21

Three days later (Onari age:11)

Onari took a couple of days to simply accustom himself to his increase in cultivation. His Qi reserves had increased 20 fold. His physical body had reinforced itself with the heavenly Qi from his tribulation. His internal organs had been refined, and four points of light -- like dim stars -- now shone in the point that his body met his soul.

The four new points of light represented his four meridians. Each meridian would have to be nourished and fed Qi until they all burned as bright as the sun. Only then would Onari be able to harness the true potential of the Third Stage: the body of the Battle King.

But for once, Onari didn't instantly rush back into cultivation. His successful pill refining attempt had granted him something he thought was more exciting than pure cultivation. It had granted him a spark of understanding.

During the pill refining, his foxfire had gained purifying and refining qualities for a brief moment at the completion of the process. Through this fleeting change in his foxfire's nature, Onari caught a glimpse of something greater.

A miniscule slit had opened up in the fabric of reality, and a sliver of the Concept of Fire shone through it. In an instant, the sliver of conceptual flames had tied the whole pill refining process together. The Concept of Fire had simultaneously annihilated the pill ingredients, ignited their potential, and created something unique and new in the final pill.

Though the moment had passed in an instant, the Dao of Fire had begun to burn itself into Onari's brain. He didn't even notice the spark of understanding that smoldered within his mind until almost a day later. By then, the Dao of Fire changed from a spark into the tiniest of embers.

Onari didn't gain any sudden understanding of the Concept of Fire, but now he could at least comprehend how little he could comprehend. But even that little bit of knowledge was intoxicating to the young cultivator. He wanted to understand more. The Dao of Fire wasn't just about strength for Onari. It was about how he could use that strength for more than just destruction.

And so, Onari memorized the spark of understanding he was given. Within his mind, he repeated the creed of the flaming Dao: Burning Heat, Annihilation, Creation, Manifestation, Virtual Fire, Yang Flames, Starfire, Fire of Nirvana, To Ashes, and Beginning of the Blaze. He only had a very basic understanding of the first three levels of the creed at the moment.

The Law of Burning Heat was the most basic aspect of fire. It laid the foundation for the next nine Laws. A solid understanding of Burning Heat was vital if Onari ever wanted to delve further into the Dao of Fire.

At its core, the Law of Burning Heat was simple. It relied on the movement of particles. The movement of Yin (negatively charged) and Yang (positively charged) particles produced the Burning Heat. The faster the particles went, and the more they bumped into each other, the hotter the fire would burn.

Annihilation was an extremely straightforward Law. It was exactly as the name stated: annihilation. What made it difficult to completely comprehend was the Law of Annihilation's relationship with its sister Law: Creation. Without Creation, there is nothing to annihilate. Without Annihilation, there would be no more space left for creating.

For the past two days, the Laws of the Dao of Fire had been constantly running through Onari's mind. Each cycle of the creed, Onari would try to comprehend the Laws' profound traits and their relationships with each other. And although he was still very much a novice when it came to the Dao, he was already experiencing results.

His body ran hotter and could withstand heat better than before he was granted his spark of understanding. His foxfire burned hotter and felt more… whole. His illusions started to take on a smoky visage, somehow becoming slightly more physical and illusive at the same time.

Considering how much progress he had made since he succeeded in refining his first pill, Onari felt it was only right to return to Da Shuizhi and give him his thanks. His budding friendship with Yu Wu also had something to do with his desire to visit again so soon.

Yu Wu had started to text him almost the instant he arrived back at his home. Unfortunately, he had to postpone any conversation until after he refined his pill, but Yu Wu was understanding. He texted her after he finished his breakthrough, and the two hit it off.

To Onari, talking to Yu Wu just felt so natural and easy. The conversation never really stagnated because Yu Wu would often take the conversation into her own hands and go on 'young mistress' like rants.

He found out she was a big fan of Wuxia novels, which explained her outward personality, and that she was surprisingly socially awkward underneath the young mistress act. Eventually he got her to open up a bit more, and she told Onari that he was her first real friend.

She told him about basically growing up in isolation, and he told her about his family and what he knew about the wider world. They steadily got to know each other better over the course of a couple of days. Yu Wu even offered to come 'show those old bastards their place' when Onari told her about the slight discrimination he faced in his own faction.

Onari was now able to confidently refer to Yu Wu as a friend, so he obviously wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to visit her. She hadn't texted him at all this morning, which was a bit odd, but Onari didn't tell her he was coming. He wanted to preserve the element of surprise.