489 Burn 2 (1/2)
A wild burst of aura erupted from Zabia's body. Flames of white danced around him, sparking and flaring to new heights with every passing moment.
”NO!” Ulu shrieked, her voice straining so much that her throat sheered against the force of her voice. Blood flew from her mouth before she passed out. Her psyche could no longer handle what was happening. This wasn't how it was meant to go. They were meant to be the King and Queen of their generation, moving their clans forward to a new level of prosperity.
It wasn't meant to go like this... It couldn't go like this…
King Belmont frowned as he watched the pure white flames rage around Zabia.
In the martial world, there were plenty of techniques capable of enhancing your abilities for an instant, but some came with more of a toll than others depending on the quality and the power provided by the technique.
However, there were two techniques anyone could use should they be willing to do so. These techniques gave a power boost beyond even words capable of explaining such things, and yet the price they cost would be high… It was a price you should only be willing to pay should your life be on the end of its rope.
The first, and milder of the two techniques, was the burning of blood essence. During cultivation, whether deliberately by body cultivation, or not – by simply focusing on energy cultivation – blood essence would increase. Much like the soul, should a person choose to place all of their efforts into energy cultivation, blood essence would slowly lag behind by a few stages, gradually increasing, but at a much slower rate.
Should one want a temporary power boost, it was possible to burn your cultivation in this way, using your blood essence as a catalyst. This would result in a permanent drop in energy cultivation, as well as a severe weakening of the body for an extended period of time. Depending on how much blood essence was burning, one could increase their instantaneous power by as much as an entire stage, giving a first level essence gathering expert, the power of one at the second level and so on.
But… There was a much more severe technique. One that there was nearly no coming back from even if you had the best medicines in the world… One that would put your life on the line itself… And that, was the soul burning technique.
So often people underestimated the power of the soul, but little did they understand just how important it was. The soul was a fundamental connection to the world itself. It was what truly gave mortals the right to forge their place in the world and it was the gift of the heavens to the weak so that they could one day become strong… The idea of burning such a gift away from temporary power was unheard of… And yet, that was what was happening now…
Zabia's peak essence gathering cultivation tore through the divide, causing clouds to rage in the skies as saint energy rained down upon him.
And yet… It didn't stop there…
First saint level… Second… Third… Fourth…
The crowd watched in shock as Zabia's cultivation continued to climb, seemingly without pause.
”You want to show me death? I gladly accept! But before I step away from this world, I'll show you the pride of my Jafari Clan!” Zabia roared into the air.