For the first time in his life, Jiang felt alive. Who would have thought that during his long sleep all the black, hazy substance in his system had been completely eliminated by the mysterious ring that entered Jiang's core, produced a space of its own and in the process turned a trash like Jiang into a second rank Spirit Magus Realm of the Air Element?
As a Spirit Magus, he had directly skipped the whole Spirit Novice Realm, which was further divided into ranks 1 through 10. He also skipped the Novice Realm, which had ranks from 1 to 8. Jiang went from being worthless trash, straight to the second rank of the Spirit Magus Realm, which came after the Novice Realm. If people were to hear about Jiang’s direct promotion in cultivation they would assume he was a monster since increasing realms was not an easy task, and usually took years to achieve. They might even speculate that he was in possession of an extraordinary artifact, which wasn't far from the truth. In short, letting people find out about his amazing transformation wouldn't be a good thing for him.
The levels of cultivation in the world were really complex, but once one reached the Magus Realm, which was above the realm currently occupied by Jiang, they would stop aging. In fact, most people attained that realm in their thirties. It was extremely rare to see someone reaching the Magus Realm while in their teens. Even Jiang wouldn’t be able to achieve such an accomplishment seeing as his rank was still far from the Magus Ream. After all, he was only sixteen years old and was just at the second rank of the Spirit Magus Realm. It would take years before Jiang could dream of reaching the Magus Realm unless he was one of those genius monsters like the current Emperor. But even if he could magically become such a genius, he was already past the best years when mana could be accumulated at an abnormally fast pace. Naturally, Jiang didn't dream of reaching the Magus Realm anytime soon. He was very content with the miracle of being able to cultivate at all. It couldn't have come at a more opportune moment.
Sometimes, Jiang wondered if he really was born worthless. Was he born like that or was he made like so? Jiang couldn't tell and it was a mystery he wanted to solve, a jigsaw puzzle he hoped to complete someday.
Although his mother didn't cultivate, it didn't mean she couldn't, she just chose not to. She had the opportunity when she was younger and stumbled upon an abandoned, ancient temple. According to her, she found the rusted ring and some old books on cultivating mana there. She didn't bother to use them for herself because she felt it was already too late for her to start cultivating.
Hence, she decided it would be better for Jiang to cultivate. However, it came as a shock to both that no matter how hard Jiang studied or practiced, there wasn't any effect on him at all. He could never store mana in his core, which was essential if he wanted to become an elemental cultivator. That black substance he discovered in his core had corroded whatever mana he laboriously tried to accumulate, it had been like trying to store water in a basket.
Jiang’s mother had always blamed herself for her son's condition, saying that it was because she was weak and couldn’t protect him as a mother. She had wanted him to cultivate so that he could protect himself in the future even when she wasn't there. Although she believed that she failed to do anything for him, Jiang never liked hearing his mother speak of her failure. But with time he began to understand her sense of guilt to a certain extent.
Anyway, it seemed like the heavens were finally smiling down on him. Jiang couldn’t help but smile back at them for their grace. He kneeled down and kowtowed to the unknown deity or powerful being that had blessed him with this sudden surge of power and another opportunity to live again.
Being a second rank of the Spirit Magus Realm with an affinity for the Air Element was nothing special, but it was something Jiang desperately needed. Having an affinity for the Air Element meant he could speed up, which would make his escape so much easier.
Jiang wanted to dance, sing, and basically act stupid because of his pure joy and the adrenaline rush he was feeling, but he quickly calmed down and regained his composure. He knew that it wasn't time to celebrate yet.
He decided to check on the space created by the formerly rusted ring within his core. He was undecided between naming it 'Space Ring' or 'Space Area'. But calling it a 'Space Ring' might not be appropriate since the space wasn't necessarily in the shape of a ring anymore.
Jiang sensed intuitively that he could also control both space and time in addition to his Air Element. Of course, not at the moment. But after reaching a certain level in his cultivation he knew he would be able to use both elements. He felt the ring was very powerful and mysterious, and there were many secrets he had to unlock about it, including other powers yet to be revealed. A ring that could bring a person back in time was not a typical magic artifact.
Jiang sent his spirit inside the Space Area to observe what was happening inside. He noticed that it had a cauldron which had the words 'Heavenly Jade Cauldron' written on it. Besides the cauldron, there was also a pinkish-green flame burning.
‘I have only heard rumors about the existence of this particular type of flame and only one flame could produce such a mythical color.’ Jiang thought in surprise.
‘If I am not mistaken, this flame is also called the Heavenly Jade Flame. How could it be here? Wasn’t the flame just something considered a myth among cultivators?’
Jiang recalled what he had heard before, ‘This flame, although small, is eternal and can never be extinguished. It is a flame that no one can obtain by force because the flame chooses its owner. A cultivator may gain possession of it but will never really fathom it’s power. Alchemists would kill for the opportunity to possess it, but knew that it will be useless because if they tried to kill it's owner, the flame will just disappear. Although it was said there was a time when people actually went to war for it. Also, because of the powerful mystique of the Heavenly Jade Flame, no one dared to bully those who own it except for those people blinded by envy and greed. They believed that if they couldn’t have the flame, then no one should have it either. But most people preferred to stay on good terms with the owner of the flame because such a person tended to wield infinite power in the art of alchemy and even in cultivation. The flame helped alchemists produce perfect pills, but it was said to consume a lot of mana, and must not be used too frequently otherwise it would be harmful to the body. All these were tales told by cultivators, but no one could even be certain that the flame actually existed. Of course, it had been so long ago since the flame last appeared in the world that people started to believe that it was just a myth.’
Jiang started to speculate, “Now I understand where the flame must have disappeared to. It returned to this Space Area which then assumed the form of the ring my mother gave me. The Space Area itself having the ability to disappear anywhere it wanted to. It must be true that the flame really chooses its master. So why did it suddenly choose me?” He wondered.
Jiang wasn't absolutely certain that his conjectures were correct or not. But the flame was indeed a priceless treasure. So, he couldn't help wondering yet again why, of all people, did it chose a weakling like him? If it was the genuine Heavenly Jade Flame, shouldn’t it choose someone else with real powers as rumours and the books that wrote about the flame stated? No matter how long and hard he thought about the matter Jiang still found it difficult to believe that such a wondrous treasure had chosen him. He finally shook his head and mumbled, “Maybe I am thinking too much about this.”
He glanced at his body and thought it seemed to be glowing. He realised that his skin was fairer and softer than before. The hideous marks and scars on his body that made him look like a beast had all vanished. But he didn’t have the time to examine the changes that took place on his body and pushed it to the back of his mind. There was a more important thing he had to take care of now, other things could wait.
As his Air Element surged at the right time, he silently thanked his mother for giving him the ring and protecting him even after her death. Jiang knew that without the ring, he wouldn’t have been able to live again. He only wished he could use it's power on his mother as well, to bring her back to life. But he understood that it might not even be possible since she died twelve years ago. Maybe in the future, if he could become stronger and learned all the secrets about space and time, he might be able to bring her back. Determination shone in Jiang's eyes as he thought of such a possibility.
Jiang then pushed back every thought out of his mind and focused on what he had to do to escape.
He waited until everyone in the camp had fallen asleep, then sneaked out of his tent stealthily. He knew that some of the guards were on the lookout for bandits and thieves. He had already learned their routines so escaping their sight wouldn’t be too difficult. Jiang didn't expect the guards on duty to pay much attention to him as they had no reason to believe that powerless trash like him would try to escape, he still needed to be careful. Fortunately for him, most of them were too lazy to stay awake through the night anyway.
As soon as Jiang was at a reasonably safe distance from the camp, he started chanting the most basic Air Element spell he had learned from the cultivation manuals his mother had given him. He wanted to activate the element magic of his second rank Air Spirit Magus Realm to aid his escape.
"I call on the heavens, I call on my Air Element ..." before he could even finish chanting the spell, the mana in his core, although very minimal, activated itself and Jiang sensed it spinning within his core. Air gathered around his feet and somehow he intuitively understood how it should work. He was soon speeding off into the distance, his lips curled up in a smirk. He wasn’t flying since he didn't possess the skill yet but just using the air element to increase his speed was much better than running like an ordinary person.
When Jiang first learned the spell he used just now from an old book, he didn't know what book it was because it was really old and didn't even have a cover. His mother had found the book alongside the ring, and believed that it was a cultivation manual, used by novice elementals when they started cultivating. She decided that Jiang should study from the book to awaken his cultivation. And that was how Jiang came to learn spells that he couldn't even use at that time. As he grew older he would venture out of the woods occasionally to sneak visits to the nearby villages, and eventually learned the proper name of the book.
Jiang now had this feeling that as long as he memorised the chants, he could activate a spell without him actually having to speak the words. He wanted to experiment with his theory, but knew escape from the camp was more important. He decided to leave such experiments for later.
Jiang found out that using the air element was exhausting and mentally draining. He didn’t have much mana to begin with, so he had to refrain periodically from using the element and ran normally. At times, he had to rest completely even if only for just a few seconds.
He hoped that with time and practice, he would reach a point where he could not only run faster than the speed of light but also fly up in the sky using the air element without experiencing any discomfort. Just the idea of flying caused Jiang to smile with anticipation. His excitement renewed his energy and he was able to push himself harder to cover as much distance as possible. He felt alive with exhilaration.
Jiang was not stupid enough to think he was omnipotent just because he gained some power. But at least he could defend himself and had a fighting chance.
He suddenly remembered all the events that happened in the past, particularly in the last couple of days. Since he woke up again in this life, the same events before his death had been repeated.
After many years of being cast off to the woods with his late mother, the summons to the Lei Manor had triggered a chain of events eventually leading to his untimely death.
Jiang was summoned, not because the Lei family suddenly realised he was a member of the family after all, or that his father finally decided to get to know him. No, their real motive in dragging him to the Lei Manor was in order to manipulate him into taking centre stage in their scheme. Of course, that scheme led to his end but also to his beginning...
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