Elysian Essences

Even though the next phase, First Quarter, wasn't a bottleneck point and was actually rather easy to break through, it still generally took a while for cultivators because they needed time to get accustomed to the Waxing Crescent energy within them.

If they attempted to break through into the next stage when they weren't ready yet, they would receive backlash. The higher the level, the bigger the backlash will be.

Aquila naturally knew she wasn't ready. Even if she came from a star, and that meant she knew how to cultivate stronger energy, she wasn't on a star right now. There was no stronger energy for her to cultivate here. At the moment, she was no different from any other weak cultivator at phase 1. The only thing she had was her speed and agility, but on this unfamiliar world, she couldn't even completely showcase her speed. She had been utilizing her ability to run away, but for how long could she continue doing that?

What if those cultivators she met hadn't underestimated her? What if they had all attacked at once? What if they had surrounded her? She would've died, then and there.

So she knew she had to take the risk, even if she received backlash. She had to break into the next stage as soon as possible and get stronger.

She wasn't dense and obviously knew that someone was targeting her. She wasn't certain who it was, targeting her in the dark, but she could certainly guess. And if she was right, then these people that she ran into lately were only the beginning.

She wanted to live, whatever it took. If she didn't, she would've peacefully died back home.

She didn't want that woman to get the satisfaction of seeing her await her death, nor would she allow that woman to steal the Elysian Essences she guarded.

Those essences were something she had obtained amidst a supernova. It gave her knowledge about a secret type of energy. At the same time, if she cultivated it, it would also bestow upon her a great power, but more correctly, it would be a burden on her shoulders; a pain that she would have to bear alone, forever. The blessing and curse of immortality.

That was the price for the power.

Aquila knew of the catastrophe that would follow if that woman ever got her hands on those essences. Although she would never transfer the essences to her, she wasn't sure about what would happen if she herself died.

There were two Elysian Essences. It was meant for two people because each person could only gain one power. If someone tried to cultivate both, they would explode from the clash of strong energies. Both were was still unclaimed. She had originally planned to transfer one essence to HER...

But fate had other plans.

In the end, she didn't manage to give her the other Elysian Essence, and Aquila didn't use it either because she didn't want to be immortal without her. But that woman somehow learned of their existence.

And now we're here.

Okay, maybe that wasn't the only reason she didn't let herself die back then. She also wanted to take revenge first.

'That's right. I have to return. I have to avenge her... that's the least she deserves.'

Thinking that, a feeling of helplessness and melancholy flashed across Aquila's silver eyes for a second before her resolve took over. In that second, her silver eyes seemed like a deep still lake but soon froze over with an extra layer of frost as well.

"Heh. I will definitely return, so you better watch out. Give me a fight worth my effort, alright?"

Smiling softly, anyone who saw her would think she was thinking about someone close to heart. That was, if they ignored the obvious bloodthirstiness in her eyes.

Jumping up and landing on a narrow branch with lavender foliage covering her, she peeked around to make sure there weren't any more attackers nearby before jumping down.

Sitting behind the large tree trunk, Aquila took a deep breath as she closed her eyes.

Feeling the energy gather above her palm just like last time, Aquila slowly opened her eyes.

She was actually a little nervous deep down. Humans were nowhere near as scary as the backlash from energy, and even in her past life, she had never received backlash from energy evolution. But she just couldn't wait anymore. Anytime soon, someone else might come looking for her.

Maybe it would be another hundred cultivators, maybe another assassin. Maybe both. And she had to be as prepared as she could be for any possibilities.

'Right. Let's do this.'

Focusing her entire mind on the pale energy in her hand and only on that energy, Aquila emptied her mind of anything else, pushing it all to the back.

In her hand, the left-facing crescent slowly changed shape, changing into a semicircle on the right. The form was extremely unstable and kept shifting, but Aquila forced it to stay in its semicircle form.

Then, the energy repelled her. A wave of light blue energy slashed towards her body in its vulnerable state.

"AHHH!"

A shrill and ear-piercing scream escaped her mouth as she fell backward from the impact. Pushing her body up with her elbows, she turned her head sideways and coughed out a mouthful of blood onto the glistening white ground now stained with a patch of blood-red.

'Damn... energy attacks are so much more painful than physical attacks...'

"Ugh..." Groaning in pain, Aquila pushed her aching body into a sitting position.

Unbeknownst to her, her loud scream had reached the ears of a certain someone whom she had accidentally ruffled the feathers of...