Path to Transcendence

A few moments after Kaito left them, the old woman from the Golden Cauldron sect approached them. Her name was Olona, if Julius recalled correctly, and he already had a feeling that he would like her. The straightforward demeanor she demonstrated during the meeting was quite refreshing.

She might have been old, but she didn’t move like an old lady. Each stride was firm and sharp. Her eyes were equally sharp, looking around at her surroundings like a hawk. It was clear she was quite the beautiful woman in her younger days; some of that beauty was still present, though in a more mature, aged sense.

“Young Violet,” Olona greeted after coming to a stop several feet away. She didn’t bow or curtsy like many of the other people all day had done, but Julius didn’t feel like there was any disrespect in her actions either. He had a feeling she didn’t bow because she was too old to be bothered.

“Lady Olona,” Lily replied with a shallow nod of her own.

“You are certainly getting busy. I wonder what other plans you have for our city,” Olona said with a narrowing of her brows.

“I assure you I am primarily concerned with elevating the quality of life for normal citizens,” Lily said with a smile.

“Oh, I know. That is a big reason why the sect doesn’t plan to interfere with your plans. Our goals align for the time being, but that doesn’t mean it will stay that way. I’m asking what your other plans are once you complete this initial phase.”

“Who knows? I haven’t thought ahead that far yet,” Lily stated.

Olona didn’t seem to believe her for a second and smiled knowingly. “Well, I suppose you wouldn’t tell an old lady like myself anyway. On another note, I was quite surprised that you brought such a brazen young man to the meeting,” she replied with an examining look at Julius.

“Brazen?” he couldn’t help but ask, holding back a smirk.

“Oh yes. What else would you call it when a youth like yourself inserts himself directly at the table like that?” the older woman said with a slight rasping chuckle.

“I didn’t see another chair available."

She narrowed her eyes at him. “I would be careful, boy. Not everyone who attended the meeting will be as pleasant as I am. Your attitude might get you and your lady in trouble. They might make trouble just for some petty revenge.”

Julius shrugged as if he could care less.

“Unless that is exactly what you were hoping for…” she said with a shark-like grin and tapped her cheek. “Hmmm, interesting.”

It would seem that they were seen through.

She stared at Julius for a few more seconds before turning back to Lily. “Anyway, I have reviewed the proposal you sent over, and I have no issues with it. The terms are very fair, but I would like to review them after a few weeks to adjust anything that might go outside the scope of the initial proposal.”

Lily nodded. “That is acceptable. We are more than open to discussing options or alternatives should anything unexpected rear its head.”

Olona seemed mollified by this and nodded. “Good. Now I must get going and grab my subordinate before he gets scammed by any opportunist rats. If you will excuse me.”

Julius and Lily watched as the woman went back in the direction she came from and strolled back out a few moments later with the young man from her sect in tow. She was grabbing him by the ear as he shouted in pain.

Lily chuckled. “I think I like her.”

Julius smiled with amusement. “Me too.”

***

The next few days passed by in relative peace. He helped Lily deal with various issues, but honestly she was more than capable of handling it herself. Especially with Angelina helping her. The woman was scarily efficient and methodical. It was like she was a human computer. She processed several complex issues at once and managed to come to an optimal outcome without any strain.

He could certainly see why Lily’s father insisted Angelina come along with his daughter.

On another note, he still hadn’t chosen a skill evolution yet, but he was quite close. He had narrowed it down between two options. It was between [Avatar of Ruin] and [Lord of the Dying Sun].

[Tyrant of Destruction] may have been one of the more straightforward and powerful options, but he didn’t want to focus on destruction. He didn’t even mind the tyrant part all that much.

In the end, it was between a skill that would be a general upgrade of the powerful epic skill he already had and a skill that promised even greater power and potential.

One was a safe guarantee whereas the other was a risk.

Though if he was being honest, he didn’t think it was entirely a risk. The name was a hint of what it might be capable of. He was quite certain that it had most, if not all, of the elements that his current skill had. The “Dying Sun” part certainly implied that the skill would be fire-aspected, with ruin and kinetic energy prominent as well.

However, he also thought it was possible that his Phoenix Concept played a part in why he was given this option. A dying sun could be interpreted as a symbol of the cycle of life. For when it exploded into a supernova, life would be born from the ruins and ashes.

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His new healing skill [Phoenix Incarnate] had already implemented much of his life body technique into its structure, but it was more for optimization and healing than physical might.

Then again, he already knew what he wanted. The temptation was just too much, and he reminded himself that he had that Skill Combination Crystal that he could use if the skill wasn’t as good as he hoped.

With that in mind, he made his decision and found himself a nice little spot in the backyard. The place Lily had rented out was quite isolated and had several powerful enchantments set up already, not to mention the ones that Marcus and House Violet had set up as well. He felt fine doing the skill evolution there.

He found a patch of grass next to the small pond and sat down. He preemptively took several things out from his storage space. Some food and some recovery items.

He also took out Drasil and Seraphyne from his soul space. They understood what he was doing and decided to hang on in the pond while they waited for him to finish.

Then once he was ready, he erected a strong barrier over his body just in case anything went a little wild. Only then did he pull up the notification.

Proceeding with the evolution of [Pyrokinetic Embodiment of Ruin] (Epic+)… possible advancements: [Avatar of Ruin], [Tyrant of Destruction], [Shattered Vector Frame], and [Lord of the Dying Sun].

Would you like to select [Lord of the Dying Sun]?

He mentally selected it and prepared himself. He activated all of his skills and kept his focus skill ready at a moment’s notice.

He was glad that he did so too because the sudden rush of power that erupted from his soul almost made him black out immediately. The skill orb for [Pyrokinetic Embodiment of Ruin] started to expand and fill with supernatural strength.

There was nothing he could do to stop it and could only watch with bated breath. Then just as it was filling up to the brim, everything exploded. He let out a harsh grunt as the force inside his soul physically threw his body against the barrier he placed. His face slammed into it so hard he felt his nose crack.

And it didn’t stop there. It was truly like a supernova was detonating within his soul. It took all of his focus just to protect his other skills from being damaged by the blast. Even then, he couldn’t completely save them. They were washed over with flames, ruinous aura, and kinetic energy.

He struggled to stay conscious and endured.

On the bright side, his soul seemed to handle this force pretty well. The soul evolution he’d undergone was really demonstrating its worth. He doubted the state of his old soul would have been able to handle a skill like this.

However, after the initial explosion, there was a quiet pulsation throughout his soul. He suspected that this was part of the process and so he just had to be patient. Then again, he’d gotten pretty good at that.

And so that’s what he did.

***

Lily POV

She was in the middle of reviewing a document she prepared with the help of Angelina. She wanted to make sure that there wasn’t anything missing or anything that people might be able to exploit. For stuff like this, her family’s standard forms and documents wouldn’t be well suited for the task. So she had to write each contract and proposal from the beginning.

However, just as she was putting on the finishing touches of the document, she was alerted when the enchantments around the property suddenly rang out loudly.

Angelina reacted instantly and pulled Lily close to her, activating many of her skills and several items she had on her person.

Were they under attack? If so, who could be insane and foolish enough to attempt this?

She was thinking of all the possible parties or individuals who might want to attack House Violet, but there were admittedly a lot. Though she suspected nine out of ten of these suspects wouldn’t do so at her residence. They would have waited for another time or opportunity.

She was in the middle of her thought process when the door opened up to reveal Marcus. However, much to her confusion, the man didn’t seem the least bit worried. If anything, he had a slightly exasperated expression on his face.

“What is it?” she asked with furrowed brows.

“It’s easier to see for yourself,” he said and turned around.

She frowned but followed behind and became even more confused when they walked out of the back door into the large yard.

However, she quickly understood the reason for this and pinched her nose. The enchantments had activated because of the young teen sitting next to the pond.

Angelina, who had followed them, didn’t seem as calm, and her poise was cracking. “What is that?” she asked, pointing at the flaming figure sitting in a dome of blue mana.

“That’s Julius,” Lily said with a sigh.

“He’s on fire.”

“Yep, it would appear he is,” Marcus confirmed helpfully.

“Why aren’t you two concerned?” Angelina asked with a befuddled squint, fixing her glasses with a nervous shake.

Marcus shrugged. “He does this from time to time.”

“What? Suddenly combust into flames?”

“Yeah, that’s kind of his thing. Though this time does seem a bit more… dramatic,” Lily said, though admittedly she was curious as to what he was doing. This time around it felt different and a bit more dangerous. In fact, it was dangerous enough that the enchantments on the property had detected it as a serious threat. Which said enough.

However, when the barrier around him suddenly shattered apart and the flames started to melt the stones, she tore open the backdoor, running out to him. Marcus was right behind her and was already throwing up several barriers around Julius.

The flames weren’t the only thing. Strong blasts of kinetic energy smashed into the barrier. And to her astonishment, Marcus barely seemed able to hold on. He was struggling to contain the power. Purple flares of psychic energy roared out from Marcus’s skin as he erected several more barriers around Julius as well as two around Lily herself.

Thankfully, this seemed like it was enough, and the flames finally dwindled down. However, what remained was a blackened, burnt body where Julius had been.

“Oh my god,” Angelina said with a horrified gasp and held her hand up to her mouth.

Lily didn't panic, though. She was ninety-five percent sure that he wasn’t dead. She could feel his mind still active and knew that he had survived worse things. But the sight was quite disturbing even to her.

Still, she braved forward, and to her shock Drasil and Seraphyne were floating in the pond. She hadn’t noticed them, but they had been hanging on in there since who knows when. To her shock, they didn’t seem the least bit concerned about Julius either. Which she supposed was a good sign.

She held back a grimace and knelt down next to the burnt figure of Julius and poked him gently.

“You okay?” she asked.

She heard a slight groan in response and, to her relief, he started to move. The ash and burnt flakes of flesh shifted away from his body to reveal a completely nude Julius. She had already seen him like this on several occasions, but Angelina hadn’t, and she heard the woman curse in alarm, turning away with a beet-red face.

Lily shook her head and threw a cloak over his naked form.

“I see you haven’t changed,” she noted.

He spat out some ash from his mouth and gave her a bashful grin. “That’s a good thing, right?”

She rolled her eyes and smiled. “Yeah, it’s perfect.”

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