138 Sect Master Long (1/2)
”Come in.” A deep voice echoed as the obsidian walls slowly swung open. The heat that poured out was so hot that everything looked hazy. It felt as if both the sky and ground were on fire. After a brief moment, the heat calmed down, revealing what was inside.
”Father.” Tai bowed respectfully.
Ed looked into the room. It was a large cavern and instead of a floor, the ground was made entirely of molten lava. In the center of the lava was a giant sphere of golden fire that rapidly spun in a clockwise direction. Occasionally, the fire would release wisps of the other elemental colors, as well as purple origin fire.
”Who is this?” The orb of fire's deep voice questioned.
”This is my friend, Ed. Also known as Forge.” Tai explained. ”He helped me escape the cage and even allowed me the opportunity to obtain purple origin mana.” His body lit up in purple flames, and he lifted his head up proudly. ”Father. I have brought back my own loyal forces to the sect just like I set out to do. I have mastered the seven paths of fire and stepped onto the road of purple origin fire. You remember our deal, right?”
”You wanted to marry the girl from the Purple Origin Sect.” The Sect Leader replied. ”It shouldn't be a problem. While she is Fang Chonglin's granddaughter, she's not terribly important to the sect. I'm sure we can work a deal out with them.”
”Great!” Tai happily exclaimed.
”We'll set out in a few days. I'll leave the preparations to you.” The voice ordered. ”After the wedding, we'll focus on your next stage of training.”
”Yes, father.” Tai bowed respectfully. ”Oh, right. I thought you might be interested in trying to recruit Ed. He's mastered purple origin fire as well.”
”Oh?” The voice questioned. ”Show me.” An invisible force shot out from the sphere of fire.
A huge pressure enveloped Ed, and he struggled to not fall down to his knees. It was on par with the pressure he felt when facing the American President. He struggled to breathe as he forcefully activated his purple flames. Unfortunately, the flames barely helped stave off the pressure.
”Not bad.” The voice commented as the pressure disappeared. The sphere of flames withdrew into itself, revealing the Sect Leader's true body standing within the lake of lava. To say he didn't look anything like Tai was an understatement. His body was huge, towering at least 2.1 meters tall. He looked somewhat like an ox, as his muscles bulged everywhere, similar to a body builder. His head was square shaped, and he had thick sword-like eyebrows. He had long brown hair that loosely hunt past his shoulders. He wore the gaudy orange-red sect robes, but he had the upper part tied around his waist, exposing his tanned upper body and six-pack abs to the world. Somehow, he even managed to make the flashy robes appear intimidating. His deep black eyes stared down at Ed and Tai.
'It's been a while since I've felt so short...' Ed complained to himself while sneaking a glance at Tai. He turned to look back at the Sect Leader, and then back to Tai again. 'Definitely adopted.' He thought to himself.
”Allow me to properly introduce myself. I am Sect Master Huo Long.” His deep voice reverberated throughout the cavern. ”I should properly thank you for helping my son. How about this. I'll give you three of the finest concubines a man could wish for!”
”...” Ed stared speechlessly for a moment before regaining his wits. ”I... Apologies. I'm not looking to settle down or start a family yet.” He managed to reply.
”It was a joke! A joke!” The booming voice laughed. Sect Master Long exchanged a serious glance with Tai, and if Ed had to guess, it meant something along the lines of him not actually joking. ”Ahem.” The Sect Leader coughed. ”How about we do a private training session instead? I don't mind training you for a couple days.”
”That...” Ed hesitated, unsure if he should accept.
”Do it.” Tai pushed him on the back to encourage him. ”Not even I can train with the sect leader whenever I want. Even people from the Purple Origin Sect would kill for this opportunity.”
'I guess I'll have to tell them...' He sighed to himself. ”Sect Master Long, it's not that I don't want to train, but... I have damage to my soul. I fear any further progress along the 49 paths will put me past the breaking point.”
”Damage to the soul?” Huo replied in surprise. He looked at Tai. ”Leave Ed here so I can examine him. Go prepare a proper dowry for the wedding procession and I'll return Ed in a few days.”
Tai had been equally shocked by Ed's revelation. He slowly recovered and nodded towards his father. He turned and left the two behind, the obsidian doors closing behind him.
”So.” Huo muttered as he sat down in the lava. ”You've damaged your soul, huh? Was it another cultivator?” His eyes flashed golden for a brief moment, seemingly peering into all of Ed's secrets and cultivation progress before returning to normal. ”Ah, so you took on too much golden faith energy at once. That's a rarity.”
'He can see it?' Ed wondered as he nodded. ”Is here anything you can do to help?” He questioned.
”Afraid not.” Huo sighed as he shook his head back-and-forth. ”Damage to the soul can only be fixed through proper soul cultivation. I've never heard of another method, nor of any cultivators with powers that can attempt healing it. You're stuck like that on your own until you get a soul cultivation technique.”
”Can you give me one?” He questioned, half out of desperation and half because he had nothing to lose by doing so.
”I cannot.” Huo shook his head again. ”In the age of glory, China had no lack of soul cultivation techniques. In fact, other places in the world usually had their own versions as well, though they were very crude according to our ancestors. However, there was a single exception to this rule. The greatest soul cultivation technique existed not in China, but in India. And today, that technique is the only known one to remain. Some of my peers even theorize that it is the origin of all soul cultivation techniques.”
”And you can't transmit it to me?” Ed asked.
”Correct.” He nodded. ”You'll understand if you go there to see it yourself someday. It's something that is far beyond my power. Far beyond anyone's power.”
”I see.” Ed nodded, feeling dejected.
”Well, enough about that.” Huo chuckled. ”Just because you can't train in the paths doesn't mean you can't train at all. I'll give you two lessons during our session as thanks for helping Tai. Are you ready?”
”Mm.” He nodded seriously, feeling somewhat excited about learning from a knowledgeable cultivator for the first time.
”Okay.” Huo continued. ”The first lesson will be purely informative due to your current limitations.” He lifted his brawny hand up, and blue flames appeared on it. Shards of ice materialized in midair and exploded when interacting with the heat in the room. ”The cold flame. The blue flame. The ice flame. It has many names and forms, but at the end of the day, it's always the same thing. Have you connected with the blue flame yet?”
”I have not.” Ed shook his head.