Chapter 11: The Origin Of The Hatred - Part One

Eight days have gone by in a blink of an eye for Zax. After breaking through the Mist Lord level with his soul, with Laivien urging him, he continued to look for more bottlenecks of insight within the pieces of spiritual knowledge.

In those eight days, Zax did not form large combinations, only kept working on small ones of three to five pieces. After such combination was done, Zax inspected it, hoping to find more specks of light.

As luck would have it, eight days were either not enough, or Zax's subliminal mind possessed only the one bottleneck of insight he already comprehended.

Inside the violet stone.

"Little Zax, come out. Big brother has almost arrived". Laivien voice resounded within the pitch black world.

This way of communication was something Zax learned about before he started looking for additional bottlenecks. Laivien explained it to him before he split his awareness and sent his inner mind into the violet stone.

One of the valuable functions of the violet stone is that if someone will imbue it with a Soul Sense, the Soul Sense will then get a huge boost, which will allow it to surpass the scope of a Sublime Soul Sense of a third realm expert, and will also give it the distinct ability of a Sublime Soul Sense, to communicate through Soul Sense. This boost, however, is mostly useful to second realm experts, since only a second realm expert will be able to reap this much benefits, while a first realm and a third realm expert would only get a boost to the scope of their Soul Sense.

That being said, Laivien forbade Zax from imbuing his Soul Sense to the violet stone before it would reach the second realm. The reason was the damaged state of the violet stone. If the energies inside it will be disrupted by a weak Soul Sense, then the undulation the violet stone emits to repeal the azure smoky mist might flutter, which will lead to a catastrophic event in the small and special valley...

To avoid such a catastrophe, regardless of how unique it is, Laivien wanted Zax to reach the second realm with his soul, to improve his control over it by at least one step.

Zax retracted his awareness from the violet stone and opened his eyes to meet Laivien's.

"Did Master cross the azure smoky mist, yet?" Zax asked.

"He entered it in his animalistic form, in a few breaths he will get here".

Just as Laivien predicted, a fourteen meters tall stag arrived before her and Zax, accompanied by the sounds of heavy hooves strong stomps.

"Master!"

"Big brother".

The two cordially welcomed Kartius.

"Ahm", Kartius nodded and hot air blew out from his nostrils. "Well done, Martial son, you fulfilled your Martial father's expectations within the giving timespan".

Kartius praised when he arrived, after a quick appraisal of Zax's improvement. Still, as glad as he was, a complicated expression appeared on his stag face. The reason was that in his initial inspection of Zax, Kartius discovered that he could not grasp anything. Only when Zax stopped obstructing his Soul Sense did Kartius was able to see the changes in his Martial son.

As far as Zax's new capabilities with the soul went, only a Beginner phase third level Core Master, if not a Peak phase second level Core Master, would be able to see through him.

"Big brother, little Zax got more surprises for you than you would have imagine, huhuhu". Laivien said in amusement.

"Little sister, Martial son, one of you should elaborate". Though he said so, Kartius had an idea of what his Martial son could have achieve, other than the breakthrough, but it was so implausible, he did not dare believe it without confirmation from either of the two.

"Huhuhu!" Laivien laughed. "Listen to this, big brother", she said and began to retell everything she and Zax talked about eight days ago.

"Martial son, is it true?!" After hearing it all Kartius felt his head going dizzy.

To have the six bottlenecks of insight, coincidentally, locked in his subliminal mind ... Kartius immediately thought of the Black Core and the entity Zax glimpsed upon the day he found the Black Core. 'What kind of messed up benevolent heart this being had, to leave so much fortune to only one person?!' Kartius secretly thought. 'Or was it looking for an heir?' He speculated.

Whatever was the truth, Kartius did not intend to share his thoughts with anyone. As long as the answers were out of reach, he did not want the questions to impede the cultivation of his Martial son.

"Yes, Master, but ever since then, although only eight days had passed, I wasn't able to find anything like the speck of light from before". Zax said.

'So it's possible that only one bottleneck of insight was perceived from the entity by his subliminal mind... ' Kartius heaved a deep, held up breath. "Then we cannot be certain if you possess more bottlenecks". He shook his head.

"Never mind. It is not as if it will deteriorate your training regimen whether there were more bottlenecks or just this one. You will proceed as we discussed. Since you already experienced a bottleneck of insight, moreover prematurely, there are no words that I can say to guide you toward the next one, other than keep your mind attentive at the behavior of the dark attribute and the descent of the second bottleneck of insight, in accordance to your first experience". Kartius admitted resignedly. Now that his Martial son had the revelation of the first bottleneck of insight, any advices he thought to give him before could not be on the same level.

"Yes, Master". Zax said obediently.

"Good, Martial son", despite that his Soul Sense was being outrank by his Martial son, Kartius was still given the same respect and obedience from Zax, which made him even more gratified with his Martial son than in the past.

"A month ago I thought to let you use the violet stone to try and perceive the bottlenecks of insight, The method I had in mind is no better than telling you to keep looking for specks of insight in the pieces of spiritual knowledge. Since this way has already proven itself successful, as long as you keep creating only small combinations and not increase the level of your soul beyond the Advanced phase of the Mist Lord level, you may continue to meditate as you were".

"I understand, Master". Zax said. Sensing that his Master said everything he had to say about his training, a spark of eagerness reflected in his light brown eyes. "Then, Master, since the month you gave me is over and I achieved quite well, can I go back to Kingdom Earth for a few days?" He asked with unrestrained anticipation.

"Mmm", Kartius nodded. "You are granted my premission".

"Thank you, Master!" Zax felt his body shaking in restlessness. The desires he left in a corner in his sea of consciousness started shivering as well. Although he was only given four days, he already had an idea of how to spend them to the fullest.

"Hmph, impatient child", Kartius snorted. "Come on, say goodbye and we will leave. I'll accompany a portion of the way to Kingdom Earth. Us, Martial father and Martial son, have a few things to discuss together".

"Goodbye, Laivien, I'll see you in four days". Zax hastily said. He was not sure in which pace his Master will choose to accompany him, so he spoke fast to not waste a single second.

Laivien first stared at Kartius with an anxious expression. She looked at him that way the moment he mentioned that he has something to talk about with Zax.

Kartius slightly nudged his head and gave Laivien a meaningful look.

Laivien closed her eyes. When she opened them again, her doe head was directed at Zax. "Little Zax, be sure to have some fun, and don't be shy around that girl you like. If human girls are anything like female beasts, then you should radiate confidence and strong spirit at all times". Laivien said. Lowering her head, she knocked Zax's forehead and rubbed it with the soft white fur on her head.

Laivien's advice made Zax a little awkward, but her playful approach sooth his mind.

"I'll tell you how it went when I'll get back". Zax promised, before following his Master, through the valley, past the azure smoky mist.

"Master, in your animalistic form you are too conspicuous". Zax remarked after the two left Grandmaster Kartion's cave.