339 Rank 6
As the mortal stopped in his tracks, a bad stench assaulted his nose and he had to hold it to not smell it. It was dark everywhere and he couldn’t figure out where the stench was coming from.
The mortal looked around everywhere but still couldn’t see anything. He said, “O Fire, I can’t see anything.”
The mortal had given up asking Fire to get out of his body and had started communicating with him.
Just as he said that, a small ball of fire got out of his belly and into the air. It lit up the whole surrounding and made the mortal have a better view of everything.
But just as the mortal saw what was in his surroundings, he couldn’t help but vomit. The mortal soon shivered and started crying in the middle of this environment.
Around him were the dead bodies of the people of his previous settlement and this included some of his closed ones.
“O mortal, don’t cry. Everything that has happened was due to the people’s own actions.” Fire said gently.
“But what wrong did the children do!? Why did they have to die!?” The mortal asked, looking at the bodies of children.
“O mortal, the children were innocent. It’s due to the unfairness of Life that such a thing has happened.”
“If they were innocent, why did they have to die!? Why this unfairness!?” The mortal bawled out.
“O mortal, that’s the law of the universe. Life is unfair and will always be. But, the one thing which is fair is Death. Death treats all beings equally. Don’t be sad that they are gone, be happy that they don’t have to face the suffering of these times.” Fire said gently.
“O Fire, I don’t understand what you’re saying.” The mortal said while crying.
“O mortal, the body is but a medium for souls to interact and experience things. The body may die but the soul lives on forever. Karma may have led the people to their demise in this life, but in the next one, they still have a chance to repent and correct themselves.”
“O mortal, the innocent children will lead a good life in the next one. The era you are in, the times were tough for those children. Sentient beings get eaten by irrational beings, sentient beings have to survive the harsh climates, and whatnot. This era is too cruel for those children.”
“O mortal, worry not, for those children and your close ones will reincarnate into an era where there’s prosperity and peace for everybody.”
The mortal stopped crying as he heard that. He wiped his face and snot and said,
“O Fire, is everything you are saying true?”
“O mortal, I am one of the twelve elements of the universe. I am the law, I am the rule, I am in you and I am everywhere around you. I am born from the Creation of the universe and I will stay here until the end of times when everything will go to Destruction.”
The mortal was confused as he heard this. “O Fire, are you perhaps God?”
Hearing this, Fire chuckled. “O mortal, I am not. I am but just a law of the universe.”
“Then how do you know that the children will lead a good life?” The mortal asked.
“O mortal, in future, sentient beings will be much closer to the elements than they are now. The souls interacting with me in the future make me understand what’s happening there. I cannot see the future if they don’t interact with me.”
“O mortal, the ones who have died now, they are leading a good life in future. I can tell you with assurance. This era is chaotic and the coming few ones, it’ll get even more chaotic. Peace shall only be truly available until very far in the future.”
The mortal fell silent hearing it. His thoughts ran wild and he thought of many different things.
Soon, he said, “O Fire, will I ever be reunited with my close ones?”
“O mortal, I do not know. Your soul is currently living in this time and there’s no version of you in the future.”
“Then by any chance, will I have a way to meet them?” The mortal asked, hoping to see them again.
“O mortal, there is a way. You can strengthen your soul and the medium it is currently in and by surviving the hardships of time, you can meet them. Your body will turn weak with time and won’t be able to hold your soul. Once the body dies, your soul will enter the reincarnation cycle.”
“Is it possible to do such a thing?” The mortal asked.
“O mortal, it is. But you will have to survive many hardships and your Karma will be very chaotic. The more chaotic it is, the time when you die and reincarnate, the worse your life will be.”
The mortal fell silent again. “O Fire, I’ll do whatever it takes to meet them. I have already suffered enough and there’s nothing more that can make me feel even worse than this.”
“O mortal, then I’ll help you. But I alone am not enough to help you strengthen your body and soul. You need to take help from the other elements as well.”
“O Fire, please, I’ll do anything needed.” The mortal said.
“O mortal, I admire your determination. Come, I’ll help you walk the path of immortality. Firstly, try to feel me around you and once you’re done, cremate the bodies in front of you. The bodies still have remnants of their souls in them and until they fully leave, they wouldn’t be able to enter the reincarnation cycle.”
The mortal was confused. “O Fire, I understand. But how do I cremate them?”
“O mortal, you can bury the bodies in earth and the Earth element will ensure that the souls leave the bodies and enter safely into the reincarnation cycle. Or, you can burn the bodies with my help and I’ll do the same thing. The choice is up to you.”
The mortal thought about things a bit and asked, “O Fire, what are the advantages and disadvantages of both cremation methods?”
“O mortal, the bodies will slowly disappear out of existence when you bury them in earth. It’ll take time for the souls to leave the bodies. But if you burn them, it’ll be gone in just a few moments and they’ll enter the reincarnation cycle.”
“O Fire, so it means the speed is different for both?” The mortal asked.
“O mortal, it indeed is. But you should know, some souls want to stay in their times as much as they can and they prefer being buried than being burnt. But the situation you are in, nobody had any preference for cremation and so you can perform any of the two choices.”
The mortal nodded his head. He understood the thing. Since he was here, he wanted to have the people reincarnate faster and so he sat down on the ground and tried to feel the Fire elements around him.
Soon, he started seeing the surroundings he was in, even though he had his eyes closed. The surroundings became clearer and a few moments later, he saw a red glow everywhere.
“O Fire, I can see a lot of things but I can’t see you.”
“O mortal, you cannot see any element yet. You can only sense and feel them. Try to feel me, I am everywhere. If you are unable to do that, then feel me, in you.”
The mortal nodded and tried to sense the fire in him. Soon, a few moments later, he felt warm and as time passed, he started feeling hotter. The mortal was sweating and was wondering why it had become so hot.
He couldn’t meditate anymore and so he decided to get up and try again later.
The mortal opened his eyes and the scene in front made him shocked.
All bodies were lit on fire!
“O Fire, how did this happen!?” The mortal asked in shock.
“O mortal, I told you, I am everywhere. You just need to sense me. This is caused by you, you shouldn’t worry about it. You sensed me and called for me and I came to your help.”
“O Fire, I am grateful for your help.” The mortal said.
“O mortal, now let’s go, you have to do other things to become immortal and survive the hardships of Time.”
The mortal and Fire left from the place after having a small discussion and the mortal finally started his journey to become the First Immortal to have ever existed.
BOOM!
Lith’s aura exploded as he finished recalling everything. His comprehension of the Fire element became stronger and all around him, red colored Fire elemental energy waved wildly.
Lith was still in the meditative state and he was undergoing his ascension to Rank 6.
A while later, Lith’s aura stabilized and he successfully became a Rank 6. He continued to sit there and consolidate his cultivation.
His core was a bit unstable and he was stabilizing it. There were also the signs of life starting to form in his core. Not only this, he could also feel the elements enter his body and nourish him.
‘It seems that I no longer need to eat food for nutrition.’ Lith thought to himself.
A few days passed and after Lith had stabilized everything, he opened his eyes and saw a beautiful silver-haired lady looking at him through her amethyst-like eyes.
Who else could it be but Lilith?
“Congratulations, baby. Mama is very happy for you.” Lilith clapped her hands and said.
Lith smiled and getting up, he stretched and said, “just a few more ranks now, mom.”
Lilith nodded. “Come rest a bit. You can start cultivating afterwards.”
Lith nodded and took out his bed from his ring.
He made Lilith lie down on it and after drinking her blood, he slept soundly in her embrace without doing anything naughty.
…..
A/N: 1024/1000 powerstones! The goal is completed!
+1 bonus chapter!
I’ll release the 8 bonuses soon. Tomorrow is a Sunday for me and I’ll work hard to release as many as I can by the end of the day. But if I am unable to do all 8, I’ll just release an extra chapter everyday starting from Monday onwards.
The next goal is 1024/2000 powerstones and as for Golden Tickets, it’s 783/1000.
Have a good day everyone 🙂