Lind and Cyntilla had a very peaceful exit from the desert Ruin. Lind had been stunned by what Cyntilla described happened once he passed out but then he realized perhaps the why of it. The staff was the treasure of the 6 Immortals that made this place. If the beasts were trained by them or marked in some way, then demonstrating his use of it showed he had passed the tests.
Rocs and wurms were nonexistent on their way out. It was almost spooky, especially when they passed a small group of humans fighting a wurm and it suddenly moved between Lind and that group. Cyntilla had laughed at his shocked look but they moved on as it gave the humans a chance to escape as the wurm acted as a wall.
In less than 2 days they made it to the barrier and returned to a land of grass and trees. It was refreshing to breathe the vibrant air but the drop in Qi quality was a bit disappointing. Even so, Lind had solidified his elemental tempering at high 5th tier while Cyntilla had reached the peak of the 6th tier of the Soul Realm. He was slightly jealous that her elements and foundation were in lockstep.
"Is this where we part ways, Cyntilla?" Lind knew they had 2 weeks left and did not want to impose on any plans she had, but his reluctance seemed to get through to her. She smiled as she shook her head at him.
"I am already satisfied, but we should try for one more Ruin. If we are lucky, we could find something to contribute to the Academy since that is bound to you." Lind glanced at the cylinder now slung from his belt. There was no clip, it was some kind of Qi bond forged between his dantian and the staff that allowed him to hang it from his belt. It was an interesting application that his Eyes could not quite perceive, but he had heard this could be learned at the Academy.
They picked a random direction at first towards the nearest distortion but then Lind froze. Cyntilla had stepped past him before realizing Lind was no longer moving forward. She looked at him in confusion as Lind looked off in the distance. His flame inside his dantian was reacting to something faintly. He closed his eyes and turned until he was facing whatever it was.
"There may be something this way, my harmony is reacting. Do you want to investigate?" Lind would not force her to follow his tangent but she only smirked and layed out her arm for him to lead the way. Lind moved off towards a large copse of trees. It was not quite a forest but it was clear to see that a distortion was inside it.
Lind felt his Soul Eyes become pained looking at it. He had never encountered pain looking at Qi. He had been overwhelmed or blinded, but not pained by it. The barrier of the desert Ruin had simply been a storm of Qi exuding powerful waves into the air, but this one was different. As he got closer, his harmony flickered strongly, but it was difficult to put into words what he was feeling.
Lind stopped in the shade of a few pine trees as Cyntilla now looked with concern at the barrier in front of them.
"This feels odd. It is not demon elements nor is it normal elements. What do you see, Lind?" He did not answer Cyntilla's questions right away. He gently brushed his hands on the distortion and finally felt what his harmony was responding with. Revulsion. This was wrong. Lind had been exposed to the elements of a demon and felt bothered by them, but it was more unfamiliarity or feeling of threat in the case of the Tri-Clan Tournament.
These, however, revolted his harmony. Why? What was this place?
"It is not anything I know, but I want to step in for a bit. Are you willing?" Lind saw hesitance this time on Cyntilla's face. He smiled at her to let her know he was fine with whatever she chose but she firmed up and stepped forward before he could blink. Lind nearly laughed and followed her in.
If the first barrier was shocking and felt like it was tearing him apart, Lind instead felt like he was fighting the very essence of the barrier with his Qi. This was an enemy but he did not know why. His elements flooded into his emerald flame and the feeling eased until at last he was on the other side.
Lind found Cyntilla on the ground throwing up. He had not felt nausea, but he could understand each person reacted differently. He made sure she was recovering before he realized it was very dark around them. It was not the dark of night, but massive clouds filled the sky while a faint orb tried to shine through.
Lind realized it was the sun in the outside world, not one from inside this Ruin. The vast stretch of stone was not like the desert at all. This was not imitating a natural area, but a fully artificial structure that was falling apart. Lind tried to look at the Qi but nothing was familiar.
He tried to form a simple fireball but the Qi moved away from him. He moved the Qi from inside his dantian and it formed a weak fire with twice the Qi needed to do it. The very air resisted him performing a simple tier 1 Soul Art. He then tried the staff and was relieved it extended normally, but any attempt to attack ran into the same issue as the fireball.
"Lind, I feel sick." Lind immediately concentrated on Cyntilla and saw her body was disrupted. The foreign Qi was invading her meridians and was clearly incompatible with her. Why was Lind not having this issue? He observed how her dantian flared trying to purge the invading Qi but then it hit him'
He had spent years stopping the inflow of Qi until it was instinct. His Soul Touch was actively keeping out the Qi, thus so long as his dantian had power, he would be fine. They could not stay here long.
Lind took Cyntilla's hands and began to flow his Soul Touch over her body as well. It was a strange feeling and at first he felt resistance, but then his emerald flame seemed to get brighter and it disappeared. The Qi in her body was winning at last with Lind's help. He was only working on the invading Qi, but suddenly his mind felt the nuance of what was in this place.
He had studied all 6 elements far more than other cultivators in the Frey Clan. Lind had attacked his issues of backlash from any angle he could think of, thus it would not be wrong to say that he was an expert on all 6 elements, details from individual and grouping results. This Qi was also 6 elements but it seemed to be the antithesis of what was normal.
It was not like the demon elements that seemed more like derivatives. It could be argued the demons had found a different way to refine a soul dantian to create the elements they have but no record he had seen showed how this was done. Cyntilla had described it similar to how Lind had formed his own but it could not be as simple as studying acid, poison, metal, and so forth or there would be more demons by far.
"Anti-matter?" The word bubbled up in his mind. Earth was ahead in many areas compared to the world Lind now lived in, but cultivation performed miracles on Earth on a daily basis. This, however, was like atom theory. A positive element of fire found a negative element of fire. Could he be right?
Lind pushed out the rest and let Cyntilla finally recover under his protection. He had to maintain contact with her but she did not seem to mind. Lind now studied the air with fresh Eyes and paired each element in his dantian with one here. He barely grasped it, but the more he looked at each set it became clearer that his idea was close to right.
Instead of a fire that exuded heat, the one here absorbed it. Water did not make things wet but sucked up moisture. Wind did not flow but pulled in. Earth was not solid but a vapor. Light was not illuminating the world but inverting its colors. Darkness was not obscuring the world but peeling the layers away. Lind could not explain it any better even after an hour of looking at it.
"Lind, how long will you hold my hands?" Cyntilla sounded amused as he snapped around and blushed to realize they were holding hands still. She had changed the positioning so that their palms were firmly together, but LInd knew if he let go she would be facing the anit-Qi once again.
"I can't protect you without some kind of contact, but you can leave if you want. I want to study this a little longer." Lind glanced at the world and wondered what was inside these Ruins. He felt a tug on his hands and saw the answer in her virulent green eyes. "All right. I can protect us for 2 days at my current consumption. Let's go."
They stepped out onto the cracked path and Lind finally noticed an entire lack of any plant life. There was only the dark sky and the Ruins. They found mostly empty structures with roofs gone and doors turned to dust. There were no jade slips or anything they found worth keeping.
Thankfully they were well rested, so they searched through the night until they finally came across an intact building that looked a great deal like a house. It was not a fancy temple but a multi story large house with windows and a doorway. Balconies lined the 2nd floor with signs a roof was once covering more of it, but now only a bare bones slate roof was left.
The structure seemed solid but Lind used earth to put strength in his leg to be sure and kicked it. Smirking, Cyntilla led him in as they finally found something different. The very air changed and Lind realized the Qi had reverted to normal inside the house.
He let go of Cyntilla and waited to see how she did. No issues cropped up so they began to look around. The entrance way was not like the outside. It was more of the stone outside they had passed but now it was forming corridors and stairs leading up to the 2nd floor. Lind saw fascinating formations along the doors and windows.
It was now generating the anit-Qi but converting what was inside the structure into the anti-Qi. There were parts beyond his comprehension but Lind at least could see that someone had created this formation to make this Ruin what it was. It meant the elements he cultivated were their natural state but this place was transforming them into the antithesis of each.
"Where is the Qi coming from, Lind?" He looked around but only saw concentration increasing going downstairs. Lind frowned and decided they should search while they could before committing.
"It is downstairs but let's look around. It looked like a house from the outside to hide this place I think. I will go up the stairs if you search this floor." Cyntilla nodded at his plan and they split up. Lind wanted to be the one to go up in case the formation had weakened upstairs. He could withstand the foreign Qi, but she could not.
His decision was confirmed the moment he stepped upstairs and felt half normal and half anti-Qi on the 2nd floor. Oddly, the stone stopped at the landing and a normal looking house floor was before him. Wood had begun to rot and the floorboards creaked as he walked through the empty rooms. He saw ancient beds and furniture falling apart but nothing that drew his eye.
"So the top half is a house in fact but the lower half is some kind of secret structure?" LInd wondered at the design but then he saw it. He leaned down and saw the far wall was not wood underneath, but stone. It was a facade. If they had come to this Ruin when it was an Inheritance, they may have seen only the false front of the house.
"LIND!" Cyntilla's voice came from below and he pushed wind Qi out of his feet and back to increase his speed. He whipped back down the steps and found Cynitlla in a room very different from the rest of the place they had seen. There was a rotted door like the rest but inside was a golden skeleton.
She stood over it with her short swords drawn and it took a moment for him to comprehend why. The interior had normal Qi, but the skeleton radiated oppressive aura and the anti-Qi. Lind's Eyes was able to discern that 3 of the elements were more profound than the other 3. As the Immortals had explained, primary elements would be complemented by secondary elements later in the cultivation journey.
"What is this pressure?" Cyntilla was wary of traps when a dead cultivator was involved but Lind saw nothing. The skeleton was surrounded by bright crystals that he recognized as the flesh of this being. He carefully touched a pile and instantly his harmony flared though his body in a way he had never seen.
Emerald fire covered the pile and it turned to ash while releasing normal Qi. Lind felt dizzy but he was stunned by what had occurred. The process was reversing what the formation on the border of the house was doing! It was inert material, but Lind had done something to an Immortal Realm material while at the Soul Realm!
The pile revealed a worn leather bound book. Lind carefully picked it up, but there was no reaction this time. He flipped open the book and nearly dropped it in shock. Since being reborn, he had to learn several languages of the Lotus Empire but as he progressed in his cultivation it became easier.
Even so, this book was not in any of those languages but he could read it very easily. Afterall, it was in American English.
"What does it say, Lind?" He looked up in confusion at Cyntilla's question but he did not withhold it from her. It was a warning in the very first line.
"The Fiends have invaded the Celestial Fields." He looked over it and began to read but Cyntilla looked as curious as him. None of the terms meant anything but hopefully, the reincarnated person would elaborate from such a beginning.