71. Black Snake Palace Lord and Memory
Under the night sky, the Evil Crow Master stood on a boat gliding quietly along a river that snaked through the mountainous terrain. Rowed by his men, the boat slipped into a tunnel carved into the mountain. After some time, they reached a stopping point where the boat met solid ground. Two figures stood waiting there.
The Evil Crow Master stepped onto the ground and approached them. "Has Black Snake palace lord, arrived?"
One of the men nodded. "He's upstairs, waiting for you."
With a curt nod, the Evil Crow Master entered the shadowed doorway and followed a narrow staircase winding upward. The palace was carved directly into the mountain itself, each floor smaller than the one below. Reaching the upper floor, he found a man standing with his back turned, gazing out a small opening in the stone.
Without turning, the man spoke. "Why are you late, Crow? Does robbing a family without even a single master warrior really take this long?"
Evil Crow inclined his head. "An unforeseen problem arose, Palace Lord."
The man's tone sharpened. "What problem?"
Evil Crow Master recounted his encounter with Rain, how the young warrior had intervened just as he was about to finish his mission, and how he had been forced into a duel with Rain—a duel he lost. He described Rain's strength, revealing that Rain was indeed a grandmaster, and how it all began after he attacked the Zhang family's carriage.
The palace lord's interest was piqued. "And what of his age?"
Evil Crow Master hesitated, then replied, "He appears young, though I couldn't say if he's above or below twenty years."
The palace lord's gaze sharpened as he looked out into the night. They both knew why Rain's age mattered. With the Blue Moon Lake secret realm about to open, the six families that governed the lake's core region would each be allowed to send a select few, all under twenty. They Seven Evil Palace had banded together with the powerful Liu clan for this event.
"If he's under twenty," the palace lord muttered, "then he's a wild card—a potential disruptor if he joins the team of any family among the six other than the Liu family."
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As dawn broke, sunlight poured across Rain's face, waking him as it warmed his balcony on the eastern side of the ship. He let go of his focus on the vitality radiating from the spring rain seed and released his mental grasp on it. As he opened his eyes, his mind drifted back to thoughts of the vitality rule.
In the quiet expanse of his mind, eight faint light spots began to form—a manifestation of his initial understanding. Rain realized that to create a complete vitality seed, he would need to comprehend 56 more fragments of the vitality rule. He had managed to draw out nearly 70% of the vitality essence from the spring rain seed but knew he still had much ground to cover.
Quietly, Rain resolved to continue honing his understanding of the rule of vitality, piecing it together fragment by fragment, until the entire path lay open before him. After mastering the vitality essence contained within the spring rain seed, his next step would be to draw out the vitality from the blood flame image in the Blood Flame Palm manual.
He paused in his thoughts to ask his soul chip how much time had passed. Knowing the journey from White Stone Town to Wutan City would take approximately 12 hours, he wanted to gauge his progress. If they were nearing the destination with less than an hour left, he would stop his comprehension work. But if there were over two and a half hours left, he would continue striving to absorb the remaining 30% of the vitality essence in the spring rain seed.
The chip's response was immediate: 7 hours and 17 minutes had passed since leaving White Stone Town. Wasting no time, Rain formed the spring rain seed in his mind, diving back into comprehending the remaining fragments of the vitality rule. A couple of hours passed, and he paused, having successfully extracted the vitality essence from the spring rain seed. His mastery of this rule had grown, represented now by 11 light spots.
With three hours still left until reaching Wutan City, Rain went inside his room, retrieved the Blood Flame Palm book from his bag, and sat cross-legged on the floor. Opening the book to the page displaying the vivid blood flame image, he studied it, seeking to comprehend the vitality rule radiating from it.
As he gazed at the lifelike image, he marveled at the skill of the painter or scribe who had created it. The vitality essence within seemed almost tangible, far beyond what ordinary paper could hold. Such an image couldn't have been drawn on regular parchment without destroying the paper in the process.Refocusing, Rain cleared his thoughts, directing his full attention to the vitality rule emanating from the blood flame image, fully intent on deepening his understanding. Time passed as the sun rose higher in the sky, birds chirping as they flew around the ship, and calls of animals from the mountains echoed across the river. These sounds, however, didn't disturb Rain; instead, he halted his own attempt in frustration. Despite his efforts, he couldn't isolate the vitality rule from the other rules interwoven within the blood flame.
He resisted the urge to vent his frustration aloud, then, after some reflection, concluded that mastering the Blood Flame Palm martial art would be essential to fully separate and grasp the vitality rule from among the other rules present.
With an hour and a half still left until the ship reached Wutan City, and no imminent interruptions, Rain decided to review the memories from his main body that were stored in his soul chip. The last memory had ended with the main body falling asleep after a third grueling day on the battlefield and ordering three Bronze Blood buds and two Fire Blood buds.
The memory resumed with the main body awakening and retrieving the parcels containing the ordered buds. First, he consumed the three Bronze Blood buds, one by one, before checking his personal panel:
Personal Panel:
- Name: Rain
- Realm: Middle D-rank
- Physical: 9.01 (20)
- Agility: 5.961 (20)
- Genetic Energy: 7.19 (20)
- Genetic Energy Refinement: 13.93 (100)
- Techniques:
- Poison Claw 1st Chapter (D) – (9/9) (familiar) – 2.2%
- Life Vine Shield (D) – 100 (Start)
- Spring Rain Sword Art (E) – Master
- Iron Sword Art (E) – 5 (Proficient)
- Cloud Sword Art (E) – 92.5 (Proficient)
- Sword Technique – 76 (Master)
- Movement Technique – 09 (Proficient)
- Shadow Sword Art (E) – 56 (Start)
- Mysteries:
- Poison Stone – 0.12%
- Sap of Devil Trap – 0.001%
- Dark Iron – 0.0006%
- Rain Stone (D) – 1.581%
Satisfied with the results, he consumed the two Fire Blood buds, one by one, and then rechecked his personal panel:
Personal Panel (Updated):
- Name: Rain
- Realm: Middle D-rank
- Physical: 9.01 (20)
- Agility: 5.961 (20)
- Genetic Energy: 7.91 (20)
- Genetic Energy Refinement: 15.93 (100)
- Techniques:
- Poison Claw 1st Chapter (D) – (9/9) (familiar) – 2.2%
- Life Vine Shield (D) – 100 (Start)
- Spring Rain Sword Art (E) – Master
- Iron Sword Art (E) – 5 (Proficient)
- Cloud Sword Art (E) – 92.5 (Proficient)
- Sword Technique – 76 (Master)
- Movement Technique – 09 (Proficient)
- Shadow Sword Art (E) – 56 (Start)
- Mysteries:
- Poison Stone – 0.12%
- Sap of Devil Trap – 0.001%
- Dark Iron – 0.0006%
- Rain Stone (D) – 1.581%
Afterward, Rain left his room and made his way through the fortress toward a central building bustling with people. He entered and booked a room for five hours at the cost of one merit point per hour. This building, known as the Gravity Training Center, was a vast facility with enough rooms to accommodate around 30 percent of the fortress occupants simultaneously. There were three such buildings, each designed to enhance physical strength through controlled gravity conditions. Inside, each room was equipped with various body-training equipment, tailored for gravity-based exercises.
Once in his room, Rain set the gravity to twice that of the outside world. The increased pressure pressed around him immediately. Although he felt he could handle it, he resisted the temptation to increase the gravity further, mindful that this was his first experience with it. He stepped onto the treadmill, intending to address his primary weakness—agility—and began running at a steady pace.
For five continuous hours, Rain pushed himself, running under the doubled gravity without pause. When the five-hour mark arrived, the room's gravity returned to normal, and the treadmill powered down. Rain, soaked in sweat, felt no pain or strain thanks to his self-healing ability, which naturally activated to repair any damage or fatigue.
Curious about his progress, Rain opened his personal panel to review any improvements after his five-hour run in double gravity:
Personal Panel:
- Name: Rain
- Realm: Middle D-rank
- Physical: 9.06 (20)
- Agility: 6.27 (20)
- Genetic Energy: 7.33 (20)
- Genetic Energy Refinement: 15.93 (100)
- Techniques:
- Poison Claw 1st Chapter (D) – Familiar (9/9) – 2.2%
- Life Vine Shield (D) – 100 (Start)
- Spring Rain Sword Art (E) – Master
- Iron Sword Art (E) – Proficient (5)
- Cloud Sword Art (E) – Proficient (92.5)
- Sword Technique: Master (76)
- Movement Technique: Proficient (9)
- Shadow Sword Art (E) – Start (56)
- Mysteries:
- Poison Stone – 0.12%
- Sap of Devil Trap – 0.001%
- Dark Iron – 0.0006%
- Rain Stone (D) – 1.581%
Noting the improvements in his physique and agility, Rain decided to focus solely on acquiring Fire Blood Buds to reach the limit of Middle D-rank, instead of taking additional Bronze Blood. He reasoned that he could naturally enhance his physique and agility through combat with the creatures in the Dead Battlefield. Prolonged battles, after all, placed strain on various parts of the body, and his self-healing ability would not only repair but strengthen those areas over time. Strain always targets weaker body parts, and through the cycle of self-healing and recovery, those weaknesses gradually improve. The Gravity Training Center would also play a crucial role in helping him fortify his body, steadily pushing him to higher levels.
With that realization, Rain returned to his room, sat down, and examined his skills. He understood that, although his clone had specifically used Cloud Sword Art during the fight with Evil Crow, both the Iron Sword and Shadow Sword arts had also improved. He concluded that since they were all sword techniques, advancements in one could subtly reinforce the others due to shared foundational principles.
He then settled into meditation, focusing on comprehending the Rain Stone. This practice continued until it was time to prepare for another day on the battlefield. It took him an hour to get ready before he and his team re-entered the Dead Battlefield. Soon, they were locked in combat with the relentless monsters, and once again, a Dead Scythe creature began harassing him. With his teammates engaged in their own battles and Siobhan weaker than he was, Rain knew he'd have to face it alone.
When the Dead Scythe attacked, Rain charged at it using the Cloud Movement technique. The technique allowed him to reach speeds close to that of the Dead Scythe, preventing it from slipping away. As he pressed on, the Cloud Movement technique finally broke through to the master rank, enabling his speed to match the Dead Scythe's. This made a critical difference: with his own speed now on par, the creature's advantage was nullified.
Now, their attacks were equally matched, but Rain's agility and proximity disrupted the Dead Scythe's usual hit-and-run strategy. It couldn't use its speed to enhance its strikes, and its defense was comparatively weak. With three decisive strikes, Rain defeated the Dead Scythe, turning its own strengths against it.
With Cloud Movement reaching the master level, Rain's speed had effectively doubled. This new agility made it much easier to defeat monsters of the same or lower rank. Although the increased speed consumed his genetic energy at twice the usual rate, he had an ample supply of genetic pills to offset the cost. Facing late D-rank monsters became easier, as his reaction time and speed now slightly outpaced theirs. When the day's battle finally ended, he had earned a commendable 210 merit points.
Exiting the Dead Battlefield, he walked toward the fortress with Sky, Damian, Lily, and Siobhan, who immediately asked about his sudden speed boost. Knowing he couldn't reveal the origins of his Cloud Movement technique from the Star Immortal World, he simply told them he had created it himself. Since movement techniques were unheard of in the Radiation World, they were thoroughly impressed. He even offered to share it with them. However, Sky suggested that Rain submit it to the city for official review, so it could be added to the martial arts technique list for others to purchase, allowing Rain to earn money from each sale. Rain agreed and submitted the entire Cloud Sword Art for review.
Back in his room, Rain ordered 15 Fire Blood Buds and a Frozen Heart for 50 merit points, both resources for strengthening the body. Not long after, he received a notification: his martial art had been approved and classified as a beginning D-rank technique, priced at 2,500 credits. Although he understood the lower rank assigned, he knew this was because it was the first movement technique in the Radiation World. Its true rank was closer to an E-rank on the Star Immortal World, where it was originally meant for the Gathering Strength Realm.
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