and I made no restriction about races among all the others. I never considered someone like me coming along again. In all my life, I was alone, but it is not a bad thing to see another." Lind understood.
Yet, he knew there was a large caveat coming.
"If anyone succeeded in coming to the end, I would push their essence beyond the final step so they could perhaps one day finish what I started. I could not do it. I died." Lind tensed but the old man waved him off. "No combat, sonny, nor anything like that. I can't make you do that anyway. You already did the hard part yourself."
Confusion flared again before Lind's eyes went wide. His current state could be considered the pinnacle of the Immortal Realm! All that was left was to get to the peak of his foundation!
He then tried to examine himself but he was frustrated by the lack of anything answering him! A laugh drew him back to his host.
"This place is essentially outside of Heaven and Earth. No cultivator can do a damned thing here. Your foundation has improved but you still have a stretch to go. Honestly, I thought I had gone too far but you put my attempts to shame." The old man's wrinkled face then became grim. "I will ask you a question, and you need to answer it. If you get it wrong, all you gained, I will take back."
A shiver went through him. He did not think any reason would work on the old man. It was his trial and he was a dragon.
"What did you grasp on the path to oblivion?" Lind froze at the question. The memory he mostly had was of pain. He barely remembered the last part at all!
What did he learn?! What did that mean?! His silence was not being punished so he was allowed to think. Lind closed his eyes and sunk into his memories.
He had wanted to give in. Death was closing in and he had not cared. If not for the flash of the Great Bastard igniting his anger, he really might have embraced True Death.
Still, that was not all. He revived his memories, chaotically or not, and it was at the moment that he opened his eyes and looked at his hands. Strong, vital, and overflowing with power.
He knew he was Immortal and had even lost his body at one point, but he had never truly grasped what it meant to live as a soul. More than that, he knew his body was not essential to his sense of self.
A body could be rebuilt, inhabited, but at the end of the day, it was merely the vessel. It was his conduit. He did not reside in it.
Lind looked up at the old man in awe.
"The Path of Rebrith Flames is to purify the essence of what it means to be a phoenix. The body is but a temporary thing. It withers, breaks, and dies, but I endure to the next life by holding on to what is me, my soul." A slow smile spread on the old man's face.
"A simple facet of phoenixes but they often take it for granted. They come to rely on it and thus lose the fear of death they should retain. Death is not as simple as losing the body but losing oneself to the darkness of nothing." Something slid into place in Lind's mind as his harmony flared.
In response, the phoenix's own flames resonated. The intensity increased until Lind was blinded.
[We found the same Dao but we walk our own paths. Mine has ended. Walk yours proudly, Lind Frey.]
Lind tumbled as he found himself back at the base of the path. He had tears flowing down his cheeks but the memory of the old man was fading. Who was he and how did he grasp the Dao of Defiance? So many things flowed in him but he passed out as he was far beyond his limits.