Chapter 183: Euphoria and disappointment.

Chapter 183: Euphoria and disappointment.On the way back, Xiao Lian helped Lee to get to canteen, to grab something to eat. The young friend talked a lot, but Lee mostly nodded, his mind thrown into complete mess.

He was desperately trying to find explanations, but the best thing he could come up with was – he finally knew how Shen Rouya felt.

When he got back to his room, Lee was rewarded with a pleasant surprise. After focusing on his abdomen, he realized there wasn’t a single elemental particle, to not speak of the two sparks. They were gone, and it felt like they had never been there before.

He had no clue how that happened, but in the end it didn’t matter. He was thrilled to learn he was once again a regular human – that meant he could finally start to cultivate for real. No wonder the sect’s experts along with some other people Shen Rouya invited over couldn’t find anything – there was nothing left to find!

Lee was too weak to celebrate and passed out soon, but the next morning, full of energy, went back to the library. Junior Elder Chen was pleasantly surprised to see him, no matter how sickly he looked. But before Lee went back to his duties, he made her an offer.

"Junior Elder!" He said, "I’d like to acquire the best cultivation technique the sect has for a complete beginner. Which one is it and how much does it cost?"

At this point he knew hundreds of different techniques, but since he could start from the scratch, there was no reason he couldn’t do it properly. He was certain that the he wasn’t shown the most precious techniques and was ready to slave his life away for one, but Junior Elder Chen left him disappointed.

Not hiding he confusion, she said, "Why would you ask? You know all of them."

But then she thought she realized something, and said, "Don’t worry about falling behind. People ignite their sparks at different age. Always stick to the basics. If you can’t sense the elemental particles, practice one of the universal techniques – the Five Elements Discovery technique is probably the best. The moment you notice the first elemental particle within you, begin practicing the cultivation technique that corresponds with that particular element."



Lee was slightly baffled, but not upset.

From that day on, he spent nights practicing the Five Elements Discovery technique according to the junior elder’s advice. It was simple, yet pleasant cultivation method, mostly intended for a beginner to sense the elements within, and as the name implied – discover the dominant element.

Lee sat, his fingers crossed over his Dantian, focusing on deep diaphragmatic breathing. This was where he would witness the birth of the first elemental particle. Technically it was located on the same spot where previously his two sparks had settled, except it wasn’t in his physical body.

The existence of Dantian, similar to the existence of consciousness and soul, was above the physical representation of the body. Or rather – those were parallel existences.

Even after listening to tens of lectures and studying hundreds of techniques, Lee couldn’t explain how that worked exactly, but he was certain he would find out with time, the further he got along the road of cultivation.

And it was endless. It lie in a person discovering the dominant element within, then condensing and igniting it, creating a spark. That would indicate they became an elemental master and acquired the ability to wield the power of that element.

Both he and Xiao Lian in a way could use elements prior to becoming an elemental master, but it was a child’s play compared to what was about to follow.

And even that was only the beginning. after fusing the consciousness with the spark, the cultivator would rise to become an elemental lord, experiencing an enormous boost in strength. Strangely enough, it was another start where the cultivator would begin to comprehend elemental laws, vastly growing their abilities.

Elemental lords were basically gods in the eyes of many, like Lunax was in Ashland. But they were only children compared to the true masters. Far above elemental lords, there were those few individuals who comprehended enough elemental laws and fused their souls with the sparks, becoming actual gods. They were the legendary existences called overlords.

Lee had no clue what they were, but the seal on his right palm indicated they were basically omnipotent. He wasn’t worried about them, though. He focused on the first step, to discover his first elemental particle – to find out his natural elemental affinity.

***

The days flew by and Lee quickly established the perfect routine.

He did physical exercises on the morning, then worked in the library till afternoon. In the evening he practiced footwork and combat techniques on the arena grounds, and spent nights practicing the Five Elements Discovery technique.

He was thrilled with how perfect his life was, and knew it was only a matter of time till he become an inner disciple after igniting a spark. He knew he had enough time and sufficient patience. Contrary to his peers he wasn’t in a rush – he knew better than anyone that this was a marathon.

He grew stronger by day and once again began to think of ways to complete the revenge that had been his main drive throughout the current life. He was thrilled he finally didn’t have to think of any underhanded methods – as long as he stayed alive, he would kill the bitch sooner or later.

***

It took only a month for the cultivation technique to bring the first results, and no matter how long Lee prepared, he wasn’t ready for the shock that followed.

When he noticed the first particle in his Dantian, he only smiled inwardly, although was thrilled by the fact to no end. The problem was – there were two particles, or rather – the problem was there were two particles of different color.

Lee felt his heart skip a beat noticing the two tiny dots – one yellow and the other blue. All of the sudden he had a bad premonition.

He had no explanation to what exactly happened in the Blackrock fortress, but he was certain his attempt to save Xiao Lian completely extinguished his two sparks. After transferring enormous amounts of elemental energy, he had none left within himself. He was certain of it and so were the experts of the Nethermoon sect.



The problem was – those things were still there.

During the upcoming nights, observing the tiny dots, Lee witnessed how they grew, becoming brighter and more distinct. It only took another month of him practicing the Five Elements Discovery technique’s breathing method for the two sparks joyfully return to their previous state.

On some level Lee felt familiarity with them, and even a weird longing, but he couldn’t curse himself enough for being so unlucky. Somehow the two beast sparks had landed in his Dantian and refused to leave, even after all their power was expended.

They recovered the same way a regular cultivator’s spark recovers after exhaustion and only then Lee realized the three months in coma he spent were basically the condition of cultivator experiencing deprivation of elemental energy, severely weakening them.

Often it was followed by death or at least disability, but he got lucky, at least that was the best explanation he could come up with.

In theory everything was fine. He was back to his old self, and could continue with the previous plans.

The problem was – he was thrilled to be able to finally start to cultivate like a regular person, and now was forced to realize that it wouldn’t happen sooner than in his next life.

But it was fine. After a few days of inner struggle, Lee calmed down.

He decided to focus his efforts on relieving the world from the red eyed bitch, and afterwards accumulate as much knowledge as he could. Basically, this was his initial intention.

The disheartening discovery didn’t change his schedule, though. In fact, Lee intensified the physical training part multiple times, mostly focusing on perfecting the killing technique he intended to use on Victoria.