Chương 345: Changes (II)

Lao Shun left the tent and made some distance between himself and it before pouring a touch of Qi into the small, toy-sized thing in his hands. It abruptly flew out and became suspended midair, about ten feet up, spinning in place as a golden halo of light emerged from behind it, shooting out jets of amber-colored flames that washed over the cauldron. Within yet another flash of light, it grew massively in size and fell, shaking the ground underneath it for a moment.

Its surface was glistening with golden, flaming threads, an embossed motif of fire running across the silver-obsidian metal. It had six legs stretching out underneath it, curved along the body and flattened at the heel, and a massive maw as an opening, large enough to turn into a bath for several grown men. The centerpiece was the infernal sigil from which the flaming threads spun out like spiderwebs; it ran from top to bottom, glimmering and pulsating like a living, beating heart.

Lao Shun's trembling fingers ran gently across the surface, the rough and warm metal accepting his touch; though he didn't know precisely what cauldron it was, who made it, or when, what he knew was that it was likely of higher grade than even the Tower Master's cauldron, the legendary Seven-Songs Cauldron that allowed the Tower Master to become a World-Gathering Alchemist, the highest order one can reach outside the Heavenly Court.

He opened the top and peeked inside; there were several hundreds of arrays carved into its surface, all designed with such meticulous care that they left his head spinning for a moment as he tried to make sense of them.... but he couldn't. He suspected that if he truly wanted to see the depths of what this cauldron was capable of, he'd likely have to lock himself up in the Tower's Library for a decade, at least, studying without break. How did Lu Qi get possession of it?

His eyes inadvertently wandered over toward the tent, his breath caught in his throat. Just how many surprises will that man pull? And though he could find recourse for quite a few, something on the level of this cauldron... wasn't of this realm. This was a so-called 'Heavenly Artifact', something that only a few people in the entire world could get their hands on.

Lao Shun certainly wasn't one of those people--he could have lived a thousand lifetimes, and he still wouldn't have become someone of enough importance to gain a Heavenly Artifact. At least, not if he didn't go to that basement on that fated day. Now... He took a deep breath and condensed the massive cauldron back into its miniature form. This gift... went well beyond anything he expected to gain from this journey.

No, rather, he merely wanted to have some fun--and yet, in addition to that, he had now gained two priceless things; no, it was actually three, including the cultivation method. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. With any one of them, he could return to the Tower and immediately gain the title of an Honorary Master, and spend the remainder of his days in luxury that he couldn't even imagine. Naturally, none of that intrigued him.

If he cared at all about rising through the Tower's ranks, he would not have left it for dozens of years at the time, all so to get away from the stuffy old men who'd sooner burn the world than let anyone usurp them. Besides, for the past few months that he'd been with Lu Qi, he'd already experienced more than in two hundred years before that. And now, it sounded like they were already headed for another fun little thing. Putting away the cauldron, he smiled, his expectations growing even further.

** Rayce stared at the golden pin in his hand, his mind in a tailspin; ever since he joined Master's group, it was one surprise after another. He hadn't even gotten around to properly mastering Master's latest gift when another one arrived. The decision made out of pure insecurity and fear has turned out to be the greatest one he ever could make. He heard whispers, mostly, about the so-called 'Secondary Circle'. Nobody he knew had one, not even those old Elders, and he mostly considered it wishful thinking.

And yet, a chance for it now resided in the palm of his hand. He trusted Master, perhaps more so than he ever trusted anyone, and if his Master said that this little pin would grant him an independent circle, then that was precisely what it was going to do. Not delaying any further, he took a deep breath, calmed his existing circles, and pressed the pin against his chest.

There was no 'one correct' place to build circles--most people built them around their hearts, some spread them across their bodies, and some even built them inside their skulls. Rayce opted into the ordinary route--or, well, was talked into it by the Blood Fiend. As such, all his circles were around his heart, but he didn't press the pin there--he put it on the opposite end. Energy so pure he felt like a newborn exploded out from the pin and swarmed him, swelling through his skin and melding into his bones.

It was so pure, in fact, that he felt more energized than ever before in his life. But he knew he couldn't lose himself to this feeling. Calming down, he guided the loose energy sternly toward the rightmost side of his chest, slowly writing a circle. Letter by letter, rune by rune, the sapped energy from the pin began to coalesce into something beautiful--a Circle of Light, one of the most elusive circles ever. In fact, there was only one Shaman that Rayce knew of that even had it.... no, now there were two.

It took him about four hours to coalesce and stabilize the circle. Looking inwardly, it slowly spun unto itself, radiating a breathtaking glow. On its own, it could hold twice as much mana as his other four circles combined, but that mana could only be used for Words of Light. Opening his eyes, there was a sheen of amber within them; a smile spun against his lips, and joy and calm overcame him. From being a puppet meant to be sacrificed, to having no future, to now this...

If he told the story to somebody, they'd call it made up. His desire that would never truly happen. And yet, it was all true. He was reborn, within and without. All thanks to the grace of a cultivator --cultivator who could procure martial arts, wild treasures, cultivation methods, pill recipes, alchemy cauldrons, shamanic arts, and now entire Circles. Was there another person alive who could do all that? No, was there ever somebody who could do all that?

Perhaps, Rayce mused, during some of the golden ages of humanity. Today, however, he very much doubted that there was one besides Master. A grand tomorrow awaited and even grander years to come. He'd become a God-King, he swore, no matter what, and write a Word never written before to repay his Master. He was given a life, and he'd do all in his power to give at least half of that back.