The Legend of Min Hong

The cup filled up for the third time, and just like the second time Min Hong didn't think twice before emptying it into his mouth. This time, his consciousness dimmed and faded.

But, just before his consciousness faded and his soul dissipated, the old man finally dropped the teapot and smacked Min Hong on the head as a strange soothing energy flowed into his soul. It was like an ice-cold water poured on a searing-hot metal.

The moment these two opposing energies clashed, Min Hong finally lost consciousness as the final shred of his white soul disappeared.

"Oh snap! My trials just ended even before it even began…" This was his thoughts as his mind faded.

After about ten hours which seemed like an eternity to the Min Hong who thought he had died, a familiar old voice once again floated into his ears.

"That was really brave and stupid…" the voice muttered silently. "But it also shows what length you are willing to go to keep your promises, and for that I commend you." He added.

Min Hong opened his eyes and found himself laying on the straw mat. Then he sat up and asked. "How long was I dead?"

"Dead? Hahaha! Not under my watch…" the man laughed for the first time. "How can I possibly allow a potential disciple of the 'great creator' die under my watch?" he laughingly added.

"But how was the near-death experience? Did you learn anything from it?" the man smiled as he gazed at Min Hong.

"A little… Great elder, what is your name? and what did I drink earlier?" Min Hong asked.

"My name is irrelevant since we might never meet again, unless you inherit the 'great creator's top inheritance." The old man refused.

"Then what you just drank was the 'El fuego del diablo'…. In other words, the devil's flame. It would have been better if that was all, but you drank the one purified by one of the top three heavenly flames; the Empyrean Flame." The old man answered.

"I am truly surprised that you could stay alive, long enough for me to use the 'empyrean flame' to neutralize its effects."

"I was even more surprised that you actually possess the Primus Dao which helped merge both flames together and help you form a nascent soul!"

"A what?" Min Hong who had not really checked himself out finally looked at himself and saw that his previously white soul was now golden with purple ancient runes carved on it.

"What happened to me?" He asked, but then something seemed to be cramping up the space on his mat, so he looked over. Instantly, Min Hong's pupils shrunk into a pinhole.

What he was seeing was another soul that completely looks like him to the slightest details. The only difference was that it was significantly smaller, like about one-tenth his original size and was purple in colour with golden runes all over it.

"What happened to me? And is this what a Nascent Soul looks like?" Min Hong looked to the old man for answers.

"Oh…it is totally normal for you to be unapprehensive, since you did not witness the process of forming your nascent soul and yes, they all look like the mini-version of one's soul."

"It is very rare to witness what is supposed to be a person's tragedy turn into fortune. You are very lucky because you have formed your fire elemental Nascent Soul from two of the top three strongest flames in the world." The old man added.

Min Hong looked at his purple-gold nascent soul which was quietly siting cross legged and meditating and could not help but marvel at the sight.

"Is this even normal? Forming a nascent soul without even having a Dan Formation cultivation base?" He was truly puzzled.

"Creating a nascent soul occurs because, when an expert reaches the Dan Formation stage, they would have comprehended a certain Universal Law to its concept stage."

"If they didn't, they wouldn't be able to increase their cultivation, since they have to use their Law Concept to draw the elemental Qi of the Law they comprehend, for cultivation. But for the Nascent Soul stage, this is slightly more complicated and on a larger scale." He added.

"When they reach the peak of the Dan Formation stage, they will have to graduate the Law Concept into the Law Intent. Once this happens, the elemental Qi they use in cultivation will drastically increase in Quality."

"When such an expert absorbs this high-quality elemental Qi and breaks his/her bottleneck, then a nascent soul is born out of the elemental Qi. The significance of this is that, taking you for example, you have formed a nascent soul from a two of the top three heavenly flames."

"As a result, when you finally comprehend the Fire Law, you will be able to summon the devil's flame. Or to be more precise the mixture of both the empyrean and devil's flame which are two of the three strongest flames in existence."

"This will be possible because the affinity between you and the flame law of both flames would have increased greatly due to the presence of your nascent soul which was formed directly from them."

"Thus, this nascent soul will connect you to the source of this flame and you will then be able to manipulate it easily." The old man explained.

"So, are you saying that forming a nascent soul isn't dependent on cultivation but rather on one's comprehension?" Min Hong knew he was about to get his knowledge debunked once again.

"That is at least seventy percent true. One can form an ordinary non-elemental nascent soul just by absorbing massive amounts of Qi or taking some ancient top-class pills or simply eating some ancient plants or fruits of such level."

"But the downside is, they would be unable to manipulate any Universal Law and as a result be unable to enter into the Saint stage in their lifetime because it is one of the prerequisites of being a saint."

"Some unorthodox experts even achieve this by simply killing a Nascent Soul stage expert and capturing his or her elemental nascent souls by using some special techniques or artifacts."

"Then they gift these nascent souls to their kins, so they can automatically comprehend the elemental Law within when they reach the Peak of Dan Formation stage. Just like you will be able to control the mixture of the Empyrean and Devil's flame when you reach Peak Dan Formation stage."

"So, with the my help and the Primus Dao, you were able to form a nascent soul with these flames because you drank a product of their essences." The old man answered.

"Essence? What are those?" Min Hong asked once again.

"The comprehension of Universal Laws is split into three stages. The Law, the Essence and the Origin stage. Laws are for experts in the Mortal and Spirit realms. Essence belongs to experts in the Divine and God realms and finally Origins are for those in the Aeon realm."

"So, you basically just drank a Law in the level of the Peak of Essence realm in a mortal realm cultivation stage. If you didn't die which was a 99.9 percent tendency, then you will surely be able to reap the benefits of being in the exempted 0.1 percent."

"For keeping your promises, I will reward you with three things...

The first would be a secret about the Nascent Soul stage that might be kept only with the ancient clans and their descendants. The second is a secret about the inheritance and lastly a gift of your choice from anything within this hut."

"Unh?" Min Hong was stunned and stumped. He almost hit himself to confirm if this wasn't the illusion one usually experience in death. After all, 'sleep is half death and death is full sleep'.

Then, since people dream during sleep, he might just be in an eternal dream right now. He was that unsure that he might have such great luck.

"Or is Lady Luck really hitting on me?" He thought to himself.

"One forms a nascent soul in the Nascent Soul stage, but there are different grades to nascent souls. Firstly, the quality which is determined by the grade of material one used in comprehending the corresponding Law."

"For example, no one will be able to compete in a battle of flames with you, except for someone who had comprehended his Fire Law using the Nihility Flame which is the strongest flame in existence. All other things being equal."

"Then, one of the secrets that determines the strength of a Saint stage expert is the amount of elemental nascent soul that was merged when forming his saint soul."

"This means, an expert who formed his saint soul with the merger of three elemental nascent souls would easily defeat another expert who formed his own saint soul from the merger of two elemental nascent souls." He explained.

"So, to be the strongest Saint stage expert, I should try to form my saint soul from the merger of as many elemental nascent souls as possible…" Min Hong understood the old man's logic.

"Correct! Take this…" the old man touched Min Hong's soul as a tiny blue light entered Min Hong. "Since you already have two, I will help you find the third."

"That would help you sense the presence and direction of an Nihility flame essence, should you ever come close to one." The old man added.

"I trust you saw the statues of the bloodline patriarchs on your way in?" he asked.

"Those statues are those of the first-generation bloodline members of all creations?" Min Hong was truly shocked. Though these people weren't the first of these bloodlines, irrespectively they were the first inheritors of any existing bloodlines.

"Yes, and I also believe you have seen the vision of the great war?" The old man asked.

"Yes, I have." Min Hong answered, still shaken by the gravity of some secrets he had learnt here. "I bet even Little Wu doesn't know about this…" He thought to himself.

"That vision will help you out a lot in the future. That was what happened after what you will see in your inheritance trial." The old man gave a mystified clue

"Lastly, I know I have given you a gift by granting you a Nihility Essence Flame sensor. But since I said you were to ask for the gift, I would naturally not break my promise after you have managed to keep yours even under such harsh conditions."

"Furthermore, you must only ask for anything within this hut, because that is the only thing belonging to me. As for the rest, I don't have the right to give, so ask away." He added.

Min Hong calmed his emotions and soul as he focused and scrutinized everything within the room. "I don't need the teapot or its contents, neither do I need the golden flames since I already have both."

Seeing how clueless he was, he opened the 'Eye of Infinite Dao', hoping to take whatever it had a reaction to. But he was truly disappointed because, even the 'Eye of Infinite Dao' didn't find anything out of the ordinary.

Urgh! Min Hong sighed in disappointment when this happened.

"Okay, I might just test it out and see if Lady Luck truly has a thing for me…" He thought to himself as he looked at every part of the house with a scrutinizing gaze.

He had previously seen the crates that were radiating strong mystic auras, but something was telling that they weren't the best thing in the room.

Moreover, since he was now apparently dating Lady Luck, he might as well just go for what he feels to be the best thing in the room and bear the consequences of the outcome.

After about one hour, he had still not come to a conclusion. The old man who was now calmly sipping on the invincible devil's flame essence was leisurely looking at Min Hong clear out his room with his eyes.

"The mat you're currently sitting on is actually very good for meditation and healing one's mind and soul. Then, this pot can be used to store the Essence of any Law indefinitely. There's also the obvious treasure within these crates." He gave several suggestions.

"No thanks." Min Hong refused. This really stunned the old man as he put down the teacup in his hand and paid rapt attention to Min Hong, eager to see what he would eventually choose.

After another thirty minutes, Min Hong's eyes finally lit up in apprehension and the old man naturally saw it. So, he asked. "Have you finally decided?"

"Yes, great elder. Can I please have your cane as my gift?" Min Hong beamed as he asked. He had truly thought about it. Of everything within the room, the old man was relatively unbothered by them.

But since he had come here, there were only three things the man had used and touched. The first was the furniture which he obviously sat on. The second were the utensils which he didn't prevent Min Hong from touching, so most likely they weren't important.

But the cane, this seemingly unassuming and ordinary cane. It was the only thing the man had used, touched and even laid carefully when he was about to sit.

Furthermore, asides the mat they currently sat on; it was the only thing in the room that was in close proximity to him.

This level of sense of attachment, told Min Hong that the cane was anything but ordinary. And soon enough, he got the answer as to the value of his choice.

The old man's face turned bitter as a true heartbroken expression surged all over his face. He touched the cane, lifted it and caressed it.