Chapter 8: The Academy of Eternal Storms
Wei Liang's first week at the Academy revealed the vast gap between upper realm cultivation and everything he had known before. Basic techniques here could reshape continents. Advanced methods allowed masters to create and destroy entire star systems.
His assigned classes covered fundamental upper realm concepts. Dimensional manipulation. Time dilation fields. Soul-based combat techniques. Each lesson contained enough knowledge to revolutionize a middle realm's understanding of cultivation.
But Wei Liang paid special attention to studying the Academy's masters. There were thirteen of them, each specializing in different aspects of cosmic cultivation. All had achieved minor divinity - the threshold between mortal cultivators and true gods.
Master Ironheart taught weapon cultivation and combat techniques. His specialty was forging weapons from compressed space-time. Even his casual demonstrations could split mountains on distant worlds.
Master Voidwhisper specialized in assassination and stealth arts. She could become completely undetectable to any form of perception. Her kills were legendary even among the upper realms.
Master Soulrender focused on soul manipulation and spiritual attacks. He could destroy an enemy's consciousness while leaving their body intact. His victims became hollow shells that followed his commands.
Each master would provide immense power if killed and absorbed. But they were also incredibly dangerous opponents. Wei Liang needed to choose his target carefully and strike when victory was certain.
His opportunity came during the monthly Combat Tournament. Academy students fought in exhibition matches to demonstrate their progress. Masters observed and provided critiques of their techniques.
Wei Liang had advanced rapidly through the tournament brackets. His spear work, refined by countless battles, overwhelmed opponents who relied purely on raw power. He reached the finals against Thex Starbreaker, a crystal being from the Seventh Upper World.
The final match took place in a pocket dimension designed to contain massive qi exchanges. Spectators watched from shielded galleries while the combatants prepared to fight.
Thex Starbreaker was twelve feet tall and composed entirely of living diamond. His punches could shatter moons. His defensive shell could withstand supernova explosions. In terms of raw power, he far exceeded Wei Liang's capabilities.
But power without precision was just destruction without purpose.
The match began with Thex charging forward like an avalanche. His crystal fists left craters in the dimension's floor. Each missed punch created shockwaves that would have leveled cities.
Wei Liang flowed around the attacks like water. His spear found the tiny gaps between crystal plates in Thex's armor. Each strike was perfectly aimed at structural weak points.
Cracks began spreading through Thex's diamond body. The crystal being roared in frustration as his invincible defense slowly crumbled. How could a mere flesh-and-blood human find such precise weaknesses?
Wei Liang's final strike pierced through Thex's core crystal. The massive being shattered like a broken window. Diamond shards scattered across the arena floor.
The crowd erupted in shocked applause. A newly ascended middle realm cultivator had just defeated one of the Academy's strongest students. Even the masters looked impressed by the display.
"Remarkable technique," Master Ironheart commented. "Your spear work shows centuries of refinement despite your apparent youth."
Wei Liang bowed respectfully. "I have had many opportunities to practice, Master."
After the tournament, several masters approached Wei Liang privately. They offered advanced training and access to secret techniques. All of them wanted to study this unusual student who showed such promise.
Master Soulrender was the most persistent in his recruitment efforts. He invited Wei Liang to his private laboratory for specialized instruction in soul manipulation techniques.
Perfect. This was exactly the opportunity Wei Liang had been waiting for.
Master Soulrender's laboratory occupied the top floor of the Obsidian Tower. The chamber was filled with crystalline containers holding captured souls. Thousands of consciousness fragments floated in glowing suspension fluid.
"Soul cultivation is the ultimate art," Master Soulrender explained. "Physical power can be overcome by superior technique. But a destroyed soul cannot be restored by any means."
He demonstrated by crushing a soul crystal in his palm. The consciousness within screamed silently as it dissolved into nothingness. Complete and permanent annihilation.
"Fascinating," Wei Liang said. "Could you show me the technique for extracting souls from living beings?"
"Certainly. Observe carefully."
Master Soulrender began weaving complex hand seals. His qi took on a ghostly blue color as he shaped it into soul-grasping tendrils. The technique was incredibly sophisticated, requiring perfect timing and precision.
Wei Liang memorized every detail while pretending to struggle with the basic concepts. He asked questions that made him seem eager but incompetent. Master Soulrender grew more relaxed as he explained increasingly advanced techniques.
"You show promise," the master finally said. "With decades of training, you might achieve basic competence in soul manipulation."
"I am honored by your instruction," Wei Liang replied. Then his spear emerged from concealment faster than thought itself.
Master Soulrender's eyes widened as the iron point pierced his heart. He had been completely focused on teaching and never suspected his student's true intentions.
"How?" he gasped. Blood bubbled from his lips as his divine essence began leaking away.
"By being patient," Wei Liang replied. He activated the Iron Blood Manual's absorption technique.
Master Soulrender's life force flowed into Wei Liang's cultivation base. But this was no ordinary death. The master possessed minor divinity - concentrated divine essence refined over millennia of cultivation.
The power influx was overwhelming. Wei Liang felt his soul expanding to contain energies that dwarfed everything he had absorbed before. His consciousness touched the edges of true godhood for the first time.
The Iron Blood Manual's fifth stage activated automatically. Divine essence restructured Wei Liang's body at the molecular level. His bones became condensed starlight. His blood turned into liquid time. His flesh transformed into crystallized space.
He was no longer human in any meaningful sense. The accumulated deaths of hundreds of thousands had forged him into something beyond mortal limitations. A being that existed partially in multiple dimensions simultaneously.
But the transformation was not complete. The fifth stage required three divine deaths to achieve full activation. Master Soulrender was only the first sacrifice.
Wei Liang quickly disposed of the master's body using the laboratory's soul-dissolution equipment. Then he activated the chamber's self-destruct sequence. The explosion would destroy all evidence while appearing to be an experimental accident.
The blast shook the entire Academy. Students and masters came running to investigate. They found Master Soulrender's laboratory in ruins with no trace of its occupant.
"Another cultivation accident," Elder Voidwalker concluded sadly. "Soulrender was always too ambitious with his experiments. This was inevitable."
Wei Liang played the role of shocked student perfectly. He expressed appropriate grief and offered to help search for survivors. No one suspected his involvement in the master's disappearance.
But two other masters were studying the destruction scene more carefully. Master Voidwhisper and Master Bloodmoon exchanged meaningful glances as they examined the blast pattern.
"Interesting," Master Voidwhisper murmured. Her voice was barely audible even to enhanced senses.
"Indeed," Master Bloodmoon agreed. "The explosion came from inside the chamber, but the blast pattern suggests external interference."
They had detected something suspicious about Master Soulrender's death.