Archive - 011 (Patreon)

Chapter 011 – Spirit Forging, Raising Beasts

Placing all the Paralyzing Runes into the Elder's black spatial ring, Fang kept only a single one in his hand before removing his robe. Bunching it up a bit and placing it on the floor next to him, he gently took hold of the sleeping beauty in his lap and placed her on his robe.

“Wu wu wu … “

The tiny white furball though woke up from her light slumber as he did so and pawed at his palm while crying out softly.

Her muzzle pressed itself into Fang's hand as Yue looked up at him with watery eyes, her light violet gaze piercing straight into his heart while her three soft tails moved to try and wrap themselves around his wrist.

She obviously didn't want to leave his side even for a short while as she begged using all her charm.

"Shh, it's fine, Yue.", Fang whispered as he brushed through her fur and rubbed her little head, transmitting his words through their spiritual bond as soothing and loving emotions.

It took a few long minutes to calm her down but he simply didn't have the heart to be harsher with her. The pain of losing her mother was still fresh and she dealt with it by clinging to him, the only being that she felt connected to and whose warmth could make her feel safe and loved.

Finally having dealt with Yue, Fang took a few calming breaths before his focus shifted inwards to his Sea of Consciousness where he looked down on the large soul force lake.

Above the lake, a glowing golden orb hung in the dark space of his consciousness while next to it sat a small rune formation that was made up of nine outer runes with a tiny black star hovering in the middle of it. A star-shaped rune was placed at another position in the void above the lake, and together with the orb and the formation they naturally formed a large triangle.

The golden orb was the Archive, Fang's connection to the Origin Law, while the formation was the basis of his Blackhole Revolving Art, which was the name of his Energy Gathering technique. The star-shaped rune, on the other hand, was the representation of his Titan Star Law, his Body Transformation technique.

Beneath these three was a glowing blood-red seal that distantly reminded one of a beast's head, though the lines forming its face were made up of small, complicated-looking runes. A faint silver shadow also seemed to flow through the glowing red lines of the seal. It was the Companion Seal that represented Fang's connection to Yue.

The lake itself was akin to the container of Fang's soul force and it was several times larger compared to its size when he had just arrived in this world, the advancement of his Spirit, as well as multiple breakthroughs and the cultivation of the Absolute Serenity Tactic, having an obvious effect on the amount of soul force that he possessed.

The awakening of his blade intent had also increased the amount and the purity of his soul force. As a somewhat obscure manifestation of pure mental strength, the strength of one's intent naturally had effects on one's mind and soul, which in turn was the most obvious when looking at the increase in one's soul force.

The 'water' inside this lake, which was Fang's soul force, was of an almost transparent colour, though a few faint lights were flowing along the calm current of his soul force. Still, they didn't amount to more than a dozen.

If one were to look close enough, however, one would inevitably notice that wherever these 'lights' passed, the soul force in their path would seem more condensed and calm. In fact, these lights were proof of Fang's cultivation of the Absolute Serenity Tactic.

They were small runes drawn up using purely the aura expelled from his Spirit and their only function was to help condense his soul force and guide it into a calm current that would serve the same purpose while slowly grinding away at the formless barrier that restricted the size of his soul force lake.

Naturally, the Absolute Serenity Tacitc didn't just amount to drawing up runes and dropping them in his soul force lake, as there was also a mantra that could help with calming the mind and help one in replenishing one's soul force through meditation, at the same time it also sped up the soul force current that was slowly wearing down the restrictive forces of the one's soul force lake.

Still, normally these restrictions would give way when one advanced on the Energy Gathering and Body Tempering path as a side effect of one's advancement as a life form and the strengthening of one's mind.

The Soul Forging path's cultivation techniques though could actively enlarge one's soul force lake, increasing the amount of soul force that one had as well as condensing this type of energy and purifying it to the limit.

This cultivation path was also the one most dependent on the strength of one's Spirit as the amount of aura released by a Spirit was determined by its rank. Different ranks also had a vast difference in strength when it came to this aura.

Only through Soul Forging techniques could one make use of this aura for cultivation, though a more direct application was to infuse it into one's body which could temporarily increase one's strength. Fang had also done this when facing the Two-Clawed Black Python.

In direct comparison, an Unranked Spirit would only produce enough aura to draw up a single rune for the Absolute Serenity Tactic in a timespan of roughly three years, while Fang's Rank One Spirit would provide enough aura to draw up a rune every week.

This alone showed the massive gulf in power between an Unranked and Rank One Spirit.

This might not be so obvious here in the Mortal Realm as the grades of the cultivation techniques were simply abhorrent but when one cultivated peak techniques, especially from the Soul Forging path, the differences were simply insurmountable.

Only Body Tempering martial artists could circumvent this gap somewhat as their strength relied on the power of their body transformation with energy control being secondary. Still, the glaring weakness of their soul was hard to compensate for.

This didn't mean that one couldn't use a Soul Forrgin technique without a strong Spirit as the aura of a Spirit could be substituted for with a mixture of spiritual energy and soul force. Doing so, though would lead to an impure soul force while the results would also be worse during cultivation.

Comparatively, those that used this method were generally weaker as this path was considered a shortcut, or in other words, it was the unorthodox path of cultivation.

Shifting his focus to the bottom of the lake, Fang could see a small white fox with one tail resting there, slowly absorbing and refining his soul force, increasing its purity and density while simultaneously building up aura inside its ethereal form.

This was the second most obvious effect a strong Spirit had on a cultivator, even though it was by far not the only one.

Cultivation was like this, a process of accumulation on many fronts that when gathered and condensed would lead one down the path of otherwordly strength.

Calming his mind, Fang drew out a trace of the aura emitted by the golden orb and fused it into his soul force as he started to draw up the Spirit Forging Seal.

The first and last time that he had done this was a few months ago and it had taken him nearly two hours to finish this highly complex seal even with the perfect understanding of how to do so that he had gained from the Archive. This time though, it took Fang less than a quarter of the time and he finished the seal in a bit less than half an hour.

It was a great improvement but not an unreasonable one as his control over his soul force had increased by several times due to the amount of practice that he had gone through by drawing Paralyzing Runes and employing the Heaven Deceiving Technique.

The increase in his soul force had also provided Fang with greater mental prowess that increased his focus and mental abilities.

Calming his mind, Fang knew that he wouldn't enjoy what came next, as he placed the Paralyzing Rune on his forehead and activated it with a push of his soul force. Immediately, he lost control over his bodily functions, being confined to his own mind and mental realm.

Not hesitating much, Fang pushed the glowing Spirit Forging Seal into the little white fox spirit at the bottom of his soul force lake, and not a moment later an ethereal cry sounded out that shook his Sea of Consciousness.

His Spirit was suddenly wrapped in a cocoon of golden light that seemed to contract and expand in an even rhythm as if it was a beating heart.

A ripping and tearing sensation spread from the deepest parts of his being as his Spirit was undergoing something akin to a forceful atavism that brought it closer to the Origin, increasing its innate ability and thereby Fang's talent on the path of cultivation.

It wasn't a long process, objectively speaking, but being cut off from the outside world, his body paralyzed by the rune and his mind by the all-encompassing pain, Fang could do nothing but suffer by himself, his very soul being tortured by the transformation process.

Once again, he realized that this was not a pain one could just suffer through because one wanted. Without the rune, he might not have hesitated even for a second before taking his own life to escape this agony.

Long minutes passed as the pain pushed him to a state beyond even despair, so when the ethereal cries of his Spirit slowly died down and the pain ebbed away, the relief that came with this development was almost overwhelming.

The light cocoon finally melted away and the small white one-tailed fox appeared again, its appearance not really changing apart from the look in its eyes gaining more vitality. Its rank hadn't increased, which was something Fang had expected, but its aura had still gotten stronger and he knew that it had advanced a bit on the path to Rank Two.

The urge to let go of his consciousness and fall into a deep restful sleep was nearly irresistible after having suffered through the agony of using the seal, but Fang didn't allow himself this luxury.

The Paralyzing Rune was still active and he could feel that only a bit more than a quarter of its energy had been consumed, which meant that it would only wear off after roughly an hour and a half. And he didn't want o let it go to waste.

Drawing on the strength of his Spirit and the well of soul force, Fang stabilized his mind as he tried to wash away the phantom sensations of the soul-tearing pain. It took him a few minutes to recover enough so that he could start drawing up a second Spirit Forging Seal.

This time it took him nearly forty minutes to draw up the seal, according to his own estimations and the amount of energy that was still inside the Paralyzing Rune, which left him with just enough time to use the seal before the rune wore off.

With no time to waste, Fang couldn't even gather his focus and ready himself for the coming agony as he once again pushed the seal into his Spirit. Again a cocoon of light formed around the one-tailed fox and its cries reverberated through his mental realm.

And while it was the same kind of pain that swept over Fang, he didn't fare any better nor was it easier this time around to endure the agony in his soul.

When the pain finally subsided and the cocoon of light melted away to reveal his Spirit, Fang didn't even take the time to inspect the changes that had taken place after this round of spirit forging and just let his consciousness be swallowed by the darkness, falling into a dreamless sleep.

…

Slowly opening his eyes, Fang wasn't sure how much time had passed during his rest.

Feeling a small weight pressing down on his sternum, he looked down and saw Yue laying curled up on his chest, her light purple eyes staring at him intently, worry and dependence thick in her gaze.

His mind still hazy from the rather torturous experience, his thoughts moved sluggishly as he raised his hand to brush through Yue's soft fur, holding her close as he sat up from his lying position.

Slowly rising to his feet, Fang cradled the tiny fox to his chest while leaving the cultivation room and dragged his body into the large bath down the hall.

Stripping off his pants, he grabbed a single low-grad spirit stone from his space ring and threw it into the formation eye next to the large stone pool that was carved into the ground. In a matter of seconds, the water was steaming, seemingly glowing lightly due to the spiritual energy injected into it by the formation.

Stepping into the pool, Fang placed Yue on his head, as she wasn't too fond of getting wet, while he sunk into the hot water. While doing so, he couldn't help but let out a long sigh as he felt himself relax, his tense and battered mind slowly settling down under the comfortable warmth the water provided.

Finally feeling human again, Fang focused inwards for a bit as he inspected his Sea of Consciousness.

There were some changes as his soul force lake had once again grown larger after two uses of the Spirit Forging Seal while his Spirit seemed more 'alive', its aura having become stronger even though not exaggeratedly so.

Fang knew that his Spirit was still on the lower end of Rank One strength-wise but the improvements were still visible which was what mattered most.

Connecting to the Archive for a moment by focusing his consciousness on the golden orb above his soul force lake, Fang used the endless amount of knowledge stored inside to roughly estimate that he would have to use the Spirit Forging Seal at least another ten times to advance his Spirit.

This realization made him shudder for a bit as the pain of doing so was still fresh in his mind.

Gritting his teeth, he pushed away the creeping thoughts of weakness and hesitation and took out a small wooden boat that he had carved a few weeks ago from his ring before placing it in the pool.

Taking hold of Yue, Fang sat her petite body down on the little boat which had her cry out for a moment before she cautiously peered over the edge of the boat.

Calming her down with a few soft words, he pushed the wooden boat from one hand to the other which had her tails swaying in excitement and caution. Her curious and playful fox instincts couldn't help but be stimulated as she tentatively reached out with her tiny paw to touch the water surface.

“Wu Wu!”, Yue called out as she hastily pulled back her now wet paw, her watery eyes staring at Fang in blame.

In response, the caramel-skinned teenager laughed carefreely before leaning down and leaving a small kiss on the fox's forehead, which caused the tiny furball to nuzzle up close to him.

Pulling away and letting the boat drift on the pool by itself for a moment, Fang completely submerged himself underwater and enjoyed the cleansing of the energy-rich water.

Ending his bath sometime later, Fang stepped out of the pool nakedly, his lean physique on full display, water running down the contours of his muscles before he pushed outward with his soul force and removed all the water from his skin and hair.

Cladding himself a light grey robe and a pair of pants of the same colour, Fang used a piece of expensive-looking fabric, that he had found in the ring of one of the two low-level Spiritual Stage cultivators, which he had picked up on his way to the inheritance cave, to make a small sling around his upper body, and placed Yue in it after strapping his twin blades to his back.

Walking towards the entrance of the inheritance cave while popping two Fastening Pills into his mouth and feeding Yue another, Fang was ready to go hunting again after having spent the last weeks in the cave drawing up Paralyzing Runes.

Carnivorous beasts like foxes would normally eat the flesh of other beasts as well as their cores to gain the nutrients they needed for their survival and growth. Still, Yue was still a cub and should normally still be fed the milk of her mother.

She was too young to endure the energy contained in beast cores at this point in time. He could have fed her the flesh of some beasts, which he had done several times in tiny portions, but most of the time, Fang shared some Fastening Pills with her as they were very mild in nature while containing all the necessary nutrients she needed, so there was no risk of her getting injured or sick from them like it was the case with cores.

Yue had only just condensed her own core thanks to her mother's blessing, which wouldn't have been possible otherwise due to her young age. Her bloodline was considerably strong with her mother being a Rank One beast, so the time it took for her to condense her core might be faster than other beasts, but this was still a process that had to be completed naturally in regular cases.

With her mother passing Yue her strength and source energy, she had condensed her core already but it was still fragile and couldn't yet withstand her devouring the cores of other beasts to strengthen herself. She needed time to slowly stabilize and fully integrate with her core before doing something like this.

In the end, raising beasts was not something that could be rushed after all, or one would risk doing irreversible damage to their growth cycle.

Taking Yue with him was still a risk but since he obviously couldn't leave his little fosterling behind, Fang planned to only challenge middle-class Unranked Beast, which corresponded to his Middle Bone Transformation Realm, and other beasts of a weaker strength.

He knew that he could go up against even peak-class Unranked Beasts if he used his full strength but this hunt, like the many future ones that he planned to go on, was only to temper his blade intent as well as advance his Basic Dual-Wielding Technique and the Mortal Step of his Eight Directions Step, he didn't plan to use his full power either way.

Fang planned to pressure himself in a real fight by restricting the use of his more advanced techniques as he hoped that this would allow him to gain a deeper understanding of these basic techniques.

It would be foolish to just rush up to a peak-class Unranked Beast while planning to not use his full power, as those beasts possessed the necessary strength to injure or even kill him if he was not careful. His plan was thus to slowly increase the strength of his opponents over the next period of time while training his martial arts.

In fact, Fang didn't even plan to use his Mortal-Ranked blades as they were too deadly in a fight against Unranked Beasts, instead, he planned to the two low-quality iron blades that he had traded for in the past while he was still in the tribe.

This would make it much harder to fight against middle-class Unranked Beasts as even damaging them with such badly crafted weapons was going to be no easy feat. Still, this was exactly the kind of challenge he needed to learn how to access his blade intent consciously.

At the same time, the risks were rather minimal and well-calculated which was the whole point. Taking great risks like he had done when fighting against the Black Python was absolutely unnecessary considering that this was just training.

Fang didn't want to risk his life recklessly without a good reason, after all.

He wasn't impatient for success either, or he would have never even considered slowing down his cultivation progress in favour of training his Battle Arts and blade intent, as well as to advance his Spirit.

After all, with the Archive, he could reach the absolute peak of this world in just a few years if he wanted to before leaving for the Divine Realm. Being patient though would maximize his potential and future peak.