Family Reunion II

Clay rode a carriage back to the village while thinking if the Soul Seal within him is a magnet of bad luck. A few hours ago, he learned that his brother is going to spend a lifetime in jail and if that is not bad enough, when he stepped out of the prison facility, his brother’s ex-fiance who was supposed to give him a ride back home is nowhere to be found causing him to spend 120 crones on tickets.

He had been considering whether is even a good idea to attempt to save him by trading the key given to him by the cabbie driver however he knew this act would certainly invite endless troubles. The inheritance contains coordinates regarding heavenly treasure called Dao Stones and the thought that even a dying soul would be tracked on its next life is just an indication how grave the information is to peak Divinity cultivators. His biggest dilemma is that even if he did use it to buy the favor of a true expert, it is still not a guarantee that they would free his brother and leave him and his loved ones alone.

When he got to the village, he did not head home but instead walked towards his secret garden. Clay is thankful his twin did not forget about him while he was in coma but being grateful does not necessarily mean he will lose his rationality. He may suffer a guilty conscience for his selfishness for not doing his best to buy his brother’s freedom but the information regarding the inheritance must be kept secret and he is willing to take it to his grave. And it is not because he does not want to but the risk is just too great.

He has once witnessed how greedy cultivators can be that they would kill and wage wars for a lowly Spiritual Vein so how much more if to do with breaking through to Immortal Rank? What’s he afraid the most is that everyone in the village will be implicated and causing everyone to be soul searched or worst, everyone’s souls will be destroyed.

Clay murmured to himself, “Forgive me oh brother if I can’t save you. Though you did it to exact vengeance, there is law and order where your actions have transpired. It may have failed to give you satisfaction, but someone has to pay the consequences of a crime. However if it’s Lievrem poison you ask, I will produce it and arrange it to be administered on your death bed.”

Bitterness filled his heart.

The other option is to become an expert himself. As someone who can create Spiritual Veins, he will not lack resources and he can even train in private within the confines of the Arizan Conservatory. Clay is conflicted though as he had long gave up on cultivating once more. Again even if he hypothetically becomes an a powerful figure, from what the guard has told him that even Ascendants is helpless with his brother’s case, there is still no assurance he will accomplish said feat.

*Sigh

Clay deeply exhaled as he activated the Array to enter his secret garden however as soon as he entered, he was greeted with an unusual Qi concentration. The amount of Qi in the air seemed to have doubled. His eyes squinted and rushed towards the Psuedo Spiritual Vein he placed near the Lievrem Flowers.

He is at loss as the Psuedo Vein stopped emittingthe mysterious energy only capable of being absorbed by plants and instead it now is producing a legit Spiritual Qi like a True Spiritual Vein. Although it is not as concentrated as the Qi produced by Veins created from a cultivator’s circulation circuit, it is still two times better than a regular Vein.

“What happened? Why did it transform?”

Clay activated his Godly Eyes and observed the boulder containing the Spiritual Vein. No matter how much he look, every detail is still the same with the exception of what is being produced, however when he switch the Godly Eyes to observe anything related to soul space dimension, he was shocked with a new discovery.

It is not the Spiritual Vein that surprised him but the Lievrem Flower closest to the boulder containing the vein. There seem to be a blue mist assimilated within the flower. Clay looked around and observed the nearby aquatic vines but only the Lievrem flowers have it. Although the other two has only formed a blue mist the size of a tiny marble.

Clay focused on the first flower. Out of curiosity, he manifested his Qi and formed a hand but as soon as his Qi touched the flower, he felt an inexplicable and irrisistible tidbit of relaxation. Just like his first time tasting an ice cream, he suddenly felt craving for more.

At the same time and unbeknownst to him, a thin layer within the Soul Seal inside of him shined triggering him to move without his knowledge.

Clay retracted his Qi and touched the flower with his bare hands. He closed his eyes and succumbed to that taste of that heavenly moment again.

After ten minutes, Clay opened his eyes. He seemed to have forgotten everything and the only thing in his mind now is to bath himself of that feeling of comfort. Like an addict, he wanted to indulge on it until completely satisfied. His craving exponentially grew.

He said to himself, “If that blue mist becomes bigger, will it intensify that dreamy moment? Wait, the blue mist formed after it has been exposed by that mysterious energy created from a beast’s circulation circuit. Which means, if I exposed it again, it will get larger, right?”

Clay is aware of his actions but unaware that his actions are influenced by the Soul Seal locked into his soul. He just went outside his garden and spread his Qi to capture beasts with sufficiently formed Core.

After collecting ten spiritual circuits, he properly enclosed them within a dirt then install it in to a boulder like he always did then went back inside his secret garden. He isolated the first flower and placed the newly created Psuedo Spiritual Veins around it.

Clay sat near the flower and observed how the mysterious energy causes the blue mist grew bigger. Minutes then hours and finally dawn came when all the Psuedo Spiritual Veins have been drained and all turned into True Veins. Slowly, the amount of Spiritual Qi within garden become even more concentrated it started to resonate within his dantian and Qi Nodes. Clay in an instant remembered he no longer wants to cultivate and that is when he snapped out of his dreamy state.

“Huh? What’s going on? Why did I create so many Qi Veins?”

He has no idea what is going on but he realized that the amount of Qi in the air has grown exponentially large that the Isolation Formation may not be able to contain. Clay stood up and manifested Qi Projection Tentacles and penetrated the ten nearby boulders destroying all the Qi Veins.

*Pant *Pant

Clay walked backwards and observed the Lievrem Flower that has just given birth to a Human Class Essence Flame. From his knowledge, this flower should only acquire the ability to induce a hallucinogenic substance to its prey only when it becomes Earth Tier but his experience just now seem to have him loose control of his actions without even know it.

“Was I hypnotized by this flower? That can’t be. The flower’s roots have not moved and there is no smoke produced. Unless,…”

Clay momentarily closed his eyes and checked his body with his Qi sense. After a few seconds, he realized there is trace of a faint ripple of cold energy which radiated throughout his meridians.

“I thought the Soul Seal will start manifesting after 50 years?”

He sat down and meditated while carefully observing any change in his circulation circuit. The fact that he had been helplessly hypnotized should be warning how dangerous the Seal is and he would like to know if there other changes he needed to be concerned of.

After almost two hours, Clay felt movements but not within his body. As soon as he opened his eyes, the roots of the Lievrem Flower started to grow and are slowly crawling out toward him.

Since he could not feel any pressing danger coming out from the Soul Seal, Clay stopped meditating and focused on the flower. He would like to further observe the flower however his instinct is telling him to contain the Essence Flame and contain before it becomes dangerous.

Clay created six tentacles using his Qi and shaped the edges into sharp blades and precisely cutting off the roots and the stalks of the flower leaving only the bulb. As expected, the Essence Flame wanted to retaliate but since it has been separated from its host, it could not do anything but remain motionless.

Clay looked into the spatial ring given to him by the cabbie driver and found a jade box full of inscriptions. The formations were complicated but the basic runic patterns in the middle suggest it is used to seal items. He did not think twice and used that to contain the Lievrem Essence Flame and stored it back to the ring. He wanted to refine it now but it might have an impact to the flame’s strength so he decided to wait until his nephew is ready to integrate with it.

“Ha ha ha ha”

Clay laid on the ground and laughed.

“I just wanted a gift for my nephew yet I ended up with so much trouble.”

Clay contemplated on his life and while he was busy with his monologue, the outermost layer of the Soul Seal within him continues to slowly crack.

_______________________

At the same, somewhere within Andara Galaxy, a cigar-shaped vessel is floating in space. As the ship peacefully orbits a massive red planet, a crew member within the control room slowly pressed a button to initiate contact within the planet’s surface.

“Captain, I’ve decoded a deep space transmission. It’s a Class II mission, Sir.”

“And since when did Class II missions became urgent?”

“It’s from the Hall of Alchemist Kuh Mi’ir, Sir.”

“What do they want?”

“It says we need to pick up someone after this mission. Should I send the details?”

“Don’t. Notify everyone to wrap it up.”

_____________________

Eighteen days later, Clay is grilling meat with his neighbor whom he invited to drink.

“Really, what’s the occasion? Did you finally meet girl?”

Clay smiled as he touched the spatial ring given to him by the cabbie driver. It looks like an ordinary ring that even he has to focus and closely observe it with his Qi sense to determine it is a spatial ring.

“You know what? I will visit old Baran this weekend and ask his help.”

The truth is that he wanted to celebrate. Since that incident with the Lievrem Flowers, nothing significant has happened and tomorrow is the day Kyan Han Sword Sect will arrive and he decided to remain true to his objective of settling for an ordinary life and discarded the idea of leaving this planet. Even the lure of Dao could no longer move him.

Half a month ago when he saw the pattern of the blue mist assimilated within the Lievrem Essence Flame, he is positive that it is similar to the pattern he saw from his observation he recalled when Re’y activated his Dao Sword. He has a feeling that if the Essence Flame is integrated to a cultivator, that cultivator will immediately touch the realm of Grand Dao without any efforts. This should make a perfect gift when his nephew turns five and as for the other Lievrem Flower in his secret garden, he plans on leaving it to grow to become an Earth Tier and extract the toxins it will soon produce which he will be giving to his twin brother later. He re-sealed the last Flower as a back up and plants it to another location later. As of today, he plans to get wasted and wake up after a day.

While Clay is busy indulging himself in wine, a masked man in stealth is carefully observing Clay from afar opposite the mountain.

Meanwhile, at the prison center where Pionar Arshua is serving time, an important guest arrived. The fact that four potentates protecting the planet came to receive them is an indication how respected the guests are. If Clay were present though, he would immediately recognize the woman who wanted to visit as this woman inherited her beautiful facial features from her mother which is Clay’s aunt, Reetha. Her name is Revlyn, a Peak Core Formation expert and has already achieved the First Phase of Sword Dao. Twenty Nine years ago, she displayed average talent but her Soul Strength was discovered to be compatible to become a sword apprentice thereby taken in as a disciple of Kyan Han Sword Sect.

To have had achieved such feat in less than fifty years already proves how outstanding her talent is. But the scarier part is the person accompanying her who looks like a frail middle-aged man but is actually Rank 6 Ascendant and a Sword Master.

“Hello brother. You seem doing well for a criminal who killed mother and my siblings. How would it feel if I do the same?”