I promised a chapter this weekend so here it is. Stay warm fellow daoists.
Whooooooosh!
Lineir found himself soaring through some spacial tunnel and then suddenly there was an unusual breaking noise. It was as if space was a pane of glass and Lineir had smashed through it.
KACHIIING!
He felt some sort of resistance and then a great heaviness fell upon every part of his being. It was not unbearable by any means but it was quite hard to ignore.
"This must be the pressure caused by the Higher Realm's increased spacial stability." Lineir thought. Suddenly there was a bright light and Lineir was tossed onto the hard ground. However, he was used to it at this point and managed to land on his feet this time.
Tap
He brushed off his robes as he landed and adjusted himself.
"Where did that crazy senior send me this time?" He wondered. Quickly he scanned for danger.
"Mei, do you know where we are?" He asked but Mei said she didn't have a clue, the Higher Realm's were simply too vast. Lineir also tried to ask Mizuchi but she simply sniffed and said she couldn't be bothered to say even if she did know.
"Guess it's time to wander. No matter how weird that senior is he wouldn't just drop me off in the middle of nowhere without a purpose...would he?" Lineir sighed. While obviously last time The Bladelord had clearly transported Lineir to his estate with the intent of bestowing a legacy, this time he had seemed quite irrationally angry. Who knows if someone so eccentric would even care about sending Lineir to the Hells themselves....
"Shall I get a better view first then?"
WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!
The phoenix wings burst out from Lineir's back complete with the bones of a dragon supporting the ephemeral flames. However, while initially Lineir felt rejuvenated because the energy of the Divine Realm was many times purer and more concentrated than his home realm, he soon realized a critical problem!
"This pressure! I can't maintain flight!" He cried out as after a few seconds he lost altitude and fell back to the earth completely drained of energy. Mizuchi giggled,
"Silly plebian. You really think you can maintain flight at your level in the Divine Realm?"
Lineir sighed. He had had to burn an immense amount of Fire Qi to even fly up a hundred meters. Fortunately, while his Qi expenditures were absolutely more massive than before, the purity of the ambient Qi was also much higher. So he was able to recover his reserves much more quickly than before.
"I wonder...how my combat power is affected here. Obviously I can no longer rely on the advantage of flight in battle, but I wonder if my techniques will be equally difficult to use here?" Quickly he took a breath of the fresh air and revolved his Second Heart. A second he unleashed a strike with Mei upon a nearby tree.
Lightning Slash!
Kang!
A bizarre noise as Lineir's blade crossed the tree. There was a clanging noise as if he had struck metal and the blade cut through but only partially. Instead of slicing completely through it was like he was sawing through the wood. The feeling was reminiscent of striking a metal pole rather than a wooden tree.
"What??? So hard?" Lineir felt a huge echo as the tree seemingly pushed back against his sword and resisted his technique.
"Fine then but what happens if I do this!" He grunted and called back the lightning Qi which had been sown into the tree's trunk!
Boom!
There was a puff and a meter wide lightning bolt suddenly raced up tracing the path of Lineir's slash on the tree trunk. Lineir's jaw dropped as he saw the tree was still standing with a burnt line carved into the bark.
"That strike should have blown the whole tree to pieces!" He exclaimed. While he had only casually unleashed a blow it had still been imbued with some of his knowledge of the laws of lightning. How could it have failed to destroy a random tree?
"Kiddo, don't waste your energy. Your cultivation is quite low to be entering the Higher Realms. You'll find that a lot of the things you could do easily before are now difficult. Part of it is simply adjusting to the higher resistance here, and the other part is you simply need to raise your cultivation boundary. Don't worry about it for now, just don't provoke anyone you shouldn't and stay cautious. Everyone who isn't from the Higher Realms will experience this effect unless they are truly Heaven defying!" Mei counseled Lineir and he sighed. She was right. In this place where the space was so stable and the ambient Qi in the air was so pure, his techniques and attacks needed to be adjusted to produce the correct balance of power. Additionally, the quality and amount of his Qi was simply too low at the moment.
"Still though....I can't even destroy a mere tree. It really does feel like all my cultivation has been wasted." He sighed and then started walking. "I think I saw signs of habitation over there."
Over time the environment changed. Wherever he was, the trees which had surrounded him began to show signs of frost and winter as the temperature dropped. Soon there was snow on the ground and the clear blue sky turned to a milky gray dustbowl as the clouds began to give birth to a beautiful snowfall. Each snowflake was incomparably perfect and it was as if the pure laws of ice and snow had been captured in them. Indeed, though Lineir had no knowledge of the ice laws, he almost felt like if he spent enough time here he could not but gain some insights.
Chi Chi Chi
The flakes gradually drifted down and touched Lineir's bare face. However, he startled as he realized each flake was...utterly freezing!
"So cold. How can this be?!!" He shivered a little and hardened his mind. Though he was a cultivator the snow itself seemed to be imbued with a tiny portion of the ice laws and actually could chill even him. He was tempted to try to try to release his defenses and try to gain some insight into the ice laws much the same way he had with the Acid Rain in the 1000 Cups Trial, however he quickly realized that it was too dangerous! Unlike the Acid Rain, he did not have any knowledge of the ice laws and in this strange new place with his meager powers it was far far too risky to allow the ice laws in the snow to touch him. He could very likely actually freeze to death!
Instead of releasing his defenses Lineir instead revolved his Second Heart, specifically the fire Qi inside which he had taken from the Phoenix. The warmth of the eternal flames of the phoenix kept him safe from the cold and though the fire Qi in this icebound land was lacking, he was able to at least keep himself from freezing.
Shwwwooooooooosh!!
"Hahaha to think that even after all this cultivating even I have to fear the elements in this place like a mortal. This is...truly refreshing!!" Lineir chuckled as he warmed and walked with renewed vigor. This may seem odd but it made sense if you consider that Lineir was still a youth! To go from a poverty filled existence where his life could be snuffed out by man, nature, or gods at any moment to suddenly becoming a cultivator who could ascend to a higher realm in a mere span of a few years. Such an insanely quick transition who could imagine what kind of effect that would have on one's mentality? The feeling of being subject to the elements, to fear nature and to be subject to its laws, it would be stranger if Lineir did not feel some nostalgia no?
"Ahhhhhhhhh!!"
A surprising scream filled the air and Lineir froze as he listened. He had long since discovered that his Divine Sense was very limited here, a few dozen meters at most so he relied on Mei to alert him to danger. However she had not alerted him. When he stopped and cocked an ear however,
"Just some mortals kiddo. It's not really worth it but do you want to take a look?" Mei said. Lineir hesitated. It was an interesting preposition which actually had far deeper implications than one might think. If Lineir investigated, it would strengthen his bond to mortality and imply that his Dao Heart or Third Heart was not sturdy. However, if he did not investigate it might leave a slight, nigh imperceptible mark of regret on his heart. While individually these things were unlikely to affect his future cultivation, if too many events like this occurred and Lineir did not properly sever his attachments to mortals then he would eventually suffer in the future!
"Ahhh screw it. My Third Heart has no rules against helping others! While I won't try to save the world, there is no harm in helping passerby! How many immortals have lent a helping hand in the past, I refuse to believe I must sacrifice my humanity to cultivate!" Thus decided Lineir turned towards the scream and began to quickly stride to investigate.