Author's Note: For those interested, there are now five advanced chapters (we're on chapter 38) and a poll about drawing that we will be requesting in the future for this story on my on P-atreon, which you can read and vote for just $5.
I also finished the first volume of my other story, "Welcome to the Alternate Multiverse Chat Group."
So if you can, please go to my profile and check it out.
Remove the spaces and dash: p-atreon/ Krakenian01
X-X-X-X-X-X
Third Person P.O.V
A few days ago
Leek's final flash pierced the old man's chest, destroying not only his spirit, which had taken physical form, but even the piece of mummified skin that had been consuming itself was completely vaporized by the attack before it continued on its path, widening dozens of meters and digging its way from the depths of the Dark Ruins to explode high into the sky.
The eyes of the person responsible for carrying out such an attack, the Saiyan named Leek, blurred, and he fell backward, his consciousness blurred as the damage to the already crumbling structure caused the entire place to collapse.
Unable to move and barely conscious, Leek turned into a sack of potatoes, which Ye Shuo held on his shoulders as the three spiritualists jumped through the rubble, determined to climb through the hole caused by the attack in a desperate attempt to avoid being buried under tons of debris.
And in the midst of that movement, Leek's fluctuating consciousness began to dim like a flame lacking oxygen, but before doing so, he saw a peculiar object fall right in front of him, hitting his hand, which was moving like a puppet's, shaken by all the movement.
An ornate, medium-sized box. He didn't know why, but instinctively, he activated the interspatial ring Lanruo had given him, and the object was absorbed inside before his consciousness was completely consumed by the darkness.
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Third Person P.O.V
Present
"That's more or less what I remember, although of course, I was more unconscious than conscious at the time, so I may be missing something." Leek said as he held the box in front of the spiritualists.
The entire tent fell silent as they processed this information, and after a few seconds, Ye Zong stepped forward before speaking. "That box seems to have some inscription patterns. Can you let my wife take a look at it?" The city lord asked.
Just as Leek had been told when he discovered his ship had disappeared, the laws of Glory City guaranteed that all items recovered on expeditions belonged solely to the finder.
And since Leek had not only discovered it, but had also eliminated a threat to the city and saved the lives of three Black Gold-rank Spiritualists, one of whom was not only the sworn brother of the City Lord but also the patriarch of a family, and the other was the fourth strongest member of the City Lord's own family, the young man was confident he could keep the box and its contents.
If Ye Zong were to try to take this item from the young Saiyan, even after taking a share of the loot without even participating in the expedition, then it would be the same as eating Leek's rice and spitting into his plate, leaving him as a man with a face as hard as iron in the eyes of the other Spiritualists, something that someone holding the position of City Lord couldn't allow.
That's why all Ye Zong wanted to do was at least study the inscription patterns on this box a little, and if possible, discover the contents before attempting to make an offer to Leek to obtain it.
"Sure." Oblivious to the City Lord's thoughts, the Saiyan agreed to the request without any problem.
Ye Zong looked at Ye Shuo and nodded once; the elder, understanding the implicit order, leaned towards the exit before speaking. "Please call Xue Yin"
The wait lasted just a little more than a couple of minutes, and after that time, a woman with black hair styled in a high bun entered the store.
As soon as she entered, the woman bowed to everyone present, and after her greetings, she looked at Ye Zong, who gave her a sign before speaking. "We need a new soundproof barrier, we broke the one we were using when we called you before, please put one up, the matter we are discussing is important"
The woman, noticing the city lord's serious tone, nodded before raising her hand, her storage ring flashed, and two scrolls appeared in her hand. After that, the woman tore them open, and a green energy emerged from both papers, enveloping the tent.
"It's done. No one will hear or see anything that happens here." The woman said, nodding.
Ye Zong sighed a little more calmly before looking back at Leek. "She is Xue Yin, an inscription master, if anyone in this place can find out anything about that box, it would be her." He said, continuing to stare at the object in the Saiyan's hands.
"Nice to meet you, I regret not being able to introduce myself in a more dignified manner, my name is Leek." The young man nodded, bowing his head slightly as a form of respect, responding to the similar greeting the woman gave him when Ye Zong introduced her.
"The pleasure is mine." the woman replied politely before stepping forward with her hands outstretched to take the box Leek offered.
But the moment it passed from the Saiyan's hands to the inscriptionist's, she dropped it, retracting her hand as if the box had given her an electric shock, dropping it into Leek's lap.
"What happened?!" Ye Zong quickly moved forward, grabbing the woman and placing her behind him as a shield, while the other spiritualists also looked a little alarmed.
"That box, the moment I touched it… it attacked my soul force?" The woman said, her eyes wide open, as if she couldn't believe what had just happened.
"What? But why don't I feel anything?" Leek said, also surprised as he held the box again, feeling nothing at all.
But when he said that, the three spiritualists who were there, who knew his story and were present during the meeting at the city lord's mansion, remembered a piece of information that was revealed at that meeting.
"I don't use the same type of energy you do, the so-called soul force." Leek remembered saying this, and the spiritualists remembered hearing it.
"Is it really because I don't have soul force?" The Saiyan raised the question, while the five spiritualists said nothing. Ye Shuo, Ye Zong, and Huyan Xiong considered whether that could be the reason, while Xue Yin and Hong Yue Mu, who weren't fully aware of Leek's situation, refrained from commenting due to lack of information.
"Let's test it out." Finally, Huyan Xiong spoke as he stepped forward, ready to hold the box.
But when he touched it, exactly the same thing happened as with Xue Yin: the object seemed to reject him, and this time it seemed to be even more pronounced than with the inscription master.
"Ouch." The spiritualist took a few steps back, waving his hand a few times to get rid of the remaining pain.
"That confirms it." Ye Zong said, determined to find a solution.
"Then how about I hold the box while Madam Xue Yin checks the inscriptions on it? As long as she doesn't directly touch the box, there shouldn't be any problems, right?" Leek suggested.
Everyone seemed to agree with the idea, and when Xue Yin approached once more, Leek held the box in front of her.
As her gaze scanned the surface of the box, the woman's brow furrowed, showing that she was completely focused on her task, she murmured occasionally and asked Leek to turn the box over from time to time, until finally, after 20 minutes, she finally took a few steps back, although she seemed somewhat disappointed.
"I can't understand most of the things in this box; the inscription patterns seem to be written in languages predating the time of the Wind and Snow Empire, and while there are clearly sealing patterns, I can only make out a few things. Words that seem to mean things like energy flow, vault, and the like, whoever made the inscription patterns on this box is clearly far above my level." The woman said, sighing a little disappointedly.
"You said energy flow, do you think that means that to open it, we must imbue this box with soul force?" Hong Yue Mu asked.
The woman shook her head a few times. "I wouldn't recommend it, not only am I not entirely sure that's the requirement, but simply touching it causes the object to reject us even if we don't use our soul force. The consequences of someone's own soul force coming into contact with an object like this could be far worse than simply being rejected." She said, causing the cultivators' mood to drop slightly.
"So what do you think if I do it myself?" Leek made another suggestion. "I think it's a good idea. Since I don't have soul force in my body, I shouldn't be rejected, and I can use my ki to cover the need for an 'energy flow' to try to open it; I can use the interspatial rings even if my energy isn't the same as yours, so, taking all that into account, I should, at least theoretically, be able to do it, right?" He finished, looking at the box.
All the spiritualists considered Leek's idea until, after sharing a few glances, Ye Zong spoke. "Do it"
Leek nodded before taking the box by both sides, concentrating on his energy, his ki reserves were completely full thanks to not having used any of it while he was unconscious for a few days, but his body was a different stor, the moment he moved his energy through his arms, he felt them throb painfully while also feeling his skin and muscles burn as if someone were passing their hand over a recent burn.
It wasn't comfortable at all, and Leek shuddered a little, but the pain was still within a manageable range, so after frowning slightly, he continued to focus his energy, although for the moment it was a minimal amount, to avoid any further damage to his injured limbs.
Slowly, a layer of semi-transparent energy covered Leek, soft and calm like a candle flame in a place where there was no draft.
The ki concentrated in his arms before passing into the box, which glowed for a few seconds before one of its compartments opened.
The problem with this, though, was that it didn't open from the top, where the lid was. Instead, what looked like a second lid opened from the bottom of the box, allowing its contents to fall into Leek's lap, surprising him enough to disrupt the flow of energy.
"This is..." Ye Zong said as everyone approached, their eyes fixed on what had fallen from the box, though a feeling of disappointment quickly settled over the area.
"Debris?" Huyan Xiong concluded.
Sure enough, what was now scattered on Leek's lap was a small pile of rubble made of what appeared to be grayish-white stone, and neither Leek nor the spiritualists sensed any energy coming from it.
"This... is a bit disappointing." Huyan Xiong said, and everyone present couldn't help but agree.
"I wonder what they were made of?" Leek said as he tried to take one of the pieces between his fingers, but the moment he touched one, he quickly pulled his hand back.
"Ouch!! These things are so sharp!" He complained, looking at his finger and noticing the bleeding cut.
"Look at that." Hong Yue Mu pointed out as he looked at the small sliver of rubble Leek had cut himself on.
The small piece of stone had a bit of the Saiyan's blood on the tip, but like a sponge, the blood was absorbed before the rubble began to vibrate, and as if this action triggered a chain reaction, all the pieces of stone began to vibrate.
"My ki is being absorbed! What's happening?!" The Saiyan said, noticing how his reserves, which until then had been full, began to diminish without him being able to do anything.
No one present understood what was happening; they could only watch in surprise as all the pieces of debris began to float, emitting a faint golden glow and intermittently sending out pulses of energy.
And finally, after a few more seconds, all the debris coalesced, assembling perfectly, taking the form of a staff, which floated in front of Leek.
"This is..." Leek heard the gasp of one of the spiritualists, but he didn't even pay attention or try to think about who said it; all his concentration was on the staff in front of him.
It was as if it were calling to him; his own absorbed ki was now within this object, forming a connection that grew stronger with each passing second, and somehow he felt like the staff was asking him to seal the deal by holding it.
So that's what he did.
His hand stretched out without a hint of hesitation, and when he held the weapon, a pulse of energy originating from the Saiyan and the staff spread throughout the entire place.
The barrier isolating the tent broke, and even Ye Zong, Ye Shuo, Huyang Xiong, and Hong Yue Mu, who were Black Gold-rank Spiritualists, took a few steps back and raised their arms to cover their faces as if struck by a strong wind, while everyone in the camp was agitated by the massive amount of energy they were sensing.
Above Leek's forehead, for a single second, the phantom of a platinum-golden headband materialized before disappearing.
Leek paid no attention to anything happening around him, staring only at the now-reformed staff, riddled with cracks that gleamed gold, showing that it was the union of countless small pieces.
But even this didn't detract from its appearance in the slightest, making it look even more beautiful and "mystical."
"Ruyi Jingu Bang"
The weapon's name came out of the Saiyan's mouth like an instinctive whisper, and somehow he felt... more complete, as if by holding this staff, a part of him he didn't know was missing had just been filled.
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Third Person P.O.V
Glory City
At the same time
Nie Li had just finished counting all the money he had saved from hunting as many horned sheep as possible.
During these days, he had barely had a break; at this point, his days consisted almost solely of cultivating, hunting, and sleeping.
At first, he had thought of only skipping Shen Xiu's class and continuing to attend the others, but thanks to everything that happened with the inscription pattern that the Sacred Family had stolen, he now had the position of librarian.
So he managed to close a deal with the institute that would allow him to be absent from all classes until the aptitude tests, where both soul strength and physique would be measured, on the condition that he present some inscription discovery similar to the one he made during Shen Xiu's class.
Nie Li had agreed to this without any problem; after all, with his knowledge, all he would have to do was hand over a simple inscription pattern, and in return, he would gain much more time for all the tasks necessary to put his plan into action.
Perhaps the only problem was that this deal was only valid for him, so his classmates could only be absent from Shen Xiu's class to help him hunt or accompany him in cultivation.
It wasn't ideal, but for the time being, it was the best he could get, so he made the most of it.
"18,786 Demon Spirit Coins, plus what Lu Piao told me I could ask his father for, should easily at least reach 20,000. To buy Purple Haze Grass, this should be enough. After all, a single coin is enough for a handful, so, with this amount of money, we'll have over a ton, and when the price goes up, we should multiply the initial value several times over. So, for now…" He said, taking a piece of parchment from the pile on his table in the library, ready to start listing the possible uses for this herb.
But just as his quill was about to touch the paper, his body stopped, his pupils sharpened, and he felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickling.
His gaze lifted, looking out the window toward the horizon, and a confused and slightly worried expression appeared on his face before he spoke. "What is that?"
He had felt it, a massive pulse of energy that had originated far away from where he was, beyond the walls that separated Glory City from the rest of the world.
Nie Li doubted anyone else in the entire city had sensed it; the source had clearly been far away, perhaps only someone with very advanced perception abilities and at least peak Black Gold rank could have done so, but even then, Nie Li doubted that was the case.
His fist clenched, and his brow furrowed, he had no idea what was going on, and he hated it.
Not knowing was the same as being vulnerable, especially for him in the state he was in.
He shook his head a few times; this was a warning, a reminder that even if he was a time traveler with endless knowledge, it would be useless if he didn't have the strength to defend himself.
The memory of Ye Ziyun flashed back to him; a few days ago, he had finally been able to talk to her about inscription patterns and had been able to get her attention by showing off some of his knowledge.
He couldn't let things end up like they had in his previous life.
Had he really considered slacking off a bit because he had made a brat like Shen Yue pee his pants?
Someone as insignificant as him was less than an ant in his path.
He had to hurry, ignore everything unnecessary, and quickly strengthen himself to face the real threats!
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Another chapter done, and now we introduce Leek's weapon, the Ruyi Jingu Bang. It has appeared in many different presentations throughout the series, so I'm here to present my own version.
I hope you like what I'm doing with this legendary weapon in the future.
Besides that, I also wanted to ask you for something else: I'd like to commission a drawing for this story, either a new cover or a fan art of a scene.
That's why I wanted to ask you to please join my P-treon, those who join, in addition to being able to read the 5 extra chapters there, will also be able to vote to decide which of these two options will be the drawing.
If we get 19 people with Legend rank to join, and I add a little bit of what I have saved (because the good artists I've seen on X aren't cheap), I think I'll be able to find a good artist to draw something for this story.
So far there are 15 people, so we need only 4 more (we are close to the goal!), so, if possible, please support me, if not, I still appreciate the reviews, comments, and power stones.
Aside from that, I have two things to ask you. The first is about Leek's family name. Do you have any suggestions?
And the second is, since we're so close to reaching the goal for the drawing, do you have any specific artists you'd recommend for commissioning?
Remove the spaces and dash: p-atreon/ Krakenian01
I'll be listening to your recommendations.