novelraw Chapter 749 - 748 - Old Friends
Chapter 749 - 748 - Old Friends
A month-long festival seemed to be happening inside the capital of the Sanctuary Empire. Vendors were constantly needing more supplies as items to food were snatched up within a few days but the crowd kept growing!
It was all due to Empress Cyntilla becoming an Immortal.
While there were millions of Immortals in the Empire, the vast majority were guards or functionaries. The Imperial Family had none safe the adopted daughter Fey Frey. While it was a point of pride, one of the actual rulers was a big deal.
The tribulation had reached far and wide so it was impossible to keep it a secret but the result had been stunning.
In a 5 story inn inside the Verdant Quarter, a place rife with plants and beautiful courtyards to match its name, a small group was meeting very rarely outside of official channels.
All 4 were Immortals, one even a Shard Tier, but they were all highly recognizable names to even the lowest commoner.
An old man with close cropped white beard and tied back hair sat in gray robes as he held a simple broad sword at his hips. Any that dared think its simplicity spoke of its quality rarely lived to speak it.
His eyes were glazed over from age but anyone could tell he could 'see' more than well enough. He sipped at his tea from a pale blue cup as a World Realm attended to him. She was a tiny thing, almost a waif but the feeling of danger on her was not small either. Her own dark eyes seemed to drink in the pavilion under the sun.
The gorgeous flowers, bushes, and even some herbs made a pleasant atmosphere that Immortals could enjoy.
He looked at his companions and felt the itch to try out his ability to fight yet held it in. They were not there to compete, but to talk.
He loathed talking but it was necessary even by his standards so he invited them to his courtyard at the inn. Only their sect, the Divine Sword Sect, would actually enjoy staying at inns even as Immortals. The way of the blade need not be complicated.
He was the Living Blade, Aldar. One of 3 ancestors protecting the sect. He was just shy of the Shard Tier but could go no father, yet he had killed more than a few in his long life.
He turned to the demoness just to his left. Of all the people there, she was the most like him. They loved to fight for the sake of fighting. His fellow daoists back in the sect did not understand their friendship but those that did could see she had pushed him farther than he could go alone.
Her dark pink and violet hair was rare among her kind. She too was an Immortal but much older than she looked. Her particular Dao extended her life due to taking on bloodlines of powerful beasts. It was not intended, simply a happy side effect.
Her body rippled with power but was as slender as any man could hope for. Her lithe figure screamed of being ready to attack at any moment but she sat calmly enjoying the tea with them.
She was the current Sect Master of Hellfire Sect, Kilna. The largest demon sect in the Heaven Realm lands. There had been another but they had died out long ago against the Fiends. The Heartpiercer Sect was rising but had suffered heavy losses in the last battles.
There was a time Aldar and she had been a bit too close but the heat of battle carries over to many areas. A gentle smile from her made him realize she was reading his mind again but he simply smiled back.
"Please, get a room already." A voice broke up the quiet reverie but Aldar did adjust himself. It was not the time to enjoy himself in battle or otherwise.
The human that spoke up was also old but not nearly as old as Aldar. He had salt and pepper hair close cropped to a square jawline head. He had no obvious weapon but his hands made it clear he needed none.
His well muscled body and exposed arms had many scars on them but few weapons could hurt him like that anymore.
He was actually an itinerant cultivator that had survived for 700 thousand years of war.
Xian had used his fists to punch through the blood and death of the wars until he became a powerful Immortal. His place with the supremes was due to the fact he simply could not be killed and done many favors for them.
Aldar, for instance, would not be alive if not for Xian's actions to crush a Fiend contingent when he was weaker. Immortals were favored targets of the Fiends if they could isolate them and take them.
He was a bit of a stick in the mud though. To his knowledge, Xian had never had a wife or any partner of any kind. He simply lived to fight.
"It is rare for us to gather, a little reconnection is not bad. You should try it, Little Xian." Aldar had to hide his smile as Kilna tried to tease the grappler but he merely shrugged it off. The tea cup looked so tiny in his hands!
His leather vest was well worn but clearly grade 7 in quality as it gave off such an aura.
"Good tea." Aldar smirked but turned to the last member, the most powerful woman in the world currently. Valkyrie looked tired. She was still a stunning beauty and barring an injury, would outlive all 3 of them, but still, the 3 of them looked more alive than her right then.
She slowly sipped at the tea as her pristine gold and white robes seemed to glow with ethereal light under the pavilion. Xian must have a heart of stone to not be moved by her at all. Aldar could appreciate her but she did not enjoy fights like he did nor have any attraction to him.
"Well, we have all heard of and briefly met the current wives of Lind Frey, but the man himself seems quite busy. You have the most experience, Senior Valkyrie. Can you give us an idea of what happened here?" Aldar finally started the conversation.
They had been having tea for a week but Immortals did not view time the way mortals did. Moments should be enjoyed while they can and there was no need to rush things.
With the dangerous threat of war always on the horizon, moments of peace should be fully embraced when found.
She sighed and seemed to ponder the dregs of tea in her cup before quietly setting it down. The table was not as white as her robes but it went well with the dark wood of the pavilion around them.
"He is…troublesome." She seemed to struggle to describe their current host. "He has very naive morals at times but can be the most brutal enemy as you have seen. His devastating ability against Fiends makes him irreplaceable. Any threat to him I will kill without thought."
Her words made even Xian arch an eyebrow but Kilna only nodded as Aldar knew she would. The demons seemed especially close to the Empire. The booming demonic elixirs were solely possible due to the Empire.
Before that, only natural elixirs had any kind of market.
"Yet, the rumors about his elemental theories and the results he has produced, could they apply to Laws as well?" Aldar pushed the question all 4 of them wanted to know most likely.
Valkyrie looked troubled before her eyes became firm.
"They are not rumors. All the new methods and cultivation adjustments are the fruit of the Moebius Sect he founded in a mortal realm. It cleared up many issues we have simply had to deal with and hope we could overcome on our journeys." All of them at the table were well acquainted with the Qi deviation and blown potential due to incorrect cultivation techniques.
Alchemists had made a killing with Qi gathering and Qi compression pills alone solely due to how desperate some cultivators got to move forward.
Lind Frey's theories removed a lot of road blocks only pills could solve before. His elixirs gave the progress wings!
"What I felt a month ago was not normal. Even if that rare kind of tribulation was called down, the last time crimson lightning was seen was before I was born." Aldar's words shocked the other 3.
He was the oldest by a large margin, yet he had only heard of such a tribulation. Never had he seen one at all.
"What does that mean, my love?" Aldar jumped at Kilna's address and felt his blood rise in excitement. Whether battle or otherwise, he was still ready to go!
Still, he calmed himself without the other 2 intervening as he put a jewel set in a golden setting on top of a granite slab.
It lit up as Blue, gold, and white appeared as columns rotating around a crystal sliver in the center above the jewel. The profound feeling made them all stand up at attention. It was high grade 7!
Only an Inheritance or Ruin could house such an object as a Relic would crack from the strain.
"We found this long ago but it is essentially a guide to gauge an Immortal. The first 3 we all know with some variation on colors for demons. If you pass these 3 tribulations, you successfully become an Immortal of average power." Average was a relative term but they got the point.
Anything less and a cultivator would die, suffer Qi deviation, or some other ailment that could derail them forever. Aldar manipulated the jewel with his Qi as each bolt blended or otherwise combined in several patterns.
"Variants can open new possibilities and show a more stable foundation as well. Heaven would not send them otherwise. The issue comes with the next ones." A black slot appeared followed by a dark violet, and crimson.
"Anything after the first 3 is a massive step up qualitatively for the sliver to be improved as well as the body. The more refinement by tribulation, the more profound and deep the Laws become for the newly minted Immortal." Aldar then looked up very grimly.
"I am only a 4 tribulation Immortal. A low mid grade at best. Kilna is one step up from me as is Xian. Valkyrie is the only one of us that is actually a low grade Immortal but they are general measurements as we can see. The importance is the quality of those tribulations." Aldar looked tired.
"What do you mean?" Xian was actually intrigued as he had never pondered how intricate the process was before.
"While I face more tribulations than Valkyrie, she overcame far more powerful tribulations. So while grading is a common reference, we should focus on quality. Normal, Excellent, Supreme, and Divine." He then adjusted the jewel as the bolts became more profound on one end and far less on the other.
Shock flooded the other 3 faces as they grasped the issue at hand. What quality was Empress Cyntilla and how powerful was she now?!