Ashes To The Peak

Chapter 6: Echoes in the Void.

"I will venture into how useful this hyper-awareness will be once I am actually able to move this shabby body," Zareth thought, dismissing the thought to focus entirely on the core epiphany that had struck him after the thug left the room.

"Now... back to what I was trying to accomplish. Let us go at it again."

He settled his mind, preparing to search for ambient Aether Qi once more. "Firstly, the main thing I must accept and keep in mind from this moment onward is that I am no longer Belmoth Cross," he instructed himself.

Slowly, rhythmically, he drew breath in through his nose and released it through his lips. With every slow, calculated breath, he sank deeper into his inner sea, closing off the world outside until even the loudest screams in the slums vanished from his perception.

As his lungs expanded and contracted in a steady tempo, he reflected on the stark contrast between his past and present existences, fully accepting his current vessel.

In his past life, Belmoth Cross was the supreme Holy Son of the Heavenly Ember Sect. He had been born blessed with an extraordinary, natural affinity for the Heavenly Solar Flame, a magnificent, high-tier fire affinity. Furthermore, he possessed the rare core seed of a Saint-Grade Core, which had eventually blossomed into a magnificent Saint-Grade Spirit Core when he reached the Spirit Core Realm.

In contrast, he knew virtually nothing about Zareth Crow’s innate body composition. He had no idea what kind of talent the boy possessed, though he suspected it was practically nonexistent, nor did he know what type of core seed lay dormant within his lower dantian, or what affinity, if any.

Belmoth understood the fundamental principles of cultivation better than most:

Affinity determines which attributes of Aether Qi a cultivator naturally resonates with, shaping the nature of their power and influencing the techniques they can cultivate. At higher realms, that affinity can become the foundation for comprehending the corresponding Laws.

Cultivation Realms determine the depth and magnitude of a cultivator's power, establishing the physical, spiritual, and energetic limits they can reach at each stage of cultivation.

Core Quality determines the efficiency and potential of a cultivator's eventual Spirit Core, influencing Qi storage, refinement, recovery, and the difficulty of advancing through the realms.

In the grand hierarchy of the cultivation world, Core Quality was divided into ten distinct, unyielding grades. From the absolute worst to the supreme zenith, they were categorized as: Stone, Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Earth, Heaven, Saint, Emperor, and finally, the mythical Divine.

Belmoth had now come to understand his fatal mistake: he had been treating Zareth Crow’s fragile, broken vessel as if it were still Belmoth Cross’s divine body. That arrogance was the sole reason he had repeatedly failed to properly sense or interact with the Aether Qi surrounding him earlier in the day.

At least that was what Belmoth thought.

"I know nothing about this body," Zareth thought, his awareness floating within the pitch-black expanse of his internal sea, completely isolated from the outer world. "In my current state, I cannot even tell what kind of core seed resides within me."

"First, I must determine what affinity this body possesses. I can now tell that Aether Qi exists within the surrounding atmosphere, but sensing Aether Qi and resonating with a particular attribute are two entirely different things. I need to determine which attribute naturally responds to this body. Once I identify that resonance, I will know its affinity."

He realized he had failed earlier because his soul, out of pure habit, had instinctively been reaching for Fire-attributed Aether Qi in the atmosphere. But this body did not resonate with it. There was no resonance, no attraction, not even the faintest sense of recognition. Whatever affinity Zareth Crow possessed, it was clearly not Fire.

Consequently, all the legendary, high-grade fire techniques he had spent a lifetime mastering as Belmoth Cross were completely useless to him at this point.

"Now, I must discover which attribute of Aether Qi this body naturally resonates with."

Without wasting another moment, Zareth began his search, casting his perception outward like a wide, delicate net into the surrounding atmosphere.

Because he was trapped in a filthy slum without access to the testing orbs or spirit treasures used by grand sects to instantly determine a disciple's affinity, he had no choice but to use the most difficult, painful method available: manually probing the various attributes of Aether Qi, one by one, searching for the resonance his current body possessed.

Deeper and deeper his awareness drifted...

!!!

Indeed it was the case, now at this point he could sense the aether qi in the world as he was no longer focusing only on fire affinity.

Fire... nothing.

Water... nothing.

Earth... nothing.

Metal... nothing.

Light... nothing.

Shadow... nothing.

He continued seeking, but this time, he did not allow desperation to poison his mind. He worked with absolute calm and boundless patience, completely unconcerned with the passage of time. Whenever his perception encountered an attribute that failed to resonate with his body, he smoothly redirected his concentration toward a different one, searching with quiet hope for a genuine response.

Nothing.

Nothing.

Still nothing.

Minutes turned into hours.

Once again, he hit wall after wall, experiencing the exact same frustrating failures as before. It still felt like a fish trying to swim through a dry desert, a process far more grueling than trying to wring juice from a withered, dried fruit.

Yet, he refused to give up. He maintained his slow, calculated breathing, keeping his heart steady even as a small, quiet seed of hopelessness threatened to take root deep within his soul.

Then... it happened.

!!!

Just as the darkness inside his mind felt absolute, he felt a subtle, almost ghostly sensation brush gently against his skin.

As more and more of those sensations brushed against his skin within the deep, dark expanse of the void, Zareth felt as though he were floating. A sudden wave of absolute freedom washed over him, and his breathing naturally shifted, becoming far more fluid and effortless than before, as if his very soul were dissolving into the surrounding air.

Then—

Swish!

His eyes snapped open! He instantly lost his concentration. The sudden realization of what he had just tapped into was so surprising, foreign, and strange that his mind momentarily reeled.

Wind Aether Qi...