Chapter 312 - Special Ability

“It is simple.” Jun Yi Kong, who was still wearing the appearance of a shadow version of Yuzu, touched the tips of ‘her’ splayed fingers together in a somewhat dainty pose, “I will teach you a ritual which will allow me to assist Nilya in his advancement.”

“A ritual?” Yuzu kept her expression neutral as she withheld a frown.

“The prayer is in Eslin. I can teach you the words.” Jun Yi Kong said, “Recite it while holding the medallion I gave you.”

“The ancient king below the mountain,

Lord of a thousand faces, the unkillable demon from antiquity.

I pray for your power. I pray for your strength. Bestow upon this ritual the might of your spirit, to assist the ascension of the boy.”

Yuzu’s spiritual intuition felt the power of the ancient language as Jun Yi Kong spoke this prayer in a deep voice. The soft, flowing tones of Eslin were much different than the harsh consonants of the other ancient language, Fortus. The power was more subtle, though no less potent.

After speaking the prayer in Eslin, Jun Yi Kong translated the words for Yuzu. However the act was unnecessary; Yuzu understood the prayer completely thanks to the bestowment from the God of Preeminent Wisdom.

“This boy was not given the usual Candidate catalyst that the guru-chi give their oji. His energy is wrong.” Jun Yi Kong explained, “As such, in order for him to succeed here, a higher power skilled in spiritual manipulation needs to assist him.”

“As the boy drinks the catalyst, speak this ritual while holding a candle in your left hand and the medallion in your right hand. When you feel my presence arrive through the ritual, let the melted wax from the candle drop on his forehead.”

Yuzu looked at the shadow copy of herself, meeting ‘her’ gaze. Shadow Yuzu looked back at her with the same expression, like looking in a mirror.

“It’s that simple?” Yuzu asked in a flat tone.

“Yes.” Jun Yi Kong nodded, “With my help, the boy will succeed.”

“How?”

“Failure in ascension happens due to an imbalance in the spiritual energies within the body. Once the energies are unbalanced the force of the exalted powers tears the soul apart. This is corruption.” Jun Yi Kong said, “With my techniques I can forcefully maintain balance until the ascension is a success.”

“And the ritual allows you to use these techniques in the real world?” Yuzu asked, “Bypassing the seal holding you in?”

A glimmer of hesitation flickered in Jun Yi Kong’s eyes as he realized that Yuzu had discovered the detail that he had tried to gloss over.

“Of course not.” Jun Yi Kong smiled, trying to reassure Yuzu. The look in his eyes showed that he knew it was too late to fool her.

A darkness bloomed within shadow Yuzu’s skin, like an ink blotch bleeding out from within. ‘Her’ form mutated into a tall, skinny humanoid made entirely of shadow. This new form was pure black, absorbing the light around it. The only detail remained were his white eyes and sharp teeth bared in a grin.

“You are a crafty one.” Jun Yi Kong chuckled, looming over her, “Not so easy to misdirect as I would have liked.”

“Expecting me to unwittingly hold a ritual to you, an ancient demon king who has been trapped for eons.” Yuzu snuffed, “Only an idiot would fall for such a scheme.”

“Ah, but I never meant to scheme you.” Jun Yi Kong smirked, “Little Yuzu, you are an Exalted of Fate. Any lies I tell you can be confirmed. Any tricks, seen through. I am not a fool that would try to gain an advantage through deception.”

He’s playing to my ego, trying to get me to drop my guard. His words might be true, but one doesn’t have to lie to deceive.Yuzu kept her thoughts to herself, carefully analyzing everything that the Demon King had said to her.

“I won’t hold a ritual, they’ve gotten me into too much trouble lately.” Yuzu said directly, “Is there another way?”

“You reject my help, but ask for methods that mankind have been seeking for millennia.” Jun Yi Kong frowned. He turned, shaking his head, “Enough. I am done talking to you. Go handle your problem yourself.”

His shadowed form disintegrated into the air as he walked toward the large demonic statue in the centre of the room, leaving Yuzu alone in the chamber.

Yuzu was unfazed. She turned away from the statue, walking over to the walls where the statues of saints were standing in their alcoves. Their carved eyes stared directly at the demon in the centre of the room casting a judgemental gaze on their captive.

With a thought she activated her spiritual vision, and the golden bird cage made from fate threads glimmered to life around her. This cage was the seal that kept Jun Yi Kong imprisoned in this space.

The last time she was here she had spent several hours examining the seal. It was not the most fruitful endeavour; the construction was far to intricate and complex for Yuzu to understand. She didn’t even know where to begin, really.

All she basically knew was that the golden wires wrapped around every statue in the chamber in approximately the same shapes, each of them feeding into the main sphere of wires at the centre of the room.

The last time she was here she spent all her time on the wires, but something had occurred to her later, after she’d left.

She stepped up to one of the statues on the first level. It depicted a man with a thin, long face and sharp eyebrows. He had flowing warrior’s robes and was holding a sheathed sword, his hand on the hilt as if ready to draw it.

A golden cage surrounded the statue, glimmering with a subtle energy from within. Being careful not to disturb the threads, Yuzu held her hand up to the statue and projected her spiritual sight into the sphere.

At the centre of the sphere contained within the statue, Yuzu saw the glimmer of numerous coloured gems.

She had seen gems like these before— Notably, she had some in her possession, ones that belonged to the former God of Life.

Sarira.

Yuzu withdrew her sight, moving around the chamber randomly to the other statues. Even on the other layers the arrangement was the same. Numerous sarira were suspended within each statue, their energies feeding the seal. The type of sarira in each statue was the same— Yuzu guessed that they belonged to the individual depicted by the statue— and the energies of the sarira belonged to all three of the Exalted kingdoms, their individual threads of white, black and silver tightly contained within their cages.

Yuzu took her time, acting as if Jun Yi Kong had really left the chamber, though she knew that he was trapped. It was simply a game, a show of discontent about the result of their negotiation. Of course both of them knew he was watching her, perhaps wondering what she was up to.

Discovering that the sarira seemed to be powering the seal felt like a big discovery for Yuzu, even though she didn’t understand how exactly it worked. She felt somehow that this discovery was worth the visit, though she’d have to think about how best to use the information. In the meantime, though, it didn’t hurt to remind Jun Yi Kong about their original deal.

Yuzu was currently his only hope to be released from this place.

He needed her.

Yuzu continued around the base layer, eventually reaching the statue of a man in extravagant armour. He wielded a cane in one hand and a straight sword in the other. He stood in a proud, heroic pose, with a triumphant look on his face.

Even though every statue had an exquisite quality of craftmanship, from the bearing of the man Yuzu had the impression that he was somehow more important than the others. Perhaps he was the strongest of all of them, or their leader.

Yuzu activated her spiritual vision, peeking into the contents of the seal for this statue. To her surprise, it did not contain sarira like the others. Instead there was a sphere of solid gold engraved with complicated runes.

The energy within its white thread felt intimately familiar to Yuzu.

This gold ball is attuned to Fate. Yuzu realized with a start. But why is it here, instead of sarira like the others?

“He was my closest friend.” Jun Yi Kong materialized under the shadow of the platform as the slender shadow man, “And my most hated enemy.”

The solemn, nostalgic tone in his voice was different than his usual prideful arrogance.

“The statues all have sarira within them, except his.” Yuzu said.

“He arranged for them to be brought here, over the course of centuries. He wove their essences into the seal, the powers of strongest Exalted of the age, squandered to keep me trapped.” Jun Yi Kong replied, “But though he had no problem using his friends’ essences, he couldn’t sacrifice himself in the same way.”

“I’ve long wondered if his missing sarira is perhaps the flaw in this prison.” Jun Yi Kong mused with a sigh. “An imperfection in the masterpiece.”

Yuzu intentionally withheld the existence of the gold ball to see if Jun Yi Kong would mention it, but he changed the topic.

“I am guessing you do not have much time before the boy takes the catalyst.” Jun Yi Kong said, “If you won’t make use of my abilities, then there’s only one thing that can help the boy survive. He must hold his soul together purely from the strength of his willpower.”

“I was afraid you’d say something like that.” Yuzu frowned, thinking about something similar that Argus had said to her previously, “Are you sure there isn’t a special technique only known to beastmen, or something?”

“Silly child. This method is the special technique. ” Jun Yi Kong scoffed, “Don’t make light of it. This is something that only humans can do, the reason why they stand at the top of the Exalted world.”