Devil's Rise 6 The Flame

"The only way to learn Daos is practice and understanding. Devils learn Daos by practicing Devil Arts. Through practicing and learning these Devil Arts they can improve their understanding of the Dao. Its much easier to improve Daos in which one has already begun understanding. Stepping down the road of new Daos is much more difficult than learning a Dao which one is naturally talented with."

"Someone who has an understanding of Fire Dao could improve their Fire Dao by practicing Fire Arts much faster than they could gain an understanding of Wind Dao by practicing a Wind Art. Devils in the first three realms of devilry improve their devilry by absorbing fel energy and deepening their understanding of Daos."

"There are many Arts covering all types of Daos. Devils simply don't have the time to learn every type of Devil Art, when they could improve their devilry the fastest by practicing a Dao they are good at."

The Devil Ancestor felt he had described enough about devilry to make it clear for James to begin practicing. He brought out a Jade slip and handed it to James.

"Here is the [Lumiid Serpesco Art] it is a Knight Art which has aspects of Soul Dao and Fire Dao. Knight Arts are Arts that can be practiced until the Devil Knight realm. It teaches a way to form Soulflame qi by taking Soul qi and mixing in a hint of Fire qi. "

"The amount of proficiency of Fire Dao needed is small in a Devil Art such as this as the primary component of the Art is the Soul Dao. Once you are able to create Soulflame qi I can then begin to teach you the Art of Blacksmithing." The ancestor left after finishing his explanation.

James was finally alone and not passing out anymore. His Devil Ancestor had went back to his normal routine of smithing. James felt much better than before. He put down the jade slip, not interested in learning anything at the moment. His head still hurt from the Soul Eyes experience and his Devil Ancestor had talked his head off.

Why do old grandpas always have to go about telling you everything. Worrying about powers outside of the Hudson clan isn't my job. My goal is to become a well respected young master! Every young master lives off their parents hard work, recruiting lackeys and garnering a strong following just because of their birthright.

Devil Ancestor says I'll be cut off from resources when I leave his place because of his master plan. I better find the time to slip out before he enacts his plan and get as many resources as possible to recruit a few lackeys. Only then can I start my path to becoming a powerful young master. I can't really see anything now so I guess ill have to learn to work with this new vision first.

James decided to take a nap, his head still hurt too much and he figured he wouldn't be able to have any success working with those Devil Arts with a headache. He finally had a peaceful rest, in his dream he dreamed of having his own section in a popular tavern surrounded by plenty of beauties with loyal lackeys holding back Mikael who tried to get in his VIP area.

"This is the life!" James grumbled in his sleep.

When he finally woke up he sighed. He was back to reality barely able to see anything. His work was cut out for him. If he wanted to make his dreams come true he would have to put in some effort. My lack of vision is annoying I'll have to work hard to solve that. I can't enjoy the company of beauties if he couldn't even see them.

James grabbed the jade slip pouring in his Devil qi and the Devil Art was engraved into his mind. It was very detailed for a Knight Art. James could tell this technique had to be written from someone beyond the realm of Knight from the verbosity. Either that or it was written by a scholar who liked to study these things.

The Soul Dao was used in Curse Arts, Oath Arts, Death Arts, Reincarnation Arts, and Slave Arts just to name a few. The uses were many and the powers commanded were very powerful. Devils could use many of these techniques with the Devil Dao. Devil Dao and Soul Dao did not have different usages until higher realms.

James felt his head hurt. Why does everyone tell me a Devil knowing Soul Dao is almost useless? This young masters Soul Dao shall be the best Dao. I must make a name for Soul Dao lest people keep underestimating it. This Slave Art thing will definitely be useful when recruiting lackeys.

I definitely have to pick up one of those. I can even curse my enemies with Curse Arts, if they cross this young master they won't even know who hurt them. This seems perfect for a young master like me. Zombies can fit into this young masters play book too. Who dare stop this young master?

To improve Soul Dao, souls needed to be studied in their natural form. To capture souls one would need a soul orb. A soul flame could be used to purify souls, making them easy to handle and study. All the resentment and other negative emotions upon death could be purified by the soul flame making the souls a blank slate. The negative emotions would be generally stored in a resentment weapon by soul dao practitioners.

Storing all the negative emotions in a resentment weapon would give Soul Dao practitioners a hidden card. Most Soul Dao practitioners would also delve into the Slaughter Dao as cultivating Soul Dao required killing and processing the souls of many creatures. Slaughter Dao would naturally be understood through this process.

This art was comprehensive, it detailed how James could create a soul orb and a resentment weapon. To form his Soulflame he would need to learn the [Flint u0026 Steel Art]. With this Art he would use Devil qi as the flint and steel and Soul qi as the timber igniting his Soul qi turning it into Soulflame qi. Through practicing the Flint and Steel Art one would temper their Soul qi and Devil qi and begin to understand the Fire Dao.

This art was comprehensive it also had a soul servant technique, however to use those would require him to capture some souls. The best souls come from humanoid species or a Tier 1 or above beasts or plants that have gained sentience. The technique required him to capture a serpent demon beast soul.

With the soul he could create a serpent flame soul servant that could protect him and do battle for him. He ignored this part as it was too far away for him. He needed to learn the [Flint u0026 Steel Art] then he would be able to forge his own Soul Orb and Resentment Weapon.

His Devil Ancestor sure took his personality into understanding when giving him this technique. It would take him into the doorway to the Soul Dao and to fully practice it he would have to learn blacksmithing. That cunning old devil, once I actually learn blacksmithing I'll be quickly kicked out. I need to improve my vision so I can sneak out. Otherwise I won't be able to swindle some resources from my dear father.

James decided he'd practice the [Flint u0026 Steel Art] for now. He had to improve the quality of his Devil qi only then would his grainy vision improve enough for him to sneak out. Only thorough improving would he have a chance to escape! First I must forge my Devil qi as the flint u0026 steel. He sat in a lotus position creating a floating pea sized ball of Soul qi in front of him.

He then gathered Devil qi within both his hands, it was difficult this was his first time controlling Devil qi and Soul qi outside of his body. He could only create a little bit of each. The ball of Soul qi he created was only size of a marble. He coated his hands in Devil qi then he brought them together at a 90 degree angle. One hand was the flint the other was the steel. Swiftly moving one hand over the other he attempted to ignite the ball of Soul qi.

How he could do all of this if he could not see? Ones qi was a part of ones body. Both the Soul qi and the Devil qi he created were like extra arms, he could feel them when they were outside his body. So it was easy for him to practice this exercise.

Devil qi as the flint and steel, Soul qi as the timber. Ignite the Soul qi! He was excited, this was his first time practicing a Devil Art. After his first attempt nothing happened, he didn't create any sparks. He was not disappointed. To practice Devil Arts was a process, he wasn't foolish enough to think of himself as some kind of genius.

This is going to be more difficult than I thought. The key to this technique lies in control. I must properly visualize the Devil qi as flint and steel while viewing the Soul qi as timber. Only then can this Devil Art work.

After a while of failing at his attempt at mastering a Devil Art in a single bound James took a break and thought about the times he had went camping within the Wesser forest as a youth. All the devil youths would love these trips. They would be guided by an Elder and learn of the plants and demon beasts that resided in Wesser forest.

Learning to live off the fat of the land! It was classic wilderness survival training in the yearly summer camp for Hudson clan youths. They would even get to battle with the mortal realm demon beasts polishing their battle skills.

James had learned to create fire with flint u0026 steel before. He thought about the difficulty he first experienced while attempting this archaic technique. When he had done this before as a youth and encountered difficulties the best way to solve it was to leave a bit of flint on the timber.

Just a little sprinkle of flint would make igniting the timber much easier. Then you have a small flame going you would add more timber to stabilize the fire. It seems I missed several key steps in this technique. If I modify it with my experience from using flint u0026 timber in real life it should work better.

He edited the technique mirroring real life application of flint u0026 steel. He sprinkled a bit of Devil qi on the Soul qi ball and then tried to ignite it.

Devil qi as the flint and steel, Soul qi as the timber. Ignite the Soul qi! It worked! The Soul qi actually caught a fire becoming Soulflame qi. The Soulflame qi quickly extinguished itself using up the small bit of Soul qi. It looks like I need to continually pour Soul qi into the Soulflame qi to keep it a blaze, just like a normal fire requires fuel to stay lit.

James quickly attempted the Devil Art again finally bringing a stable bit of Soulflame qi into his hands.

"I'm a fucking genius!" exclaimed James in pure excitement. He quickly put the Soulflame qi out and looked around hoping his Devil Ancestor didn't hear him. If he caught him with Soulflame qi he would have to learn blacksmithing. How could I escape and get resources to recruit lackeys if he was forced to be under that old devils nose! I am definitely more cunning than that old devil!

Chapter end