chapter 4: frozen time

On the same night, I lay on the coarse dirt beside the murky lake, looking up at the big bright cookie moon that hung impossibly low. I whiff the scent of an earthy perfume brewed by mother earth. Slowly but surely the moisture from the grainy ground would seep up my clothes, causing a patch of nature's elements to be eroded and deposited to a new, unfamiliar territory. Speaking of modern, a spectacular sight upholds my attention, sewn in silver linings above the crease deep blue fabric, the river.

Warm like butter, cold like ice, the mating season of fireflies has come, and so does the freezing winds of the night. One after another, seemingly out of nowhere, bright yellow light floats like angel bobbing like a buoy, up-down, up-down. They came from the forest behind the trees, a land of magical fantasies. A reunion, a party under the moonlight shadow. They came, they reproduce, all because it is their job, their instinct, their lust.

Then it came.

The river stops flowing, the fireflies stopped partying. They took their eyes of their friends and loved ones; in union and fashion, they formed a ring, one that guides your eye without words. Enticed by the scene, my eyes fixed, the water below started to shine. Brighter than the sun, whiter than fluorescent lights, something magical happens. The water begins to rise, no, it soared through the skies, creating a waterless circle in the middle of the frozen river.

Rumble

The ground shook softly, the pillars of rock fill the desolate night. It floats sharp like an icicle, a truly dangerous sight. Time may have stopped, but time does not cease to exist, in the void or in frozen time. Enjoy the view not, I dive deep in the ring. On the surface lies a thin plane of glass, without hesitation, I crashed through it with might. Under the shattered glass was not hollow, it was aquamarine crystal clear freshwater, illuminated by natural illuminating rocks.

I closed my eyes, not because I fear the beauty; instead, it was to embrace it more, through my heart and my soul. This was a time that I truly felt free, free like a bird, unbounded by the chains of this world.

For where I wish to go, I could live with imagination. For whom I wanted to be, I could go with enough heart. A place, unrestricted by all, imagination, creativity, or emotions.

Good time flies, and before I knew it, my eyes pried open, I snapped out of my fantasy. Dark, cold, unlighted brick hallways, stretched infinitely. Looming heavy air filled the entrance, one by one the sconce lit up. It still doesn't change the fact that it's piercing cold, like a breeze in Antarctica.

"Dragoon would be in shock if he were here, it's unfortunate spirits can't enter."

I continued walking down the endless hallway. You weren't given a choice, you had to walk the halls for hours on end to eventually realize, this is nothing but a well-made illusion, one that could make a person trapped in this vicious cycle and go insane. The key to breaking any illusion is the mind and realization; no one can stress how important the mind is, that is why I very well give my respect to elemental magic users.

After breaking the illusion, you will find yourself in a room brimming with treasure and cultivation stones. Greed, one of the deadly sins of life, this room is nothing but a trap, you can only pick 3 items from this vast array of treasures that each sits on a pedestal or else the exit would close, and this place would be flooded with water. Obviously, every contraption has its flaws, but I'm still too weak to abuse it yet.

From the array of treasures, I chose the following 3 items.

A magma cultivation orb, a scroll and the most valuable item here for me is the void blood orb.

Let's start with the magma orb, this orb is actually very unsuited for my cultivation as it is used by fire user. Cultivation is only supposed to be about Qi, right? Well no, harmony plays a vital part in this world; therefore, it is safe to assume, the element is another critical player in cultivation, just used in a varied way from magic.

Qi is invisible to our naked eye unless you have the true eye, there is no way you can visualize Qi. Those sparks and colors thrown by cultivators are actually elemental energy that resides with Qi when cultivating.

Basically, magic controls the elemental energy in the air with mind and cultivation takes in Qi and a faint amount of elemental energy inside your body and enhance your physical strength. This also means no flashy moves like magic, disappointing but extremely versatile.

So what is my cultivation element? Mainly dark currently, but the light would also be added in the future, becoming the first dual elemental user in cultivation history.

I picked magma cultivation orb to sell at a bid for extremely high prices even before Creation gained popularity, especially true when the right bidder is on stage.

Void blood orb was chosen for my cultivation, the blood orb not only massively help with my cultivation, but it also specializes in strengthening one specific part of cultivation; this orb for example significantly increase my intake of Qi in future cultivation and the amount of Qi I can hold in my body. However, unlike the magma orb, which is for the fire element, orbs that are non-basic, dark and light, are a double-edged sword. If you succeed, you will gain more diverse and stronger enhancement.

On the other hand, if you fail great repercussion like being crippled, emotional unstableness could happen, and in the worst-case scenario, death or even becoming a demon. It is not worth for most cultivators to take the clearly unfavorable route of cultivating a non-basic element, but to me, the extra strength is definitely a plus. I am, after all, reincarnated.

The last item is a scroll and a demon scroll at that. Demon scroll, as one would expect, gives you strong demonic powers, but it also harms you; mainly being weak for a few precious months. In the fast-paced world, every day is valuable enough, let alone a week, but it will come to use soon.

I walked towards the exit, a white light envelope me. Before I knew it, I was already laying down at the same damp soil. I looked turned to my side, dragoon was sitting there as if nothing had happened, as if everything that just occurred to me was just a dream.

"Master- why-y, are you staring at me like that?"

"Nothing let's go."

"I thought we are about to go to a secret location to grab a few items, just like you said?"

"It's already done…"

"what do you mean? We haven't move an inch in this place for the past 3 hours!"

pulls out the void orb and smiled.

"where do you get that?!"