Standing at the top of the stairs, Kai looked around at everything going on around him. He had been here once before, but he had only furtively looked at the Astral Sacrifice Fire.
Now he was inspecting the surroundings in more detail.
The cave was indeed huge, it was as if it was bigger than the emperor's palace itself. It didn't seem to be man-made, as the walls and ceiling were all covered in stalactites. The walls were not smooth, and there were rocks sticking out from everywhere.
In the center of the cave was a huge flat area. And leading to it were long ornate descents that slowly descended, going in a circle along the wall.
"Eyes of the Essence" - Kai thought, and activated his ability.
Looking at the platform in the center of the cave, he saw a huge array that painted the entire area. The array was even going up the walls and ceiling. It seemed like this entire cave was completely used to seal the Astral Alchemy Emperor's legacy.
The entire structure of the array was drawn in such a way that it flowed down and focused on the center, where a ball of black fire hung in the air with purple sparks constantly erupting.
- Alright, there's no point in waiting any longer, we have to go. - Kai said to himself and started to descend.
Taking step by step, slowly walking down the stairs, he looked at the fire. It was even starting to give him a bit of a headache. But he noticed that the pressure of that feeling, was much weaker than the first time.
- It seems that I really have become much stronger during this time. The first time I saw the Astral Sacrificial Fire..." Kai paused thoughtfully, "I think it was over a year ago..." he said and continued to think aloud, "The pressure on my mind was much stronger then. - Walking down the gangplank, Kai talked to himself. In the time he had spent alone, he had gotten used to it.
Under his musings, he slowly approached the platform at the bottom of the cave.
- Okay, so be it. - Concentrating, Kai took a step forward.
And then!
"Wzhuum!" - The entire array began to glow and the air around it began to shake slightly.
Kai became extremely wary and sharpened all his senses to the max. After a few seconds, he saw a few sparks from the fire begin to fly forward and stop five meters away from him.
- What's going on? - Kai asked himself warily.
Now the sparks in front of him began to merge and form a silhouette. Slowly forming, they turned into a translucent old man with a long beard.
"The Astral Alchemy Emperor? He's not dead?!" - Right now, Kai didn't realize what was happening.
Slowly forming, under Kai's puzzled gaze. The old man slowly landed on the floor, and folded his arms into sleeves at his chest level.
Next, something happened that Kai couldn't have expected. The old man spoke!
- Greetings! If you can hear me, then there is still someone who has come for my legacy. Which means civilization is alive....
"What's going on? It seems as if he's speaking from the past... He hasn't been here for a long time. Did he manage to transmit himself through time using the array? What kind of concept is that?" - Kai wondered. Everything happening now, was beyond his comprehension.
- Before ending my life, I want to clarify some of the things that lie ahead of you. Also, information that you might be interested to know.
"While there is no danger, I need to listen to what the Astral Emperor of Alchemy wants to tell me" - Thinking about it, Kai relaxed a bit, and continued listening.
It was pointless to take any other action right now. It seemed like he couldn't interact with the old man and ask him anything. Also, it didn't seem like the old man could do anything bad to Kai right now.
Since the emperor had already offered to receive his inheritance before this. And even gave the alternative of living, without receiving the inheritance. It's unlikely that he would do something life-threatening right now.
- ''I want to begin by once again clarifying the nature of the Astral Sacrifice Fire to you.'' - Calmly said the emperor.
- The Astral Sacrifice Fire, can only be born in dark places where hundreds of years, tens of thousands of people will be sacrificed. If the sacrifices are voluntary, the fire will be born faster. - The old man began to explain.
- The uniqueness of the Astral Sacrifice Fire is that it is a Heavenly Fire that has no consciousness born. Due to absorbing an incredible amount of souls and mixing them together, the Astral Fire, cannot give birth to its own consciousness. All it has is an incredible instinct to absorb souls.'' - Said the old man.
- The other celestial fires are born by continuously absorbing and cultivating energy. The Astral Fire, in turn, absorbs souls. If one absorbed a Heavenly Fire, one would need to coexist peacefully with another soul. And be wary of the fact that he would not damage you at a critical moment.
- Because absorbing Heavenly Fire is an incredibly difficult action... The Astral Sacrifice Fire also has its own problems... But if you can suppress its instincts, and absorb it. Then, your soul will become central... - The Astral Alchemy Emperor explained.
- In other words, you can say you'll become the Heavenly Fire itself. Hahaha. - The old man laughed, ''Of course, you will be limited by your level of development. And you will be able to use as much fire power as your body will allow you.
- But for alchemy, it will be the perfect flame! For you will be able to control it like your extra limbs. It will literally become a part of you. For other alchemists, you need to constantly exercise control, and strengthen your connection with your fire. And if we're talking about the Celestial Fires...
- You'll have to establish what you might call a friendly and kinship bond with them. Only when they realize the benefits will they allow you to use them.
- So if you can obtain and absorb the Astral Sacrificial Fire. Then you will have unquestioned and sole control over the Heavenly Fire! And the amount and strength of the flames will be limited by your abilities.
"Sounds like this fire will be incredibly useful not only in alchemy, but also in increasing combat power!" - Kai was beginning to be seriously interested in the old man's words.
Before this, Kai hadn't been particularly interested in Alchemy. It seemed that the Eyes of Essence wouldn't help him there like it did with Array Mastery. Kai was focused on his combat strength. If he needed to spend a very long time on a craft, he would give up on it.
With Array Mastery, things were such that he could learn by leaps and bounds. In a year in confinement, he was probably already at Fabian's level, he just lacked the knowledge of arrays. If he got his hands on a manual for the different variations of arrays, he would quickly tighten up the theory. In practice, if he practiced constantly, he was unlikely to lose to anyone.
But what would happen if he could also use the Heavenly Fire unhindered?
"Wouldn't I then become a martial artist who is proficient in two crafts at once? Both the former and the latter are highly sought after... Yes, and they can greatly help in unforeseen circumstances..." - Right now, Kai was pondering over what was happening.
Earlier he had hoped that with the help of the Eye of Essence, during the test, perhaps he would notice where the surface transfer array was. And then quickly slip through, dodging the deadly ordeal. Still, it was better to return here when he was much stronger. And already definitely obtain the legacy of the Astral Alchemy Emperor....