Chapter 17: Secret Place

My current location is over a thousand meters above the ground. I was completely engrossed, looking over my surroundings from such a great height. Even though we had some advanced technology to fly back on Earth, it can never compare to the experience I am having right now. The freedom of flying through the air by oneself is incomparable to using machinery like jet crafts.

I can extend my hand and almost touch the clouds, while the land beneath me flashes past at an astonishing rate. The scenery fills me with an intense desire to reach the stage where I can soar through the skies as freely as I am now.

Although I initially calculated that we would reach our destination in four days, I now expect it will take nearly a week with occasional breaks for eating and to allow my father to replenish his Spirit energy. It seems that the energy consumption for flight is not something to be taken lightly. When I asked my father about the technique of flying, he explained that it is a technique that naturally appears when one reaches the 5th Realm, the Spirit Integration Realm.

He explained that the ‘Flying Technique’ is considered an ‘Inheritance Technique,’ which one receives from their Spirit upon integration. It is a basic technique available to all cultivators, regardless of their Spirit nature, because all Spirits are ethereal beings that defy natural laws. There are also Spirit-Specialized Abilities that the cultivator receives. These are inherent abilities that only that particular Spirit can use.

So, it seems that I can use the flying technique when I reach the 5th Realm. However, I am more interested in the customized abilities that the Spirit possesses. I wonder what my Spirit is. I have LILY, that mysterious object or maybe objects, which converts my Spirit Energy into Elemental Spirit Energy of all the Elemental Affinities. And there is even that special condition of my body. Will my Spirit be a separate entity from all these things, or will it be a result of all these abnormalities?

As I brooded over these thoughts, my father completed his energy replenishment and stood up. I left my first-class seat, as I started calling it, and we took off into the air again.

This time our speed increased slightly as we approached the chain of mountains I had first seen from the city wall. Although we were still some distance from them, I could sense the majestic and ancient aura they emanated even from this distance.

They were high. To call them high would be an understatement. They seemed to pierce the sky itself. The clouds covered their peaks, and I could only see about three-fifths of their total appearance. A thick forest covered the mountain slopes, and I could even hear the roars of the Beasts inhabiting them.

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Although it was beautiful and majestic to watch from this distance, the moment I remembered that our potential destination might be that forest, I started sweating. Generally, something beautiful always conceals danger. As if responding to my thoughts, loud roars and growls resonated from the depths of the forest.

I looked over at my father and felt somewhat reassured. If it becomes dangerous, maybe we can escape by flying. My pounding heart calmed down with that thought. As the sun began to set, we landed at the edge of the forest.

“We will stay here for the night. The forest will be dangerous to travel through, as several powerful Spirit Beasts come out to hunt at this time. We will start early in the morning and should reach our destination by afternoon.”

As he said that, he took out the portion of food for today’s dinner. He built a small fire and started roasting the dried meat. We had been eating this for the past week, and frankly, I was quite sick of it. I am someone who relishes all kinds of delicacies, and the bland taste of this dried meat was practically killing my taste buds.

I somehow forced the meat into my growling stomach and lay down to sleep. My father sat by the fire, staring into it with a distant look in his eyes. Before I could open my mouth to ask him something, he said, “Sleep, Azalon. You will know everything tomorrow when we get there.”

That made me shut my mouth and drift off to sleep slowly. He woke me up in the morning just as the sun broke through the sky. We ate some rations and immediately set off without a word. The forest seemed endless as it flashed past, and soon the mountain slopes came into view. We flew past those mountains and deep valleys with thick fog rolling through them. We finally reached a deep valley just as the sun reached its zenith in the sky.

The valley was formed by five mountains joining in a circle, making it somewhat difficult to reach by foot. Only someone who can fly can reach this place easily. If I had to walk, I reckon it would take me over half a year to get here. The valley was filled with a light mist, various flowers, and small trees, as sunlight seemed scarce. It appeared barren and gloomy, but life still managed to survive here, making it somewhat lush with greenery.

As I observed the surroundings, wondering what was so special about this place that we had to endure such difficulties to reach, my father walked to the mountain on one side of the valley. I followed him closely, eager not to miss a thing.

As we drew closer to the mountain, I noticed a huge stone blocking what looked like an entrance at the base of the mountain. The stone appeared ordinary, but I saw some strange characters etched all over it. The energy vibrations emitted by those characters felt slightly oppressive, and this feeling intensified the closer we got.

Before the sensation became so intense that it was hard to breathe, a faint shimmer of energy appeared around me, blocking the oppressive force. I looked toward my father, but he was staring at the stone with a pained expression.

It seemed that this place held deep memories for him. I walked beside him silently, feeling that this was not the time to talk. We finally reached the stone, and the characters began to pulse.

My father retrieved a small knife with a bluish-green blade from his robe. He made a cut on his palm deep enough to draw blood and placed his palm on the stone. The stone responded to his blood, and all the characters flashed brightly before disappearing. The stone then rolled to the side, revealing a huge cave with a dark and gloomy atmosphere. I could instantly feel an intense and berserk Spirit Energy fluctuation from inside, as if something terrifying had woken from its slumber.

My hair stood on end as if something dangerous was watching me from deep within. My instincts and senses screamed at me to turn around and run as far as I could. Before I could react, a powerful hand gripped my shoulder. A gentle energy flowed into my body, suppressing the chaotic feelings in my mind.

I turned to see a stern but worried face looking at me intently. I took a deep, shaky breath and somewhat calmed my agitated mind. I nodded at my father, and he started walking toward the cave.

The inside of the cave was dark, with small water streams running down the walls. The ceiling was about four meters high and two meters wide. The walls and ceiling were adorned with various crystals that twinkled from the light streaming in from the entrance. As we moved deeper into the cave, the walls began to glow with a light green color, giving the tunnel a somewhat otherworldly feel. Huge stalactites on the ceiling reflected this light, making the dark tunnel somewhat bright but still eerie.

I was filled with tension, my body taut like a string stretched to its limit. My eyes darted nervously in all directions, expecting that beastly presence I had felt at the entrance to pounce on me at any moment. We walked for what felt like a long time, as the concept of time lost its meaning in this atmosphere. Eventually, we reached a huge cavern at the end of the tunnel.

It was enormous—HUGE. It stretched about a hundred meters in length. I couldn’t see the ceiling, as it disappeared into darkness. But I could sense that the ceiling was even higher than the length of the cavern.

What caught most of my attention was a lake in the middle. It was a small lake with a diameter of around fifty meters, filled with a bluish-green liquid. The entire lake glowed softly as gentle waves lapped against its banks. It created a peaceful atmosphere, and I could feel my tense body relaxing in the presence of that energy.

As I admired the scenery, my father walked to a group of stones and sat on one of them, facing the lake. I climbed onto the one next to him. We sat there in silence for a long time. The only sounds were the waves splashing and our breathing. He broke the silence with a sentence that shattered the calm and soothing atmosphere.

“This is where I almost lost my life…”