River of Fate: Emerald Alchemist, page 35
As the storm continued, his eyes closed and his movements calmed, until the storm was battering him with full force from every side. Stones crashed against his cheeks and turned to dust, flames roasted his skin and faded away, rain battered his limbs and shredded his robes, but his eyes didn’t open.
Fragment by fragment, his Jade Foundation grew more stable as his inner world absorbed the elements and advanced by leaps and bounds.
The storm swept across the world below, spiraling into a massive vortex.
He was one with the storm.
***
Hours later, the storm calmed down, turning into strands of elemental energy that disappeared on the wind. Verse floated in the sky, his eyes closed. His robes were shredded, revealing hard-planed muscle and gleaming skin, but there was no sign of a bruise anywhere on his body.
He glowed with health.
His muscles were perfectly sculpted and his long black hair blew in the wind, streaming back from his temples. He looked like part of the sky, his aura perfectly merged with it.
Even standing there, it was hard to spot him against the clouds. He was only a lean figure against the vast horizon. Eventually, he opened his eyes and took a breath.
Clouds swirled around him, moving in time with his lungs.
He could feel a new stability and strength throughout his body, and his awareness of the elements was stronger than before.
With a quick gesture, a sphere of pure jade energy appeared on his palm. He looked down at it, studying it for flaws. Then he nodded.
It was pure jade from one side to the other, a perfect sphere of energy that was different from the five elements that made it up. There was no sign of any misaligned element.
It was perfect.
It meant that his Jade Foundation was a success.
Inside his dantian, the continent that was his Jade Foundation hummed with energy. It looked like a true miniature world now, from earth to sky. Every element was incorporated into a harmonious cycle.
The continent was surrounded by his essence sea, but there was no distinct separation of energy. What had been just liquid before had turned to solid land. The density of his energy felt like it was five times stronger than before.
With a flick of his fingers, the jade essence swirled around and formed a cloud, and then a spear and a sword, before it turned back into a sphere.
“Jade magic,” he said quietly as he studied it. “I’ll have to choose a path for it.”
It would take a little thought.
Jade magic was complex, so he would have to decide which branch of it to follow in the future. Once he trained it, it would be able to accomplish some things that weren't possible otherwise. It was a mystical art.
But that could wait a little while.
He turned to look at the horizon. Boreas was in that direction.
Right now, he needed to get back to the city and see if the sect had revealed their hand. Hopefully, they’d let their guard drop while he was out of the city and Vesana was able to gather some information.
Emerald flames surged in his eyes as he smiled.
If not, then he had plenty of evidence from this attack to use against them.
Chapter twenty-four
Aligned Realm
As he flew toward Boreas, Verse clenched his hand, testing his new strength. Ripples of condensed air flowed around his fingers, trapped by the simple motion.
The tempering from the tribulation had further improved his body. The first dragon meridian had infused him with the vitality of Wood, but now there was a balance of the other elements there.
It was more than he’d expected.
Since he had Wood at a high level, the other four elements in the storm had been attracted to it, rising to the same level and creating a five-element harmony in his physical cultivation that belonged to both his Jade Foundation and the first dragon meridian.
The Jade Scripture would have done something similar on its own, since infusing the body with the five elements was a necessary part of its cultivation method, but it wouldn’t have been to this degree.
The Jade Scripture and the Nine Dragon Meridian Art were complementing one another.
It was the best of both paths.
The output in physical strength wasn’t that much higher than before, still around the early Primal Spirit realm, but it was supported in more ways. His movements were more fluid, his endurance was higher, his defense was better, his strikes were more explosive, and his healing was faster.
It was a complete physical cultivation change now.
His dragon meridian was humming with force. It had absorbed some of the Wood energy from the storm, as well as a little bit of the Stone, and had increased to 54%, breaking past the halfway point that was a minor barrier.
According to the shrine, he would be able to absorb both Wood and Stone energy to enhance it now. Wood added vitality and Stone added endurance. It was still mostly Wood, but some Stone was necessary.
His cultivation was at the early Aligned realm, but with everything combined, it shouldn’t be an issue any longer to deal with an early Primal Spirit realm cultivator.
If he fought Corpsewind now, the ghost aura might still give him some trouble, but he wouldn’t need talismans to win. Amethyst Harrow pills would speed things up, but even without them, it wouldn’t be that difficult.
Leaf let out a hiss of amusement as they flew. The elemental was sitting on his shoulder, looking down at Verse’s hand and the air twisting around it. He hissed again, clearly laughing.
He had disappeared somewhere during the breakthrough, but as soon as the storm passed, he showed up again, jumping onto Verse’s shoulder out of nowhere. He gave Verse a curious look, and then he headbutted him before lying down, apparently in approval.
Verse worried about him for a bit, but every time he did, Leaf proved he could take care of himself.
“You’ve been around for a long time, I know.” Verse chuckled as he scratched his head. Then he gave the elemental a Rank 3 herb to celebrate. “Once we wrap this up with the sect, maybe we can find some higher-ranked herbs.”
Leaf hissed in agreement and curled his tail around Verse’s neck, although he didn’t really need it to hang on. The wind didn’t bother him. It split apart around his body in the same way it did around Verse’s, although there was no sense of elemental manipulation or even an aura to protect him.
Eventually, Boreas came into view on the horizon. The tall stone walls gleamed brightly in the sun, making the city look like a shining emerald.
The guards didn’t delay him as he headed straight through the gate. He only flashed the guest medallion as he landed and then he was through. Before long, he was walking along the stone streets as he headed for the Azurewind Guard headquarters.
Here and there, he bought some skewers of spicy grilled meat and steamed buns that were infused with spiritual energy. He shared them with Leaf as he walked. It had been a while since he’d eaten anything and the stalls along the way were too tempting to ignore.
He’d used a lot of energy during his breakthrough, and although these wouldn’t go very far in helping him to restore it, they still took the edge off. He would have to find a proper restaurant soon, perhaps with Vesana if she was free.
If there was one thing Boreas was good at, it was mixing spiritual herbs into their cooking.
Now that he was back in the city, he was feeling fairly relaxed. He wasn’t worried about the sect attacking him here. They’d kept their attempts low-key before and they would be even more nervous now that Corpsewind was dead.
Until they figured out what happened, they would be paralyzed with nervousness. If things went well, they wouldn’t even know what hit them.
It didn’t take long before he arrived at the guard headquarters. Once he was there, he reported the success of the mission.
His guard badge had an inscription to record some of the events that happened around it in a limited way, which he had activated to scan the cultivators’ trail and his encounter with the Dark Obsidian Serpent.
Between that and the beast core, it was easy to turn in.
The payment was fairly high at 500 mid-grade spirit stones, but that wasn’t out of the ordinary for the Azurewind Guard. They only took on special missions.
“Would you like to sell this core to us?” Ressa asked as she studied it. Her fingers lingered on the dark surface as if she were reluctant to let it go. “The ability to travel through stone is in high demand, not just for exploring areas, but because it makes travel much safer.
“It’s worth quite a bit. You could auction it in town, but the guard would be happy to match a reasonable price, say 7,000 mid-grade spirit stones? I might even go above that on my own. It’s not good form, but it is very tempting.”
“I would rather keep it,” Verse said as he shook his head. It was useful to him, so he didn’t plan to sell it that easily. “Is there a craftsman in the guard who could inscribe that with the right formation? It could turn into a powerful tool.”
“Yes, it’s a very useful item,” Ressa agreed as she reluctantly passed the core back to him. “One of the best ways to use it would be to rest underground in a secure cavern, or to dig out a cultivation cave. I know of one construction company that has based their entire business around creating cultivation caves for sale, and an Obsidian Serpent core is one of the main tools they use.
“But to answer your question, the guard does have some people who are able to inscribe the core, and their work is guaranteed. It would be safer to entrust it to us than to local craftsmen, but the price is high. It will probably cost about 2,000 mid-grade spirit stones.”
She looked up at him and when he didn’t flinch at the cost, she nodded.
“If that’s what you want, you can leave the core with me and I will post the mission for you. It will be sent to you through your badge when it’s done. It shouldn’t take more than a week or two.”
“That’s fine,” he agreed as he set the beast core and then a spatial ring full of spirit stones down on the table.
With Stone at Touch of the Dao, he was able to manipulate it to a small extent, and he could hollow out his own cave or create pillars easily, but the difference between that and the free movement the core would allow was large.
Once the core was finished, he would be able to walk through stone like it was water. It just had to be natural stone, without too many other elements in the mix, and not anything locked down by a formation.
The core wouldn’t be of much use in Boreas where everything was warded, but out in the world, it might turn out to be very useful. It was better to spend a bit of money on it and keep it than to sell it for pocket change.
Or at least what he would see as pocket change one day.
“I should remind you about the induction ceremony,” Ressa said as she stored the core away in a special jade box. She looked up at him with a smile. “It will take place in just a few more weeks. I see you’ve broken through to the Aligned realm now too, so you should definitely be there.”
“How did Visele and Breslin do in their training?” he asked out of curiosity. “They must have succeeded, since the ceremony is still on.”
“Ames tells me he’s never had such an awful time training anyone,” she said with a laugh. “It’s mostly because Breslin never gives him a quiet moment. Perhaps that’s the price of reaching the gold rank. It should be good training for the politics. But all the same, they just finished a few days ago.”
“I should get that drink with him,” Verse said with a chuckle. “He probably needs one. Will you let him know that I’m back, if you see him? I have something he might be interested in, if he has free time.”
Ames had offered to show him where silver-ranked guards drank. He was also one of the few Primal Spirit cultivators around Boreas. Getting a drink with him would let Verse get a sense for things, including whether or not he was interested in opposing the Crimson Shade Sect. Relying entirely on the Alchemists’ Guild to solve everything wasn’t in his nature.
He didn’t need Ames’ help, but he wouldn’t turn it down either. One of the best ways to make a good friend was to fight together.
Even if he wasn’t interested, he was still friendly and a good person to know.
“You can use your guild badge to reach him,” Ressa said as she pushed a red-hued metal disk across the table. “Just touch it to that first. It’s a communication plate linked to him. He left it for you a while ago. All of our guild badges can be used for direct communication. They just need a link to use first, like this one. After that, it will save the connection.”
Verse touched his badge to the plate, and it flashed once in response. When he checked it, he could sense that Ames’s information was recorded in his badge. He thanked Ressa before he headed out of the guard building.
He whistled a cheerful tune as he headed for the Alchemists’ Quarter and the White Cloud Auction House. On the way, he picked up a few more snacks from street booths and shared them with Leaf.
Once he reached the auction house, it didn’t take long to find a private room and an appraiser, and then he unloaded the piles of equipment from the assassins and Corpsewind.
The appraiser didn’t even ask questions about where the items were from. She just sorted through everything, tallied up the total for everything, and slid a list across the table to him to accept or decline.
He crossed out a couple of things that he decided to keep, but he pushed the list back with the rest.
A little while later, he headed back out of the auction house quite a bit wealthier than he was before. All of the equipment netted him another 14,000 mid-grade spirit spirits, even when he sold the majority of it cheaply.
The auction house had no fear of selling these items. They also had channels to ship them off to distant cities if they decided that was the best course of action. As long as there were no active tracking marks and they weren’t breaking any local laws, they didn't care where an item was acquired.
Cultivators killing each other was far too common for them to worry about the details.
At his best guess, they would have any identifying marks stripped off within a few hours. With service like that, there was barely any need for a black market. He’d heard of one around Boreas, but it dealt with items that were much more illegal.
He could have waited to auction a few of the items and perhaps received a better price, but it wasn’t worth the trouble. This was enough to fund his alchemy for a while and the potential income from that was higher.
The only downside of the visit was that he wasn’t able to get a new weapon. That left him grumbling a bit. He wanted a spear that was aligned to one of his elements, or even better to a higher principle that could channel all of them
Apparently, the demand for Primal Spirit weapons here was limited. With only a few dozen cultivators at that level around Boreas, they didn’t keep many in stock. Only regions closer to the capital sold them in bulk.
Most cultivators at that level had a weapon crafted for them personally, one that would match their dao.
Fortunately, there were craftsmen capable of that in the city, and they were well-known for their work. The auction house had promised to arrange a meeting with one of them for the following week, and to provide a channel for materials at a reasonable rate if he needed it.
After thinking about it, he’d decided to accept.
Although it would take longer, it would be better to get something suited to him that wouldn’t break too quickly.
From the assassins’ equipment, he kept the most useful talismans, spiritual herbs, and the poisons and antidotes. They were the core of the sect’s strength, so it would be worthwhile to study them and see the easiest way to get around them.
He also kept the rare ores and gemstones, since the smith might want them. He could sell them off to the auction house later if they weren’t useful.
Once that was settled, he sent a message to Vesana and arranged to meet her in one of the auction house’s secure rooms in a few hours.
He’d been gone for just over a week, which meant it was time to see what the sect was up to.
While he was waiting, he dropped by a nearby tea house, relaxing among the woody scent of the tea and enjoying some small dishes in a private room.
When he arrived back at the auction house, Vesana was already there waiting for him.
She was pacing back and forth in the small room, radiating an aura of overflowing energy. Her attention was locked on a jade plate in her hand, which glowed with a soft light.
“Verse!” She spun toward him as soon as he closed the door and activated the wards. “I have news! Another heritage alchemist went missing!”
Then she paused as she took in his new aura and her eyes widened.
“You broke through to the Aligned realm! That’s wonderful news!”
“I did,” he said with a smile, but a moment later his expression turned colder as he focused on what she’d just said. “So the sect did take the opportunity to kidnap an alchemist while I was gone. Can you track this one?”
“Definitely,” Vesana agreed quickly as she held up the plate in her hand, showing him a bright outline of a formation and a directional arrow that pointed to the northeast.
“After they left the last couple alone, I wasn’t sure if it was going to happen again, but it did. I’ve been tracking all of them and I got to her before she disappeared. Look at this.
“I got several of these tracking plates from the auction house, and I activated them whenever I met a new heritage alchemist, just in case. It only needs a trace of their aura to work. The other two are still in the city. Only this one is missing. They must be desperate, because they’ve never taken a registered alchemist before. It’s all the reason we need to hunt for her.
“With you at the Aligned realm, this will be a little safer than before. I was worried we wouldn’t be able to do anything, but with both of us, it might be possible to see what’s going on.”
