Chapter 22-Start Of A Path

'Umm, not bad....'

Xiao thought as he sat cross-legged within a sea of fire. Right now, he was in a training room for fire elemental-based cultivators. After he met with his mother, he headed to a treasury room and chose a suitable cultivation manual for himself. Feeling tired, he slept the same day.

Although he hadn't shown it, he was extremely tired from everything he had done. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he fell asleep. The next day, he woke up and prepared himself for his training. It was then that he heard about the kids who had been influenced by him and wanted to become stronger. Unfortunately, many had failed, with some dying and others crippling themselves. However, that was not his concern.

Getting ready, he slipped away from Yun Yurou's view. It seemed she was in the fire cultivation area, indicating that she also had a fire affinity. To avoid unnecessary questions, he hid and easily entered the training room once he confirmed that it was safe.

Excited about his training, Xiao closed his eyes and sat cross-legged on the blazing land of fire. He didn't feel any heat; in fact, he felt right at home. The room was filled with fire elements, but there was no actual fire within it. With such a high concentration of elements, he would be able to grow stronger quickly.

Taking deep breaths to calm himself, Xiao closed his eyes, and soon, the chants and verses of the cultivation technique 'Omega Asura's Wrath' filled his mind. From what he had read, this cultivation technique was considered at least an Ancient rank technique. Although the story didn't provide a clear explanation, he could tell that the technique was extremely difficult to grasp since it took him a month of analysis to learn it.

Having a powerful cultivation technique didn't guarantee the ability to learn it. One needs talent and comprehension powers to understand and grow with it. Thanks to Xiao's {Record and Analyze} ability, along with his {Mind Split}, he was able to quickly break down anything.

Even so, it took him a month to finally understand and study this art. But that only meant that the technique was worth it. With his eyes closed, Xiao began following the verses of the technique and started cultivating. As he started, the fire elements in the atmosphere joyously danced, and the fire Qi flew toward him.

Xiao's body heated up slightly as a a huge amount of fire Qi started to fill his meridians. His 33 meridians collected more Qi than normal, giving him ten times more effective cultivation than others. His strengthened meridians greedily absorbed the abundant Qi, filling his body. Soon, Xiao started following the path of the technique as the verses he had read filled his mind.

'The path of fire is to burn, but the path of the Omega fire Asura is to do what no other fire can do. Fire can bring warmth, but it can also be a weapon that reduces everything to ash.'

'Fire, ash, mist, and disappearance. Let it flow freely. Let the powers of fire burn and consume. Let your anger be your strength. Use the power of the circle of fire to ensure your enemies disappear and become the fire that warms your allies.'

As Xiao delved deeper into his technique, the fire around him started to twist and turn without his knowledge. Pure fire elements rose from the atmosphere, forming a raging fire circle. One, two, three, and about eleven fire circles started to float and surround Xiao. It was as if he was surrounded by a barrier of fiery rings.

And unknown to him deep within his soul, 11 different colored flames bloomed, the 11 flames had their own life as they danced within Xiao, they didn't suddenly come into existence, all 11 of them seemed to have waited for this moment, gifted to him, deep within his trained soul.

One by one, each ring grew smaller and flew inside Xiao's body. Soon, all eleven of them became smaller rings as they entered his body. Unbeknownst to Xiao, a small crimson flame symbol appeared on his forehead. It was faint and disappeared as quickly as it came but it took on the unique shape of an Omega 'Ω'.

Then, just as the flame-colored eleven rings vanished, new rings appeared. However, these rings were crimson instead of the usual flame color. They too surrounded him for some time before becoming smaller and entering his body. Like this, eleven times, eleven different-colored flames surrounded him before transforming into smaller rings and entering his body.

As soon as the eleventh set of eleven-colored flames entered his body, silence returned to the room. There were no fluctuations or movements. It remained that way for a second before eleven different-colored flames flew out from Xiao's body. The beautiful flames danced around him with excitement. Soon, tendrils extended from the flames, connecting to his body.

The tendrils surrounded him, emitting different beautiful flaming lights. At that moment, Xiao looked like an Emperor of Flames, a man who controlled all fire and heat. This continued for two hours before the flames receded back into his body, and Xiao opened his eyes. Using his mind realm, he checked every part of his body and was surprised to see that his cultivation had reached the 3rd Body Refinement Realm.

This was when he had intentionally slowed down his progress. Xiao knew that with his powerful technique, he could easily break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm. However, for now, he would keep it within a normal acceptable range. He already had the protection of a genius halo, and he didn't want to attract the greed of others who might think his speed was due to some treasure.

'But this technique seems much more complex than I thought?'

'Wait…. Doesn't cultivation techniques like this require special conditions and requirements to start cultivating?'

Just as these thoughts filled Xiao's mind, he went into a daze for a second, soon coming back to reality.

'Huh?….what was I thinking?'

Furrowing his brows, Xiao couldn't remember, quickly leaving aside the topic, he focused on the issue at hand.

Xiao had a significant advantage until he reached the third heaven. He had already comprehended the barriers of several cultivation stages. Cultivation wasn't just about absorbing Qi and growing stronger; one would encounter mental blocks when reaching the peak of each realm. Breaking through those blocks required study and understanding to become stronger.

Reaching the third realm at such a fast pace meant that he would have to fake his way through again. Shaking his head, he refocused on his current path. He had laid down the foundation for the eleven paths of fire reincarnation.

At the moment, he had a fire that burned, healed, killed, helped, calmed, and much more. However, in his current realm, he couldn't use any mystic fire. He needed to find heaven-born fire and absorb it to increase his strength. He also needed to travel to several fire-infested areas to acquire different types of fire.

Greater strength required more practice and sacrifices, after all.