Critical: Ages Below Critical Chapter 9.1

Chapter 9: The Corroders (Part 1)

The heavy coldness solidifies not only the air but also all sound.

the large expanse of forest is deadly silent.

enveloping the ground.

The fast paced footsteps are getting louder.

[Twelve Years Ago]

From then on, Lu Jue became Qi La’s disciple. He will follow him to the ends of the world. Together they’ve been to the barren lands of the extreme North, even to the borders of the wind county, the Indus Empire. They escape from the jaws of massive soul beasts that had been in existence since the ancient times; they’ve always been to the Earth Empire’s underground spring in the southern ground county in search of the Diamond Duckweed that has miraculous healing properties. Lu Jue has grown from a naïve youth to the most respected Top Disciple in the hearts of Gelanerte today. He no longer remembers himself in his youth, yet Qi La’s appearance has been constant throughout these years, beautifully handsome and charismatic, as if he will never age. Sometimes when he looks at his reflection on the surface of a lake, he sees a strong man with none of his childish looks remaining.

Lu Jue struggles to sit up. On the ground is a large golden array that is slowly rotating. Within the boundaries of this array, hundreds upon hundreds of pure-white Dian Hu are suspended in the air. As if they are in a place where time has stopped, including the leaves and dust in the air, they all seem to be like a suspended galaxy in space, immobile. The strong golden glare reflected from the ground to Qi La’s face makes him resemble a god even more.

Lu Jue flips and sits up. Taking off the black robe decorated with phoenix feathers off his body, he gently places it onto Qi La’s body. He then lowers his head in respect and kneels before him.

“Did you know that the Dian Hu almost tore your soul apart just now?” Qi La’sv voice is calm yet tender, as if dew seeped in cold water, carrying a haunting effect. His lips are pink and soft like a flower petal.

“I apologise. I was careless.” Lu Jue kneels on the ground. The small wounds that had been made by the golden flashes on his shoulders and face are healing slowly.

“When every soul master is capturing their soul beast, the rule they always adhere to is that they can only release their soul when the soul beast is on the brink of death, heavily injured or when their soul powers are at their lowest so that they can engulf them. The process of doing so is extremely dangerous and in the history of Aslan, countless soul masters have been engulfed instead. As a disciple, how can you be so conceited that you released your soul so carelessly before even gauging the level of soul powers of the soul beasts?”

“It is my fault. However, Lord Qi La, may I ask a question?” Lu Jue’s profound gaze settles on Qi La. After seeing him nod, Lu Jue says, “Why did you ask me to capture a soul beast like Dian Hu? In the territories of Aslan, especially in the Abyss Corridor we are situated in now, there are countless other high-leveled soul beasts, why not let me capture them?”

Qi La turns to look at Lu Ju. Seeing the young and handsome man before him, he realized that time has passed by so quickly that Lu Jue is no longer the wild youth he found in the desert. He is now tall and handsome; a disciple that many young girls find attractive. Even among the female soul masters, when in private, refer to him as the most handsome disciple on the land of Aslan. His broad yet firm body holds a lightning like strength and aura. Under the graving of time, his stardust-like features now have an aggressive masculine beauty like that of a ruler.

Qi La reaches over and caresses his temples before saying: “Lu Jue, the abilities of soul masters are as such – one is the soul master’s own soul powers, the other is that of their soul beast. Yet these two are not independent of each other, instead, they are fused together and one will affect the other. You inherited my soul’s return circuit and this decided your gift, which is the control of space and time. Dian Hu is a type of soul beast that, despite their soul powers not being on par with the large monstrosities, yet their speed is much faster than most soul beasts excluding the four ancient ones. Dian Hu are the fastest soul beasts I’ve discovered so far. In addition, on the territories of Aslan, they’re the few soul beasts with ‘multiple’ as their unit. If you’re able to capture them to be your soul beast, then you will not have one, but an army of them. Also, they are amazing at regenerating and multiplying, which means that as long as the last of them has not been destroyed, then they’d be able to regenerate at a fast speed and regroup into the army.” Qi La’s fingers smooth across Lu Jue’s thick brows. “This is why I hope that you can capture them and make them your First Soul Beast.”

Lu Jue nods, “I apologise, my lord, I have let you down.”

“It’s alright. You can capture Dian Hu next time. This army of them isn’t the largest. In the depths of the Abyss Corridor, there are even more that live in the same habitat.”

Lu Jue moves over to the trunk. Before raising his hand to touch the chess piece, he suddenly remembers something and turns to ask Qi La: “My lord, I haven’t seen the Shu Hai, Zang He brothers these past few days. What have they been doing?”

“The two of them left a few days ago for the surrounding waters of Rennes. A message from Tiange said that the Sixth Lord, Xiliuer, disappeared around that area and hence the brothers went in search of him.”

Lu Jue nods. “Xiliuer is known as the Immortal Lord, and if he’s on the surrounding waters of Rennes, there shouldn’t be much of an accident, right?”

Qi La’s eyes narrow and he says nothing. After a while, he turns to look at Lu Jue: “First, take care of what you need to. As this generation’s highest ranking disciple, the Disciple of Heaven, your are definitely not good at controlling your soul powers. Even the Disciple of Earth, Zang He, and the Disciple of the Sea, Shu Hai, control theirs better than you, let alone compared to me. You should at least match up to the highest “Heaven” status of your name.”

Lu Jue kneels again. “I will remember this firmly. I will do my best in hopes that one day, I will be the Top Lord above all just like you.”

Qi La looks down at the handsome yet humble Lu Jue. With a low voice, he says, “It is not hope. It is a must that you will overtake me as a Top Lord and become the new pinnacle of soul bending in Aslan.”

[West of Aslan Empire – Abyss Corridor – Northern Forest]

Looking ahead, the massive forest is covered with heavy layers of accumulated snow.

This is the northern most area of the Abyss Corridor, almost reaching the northern borders of Aslan. It will be the territories of the wind county, the Indus Empire, if one heads further north. There is not one that dares set foot in another county’s land, let alone a place of extreme north where countless terrifying and mysterious soul beasts lurk.

“Then……don’t raise it too high, if not I can’t catch up……” Lu Jue’s face flushes again.

Qi La’s frost-like expression melts and he is unable to resist the rare smile appearing on his face. As if a scarlet flower blooming in the valley of wind and frost, its beauty is like a dream. Lu Jue is so stunned that he forgets to speak.

“I will wait for you, don’t worry.” Qi La glances at Lu Jue as he smiles lightly.

Lu Jue nods. His entire body is covered with the golden patterns of the return circuit immediately. Lu Jue turns to look at Qi La. His skin is still pale and he hasn’t even employed much of his soul powers. His silhouette twists a few times in the air before disappearing completely.

Lu Jue sighs. He has always been aware of the gap between him and Qi La. With a loud pop, he disappears into the blizzard as he catches up with Qi La.

Lit. *Electric Fox
Lit. *Bronze Sparrow

Chapter end