CHAPTER 51: SPIRITUAL STONES

Kyrian was sitting in the meditation position in his now silent courtyard. The high moon was illuminating the surface of the spirit stones scattered before him.

Each one emitted a faint, soft, and cold glow. Kyrian could see the abundance of condensed Qi stored within the stone.

Kyrian then imagined what higher-quality spirit stones would be like. He took a deep breath and then stretched out his hand, picking up one of the stones.

He closed his eyes, guided his breathing, and then opened his eyes again. With extreme focus, he tried to draw out the Qi present in the spirit stone, just as any cultivator would.

However, several seconds passed, and nothing happened.

The stone seemed dead in his hand. As if there was no energy at all, even though he could see the great quantity trapped inside. Kyrian frowned and tried again, concentrating even more intensely.

The veins on his forehead stood out, but still, not a single thread of Qi flowed out of the stone.

He took a deep breath, letting the air out in frustration.

"Tsk. Why isn’t it working...?"

The silence of the courtyard was broken only by the sound of crickets that appeared nearby, only to annoy him even more.

Kyrian spun the stones between his fingers, thinking.

He remembered how he had always absorbed Qi. How he had absorbed the particles of intents. He thought, and then decided to try.

The glow of the stone reflected in his bluish pupil. He murmured to himself.

"Maybe... this way."

Without hesitating further, he raised the spirit stone to his eyes. And then, without hesitation, he quickly pressed it against his left eye. The tip of the stone touched directly against his pupil.

At the exact instant the cold surface touched his pupil, instead of feeling discomfort, the stone began to dissolve like sand carried by the wind. It disappeared, completely absorbed.

Kyrian felt his eyes tremble slightly.

A flow of intense and pure Qi coursed through his eyes, floated through the infinite channels, and was sent directly to his dantians. The energy was neither dirty nor polluted. After his eyes absorbed it, the Qi became crystalline as if it had been filtered countless times.

No impurity from the stone remained. Only pure energy.

Kyrian’s heart quickened.

"It worked!"

A smile involuntarily appeared on his lips. He grabbed another stone and immediately did the same, this time with the other eye.

Once again, the stone was devoured by his pupil and converted into pure energy. The soft warmth of Qi coursed through his eye, concentrating in his dantian and rapidly increasing his cultivation.

Kyrian then grabbed another, then another, and another still.

One by one, all were absorbed within seconds. The whirlwind of energy quickly accumulated, pressing his dantians with increasing force. His dantians vibrated as if on the verge of breaking.

Suddenly, a wave of energy surged through his entire body.

A muffled sound echoed inside him, coming from his eyes. And at that moment, both dantians grew, expanding to a higher level.

Kyrian’s body trembled slightly, becoming lighter, and for an instant, his eyes shone brighter.

He had advanced to the 2° stage of the Qi Accumulation Realm.

And it had been...

"Easy... it was so easy..." Kyrian murmured, astonished.

Normally, there was a small bottleneck to advance each stage and an even greater bottleneck to advance to a major realm. But unexpectedly, these bottlenecks did not seem to exist for him, or they were simply far too easy to break through.

He then looked at the last remaining spirit stone. Kyrian picked it up with expectation, he would not let a single stone go to waste.

He brought it close to his eye, but this time nothing happened. He felt only discomfort.

The stone touched his pupil and remained intact. It was not absorbed, nor did it dissolve. He tried again to be sure, but it was useless.

His eyes were rejecting it.

Kyrian then lay on his back on the ground, gazing at the sky. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, analyzing the sensation and the changes inside his eyes. He looked at his dantians, which were slightly larger, with extremely condensed Qi.

He understood.

"I’ve reached the limit again, haven’t I?" he murmured softly.

"Still, it doesn’t feel like an absolute limit. I feel like this limit will vanish in just a few days. It’s probably just for me to adapt, no, for my eyes to adapt to the absurd amount of Qi absorbed."

A satisfied smile was on his face. The stones had worked even better than he could have imagined.

Ordinary cultivators could only absorb a portion of the Qi contained in a spirit stone and still had to deal with impurities that damaged the meridians and corroded the body if they abused cultivating solely with spirit stones.

But he did not need to worry about that. His eyes devoured everything, and the energy came completely purified. There was no waste of Qi and no risks.

This meant only one thing, if he had enough resources, he could advance at an absurd speed.

He closed his hand around the last stone, then the stone disappeared into his ring.

"So, it’s useless to stay still cultivating. My strength hasn’t increased quickly this way."

"I need to fight, hunt, take missions, and find new intents to absorb. The more battles, the more I explore, the more resources, the more stones... and the more stones, the faster I will advance."

His decision had been made. Kyrian then stood up. The moon was still bright above.

He took one last look and entered his room. His eyes closed, and he slept peacefully.

******************************************

Meanwhile, in the main hall of the Mu family.

Mu Yanyu was standing before the patriarch. She had just been summoned by a servant right after leaving Kyrian’s courtyard. Her face was still slightly flushed from sparring with him.

Patriarch Mu watched her carefully, a discreet smile on his face.

"Yanyu... what were you doing so late in Kyrian’s courtyard?"

She lowered her eyes, not quite sure how to answer.

"We... were training. He agreed to train me."

Patriarch Mu might have been expecting another answer, but this was enough to draw a deep, hearty laugh from the patriarch.

"HAHAHA! Excellent, this is great. Better than I could have imagined."

His eyes shone with enthusiasm.

"And what did you think of him?"

Yanyu took a deep breath. She understood well what her uncle was trying to do. She understood, but she did not judge him.

Kyrian was absolutely a genius. Even if he entered the Verdant Sword Sect, he would likely become a core disciple just for having a special physique. Even more so being a battle genius as he was.

She understood her uncle’s thoughts, but she thought it impossible. So, after thinking, she answered.

"He is strong. Much stronger than he showed when we fought. He is cold and distant most of the time. But I don’t believe he’s a bad person." She said, thinking that he had decided to help her out of goodwill.

The patriarch nodded slowly, increasingly satisfied.

"Good. Stay close to him. As much as you can."

She raised her eyes. She was already going to do that, but... she still wanted to hear it from her uncle.

"Why?"

"The elders and I discussed. There’s no way a young man with a special physique would simply appear here, he seems to know absolutely nothing about the surroundings."

"He is not someone from this place. He probably came from a great force, maybe even another powerful domain, sent to experience the world. I’ve already heard that it’s not so rare for them to do this."

The patriarch’s words echoed in Yanyu’s mind. She remained silent, only listening.

The patriarch then continued, his voice firm.

"If you have the chance, be his friend. Or, if you can, be even more than that. Then, your future and the future of the Mu family may change just by being at his side. So even if you fail the exam of the Verdant Sword Sect, we will have a good future."

The first part she understood. But when she heard the last sentence, her heart quickened as she clenched her fist tightly.

’As I thought... no one truly believes I’ll pass.’ she said in her mind, feeling a bit sad. But upon remembering Kyrian saying he would train her, her face flushed slightly and her determination shone. She would prove them wrong.

The patriarch noticed her face turning red, thinking it was because of what he had said earlier, his eyes narrowed in amusement. He laughed inwardly while thinking.

’It seems there really is a chance this will work out.’

"You are dismissed. You may go rest," the patriarch finally said.

Yanyu respectfully bowed and left the hall. As she walked to her quarters, thoughts spun in her mind.

She felt nothing for Kyrian besides respect and admiration for his strength and talent. But she could not deny either, he was by far the most handsome man she had ever met.

She needed to get closer to Kyrian. But it was out of necessity to grow stronger. If that made them friends, that was good. It would be enough. If it became something more, she would let the future decide.

As she lay in her bed, she remembered that soon he would truly train her. And that brought a smile to her face as she slowly drifted off to sleep.