novelraw Chapter 414 - 413 - Sub-Core
Chapter 414 - 413 - Sub-Core
The mist was a mix of weaving and real. Much like East End it was a blend of reality and illusion far more potent than formations could ever dream of pulling off. That aspect of weaving greatly intrigued Lind.
Formations were powerful and capable of legendary feats but actually playing on the senses so directly without being noticed was very difficult. Annabelle would likely be fooled by these weavings and she was a true master of illusion!
The mists hid a forest that could barely hold the name but the stunted trees still had a few normal animals making it home. Lind saw foxes, wolves, and other Body Refining Realm beasts that clearly used the senior's aura to protect them from predators.
After nearly dawn rising, the 4 emerged into a quaint village. There were simple huts and thatched roofs. It was no longer an illusion, but unfiltered reality at last. Lind felt a pressure fall away from his Sky Core and his eyes when that happened.
"Welcome to what remains of the Circle." The man pulled his hood back and Lind narrowed his eyes. An aether child? He had never heard of an aether child yet that could use the derivative skills.
He had tried but no one ever passed the tests. Part of the problem though was the inherent skills most of them were manifested with. Lind could never truly learn those either, only the individual aether child could use them to full potential.
So seeing one there was very surprising.
The blue and tan man smirked at Lind's surprise but did not explain.
"Aon, if he is Lind Frey, he likely knows your limitations. Master Frey, welcome to our village. I am Daphne." A demoness was revealed but something was wrong with her dantian. Lind looked at Aon but saw no issue.
She had metal and poison shards making up her core but there was an almost silvery line encircling a third of her Sky Core. Lind suddenly recalled what he had heard about weavers.
"You were bound?" Surprise flickered on both their faces but Aon grimaced while Daphne simply nodded. "Why?"
He had received an answer before but it was from the side of authority and those that feared weaving. He wanted to know why the weavers would agree.
"Despite what you may think, it helped some of us. By limiting how far we could go, it allowed us to more safely explore weaving. You are lucky in several respects. If you had forced sigils, you could have left your body alive but completely devoid of a soul." Lind actually knew about that danger.
He had quickly realized it and simply focused on studying simple sigils within limits. His dragon soul helped immensely but he now realized if he was still human, he may have died without knowing what killed him.
"You said you would explain yourself as well, Master Frey." Aon seemed to want to move on from the topic but before Lind could answer, a shout cut across the village.
"OUTSIDERS?! Why are outsiders here Aon and Daphne?!" A young human male burst out of one of the huts enraged. His short dark hair was clear against his crimson face. The peak of the Diamond Tier was clear to Lind but its quality felt higher than others he encountered before.
Clearly he was born in the Floating Isles but with his age, he would still be considered impressive. Lind noticed his entire dantian had the silvery border around it. It made him wonder more why Aon did not have it.
"Duan, calm yourself. This is Lind Frey and his companion. They have come to learn weaving." Aon seemed to be happy to have a distraction but Duan ignored him outright. Lind noticed Daphne got angry but someone else beat them to any reaction.
SLAP!
Duan nearly fell over as Fey stood over him. Her amber eyes were daggers at that moment.
"Do not ignore your companion! You are behaving like a child, so unless you want to be treated like one, control yourself." Lind narrowed his eyes but there was no sign of relapse. Likely he would have to address the sore spot in private. He had a very similar problem in relation to his recovery from his heart demons.
A tier 4 Sky Realm was not something a mere World Realm could resist. Daphne looked with awe at Fey while Aon seemed to flounder for a moment.
Neither of them had seen Fey move yet she had appeared in front of Duan instantly.
Duan looked in full rage at Fey but at least acknowledged her higher cultivation. He turned and left without another word. She was about to follow when another aura spiked right at her.
"What were you saying about behaving like a child?" Lind's voice was firm but she slumped. Both Aon and Daphne were stunned. While Lind held an equal position by his profession standard, it was not uncommon for cultivators to ignore lower tiers at all.
"Apologies for the incident. I will seek the boy out later." Lind bowed to them both but even Aon was now waving quickly for him to rise. Their member was at fault, not their guests!
"As you can see, we do not exactly have many visitors. Those that come seeking our work never get to see us directly, it is always through the Altered State Weaving." Lind noticed the name but felt it was a little vague for its effects.
Still, he was hardly one to be judging names. Ethry and Tal loved their names but his wives and siblings often looked at him as if he was an idiot when the names were revealed.
They moved deeper and Lind noticed several normal things like storage of resources and very familiar food. The fine food of the festival was identical to the one in the village.
"How long do they stay in that weaving?" Lind had seen none leave so he was curious but Daphne put a finger to her chin as her curly black lochs waved a bit as she tossed her head.
"Um, it depends on why they are there. If they had no clear reason, then it could be years, but if they were seeking something specific, the weaving will tell us. If there is anyone troublesome from bounties or criminals, we get them to go away quickly." Aon nodded at her words but Lind narrowed his eyes.
"You can see everything like that?" His tone was cold because invading privacy was a severe taboo among cultivators.
Daphne waved him off but Aon felt like sighing at her flippant attitude.
"Not like that, no. Like I said, it has to be a clear intent. Anything else is just a fog. Reading souls is dangerous and highly illegal. Senior Spirit Lord would crush us if anyone did that with approval." Lind noted the wording. It meant it had happened before.
"This is us!" Aon and Daphne entered a fairly large hut that was a very warm place. Weavings made the inside comfortable while the furniture was simple but well made. Lind liked it instantly.
There were walls with doors to break up the interior but it was still a little tight with 4 people in 1 room. Lind quickly took a seat when offered and Fey sat next to him.
"Now, you said your cultivation was stopped due to weaving, but you are not sealed. What did you mean by that?" Aon took over but Daphne was just as rapt as she brought over some tea and cookies.
Fey's once cold face broke at last as she loved the smell of the cookies. Lind patted her head as he started from the beginning.
He had noticed as he progressed with his elixirs and Forging, his cultivation advanced to the peak of Tier 2 without an issue, but once he got there, he felt a wall he could not get through.
He had first thought it was his elements or something about his harmony but the depth of his understanding had risen to untold heights with the help of the Babylon Guild. The improvement in his foundation was evident but he still could not advance.
It was only when he used weaving he felt a difference. It was ever so slight but his bottleneck loosened as Lind made scant progress in weaving. He already knew he had the gift and all aspects of cultivation were on the table to help 6 elementals advance, so he wanted to learn more.
There could be others like him and he wanted to know if they could overcome it.
After he was done, silence descended but he could tell both Aon and Daphne were not surprised by his words. They had encountered it before!
"Do you know about Sky Cores in detail?" Daphne's question seemed off topic but Lind nodded and described how the fonts and the diamond were reshaped inside the dantian to become one. A crystal shard of the elements would then be fused together into a single whole to make up their dantian as a Sky Core.
"Mostly, that is correct, but not all there is. Cultivation is about the Dao and some people are gifted by the Heavens. These gifts do not simply expand on their own but must be pursued and grasped by the individual. You seem to have been cursed, Master Frey." Lind was confused. Aon used the word cursed, but why?
"Aon, that is misleading. What he means is, you are burdened with a rather difficult extra step. Sometimes, the profession of a cultivator is as integral to their way forward as simply comprehending the elements. At the very heart of your Sky Core would be another sphere, a Sub-Core." Lind instantly examined his Sky Core.
The 6 crystals of equal size met at the heart where an emerald sphere lay. Lind had assumed it was his harmony alone being made part of the Sky Core but he now pushed his senses deeper.
No one disturbed him until he sunk deep into the bright emerald crystal at the heart of his dantian. Inside, very faint, but now clear to him, were 3 equal spheres. Two of them hummed in complete harmony but the third looked dim.
"Three, I have 3 Sub-Cores." Daphne jumped a bit but Aon nodded as if he expected it.
"You truly are dedicated to your cultivation, Master Frey. Sub-Cores are both a blessing and curse. It means you will be able to have explosive growth with half the effort in making pills, refining and so forth, but if you become stuck in that very same profession," Aon sipped his tea as he looked hard at Lind, "You will never advance again."
Lind's worst fears were true. His weaving was the problem but it was a bigger problem than he realized. It was vital that he learned but that left one question.
"Will I be able to advance to the peak?" He glanced at Daphne who seemed reluctant to speak. She looked at him with her dark brown eyes and he could see pity in them.
"Peak of tier 3 is not an issue, but beyond that, no. You would be bound the same as me. Only aether children are not bound because once they weave, they can no longer advance anyway." Hope seemed to crumble in front of Lind.
He could make it to tier 3 of the Sky Realm, an as yet unachievable thing for 6 elementals but if he mastered weaving, it was the tier he would die at. The sun rose and gave weak light to the village, much as the future Lind envisioned was now dim.
Was there no other way?