Yulan Calendar, September 9999.
The summer heat was fading in Yulan City. September's mornings and evenings were already cool.
Akes's cultivation had entered a delicate state. His visualization of the Nuwa Diagram grew ever deeper. The back of the woman in the image was now so clear in his mind that he could make out the patterns on her robe. The pathways left behind by the qi cultivation methods spread throughout his body like blood vessels. Whenever he visualized the image, he could feel his spiritual force slowly flowing along those paths.
On the morning of September 3, he finished visualizing as usual and opened his eyes. Suddenly, the world seemed different.
It wasn't brighter, but clearer. The texture of the leaves outside the window, the direction of a bird's call in the distance, even the subtle differences in the elemental fluctuations in the air—all of it came to him in finer detail.
"My spiritual force has grown stronger again," he murmured.
The feeling was familiar. Whenever his spiritual force increased significantly, the world changed like this. But this time, the effect seemed more pronounced than before.
He went downstairs for breakfast. Old Carl, as usual, had everything ready.
"What do you have planned for today, young master?" Carl asked.
"I'll go to the Royal Magic Academy this afternoon. I'll spend the rest of the day at the manor," Akes said. "By the way, have there been any letters lately?"
Carl shook her head. "No. The last one was the letter Young Master Yale sent in mid-August."
Akes nodded and said nothing more.
He knew his brothers were all busy with their own affairs.
After breakfast, he went to the study.
Over the past month, he had read every book on fire magic in the study. He had learned most of it at Ernst, but the Yulan Empire's system of magic was indeed somewhat different. Its research focused more on theory, while Ernst placed more emphasis on practical application.
"Each has its strengths," he concluded, closing the last book.
That afternoon, he used Teleportation to go to the Royal Magic Academy.
He knew the fifth floor of the library well by now. The librarian recognized him and only nodded whenever he came in, never disturbing him.
Today, he chose his usual seat by the window and opened a book titled Applications of Fire Magic and Spiritual Force.
The book explained how to use spiritual force to control flames with greater precision, which was exactly what he had been working on lately. He read so intently that before he knew it, evening had come.
When he closed the book, the sky outside the window was already painted with sunset colors.
He stood up, ready to leave. As he turned, he saw the gray-robed old man from last time.
The old man still seemed unfathomable. He was standing by a bookshelf, leafing through a book. He seemed to notice Akes looking at him, glanced up, then nodded.
Akes nodded back and turned to go downstairs.
It was dark by the time he returned to the manor. Old Carl lit the candles and laid out dinner. As Akes ate alone, his mind was still on the book.
"Guiding flames into a spiral with spiritual force... I could try that."
After dinner, he went to the grove to cultivate.
The magic array on the bluestone glowed faintly as the fire elements around it slowly gathered. He sat cross-legged, activated the Fallen Heart Flame, and began trying the method he had read about that afternoon.
Flames gathered in his palm and slowly spun under the guidance of his spiritual force. It didn't go smoothly at first, but after several attempts, he finally formed a stable spiral of fire.
"It works."
He tried a few more times, growing more proficient with each attempt.
An hour later, he finished cultivating and stood up.
Back in his room, he visualized the Nuwa Diagram as usual.
The image unfolded in his mind, the woman's back standing motionless. The chaos around her flowed slowly, and the rhythm of creation grew ever clearer. Immersed in it, he felt his spiritual force slowly increase along with the flowing patterns.
Night deepened. He lay down and soon fell asleep.
On September 10, Akes made a new discovery while cultivating.
That afternoon, as he cultivated in the grove, he suddenly sensed something unusual in the magic power in his middle dantian. It wasn't a bad sign. Rather, it felt as if he was "almost full."
"I'm close to the middle stage," he knew.
It had taken four months to go from the early to the middle stage of the seventh rank. That wasn't especially fast, but it wasn't slow either—an ordinary mage needed one to two years. The Fallen Heart Flame, the Five Spirit Wheel, the Nuwa Diagram, and the qi cultivation methods had all worked together to compress that time to four months.
In the days that followed, he cultivated even more diligently.
On the evening of September 20, Akes was cultivating in the grove.
The Fallen Heart Flame pulsed slowly inside him as the Five Spirit Wheel spun at full power, drawing a torrent of fire elements into his body. The magic power in his middle dantian was already saturated to the limit. Every time he absorbed more, it felt like pouring water into an overflowing cup.
He knew he was close.
At the very moment more magic power surged in—
"Boom—"
His middle dantian shuddered slightly, and the feeling of being "full" vanished. In its place came a sense of greater space, as if a small pond had suddenly expanded into a large one. Magic power rushed in, filling the new space.
He opened his eyes. His perception of the elements around him had grown clearer still.
The middle stage of the seventh rank.
"Finally," he murmured.
He stood and stretched. The magic power in his body was nearly thirty percent more substantial than before, and the range of his spiritual perception had expanded considerably. He could clearly sense the dewdrops on leaves a hundred meters away, and even distinguish several different elemental fluctuations in the distance.
Back in the main house, Old Carl was preparing dinner.
"What would you like for dinner tonight, young master?" Carl asked.
"Anything," Akes said, sitting down. "I'm in a good mood today, so make a couple of extra dishes."
Carl smiled. "Of course."
At dinner, Akes drank two glasses of wine, something he rarely did. It was locally made fruit wine from Yulan, low in alcohol but rich in flavor. He drank alone, gazing at the moonlight outside the window.
"The middle stage of the seventh rank," he murmured.
After dinner, he went upstairs to visualize the Nuwa Diagram.
The image unfolded in his mind, and the woman's back seemed clearer than ever. The chaos around her flowed slowly, and the rhythm of creation was more powerful than before. Immersed in it, his spiritual force grew faster than it had previously.
"After reaching the middle stage of the seventh rank, my progress will probably slow down," he thought.
That was normal. The higher one advanced, the harder it became. Reaching the eighth rank from the seventh could take several times as long as it had taken to go from the sixth to the seventh. But he wasn't in a hurry. He had plenty of time.
On September 25, Akes received a letter.
George had written to say that he, Yale, and Reynolds were all doing well, while Linley was the same as ever. At the end of the letter, he wrote that the four of them all missed their days at the academy and asked how Akes was getting along in Yulan.
He thought of those evenings when the five of them sat in the dormitory courtyard, chatting as they watched the sunset. He thought of those weekends when they went together to Fenlai City to shop, eat, and drink. He thought of the days in the rear mountains, when he activated the Fallen Heart Flame and the four of them cultivated nearby.
He picked up his pen and wrote back: "All is well. Don't worry."
On the evening of September 30, Akes stood in the courtyard, gazing at the moon.
Tomorrow would be October. In three months, it would be the year 10000 of the Yulan Calendar. He knew what would happen that year—the destruction of Fenlai City, Linley's transformation, and the things he would be unable to change.
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