Imperium Palace.

Emperor Marcus sat on his golden throne. There were many intricate designs carved into it, in which the figure of a sword could be seen in the middle, and some other figures of demon beasts like a dragon, a wolf, and a bear on the sides.

Emperor Marcus narrowly looked at the black figure kneeling below the throne. His hand was placed under his cheeks.

"Your Imperial Majesty, the spies we sent to watch over Zachariel Strom were found unconscious in the woods." The black figure reported.

Their entire body was covered by a robe, and the hood was designed in a way so that only their eyes could be seen.

Emperor Marcus was shocked inside.

"Again? Did they know who did it?" He coldly asked.

"No, your Imperial Majesty." The black figure flatly replied.

Emperor Marcus gripped his fist into the armrest. It cracked and bits of it flew out.

Emperor Marcus calmed himself after the short burst of anger and asked again.

"Anything else?"

"Zachariel went into the Public Library but was denied entry by the guards." The black figure continued.

"My son, again?" Emperor Marcus crushed the entire armrest in fury.

Emperor Marcus did not forbid Zachariel's entry into most places in the Imperium Capital City. His motive was to gather any information every time Zachariel visited various places.

In one instance, he was able to determine Zachariel's fighting capabilities by watching the replay of Zachariel's match against Daniel.

With the amount of authority that Emperor Marcus holds, he could gather whatever he wanted about Zachariel, and Zachariel won't be able to do anything about it.

He even placed a dummy instructor in Zachariel's class, discouraging him from learning qi essence cultivation.

But now, his stupid son denied Zachariel an entry to the Public Library, a crucial place where Emperor Marcus would be able to know what Zachariel was planning or doing.

Emperor Marcus will be able to plan ahead if he could determine what kind of books and information that Zachariel was looking for. He could even replace those books and any other books that Zachariel might read in the future with a fake one.

`I'm going to beat that good-for-nothing later.`

He swore in his mind.

"Continue monitoring him for now. As for those spies who were knocked out earlier, kill them. You may go now."

Emperor Marcus waved his hand.

He will always tie up any possible loose ends that would trouble him in the future.

Those spies might've been brainwashed by the enemy, and could turn against him anytime they wished.

The black figure nodded and vanished from the throne room.

"Zachariel Strom…"

Emperor Marcus spoke Zachariel's name.

`If only my son was as competent as him, I wouldn't ask anything more of this world.`

He closed his eyes and daydreamed of the day when the Imperium finally rose to prominence.

However, the doors to the throne room were abruptly opened and a middle-aged scholar entered.

"What is it, Wille?" Emperor Marcus asked.

"The Eldens have reported that a blackout will soon occur in a few days," Wille replied.

"A blackout?" Emperor Marcus was worried.

`To think it would happen soon. Damn it, I need to hasten my plans.`

…

Zachariel returned to his room and put the books into his bed.

"Now, which one shall I read first?"

He looked at the two suspicious books. One had a blue cover while the other one had a greyish-white cover.

"How about the qi essence cultivation instead? We'll have some mana essence cultivation class tomorrow and I don't think our instructor in the qi essence cultivation would ever start his lecture." Zachariel made up his mind.

He picked up the greyish-white book. Zachariel felt the softness of the cover when he placed his hands into it.

He opened the book and a sweet fragrance assaulted his nose.

"An old book, eh?"

[

A Guide to the Perfect Qi Essence Cultivation

By

Elidyr Sarrelon

U.T.S. 3066

Martial General

R.E.G.F

]

Zachariel curiously looked over the content of the cover page.

"U.T.S. 3066? Is this a date or something? Also, who is this Elidyr Sarrelon? This person's a general but how come I can't recall who he is, or she? Moreover, this R.E.G.F word looks familiar. I think I've seen it somewhere before."

Most of Zachariel's memories were still fragmented, mixed with both his and some foreign memories.

"Let's move to the first page, shall we?"

He flipped several pages until he arrived at the first page of the book.

"Qi essence is a mysterious essence that is present everywhere in the universe."

`Universe?` This word was new for someone like Zachariel.

"There are six stages when it comes to the basic cultivation path for someone who chose the qi essence."

"First stage: Cleansing stage."

It detailed out that one requires to cleanse their own body before sensing and absorbing the qi essence present in the surroundings.

There were several methods to cleanse the body such as breathing out the toxins, expulsion through discharged matter from one's body like feces, oral medicine like pills, and medicinal baths.

Breathing out the toxins was a very difficult thing because one requires to eat dietary foods and it varies from each person. The use of pills and medicinal baths was rather favored by the author as described in the book.

They only needed to ingest a body cleansing pill over a period of 1-2 months, and they should soon discharge them through feces and other forms of excretion.

If one hadn't undergone the cleansing stage, they would become a fallen being which is corrupted and mindless insanity that would corrupt everything and reproduce itself until everything is destroyed.

"Wait, one actually needs to undergo cleansing?" Zachariel was dumbfounded.

He remembered that he had yet to cleanse his body and he had already formed a dantian core.

"When did my body cleansed itself anyway?" Zachariel tried to recall his memories, but he could not find anything that involved cleansing his own body.

"Maybe it's part of the fragmented memories. Let's continue."

There was no use wasting time if he could not find the answer inside his head.

"Second stage: Sensing stage."

During this stage, one will start sensing the qi essence in the environment.

"Also, one must be outside and under the effects of meditation?"

That was a hard thing to do if he was by himself. After all, he's currently being targeted by the Emperor, and going out alone would give him a chance to make a move.

`Maybe I could ask Amelia tomorrow. No, I heard they're really busy preparing for the skirmish event. What about Luiz and the rest of the boys? They're pretty much enthusiastic when it comes to training.`

Zachariel planned out what he would do.

Even though he already had qi essence stored within his dantian core, he still needed to feel and see what qi essence looks like, and how to gather it from the environment.

He continued reading the book.

"The qi essence is a transparent and almost non-existent essence. Most of the time, it is a randomly swirling current, or sometimes still and quiet, or a rampaging force that brought destruction on its wake."

He flipped to the next page.

"Third stage: Dantian Core Formation Stage."

During this stage, one must absorb the qi outside through medullar dantian breathing and guide the qi essence into their dantian cores.

"Medullar Dantian Breathing."

It was a type of breathing technique wherein one must focus their breathing near where the dantian was located.

`I guess I'll have to breathe with my stomach then?` Zachariel thought.

Sarrelon noted that the lungs, or any similar respiratory organ that a person's respiratory system uses to normally breathe, should not be involved in any way possible.

Otherwise, the qi essence will invade their lungs and wreak havoc inside.

Sarrelon also added a note that the dantian core was already formed during one's birth, but the amount of qi essence that it gathered was not enough to maintain the dantian core's functionality, thus leading to it becoming disabled.

"Once the qi essence is drawn to the dantian core, it will start to regain its lost vitality. This is repeatedly done until one can finally store the qi essence into their dantian core."

`In my case, my dantian core should've already been repaired, right?`

After all, Azzad gifted him Valryx's qi essence drawn from Valryx's dantian core. The quality and quantity from that were more than enough in helping him regain the vitality of his dantian core.

"Stage four: Qi Essence Condensation."

During this stage, the dantian is still very fragile, and they would need to condense the qi essence until it becomes liquefied.

`Condense? What is that and how does that work anyway?` Zachariel didn't know what condensation was. However, he continued reading.

"Stage five: Solidification stage."

Once a suitable amount of liquefied qi essence is present in the dantian, the person can then start nurturing it with the liquefied qi essence.

The dantian core must be thoroughly bathed until its dantian core roots start to sprout from within.

If the liquefied qi essence is not enough, one only has 1-2 days before bathing the dantian core roots again.

The process would continue until the roots were fully grown in the dantian core.

One characteristic that one's roots were already fully grown is that they would feel a very acute pain in their dantian core whenever they try to bathe it with liquefied qi essence.

"Qi Essence Purification stage."

`It's optional?`

Sarrelon gave note that there were times when qi essence was not pure and absorbing it would turn one into a fallen being.

There were many ways to purify corrupted qi essences such as putting oneself into a hot boiling tub before absorbing the qi essence, or oral medicines like qi essence cleansing pills.

"Last Stage: Body Nurturing stage."

After condensing the qi essence and solidifying their dantian core roots, one will then proceed to nurture their entire body in a sequential process from their organs, medullar body parts, skin, etc.

It would continue until the liquefied qi essence could no longer affect the physical characteristics of one's body.

"My body would feel pain if I try it too many times a day, huh?"

It was rational. After all, even one could not train for a whole day, and nurturing one's body with liquefied qi essence was not any different.

The muscles, nerves, and other parts would get weary and might tear or rupture if hastily enhanced with liquefied qi essence.

"That's all?"

Zachariel finally arrived at the last page of the book. It took him almost an hour to read the entire book content, and he was craving for more.

"Oh, there's one final note here. It says that one's stage is not directly proportionate of one's raw power."

`Damn it, I thought this was a suspicious book, but how come it's a bit detailed? There's no way a book like this is a fraud. Still, better be careful.`

It was nighttime now, and Lune had lighted up the Imperium Continent with its silvery light.

`Should I try to undergo the body nurturing stage?`

He had already formed his dantian core roots, but he has still yet to nurture his body using liquefied qi essence.

`There's no harm to it, right?`

He closed his eyes and focused on his dantian core.

`The glowing green lines are there, and their intensity is incomparable from before.`

It glowed brighter now, but Zachariel still doesn't have any idea what their purpose was.

`My dantian core is a bit bigger than usual, isn't it?`

A lot of liquefied qi essence was stored inside. He could not believe that he was able to store all of Valryx's extra qi essence without overflowing his dantian core.

`Hmm? I can feel and see qi essence while inside a building? Wait, I haven't even started meditating yet. What's going on?`

Zachariel was surprised.

`The qi essence looks a bit murky. Is this what the book said about corrupted qi essence? If this is the case…`

He wouldn't be able to absorb it through the medullar dantian breathing technique.

`Forget it, let's nurture our body now.`

He drew his liquefied qi essence from his dantian core and bathed his heart first.

`What a good sensation.`

It felt soothing as if someone was softly massaging his heart. It didn't tickle, nor hurt in any way.

While he was enjoying the occasion, a magic screen-like interface appeared in front of him.

[ Detecting user cultivating life energy ]

[ … ]

[ Assessing further parameters ]

[ … ]

[ Assessment complete ]

[ … ]

[ Code 16 implemented ]

[ … ]

[ Primal Vessel Incision: Visceral Enhancement under progress ]

`What's going on? An enhancement? Oh no, the green lines are spreading to my heart!`

He was shocked by this discovery and immediately took back the liquefied qi essence from his heart.

`They are still spreading!`

He watched as the green lines carve themselves into his flesh.

Zachariel felt pain in his heart when it happened.

`I can't breathe properly!`

He groaned while grasping his chest to where his heart was located, trying to mitigate the pain.

He fell to the floor and blood trickled out of his mouth.

`Not again!`

His vision became blurry, and he could no longer hear properly.

He reached out his hand to where the door was but ultimately lost consciousness.

…

A rumbling sound reverberated and the ground shook.

`What's going on now?` Zachariel opened his eyes. His surroundings were still blurry.

He could feel his body again, but his control was very weak. `Damn it, I lost consciousness again.`

Zachariel didn't feel good at all.

`The floor is very cold. Don't tell me I'm back to that same dream again.`

Another rumbling occurred.

`It's shaking?`

Zachariel staggered as he slowly stood back up. His mind was groggy and his chest was still painful.

He put his hand into the wall to support his body.

"We're under attack!"

"It's the witch! She's here!"

Zachariel heard shouts coming from the other side.

"Get your weapons and charge out! Kill her!"

Armors and weapons clanged as the guards charged out.

`Is the witch they are talking about the same the other day?` Zachariel wondered.

The place became silent.

He took a seat in a chair and recovered his bearing after a few seconds.

`Alright, that's better.`

He looked around the room. Torches were placed in the walls, giving light to the room.

It was a large room with many empty wooden weapons and armor racks.

`It's that insignia again.`

Zachariel saw a larger version of the crest from his earlier dream from a shield placed on the top of the wall.

The ground shook again.

`The witch is still not dead?`

He went out of the room and looked around.

It was a long hallway and to his left was a dead end. There was another door opposite of him.

It was left open by the guards and he could see that it was another armory inside.

"Aahh! Help me!"

A shout came from the right side of the hallway. Zachariel saw a guard being lifted on the ground.

`Is this magic?`

The guard was lifted by something invisible.

His legs were kicking the air as he tried to get out of the situation.

Blood gushed out in the part where his arm was cut out. His struggle did not last long as his head burst into a pool of blood.

The innards of his head flew in all directions. The guard's legs hang in the air and the atmosphere became still and quiet.

Zachariel was shocked when he saw what happened.

The headless and lifeless body slumped to the ground.

A dark mist flowed from the corner towards Zachariel and absorbed whatever was left of the guard's body.

It exuded an aura of horror and death, filled with the screams of pain, anger, terror, and hopelessness from the wraiths that were stuck beneath it.

A small voice resounded in the hallway.

"Where is he…"

It was eerie and disturbing. It carried a hint of longingness and hatred towards whoever or whatever that voice was looking for.

The mist grew larger, filling the entire hallway. A figure appeared in the center of the dark mist.

It was a woman.

She had a beautiful face and long dark hair that fluttered in the wind, but the dark mist that was flowing out of her eye sockets would scare out any being if they stare at her eyes.

Her lower body was completely covered by the dark mist.

She reached out her hands and long dark claws grew out of them. She then lodged it deep into the walls and fiercely looked at Zachariel.

"Where is he…"

The ground shook as the woman slowly crept towards him, with the dark mist following behind her.

"Where is he…"

`F*ck, what do I do?`

Zachariel could not draw his qi essence, nor his mana. In addition, he was also unarmed. Behind him was a dead end, and the two rooms could not keep him safe from the terrifying woman either.

Amidst his panic, the woman rushed at him.

The tremors became stronger and the ceiling started to crack and disintegrate. Its pieces fall to the ground.

"Where is he, where is he, where is he…"

She repeatedly said the same words, with each repetition louder and faster than the last.

The screams became louder and her pacing became faster until she arrived in front of Zachariel.

“THERE YOU ARE!”

The woman's face became contorted as her shrill voice filled the area. The wraiths grabbed him, pulling him into the dark mist.

The woman then raised one of her arms and slashed at Zachariel.