Caine reappeared in the middle of a vast, colorful hall supported by thick pillars of white stone.
At the room's dead center, countless tiny cores swirled around a blob of liquid energy, fluorescent and reflecting all imaginable colors. From this central mass, tendrils extended outward, latching onto the swirling cores like insects ensnared in a spider's web.
WHOOSH!
A portal opened beside Caine, and Lilith stepped through. The mont he laid eyes on her, his gaze narrowed. She'd grown stronger—much stronger.
Elura floated off Caine's shoulder and drifted to a position between the two of them. Her voice carried an almost ethereal weight as she began to explain.
"The final piece of this legacy revolves around Elental God Cores and Heavenly Elents."
"These concepts are simple to grasp. Elental God Cores are crystallizations of elental power containing an infinite essence—true infinity. They're treasures used in constructing advanced machines and refining the bodies of high-level cultivators. Their value is beyond asure."
"As for Heavenly Elents," Elura continued, "they're mutated forms of the original elents. These elents play fundantal roles in the fabric of existence itself. For example, you've heard of the Twelve Divine Flas, yes?"
Both Caine and Lilith nodded.
"These flas are Heavenly Elents, each incredibly powerful. Beyond being re sources of elental energy, they grant unique abilities. For instance, the Chaos Fla can emulate all elents, enabling the wielder to do sothing as extraordinary as creating a 'water fla.' And even that is just the beginning."
She gestured to the pulsating blob behind her.
"This is how it relates to you. Surrounding the room are countless neutral Elental God Cores—cores you can define with your intent. At the center is the Source Sphere, a wellspring capable of forming as many Heavenly Elents as you can comprehend."
She paused to let the gravity of her words settle. "Given that both of you are at the peak of the Flesh Destruction Stage, preparing to advance, this is your perfect opportunity."
Elura's gaze sharpened. "The Heavenly Elents and Cores function in tandem. First, you comprehend a Heavenly Elent using the Source Sphere. Then, you manifest it through a neutral Elental God Core."
The cultivation system flowed naturally toward this mont.
The Bone Forging Stage reshaped the bones, reshaping them with Blood Qi to provide an unshakable foundation.
The Flesh Destruction Stage, as its na suggested, destroyed and rebuilt one's flesh entirely from fine threads of silky Blood Qi.
This not only heightened one's affinity to Blood Qi but also mutated their cells to produce it autonomously.
Next ca the Organ Vessel Stage. This stage addressed the body's internal systems, focusing on the organs. Each of the six major organs required an elental core and refinent by the corresponding origin elent: Fire for the heart, Wind for the lungs, Earth for the spleen, Water for the kidneys, Wood for the liver, and Lightning for the brain.
But there was a secret—one known to only a few.
The power of the Organ Vessel Stage wasn't limited to these base elents. If a cultivator refined their organs using Heavenly Elents instead, the resulting power was incomparable. For instance, a Chaos Fla Core forged in the heart and refined by Chaos Fire was vastly superior to a simple fire elent refinent.
The challenge, however, lay in the almost insurmountable requirents.
Comprehending even a Mortal-grade Heavenly Elent was incredibly difficult. Elental God Cores were rare beyond imagining, and containing them within a Blood Cultivator's body was nearly impossible.
Most cultivators settled for less, using mortal-level elents and solidified elental qi to form cores.
But neither Caine nor Lilith would settle.
Without hesitation, the two walked toward the Source Sphere and sat beneath it. They perford entirely different tasks—Lilith dove into the mysteries of the blob, while Caine focused on the Elental God Cores.
Caine sat motionless, his senses focused entirely on the swirling cores. His mind sought to unravel their structures, to understand their inner workings.
"Hm. My understanding was flawed. No, incomplete."
"Qi is a vessel, and intent defines its contents. That much is true. But I overlooked sothing. What drives intent into existence? To call it the 'mind' feels insufficient—it's more than that. The mind is the body but not the hand."
The answer ca to him like a revelation.
"Will births intent. Intent shapes Qi. And Qi resonates with the world. That's why my intent grew stronger when I severed the false connections between my mind and heart. In affirming my will, I made it more potent."
His thoughts turned inward, to the dragon-coiled silver star in his Bond Space.
"This star is the seed of my will…"
Then his gaze shifted to the countless smaller stars surrounding it.
"…and these are seeds of Elental Wills. Will seeds."
He didn't know how to make these seeds bloom, but he understood the process now.
Neutral Elental God Cores began disappearing from the blob's web, reappearing within Caine's Bond Space. They fused with his stars, stabilizing and compressing them to the brink of explosion.
A surge of power coursed through him, though he barely noticed.
"They won't bloom until my will matures."
Will was the product of a sublimated mind. Intent erged from a mature will, and Qi took form from potent intent.
The cycle beca clear.
His silver star trembled, and the dragon coiled around it let out a low growl, the sound reverberating through his Bond Space. The stars above shuddered, resisting the oppressive force of Caine's embryonic will.
But resistance was futile.
One by one, the stars succumbed, branded by silver runes that seared into their cores.
The marks reflected upon their eggs, embedding themselves deeply.
Caine's eyes opened slowly, and within their silver depths, countless stars ford, converging into a single white cross that burned across his pupils.
The essence of the elents infused itself into his blood, rging with the essence of the Beast Progenitors. Two halves, always ant to be one, finally joined.
His will solidified, and for the first ti, Caine felt utterly… in control.
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