Chapter 181 – The Origins
“Before I begin, I need you to promise me that none of what I say today will be passed on to anyone else.”
Faced with the Patriarch’s solemn face and intense aura, Calron could do nothing but simply nod his head.
“Good. I’m sure you’ve already met the Deity’s Avatar inside the bird statue, but what you don’t know is the purpose of his presence in the mortal world. I was hoping that he would be the one to explain all of this to you, but the situation at the palace forced him to intervene. He had been waiting for centuries for the arrival of the Divine Element to the point where his avatar’s energy was close to running out. The day that I first met him, the Deity told me everything about his purpose in fear of not being present when the descendent finally arrived.”
The old man explained, his eyes staring off through the window as he recalled the past memories.
“He was waiting for me.”
Calron muttered under his breath.
“Yes, he was.”
“Why would he spend countless years in this world for me? He talked about a war before he left and that I needed to prepare for it… why me?”
Calron looked straight into the Patriarch’s eyes, his thirst for answers riling up his emotions.
“In order to understand why, you need to first learn who exactly you are and what the Divine Element is.”
The old man sighed and continued to talk.
“During the beginning of time, before the power of the elements were passed onto mortals, there were seven ancient primordial beasts that ruled over all of the higher realms and dimensions. Fire, air, water, earth, lightning, light, and darkness. Each of them wielded complete authority over their respective element, in fact, they were the element itself. Due to their omnipotent strength, the seven could never be close to one another as it would cause a rupture in space and time, so they split the realms equally amongst themselves and after that, they never interacted with one another and stayed within their own domains.”
“So the Azure Lightning comes from the ancient primordial beast of lightning?”
Calron asked.
“Not exactly correct, but something along those lines. Let me finish the story first, and you can ask your questions later.”
The old man smiled with mirth, seeing the expectant look on the young man’s face.
“As time passed on, the ancient primordial beasts started to grow tired of their tedious lives and began to mingle with the occupants of their realms. Of course, they would change their appearance to match the appearance of the residents. This gave birth to the first generation of element cultivators, and after thousands of years, almost all the realms now had cultivators with elemental powers. However, none of the ancient primordial beasts’ children shared the same level of power that their parent had. In hopes of gaining more strength, the children waged war on each other to figure out the secrets of the other elements.”
“Didn’t they have cultivation manuals?”
Calron asked without thinking, only to realize the old man had said not to ask questions until he finished.
“They didn’t have to. They were Deities from the moment they were born, so controlling their element was as natural as breathing for them. It was only as time passed that their bloodlines became diluted, and the need for cultivation manuals was required to gain more strength.”
The Patriarch gave Calron a scolding stare and continued.
“It was a war that spread across numerous realms and brought only destruction and death with it. Some of the ancient beasts were saddened by the actions of their children, while others wanted to join in and help their offspring. However, fearing the end of all life if the ancient primordial beings joined the war, they made a pact to remain neutral and go into hibernation so no one could contact them.”
Taking a break, the old man brought out a tea kettle and two cups from his spatial ring and began to brew some tea for the both of them.
Calron remained silent even though he was itching to ask some questions.
“Before the ancient beings isolated themselves, each one of them took a part of their soul and created a guardian for their realms. They did not want to leave their children without protection, so the guardians’ sole purpose was to defend the realms but not to seek war. Since the guardians were merely fragments of a soul, they needed a physical body to survive. Hence, each of the ancient beings selected one of their children and passed them the fragment of their soul with the oath to never wage war and to only defend their territories.”
“Alright, I can’t take that constipated look on your face anymore so ask me your question.”
The Patriarch stated in a sour tone, annoyed by the pitiful look Calron gave him as he tried to restrain his curiosity.
“Nonono, it’s fine, please continue!”
Calron objected, knowing that if he asked the wrong question, it will only serve to irritate the old man further.
“Hmm… ”
The Patriarch checked whether the tea was ready or not, and resumed talking.
“The seven guardians decided to stop the war and return back to peace. Initially, things calmed down and life was back to normal, but greed for power never left the children of the ancient beings. They were furious as to why they did not receive the power of the guardian and tried to kill their siblings. However, they soon came to realize that the guardians were no longer the same, and their element could easily overpower any of the other Deities. Their element took on a unique color, and was given the name of the Divine Element.”
Seeing that the tea was ready, the old man poured some for both him and Calron. Handing the second cup to the young man, the Patriarch continued.
“The guardians could not be defeated through sheer force, so some tried to marry off their sons or daughters in hopes of getting close to them and obtaining the next generation of guardians. Alas, the Divine Element was not so simple as it picked its own inheritor. Sometimes, the Divine Element would choose the next offspring of the guardian, or sometimes, centuries might pass before it picked its inheritor. No one knew the conditions for its selection, but anyone it picked would have their destinies changed forever. I’m tired of speaking, so you can ask your questions while I drink this tea.”
The old man smiled while taking a long sip of the fresh tea.
Calron had already finished his cup during the Patriarch’s speech, so he cleared his throat and asked his first question.
“You still haven’t told me how this is all related to the change in my body?”
“That is where you are wrong, this story has everything to do with what is going inside your body. You see, for the first time after your awakening, you finally accepted a part of the Divine Element. You have been running away from it, fearing it, and pushing it down to the depths of your soul, but never accepting it for who it is. This changed during your last battle where you used its power without fear.”
The old man put his cup down and looked deeply into Calron’s eyes.
“You have trouble controlling it not because you are weak, kid, but because you refuse to accept it.”
“I have accepted the Azure Lightning, but it still wrecks my body each time I bring it out.”
Calron looked down at his hands and recalled the agony he felt when he used its power.
“You need to let it into your heart, Calron. The Divine Element is not an object… it is a living entity. You need to talk to it, and for that to happen, let it into the deepest part of your being and join your soul with it. Only then will you be able to face what’s coming for you.”
The Patriarch said in a serious voice.
“I can fight without the Azure Lightning.”
Calron countered, still skeptical about going through that same pain again with the Azure Lightning.
“You can’t with this enemy.”
The old man answered quietly.
“Why?”
“Because the enemy is also an inheritor of the Divine Element.”
The Patriarch whispered as he gazed into Calron’s stunned face.