Chapter 40 - Celestial Fields

It only took Lind a few hours to read the book. While a large part of it was in American English and made references to Earth by metaphor to confirm it was indeed a reincarnator, the rest was actually in a language he did not recognize at all.

Cyntilla did know it though. She called it the language of Heaven. It was the shared alphabet higher realm cultivators used. Likely as billions of years passed, the language at the top had blended or been affected by cultivation itself. He would be curious to know the truth if he could get that far.

The rest of the book was more detailed notes about this Ruin. It had indeed been an Inheritance, a rare one from something called a Celestial which Cyntilla did not know at all. Given that this was from somewhere called the Celestial Fields, Lind guessed that was how the residents were named.

There was zero mention of the antithesis elements or the conversion formation. Lind could only guess why, but what he wanted to know is why the owner left it here or was the owner the golden skeleton.

The last entry was about finding the very house they were standing in but then it ended. Lind carefully looked again but there was nothing like a trap in the room they found it, just the skeleton.

"There is room for more, but there is no sign of any hidden formations or anything I know to look for." Lind took the book back and examined it deeply with his Eyes and found something interesting. His fingers glowed with fire, earth, and darkness as he touched specific spots. The book cover glowed as a metal ring fell out.

"A storage ring!" Lind was shocked that it had appeared. The puzzle guarding the ring made the book a small storage treasure. It was an ingenious way to hide the true storage treasure one might be looking for. Neither of them moved but Lind slowly ran his Eyes over the ring. "I do not see any traps, but I welcome any test you might know."

Cyntilla smiled as she put her hand on the bracelet she wore on her right arm and a vial appeared with dust in it. She sprinkled it on the ring and it glowed with a black light before disappearing. She then picked up the ring and frowned.

"There is no trap but the imprint on it is still very active. It is beyond strong!" Lind understood. They were only Soul Realms and if this was an Immortal Realm's ring, they had no chance of removing the imprint on it. She put it in a pouch at her waist but it was also a storage treasure.

"Take the book as well. It may be needed for whoever studies it." She nodded and took the book. Lind turned and began to go down the first set of stairs they saw on arrival. The feeling of higher quality Qi was pleasant and welcome to Lind's drained dantian. He extended his staff and used the faint glow to light their way into the darkness.

"How did you figure out how to unlock the protection on the book?" Lind smiled wide at her question and pulled out a gift he had from home and tossed it to her. He saw her catch it while keeping one sword out. She tried to solve the puzzle box his mother had given him as a going away gift.

"I love puzzles, always have. It does not have to be a treasure of cultivation. There is a mortal store in the Southern District that sells intricate puzzles of varying difficulty. Some are secret storage areas but others are just for fun!" Lind began to personify joy and Cyntilla smiled warmly at him as she returned the puzzle.

"I will remember that." She spoke quietly but the corridor carried it to Lind's ears. He was curious why she would remember it, but he would not say no to puzzles. They kept walking for hours before a new room finally revealed itself at the bottom of the stairs.

Cyntilla had her swords ready as Lind prepared some elements for his staff. They had not seen any sign of life aside from the skeleton above but Lind felt like they were being watched now. It was an itch he could not scratch on his back. Cyntilla's eyes showed she felt something similar so it was not only in his head.

They carefully entered a massive hall that only had one set of doors. They were ornate but Lind felt something just looking at them. The materials of this place had always felt impressive even as the anti-Qi was running through it all, but these doors felt like the bones upstairs. Immortal Realm materials.

It was a dark gold with an intricate pattern engraved on it. There were 18 symbols, 6 of which Lind recognized as his own elements. The other set of 6 aligned with those and clearly were the symbols of the anti-elements. The remaining 6 were between those 2 symbols. Lind had been right! It really was antithesis elements. The ones in between had to be the demon elements! How did this work?!

"What does this mean?" Lind carefully scanned the room with his Eyes and found something. It was not a trap, but dust he recognized. Bone dust from remains were sparsely in a pile part way across the room. Cyntilla's question made the rest of the room come into his scan.

"Don't step forward yet. There are remains in this room." Cyntilla looked in surprise at him before she finally saw a few small piles of white dust and realized what LInd meant. He looked around and saw the hall was not a hall at all, but a massive formation. Its complexity was beyond his ability to even get an inkling but looking at the piles of bone dust on the floor, pieces came together.

"Celestial Fields they said. Immortal Realm, Celestials, and Celestial Fields indicate this was a very high realm Inheritance. If someone wanted to test the depth of your comprehension of Qi, this would be it, I think." Lind spoke out loud as he saw pillars set at different heights on the side that seemed to line up to each other in specific ways.

There were carvings on each and Lind began to grasp a thought.

Lind held up a hand to Cyntilla and carefully stepped forward. Nothing obvious happened but the formation lit up to his Eyes. He followed the flow but saw it was merely reacting to his presence. Lind had to make a step here himself but looking at the pillars he confirmed it one more time.

"There are 18 pillars. There are 18 elements. There are paths between each pillar but where does one begin?" Lind's words sparked sudden comprehension. He had been stuck on his elements for a long time compared to anyone in the Frey Clan. Without being able to use higher tier Soul Arts, Lind could only temper his elements slowly while increasing his foundation.

In this place, he began to see the fog clear up. His moderate study of demon elements was limited to the books he had requested before talking to Solon. It had bothered him to not understand how demons comprehended different elements from normal, but if there was originally another set of elements that could open that doorway, it allowed for myriad possibilities!

Elements between one person to the next were not equal. One could break through with pills to the Soul Realm, but the elemental cores will be shallow and very low quality Qi production. It got far worse at the World Realm from what he had heard. Lind began to see something and his eyes closed as he assumed a lotus position.

"You really love puzzles, Lind." Cyntilla kept her swords out but sat down inside the stairwell. He had found the rare moment of enlightenment a cultivator craved. The fact he had it at the Soul Realm spoke volumes about his potential. It was a pity he was a 6 elemental but Cyntilla swore to stand by him in the future.

****

"Explain lost?" The aether child Elder spoke sternly to the Head Elder who had lost sight of 2 examinees. Death would not break the observation, only see their dead bodies to be collected if needed and if possible. Now, 2 examinees had vanished from the formation oversight that the Lotus Academy ran during the entrance exam.

"They entered a Ruin that caused a great deal of interference then went somewhere that cut it off. It has happened before but usually they pop right back into the grassy plains or the trees." The wizened head was full of wrinkles as the old man manipulated a jade stone yet it made no difference.

"If they live, they will be pulled out in a little over a week. If not, they are dead, it is that simple." The demoness was frank but she was not wrong. Both of her counterparts stared at her, but the Head Elder voiced a question she overlooked.

"If what interferes with our observation, do you not think it will block the retrieval as well?" All 3 Elders looked closely at the viewing jades trying to pierce where the 2 examinees had gone.

****

Days passed and Cyntilla was happy with her progress. If she could spend half a year in these Ruins, she would reach World Realm easily. She frowned as she was no longer sure how much time they had left but Lind barely moved. It was becoming a problem.

Soul Realms did not need as much food and water as a mortal, but they did still need them. It was well past the limit, but in a state of enlightenment, it was possible Lind could extend that time. Cyntilla was about to reach out when fetid air left Lind's mouth.

His elemental Qi increased in quality! He had broken through to peak tier 5 tempering!

"Stand back please, Cyntilla." Lind stood up and saw her step back. He was parched and drank some water but that was all. Hunger was faint but not a worrisome feeling. Looking at the doors, Lind felt like the universe had changed.

He looked at the pillars and understood that whoever made this door was far more profound but wanted to test challengers on their own understanding if he was right. Thus, Lind began as he had with his dantian. He prepared to leap back, but moved towards the pillar with a mark of fire on it.

He walked carefully towards it and infused his crimson Qi into it. Both the pillar and door lit instantly. Lind held his breath but nothing else happened. The formation flowed with powerful Qi but nothing else. He moved on to water, wind, and earth in the order he had comprehended it. All 4 primary elements lit up brightly with no issue.

Lind walked the path to the light then finally dark. The door did not have any place for harmony but Lind did not let that bother him. It was at this point that Lind would be making a great risk.

The door had the normal symbol directly opposite its antithesis with the demon element below and in the middle of each set. The triangle pieces were a process. Lind could not return to fire, so he worked back in the opposite direction. This time, however, he pushed his comprehension with pure Qi without any element, only his understanding.

Lind reached out to the pillar 2 over from the darkness pillar. It had the antithesis mark on it and his pure Qi flowed into the symbol. The formation finally reacted and LInd hoped this was not the last thing he was going to do. Thankfully, mercy was brought to him as the door lit up.

As he expected, the demon element pillar lit up once those 2 were going. His understanding included the blending of the anti-Qi with normal Qi to created the derivative to reach shadow.

Walking on a separate path back to light, Lind repeated the process as the pressure of Qi increased. The formation was charging, but Lind felt more confident as he came back to the fire pillar and touched the anti-fire one.

As the last bit of the door lit up, the formation nearly made Lind collapse but he waved Cyntilla off. He did not want to risk their death on her jumping in at the end.

"A 6 elemental Soul Realm. A pity. Your comprehension of the elements are excellent but you will never see the Celestial Fields of the Immortals. Even so, you passed the test here. Claim your prize." The doors cracked open and blinded them both as the booming voice faded.