Old Gods

Legends say the Gods of this world fought against Demons till their last breath. Back then, the world was different. The humanoid species at the peak in the distant past were the High Elves with their crazy magical abilities and Cultivation potential.They had much lower reproduction ability than humans though, and only their long lives granted by Cultivation itself allowed them to stay the dominant force of the world.But that was back then. After the war, when Qi disappeared from the world, their numbers quickly declined and they fell into obscurity.Back on Neloron, the continent where the ancient war took place, they somehow survived the ordeal by mixing with humans, becoming a new race called the Dark Elves. I even met a few of them, though they were still quite rare in the general population. Weirdly enough, I did not see or even hear about any of them here, in the Myriad Beast Sect.Despite the hundreds of books I have read, many of which spoke about wild beasts and exotic creatures, there was no sign of them. Not a single mention of either a Dwarf or an Elf anywhere. Almost as if they went completely extinct.A concerning fact was that there was nothing about the Demons either. Somehow people on this side of the world were completely oblivious to what happened 10.000 years ago. Then again, maybe the fact that people on Neloron still carried on those oral legends and myths was evidence of how impactful the war actually was.I, once, out of curiosity, asked Elder Li about other humanoid creatures. He knew nothing about Elves, Dwarves, or Demons, though he did recognize some physical characteristics. The pointy ears and silver hair. He called them the Drow.[The Drow?]"Yes, though not much is known about them. I only heard they have pointy ears, silver hair, and ash-like skin by pure happenstance. Had you not mentioned those, I would not have remembered." Elder Li said after I questioned him about the subject at length."I cannot tell you where they live, for I myself do not know. Though I did hear they can be quite untrusting towards strangers and are vicious in conflict."[Hmm…] That didn't help me much. I was hoping I would uncover another layer of the story, but I was disappointed instead. Dark Elves had much darker skin than their pale pure-blooded counterpart, but gray? I did not see or hear of such a race.I knew the Demons still existed back on Neloron, though I never confirmed that for myself. It was just something everybody there knew. It was common knowledge.It bugged me to be so clueless about these things. Those bastards stole magic once before, what was stopping them from doing it again? Maybe we just weren't worth it?If tens of thousands of genuine Gods could exist on this single planet, the Qi density back then had to be… Well, insane. The fact that nobody, not a single person or beast, reached the Divine after 10.000 years of relative peace, it must mean that such a thing was… difficult, to say it mildly.Maybe it wasn't even possible to do it yet. How the hell would I know?But that was no reason to relax. Those bastards stole our magic, and I would be damned if I would let them do it again! I was planning to live for centuries in this world. Not to mention that they were probably the ones who drained Earth, my planet, of Qi, the bloody bastards!I made a decision. I would work hard to step into the Divine and then purge this world of the alien threat. Then, I will return back to Earth and revert that world back to its former glory! Even if I would have to fight a world war, I would do it. Humanity must prevail!But first I had to grow. Returning back to Neloron was a must since the way to get back to Earth could probably be found in the Phoenix Temple there. And whether I flew over the ocean by myself or teleported there with the help of the old Formation, reaching the Divine was a must. Anything less than that was just asking to fail.I took a pill and placed it in my mouth before entering a deep meditative state. Finding myself before the Fragment once more, I steadied my mind and urged my Soul to take another tiny step forward. Every day I took one, and every day my resistance to the pressure became more significant.After the Fragment was released from the eternal prison that was the Memory Orb, it began to decay slowly. I don't know it if was because it was inside my Sea of Consciousness or just because a lot of time has passed, but it slowly began to crumble. Tiny specks of dust broke off every few days, spreading across the place.My Soul consumed it all. It hurt. Every time. But since when did pain stop me from doing what I wanted? Exactly.It happened again. I swallowed the glowing dust particle and my body felt as if it getting torn asunder. I grit my teeth and crushed the pill, letting it slowly soothe my aching Soul. The blue mist swirled around and did its thing.Some time later I opened my eyes and stretched. Another day went by, and I was a step closer to my goal.Another month or two, and I could maybe take a bite out of the Fragment without immediately turning to ash. That would be an achievement worthy of celebration.***The following day I once again had to fight. The golem of choice was a weird mishmash of a human and some kind of animal, a wolf or a cheetah. It was fast, really fast, and it attacked with its stone claws that left scratches on my skin.No matter how hard I tried, against a speed-based attacker, I felt inadequate. Even as I tried to return a blow the moment it struck me, it was always able to dodge or swerve at the last instant, making me miss over and over again.No matter how many times I let it hit me, I could not retaliate. It was quite annoying, especially since even Chaotic Qi Blasts didn't work. I just couldn't hit it. The damn thing was too quick! I could barely follow it with my eyes, but my hands were too slow to react.[Wait...]I suddenly got an idea. If I could see it move, it meant I could damage it! Nothing was faster than light, and I had the perfect weapon!Sun Ray!I gathered the Qi and blasted a beam of concentrated light and destruction at the swift golem, and it hit! It stumbled as it quickly tried to change direction, but I didn't let it go. My gaze was locked on it, and my eyes burned off its outside layer, making the stone body pop and crack.My eyes stung like hell, but I persisted. I just needed to heal myself a little and I could keep going for-"Hey! I said no regeneration!"Elder Li's shout suddenly struck my mind and the Fire Mending regeneration cut off in an instant. My eyes burned ever hotter, and the pain became too much, and I had to stop. I already had a pounding headache from the heat, and my brain couldn't take it anymore. If I couldn't heal, then the technique was useless!Not to mention that I burned out my eyes and became blind! A total disaster![Ah!] I exclaimed as a strong hunch landed on my chest and I was tossed back. It didn't hurt much, but that didn't mean I liked it. The damn golem didn't lose a second and capitalized on my mistake. Having relied on my sight for so long, my reactions slowed just enough that I became unable to defend myself. Arcane Eyes allowed me to see without eyes, but it was not the same. The sharpness of that sight was lesser than visible light, allowing the golem to slip past my guard by the tiniest of margins.What followed was a one-sided pounding, and I was on the receiving end of it.***I sighed as I held a chunk of ice to my aching face as I sat in a warm herbal bath. Elder Li allowed me to regenerate my eyes, but nothing else. As such I was still full of cuts and bruises. Luckily the golem was a speed-based one and lacked strength, but getting punched thousands of times still hurt.That momentary slip of judgment doomed me. Having only used the Sun Ray when I could regenerate, I forgot how equally destructive it was for my own body. No other Cultivator would ever dare use it, for the consequences for them would be disastrous.Also, having my healing ability cut off suddenly wasn't a pleasant experience. The fact that Elder Li could just decide I couldn't regenerate anymore was annoying, even if he was my teacher. That just meant I was defenseless against all Spirit Realm Cultivators and above. Not a pleasant thought, that's for sure.I really needed to temper my Soul with the Divine Fragment even more, since it clearly wasn't enough. I already achieved some minor resistance, but it couldn't be more than 5% if that. I still had a long way to go.And since I had time, what better to do than temper my mind to resist those attacks? I entered deep meditation and moved my Soul forward a small step towards the Fragment once more. It hurt, it was itchy and stuffy, and it was annoying all around. It felt as if I was getting squeezed from all sides and my insides tried to escape through my nose.What an awful experience. The only reason I ever considered doing it was because I could get used to it over time. And what would previously be horribly painful, became only mildly annoying. I threw a Spirit-Hardening Pill into my mouth and let the external energies battle it out.The thing the pill did was to toughen up the Soul and make it more resistant to outside pressure, and the more stress it was under, the better the results. I made sure to take at least one every day for the last week, and the results were already showing themselves.My savings got cut in half, damn it!After all that plundering, I only had another 18 Spirit Stones left. That wasn't even enough to get me through another full month of taking so many pills. I never thought it would be so expensive, but those in Nascent Soul Realm had to take more potent pills for them to have the effect.It was actually the same thing that the lower Realms got, just at a higher concentration. Unfortunately, the prices for buying Minor Pills was even a tiny bit higher than their generic counterpart. There was no arbitrage to be gained from buying cheaper stuff.Luckily, the last incident with my eyes going *poof* left Elder Li somewhat disappointed, and he decided we should take a break for a bit. And so, starting with the next day, I would instead be learning how to make golems! Hurray!