“VIA, how long have I been staying here?! How many days have passed?”
Emery’s voice echoed through the vast emptiness of the soul world, but there was no answer. Here, he was truly alone, left only with his own thoughts and estimations.
He tried to gauge the passage of time. By his rough calculation, he had spent nearly a full year in the soul world. If his understanding of the time dilation was correct, that meant about two or three weeks had passed in reality.
A sudden weight pressed on his chest. It wasn’t just the promise he had made to the fey girl that worried him; it was the whole matter of returning home. His responsibilities, his friends, the impending duel with Kronos—he couldn’t afford to waste another moment.
He needed to escape, and he needed to do it now.
Emery spent hours meditating, attempting to will himself out of the soul world. When that failed, he resorted to force, unleashing his full strength upon the trial floors. He called upon every element he had mastered, obliterating the space around him in a desperate bid for freedom. But no matter how much destruction he caused, the space always restored itself within moments, as if mocking his efforts.
Desperation clawed at his mind. He even attempted to harm himself, hoping the pain would snap him back to reality. Nothing. No glimpse of the outside world.
Frustration gave way to reluctant acceptance. He was trapped, and if escape was impossible, then the only path forward was through.
“Alright,” Emery muttered, exhaling deeply. “I will complete this challenge as fast as possible!”
He turned his gaze to the four elemental trials surrounding him. He had already conquered the Ice and Fire floor, and he was confident he could finish the Water and Metal challenge quickly. Without hesitation, he stepped back into its domain.
The moment he entered, the trial’s force crashed over him like a tidal wave. The challenge was deceptively simple: find harmony between the fluidity of water and the rigidity of metal. But as the days passed, he realized he was making little progress.
“No… I’m too distracted,” Emery muttered, shaking his head. “I need to stop thinking about escaping and focus.”
He forced himself to calm down. Instead of battling the trial with brute force, he immersed himself in it. He let his mind surrender to the Dao of Heaven and Earth, allowing the opposing elements to reveal their secrets naturally. Water was formless, ever-changing, yet metal had structure and discipline. To master them together was to embrace both adaptability and unwavering strength.
Weeks passed in deep meditation. When his eyes finally opened, he felt something shift within him. His understanding had grown, and with it, another rune ignited.
[Level 96 Complete.]
But as he had feared, the completion of the trial did not open a way out.
“This means I have to finish them all,” Emery realized grimly.
He turned to the two remaining trials: Earth and Wind, and Plant and Lightning. Without wasting another moment, he stepped into the Earth and Wind challenge.
Immediately, he felt the difference. This was harder. Much harder.
At first, Emery believed that his understanding of the elements would allow him to quickly adapt, just as he had in the previous trials. However, he soon realized the problem lay not in a lack of knowledge—but in having too much of it.
His mastery over Earth and Plant was too strong, deeply ingrained in his mind and instincts. He had spent years refining their power, shaping them to his will, but that very knowledge had now become an obstacle. It was as if his mind was a jar already filled to the brim, leaving no room for anything new.
“If I want to grasp the opposing forces… I need to empty myself first,” Emery muttered, his eyes narrowing in deep thought.
With that realization, he forced himself to step back, pushing aside all prior assumptions. Instead of relying on his affinity for Earth, he opened himself to the whispers of the Wind. He let it guide him, feeling the vast difference between the two forces—one was still, unyielding, immovable; the other was ever-changing, light, and free.
Weeks turned into months as Emery studied the dance between Earth and Wind. He sat in deep meditation, feeling the weight of the ground beneath him and the untamed air swirling above. Earth was a foundation, a pillar of existence, while Wind was motion, boundless and unpredictable. Understanding their contrast was not enough—he needed to find the balance between the two, the harmony that allowed them to coexist.
Through relentless training, he finally began to grasp the deeper truth.
The land does not resist the wind—it shapes it. And the wind, in turn, carves the land.
With that epiphany, the trial responded. The chaotic forces around him softened, bending to his will. The moment he found harmony between stillness and motion, the resistance shattered, and the next rune blazed into existence—
[Level 97 Complete.]
Emery exhaled sharply, his body trembling from exhaustion, but his heart pounded with exhilaration. He had gained more than just a trial victory—his understanding of Heaven and Earth itself had deepened.
“One last challenge…”
Emery entered the final floor with patience and an open mind. This trial was the most unpredictable yet. The moment he stepped in, vines sprouted wildly from the ground, twisting and reaching for the sky, only to be struck by blinding arcs of lightning. Each bolt shattered the greenery, reducing it to ash, but in the next instant, new life sprang forth again, growing even stronger than before.
It was a never-ending cycle of destruction and rebirth.
Emery stood at the center of it all, watching in awe. The realization hit him like a tidal wave—this was the true nature of these opposing forces.
Plant is life. It grows, nurtures, and flourishes.Lightning is destruction. It tears apart, burns, and eradicates.
But destruction was not simply an end. It cleared the way for new life. It was necessary. The more destruction raged, the stronger the rebirth became.
Months turned into years as Emery remained within the trial, his mind and soul wholly devoted to unraveling the fundamental difference between the two final elements—Plant and Lightning.
At first, the contrast seemed obvious. One was the essence of growth, nurturing life and spreading across the land, while the other was raw destruction, relentless and merciless in its wrath. But the longer he observed, the deeper his understanding became.
Growth and destruction were not opposites—they were two sides of the same coin.
Lightning was not merely a force of annihilation. It was a purifier, tearing down the old to make way for the new. Without destruction, there could be no rebirth. Without struggle, life could not evolve.
As the realization settled into his very being, the energy of the trial shifted. The raging storm calmed, the crackling bolts of electricity no longer striking wildly but instead flowing in harmony with the thriving vines.
And then, it happened.
A surge of power erupted within Emery’s core. He felt it ripple through his entire being, as if the very laws of existence had reshaped themselves around him.
The 98th rune carved itself into reality, its radiant glow illuminating the entire space.
###
Outside, the Skyroot Clan had been watching with held breath, their gazes fixed on the sacred runes. When another one ignited, the entire clan erupted with amazement—only to fall silent moments later as something shifted in the heavens.
The skies darkened unnaturally, thick clouds swirling into existence with terrifying speed. A suffocating pressure fell upon the land as golden streaks of lightning crackled ominously above.
One elder gasped in shock before shouting, “It’s the tribulation cloud!!”
Another voice rang out, filled with awe and urgency.
“Master Emery… he is breaking into the Cosmic Realm!!”