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Valerio had been a peak 1st Planar for a week now (9th Tier), and it was finally time for a breakthrough. The first two planes were the only ones he'd actually researched back home in Fluxara. Thus he knew he had to maximise his advantages, that being he only knew how to cultivate through the first two planes. There were multiple ways to break into the 2nd Plane, however, all of them shared a singular aspect, cleansing the meridians. The 2nd Plane was one of the most important ones and that was because of the existence of bloodline nodes and innate nodes.
There exists three types of nodes, normal, bloodline and innate. Normal nodes would circulate and store Lu. On the other hand, bloodline nodes acted as natural nodes with additional functions. They are in most cases products of evolution, environment and abilities corresponding to a bloodline. Separate from natural and bloodline nodes were innate nodes, they represented a pillar of talent separate from birth. Innate nodes are born in the soul of each person, granting an ability unique to each and every individual out there, it is only in the 2nd Plane that one would finally manifest it and see its abilities. Each tier in the 2nd Plane corresponded to a natural or bloodline node being formed.
Valerio had been thinking about the most optimal locations for his nodes for the past week. Afterall, an inefficient location would result in inefficient Lu circulation and damage his foundations. Thankfully, he was confident in his plan, it was time for it to come to fruition.
Valerio sat outside his tree house, the cool shade of the giant redwood covering his surroundings. He took deep breaths and straightened his posture, his mind entering a state of deep focus as he circulated Void Lu through his meridians.
Initially he hadn't known how to cleanse his meridians, he couldn't exactly go in there with a broom and make it squeaky clean. It was thanks to the last three weeks that he had figured a method out. The only time he felt his Lu flowing faster was either after extreme amounts of exercise or when he circulated his Void Lu. But how was that possible?
The reason extreme exercise helped cleanse the meridians must have been because of the protocols the body would activate in times of stress, such as sweating, adrenaline and etc… This was definitely… information, but it wasn't useful. The only reason he'd realised the effect of stress on his meridians was thanks to the twins. As he was running away and empowering himself with Lu, he had actually reached a bizarre equilibrium between extending himself beyond his limits yet being able to keep going due to the Void Lu pouring into him. This equilibrium had placed a tremendous amount of stress on his body and he had realised his Lu flowed just a small increment better than before he met the twins.
Unfortunately, this method was simply too inefficient. On top of that he couldn't check if it had a ceiling or not. Would his body stop cleansing his meridians due to stress at some point?
That was why Valerio had used his second discovery with a new method. He would take advantage of the purified characteristics of Void Lu and vibrations to cleanse his meridians.
He had been practising his Lu control over the past weeks by changing the circulation speed and ejecting it from his fingertips. Today he was finally confident in vibrating his Lu with enough control to use it in his body.
Valerio started circulating Void Lu while slowly increasing the rate of circulation to the point where his control was on the brink of faltering. As soon as he felt that subtle line between control and chaos, he started creating a wave motion in his meridians. The Void Lu, now in a wave motion, started bumping against his meridians and withering the impurities. An abundance of Neutral Lu appears in his meridians. Valerio had been expecting to feel an abnormal amount of pain, he was essentially stretching and hitting against one of the most vital parts in his body, yet he didn't feel anything.
Unexpectedly it wasn't the pain of vibration in his meridians that hurt him but the sheer amount of focus he needed to keep it up. Grunts of frustration and impatience sounded as Valerio felt he was nearing completion. At some point in time, an appalling demonic smell had invaded the clearing, its source? The black and brown liquid that had pooled around Valerio.
Ironically it was exactly these impurities that ruined the next stage of his plans. The Void Lu was converting the impure substances in his meridians back into Neutral Lu and overflowing Valerio's meridians. Whenever there was Lu overflow in the meridians, controlling Lu became much harder due to Lu's will to disperse into an area of less concentration.
Valerio clenched his fists, his translucent body turning a darker shade of blue. He couldn't help but be distracted for a fraction of second, almost completely letting his Lu run rampant. However, it was precisely that fraction of a second that felt like a lifetime to Valerio. Images of that fateful day flashed across his mind, the last few seconds he saw his father void step towards him and the fury he was containing. The solemn atmosphere that has broken the carefree joy the four families shared and lastly the people he cared about. His best friends, Lucius, Felix & Lucy, Oliver, and… Aurora. For whatever reason, he couldn't help but remember feeling Aurora's hand tightening around his when she saw the pods.
Alas he was brought back to reality by the sharp pain of Lu forcing itself out of him. His face contorted as his teeth clenched and fingers dug into the earth, the regal aura he had been giving off descending into an almost demonic one. A will rose from Valerio's pain, a will to protect and avenge. For if he learnt that anyone he cared for had been hurt, he would raise hell itself into the overworld and raze them to the ground.
Unbeknownst to Valerio, ethereal horns were fading in and out existence on his head, his Lu seemingly latching onto the surroundings for longer than they should have. Valerio's lustrous black hair danced as the Lu emanating off of him reached a peak, the rustling of the redwoods reaching a crescendo and it all suddenly dissipated, the clearance falling into an eerie silence and the last bit of resistance in his meridians dissipating, as his remaining strength was exhausted. Valerio's head hung low, his straight posture having deteriorated to a slouch. His heartbeats beat akin to small explosions in his ears and his breathing ragged. Valerio's teeth reached his ears as a crazed smile appeared on his face.
His Lu couldn't have been smoother.
He finally raised his head and as he was about to hoist himself up, a small beat resounded in his body, the vibration placing him on full alert again.
Just as quickly as Valerio had sobered up he started meditating again. How could he have forgotten? His first node was about to manifest. His first Void Node. Excitement bubbled inside of him as he directed his Spiritual Lu towards his body, searching for the cause of the small beat.
After a thorough sweep on his body he found it, his right kidney. It was strange to use his Spiritual Lu on himself, he had been used to living as a mortal. He was almost never concerned with how the inside of his body worked, much less being able to influence it. Suddenly being able to feel, see and crush his organs as he felt was truly surreal.
Though, he had no time to focus on this realisation as his attention was currently entirely enraptured by the formation of his first node. His father had told him his bloodline nodes would want to manifest first and whenever he couldn't feel more was when he had to start forming natural nodes. So naturally, he had to be aware of which nodes were being formed where.