《Refining the Heavens》B3, Chapter 21: Spirit World
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A great waterfall before them made the scene like a portrait, but Kairos instantly noticed that there is something different about this place.
It is much… too gigantic!
At first, he did not feel anything out of place, except a tremendous pressure from the waves that the waterfall is making. Out of curiosity, he sent his Soul Perception forward to scan it, but to his surprise, it is beyond his range to reach.
He did a rough estimate and couldn’t believe his own eyes. Forget about the tallest mountain, the size of that thing is even larger than a small country!
Kairos shook his disbelief out of his head and just tried to focus on the place before him instead, but he then realised that it is not just the waterfall that is large.
He is still his usual height, but everything down to a single blade of grass is over ten times bigger, even the greater spirits have become giants as tall as towers around him.
“Aisa, did I shrink?”
Ehehe are you shocked? This is their normal size!
“Wow, everything is colossal…”
Seeing the rare expression of surprise on Kairos’ face, Aisa giggled.
“Great One, The King Will Arrive Soon,” The Greater Metal Spirit said respectfully as it hovered to the side, joining its friends who had formed two lines on his left and right.
They did not have to wait long.
A cloud rolled in from the north, and it slowly stretched and covered the sky. Kairos looked with astonishment that atop of it is the grandest throne he had ever laid eyes upon.
It is made of pure lightning in one moment and raging flames the next, and is something impossible to see in the Mortal Realm.
The throne quickly descended with the Spirit King on it, until it is before them.
It is a majestic being, a mixture of all kinds of elements and a hundred times larger than the greater spirits.
But the Spirit King, having just arrived, did an unexpected thing.
It stood to full height from its throne, casting a great shadow upon him then such a venerated being proceeded to bow down before Kairos just as respectfully as it could.
“Great One,” Its voice reverent, pausing to await a reply.
When Kairos saw that the King and the other greater spirits waited for him, he mumbled uncertainly “R…raise?”
The living elementals around him stood back up as though he is something far superior to them, and they only dared to move when he allowed them.
“Great One, shouldst thou art willing, please show this insignificant one thine eyes,” The King pleaded.
“Insignificant? You’re the size of a mountain!” he protested within his heart, not knowing should he laugh or cry at the gigantic king speaking so humbly in front of him.
Since he trusted Aisa to enter this place, Kairos activated his Veritable Sight in response to the king’s request.
“Thou truly art the Great One!” it cried out with both hope and joy in its voice, “The Earth Mother hath prophesied thy coming. We foolishly did not believe, but thou art here before us.”
“Why do you keep calling me the Great One?” Kairos asked out of curiosity, but when the Spirit King attempted to answer, Aisa jumped out of his robes and snarled at the spirit.
“Primordial One,” it spoke respectfully, addressing Aisa.
The dragon sat down between Kairos and the Spirit King, then with a voice that everyone could hear clearly in their head, she said.
Primal Spirit, tell us what do you want.
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It is clear that Aisa did not want Kairos to have his answer, and the Spirit King had no choice but to swallow its words. It knows that before the great dragon, it is no different from a toy.
Kairos who had expected this did not mention a thing.
“Oh Great One, thou canst see my brethren suffering because the wicked ones soon awake. We wish to aid thee in thine quest to exterminate their race, and in return, may our race be preserved.”
Kairos had heard of the term ‘Wicked Ones’ before, it was how the Dragonlord, Thrym, addressed the devils.
However, he did not think that even the Elementals could be threatened.
“Aisa, aren’t these spirits immortal?”
Yep~ They are!
“Then why do they fear the devils?”
Ohh!! Aisa knows! Kairos still have much to learn hehe… Those vermin are like the fleas on batsy~
“Parasites?”
Uhuh~ Not only do they take over their victim’s body, but they also attack the soul. Even powerful spirits are not safe!
“That’s frightening! But we already took down two devils?!”
No no Kairos~ those babies cannot be considered devils. The first was only a soul fragment, and the second was weakened and trapped in a pill even before I beat it up!
Kairos almost rolled his eyes backwards in shock. He truly saw them as formidable foes.
“Why don’t your race stay in this place then?” he asked the Spirit King the obvious question. Since the Spirit world where they are, has more abundant Heavenly Energy than the outside, it is a question why the Elementals would venture into the land of the humans.
The Spirit King chuckled, then solemnly reply, “Oh Great One, you do not know. Long ago when this land you called Gaia was broken off from the motherland, Eden, with a pair of flaming swords, we had to isolate this realm away from the rest.
In the process, while the Spirit World lost a lot of its original Heavenly Energies, it is still far better than the Mortal Realms. But in exchange, our realm is teetered to Gaia, with no other exits.”
“Regardless, that did not answer my question. If the devils escape from their seals and roam Gaia, you Elementals can simply return to your Spirit World, can you not?”
“Great One, our realm is small, and Elementals require space to grow. Even if all Elementals return to the Spirit World, there is a limit on how many can enter, while the rest will die outside.
Being chained to Gaia, we are unable to escape the fate of fighting the Wicked Ones, yet every cycle when they break loose into the land, we can only watch our blood spill. For a thousand cycles and more, we have seen life on Gaia erased, first by the devils, then, by the battles brought by the gods that come to seal them.
We go weary of our bonds, Great One, and only you can set us free. It is foretold that you hold the ability to destroy those Wicked Ones, and we wish to aid you. Only then can we continue to grow. Only then can we leave this place.”
“How will you aid us?” He asked, knowing to fight enemies that even gods fear, they will need all the help they could receive.
Unexpectedly, the Spirit King suddenly lowered itself further, prostrating before Kairos, while the other spirits immediately followed their king in panic. Its gigantic body, over a thousand meters in height, fell before a young boy who is not even two meters tall.
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“We beseech thee, form a covenant with us!” It called out desperately.
But before Kairos could say a word, Aisa shook her head.
You are a little weak~
Kairos looked at Aisa and then at the gigantic Spirit King in astonishment. The Elemental has power far stronger than the immortal Old Ye, yet Aisa was unsatisfied with it.
But, the Spirit King wasn’t ready to give up, and it hastily added, “If thou art willing, we will most gladly become thy servants, and we can also restore thy companion in thy ring.”
This time, Kairos’ eyebrows perked at the offer. The only one within his ring is Enki, and if the spirits could help restore him, he is willing to even brave death. After all, he already thought of the insane god as his teacher.
Besides, the offer is completely in his favour, and he sees no reasons to reject. Because he needs to eradicate the devils no matter what, even if the spirits did not offer anything he would have proposed.
Without hesitation, Kairos nodded to the Spirit King, and the great being hastily chanted in a language he could not understand.
Before the Primordial One says no, or the Great One regrets accepting their pathetic race, it wants to seal up the deal.
When its words finished, a mark of the Spirit King appeared on Kairos’ arm, an intricate symbol of a hexagram within a pentagram.
If it would please thee, summon thy companion that we might see to him?”
Kairos nodded and retrieved Enki. When the god entered the spirit world, energy started to gather by his side, and his complexation instantly turns better. Though the place is less potent than the celestial realm, it is obviously a suitable place for him to recover.
The Spirit King carefully carried Enki’s unconscious body and rested the god on its throne. The raging energy of its material is seemingly harmless to its occupant.
“We will ensure thy companion receive the best treatment, though, by our estimation, it will still take several years before he awakens.
Great One, if it pleases thee, select some of my men to follow thee, that they might guard thine abode,” The Spirit King asked.
The Spirit King being unfortunately rooted to the spirit world could not follow Kairos. Otherwise, it truly wanted to join the Great One personally.
Seeing Kairos still in thought, the Spirit King decided to explain what does contracting spirits mean, “Great One, by forming a covenant with us, thou art able to sense wild spirits and offer them a contract. The mark which thou carry will strengthen thine contracted spirit, allowing them to help thee with enchantments and aid thee in battle.
With my mark, thou art able to grant lesser sigils on thy companions, that they may too form spirit contracts.
My children will require Ki and Heavenly Energy to nurture, but thou will find them most helpful in return.”
There is no doubt the usefulness of having Elemental spirits around. Like what the King mentioned, his mansion, especially, could use some proper guards and Elemental spirits had always been considered as the paragon guardians for any noble family.
With acknowledgement from Kairos, the Spirit King summoned a hundred Greater Spirits which bowed before him.
Those Elementals that led him here are working for the academy and thus cannot join him, but the newly summoned ones are all without masters.
When compared to the Academy that only has ten thousand lesser spirits and fifty greater spirits, Kairos acquired more in a single step. Even his bound with them is quite different than that of the school.
With these many in his hands, it would be a while before he need to seek more Elementals.
A short moment later, he is already back within his ranking barrier. The time during his disappearance was warped by Aisa and went unnoticed. To those looking, it would appear as though Kairos flickered.
And in any case, at this time Yi De’s attention is on another ranking barrier. A young lady with tanned skin and a boyish look stood surrounded by the debris of broken spirit shells. Her body glowed with draconic majesty, with dragon’s wings and tail adorning her.
Unlike Calculus who turned into a dragon warrior after fusing with the Five Clawed Golden Dragon, Sasha’s form wasn’t made with actual claws and scales but a manifestation of Ki that looks like a high-ranking martial technique.
She easily stole the limelight, her aura and power a magnificence remnant of Thrym, the guardian dragon of the Frost Mountains.
Although she is not a contract beast’s master of a dragon, she and the other three captains have gained a treasure during their time in the Frost Mountains.
A Divine Dragon’s lifeblood.
Unfortunately, because it is far too powerful for them to absorb, Thrym sealed up its true power into their bodies. As their cultivation increases, they will be able to activate more of the dragonlord’s power.
Those that finished their fight, stepped out of the ranking barrier as another took his place and this continued for the rest of the day until that night before the battles ended.
The Snowdrifts did exceptionally well, ranking much higher than anyone’s expectations, even their own.
Especially the four captains, each of them achieved results that caused others to question life.
Just a year ago, they are only F rankers, and now not only has their cultivation raised to C ranks, but they are also fighting far beyond their ranks would suggest. Only when the other students found out that they travelled to Silent Lambs Empire with Kairos and acquired some benefits did this result became slightly more bearable.
Of course, the Snowdrifts members had a lot of advantage from the skills Kairos imparted. In this world where cultivation methods are treated as heirlooms and treasures, he generously taught the Origin Cultivation Method to any he trusted, even knowing that this cultivation technique is far more advanced than any other in the Empire.
Some may feel that giving away such advantages, even to their own, would be a foolish thing to do. But in this world where no one is born equal, or perhaps it is better to say that, everyone is equally different, even if two people were given the exact same weapons they would wield it differently. Kairos only ensured his brothers, and, sisters-in-arms would be equipped with the best he can offer. The rest, is up to them.
But with everyone barred from using Soul Perception and Origin Infusion during this period, what truly gave them ferocious fighting power and an unbelievable tenacity in battle is the Formless Style Kairos had modified from the Formless Sword Manual.
He is even more convinced now that the creator of the original art is an unbelievable genius.
Few knew that the prodigy Sword Saint made the skill amid losing his mind, after having seen something unthinkable during a selfless cultivation state.
It was this that caused Kairos to discover a significant number of dangerous elements and contradictions in the manual when he first altered the Formless Sword Style to make it usable for all weapons. It had lowered his expectations, not anticipating that the martial arts could be this formidable.
All the second year students were ranked according to their achievements. Without a doubt, Kairos stood first among his peers for defeating everything within record time.
A deep scowl appeared on Calculus’s face. With the Five-clawed Golden Dragon, he have the ability to reach for first place, however, he could only silently tolerate being in the tenth place, behind Kairos and his team, and even the four captains of Snowdrifts.
The Emperor had explicitly stopped him from using his Golden Dragon transformation, and without it, he is far weaker compared to those around Kairos. He felt as though he was given the strongest blade of the realm but told to fight with his bare hands.
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