Kai realised that it would most likely be necessary to open his consciousness to fire.....
But right now, he couldn't even see his Spiritual Sea! How was he supposed to deal with this?
"How do I proceed from here? Will I be able to resist the Astral Sacrifice Fire in my consciousness?" - Kai tried to think of what further action to take.
- At this rate, I won't be able to continue... The fruit might run out and then, I'll still need to try the Spiritual Sea option. But in addition, I'll also be exhausted... - Kai said to himself.
"Alright, whatever happens! No time to ponder longer..." - Said Kai to himself in his head.
After thinking about it, Kai took a deep inhale and exhale. He calmed his mind and consciousness as much as he could.
He focused on the area between his eyes, and began to slowly open it up from his energy. Kai was creating a passageway for the fire.
He was now both incredibly focused, yet calm at the same time. He was slowly thinning the energy, on his forehead. Kai wanted to create a passageway so narrow that not even a hair would pass between them.
As soon as it was possible to pass the barrier of energy, it was as if the fire sensed it. Even more so, it seemed to be even more interested in absorbing it now. It felt like it could penetrate straight into the soul of its victim!
- Ugggh!" Kai shouted out muffledly.
His entire body instantly tensed up. Kai's hands clenched so tightly that he dug his nails into his palms. At the same moment, two rivulets of blood began to flow from his fists.
He completely stopped paying attention to the outside world. Right now, he could feel his consciousness beginning to shake. Kai was holding on to his consciousness with his last strength!
It seemed to him that he was a mortal who hadn't slept for days and should continue to stay awake. But every time he closed his eyes to blink, his consciousness drifted off into dreamland. If he fell asleep, he would die immediately! It was only through sheer willpower that he found the strength within himself to regain consciousness and not stay asleep.
"Keep going! Keep going! Keep going!" - Kai was constantly screaming in his mind, trying not to lose himself and subsequently his life!
His mind was in chaos, he was in pain, even more so than physical pain. Right now it felt like his brain was on fire, bringing incredible pain, but he remained conscious out of his last strength.
The symbiosis of incredible pain and terrifying exhaustion, began to produce illusions and delusions in his head. It seemed that it was only through his Willpower that he kept himself alive and sane.
It was now becoming clear why the Astral Alchemy Emperor was sceptical about the possibility of his legacy being absorbed. It seemed that anyone who reached the stage Kai was at now would go insane at the same moment. It was unrealistic to endure such a thing.
Continuing to struggle Kai shouted in his head:
"Fuck you! I'm not going to die! I will live, and you fucking light will be my servant!" - The will burned in Kai's heart and mind. He kept trying.
As soon as he shouted it out, he seemed to feel a strange sensation. Something was flowing into his brain! The energy of the King of Terror!
"What is this!!! He's voluntarily helping me?!" - Screamed Kai in his head.
Just as the Terror King's energy began to be absorbed by Kai's brain, consciousness returned to him. He now regained the ability to think more or less straight.
Kai began to ponder why this was happening? It was as if the Horror King was willingly giving a part of himself to him.
"Did the Terror King recognise me, or what is it? Okay, I'll think about it later, I need to suppress this Astral Sacrifice Fire!" - Kai quickly dismissed all his thoughts and began to spend all his consciousness on absorbing it.
The longer Kai resisted and endured, drop by drop, the fire became a little less. But ahead, there was still a whole sea of it!
"That's it! I just need to resist and endure the tempering of the Astral Sacrifice Fire! It's like a tug of war, the one who depletes faster will lose! I need to just endure, slowly absorbing and internalising the fire... When the time comes, I need to make the final push!" - Realising what to do Kai began to focus.
"Thank you King of Terror!" - Said in his head Kai and continued to hold his consciousness.
Time continued to flow. Day after day passed, and the fire around Kai's body became smaller and smaller. It was really consuming him! The method was really working!
When two months had passed, the fire was almost gone. But Kai's body wasn't in the best shape either... It seemed like every muscle in his body was trembling, and there was very little energy in his body.
During this time, of ceaselessly consuming fire, Kai had run out of all the energy-filled fruits. He had to adapt to allocate part of his consciousness to absorb more energy from outside.
Just at this moment, he was at a critical point! He had one last step to make!
Covered in blood, dirt, and dried sweat, Kai clenched his teeth and jumped to his feet, letting out a frantic scream!
-Kgaaaaaaaaaaaaah! - All the energy from his body drained away, opening a free passageway for the rest of the fire.
Now it was time, for the final push. If he could withstand it, he would absorb this Astral Sacrifice Fire!
As soon as all the remnants of the fire rushed into the area of Kai's forehead, even his scream was silenced. Although his mouth was open, no sounds came out. Right now, there was no strength left even for that.
After standing like this in silence for several hours, Kai's body trembled and he fell unconsciously to the ground.
On the floor of the cave lay an emaciated body, covered in dirt, blood and ragged clothes... But it was breathing!
Kai was alive, his body had not burned and his consciousness had not died! It seemed that through incredible exhaustion, his body just needed to repair itself.
After lying like this for days, suddenly his arm twitched... He regained consciousness!
Kai slowly opened his eyes and began to survey his surroundings....
- Wow... - He let out. He felt like he was starting to see and perceive energy even better now.
As he released the energy and tried to control the 'cooties', he realised that their number had more than tripled and his control had become incredibly precise. When he thought of something, he opened his mouth in a daze.
- It can't be... - Saying that, Kai closed his eyes and centred his consciousness in the forehead area.
At that moment, it was as if he had moved to another area. Where he had a body identical to the real one. Except, he was clean and wearing neat black clothes.
Looking around, he saw around him an endless white space with a slightly hilly terrain. And in front of him was a huge lake with black waters that seemed bottomless.
Looking around, Kai saw small lights burning everywhere on the hills, and even above the surface of the water. They were all black and purple. It was as if they were part of this whole landscape. There even seemed to be something like white grass and vegetation on the hills and under his feet. The atmosphere here was simply incredible!
- .... - Kai dumbfoundedly looked around and suddenly let out, -Dammit, this is my Spiritual Sea! How did I open it now! - Shouted Kai.
- And it seems to have merged with the Astral Sacrifice Fire! That's right! It's definitely about the Astral Fire and the Horror King's Energy!!!! - Shouted Kai to himself.
"The Astral Alchemy Emperor said that his fire had absorbed an incredible number of souls... And with the help of the Terror King, who strengthened my mind and kept me conscious, I was able to absorb the Astral Fire and become its central soul! No wonder that with so many souls within it, I was able to form my own Spiritual Sea! Yes, and it was also based on the Heavenly Fire!" - Kai dumbfoundedly began to realise what had happened.
- Hahaha! That's just fucking amazing! I don't know all the nuances, but at the very least, my control over energy has increased many times over! Hahaha! - Now Kai was incredibly happy, he couldn't stop laughing.
- Listen Luck, I'm sorry I yelled at you. I'm damn glad I came here! But without my powers, I would have died here, so we're even, hehe. - Kai said with a laugh. In his time here, he was used to talking to himself.
At that moment, Kai shifted his gaze to more of the lake and saw something hovering above its waters....
- Hmmm...? - Kai asked.