Meanwhile, Rune had to find a way to infiltrate the palace of the desert kingdom, where he needed to stop the Death King. It seemed like he had some kind of connection to the man. He was now working with the S.J.F, and they had recognized him the moment he arrived at their base. Even though they all knew it was already too late, they still refused to give up, so they gathered around a table and began forming a plan with Gin.
Gin revealed that they already had insiders throughout the palace, and that was how they knew the W.T.S was close to completion. Everyone there understood what that meant. The W.T.S was going to be used as a weapon of mass destruction, and the Death King was already known as the biggest criminal on the continent.
"Do we know where the machine is placed right now?" Rune asks as they all gather around the table, trying to give their own ideas.
"we are pretty confident it is currently underground the palace, approximately 500 feet below, it is obviously guarded like crazy with no openings to be used, the only way for somebody to even see it is if that person was very close to the Death King"
"If Rune was to take the risk to gain his trust, it would be impossible since he would easily get recognized, every single S.J.F member can be identified since they are the biggest threat to him, even the insiders that they had were only in lower positions that couldn't penetrate far enough"
Rune stayed quiet for a moment before speaking. "if there really is not a way, we will wait till he uses it"
He explained that if the W.T.S needed to be used, it would have to be brought out into an open space, and that would be their best chance. It was a high risk, high reward move, but it made more sense than trying to reach something completely sealed off. Instead of targeting the Death King directly, if they could target the machine itself, they might be able to stop or delay it.
Most of the members realized that this was the only possible option, so they had no other choice. As they continued discussing, Rune spoke with different members, going back and forth, fully focused on the conversation, his guard slightly lowered without realizing it. Then suddenly, he felt his body give out. Everything went dark as if someone had struck the back of his neck, and he collapsed, completely unconscious.
Karin, on the other hand, continued training like before. A few months had already passed since "Isshin's Death", and she understood that even if reviving someone was possible, she had to be patient and completely determined, so she trained as if there was no tomorrow.
She decided to duel the guardian again, repeating their duels once every week to measure her progress. The guardian obviously held back since she was at the Saint Realm, but even then, she could feel the difference. The more Karin practiced, the harder the guardian had to try. Karin began using techniques the guardian had never seen before, and it was clear they were demonic techniques that seemed like they belonged to the Heavenly Demon Empire, yet they were unfamiliar.
The guardian understood that there was some kind of mystery behind Karin. These techniques were granted to her, and whoever it was had turned Karin into a much stronger contender for the Heavenly Demon position. In every duel, Karin gave it her all, gasping for air at the end, fighting with killing intent as if the guardian had taken everything from her and she had to take revenge. Her determination was obvious, and the guardian did not stop her, only guiding her forward.
"you will return back to the academy in 2 months, right princess?" the guardian asks Karin, reminding her of her studies. "we should have put you in the 'Supreme Valor Academy' instead, but you wanted to keep a lower profile"
The Supreme Valor Academy was known as the best academy on the planet, where every student was already a powerhouse. With Karin's background, she could have easily entered that academy, but she refused, choosing instead to live a more basic life.
"doesn't matter which academy, i will join the continental dao championship and destroy my opponents no matter which academy they are from" Karin replies
The Continental Dao Championship was a global tournament held every five years, with hundreds of academies participating. For the past six years, the Supreme Valor Academy had won every single time.
"you need to calm down karin.... the little miss that i knew could never even think about killing before... maybe its the effect of your new techniques, remember, if you ever face any difficulties, just let me know about them"
The guardian spoke gently, as she always had. She had been like a mother figure to Karin throughout her life.
Isshin woke up early the next morning with only one goal in mind: learn alchemy. His life had been chaotic for the past few years, and now he wanted to focus, so he headed straight to the alchemy hall.
There were many disciples already there, practicing and learning. As Isshin walked through the hall, he eventually found Elder Zhao, the alchemy hall elder.
"i pay respect to elder, my name is isshin, i-"
"oh you are that new guy!" the old bearded man exclaims as he stands up from where he was sitting. "you actually became that felix's disciple!" he says as he places his hand on Isshin's shoulder with a smile.
There were already murmurs around them. "that guy is the new disciple? i had never seen him before"
Isshin ignored them, just like he always did, and explained that he wanted to learn alchemy.
"a brat like you had never learnt alchemy before?! very wasted potential! come with me i will show you some stuff" the elder says as he walks forward, patting Isshin's back.
They moved to a quieter area where there were no other people. In front of Isshin was a cauldron, clearly meant for alchemy.
"first, show me your qi"
Isshin complied, raising his hand as thunder qi formed around it, crackling with energy.
"very pure thunder qi! clearly not close to a heavenly flame but way better than most flames people have..." the elder says while stroking his beard. "for your qi to be used as a flame, all you need to do is imagine and channel your qi and stabilize it in a way so that all the levels feel the same, almost at the bottom"
Isshin was somewhat confused since he didn't fully understand what that meant, but he tried to apply it anyway. He imagined his qi like different layers moving at different intensities, then tried to stabilize all of them into one level, forcing everything into a single state, almost like reducing it all to zero.
His thunder qi began to change, slowly taking the shape of a flame. He realized he had succeeded, but he could also tell it was difficult to maintain since it was his first time.
"good!" the elder exclaims. "now try to use that flame on the cauldron"
Isshin moved his hand forward, transferring the flame into the cauldron as it lit up. It was time to add the ingredients, but by now Isshin was already sweating. This was much harder than he expected.
"so, to get started, we can make a tier 1 body pill, it is a pill that enhances your dantian, making it stronger and resistant to attacks, think of it as the armor of your dantian, it is very easy, just mix 1 regular ginseng, a lotus seed, and a drop of golden core qi essence, then you need t-"
"elder i can't hold it any longer, can we just mix the ingredients already?" Isshin exclaims, clearly struggling to maintain the flame.
"uh- alright! here!" the elder quickly throws all three ingredients into the cauldron. "now you should be able to visualize all the ingredients, focus your mind towards the cauldron"
As Isshin focused, he could feel how the ingredients were behaving. He guided them carefully.
"wait i didn't tell you the recipe yet... for this pill it is quite simple... just keep all three of their balance, try to gather all of them together in the middle, then increase your flame output till the pill forms"
Isshin followed exactly, increasing the flame output steadily. He could tell it was working. After about three minutes, he felt the pill was complete. He opened his eyes and used the flame to pull it out. It was a tier 1 body pill, but it carried a slight thunder attribute.
"not bad!, although you did technically mess it up since there wasn't supposed to be any thunder attribute to it, it technically makes it better! just be careful while making more advanced pills"
Isshin didn't respond immediately, gasping for air as he tried to recover.
"t-thanks elder.... i will practice these pills more and get it right"
"we have enough resources for tier 1 pills so go ahead, you can also sell these pills back to me for profit when you are done haha" the elder adds before leaving. "i will leave you to it, hopefully it goes well"
"thank you for your help elder" Isshin says as he bows.
He sat down again, looking at the cauldron.
He was ready to make more pills.