237 Void Flame

The two helpers attacked simultaneously with nearly perfect cooperation, while Shui waited for them without moving. If it wasn't for the silent pressure he exerted, they would have thought that he had given up, but regardless what they had to do wouldn't change. In less than a second, they made it within three steps of Shui, and it was at this time that he finally took action.

With a clap followed by a hand seal, Shui summoned a barrier around the three of them, including himself, and then quickly gathered the air in the barrier to his body with a spell. The sudden vortex increased their momentum and dragged the men closer to him. Before they could stop themselves, Shui reached out and grabbed their necks, then used a bit of force to snap them. 

"...Huh?"

While the young man remained stunned, Shui lowered the barrier and pounced at him. Once he had his hand around his neck, this battle was done.

"Wait! This was my fault! I can make it up to-"

Shui wasted no time in looking into his eyes and diving into his memories. As he expected, the young man was a low-ranking member of the Darino Gang, so he didn't know much. Still, it was more information than Shui had so he was satisfied. Furthermore, it seemed that he could still get what he came for. Once he read the young man's memories, Shui severed the connection between his soul and its vessel, and then searched his lifeless body for a space expansion bag. 

It was hidden at the inner part of his thigh, so Shui used his mental control to take it and looked inside with spiritual sense. Just as the young man's memories indicated, there was fire-attribute demonic art inside it called 'Mourning Flame Spell'. The Primordial Library didn't discriminate against demonic arts so the rest of the spell automatically appeared in his memory for him to look at. 

The spell was truly fit to be called a demonic art as it required burning people alive while their family watched and then burning those family members one by one. By doing this, the hate-filled souls of the dead would stick to the user and the user would be able to refine them into fire that directly attacked the soul. It was a vile technique that Shui had no interest in learning, but for some reason, it captured his attention.

Shui wanted to take a better look at it so that he could figure out why, but this wasn't a good place for enlightenment. Shui used an earth spell to bury the corpses and then left the scene. If this incident was exposed the Darino Gang might officially tag him as an enemy, but Shui didn't think much of them. He had even killed assassins from the Tower of Killers so the Darino Gang was nothing in comparison.

Shui returned to his residence and prepared for a brief seclusion after leaving a note for his housemates. They didn't like to come home, but whenever someone he didn't know was looking for him, they usually went to them so he left the note to make sure they didn't bother him. 

'Now, why did this catch my interest?'

Since he had no intention of actually learning the spell, Shui focused less on the details and more on the general concept of the 'Mourning Flame Spell'. Once Shui sank into a state of meditation, hours flew by like leaves in the breeze. Fortunately, there were no disconcerting events, but such thoughts didn't bother him as he sought an answer.

'Using grievances to attack the soul. For a demonic art it's nothing out of the ordinary, and yet it tugs at my chest. Burning people alive? No, that part isn't it. There's some key hidden in the spell but it's not on the surface. Perhaps I should shift my perspective.'

Shui took a deep breath and moved his thoughts from the 'Mourning Flame Spell' to his ideal flame. 

'A flame that burns the physical to the extent that it affects the spiritual. Power won't be enough. It should consume and grow stronger. It should be a flame that can burn until even the world that contains it is swallowed up. If I had to put it into the context of the Mourning Flame Spell', the world should grieve as the flame eats it from the inside.'

He was able to form a conceptual connection between his ideal and the spell, but nothing more. There should have been nothing more.

'Even I think it sounds ridiculous, but, why can't I make it a reality?'

With a spark of inspiration, Shui opened his eyes and began creating hand signs while recalling the Four Elements Technique. To create a flame to devour the world, he had to provide it with a fuel of extraordinary quality. Even with divine energy, his energy control wasn't good enough to accomplish this, but there was an alternate path. Once he had completed the hand signs, four strands of elemental energy, each belonging to a different member of the four elements, appeared between his palms.

"With the four elements as the foundation of the world, I offer this sacrifice. Burn."

Immediately, a large amount of divine energy was dragged from Shui's body and used to engulf the four strands. He couldn't stop until the ceremony was complete so this might even cripple him, but he gritted his teeth and remained steady as he rapidly lost his energy. 

80%...70%...65%...48%...30%...10%...

As he went closer to his limit despite absorbing the energy around him and using spirit gems, Shui even sacrificed his blood essence. Fortunately, his body cultivation caused his blood essence to contain almost as much power as a King, so he was finally able to satisfy the phenomenon between his palms. There was a bright wave of light along with a faint yet terrifying energy fluctuation that broke through all concealments Shui created and spread throughout the realm. On this day, even those outside of Alterna felt an unusual chill, as if a world-ending calamity was imminent. However, they would never find nor guess that the source would be within the palms of a Soul Realm cultivator.

This could have placed Shui in a very dangerous position, but the ember between his palms entranced him more than such worries. It was as white as snow, but Shui knew this wasn't its true colour. With his eyes bleeding as he looked at it with the Sage God Eyes, Shui could tell that it only appeared white because it was consuming the light touching it. The ember was actually as clear as glass and burnt even the space it occupied. Only void would remain when it was finished eating, so he called it the void flame.

This achievement alone was enough to make Shui ecstatic, but once another thought popped into his head he couldn't resist the temptation of trying something else. He still possessed the composure to remake the concealment measures and recover some of his energy, but after that he only focused on the task ahead. Although he believed that there was a chance of success, the danger he was about to undertake would likely be the biggest threat to his life so far. Even so, he couldn't resist the allure of his progress if it worked out.

'Here goes.'

With his body still a considerable distance from perfect condition, Shui pushed the ember into his chest.

"Ahhh!!!"

His self-inflicted torture began.