Chapter 681: Realm Core

It was amazing how significant an impact a single Concept could have on him. With the acquisition of Burning Serenity, he was immediately flooded with a serene calmness and confidence that he'd never experienced. He wasn't self-conscious by any means, but he'd realized that he was constantly on edge. Always expecting the worst to happen.He didn’t want to say that his soul had been out of balance, but with how destructive and tyrannical some of his abilities had become, the change was greatly appreciated.

Looking back on it, his soul had been constantly dangling off the edge of a cliff with only his willpower and stubbornness keeping it from falling off into the abyss. But this new concept fixed things. It balanced the ruinous and destructive aspects of his soul in a way he didn’t realize he needed until he got it.

While he’d been relaxing and recovering these past couple of months, he didn’t really experience any true peace. There had always been a piece of him that was stressed or worried about something. He also couldn’t truly relax because his own aura was constantly trying to devour him.

But suddenly, that pressure vanished. And for the first time in a long time, he didn’t feel like he had to wrangle his aura. His new Concept of Balance did that for him. Allowing him to experience some peace.

The world was suddenly brighter and more colorful. Even the air seemed more alive. Mana sparkled in his senses in such a way that his heart skipped a beat.

Drasil and Seraphyne must have sensed the change as well, and the two of them appeared on his shoulders. They both sent curious bursts of emotions to him.

Seraphyne asked him.

He reached up and rubbed both of their heads. “Don’t worry, I’m good. Really good in fact,” he said with a light laugh, and started to share the warmth and sense of peace he was experiencing with them.

That seemed to be more convincing than his words, and he felt them sag against him, appreciating the serenity of the moment. And so he sat down, the three of them lounging on the ground together, doing nothing but sharing their own emotions. In a way, they had never been more connected than they were at this moment.

But he was suddenly jerked out of this moment when he felt something tap his cheek. Julius craned his neck and spotted Drasil leaning over and poking his face.

Julius sighed, knowing what the little guy wanted, and with a practiced ease, formed a dense ball of mana before handing it over to Drasil.

“I swear, you have become an even larger glutton than before. You know, if you keep on evolving, I don’t know if I will have enough mana to sustain you,” he said with a shake of his head.

Drasil whistled brightly, not concerned at all, and quickly began sucking on the ball, draining the immense amount of mana with frightening speed.

That wasn’t the end of it, though. He was soon poked again, this time by Seraphyne. “What? You too?” he asked in shock. It would appear that Drasil’s gluttony was contagious, and Seraphyne was infected by it.

She looked bashful for a moment, turning away from him.

He let out another sigh, but immediately took out his lunchbox. The beat-up chicken on the front was sparkling ever so slightly by the red orb still hovering in the distance. He removed a sandwich from its interior and passed it over to her. She received it with a bright grin.

Deciding that he might as well go all in, he also removed his blanket and wrapped it around his shoulders, making sure they were in contact with it too. The blanket's effects took effect immediately, and he felt large bursts of gratitude and happiness from them.

Not seeing a reason not to join them, he took out a sugar cookie and began munching on it alongside them.

And now that their stomachs were being satisfied, the three of them went back to enjoying this peaceful moment.

They got to spend a good amount of time together. More than he expected, but alas, the time to leave came, and they were forcibly ejected from the Solstice Grounds, once again appearing in the same courtyard they had been in before.

Upon their return, he saw that everyone had different reactions. Some were on the ground, gasping for air. Some looked upset and saddened by whatever happened to them. Some seemed just confused.

But there were a small number of people who seemed ecstatic. He assumed these were the people who actually made use of this opportunity. In fact, he could feel a slight charge in the atmosphere. He wondered if all of them managed to get a Concept or some kind of new skill.

People were already discussing what they had experienced with their friends, but it didn't last long as they were quickly escorted out of the courtyard. He didn’t get the reason for the rush, but when he spotted Cassandra, he got a little worried. She didn’t look outwardly sick or hurt, but he couldn’t feel the same heavy presence around her. That in itself was a disturbing sign.

It wasn’t just her; many other elders appeared pale and tired. He had wondered what they did to create such a space, and it was quite clear that there had been a price to pay for it. How large the price was, he didn’t know.

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When he got back to the Sunfire Pavilion, he found himself immediately meditating in the garden, the flames of the pavilion wrapping all around him. But this time it felt very different. The flames didn’t bother him at all.

He focused on his new Concept of Balance, and it was like the flames no longer existed. He was able to sit comfortably in the flames as they helped purify his body. Not that his body needed much purification.

But these flames also helped him cultivate his authority and his core.

Speaking of that, he was already starting to see some changes to his core. The description of his Ruinous Phoenix Body mentioned that it was imperfect and he’d been trying to improve it. To cultivate it in order to improve it. But alas, he was having a lot of trouble. Especially after his death experience.

That slowed down his progress a lot. It was only now, as he was feeling better, that he was beginning to notice some changes. For one, the core inside him had grown ever so slightly. He also noticed that it was spinning a little faster. While it looked unimpressive, he was just glad that something was changing.

He’d been in Tier 4 for a decent amount of time and felt like he’d acclimated to the change. His skill with authority could still use some work, but he believed it was almost time for him to begin progressing through Tier 4. And begin the process of gaining a domain.

He let out a small chuckle when he realized that in just several minutes of this mediation, he’d done more for his core than a whole month of mediation had in the past. He didn’t know whether this was simply the product of his new concept or a combination of several other factors, but he wasn’t about to complain.

He continued to meditate until he felt someone enter the pavilion. He recognized Cassandra’s form right away and got up to greet her. When he entered the living room, he saw that she was already flopped down on the nearest couch, nursing what seemed to be a potion with enough mana to blow up a large building.

“Are you okay?” he asked concerningly.

She groaned. “No, but I will be in a few days. Just one hell of a headache.”

“Was what you guys did that difficult?”

“You mean forcibly creating an environment that imitates the effects of an advanced enlightenment potion for everyone who enters?”

He rubbed his head sheepishly. “Yes?”

She stared at him blankly. “No, it was very easy,” she said sarcastically.

He nodded, realizing his question was silly. And as a way of apologizing, he offered her some leftovers he had from last night, to which she gladly took from him. Then threw the blanket over her. She needed it more than he did at the moment.

After she had her fill, she seemed a bit better and passed something over to him. It was a small badge of some kind, along with a piece of paper. The badge was made of black metal and featured a reddish-gold sun on the front.

“What’s this?” he asked curiously.

“That badge is something you can wear whenever you need some help or resources from anyone allied with the Burning Sun Sect. Show that to any elder or executive, and they will be able to recognize it. The other thing is a map; it’s keyed into your aura signature, but don’t misplace it. It’s incredibly valuable and has the locations of many important sites and rifts, should you want to explore them. You don't have to use it if you don't want to. I understand if you are feeling a bit upset with the sect and me at the moment, but I promise you I didn't expect things to turn out like this,” she said apologetically.

He hummed thoughtfully and nodded at her. "It's fine. I suppose I was too naive to expect that I could just come in and do whatever I wanted. Still, I got some good things out of this and some nice skills. That last little thing was unexpected but appreciated."

"It was the least we could do."

He smiled softly and held up the badge to his face. "Anyways, are these rifts something I can use without needing to ask anyone?”

“Most of them, the ones that are under the control of another sect, are marked. But there are plenty of large-scale rifts that sects are unable to keep sole control over. They are either too expensive, or there are too many sects vying for it, which prevents anyone from having exclusive rights over it.”

“Does this mean it’s time for me to leave?” he asked with a knowing look.

“Aren’t you the one who wants to leave?”

He shrugged. “I’m not complaining, but I have a few things I want to take care of before I leave.”

“Your affinity treasure?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I want to consume that before I leave if that’s okay.”

She smiled. “Stay as long as you want. You more than deserve it. On another note, I wanted to ask you what happened inside the Solstice Grounds. You disappeared for a while. Did something happen?”

He shrugged and was honest. “I got trapped in a separate space.”

“Separate space? What do you mean?” She sat up a little when she heard this.

“Yeah, I was stuck there along with what looked like a red sun in the distance. I’m not really sure what it was, but it helped me out a lot. I got a new concept thanks to that.”

Her eyes widened slightly. “You said you saw a red sun? Can you describe it for me?”

He didn’t see a reason not to and told her about the red sun and what he'd noted about it. Mentioning the feeling of calmness, control, and balance.

She was tapping her leg, deep in thought. Apparently, he'd seen something he wasn't supposed to.

“You might have seen the core,” she finally said to him.

“The core?” he repeated, intrigued.

“Yes, though I’m not sure how that is possible. We haven’t been able to access the core, and have to resort to other means to access the realm.”

He frowned. “Wait, I thought you said you and the other elders created the Solstice Grounds recently?”

“We lied. Don’t tell anyone else, but the Solstice Grounds is a repurposed version of an older realm our sect founder created a long time ago. That red sun you saw was likely the core of the realm, which powered its existence,” she explained and paused for a moment, staring intensely at him.

“Whatever you do, don’t repeat this to anyone. Don’t let a single soul know that you can access this space. I don’t even want to know how you did it. I’m sure it’s related to your Space Concept, but keep it a secret, understood?”

Julius nodded slowly. “Is it that big of a deal?”

She scoffed. “Yes, and people are greedy creatures, even elders of this sect. They would love nothing more than to gain access to the realm and use it for their own purposes.”

Julius rubbed his neck. He hadn’t been planning for it, but he had a feeling that he had done something he wasn’t supposed to again.