Far to the west of the Lotus Empire was a deep canyon. Its edges were far too smooth to be natural, but no one living knew for certain what had caused it. The depths of the canyon, however, were ideal for demonic cultivation. As such, a clan was founded after a fierce round of battles that shed blood as if it were rivers across the continent.
Demons and humans once warred over such ideal places of cultivation but later the hegemonic forces of Darkmoor rose to the north and united much of the southern continent under them. The Fang Clan retained its claim to the canyon but its ancestry was proud to pre-date the kingdom.
Profound low Gold Tier formations were arranged at the edges of the canyon to trap and kill any foolish intruders over the millions of years they had resided within. A sprawling city lay in the shadow of the canyon walls, but demons were not as bothered by lack of sunlight as humans could be.
The venomous glow to the streets was constant, it only changed in quantity depending on the sunlight. The dark stone was harvested from the canyon floor itself and was a perfect medium to channel demonic Qi. Unlike human cities, the quality of the buildings was generally uniform outside the moderate palace that lay at the back of the canyon.
Resources were distributed by contribution or by winning them from an individual. The only exception was Body Refining for younglings. Until the Soul Realm, those resources were untouchable. The youth must be strong but they had to qualify to fight for themselves by breaking through to the Soul Realm first.
The palace was modest compared to both humans and most demons. Some clans preferred to let their quality of cultivator speak rather than their architecture. The Fang Clan was a considerable power inside the greater Darkmoor Kingdom but the last few generations had seen a decline.
Part of the issue was simple attrition of cultivators lost to battle to the youth risking their lives for glory in Ruins or Inheritances and never returning. It only took a few key members to die to leave a clan barren of talent and if they could not make up for it with the next, then the decline would begin.
Trynith was the last of the best batch to survive his tribulations and become the current Clan Head. His eyes were as virulent green as his promising daughter, but where hers were usually full of indifference, his were vicious cunning. He had been carefully fighting off rival clans and assassinating promising seeds that would be trouble in the future. None of it lead back to him, but many suspected him.
His current triumph was turning to trash and it was infuriating him.
Crown Prince Ryu had been very picky about his bride. He was not like most demons that would collect beauties in his youth before settling down for his duties as his brother was doing even now. His bride had to be chaste, honorable, and a worthy warrior. Normally, this would not be a difficult thing, but Ryu had strange markers to declare a woman acceptable.
Cyntilla had actually moved herself into position all on her own but Trynith did not let the opportunity slip away. It had taken almost 5 years before negotiations had been settled, but then his daughter went and marked a human!
Trynith would normally quietly allow 'nature' to take its course but this particular human somehow got the attention of Darkmoor and the backwater Lotus Empire. With his usual methods blocked, he had come up with a new plan the past month.
His vividly dark lavender skin was a strong contrast for the dark smile that crossed his face. His dark hair blended seamlessly into his dark leather armor made from a Diamond Tier aether beast millenia ago by an ancestor. The incense burning calmed his frustration as the new plan had been quietly unfolding until that morning.
A shadow detached itself to reveal a slim demon kneeling behind Trynith as he looked out over the city.
"It is done?" Trynith had no need to turn around to confirm the new person's presence.
"The Crown Prince is now aware of Lind Frey." A dark laugh bloomed from Trynith before waving the attendant away.
"Now, let's see how long you can live peacefully, you annoying gnat!" A little more than a year things had been on a knife edge, but it should come to an end now.
****
Lind was sweating profusely as the essence from a beast core and 3 herbs barely mingled together and finally an elixir was concocted. He collapsed on the ground as the bright green vials lay before him. It had been a struggle but he had barely completed another high grade 2 elixir.
"You are struggling too much!" The merciless voice doused his success instantly but Lind had come to expect it at this point. He slowly assumed the lotus position and circulated his Qi to recover what he had lost.
As the Qi recovered, Lind thought on his current problem. A bottleneck was not quite the right term as his results were consistent, but more like his skill was the issue. The higher quality essence was a slippery as an eel to him, but he could not figure out the why.
His World Eyes and Touch normally were skillful enough to manipulate a single essence in practice, but in creating an elixir, they suddenly became difficult. Lind could manipulate 2 essences at high grade 2, but actually doing a simple elixir broke his control.
The green elixir restored stamina and air elemental Qi. It was a very niche elixir but the point was to practice his essence control. Sadly, it was not working even after several weeks.
"You made a Heaven peak grade 2 elixir but struggled with mortal grade 2 beyond the middle ground. Have you understood why yet?" Younger Twin looked harshly at Lind but he was banging his head against the wall at this point. The brightly glowing elixir was proof Lind could do it but only under enlightenment. Lind had tried for days to even grasp a sliver of memory from that time but nothing came back.
Day after day, Lind tried to pry open the dark space that memory had to be in, but it was just not there. Lind had exhausted all his strength before simply experimenting with various ingredients. While he could reach high grade 2, it was a struggle every time.
"I need a new approach." Lind focused on his ring and the harmonic crystal appeared. Younger Twin's eyes narrowed but he said nothing as elemental Qi flowed fiercely. Lind did not try to delve into the crystal but simply wanted to resonate with it.
Lind wanted to feel something against his harmony as he felt this was the one aspect he could not really compare to anything. The crystal lit up instantly as emerald flame faintly appeared in LInd's eyes. His dantian surged as the crystal bathed the room in orangish light. Lind felt his elements weaving into the flame in his center more clearly and saw something he had never sensed before.
The tendrils of elements seemed equal but at the center of the flame was a nexus of all 6 coming together in certain proportions. Lind recalled his original thoughts about how the elements related to a human body and confirmed the balance aligned with his thoughts.
A human was mostly water and heat with air in the lungs to cells while the earth supported the food needed to live. Light and dark were equal measures of a soul. Lind saw that same process reflected at the heart of his harmony. Without the resonance, Lind could not perceive clearly such a process as he only saw the elements combine with his World Eyes. Maybe Sky Eyes could see more, but he was far from that threshold.
Lind allowed his instinct as an Innate Cultivator to guide his flow of elements for a time and saw light and dark surround a core of mostly water and fire with air being slightly more than earth. How this produced an emerald flame, Lind did not yet understand but this piece led him to an idea.
Lind brought out a metal ore and extracted its essence. The metal crumbled without its essence but LInd felt something at long last. His harmony was the key! The emerald flame was integral to controlling the essence. Rather than his foundational spirit Qi, his harmony was what was trying to manipulate the essence.
Lind was stunned as his harmony was not Qi exactly but a manifestation of it. It was a byproduct of the 6 elements coming together inside his dantian when he formed it at the Soul Realm tier 1. Lind carefully watched the faint lines of Qi lined in emerald touch the essence and he finally understood his problem.
He had been brute forcing his control on his misunderstood source of Qi. Lind focused and carefully maintained the balance but it was not enough, the essence fought more and became difficult to hold.
Lind finally took a risk and simply cultivated his elements alone.
Instantly, the essence was seemingly jumping for joy at his command! The spirit Qi was the problem. Creating elixirs was a matter of balance in elemental essence at its heart. If he could master this feeling, he could unlock higher grades!
Lind quickly brought out several herbs and his previous struggling seemed childish as he smoothly extracted the essence of each ingredient before summoning water and fire to blend the elixir as if he was breathing it out. The bright violet elixir was just barely below peak grade 2!
Four vials were filled quickly as Younger Twin examined them with a smirk. The high grade 2 elixirs were an improvement on the Qi replenishment and healing from grade 1. It was more vibrant compared to grade 1 on top of its undulation.
"Well done. What did you learn?" Lind happily relayed what he had learned but saw Younger Twin frown deeply at the explanation. Lind then saw ingredients float from the shop and he quickly used his World Eyes to watch as Younger Twin easily created a peak grade 2 elixir but now Lind frowned.
"You are somehow resonating with each essence?" Lind could only compare what he saw to the resonance of the elements in each essence then bringing them together expertely into an elixir. It was more complicated than what Lind had discovered by far.
"I have access to all the elements as you do, but unlike you, mine are only 2 primaries and 4 secondary elements. I can resonate with any ingredient due to this, but it takes years of practice. I thought your condition did allow for a bit of a short cut." Lind watched as a new elixir was concocted once more and he agreed that the method Younger Twin used was viable but far more complex than he needed.
"My harmony incorporates my balance of elements into it, maybe it reaches resonance due to what is missing in each ingredie–" Lind was theorizing when his mind suddenly felt full of pain as a stark image burned brightly in it. Lind could see it! He could finally remember what happened at the auction house if only in part.
Lind looked at the glowing vials and paled at what he had done.
"Elemental tempering elixir. It is a 6 elemental tempering elixir!" Younger Twin looked stunned as he once again examined the vials. Now that he knew what to look for, he confirmed it was indeed what Lind claimed. A peak Heaven grade 2 elixir to temper all 6 elements. Nothing like this existed anywhere to his knowledge.
"You must never reveal this to anyone, not the Sapphire Auction House, the little lady, no one!" Lind blanched at the harsh words of the Immortal Will but he understood the immense danger before him. Anyone in the Heaven Realm had to incorporate and temper all 6 elements. If an elixir could assist this process it would cause wars to get it.
"What will we do with what we have?" Lind looked at Younger Twin but it was unknown what his master thought as these vials were miracles for anyone in the Heaven Realm. The silence stretched before the 4 vials were pushed in front of Lind.
"Put them in your ring and never remove them until you reach the Heaven Realm or near death, whichever comes first." Ling gulped as he carefully placed the 4 vials into his ring and proceeded to practice with essences for the rest of his time with Younger Twin.