Ritual (I)

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Three days had passed since the Promotion Test, Raven and his friends took a time off from training and spent most of their times in relaxation.

During this days, aside from his usual meditation, Raven didn't do any of his heavy routine and just spent time meditating over a few things about his plan that he had to consider.

During his past life, Raven had never been promoted at the Inner Branch since he hadn't been successful during his attempts at the promotion tests. But this doesn't mean that he didn't knew what was inside. It was due to the influence of his dad that he was able to visit the Inner Branch multiple times, he also had his military training in there so he was familiar with the place.

It was also that time where he followed the footsteps of his father, but as time goes on, his own cultivation prevented him from being promoted which greatly depressed him. Luis was getting older back then, and he always blamed himself for all of the hardships that his family experienced. This was even more painful when the great disaster came and his loved ones gave up their life just to save him.

He thus walked the path of an avenger. Her travelled the entirety of the Grand Ancestral Planes and discovered many things, along with the Divine Crown.

But now, Raven was feeling somewhat confused. The profound mystery of time is no stranger to him. He knew just how much change he had brought during this lifetime, and to be completely honest, he was always observing if things would change along with the difference on his actions. What confuses him greatly, was aside from few small details, nothing much actually changed so far. It was still relatively calm and peaceful, but instead of bringing comfort, this brought nothing but fear and anxiety to him.

What he was afraid of, was that the effects of this little changes that he brought, will stack up and become a storm that will ruin his second chance.

Despite all of this, there is one thing that he was sure of. He could only rely on strength to survive the upcoming calamity. He will observe closely, and he will act according to what he think was the best course of action, and eventually a time will come when he would be powerful enough to crush his worries away and bring safety to his home.

Another reason why he advised everyone not to do any harsh training right during the past three days, is because they are preparing for the Righteous Bestowal Ritual.

Just like Old Lee promised during their first meeting, anyone who reaches Bone Forging or Marrow Cleansing realm before the school year ends, will be allowed to undergo the ritual. True to his words, Old Lee filed a permission in behalf of them and it was allowed. Not only did they take half the time it needed to reach this stage, they also passed the Promotion Test, if they weren't allowed to the ritual then nobody else would.

In fact, Old Lee didn't actually have to bother with the permission. Raven only needed to ask Korra about it and he will let them in without any hesitations. After all, Raven was the one who restored the purity of the ritual waters and helped them regain their reputation.

***

"Good Morning Sir Korra."

The kids greeted as soon as they arrived. Korra was standing in front of the entrance and waiting for their arrival

"Good Morning guys. So, ready for the ritual?" Korra smiled and asked, the team nodded and together with Old Lee, they went inside the gates and walked towards the ritual waters.

"Before we proceed with the ritual, It would be best to discuss the benefits of the ritual first." Korra first escorted them to a room and have them sit so that he could freely discuss the benefits of the ritual.

"The Righteous Bestowal Ritual had been around for as long as the kingdom was built. As for it's origins, the records that we have are incomplete so we could only speculate or theorize for the missing parts."

"The founders of the Kingdom found this place and made numerous attempts to understand it's effects. And after a long time of research, they finally came up with the answer."

"From the Fighter stages, we have: Skin Toughening, Muscle Training, Organ Refining, Bone Forging and finally the Marrow Cleansing Realms. The reason why we traverse this stages, is to transform our body to become a proper vessel for Energy. A weak body cannot handle large amounts of energy, and without enough energy, then one cannot use battle arts which greatly helps on fights."

"Once the body is strong enough, only the Energy Body could be created. And that's where the ritual comes in."

"As you know, what comes after the Marrow Cleansing Realm is the Soldier Realm. Those who reach this stage opened at least 1 out of 7 energy nodes on their body. Opening one using the normal way, is too painful and could even result in energy deviation. But experiencing the Ritual will flush the impurities out of the nodes, allowing a smooth connection and a less painful experience for an individual. This is the reason why many people preferred to experience the ritual instead of clearing their energy bodies manually."

Korra smiled and went silent for a bit, he allowed the kids to digest the information that he gave to then so that they could realize the true benefit of the ritual.

Korra was pleased to see the kids with a pondering expression on their faces. What he didn't know was that their thoughts were different from what he expected it to be.

Raven already discussed these things to them so this is just a brief recap for them. Additionally, Raven's knowledge about the ritual exceeds that of anyone here.

The Righteous Bestowal Ritual was something that the people of ancient past left. The Grand Ancestral Planes had existed for a very long time and they weren't only humans that existed before. The whole plane was only one of the many territories of humans, compared to their civilization right now, the ancient era was more flourishing and more advanced.

On his search to bring back what he lost, he encountered many records in the divine realm about the Grand Ancestral Planes and the true function of the Righteous Bestowal Ritual was one of the those things.

Unlocking the energy body is only one of the things that the ritual waters can do. It's benefits also branch out to other paths namely, the body and the spirit path.

'Soak into the ritual waters to unlock the Absolute Trinity'. This is the true function of the ritual. Once the ritual starts, it will unblock and connect the Energy Nodes of the energy body. Illuminate the Elemental Gates of the Body and Awaken the Soul to commune with the Starry Skies of the Spirit World.

Energy Path, Body Path, and the Spirit Path, this is the Absolute Trinity or the Trinity Paths. The paths that humans made for survival and glory.

Without the ritual waters, pursuing two or all of the paths would be extremely challenging. This is why ancient era humans treated ritual with outmost importance. If it weren't for the discovery of the Divine Realm, then there's no way that their ancestors will abandon the ritual waters here. Even so, not all of the humans decided to leave the Grand Ancestral Planes to migrate towards the Divine Realm. Some people chose to stay and protect the remnants of the previous era. Alas, those who left never imagined that they won't be able to come back in the planes without completing some necessary actions. They were trapped in the Divine Realm where they are exposed to the real threat to humans.

"Alright, the ritual waters are now ready. Let head on out so that the ritual can start."

Korra interrupted their thoughts and told them that the waters are ready. The team nodded and followed him towards the location where the ritual will commence.

The place still looked like what Raven saw during his past visit. There are still the totems and the huge crater at the center. There are also some people who are already standing on top of the totems, clearly ready for the ritual to start.

"Step into the center of the crater. Sit down in meditation and allow the waters to engulf your entire body." Korra gave them some last minute instructions before the ritual started.

The team nodded and sat on the center of the crater. Once they are in deep meditation, Korra gave the signal and the people who were standing on top of the totems went into action. Performing several sets of hand seals, the totems shook and out of nowhere, a crystal clear waters emerged and swept the kids up. It didn't take long before a huge sphere of water floated just above the totems along with six people inside with their eyes closed and in deep meditation.