As Mei Yue was in deep thought about his existence in such an ever-expanding sky, he felt his vision grow dark before he lost consciousness and his body disappeared from the first story of the pagoda with a flicker.
"So it's time for him..." An enchanting yet dominating voice that commanded pure sovereignty and devastation rang throughout the pagoda before everything became utterly silent once more.
...
...
...
Inside an ever-expanding room of never-ending darkness, that seemed to come straight from the void, a single figure stood floating in space with their head down and their long luscious white hair flowing down like a waterfall.
In front of this perfect figure stood three crystals.
There was one crystal in front while the other two stood behind on the left and right respectively.
The one that stood in front was glowing a bright red, as particle embers danced around it seemingly protecting it, while flames raged out from within making the surroundings superheated temperature creating a seductive allure around it.
The one on the left was glowing black as tendrils of darkness caressed its edges in an enchanting manner as if the crystal was gaining energy from the darkness. The area around it was freezing as if a blizzard was radiating deep from within.
As for the last one on the right, it was black but unlike the one on the left, it wasn't glowing but blended into the void-like almost as if there was nothing there but the atmosphere it radiated absolutely nothing as if no one paid any attention to it they wouldn't notice it at all.
"Wake up child..."
A soft seductive voice resounded through the void calling out to the unconscious figure.
As on command the figure floating in the void was jolted awake as they looked around.
The first thing the figure did was touch their face.
"Oh thank god, it's still there." Mei Yue said out loud as his hands caressed the veil covering his face.
He then focused his attention on his surroundings.
Mei Yue noticed he was in a void, and he was currently floating which was weird for him, he then looked forward and saw two crystals. As he was examing the two crystals he noticed a third one on the right seemingly hiding in the void.
"Where am I?" Mei Yue mumbled.
"We who sleep in the sun are the nuclear mother of all Parliaments. Older than air, older than water, older than the earth itself. We gave birth to the worlds below four and a half billion years ago. But only now has our brightest child reached maturity and returned to visit us. Authority over all flame has been waiting for you Fallen Angel." the same soft seductive voice rang out again.
Mei Yue looked around slightly startled before he looked at the fire crystal in front of him.
"Yes, child I am the one who spoke." The crystal answered as if reading Mei Yue's mind.
"Who are you?" Mei Yue asked.
"Me? fufufu I am the parliament of fire, I am the mother of this crystal in front of you, I simply exist to protect my child until your arrival."
"Why?" Mei Yue asked.
"As I said before our brightest child reached maturity and returned to visit us, which is you; authority over all flame, the crystal which is my child has been waiting for you. I know you have a lot of answers but I can't answer them I could only tell you what's currently happening, everything else you would have to learn as you grow stronger.
You shall control and inherit the primordial flames.
The two crystals behind me are colleges of mine per se, the one on the left is primordial darkness, while the one on the right is primordial nothingness. Any questions so far?"
"Considering what you said earlier you can't answer my origins or the fact that you called me a fallen angel, meaning I could or couldn't be human leaning more towards not being human. I also won't know the truth until I get stronger and considering you didn't say how strong no point in asking that question. I have two: what do you mean by inheriting the primordial fire, and why do you keep calling me your child?" Mei Yue pondered after thinking for a few seconds.
"Fufufufu~ your indeed a bright one, let me answer your second question first; you are not my child but in a special sense you are in a way. As I'm sure you know how important that Ice Mystic Void Fruit you ingested to get your ice element correct?"
Mei Yue nodded diligently.
"I'm sure you also know that if someone already had the ice element and ingested the same fruit their understanding and power of ice would grow stronger, there are two ways to get that ice element or any other element.
Innate or bestow.
Innate is when you are born, you automatically already possess that element. An example if you were born with the ice element you would have been able to control it once you started cultivating.
Innate is further evolved into Physiques.
I will not delve into what physiques are, but if a person has a physique they will always be stronger than someone who doesn't have a physique in that same realm, though that's also not always the case, as people also have elemental physiques which makes their understanding and power of their element increase by many folds but not their body.
People also have another kind of physique but they're all physiques are very rare and are usually deemed a genius most of the time as physiques are ranked, the higher rank it is, the stronger that person will be.
Though they're not always unbeatable.
You have a physique also, it is intertwined with us three. Though I can not tell you what it's called or how strong it is.
As for bestowing, it's pretty self-explanatory as you already experienced it, Elemental Mystic Void Fruit being one of the very, very few to bestow an element if the person who ingests it is worthy." The parliament of fire stopped as it gave some time for Mei Yue to digest the influx of information.
Mei Yue went into deep thought for a while before telling the parliament of fire to continue.
"As for your second question, it ties into your first question also I just did it this way not to dump everything on you all at once. As I said you have a physique that is intertwined with us three, you were born with three innate primordial elements and a physique but obviously, us being primordial, we are stronger by a frightening amount as we control anything and everything about our respective elements.
The reason why you could not control us or even knew you had us when you first started cultivating is that you didn't fully awaken yet until the crown integrated your body which brought out your full potential along with us three and some other things. Though just because the crown made you into what you are now and what you are isn't human as you deduced. It still wasn't enough as just inheriting my child would have burned you alive from the inside out.
Hence you can still not inherit darkness and nothingness until they deem you strong enough.
Inheriting my child and your first innate element means you will control the strongest of flames the ruler as opposed to regular Fire, these flames are inextinguishable and absolute. They can cause natural and supernatural fire effects, and it allows you to burn or alter anything, even non-flammable, incorporeal, or conceptual things like time and nonexistence.
Fire will always be your domain from now on.
Obviously, you can't do these things off the bat.
Simple enough?"
Mei Yue rubbed his temples as this information was quite a lot to take all at once.
"Yeah, I got the gist of it." Mei Yue sighed as he looked at the red crystal.
"Don't worry although I will disappear after this once your control over the primordial flames becomes good enough you'll never be alone." The parliament of fire spoke in a mischievous tone which gave Mei Yue slight goosebumps.
"Wait now that I think about it how long have I been here?" Mei Yue asked as it was a good question, as he felt like countless years has passed but at the same time it didn't.
"None, time doesn't exist here nor is it welcomed here, nothing exists here just us four, and, sound." the parliament of fire said in a somewhat serious tone.
Mei Yue felt his mind throb as if someone was drilling a sword into it before a white fog flowed through his body as a cooling sensation almost as if being dumped in an ice bath streamed through his body, and his mind became calm as his golden eyes flashed with whiteness before disappearing.
The parliament of fire noticed all this but ignored it as Mei Yue himself was a mystery, but from what she's heard before she was sent here it was something only people like Mei Yue possessed.
'****** ** ***' the parliament of flames spoke in a somewhat shocked and awe tone, as she would never have thought she would witness a glimpse of its power.
Mei Yue regained his bearing unaware of what benefits he just gained.
"Let's start the process." the parliament of flames said in a gentle tone.
Mei Yue has no idea how this process worked but nodded his head.
Getting the nod of approval, the red crystal gently flew between Mei Yue's brows.
"AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Not even a second later Mie Yue released a heart-clenching guttural scream that seemed almost demonic yet angelic came out of Mie Yue's mouth.
He felt as if he was thrown into the hottest flames imaginable as if his flesh was burning along with his soul.
Mei Yue continues to scream in absolute agony, as steam started to appear from Mie Yue's body as his body turned a bright red before his skin started to liquefy.
While Mei Yue's skin started to liquefy his insides had already become liquid including his heart, throat, and lungs as everything came out from every orifice on his body. At this point, his skin had already melted off his body including his face except for the veil, almost as if the fire was alive and conscious.
Mei Yue felt his mind on the verge of insanity as he had no idea how he was alive but could do nothing to stop it.
The reason he was still alive was that as the parliament of fire said nothing exists here except them and sound, meaning time, space, oblivion, death, life none of it existed here.
At this point, Mei Yue's muscles started to liquefy too, but he couldn't scream anymore as he couldn't even let out a whimper.
Right before Mei Yue entered the land of insanity, the white fog entered his mind and protected it keeping him from going insane.
After his muscles were liquified, his soul was next but instead of his soul melting it was being tempered like an alchemy pill in a furnace making it stronger.
Which somehow hurt more than becoming a liquid, Mei Yue could only suffer in agony without letting a sound out.
After his soul was tempered, next was his bones.
Like his soul, his bones were tempered but not melted.
After everything was finished like in a horror movie his organs started to create themselves, then his muscles, and finally his skin.
Mei Yue stood there like a dead puppet, not aware of how dark it became around him.
He felt his consciousness fade before waking up in the pagoda again.
Inside the pagoda, a figure appeared out of thin air in a lotus position just sitting on the ground.
This figure was Mei Yue, but there were notable differences to his figure. His skin somehow became finer and silkier, beautiful jade-like skin as if he was a doll. His hair was pure white before now as a few steaks of light red mixed into it.
His long eyelashes became fuller and longer too.
If he wasn't wearing the veil one would notice how sharp his jaw was and that his lips were a luscious bright red color.
Though the most noticeable thing was his eyes. Before they were a beautiful golden color like the shinest gold ever found. Now his right eye was a milky white color.
Mei Yue now had two different eye colors. His left the original enchanting golden color and the right a milky white.
Both eyes were currently dull before light returned to them, along with a new slight mischievous glare in them.
Mei Yue's face only became slightly more feminine now.
"Fuck that hurt!" Mei Yue screamed out loud before he noticed he was inside the pagoda once more.
"Woah this is weird." Mei Yue mumbled as the world around him became clearer once more as his eyesight went up a notch once more to the point Mei Yue could see everything around him like a 360 camera.
He also felt something peculiar with his soul but couldn't put his finger on it just yet.
"Fuck what's with my appearance now!" Mei Yue screamed with frustration, so many new things happening all at once for him, as he noticed he became hotter and had a more mischievous, seductive aura now.
Mei Yue got rid of the seductive aura coming out of his body but couldn't get rid of the mischievousness in his eyes.
He also noted his clothes and veil were still intact including his cloak.
Mei Yue then looked at his dantian but couldn't notice anything different so he looked outside his dantian, and right next to his dantian was a red crystal just floating there.
Coming back, he didn't test out his new innate fire element right away.
Mei Yue's original plan was to search for a flame.
Flames were a very important factor and can assist in refining pills. The better the flames, the better the quality of the pills.
There are many types of flames in this world. Some are innate flames, some are the flames cultivated by certain martial skills, some are beast flames that were obtained from the beasts and some are nature flames.
Like Mei Yue's flame, innate flames are flames that were born with a cultivator. There are many elements in this world and five common elements are earth, fire, water, wind, and metal.
Cultivators born with innate elements were more powerful than normal cultivators and they can control those elements as they wish.
For example, a cultivator was born with fire elements, they can control fires even without any martial skills.
And if they cultivated a fire attribute martial skill, they can release strength to the limit of what those techniques could be capable of, though there have been cases of their fire being potent enough to go past the limit.
There is a special type of flame in this world that could be considered the strongest flame. Those flames are called nature flames, at least that was the case until Mei Yue fucked everything up.
Anyway, as the name implies, nature flames are a special type of flame that is born from nature. These types of flames are also called Fire Souls. The fire soul has its own consciousness. The stronger fire soul has a stronger consciousness and the weaker fire soul has a weaker consciousness.
These fire souls are the type of flames that even those who are born with fire elements want to merge with. Because it can strengthen their fire as well as can assist in any type of fire attack or fire-attributed martial arts.
Fire Souls have their consciousness and that's why they can choose who they wanted to merge with. Merging into one with fire souls is very painful, but after merging with it, the body will become even stronger.
Even though Mei Yue didn't know his flame also had a conscious but until he got stronger it would be 'asleep'.
Fire Souls are also divided into four categories: Elementary Grade Fire Soul, The color of this type of fire soul is red.
Profound Grade Fire Soul, the color of this type of fire soul is blue.
Earth-Fire Soul, the color of this type of fire soul is purple.
Heaven Fire Soul, the color of this type of fire soul is golden.
These fire souls are very rare to come by. Even if it is Yellow Grade Fire Soul, it is very rare, let alone other types of fire souls.
Many alchemists roam throughout the just to get their hands on fire soul, even if it is Red Fire Soul.
If sold, even the lowest Red Fire Soul can be sold for more than 10 million gold coins. Even beast flames that come from a magical beast are very valuable let alone a fire soul.
Fire Souls are very rare and valuable.
Mei Yue's original plan was to find and merge with this type of fire soul. Fire Souls can assist him in refining pills. Even without any fire martial arts, if he has the fire help of a fire soul, he can refine a pill with much greater purity.
But this was shattered before he even had the chance, though it was a blessing as he didn't have to waste time searching for one instead he had the strongest flames imaginable as it stood above every other flame including the parliament of flames.
He could control every single property of fire including being healed with fire, hell he was even immune to fire now as he was basically cleansed with it earlier.
Thinking about this Mei Yue simply put his hand out and his palm facing upward as a red flame appeared in his hands. He couldn't feel how hot it was but had a guess as he could see the surrounding of the flames become slightly distorted so he simply brought the temperature down.
He then changed the colors of the flames including blue, purple, and golden. He also tried black, grey, and white but chose to keep it purple with a slight white accent to it as he thought it looked nice.
Though depending on his situation he may change it accordingly.
When everything was done, Mei Yue comes out of the Nine Story Pagoda, and then with a flash he once again appeared in the room of the in, on his bed.
He also fixed his eyesight so he could only see what was in front of him instead of all around him, but would change it back in a fight. Looking around with his new vision he noticed how dirty this room was, so he lit everything on fire on low heat making sure not to burn or damage anything after a few seconds he recalled the fire back and the room was absolutely spotless now.
After that, he came out of his room and found a restaurant to eat at.
He sat down and started eating the meal that he ordered.
He was still eating when a young man and a girl entered the restaurant. Seeing them, everyone in the restaurant stood up and greeted him.
"Young City Lord!"
This was the son of Night City's City Lord, Xing Niu. When he saw these people greeting him, he nodded his head and looked for a waiter.
"Waiter, hurry up and bring us to a clean window-side table. I have an important guest here, so bring out your best dishes."
The waiter hesitated though at this demand.
Seeing this Xing Niu snapped at the waiter, "What is it fool?"
"The window-side table you want is already reserved and a customer is currently having her meal there!" said the waiter.
"So what!? Kick her ass out!"
The waiter ran towards a woman who was currently eating her food with her hood down and eating under her veil and said, "customer can you change your seat, young city lord is here and wants to take this table." the waiter said respectively, but slightly timidly.
The female raised her head and looked at the waiter in the eye with a cold glare, before ignoring him and continued eating.
Xing Niu frowned and walked toward Mei Yue.
"Trash, you could not even make him empty the table." Xing Niu said to the waiter, then turned to Mei Yue.
Xing Niu's brain seemed to stop functioning correctly as he stared at Mei Yue's stunning upper face, even though Mei Yue had a veil on his upper face still told everyone he was an absolute beauty.
Even the girl seemed absolutely shocked at her beauty and wondered if she was just ugly.
Everyone saw this beauty and was stunned into silence.
Mei Yue seeing the number of disgusting stares simply lifted his veil slightly showing his Adam's apple.
This further stumped everyone wondering about their own existence.
Even the girl, was ashamed wondering how a man could be this beautiful.
"I'm not into guys, Xing Niu. I don't know about you but I don't swing that way."
"..."
"..."
"HAHAHAA!" Soon the entire restaurant went into an uproar with laughter, trying to play off their own lustful thoughts toward a guy.
Even the girl slightly laughed as it was pretty funny once she thought about it.
"SHUT UP!" Xing Niu roared with fury causing the laughter to halt, except for the girl accompanying him but he couldn't do anything to her.
Xing Niu looked at Mei Yue with disgust, as he threw a bag of coins at Mei Yue.
"Take this and get the fuck out of my city."
Mei Yue simply looked at the bag of what he assumed of gold coins and simply grabbed it.
Seeing this Xing Niu was about to mock him, but what he saw next almost made him vomit blood as he saw the person in front of him put the bag of coins in his spatial ring and continue eating as if nothing happened.
Seeing this the girl stopped laughing and stared in utter surprise. She came to this city two weeks with her Formation Master to build a teleportation array from here to Monarch City, hence she stayed at the City Lord's Mansion.
From the moment she met Xing Niu, he followed her everywhere like a bug, and people who met him, all bowed toward him and greeted him. Some greeted him in fear, some greeted him to fawn over him and some greeted him with respect. But one thing was certain and it was that they all gave him face, but this young man? in front of her directly ignored this young city lord, Xing Niu, and just took his money.