NOVPUB[Very nice presentation, very professional.]
[Thank you.]
[Real quick though, were you expecting the elder you possessed not too long ago to be able to read the stone or...]
[Unplanned in every sense of the word.]
[Ah...]
...
"So...who wants to go first?"
"..."
"Really?"
Now that Aranea had opened the floor for the Zhen Clan to determine who would get first crack at learning this new skill...they had suddenly clammed up.
Perhaps it was due to their instincts as Aether Warriors, perhaps it was due to the uncertainty baked into the [Primordial Beast Scripture] stone, either way, the Zhen Clan members were still in the middle of determining who amongst them should-
"Fuck it. I’ll go first."
"What the-"
"Father, are you sure?"
"Yes, I am," Patriarch Zhen Shi told his sons and grandchildren. "I once made the difficult decision to come here with your mother and establish roots in a foreign land for a reason. If I didn’t have that spark of courage in my heart, we wouldn’t be here now. Besides, it’s not the first time we’ve dabbled with deviant cultivation phenomenon, and it probably won’t be the last."
With this statement made, Patriarch Zhen Shi stepped up to the [Primordial Beast Scripture] stone and placed his palms upon its surface.
The stone was cool to the touch, but unnaturally so. It felt more like he had was touching a piece of ice rather than a piece of earth.
’Okay, and now I just have to channel a bit of aether like this and...,’
THWOOM!
’There we go.’
Mimicking Aranea’s and Lucille’s actions from earlier, Zhen Shi channeled his aether into the stone, causing the ever present ominous feeling with one that was a bit more serene. As if everyone in the room was standing in the shore of an arctic beach overlooking a calm ocean of the deepest bkue.
On top of that though, and in Zhen Shi’s eyes, was the reveal of a supposedly personalized version of the [Primordial Beast Scripture].
At least...part of it was revealed.
’Okay so I need to cycle my aether there, there in order to channel [Chaos] and...wait a minute...’
As an Aether Lord, Zhen Shi’s comprehension abilities has grown by leaps and bounds above most mortals, to the point that reading and comprehending something like a thousand page textbook on the history of the world was a trivial task at best.
Which was why, while he was reading over the [Primordial Beast Scripture], he realized that it was incomplete. 𝔫𝖔𝔳𝖕𝖚𝔟.𝔠𝔬𝖒
At least, that was the impression that he got while looking it over and trying to comprehend the instructions being relayed to him.
He was just about to complain to the two secretaries/liaisons, until he remembered something important that was said in a strangely passing manner.
’The contents of the stone will change not only on who’s channeling power into it, but the type of energy they use...I wonder...’
When Zhen Shi looked over the stone when he channeled aether into it, he felt it was incomplete.
The instructions relayed to him on the stone seemed to describe the process of being able to make oneself more accepting to the power of [Chaos], creating temporary channels and vessels in the body to accommodate the strange energy, but not explaining how to use it.
The implication for this incompletion meant one thing.
’Aether is needed for the first part...[Chaos] for the second...mind helping me out, buddy?’
[...]
Once this realization came to mind, Zhen Shi tapped into the power of his beast spirit companion and began to channel [Chaos] instead of aether.
The effect was quite noticeable when he did.
"Huh? Why the fuck is pops switching gears and using his ice abilities? Wait a minute...what the fuck did I just say?"
"Brother, don’t fucking swear while we’re...hey, why am I talking more casually too?"
"The [Chaos] in the arena is getting thicker...but why?"
"Uh... probably because the [Primordial Beast Scripture] is acting up. Take a look."
"What are you-OH!"
"THAT’S A BIG SNAKE!"
’So that’s what the rest of this [Chaos] art looks like...brilliant.’
The moment Zhen Shi switched from aether to [Chaos], the [Primordial Beast Scripture] stone took on a dramatically different appearance.
To be more precise, the [Chaos] that Zhen Shi was pouring into the stone had caused the formation of an aura construct in the shape of a giant sea serpent made of ice and water, surrounding it.
Upon the serpent’s scales, the observing Zhen Clan warriors could make out strange characters one after the other, being little more than a jumbled mess.
To Zhen Shi though, these words were as clear as a fresh water spring.
’Huh...no wonder this art can’t be categorized...it’s adjustable...’
While it’s a known fact that the strength of an aether art was proportional to the warrior using it, that wasn’t entirely correct.
Every aether art in existence had a lower limit that had to be met in order to be used, but they all also had an upper limit that couldn’t be exceeded.
In the same way one could technically overclock an electronic device to perform well above its limit and technically get better results, there was still the very real possibility of the tool simply falling to pieces before it could be realistically used. In that same vein, attempting to go pass the upper limit of an aether art would cause it to break apart and the attack defaulting to simple empowerment.
That rule did not seem to apply to this so-called [Chaos] art.
As far as Zhen Shi could understand, there was no lower limit threshold that had to be met for the art to be used. The amount of [Chaos] needed to empower it could be as miniscule as a thimble of water.
While the upper limit of the technique seemed to be as vast as the sky.
While Zhen Shi was certain that he definitely wouldn’t be able to reach this limit in this lifetime or the next, he couldn’t help but to shudder at the idea that someone was able to do just that.
’To wield such power...only Aether Deities should touch such limits...,’ Zhen Shi concluded as he thought deeper on the subject.
Regardless of this speculation though, Zhen Shi still had a technique to learn.
’Alright, if I already have access to [Chaos], then all I need to do is...’
...
After that initial outburst of surprise at the appearance of the giant sea serpent, silence fell over the problem in the training arena as the Zhen Clan elders, scions and animal companions watched their Patriarch absorb the knowledge of the [Primordial Beast Scripture].
While they were all certain that their "version" wouldn’t be at all similar to Zhen Shi’s, they could at least use his experience as a preview of what to expect.
And they weren’t going to be disappointed in the slightest.
"Hey, look alive! Looks like whatever father was doing has just wrapped up."
Zhen Shi slowly removed his palms from the [Primordial Beast Scripture] stone and retracted his [Chaos] along with it. An immediate result of this action was the dismissal of the icey sea serpent that had originally encapsulated the aforementioned stone.
Physically, Zhen Shi looked the same after doing whatever he did with the [Primordial Beast Scripture].
However, his sons could perceive that there was a shine to his eyes that wasn’t there before.
That and they could also sense a strange aura radiating from his person, an aura that was very similar to Matriarch Zhen Xun Tian’s.
Compelled by this odd feeling, Zhen Long was the first to approach and ask the burning question they all shared.
"Father...how was the experience?"
"I’m...not sure on how to describe it," Zhen Shi admitted. "It felt as is...I was somewhere both familiar and strange all at once. And that I was staring into a void that wasn’t actually empty..."
"Eh?"
"Like I said, it’s hard to describe. I feel like it’d be better to show you..."
"As you wish, Patriarch," Aranea and Lucille interjected soon after Zhen Shi made the prior statement.
Working together, and using a bit of power, Lucille and Aranea made a series of dummy targets.
Once they were formed, they immediately went into demonstration mode.
"Now, good people of the Zhen Clan, as you can probably sense, these dummies have been made infused with [Chaos]. While this does nothing in a physical sense, it does make them immune to aether arts. First Elder, would you mind proving it for us?"
"Uh...okay...if that’s the case, I won’t hold back."
Zhen Long positioned away from the dummies and proceeded to take on a fighting stance while circulating his aether in a manner every present was quite familiar with.
After all, this was an aether art that had become a signature move for the Zhen Clan of Stampeding Bison.
[Echoing Frost!]
AWOOOOO!
In one fluid motion, Zhen Long fired off a howling wolf construct made of icy wind.
