Chapter 152
The Spirit Realm. Yuki.
Some plans that seemed non-urgent had to be hastily postponed. After all, the sixth chakra had recently made its presence known. I could have waited, but... I desperately wanted to grow stronger. Besides, even a slightly opened chakra was simply unbearable. No pain, but every second felt like I was about to sneeze, yet the sneeze never came. It was tolerable, but the situation was incredibly nerve-wracking. Now I understood why the records mentioned many practitioners with two or three open chakras, but few reached the final "door." Someone could go mad lingering in that state for a year—they'd surely rush to open the chakra, even if it meant almost certain death.
So, I decided not to delay. In an area untouched by Vatu's energy, cleared of any hostile spirits, four identical figures moved about. Yes, this time, the chakra opening would occur in a single body—that's what my intuition "whispered." In such cases, I trust it unconditionally, as the closer you get to the final chakra, the stricter the requirements.
Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I looked at Agni, the fire spirit squatting nearby. The heat radiating from his body easily penetrated even our energy-enhanced bodies. Van had succeeded, finally "merging" with the ancient spirit and gaining a drop of his wisdom. Honestly, Agni deserves respect just for his titanic patience. Not everyone can endure the constant "buzzing in their ear" from a stranger. Yet, he never struck back, only verbally expressing his disapproval of such a neighbor. What's truly impressive is that Agni is a genuine fire spirit, inherently excitable and slightly volatile.
*"Four of them..."* Agni muttered gloomily. Tell any other ancient spirit that the Great Agni was outtalked by some hybrid of spirit and human, and they wouldn't believe it. *"I should've fled while I still had the chance..."* First, he agreed to an intimate "merger," and now he's being used as a giant furnace.
*"A valuable acquisition!"* I couldn't stop rejoicing over our "accidental" encounter with Agni. In his time, it was Van Shi Tong who told me the approximate location of the ancient fire spirit. According to him, Agni had been living on inertia for years, and the world was close to losing one of its most powerful light spirits. The Spirit of Knowledge didn't want that outcome, though it was clear the Great Owl's genuine concern was masked by pragmatism. His motives were confirmed when he heavily hinted that I should somehow rouse Agni. And if he hadn't mentioned Agni's peaceful nature, I would never have acted so boldly. Find other mortals! Koha and Vatu are more than enough for me!
*"I think that's it,"* I said wearily, looking at the large cauldron I'd been crafting for a good two hours. This cauldron had its own story. To successfully open the new chakra, auxiliary tools are needed. One of the most important is the vessel in which I'll absorb the essence of millennia-old plants. Hence, another crucial factor: the fiercer the fire, the more profound my transformation. Agni's hands will serve as the "fuel," holding the cauldron. I doubt there's a more powerful fire in this world. The ancient spirit's flame can easily melt even the most durable human alloy, so my gaze fell on the curiosities of the Spirit Realm.
Spiritual iron—or, as humans call it, meteoritic iron. For a long time, the two names confused me, as Van Shi Tong's library only mentioned spiritual iron, leading me to think they were different minerals. I had to dig deeper, as the reason for the human name genuinely intrigued me. It turned out to be much simpler: the first documented appearance of this ore coincided with a meteor shower in some ancient year. Perhaps such a metal truly exists in the universe, but according to the Spirit of Knowledge, nearly 100% of spiritual iron entering the Human Realm results from micro-glitches in the "divider of worlds."
It's called spiritual for a reason: this iron enhances its properties by absorbing surrounding spiritual—that is, magical—energy. This is why ordinary people like Master Piandao can work with it; in the human world, there's not enough energy for the iron to become too "willful." Here, however, I had to work with the absolute "king," which had absorbed "tons" of energy.