Without hesitation, Yuan picked up the small bead as his father had ordered.
He poured his qi into it, but the bead showed no reaction at all. Remembering his father's words, he bit his finger again, letting a drop of blood fall onto the bead.
The moment his blood touched the bead, a tingling sensation washed over him, his body vibrating as if a powerful force were being unleashed. The bead glowed with a pulsing light, and it began to absorb Yuan's qi at a rapid pace. He had a very small amount of qi which was absorbed by the bead in no time. But the bead didn't stop there—it began to absorb his blood essence.
Yuan panicked. He immediately tried to pull the bead away, but it wouldn't budge. It had fused with his body, as though it were part of him. His muscles were rapidly shrinking, his body feeling as if it were being drained of life itself. His vision blurred, and dizziness overwhelmed him.
"Red!" Yuan cried out, his voice barely audible. Then, darkness took over, and he collapsed to the ground.
By the time Red stepped into the cave, Yuan lay sprawled on the ground, unmoving. If someone saw him now, he wouldn't be able to recognize Yuan no matter what—skin clung tightly to his bones, and his muscles seemingly vanished, leaving him looking like a lifeless mummy.
Yuan's eyelids fluttered before opening slowly. He looked around with slight confusion etched on his face. The damp walls of the cave were gone, replaced by a vast, open space shrouded in darkness with some lights flickering in the distance.
He tried to rise, only to realize that he couldn't feel his body at all. He looked down and there was nothing. This shocked the hell out of him. His body was gone, replaced by an empty void where his form should have been. His thoughts raced. "What the hell was going on? Where am I?
Fragments of memory crashed into him like waves. He remembered the bead greedily absorbing his blood essence. A chilling realization settled over him: Am I dead?
The thought sent a tremor through him. He had only just resolved to cultivate and grow stronger, to protect his family—and now this? A bitter sigh escaped him, though no breath carried the sound. Without a body, even tears were impossible.
Out of instinct or desperation, he focused on the lights in the distance. To his surprise, he moved—not walking, but gliding, as though his thoughts alone propelled him forward.
Moments later, he reached the lights. Five glowing orbs hung before him: blue, green, red, gold, and grey. The green, golden, and red lights orbs were blazing brightly and vibrantly while the blue and grey ones pulsed faintly, like embers on the verge of extinguishing.
Yuan stared at them, a mixture of curiosity and unease swirling in his chest. He stretched out his hand—or whatever invisible force served as his hand—but the lights remained just out of reach, untouchable.
Frustrated, he willed himself to sit, his mind spinning with questions.
Before he could formulate a plan, the air rippled like a disturbed pond, and an old man materialized before him. The old man's robe shimmered with all the colors of the lights above and more, its fabric shifting and changing as though alive.
Yuan flinched, startled by the sudden appearance. Both of them looked at each other in silence. The old man eyes were as deep as an ocean, calm yet inscrutable, as if they held secrets beyond his comprehension.
Without a word, the old man raised his hand. A swirling, five-colored light emerged from his palm, mirroring the orbs in the air. With a subtle flick of his wrist, the light shot forward, striking Yuan squarely between his brows. A searing sensation tore through him. He staggered, the world around him spinning, and collapsed into the enveloping void.
*****
Yuan regained consciousness, though he couldn't tell how much time had passed. A strange weight pressed on his eyelids, and when he tried to open them, the effort felt like lifting a boulder. Slowly, the room around him began to come into focus. The wooden beams of the pavilion's ceiling, the soft light filtering through the windows—he was in his own room.
He instinctively reached out, trying to feel his body, fearing that it might not be there at all. A surge of relief washed over him as his fingers brushed against the cool fabric of his bedclothes. His body was intact, though every muscle throbbed with aching pain. But at least, unlike that terrifying emptiness he'd felt before, he 'had' a body again.
He closed his eyes and tried to focus. 'What had happened?' His head throbbed suddenly, and a sharp pain shot through his skull. 'New information'—or something far beyond memories—burst into his mind in a violent wave, overwhelming his senses.
Information, strange and foreign, flooded him like an unstoppable torrent. His chest tightened as his brain struggled to keep up. The pain was unbearable at first as if his skull was cracking open. But little by little, it began to subside, and the flood slowed. Slowly when pain subsided, Yuan started to analyze new information.
The technique that now appeared in his mind was unlike anything he'd ever imagined. "The No-Element Codex". It was exactly what it sounded like—a cultivation method that didn't rely on any single elemental affinity, but instead balanced all elements in harmony.
"How this could be possible?" Yuan muttered. He couldn't believe such a cultivation method even existed. But he felt a deep, undeniable certainty that the method was special and very high-level cultivation method. He had a feeling that if the news of this method leaked, he wouldn't be able to know how he died.
He continued analyzing. Soon he knew why this method wasn't common. His mind buzzed with the conditions for cultivating it, and each one seemed more impossible than the last.
First, a person with all-elements spirit root was required. A person with an all-elements spirit root was as rare as a Phoenix feather. Such a person might not appear for thousands of years. Besides it was not easy to cultivate all elements in a single body.
Next, cultivating the No-Element Codex demanded a "strong body". Not just any strong body, but one capable of withstanding the agonizing torment of all elements at the same time. Every muscle would be pushed to its breaking point. Every cell in the body would be taxed, and only those with an extraordinary will could endure.
Yuan knew his body was strong, but the path ahead demanded way more.
Third, there was "comprehension". The Codex didn't just ask for a physical foundation. It demanded a mind sharp enough to grasp its complexities—its intricate layers of theory.
Only a true genius could understand it all, and geniuses were not easily created. Almost all the sects and powerful people would want to nurture him. Why would he want to go through such torture?
Finally, the technique required "resources", and not just any resources. The amount needed to cultivate the No-Element Codex was astronomical. Yuan could only imagine how many rare herbs, spiritual stones, and artifacts would be required. The cost was so high, it might take a lifetime—or even multiple lifetimes—to gather them.
The path ahead would be anything but easy.