Night of the Broken Gliph

Night fell once more. Chui Yim shut his eyes as he cultivated the Nine Levels Of Heaven’s Flame. He had reached the second level of the technique, at the same time reaching the bottleneck that sealed his  wind chamber, preventing any flow of energliph in or out of the chamber. This bothered Chui Yim greatly. 

The Nine Levels Of Heaven’s Flame wasn’t a technique from this world, yet even before he reached the single gliphic state, he already encountered a bottleneck! Chui Yim was well read, yet he had never heard of any innate heart or wind chamber gliphist facing a bottleneck at this stage. As long as it was the innate chamber, one would be able to break through to the chamber no matter how long it took. That was what happened to some other one-chambered gliphers. They couldn’t cultivate enough energliph by twelve but would eventually succeed as more time passed. But by then, they would have missed the prime age to cultivate, and they would never become a two-chambered glipher. 

Chui Yim opened his eyes confusedly. 

Since my wind chamber is blocked and I can’t do anything about it, where did all the energliph I cultivated go? 

Feeling off, Chui Yim shut his eyes and cultivated once more, carefully focusing on where his energliph ended up. Very soon, he gathered some energliph and was surprised to see it disperse and travel around his body aimlessly. In the past, his energliph would directly enter his wind chamber. Chui Yim initially thought his energliph was dispersing since there was no place to store it, but he soon discovered a weak force within his body drawing his energliph to the area. 

Chui Yim nearly jumped out of his skin at this realisation. The weak force originated from the Heaven’s Flame hiding inside him peacefully. 

The Heaven’s Flame remained the same after taking in the energliph. Frightened, Chui Yim continued to focus on the Heaven’s Flame. He had mastered the skill of introspection while cultivating after learning more about gliphism. 

Chui Yim was sure that something was off with the Heaven’s Flame. He calmed himself down and cultivated again. Indeed, the energliph he gained from cultivation was absorbed by the Heaven’s Flame, and there were no changes to the flame itself; it was still small and innocent. But Chui Yim knew that behind this facade, it was this flame that ruined the chamber check rock back at the Riding Clouds Academy. 

He watched the flame carefully and soon realised the terrifying truth. Chui Yim saw the Heaven’s Flame increase in size! The increase was so minor that Chui Yim would easily miss it if he wasn’t carefully looking. But he was sure the Heaven’s Flame grew by absorbing energliph from him. 

The fact that he had been providing the Heaven’s Flame energliph unwittingly scared him.

What will happen if it continues to grow? 

After pondering the whole night, Chui Yim looked exhausted the next day. His eyes were red, and he was mumbling to himself from time to time, which worried Chor Shing Chit. 

Chor Shing Chit and Bak Wun exchanged glances and said nothing, assuming that Chui Yim was just deep in thought. 

The night lion was still pulling the coach with its super strong legs. Luckily, their coach had a gliph formation to stabilise it, allowing for a smooth ride despite the night lion’s speed. 

Currently, a palm-sized black bird sat in Chor Shing Chit’s arm, looking at everything disdainfully. Chui Yim glanced at the bird during his water break. This black bird was the foggy night onyx eagle that nearly took his life back at the Engraved Mountain Range. It was seriously injured when Chui Yim was sent flying out of the weird space by a drumstick. If Chor Shing Chit had left it there, it would’ve been trampled by the beast tide, buried in the mud and turned into nutrition for the mountain range. 

However, Chor Shing Chit saved its life. Back then, Chor Shing Chit activated the gliph on his heart chamber to save Wong Kwan, and it felt his power closely in his arms. Thus, after everything that happened, the foggy night onyx eagle recognised Chor Shing Chit as its owner and stayed with him. 

Chor Shing Chit was left speechless by it, but he accepted it as the eagle was a grade three speed-type beast. At its peak, it could be as strong as Chor Shing Chit, and who would reject an extra helping hand? That was why Chui Yim treated it, and the eagle had recovered half its strength. With a glare, the night lion dared not look it in the eyes and moved forward while trembling. 

“Siu Chor, you need to teach that bird a lesson. The night wolf will wet itself in fear if this continues, and our journey will be delayed.” Bak Wun glanced at the black eagle as he spoke. 

Hearing Bak Wun address it as “that bird”, the black eagle was angered instantly. How could that old man address it as a mere bird when it was a powerful foggy night onyx eagle, a fierce beast that had the potential to reach grade four? 

As if sensing the black eagle’s anger, Bak Wun stared at it quietly with his aged eyes. 

The palm-sized eagle froze and trembled before hiding in Chor Shing Chit’s chest, afraid to look up. Chor Shing Chit was able to feel how badly it was shaking; it was as if the eagle had come across a horrifying beast. 

Bak Wun had already turned back around to steer the night lion towards their destination. Chor Shing Chit still wore his poker face, but he was utterly confused as he brainstormed Bak Wun’s background. The Principal can scare a foggy night onyx eagle so badly? Moreover, he’s only a one-chambered glipher? 

A one-chambered glipher, but one with the ability to beat a two-chambered glipher and frighten a grade three gliphic beast with just a glance…

Their journey continued, with Chor Shing Chit thinking about Bak Wun’s background while Chui Yim worried about the Heaven’s Flame. But time trickled past amidst their thoughts. A week later, they finally saw the next city.

Chor Shing Chit looked at the city. After identifying it, he turned to Chui Yim and spoke, “This is an interesting city. You might like it.” 

“Oh?” Chui Yim looked up, wanting to find out more. Chui Yim felt a strong unyielding aura coming from the city despite only seeing its outline. 

“It’s called the Breaking Thorns City,” Chor Shing Chit said respectfully. 

At that moment, Chui Yim was still unaware of how the city would change him.