Lind was having a bit of deja vu.
Back in the Lotus Empire, whenever he was going to lessons for being an elixir master, Lind had the distinct impression that he beca invisible at so point to everyone.
No one would stop him and no one would obstruct his path forward with carts or animals.
It was as if the world would not allow Lind to be late to see Younger Twin.
When he left at midnight from the Heavenly Maiden Sect, he felt all pressure vanish from his shoulders.
The many eyes and looks he had felt over the last few days seemingly disappeared.
Lind also found that the crowded street was wide open for him.
He navigated his way back to the dark alley and noticed that Master Cain was still there yet did not react to Lind's presence at all.
Delenn had not been kidding when she said she did not want to share her secrets.
The mont he crossed the alley entrance he froze.
When he was here before, it had been a ramshackle and rundown alley but he could still feel and see profound formations flowing in the structures around him.
He had entered another world.
Pristine stone that sparkled with Qi itself lined the street as neat buildings surrounded the deadend cul de sac.
A house stood on his right with 2 floors and smoke curling from a chimney while a clear storage area and forge were now on the left where the tavern used to be.
He could also see various weapon and armor racks laid out in an open area that was clearly a training arena.
Lind turned back and finally saw what was different.
The familiar distortion of a Ruin now flickered between him and Cain.
How was that possible?!
How could a Ruin both be there and not at the sa ti?
"That is because it is not a Ruin, Lind Frey."
He whipped around and nearly felt his jaw drop once more.
Delenn was there but compared to before she was stunning.
She was still broad shouldered but the smudges of dirt were gone and the dark leather armor was replaced by a material that looked like flexible tal to his eyes.
Compared to before, she was a goddess of victory the Vikings would have followed happily into Valhalla.
Her dark eyes were not amused, however, as she looked at him and he realized she was reading his mind!
"Honestly, what are they teaching mortals anymore?
A Soul Realm in the Celestial Fields would have a field day down here."
Lind was curious about what she just said but he cald his mind and centered his turmoil.
An approving nod followed.
"At least you can do that much."
She turned and he followed.
They entered the forge but unlike the Sunlit Forge, this place was mystical.
There were no open fires or tempering baths.
There were no hamrs or other tools for refining, there were just pedestals and a few buckets to lt tals as he was used to.
"I will start with your ntal strength.
You have a strong will and have faced so terrible things, but you have been lax in cultivating your mind."
Lind was confused.
He had studied a lot of techniques, far more than most cultivators would, and never heard of cultivating his mind.
The frustration on Delenn's face was clear but he could not hide this from her.
"I knew this realm was bad but by the spirits.
The greed of the great powers numbs
at tis.
Here, do not resist."
Lind felt knowledge flow into his mind.
Rather than comprehend it, however, it was as if his harmony had been waiting for it.
His body assud a lotus position as his Qi flowed through his ridians and he tempered his cores.
For the first ti in his life, all of it felt connected instead of separate processes.
His mind felt lighter as ti passed and he could finally begin to grasp what was holding up his cores.
Capacity.
Divine cores had a massive capacity for Qi and until he filled them up, they could not advance!
The staff technique could not accommodate them any longer but more began to flow.
Lind summoned materials out of instinct.
It was a peak grade 3 beast core, 9 herbs, and 3 world stones.
He took the essence of each and swiftly summoned his water and fire Qi in more profound ways.
The water was pulling in Qi from the air while the fire reached a white hot blaze to purify all without resistance.
The sll of dicinal herbs dissipated as 4 vials were quickly filled.
Peak grade 3!
A crimson elixir filled all 4 vials and all were peak grade 3!
A pulling sensation ca from his storage ring as he summoned his gold badge and it suddenly changed to showing a mountain peak behind his vial symbol.
"I am actually impressed.
You are now a peak Mortal grade 3 elixir master.
I see you have been issued a legacy badge.
That is quite rare."
Lind looked up and realized it was late at night.
He had cultivated and brewed the day away!
Delenn did not seem to react to his thoughts, but was he really keeping her out?
"Your thoughts are not clear but I can still pick out your strong emotions.
Keep cultivating that technique and you are free to teach that to your friends.
The stronger you all are, the better!"
Lind was unsure why she cared but was glad he could share it.
"Master, why am I different?"
Lind now had 2 offbeat professions.
He was a grade 3 master in elixirs but now he was starting Forging.
Why was he not able to be like other cultivators?
Delenn finally looked contemplative.
She was looking piercingly at him once more but he did not hide anything.
She nodded and mumbled but he could not make anything out.
He would bet all he had on him thought that the words 'divine cores' and '6 elental' were part of it.
"The truth is none of us know why for sure.
The first elixir master pioneered the field according to legend.
A painstaking process but once discovered it made a whole new branch of alchemy.
So think Heaven and Earth seek balance.
Pills are limited but stable while elixirs unlock the full potential by refining their very essence."
The words used made Lind ponder.
In a way that was correct.
He was not just combining pill ingredients like cooking to produce a result.
He was almost taking the essence and inscribing what he wanted into the various combinations and unlocking the full potential within.
It was as if he combined aspects of pill making and weapon refining into one.
"Are there more than elixirs and forging?"
A frown crossed Delenn's face but she did not hide what she knew.
"There is one more but it is looked down on.
Weaving is the last derivative skill I know of.
Forging combines the utility of formations and creation of items that refining does.
Weaving is more like combining arrays with intent."
Lind felt wonder at such a concept.
Formations, for all the complex arrays inside them, were static.
They could not be altered once made nor could they be changed overly much once implented.
Even with his new revelations, that fact would hold true for Lind.
Weaving, on the other hand, could be closer to what he did with the 6 elental core.
He could create what he wanted and have it do what he wished without convoluted steps of arrays limiting him.
To make a shield like he had, for instance, would require arrays for distance, shape, elents used, and so forth.
Eventually, an array master would run out of room or the ability to power it if it was too complex.
Weaving sounded like a solution to that problem, so what was the issue?
His confusion and curiosity must have shown as Delenn sighed and sat down next to him.
"Lind Frey.
When you make an elixir, you are directly interacting with your Qi on the essence.
You guide it with your will.
It is similar to what you will learn in Forging."
She summoned an ore the glowed with soft cyan light.
A flash of Qi ca and an exquisite dagger replaced the ore.
"Amazing."
Lind took it and saw it was very sharp but light while water Qi danced around it.
Tiny dragons entwined the blade as his Qi went through it.
"A simple example but you can see that I can make far more complex weapon effects by directly imbuing Qi into it.
Instead of manipulating essence, you are manipulating the potential of the ores you use."
She pulled out a much more normal sword.
Lind recognized Cain's work at once and saw inscriptions light up with her Qi.
"This is not a bad weapon at all but it can only withstand so many inscriptions due to their complexity.
We aren't limited by that."
She then pulled him up and took him outside to the other side of the cul de sac where the arena was.
Lind saw with his Eyes sothing odd.
There was a glowing pattern carved into the very air at the back.
It was not on a surface nor on any dium.
It was just there.
"A Weaver, on the other hand, must imbue intent into their engravings.
Intent cos from only one place in any realm."
Lind felt a chill suddenly as he understood.
"The soul, Lind Frey.
Weaver's use souls to make their engravings work.
Their own, or others if needed."
They stood in front of the floating array and Lind wondered the obvious question but did not know how to voice it.
"As I said before, this is not a Ruin.
This is not a secret realm, Inheritance, or even folded space.
This was ant to be my grave.
I made an enemy long ago and he swore to do worse than death to .
He swore I would regret slighting him."
Lind carefully kept his face neutral.
He did not know his new master well, but the fact she was as volatile as Tyr and Shoti combined told him to tread carefully.
The silence stretched uncomfortably until she tried to touch the floating arrays.
A flash of sothing snapped her hand back but Lind could not make it out.
It was not entirely Qi but sothing else mixed in.
"This is my cage, Lind Frey.
This engraving ripped my shop and ho from the Celestial Fields thousands of years ago.
It was not enough that he simply kill , he had to put
beyond any hope of going ho ever again."
Lind was unsure how he should react.
He was a pupil here and only really wanted to learn more, yet now this dark chapter was revealed.
"I tell you these things because you must be wary.
You already show promise as a Forger to my eyes and clearly are a proficient elixir master.
I know little of 6 elentals but given the quirks of Heaven and Earth, I would not be surprised if you had a knack for this as well."
Lind understood then.
She was his teacher in full.
She saw in him the potential for all 3 of these skills!
"I would like to keep an open mind but I will not forget this lesson, Master."
Lind bowed 3 tis to her and she nodded.
They left the floating array but Lind noted it down.
It also impressed upon him the power of Immortals.
The reason she could be here was because an Immortal had created an array to rip space and shoved her down to the mortal realm as if it was a Ruin.
Just as Younger Twin could exist inside his shop only, Delenn could never leave this place.
The hell of it though, was the engraving allowed mortals to co inside.
If Delenn had not set up the profound illusion formations to hide the truth, this place would have been overrun by Sky Realms ages ago.
Maybe it had been for all he knew.
"Now, we will begin with the basics.
Grade 1 Forging."
Lind was floored as he had demonstrated he could make grade 2 but then he realized he had no idea exactly how he had done it.
It was more like he made a rip off of his current staff and barely at that.
He sat down at a bench and began to listen as she reviewed tals he already knew and the relationship between an ore's potential and what it could withstand.
As ti went on, a sparkle began to enter his eyes.
If any of the 3 Maidens had been there, they would have warned Delenn of the beast she was awakening, but they were not and none were there to stop him.
Only a few monts after her first lecture, an explosion occurred in the forging area.
It would be the first of many.
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