Under the scorching sun, a human figure was travelling through the Endless Wasteland at an incredible speed. Occasionally, it would turn off the path to kill an animal. After the battle, there wasn't even a corpse left, as the beast was burned completely.
This was Kai, who would soon reach the Border Beast City.
During his journey, he had even had a few fierce fights with mid-level Cloud Sphere beasts.
Although the fights with them were difficult and Kai would even get lightly injured sometimes, but that lasted up to a certain point. Once Kai released his destructive energy in symbiosis with the Astral Sacrificial Fire, it seemed as if the Lord of Hell himself had come to this world to take lives.
At that moment, things were changing very quickly, it was difficult for the animals to even withstand the aura. The suppression from Kai was becoming simply crushing!
After he rose to the high level of a cultivator, almost all the energy was imbued with his attribute. Although Kai still couldn't understand the nature of his energy, he roughly understood its properties. It suppressed all living things, even other energies!
The Astral Sacrifice Fire, in turn, was a Heavenly Fire. But most importantly, it was under Kai's complete subjugation. Although the power of the fire was limited to the cultivation stage, but even at its current level, its suppression of flesh and soul was incredible. It was destroying the body and consuming the soul itself.
Moving across the wasteland, Kai was just contemplating this.
"When I simultaneously use my energy together with the Astral Sacrificial Fire, universal suppression comes out! My energy, destroys any living flesh and other energies. Fire on the other hand, similarly suppresses flesh, but instead of energy, it specialises in the soul..." - Thinking about this, Kai once again remembered the Essence Sphere and the laws realised from it.
The last four laws resounded in his thoughts:
"Life and Death, there is a fourth law. The fruit of the creation of the supreme triad of laws, time-space, luck and will. Luck and will to develop in the infinity of time, give birth to entities and take them away to nothingness.
The Law of the Flesh, is the fifth law. Everything begins with flesh, flesh animate and inanimate, flesh material and spiritual, even the manifestations of nature have flesh.
The Law of Energy, is the sixth law. The development and activity of everything gives birth to myriads of variations of energy, its combinations and kinds.
The Law of Spirit, is the seventh law. With sufficient time, everything receives its spirit, and its consciousness, which is the manifestation of the highest form of being.
The Law of Flesh, Energy and Spirit, are the fruit of the Higher Triad of Laws and the Law of Life and Death. They complement and suppress each other, creating balance."
"Amazing... I don't know where the Sphere of Essence came from, but it appears that I am developing all three aspects at the same time, just as the Laws said... I don't understand the nature of the sphere, or where it came from, but I can say for sure that it is amazing! What I felt then is still incomparable to this day..." - Continuing to run Kai pondered, occasionally releasing his aura and scaring away weak animals that wanted to attack him unexpectedly.
"Even possessing the Invisible King Torture Technique and the legacy of the Astral Alchemy Emperor... They can't compare to that feeling... Oh, and my Eyes of Essence, a very strange ability, until I've seen even a hint of something like that in others." - Reflecting on this, Kai was once again convinced that the Suti Sphere was a very mysterious item.
He couldn't even realise its nature, as he had only seen it once, and that was in an obscure space. And then he felt as if its aura had entered his body. He couldn't detect anything even when he obtained Spiritual Sea, which was an ability not his level of development.
"The laws of Flesh, Energy, and Spirit are incredible, but the Supreme Triad is far more amazing! Its laws seem to contain incredible meaning... It's as if they are an order of magnitude higher, and far more fundamental. If I can see the laws of Life and Death, Flesh, Energy and Spirit in certain forms, then the Higher Triad is much more abstract... It seems to be contained in everything and everywhere... Time and Space, Will, Luck..." - Moving forward, Kai was sinking deeper and deeper into philosophical thoughts about the world.
Every time he thought about the seven laws of the Essence Sphere, he was plunged into an infinity of reasoning. It seemed that when he found the answer to his question, two new ones were born. It was as if each of the laws individually gave him infinite potential for thought. But if one reasoned over how they were intertwined with each other, then one could get lost in thought altogether....
"I have this bitter feeling, as if a person's life isn't long enough to think about all of this. Even if I were to stay in the Astral City and think for the rest of my life, I wouldn't have enough time. It's kind of unfortunate to realise..." - Thinking about it, Kai even grimaced slightly, which was uncharacteristic of his usually calm face.
While running, he noticed a weak, ferocious beast jumping out at him. With a flick of his hand, he was instantly engulfed in flames, taking his blood and soul with him. Watching the process Kai found himself thinking again.
"Hmm, the Astral Emperor of Alchemy, said that fire evolves by devouring other people's souls. Except, no matter how many beasts I kill, I don't see any changes. It seems my past assumptions make sense. This Astral Sacrifice Fire belonged to an emperor who had taken countless lives of high order masters. Even an army of people like me would just be a crowd of ants to him... Most likely, I'll only be able to cultivate the fire when I reach the Astral Alchemy Emperor level and my opponents' souls become worthy..." - Kai pondered, finally confirming his hypothesis.
It was natural, as he could only use a tiny fraction now, of the full power of his fire. Then, how would he amplify it? So far, it was at too low a level.....
While pondering this, suddenly Kai saw the silhouette of a large wall appear on the grisons.
- Hehe. Border Beast City, I'm finally back! Fatty, you owe it to me to buy me some good wine, I haven't drunk anything in a very long time! - Laughing, Kai began to run even more vigorously, sparing no effort.
After half an hour, he saw a large tension bridge two hundred metres away from him, which led to the wall.
Running up to it, he reduced his pace to a normal walking pace and started to climb up. He felt encouraged. Although he had a completely different plan to realise and develop in Border Beast City, things had turned out much better.
Taking everything that had happened and the new variables into consideration, Kai had already started to develop a new strategy in his head. He already knew roughly what he was going to do. But first, he would have to meet Diso and the guys in the group to get a feel for the situation. Since in a certain sense, they were also variables in his plan.
Thinking about it, Kai walked along the bridge, approaching the top of the wall.
- Wait, the registration plate, as well as the things to be searched. - In a calm but firm voice, the guard said.
It was standard procedure. Knowing this, Kai had taken out some inexpensive herbs he found on the way back and put them in an improvised bag beforehand. These herbs were good, except if one didn't equal them with Astral Grad plants....
- Hmm, fine, I'll take it. Your earnings are ten energy stones, obtainable from the Food Bureau. Once you touch the obelisk plate, the information will automatically go there.'' - The guard said dryly. He seemed to be saying all this to every person who entered. However, everyone was doing their job.
- Thank you very much. - Bowing slightly, Kai walked over to the obelisk and held up the plaque.
- Erm..." Kai said stupidly, "Can you help me? - Kai asked with a smile, he was expecting something like this.
- Hmm? No way! Fuck, man, how did you survive in there for so long! - Exclaimed the guard.
The situation that was happening now was incredibly rare. So rare, in fact, that Kai had already been recorded as dead!
It wasn't surprising though, his group had returned without him, and he himself hadn't been back for a year and a half. It was logical to assume that he was long gone. But then, out of nowhere, he came back safe and sound!