Path to Transcendence

Julius couldn’t help but grimace at the brutal remains of the man’s body. It had been a truly gruesome death. He hadn’t really expected his plan to work, but it did. It worked extremely well.

A little too well.

The amount of life mana he was able to send through the [Phoenix’s Mark] was surprising. How easily it was to use [Phoenix Incarnate] on another person was just as surprising, if not more so. He’d been worried that a legendary skill wouldn’t be able to interact with an epic with any efficiency. However, not only was it efficient, but it also seemed slightly enhanced.

It must have been because of his Phoenix Concept and how closely related the two skills were.

He didn’t even mean to go that far. His skill had taken over towards the end and completely warped and twisted the man’s flesh until it was unrecognizable. He would have died even if he hadn't thrown that fireball at him towards the end. In fact, it was a mercy at that point.

However, that sucked for him because he had a lot of questions that he wanted answered. Without Erek, he was back to square one. The only thing he managed to get out of this was confirmation that the Conclave had some involvement.

It would appear that Celestine was either directly a part of the Conclave or working with them at some level. Julius bent down to scavenge whatever items survived on the body. He held back a gag from the smell of the corpse. The exploded tumors and other cancerous clumps of flesh were disgusting.

It was no wonder that Freya and almost every healer he learned from had strictly forbidden him from messing with fleshcraft or other related abilities. It was nasty business. He could see why it was put on the same level as necromancy and other restricted magic.

From the burnt corpse, he retrieved two rings. One of them was a storage ring surrounded by several complex layers of protection. He examined it with his aura and quickly evaluated that he wouldn’t be forcibly opening the ring without a lot of time or help.

The other ring was a lot simpler. There was a blood-binding enchantment on it. Since its previous owner was no longer amongst the living, there was an empty space. He didn’t sense anything nefarious or dangerous about the ring and quickly pricked his finger, dropping a bit of his blood onto it.

A connection suddenly formed between him and the ring. While blood-binding enchantments weren’t as strong or safe as soul-bound or aura-linked enchantments, they were the next best thing. With the connection, he quickly figured out what the ring was, and a thin shield of energy appeared over his skin.

This was the exact thing that had blocked his sword strike earlier. He lifted it up to inspect in the morning light, the silver metal glinting softly in the sun. He was quite happy with it. From what he could tell, it might come in handy down the road.

Not seeing anything else on the man’s body, he gathered some ruinous flames, his crown joyfully making an appearance on his head. His Imperfect Ruinous Phoenix Core had improved slightly, and he was able to pull some mana from there as well. He made sure not a single inch of flesh remained, and when he was done with that, he dug a hole and dumped the dirt ten feet down. He also gave it one last clean-up with his aura.

Once again, his ruinous aura showed its worth. Not a single speck of mana or evidence remained. The only hint that something had happened was the upturned dirt. But he covered that with a big rock.

Only then did he feel better. He didn’t want someone to come searching for Erek only to find Julius’s mana left behind.

He soon left the area, making his way back to the city. His appearance was still on the servant and changed it back. He didn’t really care if Celestine found him. Honestly, he was hoping for it. Maybe this way, he could draw out another Conclave member.

He also checked out his notifications.

[Calm Before Ruin lvl 4 -> lvl 5]

[Phoenix Incarnate lvl 1 -> lvl 2]

[Void Step lvl 21 -> lvl 22]

[Absolute Spatial Perception lvl 23 -> lvl 24]

[Field of the Shattered Will lvl 19 -> lvl 20]

[Harmonic Balance lvl 5 -> lvl 7]

[Phoenix’s Mark lvl 3 -> lvl 7]

A large number of levels greeted him. During his break, he hadn’t received any levels, and so it was nice to see such a large increase.

Getting four whole levels in [Phoenix’s Mark] was a pleasant surprise, too. Using it this way must have helped a lot. He needed to test out different things with the skill in the future. He had a feeling it would become a valuable skill. The fact that a Tier 5 struggled to get rid of the mark was promising. Unfortunately, he didn’t think he could use it as a stealthy tracking option at the moment. If he wanted to use it that way, he’d need to improve it beforehand.

With the increase in levels, he sensed he could create more marks. When he first gained the skill, he’d limited it to two marks. But with each level, he gained the ability to create more, as well as improving his ability to control them.

He could feel that he could handle around five or so marks, depending on how much willpower he put into each one. If he were to put all of his willpower into them, he could probably comfortably control four.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

With that all settled, he decided to head for the inn. Selene had mentioned she would leave a message for him there.

He also wanted to help her out. If she had a Heartburst Seed shoved inside her chest as well, he wanted to see if he could remove it. He had been able to remove his, but his own healing skill helped out a lot.

Selene was pretty good at healing magic, but he didn’t know if her body would be able to handle such extreme healing. Not every healer specialized in self-regeneration as he did. But it wouldn’t hurt to check. While she “betrayed” him. He didn’t hold any hard feelings, especially knowing that she was being forced into it. That, and knowing she had taken the risk to help him escape, made him forgive her of all other unresolved feelings.

He didn’t really need any help to escape. He could have used [Void Step] at any time, but the fact that she risked so much to help him without knowing any of that more than redeemed her in his eyes.

Entering the city was a piece of cake, and he carefully went over. When he arrived, the inn was as busy as ever. Groups of people were constantly coming and going from the building, which made it easier to blend in. It also didn’t draw any attention to itself for hanging around.

When the coast was clear, he went over to the barrel at the back. Tucked behind it was a small piece of paper just like she said there would be. On it were simple directions to Selene's location.

He followed the instructions and soon found himself in the middle of a bustling district. Unlike many other districts he’d seen, this was a bit different. There was a certain type of clientele visiting shops. It was clearly more of an upscale area than where the inn had been.

However, he was taken toward the back of an alley, and, just to be safe, he did a quick circle to make sure nobody was following or watching him. Once he deemed it safe, he found the door that the paper noted and knocked.

The second he knocked, he felt several enchantments activate. He stepped back cautiously, but calmed down when Selene opened the door for him. She poked her head out, still wearing a set of pink silk pajamas, and beckoned him inside. “Quickly, before anyone sees,” she said in a hush.

He stepped through the door and was immediately greeted by a beautiful home. Marbled archways and pillars surrounded the foyer. And a large tree full of pink petals bloomed between a winding staircase.

“What is this place?” he asked with bright eyes, examining the tree closely.

“It’s one of my family’s safe houses we have throughout Goldmere.”

Julius immediately stiffened up when he heard that. “Are we safe here? I thought your family was forcing you to do this?”

Selene shook her head. “My family is complicated. My parents were the ones who introduced me to Celestine, and they use my brother to force me to do what they want. But the rest of my family isn’t a part of all that. This is my uncle’s safehouse, and where he stays when he comes to Goldmere. He gave me a key and told me that I should come here if I’m ever in trouble.”

“And does Celestine know you’re here?”

“No, but she can’t track me anyway. I have several items on me that make it next to impossible to track me without the help of a highly skilled diviner or tracker. Not that she will bother to, she already has her hands full, and it will become even worse after that incident. She knows the Heartburst Seed is enough to keep me in line. She shouldn’t suspect anything, though. I made it look like Clan Kaizen broke into the warehouse,” she said with a smirk.

“Do you still want help to remove it?” he asked.

She leaned forward, and he felt her mana senses examine him intensely. “Did you already remove yours?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I removed it as soon as I could.”

She tilted her head and placed a hand on his chest without any warning. She looked up after a few moments, a stunned expression on her face. “You really did remove it. How?”

“I ripped it out,” he said with a shrug.

Her eyes widened. “What do you mean you ripped it out? It didn’t activate when you did that?”

Julius nodded. “It did, but I was able to prevent it from killing me.”

“How?”

He shrugged. “It’s complicated. But I can help you if you still want it.”

“Yes, please!” she said, her expression becoming slightly desperate.

“Aren’t you nervous that she will find out?” he asked curiously.

“Of course. But it’s better than leaving it inside me. Not even my parents know about it. Their greed extends far, but even they wouldn’t be okay with their daughter being implanted with something as viscous as a Heartburst Seed. They understand what kind of leverage it can create and what I might be forced to do to them.”

“So what happens if I take it out of you?”

“I’ll immediately tell my parents and the rest of my family about what Celestine did. My parents, being the way they are, will likely raise a huge fuss, but they don’t really care about me. They will only act as if they care and then focus on getting more out of Celestine and her family as compensation. On the other hand, it should protect me from anything like this in the future. It will also give me a way out. My other family tends to let my parents do what they want with my brother and me, but they won’t be able to ignore something like this. This affects their own reputation as well. My uncle will have an excuse to protect me and maybe even help gain custody of my brother.”

“Is your family a big deal?”

Selene rubbed her head awkwardly. “Kind of. We’re one of the Verdant Willow Sect’s Legacy Clans.”

“Legacy Clans?” he asked interestedly.

“Yeah, basically our ancestor was one of the founding members of the clan, and their descendants stayed loyal to the sect for many years. It means that a lot of our family are either elders or have some executive role within the sect.”

Julius nodded. It sounded complicated, and he wanted to avoid getting drawn into that mess. He’d already learned his lesson back at the Burning Sun Sect. Even if he needed to go there to learn more about his life techniques, he would keep his distance.

“So, how confident are you that you will be able to remove my Heartburst Seed? Actually, how confident are you that you can even find it? I know that the seed has a function that obfuscates its exact location in one’s body, making surgery an issue,” she said to him after a minute of silence.

He shrugged. “The location is easy. I have a skill that helps me out with that. But it will depend on how well your body can handle healing. I think I have the healing magic down, but it will come down to how much you can withstand the healing process.”

She frowned. “I have a few ways to heal myself, so my body should be able to withstand a decent amount of life mana. But will Drasil truly be able to help me out? I know he’s a powerful life spirit, but this is my life we’re talking about.”

Julius smiled brightly at her. “Well, there’s only one way to find out, yeah?”

She didn’t look nearly as enthused as he did.