Chapter 131: Planet Taihua (1/2)

Chapter 131: Planet Taihua

The bus-sized verti-car rumbled to a start, then began it’s journey. They still had to travel to the university’s exclusive space ship, which would then deliver them to Planet Taihua.

Wu Junyi stood near the driver’s seat. His ordinarily serious Director’s face was gone, and he had a small smile as he addressed the teachers. “Professors one and all, you’ve worked hard. For this trip, I will be your guide. I hope it will be a pleasant and relaxing experience for all of you. In a little while we’ll be on our way, and from then it’s twenty hours to Skyfire’s closest neighbor, Taihua. Once we arrive, the next five days will be spent enjoying one another’s company. For now, sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.”

Lan Jue responded by slipping on his sunglasses and headphones. He sank back in to his chair, and closed his eyes. The sound that filled his ears was pleasant, a sudden gift from Hua Li as he was preparing to leave. It was, in fact, Sounds of Nature – his soon-to-be-released album.

It wasn’t long until their bus arrived at the public ship hangar.

The university’s ship was bright silver. The NEU identification symbols shimmered on it’s sides. The teachers filed out of the bus, and on to the ship directly. Then, off they went to Taihua.

As they boarded, Tan Lingyun chose a corner to herself, distancing herself in apparent disgust. Though Lan Jue was thankful for her departure, his pride was further bruised by her hateful attitude. He wondered what was so despicable about him that caused her to act that way.

Jin Yan wasn’t aware of his mood, and so chose once more to sit beside him. She asked a few questions about how Jin Tao was doing, but noticed Lan Jue was tired. She knew how to behave in social situations and let the subject lie.

Lan Jue closed his eyes. He felt a shudder rumble through the ship, heard the noise of it’s engines firing. It brought a sense of calm to him. In truth he was enjoying this university lifestyle. It was simple, and quiet. Although there were things that required his attention every day, and although he had concerns for his students and what to teach, it was a life he felt was happy and enriching.

Lan Jue slipped in to a meditative state, spurred on by the quietude of his mind and the contentment he felt. His consciousness turned inward, expanding out within him.

Unlike normal people, his own meridians were a light blue color. His skeleton, silver. The flow of his blood and fluids was the same as any normal man, but close examination would reveal sparks of electricity flashing between the erythrocytes.

This was a mark of the ninth ranked talent, the strange conditions of their body. The only way an Adept could control these levels of power, was if they conditioned themselves as conduits of this energy.

To put it simply, there were distinct similarities between a high level Adept and an power gem. Some said that Adepts were little more than intelligent gems themselves. Of course it wasn’t that simple, but in a sense it wasn’t entirely false.

Every Adept had a Core, the center of their powers. For innate Talents they had it at birth, and it expanded with time and training. For them, the strength or lack thereof was determined by genetics.

When Adepts first appeared among the ranks of humanity, the very strongest were ninth ranked. The Paragons of today all arose from that basic metric, reaching their lofty heights through unending cultivation.

Having an innate Talent was best, as was widely considered, though they didn’t have their supreme power from birth. If they did, their own raging energies would destroy them. Like anyone they else they, too, required training. Through cultivation they could inspire their Core to grow, to expand and interact with the external energies that make up the world around them. With time, their power expands to great heights.

But the training regimens were difficult, and boring. Many average Talents were stuck in mediocrity because they couldn’t bear the process. They squandered their opportunities, and the time for proper training passed them by. The foundation was never built, and thus they remained average, for the rest of their lives.

The Core of an Adept wasn’t set, and it’s location was different for each person. The Psychic Tide, for instance, had her Core between her eyebrows. It was the optimal location for her particular Talent. For many high-level Adepts, their Core was fixed in the pit of their stomachs. Mika and Ke’er were counted among them. Then there were special cases, like Xiuxiu. Her core was actually in her right arm. So, in combat, she led with her right.

Lan Jue’s own Core was in the pit of his stomach. However, in contrast to most Adepts, his Core was different.

His was diamond shaped, suspended in the exact center of his torso. It was a deep, endless blue. It twinkled with light as Lan Jue breathed, firing off in all directions with each inhalation, and shimmering as he exhaled. How often it did so was a result of his heart rate and respiration.

Surrounding the diamond core, a pure white light shone. It was a bolt of white lightning that flickered rapidly with power, faster than the normal human eye could fathom. However, it’s instability was clear.

Both his Core and that bolt of lightning seemed dimmer than they should be. Their flickers, slow. This was undoubtedly a result of Lan Jue’s careful control.

Thunder and lightning were the most explosive of the Disciplines. In combat, their strength was renowned. The drawback was it’s instability, for it was just as volatile as it was potent. To protect himself from this, the first thing Lan Jue did after his injury was block his Core’s power. Had he not, the fluctuating force of his Discipline would have undoubtedly turned on his own body.

“When you are able to bring your lightning and thunder together, blended as one, that is the moment you will be a Paragon! When you do, that will be your opportunity to follow in my footsteps.”

The aged voice reverberated in Lan Jue’s ears. Any time that voice came to him, a dull pain followed. The unhappy memories of his youth came rushing back on the tides of that hateful sound.