6 SOUL STRIKING PAGODA
Sayuri opened her eyes, she was standing in the center of the first floor. When she looked around , she noticed , the surroundings were filled with shelves and only shelves containing green jade slips.When she stretched her soul sense to estimate how large the floor was, it came to a staggering area of 220 million sq.ft ( 100 football stadiums) and the ceiling was at 280 feet from the ground.The whole floor consisted of only shelves which were divided into sections containing labels.There was a single room at the edge of the floor , which her soul sense failed to access.
"Child, this is the first floor, THE LIBRARY. It's function is similar to the one on your earth, except , it contains all kind of knowledge related to any subject or topic that ever existed since the formation of this Chaos World.They are all divided into their individual sections ,and split according to basic,intermediate and advanced sections.You can just walk through the sections , pick any jade slip and spread your soul sense into it, the knowledge will be directly imprint onto your soul or you can just think of any related topic you want to read and the related jade slips will come over to you. As this library is a part of the pagoda,and the pagoda is a soul bound to you , you can access all the sections of the library with just a thought.At the end of the floor, there is a single room as you may have noticed, it's is temporarily locked .It consists of all kinds of battle, weapons, strategic and nature manipulation cultivation techniques. I will directly imprint the body and soul cultivation technique on your soul, just before your rebirth. So you don't find anything related to those in that room. As for why i closed that room , i will explain after our tour.Now let's move to the second floor." -Overlord
Sayuri was a good student and with large appetite for knowledge, she decided that this will be her favorite place in the future as it contains truths from the formation of Chaos World.After projecting her soul sense onto her teacher like before, both of them appeared on the second floor.
The second floor is four times the size of first floor, but divided into 2 parts. The first part of the floor occupied 1/4th of the entire area.The east side of the area was similar to library , containing shelves with jade slips,the west side of the area was lined up with storage rooms labelling what types of spiritual stones and materials are present in each of them.The south side of the area only has empty shelves lining around.There is a Huge desk and artistic comfortable chair in the middle of it.The second part of the area was completely barren , like a waste land.
"Child, this floor is where you can learn and practice formations , arrays and sealing techniques. The east side has all the related knowledge pertaining to formations,arrays and sealing techniques. The west side contains all type of materials and spiritual stones needed to practice those techniques. The south side contain empty shelves at the moment, you can fill them up yourselves in the future with the knowledge you gained . The second part of the floor is for testing these formations , i already laid enough formations at the borders to protect it from any unknown accidents or explosions that may occur during the testings."-Overlord
Sayuri has only heard about one formation throughout her mortal life. Zhuge Liang's
ancient "Eight-Unit Formation", also called Eight Element Battle Formation, which was a battle array formed by eight fighting units which were represented by Heaven, Earth, Wind, Cloud, Dragon, Tiger, Bird and Snake. It was laid around White Emperor City to prolong the life of the Emperor and ward of any evil , that reaches him. She was not sure if it worked or not. But she believed in her teacher, he won't dedicate an entire floor for formations , if they aren't helpful to her.
"Teacher , can you tell me about these formations and sealing techniques ?" - Sayuri
"Hmm , how should i put it. Unlike cultivators who draw energy from their self, formations are used to draw energy from the world itself. It's like a language, where you communicate with the forces of nature and draw it's strength externally to defend yourself, trap ,confuse and kill your enemies. Formations can be ranged from single person use to area of effect spells.There are 3600 ancient words , with each word representing a part of nature. You etch these words individually or in a combination of words onto formation flags with right materials and spiritual stones to power the formation for your desired effect by placing them at key points.
Sealing techniques are sub branch of formations, where you can restrict ,seal or suppress a person, soul or object.This pagoda is the best example of a combination of formation and sealing techniques.On the outside when i gifted the pagoda it was only a fist size, but inside of it is sealed a huge area.You can apply the knowledge similarly in alchemy to make potions more potent and blacksmithing to make simple armaments into super armaments.
I left a detailed list of all the ancient words, some of the basic to advanced formations to practice before you forge your own path.Afterall you may come across a different style of applications from mine ."- Overlord
Sayuri just got a glimpse of how useful the formations and sealing techniques can be especially at the mention of her pagoda.She only thought it was a magic tool , but now her opinion is changed. There is no magic tool, it is only how we utilise our knowledge.Now if she can harness this knowledge, she can have enough life saving cards in the future.Soon they moved onto the third floor.
The third floor is 32 times bigger than the second floor.It is divided into 2 parts. The first part is 1/12 th of the entire area containing shelves with jade slips and a human sized 8 legged bronze cauldron.The second part is completely filled with various type and sizes of medicinal plants with rich spiritual air surrounding it. There are some plants with formations surrounding them which are exuding dangerous vibe.
"Child, this is the third floor Medical Garden. It is to practice alchemy skills. Recipes to all kinds of potions and pills can be found in the jade slips.There are also some jade slips on gardening and harvesting .The cauldron is called Dagda's cauldron.It has 2 functions. Storage and seeking function.Storage is a separate dimension where you can store ingredients ,prepared potions and pills. Seeking function is to alert you when you are close to a rare or precious herb.I have already filled the storage space of the cauldron with tons of materials for you to practice and some basic to advanced potions in case of emergencies.The garden is filled with few of the rarest healing and poisonous herbs found in the Chaos World.It takes a lot of time for them to mature.Formations are laid on the poisonous herbs, so they don't affect the surrounding plants and you.
Same with formations, try and create your own recipes also don't forget to use formations while making potions.and pills.You need blood drop, to bound the cauldron.So you have to wait till you were reborn. " - Overlord
Being a doctor, in her previous life and in a war torn country , she knew the value of potions and pills. Just she doesn't know why poisonous plants are placed in the garden.
"Teacher, why are poisonous plants placed along with healing plants in the garden? " - Sayuri
"When it comes to alchemy , sometimes the right combination of poison plants can be as effective as a healing plants.Also a alchemist can only reach the top when he can master both healing and poison aspects of the alchemy. Perfect usage of poisons can sometime make or break a life.so don't neglect the studies."- Overlord
Sayuri felt stupid for asking such a question,when she went over her memories, she remembered a certain yew tree, Taxus, has a legendary connection to death. Its seeds, leaves, and bark are highly poisonous to humans. But in the past few decades, however, this long-lived plant genus has earned a different reputation: as a potential preserver of life.Researchers working for the U.S. National Cancer Institute discovered that the bark of Taxus brevifolia, the Pacific yew, contained a toxic ingredient that could be harnessed on a cellular level to inhibit the progress of some cancers. She was determined to explore the poison aspect of the alchemy too for saving lifes.
Again with a simple thought , Sayuri and Overlord appeared on the fourth floor. It is the same size as the previous floor. South and west parts are storage rooms with Labels for metals of all types.East part has only 3 rooms, which are designed for living quarters.North side is one beautiful display of all kinds of weapons and armors.In the middle of the display is a single mannequin.It is dressed in blue long sleeved shirt,pants and gloves.on top it a closed knit chainmail covering the upper part of the body completely .on its top it is covered in crimson armor forming protective guards along chest, waist, shoulders, thighs and knee length greaves. Head is covered by the phoenix shaped helmet . There are 2 quivers to it's sides, a bow strapped to it's right shoulder and a beautifully crafted katana style sword on its left waist.Just the aura coming out of these armor and weapons is forcing her to kneel .
At the center of the floor is a huge forge with billowing smokes.The fire fueling the forge is anything but deadly.Currently the forge is surrounded by 3, five feet dwarves, hammering at an unknown metal while laughing and drinking. It is Sayuri's first time after coming to this dimension , that she came across other people than her teacher.She suddenly noticed , that she and her teacher were surrounded by a kind of formation, while her teacher muttering something about Bloody Dwarves.
"This is the 4th floor, the FORGE. Those three drunkards will be teaching you about forging weapons, armors and other things. They are triplets called Walfgard ,Boki and Zwerg.They are the last of Celusian race, known for their skills throughout the Chaos World. They are also the one who taught me forging.I saved them from an evil Sovereign, who tried to make them his personal slaves. When those three drunkards come together, anything they make is nothing but extraordinary. They are also the one who helped me in forging this pagoda.After seeing , what i did to the pagoda and the various metals i collected and stashed in the storage rooms, they VOLUNTEERED themselves to teach you the skill.They built their separate quarters and occupied this entire floor.When i gave your description, they forged all types of weapons and armors.The one, the mannequin holds is the best of their works." - overlord
Sayuri thought her teacher was omniscient, but for him to be taught by these 3 dwarve's, it just speaks of their skill.But by the way he described them, is anything but anger and frustration.Wonder why?
"Teacher , if they are such great personalities and my future teachers, shouldn't we go and introduce each other?" - Sayuri
When Sayuri suggested the idea, Overlord gave her a pitying look but it was soon masked by his regular stoic look.
"Child, if we go over to them , when they are in their Drinking mode, 2 things are gonna happen.One, i will be dragged into their worthless drinking contest which lasts somewhere around a millennium or two and second , they will keep reminiscing about their past events and sobbing stories, in a detailed structure from their childhood to the present, which will force my consciousness to question , whether i should kill them or not? Child i have some serious advices to you, if you want to maintain your mental stability around them, never ask for introductions, never bring up any topic that is outside forging,drinking and formation, it is considered a taboo if u dont share your wine collection with them, anything shiny and glittery metals you come across should pass their inspection, if you are going to fight any sharp, pointy ear beings you should let them be the vanguards.never lie to them regardless of any situation, they don't like liars of any kind.They are damn good at recognising lies."- Overlord
Sayuri now understood why her teacher, sent her pitying looks. Seriously millennium worth of sobbing stories? and she has to learn her forging techniques from them?
"Teacher, aren't there any jade slips , so that i can self study ?" - Sayuri
"They barred me from preparing any stating some stupid Celusian copyright law, that i should not pass their heritage without their permission.Only they are the ones who can pass it onto others. Child let's move onto other floors, if i stay here any more, i may kill them by accident for borrowing(robbing) my entire wine cellar from me " - Overlord
Without a second late, Sayuri wrapped her teacher and they both appeared on the fifth floor.
Fifth floor is just the same size as the first floor with just a single platform in the middle, with a pedestal on it.
"This is the fifth floor, virtual simulation and gravity center.You can activate the functions by placing your palm on the pedestal.In here you can choose virtual opponents of any level, be it a single or group combat and any type of surroundings to hone your battle and strategic skills.Since you will only be a virtual projection, you will not suffer any injuries or death, only some mental exhaustion. You can also train your physical aspects of the body by increasing the gravity in the room.It's range can be increased upto billion times."- Overlord
After thinking about how to make full use of this floor, Sayuri and her teacher arrived on the sixth floor.
Sixth floor is huge , even after stretching her soul for million km, she can't seem to find the end of it. But compared to the density of the spiritual air on other floors, the density here is at least 3 times thicker.But in her soul scan , she came across some 100 meter's human, no, not humans, they are golems. Each golem is fully armed from head to toe and there is a set distance among each golem .They were simply sitting in meditation stance with spiritual air surrounding them. Beside each golem there are 4 chains branching from same root.
" This is the sixth floor , Prisoner's Den. Any enemy, be it a human or monster , you can imprison them in this place after defeating them.Once they are on this floor, the chains will bind them both physically and spiritually, they will never escape this place until you let them.There are 28000 golems here, each golem governing a area of 1000 km.You can use them to torture and break the prisoners, so that they can submit to your will.I know, you hate torturing others, but trust me ,on your journey you will come across some vilest of the creatures, for whom death is just a salvation.This is the perfect place for them , if you don't want to kill them and let them suffer for their actions.The golems acts as torturers and wardens of this world.When you reach paragon level, you can summon them outside the pagoda to fight for you.Their strength is always proportional to your strength." - Overlord
Sayuri hated seeing others suffer, but she has to agree with her teacher, for some people death is just a salvation. If she reached paragon level , then she literally has an army of 28000 paragons.to fight by her side. which will be very helpful , if she came across tough situations. After sometime, she warped again to the next floor
When Sayuri , arrived on the seventh floor, she was faced with a miniature version of planets, universes, galaxies and worlds. It is just like, she is standing in space and observing all over the Chaos World.
" Child , this is the seventh floor , NAVIGATION ROOM. All the solar systems, stars galaxies, universes, realms in the Chaos World are created in a mini version here. You can watch the happenings around the Chas World, by just sending a little bit of soul sense .For ex. You can select earth, and everything that is happening on earth will be present in a 3d view for you . It's like watching the entire Chaos World from a security room. When you reach Paragon level, you can transport physically to any part of the Chaos World with a mere thought. Even for sovereigns , it will take millions of years to reach from one end of the realm to other. But you have to spend quite a bit of energy to travel."- Overlord
Sayuri's jaw almost hit the floor, it's literally everyone's dream to spy on the world. But for her, the scope just increased a million times. It is also like instant travel, although she needs to spend some energy, it will save her soooooo much time.
After looking and checking around some world's , she moved onto 8th floor.
As soon as she arrived on the 8th floor, she was hit by the pleasant air, roaring sounds of unknown animals, birds chirping in the air, waterfalls sounds.Mammoth beast's the size of a mountain flying on top of them.The density of spiritual air is 20 times thicker than 6th floor.
"Child, this is the 8th floor. ATLAS KINGDOM. The area is equal to a Higher State World.This is the floor where some of the strongest and rarest monsters live and breed.The only rule on this floor is, survival of the strongest.You can fight ,practice and tame the monsters to obey your will.They only follow strong master.There are some stubborn monsters too, you can drag them to 6th floor after defeating them.The weakest of the monsters is easily at god level and the strongest one is at sovereign level. But the strongest monsters will only fight you, if they are challenged, threatened or provoked by you. Because of the restrictions i placed on this floor, none of your weapons or armors will work here. You will have to use just brute force to move on this floor." - Overlord
Sayuri thought it was a training paradise at first with such denser spiritual air, only now she knew, the beautiful world is just a hell. But she decided to explore the world in the future, to find just what kind of monsters are present here. After few more seconds, they arrived on the 9th floor.
The 9th floor is just the size of the first floor, with a simple meditation platform in it.
"Child , this is the 9th floor, TIME CHAMBER. Here time moves at 1 : 1000 ratio compared to outside world. This floor is fixed with sealing and formation techniques, which supply spiritual air without limit from all over the chaos world. The ratio remains the same until you reach the paragon level. Every break through after paragon level, the time compression ratio increases by 10 times. As i explained earlier, the remaining 3 floors will only be accessible when you reach sovereign level."- Overlord
After going through the functions of all the floors inside the pagoda , Sayuri decided to make full use of them and get stronger as quickly as she can.With the tour finished , they both arrived under the parasol tree.
