NOVEL NEXT Chaper 202 – An Old Man’s Tale (1)
"Master!" A young Korvall shouted, flying after his master, who had been raising him since early childhood.
"Keep up! You are Speciali, are you not?" The middle-aged man laughed, looking back over his shoulder, letting his midnight-black, wavy hair flutter while his piercing, blue eyes were sparkling with mischief.
"Master, you are an Ascendri! How could I keep up?!" Korvall grunted, already giving it his all, his fair skin wet with sweat, his brown hair sticking to his body, panting heavily. "It is.... hard!"
"Press harder! You can fight it!" His master laughed and continued to climb, getting closer and closer to the clouds.
"I... can't!" With a final groan, Korvall suddenly stopped and started falling from the sky, but only after a meter did he suddenly stop as his master appeared next to him, enveloping his body in a golden light.
"It will do for today." Taurel, his master, whispered, wearing a soft smile, letting Korvall catch his breath.
"Why do I even need to train like this...?" Korvall groaned, wiping his forehead, "My soul is already strong enough to enter the Sea of Souls and traverse it!"
"Body and mind are interlinked, my young disciple! Do you even listen to my teachings?" He asked sternly, raising an eyebrow and making his disciple shamefully lower his head. "Your soul's capacity is related to your body! It was born in a body; it has to grow with it!"
"But..."
"Are you a Supri?" Taurel asked sharply, knowing what his disciple wanted to argue next.
"No..."
"Then don't try to discard your body yet! Look at me; I still have the original flesh I was born with! Don't look down on it, not even if our Sect cultivates the soul first and foremost!"
"..."
"Look..." Taurel patted his disciple's shoulder, looking at him as a father would gaze into his son's eyes, "I know that the norm in the past centuries starting to change. More and more disciples and masters discard their flesh to only focus on the soul. Traveling the Sea of Souls and exploring the deep secrets inside is exciting, but look at what they must do when they leave Meriath! They must reform a body of flesh or be torn apart by the Cosmos!"
"But our powers are even more potent outside! Our mind can twist and form the power of the Cosmos as we wish!"
"Who the hell told you that?" Taurel laughed, shaking his head, "Have you been making friends from the First Elder's faction? I don't think they know the best simply because they are named number one!"
"Elder Che said in a public lesson-"
"I don't care what a simple Grand Elder says! I may be only the Seventh Elder in the Council of Twelve, but that does not mean I bow down to the others and agree with all their ideals! Hmph! The First's faction is way too haughty anyway!"
"I'm sorry..." Korvall cupped his hands after hearing his master's anger.
"Nah... don't mind it!" He sighed, shaking his head, "Their teachings are gaining ground, and the Sect Master rarely interferes with mundane matters. His presence is required outside of Meriath... If it gets out of hand, I am sure he will return and put things into order!"
"I never met him before... Is he really that... unique?"
"He is." Taurel nodded, explaining in a deep voice, "Sect Master Lumamon was born special. His white hair and green eyes are the marks of his unique constitution. It is not a joke when others say he can see things nobody else can, my young disciple! From out all of the leaders of Meriath, he is the closest to the fabled Second Cosmic Ascension!"
"Ah!"
It was not an exclamation out of surprise but one of awe. Every disciple knew the tribulations they had to go through, and one of the most dangerous ones was when people in Meriath reached the 9th Tier and became an Ascendri. The lightning bolts that came down were signs of going through the First Cosmic Ascension. Even then... In the millions of years, their Realm existed, eras coming and going, but never one such being appeared who reached the Second Ascension. Not even after they started conquering the stars and enslaving other, weaker Realms. Neither did they meet any other faction who had such a being. In all senses... it was only a myth, not an actual level of power.
"I... thought that..." Korvall started, but Taurel interrupted him.
"Heh... It seems you need to broaden your horizons! You are old enough, and I will be going on a mission into the Cosmos, so you are coming with me!"
The news very quickly changed Korvall's mood, and he became giddy like a little kid before his birthday. The days went on slowly since hearing the news, and when the time finally came, and his body was blessed by their Realm Key, they left in a group of ten, entering the Cosmos through Meriath's Realm Gate.
"All that is holy..." Korvall whispered, taking a deep breath as the Cosmos was nothing like the Sea of Souls. The endless, unbelievably pure energies were rampaging in the distance, and if not for the protection his body and mind received, he may have been torn apart by now. His view was filled with trillions of bright stars, and he was quickly losing a sense of direction, making it hard for him to get a grip on himself. Looking back at his birthplace, the Realm of Meriath was now nothing but a small light in the form of a little star, surrounded by invisible energy that repelled anyone who was not part of it, denying them entry.
"Makes you feel insignificant, isn't it?" Taurel chuckled, placing a hand on his head and ruffling his hair.
"I'm just worried about how we will find our way back!"
"Hah!" A woman chuckled, looking at him, and by his white robes and their golden linings, she was someone who was a Supreme Elder, making Taurel flinch and lower his head. "We can't be lost! Ever! Our souls can feel Meriath, no matter the distance between us! Do you teach him anything?"
"Keep your thoughts to yourself, Loonah." Taurel barked at her, pushing the woman down a peg with his superior aura even though they were both Supreme Elders. "You are speaking to MY direct disciple and not to one of yours!"
"Relax, relax!" A laughing voice interrupted them, belonging to a man standing tall and strong, with faded blond hair slowly nearing the color white and yellow eyes with a green tint flashing in them occasionally.
"First Elder." Taurel and Loonah nodded, stopping their bickering. The man was the appointed voice of the Sect Master, the one who led the Council of Twelve, Shao.
Korvall looked on with a bit of fear, trying not to show it, mainly because behind him stood his two direct disciples. Grand Elder Che and the one who was touted as the next Sect Master, Trishula. The latter had no actual rank inside the Sect, but anyone speaking to him treated him as being a Supreme Elder... as to why? The reason was simple. He had the same gift as the Sect Master. The white hair and green eyes were the gift of nature, and he was on the road to one day become the master of all.
"Let's go!" Shao smiled, looking around the group, "The news says we stumbled into a region that claims to be the territory of a power.... what did they call themselves?"
"Immorals, I think..." Trishula yawned, rubbing the insides of his ear with his pinky finger, "Sounded kinky."
"Immortals." Che corrected him respectfully, explaining in more detail, "I read the reports, Master, and they seem to come from a freshly born realm. They call those who are in the Ascendri stage... Immortals."
"Pompous bunch!" Trishula laughed, prompting many others to follow suit.
"Fresh or not, anyone capable of expanding into the Cosmos has power." Shao waved a hand, but even though he was warning them, his posture told his true thoughts... he wasn't bothered by the news. "Our mission is to make proper contact with them! We will visit their borders and exchange pleasantries before any of the others! If they are indeed strong, we establish a connection, and we will try to learn more and infiltrate their ranks! If not... we ought to conquer them! The other five will try to do the same the moment they learn about them... we have to be the first to gain a proper advantage! Let's go!"
...
....
......
The Cosmos existed in an endless form, and the distances they had to travel were unmeasurable. Korvall couldn't tell if a day passed... or two... or was it a week? But they have been flying through the energy clouds of the universe, sometimes making it block out all the light and hide the view of the stars. He was glad that he wasn't left out here alone and let a kind of primal fear consume him. Something that was originating from the sheer pressure of facing the unknown and the infinite.
"The first time is like this." A voice transmission traveled to his ears, coming from his master. "Don't be ashamed of it. When I first flew out into the Cosmos, I realized that we still have a long way to go. You can either let fear rule you and never leave Meriath, ever again... or conquer it and face the unknown with an unbreakable mind!"
"Yes... Master..." Korvall nodded, already realizing what his master was teaching him at that moment. It was a pivotal point as he either got stuck in his cultivation after this experience or overcame it and rose to new heights.
"Stop!"
The shout came from the front as Shao raised a hand, halting their advance. They were just leaving a thick nebula filled with the energy of the infinite when they were greeted with a new, vast expanse of stars. As far as those stars were, it was impossible to measure, but one of them looked brighter than the rest.
"Good eyes." Taurel nodded at his disciple, "The one you are looking at is a Realm close to us; that is why it seems brighter than the rest... if you start feeling it, you can notice its presence and its effect on the Cosmos.
"It feels heavy... Master... and... it repels my senses!"
"Not bad." Grand Elder Che chuckled, coming closer and nodding at the two. "You have a good Master! That thing pushes you away because you are not born of it. Any Realm would reject those who were not birthed by the energies within! To it, you are nothing but an invader, an alien... a mutant."
"Then how could we... enter?"
"By force!" Trishula laughed, joining them in the conversation while Taurel just looked on with crossed arms, letting his disciple hear the different opinions and formulate his own from all that he was given. "With enough strength," He grinned, displaying power at the stage of Legendri, one step from being an Ascendri himself. "We can rip it apart and descend down into it!"
"Or let the beings inside invite you in!" Che quickly added the other options. "Or you can learn their laws and harmonize yourself with it."
"That could take forever!" Trishula rolled his eyes, impatient as ever, "I can feel the Realm, and it is weak! It has been barely opened a few times!"
"That is true." By now, Loonah was also joining the discussion while the First Elder was surveying their surroundings. "You can determine how wide the repelling sphere of a Realm is! Those that look small are a sign that it has been rarely opened, meaning very few people come and go from it. Which in turn already tells us that they are weak! They have no people who could withstand the Cosmos!"
"I see." Korvall nodded, memorizing everything his forebearers were teaching him now.
"There is someone there." First Elder Shao spoke, interrupting all of them, and in answer, Trishula furrowed his brows.
"Impossible! My eyes see nobody!"
"I already confirmed it," Shao continued, ignoring his sudden tantrum, "There is a young soul ahead, barely at the strength of an Adepti. She is being protected by something I can't figure out; that is why she is almost invisible to our senses."
"My eyes are-" Trishula continued, but Shao raised a hand, silencing him.
It was then when the Realm flashed, and they could see multiple people appearing from it, one after the other.
"Let's go closer..." He ordered, flying forward, soon catching onto the conversation.
"Ariana!" A young, cheerful voice echoed, breaking out into a happy giggle, "What was it like down there?"
"Primitive!" Another female voice answered, filled with gentle, motherly love, yet she was not the young, white-haired, and golden-eyed girl's parent. Although she was there when she was conceived... and when she was born. "Let's wait until, oh, here they come!"
"Uncle Valen, Elyse!" Yue grinned, welcoming them back one by one, "Ah, Master Orsi, Toobu, and Wyland! Welcome back!"
"Ahaha, whatcha doing here, kiddo?!" Valen laughed, rubbing her head, "Did my sister send you?"
"Yep! Mom said we need you back! We made contact with someone! I don't know the details... but I know there is a lady guest with Mom and Dad who calls herself Hajna! She is pretty; if we don't hurry, she will become my third mom, OWIE!"
"Stop speaking nonsense!" Ariana scolded her, turning a bit pink in the face, while the others just laughed until Wyland spoke up.
"We have company!" The moment he exclaimed, they also noticed the incoming band of cultivators, their strength being pretty high, but no fear appeared on any of their faces... not even on their weakest, Yue.
