5 Chapter 4: A Rainy Night

Blue Wind City, it was a normal day as usual where the common population goes on about their own works. The market places were bustling with vendors and stalls, the crowd moving through haggling for prices with the merchants. The city guards kept up their city patrols ensuring that any fights would not break out in the streets. The gates to the city were wide open allowing for the merchant and mercenary traffic coming to the city or leaving the city. All in all, it was a normal busy day for the citizens of the city.

The location of the Blue Wind City is at a remote corner of the Empire, so the city is pretty close to the Desolate Forests which house some ferocious beasts. The mercenary groups with sufficient strength always raid the forest to hunt the Beasts and acquire the Spirit Cores of the Beasts. The Spirit Cores constitute for a major factor in the business of the City, as there exists a never ending demand for the Spirit Cores, as the Energy in the Spirit Core can be used by a Cultivator to advance in their Cultivation. Other than that, there are numerous uses for a Spirit Core, so the mercenary companies who hunt the Beasts are always busy at work.

Deep in the Desolate Forest, in an unknown location, a waterfall rushed down into a ravine, where the falls ends into a small pool at the base of the ravine. A small silhouette could be seen, with his upper torso naked, sitting on a rock in a lotus position, directly below the waterfall. Within his lap, a small rock the size of the Ostrich egg can be seen, and the body of the person is shielding the rock from the waterfall.

The well-defined muscles on his body are shifting ever so slightly under the pressure of the water bearing down on to his body. If an expert could see the muscle movements, he could tell that those slight movements are discharging the pressure his body would be feeling under the waterfall.

The silhouette is naturally Azalon, training his body. He was now 12 years of age, and the rock in his lap is none other than his Petrified Spirit. He slightly opened his eyes and with a slight jump, he got off the rock and landed on the bank of the pool below the waterfall. He laid down his Spirit Rock on a blanket some distance away from the pool, and dried himself down with a towel in his backpack, before taking out his lunch.

It has been 4 years since he reached the peak of the Spirit Novice Realm, and his body strength reached 1000 pounds. With his Awakening of the Petrified Spirit, he lost the chance to absorb the Spirit Energy into his body, and step past into the Cultivation World by shedding his Mortal Body.

He had been reading the public records on Cultivation Levels, Spirit Beasts, and even the experiences of various experts that have been made available to the public by the Empire. Only after scourging through hundreds of books and scrolls, did he find out about the reason for his Awakening of the Petrified Spirit.

The scroll was written by a researcher on various types of Spirit Beasts and their link to their respective Cultivators. He talked about the intricate relationship between the nature of the Cultivator and the type of the Spirit Beast they may Awaken. As such, that researcher came across a Petrified Spirit in his travels. He was instantly hooked onto that Petrified Spirit as this will further promote his research on the relationship between the Cultivators and their Spirit Beasts.

After months of research on that Petrified Spirit and its owner, he came to the conclusion that the Soul of the Cultivator was damaged, so that he can never form the Soul Bridge with the Spirit Energy through his Spirit Beast. As such the very fundamental aspect of the Spirit Beast has been lost. And the result is the Petrification of the Beast, since his Soul has been Awakened but that potential cannot be employed.

After reading that material, Azalon found out more about the reason of his condition from the hint he gathered through that material. He wanted to smack himself for missing such a basic reason.

Everything in nature has a particular set of laws, be it gravity, physics, quantum physics and even life itself is a kind of law. Anything opposing that law will be rejected by the host of that law, or in the worst cases if the opposing force is strong enough, the host even tries to destroy itself in the process of eliminating that intruding force.

Take for example, a computer. The computer works on a law decided by the operating system we install, and the protocols of the hardware it was built upon. If a program was installed into that computer, the very first thing a computer checks is its compatibility of that program with the protocols of the operating system, in other words the law of the computer. If a virus attacks the computer, it will try various methods to eliminate that intruder which doesn't follow the law of the computer. If in the end the virus proves to be strong enough to resist the attacks of the computer, the computer shuts down on its own, and maybe the worst case of memory wipe of the entire hard disk in its last ditch attempt to destroy the intruder.

The same goes for his condition. He is an outsider to this world, an anomaly who crossed over from another world, and his Soul has been built in accordance to the laws of that world; and as such the laws of this world are rejecting his Soul. Even though his Soul may not be damaged, it is nothing different from a damaged Soul, maybe worse.

Even though there may be some remedies for the damaged Souls, his condition can never be remedied. As such, he may really have to live his life as a cripple, who cannot cultivate in his life. With his solution came the crushing despair and hopelessness.

But what he didn't understand was how he was allowed to live long enough to be born in this world. By his conclusion, his Soul should have been obliterated into bits and pieces the moment it intruded into this space. What happened? A single word came into his mind as he posed his question to himself, but he did not feel confident in his answer.

It took him almost 6 months to come out of his depression and that too only with the help of Nina and his grandfather. One day, Nina visited him after a long time as he never left his room after his findings, and saw his depressed condition who was acting as a person without any motivation. She forcefully took him out of his room and stayed with him that whole day trying to cheer him up.

Even his grandfather encouraged him to not feel depresses as he still had the strength of a peak expert of the Novice Realm. With those two people at his side, he gradually came out of his depression and resumed his training to at least reach the peak of his physical strength. The result came sown to today.

With his mad training of 2 years, his muscles became well-toned and his figure grew in height as well as stature. His body radiates a type of confidence that will only come with strength, and his chiseled face with the healthy tan from the sunshine during his training, gave anyone who saw him a kind of looking at a mountain that will never waver even in the wildest of the storms.

A normal Spirit Novice Realm practitioner's physical strength reaches 1000 pounds before they can attempt through the Spirit Sense Realm by forming the Soul Bridge to absorb the Spirit Energy into their bodies, leaving the mortal stage to step into the path to immortality. But with the crazy training of Azalon these past 2 years, his strength broke past the 1000 pounds mark and reached a new realm. His strength reached 2000 pounds 3 months back, before stagnating these days.

He could feel that this is the extreme limit of what he can expect from his physical condition. Anymore and his body will break due to the immense backlash due to that extreme pressure his body has to handle without the support of the Spirit Energy. Only be absorbing Spirit Energy can he evolve his physical body to the new realm of strength.

He sighed deeply before packing all the items on the ground he brought for his camping in the forest, and with a heavy mood, he started on his journey back home. Since this part of the forest is relatively considered the outskirts of the forest, along with the frequent hunts carried out by the city's mercenary companies, not many Beasts roam this part of the forest.

With no obstruction and danger from the Beasts, he sped up through the forests with an explosive speed. As his muscles work in tandem with all kinds of muscles in his body, his speed just using his muscle power can still be considered pretty fast, fast enough that low level Beasts have no hope to catch up to him, even if one tries to take him down.

It took him only a short time before he exited from the forest, and he could see the city walls at the edge of the horizon. The mercenaries going through or exiting from the forest looked in surprise at the small boy who appeared from the forest, before recognizing him. All the mercenaries frequenting the forest know about Azalon and his condition. Normally one would feel resigned to their fate as a cripple, but seeing this energetic young boy still bitterly training, earned him a kind of respect from those brute mercenaries.

They knew that if one drowns himself in depression when they face a problem, that person can never reach the height of his potential. Only those who pick themselves up when they fall and try to walk in a different path can reach new heights with their stubborn attitude. This was something only those who go through bloody battles with their life on the line can understand, just like those mercenaries.

With some customary replies and waves, he left those mercenaries and started walking slowly towards the city. The day slowly reached its evening as he appeared at the city walls. With a nod to the city guards stationed at the city gates, he walked into the city. As he walked through the streets, suddenly he had an urge to drink some alcohol. Even though his age can be considered to be eligible for drinking alcohol in this world, he never tried as in his mind, he was still someone who grew up on Earth, and so he never had any thoughts for indulging himself in liquor before his teen years.

But this is the first time since he had an urge to taste some liquor. He steps paused before changing directions to search for a pub for a drink. As he walked to the end of the street he is walking on, a tavern came into his view. Loud laughter and various arguments trickled out into the streets from the tavern. He slowly walked into the cavern before searching for an empty table.

He found a single table at a quiet corner of the tavern, and as he sat down, a waiter came to take his order.

"Mr. Customer, what would you like to order?"

"Give me two bottles of your best wine, and some side dishes. And also give me a plate of your best roasted Beast meat

along with the side dishes." I placed my order before the waiter bowed and went into the kitchen.

A while later, two bottles of clear green liquid along with a plate of large grilled meat steak, with an assortment of some side dishes for the liquor, were placed on my table.

"This is the Clear Jade Wine, the best wine of our tavern. This is the slab of the breast meat of a Class 2 Beast and it will warm up your body while strengthening your body. If there is anything you require please call me. Enjoy your meal."

As he was enjoying the wine, the skies opened their clouds and a light drizzle covered the city, before changing into a heavy rain. It was late in the night when Azalon appeared from the tavern, with a slight tipsy feeling in his mind.

The main street, usually bustling with the vendors and pedestrians, was completely empty due to the sudden rain. The shops and taverns on the streets, in contrast, were brimming with customers as everyone wants to have some hot liquor down their throat in the cold rain. The laughter and arguments resounded from the bustling taverns and shops resounded in the deserted streets.

The heavy downpour instantly drenched him, but he didn't care as he was still lost in thought about the revelation of his Soul. He walked alone with a heavy footsteps and even heavier heart.

He suddenly lifted his head and allowed the rain drops to splash on his face, as he tried to lift his mood from falling into a chasm. As he was enjoying the feeling of the rain drops crashing onto his skin, a soft voice sounded right behind him.

"It feels good to see you all grown up, Azalon."