“The Unknown Flame Sovereign!”

The boys recognised the alchemic flame with a roar and excitedly crowded around the pill furnace.

Kairos did not hesitate and immediately sent the fire in. The guys curiously followed it with their Soul Perceptions, but the moment they probed into the furnace, the intense heat caused them to reel back in pain.

However, Kairos continued to manipulate the flames expertly and gauging the process through his link with the Unknown Flame Sovereign. Without the complete submission of this divine flame, it wouldn’t be possible. He directed the purple flames to completely envelop these easily inflammable ingredients so that no material will be wasted.

Surprisingly, the things did not catch fire but continued to heat up until they melted into puddles of colourful liquids.

This is the first time in Saint Empire history that materials that would turn into ash are converted into an entirely new mixture for making pills. Not only did Kairos opened up new paths, but he is also forging a new pill that no one had seen before.

Pill recipes are always extremely precious, and well-guarded secrets in each noble family. Whenever a new recipe is made, even if it is simply another method of manufacturing a common pill, the whole market will hear of it first-hand.

Of course, the recipe’s value varies and depending if there are better options, sometimes even worthless, but each innovation will help spread the creator’s reputation and indirectly, the related clan or family.

After a while, when the temperature had increased to a certain degree, the unwanted impurities separated from the rest of the liquid and Kairos opened a small opening underneath for them to flow out. He slowly increased the temperature and repeated this process several times until what was leftover was the absolute essences. Because nothing was burned away, not a single portion was wasted, and of course, the number of pills he can create will number more.

Of course, this is an envious thing for pill makers. There is never a time when pills could not be sold when they are so scarce.

When he took out the completed products from the hatch, everyone, even Kairos who made it, stared in wonder at the liquid drugs that looked like beautiful dewdrops.

When creating pills, several factors determine the quality, the success rates and the number of end-products. The slightest error would change medical properties and spoil a pot.

Most reasons determining a good or a bad result is one’s level of understanding the herbs. But with Kairos’ ability to communicate with spirit herbs, he could ensure the optimal conditions.

The droplets quickly solidified into glossy black pills, almost a hundred in number. At the same time, a strong scent of herbs washed over their senses, causing their mouths to water, their hearts to race, and their blood to heat up.

They instinctively craved for it, though they do not know what is before their eyes.

“Boss! What is this?”

“I… I’ve no idea,” Kairos replied honestly.

“Hold on… Most pill creators would first think of the effects they want before trying to find a method. How do you not know what your pill does?” Edward who had been attentive to Luciette’s pill creation lectures frowned.

“Well… I only found out from the spirit herbs what would bring out their medicinal effects… I just don’t know what it is used for…,” he said with an awkward smile, but at least his experiment was a success.

“Do we have any guinea pigs?” the archer purposely looked at Alan and Jim, causing the rest to laugh.

“No… no thanks!” the two that had learnt their lesson and quickly declined.

“Then what should we do?”

“I’ll eat one and try,” Tommy offered.

But, the others quickly stopped him. They had seen what happened when people eat weird stuff without knowing what it is.

Trying it would be their last option. Some pills are so potent that before one could extract the beneficial effects, their bodies will break down first.

Kairos took one of the pills into his hands and looked at it with his Veritable Sight trying to figure out its use, but because the item did not have Heavenly Runes on it, he sees nothing helpful.

Next, he tried using his Soul Perception, but similarly, all he could tell is that it is a very fragrant pill.

As he rubbed it between his fingers while thinking of a solution, the pill suddenly throbbed slightly. A prickly feeling like electricity went through his skin and it sent him spiralling into deep contemplation, “What’s this…?”

The others that were also finding their own ways to tell turned around and looked at him.

“Did you guys see the pills tremble?”

“Umm, no?”

They stared at the pills, but nothing moved.

“What is it, boss?”

“Maybe… it is not only my sight and hearing,” he said sounding mystified.

With a strange idea forming in his head, tried to discuss it with his friends, “Aisa had once told me before that the Origin Cultivation method is originally developed for me so there are special abilities that I could discover. At first, I thought it is only my Veritable Sight. But, recently I could hear the voices of spirit herbs and spirit ores. So, I’ve been thinking, what if it is not just sight and sound, but all five sensory abilities?

Just now, as I was playing with the pill in my hands while thinking how to uncover its use, I felt a response, and guess what?”

“A new ability? Whoa!! What should we name it then!?”

“Since it’s through touching, how about ‘Touchy Powers’!”

“Feely Powers?”

“Touchy feely fingers?”

“Stop it, all of you,” he rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help bursting into laughter.

“Hmm, how about Divine Touch sounds? It fits the Empire’s martial naming style,” Tommy said after giving it serious thought.

“Sounds good, and while we’re at it, let’s name the other abilities too. How about the Heart’s Echo for communicating with… rocks?”

“Better that than pebbles hearing,” Alan laughed.

“Did you just come up with that name?”

“No, Jim did, why?”

“Nothing, you’re just exceptionally talented with names, Jim.”

“I know.”

“Then what about the last two?”

God’s Tongue and Heaven’s Scent! Hehe, Aisa also wants to join in!

“Awesome. Those sound great!”

“Hahaha, our boss is such a monster.”

“Hey, it is only a speculation, why are you guys giving names already?” Kairos laughed.

His friends are, however, full of confidence for him, “We’re sure anything is possible for you. If not, you can always create new techniques and teach us.”

Na-ah… This is Kairos’ inheritance~

“Aisa, aren’t you going to tell us more about Kairos yet?”

Ehehe, you guys will be surprised.

“Is hHe a reincarnated god?”

Nooope~

After denying, Aisa mischievously made them guess but never giving any answers. While the little dragon had revealed little, it affirmed some thoughts that Kairos had.

While they conversed, he tried to find the way to activate the Divine Touch. Concentrating his focus on his fingers, he could sense more things than before, but the tremble did not occur a second time.

With a flash of inspiration, he slowly assumed his cultivation stance, and at the same time he unleashed his Veritable Sight and Heart’s Echo; hoping to draw out something common.

After all, the five sensory abilities are all linked.

Instead, during his experimentation, he felt something vast reached out to grab him. Before he could react, it pulled him into an endless void, which he quickly lost himself in.

“Kairos…,” an ancient voice called out to him in the emptiness.

He tried to scowl, but neither his body responded, nor his voice came out of his throat, and for a moment he panicked.

But, the voice was soon joined by many others, and they drowned out any thoughts.

When Aisa noticed the state Kairos is in, she quickly called out to the others.

Oh! Kairos is entering Selfless Cultivation State again! Quick, sit downnnn~

“The Selfless Cultivation State can be shared?”

No, it can’t.

“Then…?”

Hurry~ you don’t have time to ask questions.

His friends dropped to the ground and started cultivating near him.

Somehow, they could tell that his consciousness is starting to become one with the world, and they were also drawn in together.

In his trance, Kairos felt as though an eternity has passed as he faded into nothingness, though it could also be only a moment. Time seemed to stretch in all the wrong ways, and he could no longer tell what should be and what shouldn’t.

Losing himself, he gained everything.

He arrived at a place infinitely vast, feeling that he had been here before. Familiar whispers called out to him, clearer than before. Finally, he can understand them now.

“Lord Kairos, you have returned.”

“… Lord Kairos, we the Old Ones have been awaiting you...”

“Are you able to understand our words now?”

The answer came the moment his thoughts arise, as though the source and the outcome are both formed from his heart. He tried to shake his head to clear his thoughts then realised that he had become one with the world and the stars itself and couldn't control his body. When they answer, it will sound as though he was speaking.

The voices were the humming noise that Kairos had heard when he first travelled the black skies in his previous Selfless Cultivation State. He had known that they are the words of the celestial stars that tried to reach out to him before.

“I… I can hear you now,” Kairos tried to reply with a thought, and he was immediately washed over by the waves of joyousness that the stars felt.

“Gaia was right; he did gain the Heart’s Echo.”

Kairos was speechless to hear the name that his friends came up with just chosen moments ago from the lips of the old ones.

The old ones, sensing his astonishment, laughed merrily and told him, “Lord Kairos, nothing in the mortal realms is hidden from us.”

“Gaia is an old one as well, although she is relatively younger. Her memories are shared with us.”

“And, through us, you can glean our memories.”

The celestial stars had always offered their experiences and knowledge to all who could hear them without reserve.

For some stars, it is an endless repeat of the same scene, for others, there are uncountable happenings.

However, one thing is certain; everything is recorded.

Many people on Gaia believes that whatever they did will go unnoticed, but Kairos now knows that not even a single act was overlooked, nor forgotten. They had all been recorded into the memories of these old ones.

When he asked why, out of curiosity, the answer gave his heart a great thumping.

The stars spoke as one, their voices resonating with each other becoming quite frightening, “Because, no wrong is yet to be forgiven. Everything that had ever happened still echoes through time and space. And all actions come with a price that must be paid on the day of judgement.”

The weight of those words struck him to his core. “In that case,” Kairos asked, fearfully, “Is there anyone who is innocent?”

“Perhaps, there are none. But if such a person appears, then the debts may be repaid, and judgement may change.”

He could hear the emphasis on the words and guessed that if someone ‘innocent’ appears, he or she will hold great power over the fate of the world.

“Would new-borns be considered…?”

Kairos didn’t have to finish his question, and the old ones replied with a hint of a smile, “No act or deed can be separated from the rest. The doing of one thing births another; therefore no one can be born innocent except those not from the works of man.”

“Are there no other way rather than to wait for someone that might not arrive? Wasn’t the purpose of cultivation for transcending the norm?”

Among practitioners, there are none that do not seek to become immortals or celestials, hoping to become more powerful and live longer. Death comes to all, except unless you transcend your mortal shell, but if you do, then will you still need to pay that ‘price’?

As soon as he thought that, the reply came:

“The Dao that all cultivators seek is the way towards absolute truth. And through it, absolute power. Many wished to wield that power to fill a gap in their heart, but they do not know that the cost of their decisions weighs heavily upon them, and one day, every ounce they took will be extracted from them.

However much power one gains, one day they have to return it.”

“We have deterred from the purpose we sought you, Lord Kairos.”

“No, it had greatly benefited me. But, please tell me, why was I pulled here?”

As Kairos said, the wisdom of the old ones had doubtlessly aided him. To increase understanding about Dao is a rare and prized chance, and it will guide him in the future in many ways. Furthermore, as he became part of the stars, he had accessed their memories. There were a great many secrets he had yet to glean through.

As though they were waiting for his thoughts to finish, the old ones responded a moment later, “We had awaited eagerly for the day you could hear our voice, so that from us, you may learn and assume your proper role.”

“And, my role is?”

“Exterminate the Devils. However, the wicked ones are not only intruders that corrupt the righteous. They are more often drawn in by the darkness in people’s hearts.

You lack the power to cleanse and purify them, so we shall grant you what is yours.”

With that said, the celestial stars flooded him a new portion of their knowledge. And within it, includes the way to use the Divine Touch that he was searching for.

A while later, he woke up in the room, still surrounded by his friends.

He looked around and were surprised that all his friends are in cultivation.

Aisa who had escaped from his robes during this time bounded over to him.

“How long had I been in cultivation?”

This time, Kairos opened his eyes right after closing them!

The white dragon raised her head and stared at him with bright sky-blue irises with yellow slit pupils. It looked mesmerising yet imposing, beautiful but majestic.

“That fast?”

Every moment in Selfless Cultivation is invaluable, to have been brought into the optimal state and immediately exited, felt like a great waste to him.

Kairos is half correct! Time is only a by-product. Aisa can feel that Kairos had benefited much more this time around.

“You’re right. By the way, I have a new revelation that Truth is Power.”

The stars had said that Dao is merely a way towards absolute truth, and through it, one can acquire absolute power. However, he was not sure if he wanted that kind of strength.

He remembered what the True Lord had asked him, “For what reasons do you seek power?”

In fact, he had never forgotten it, just that he had not yet found his answer. Now, he felt that he is edging closer.

As he waited for the others to awake, he started cultivating on his own. The short time he spent during the Selfless Cultivation State he had gained a mountain of knowledge. Recently, without combat to simulate his training, it had been arduous for him to improve, but now he could feel the bottleneck easing.

After the time for an incense to burn had passed, the others started to wake from their meditation. Each of them had entered the Selfless State and gained their own unique experiences, but they were dumbfounded to find Kairos already at Mid B Rank.

The higher one’s cultivation is, the slower the training would be. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be people hundreds or thousands of years old and still stuck in the Mortal Realms.

For someone to improve their cultivation in the blink of an eye will cause anyone to stare.

“Are you really lacking talent in cultivating?”

“Something must be wrong; he is always ahead of us in cultivation.”

At this time, Edward who was the last one who opened his eyes laughed aloud, “I’m Mid B rank now!”

“Another monster…”

“Kairos, you too?” the archer noticed belatedly.

“Uhuh.”

Though they complained, the things they gained in that brief time are all different, yet equally beneficial.

Since they had briefly become one with the world around them, anything they gained during the Selfless Cultivation State are experiences, unlike reading or practising a new thing but they will still need a while to digest everything.

Knowing that it may take years for them to extract the benefits, the pills in front of them draw in their attention once again.

Kairos took a pill into his hand again, and this time, he immediately smiled.

“Seems like it worked… Divine Touch… I’ve reached its initial phase.”

Don’t get carried away, okay? Kairos is already slow to uncover only three senses.

“Any hints on how to get the other two?”

Can’t say~

“Fine…”

“Boss, you can tell what your pill does now?”

“Just barely… It feels like I’m using my fingers to taste food. Quite an awkward feeling, but some information still passed on. This is a Body Reforming Pill. After eating it, physical training can be accelerated, just like how the Heaven’s Scent Pill aids cultivation.”

He looked directly at Tommy, whose face was flushed with excitement. The slowest part for him was physical training. If Kairos can make a supplement training resource, then it will greatly shorten the time he needs to return to his friends’ side in battle.

Not only him, but the boys were all excited. Their growth had been fast so far, but only their physical ranks had not improved much. They dared not break down their body and retrain it, like what Tommy is doing and what Kairos and Jones had done. This pill would become a new viable option, but before they each took a pill, Kairos halted them.

“It can’t be consumed like this. Today let’s join Tommy's training at the mountain behind the academy.”