Chapter 2: Chaos Pagoda

Archie Cutmore still had a thousand questions, but Empress Chaos lifted a hand, cutting him off. "I'm going into a death seclusion," she said, her voice flat as frost. "I'll suppress the fox-charm poison inside me with everything I have. You have one year to cultivate. One year from today, I'll borrow your yang energy again to heal. If your cultivation hasn't reached the Spiritual Emperor Realm by then, you won't survive a second union of yin and yang." The moment the words fell, Empress Chaos flicked her jade-white hand. Archie vanished from the pagoda's eighth-floor space. His vision went black. When he opened his eyes again, he was back in his own room. "Was all of that… a dream?" Archie murmured. A sharp ache lanced through his waist. He sucked in a breath, and the last trace of doubt evaporated. "One year," he ground out, bracing a hand against his lower back. Determination hardened in his eyes. "I have to reach the Spiritual Emperor Realm. Otherwise, the second time… the Empress will drain me dry!" On Ninosith, cultivation was divided into nine major realms. From low to high: Spiritual Warrior, Spiritual Master, Grand Spiritual Master, Spiritual King, Spiritual Emperor, Spiritual Sect, Spiritual Venerable, Spiritual Saint, and Spiritual Emperor. Each realm was further split into nine levels, from First Level to Ninth Level. The Spiritual Warrior realm was the first true step onto the path, drawing the world's spiritual energy into one's body. Someone with ordinary talent could reach the Third or Fourth Level of Spiritual Warrior by sixteen. Someone truly gifted could reach the Fifth or Sixth. Archie, at sixteen, had once stood at the late stage of the Ninth Level of Spiritual Warrior, the undisputed number one genius of the Cutmore family side branch. Then, five days ago, everything had changed. His bloodline had been ripped away. His foundation had been damaged. His cultivation had been shattered to nothing. In an instant, the Cutmore family side branch's brightest prodigy became the trash everyone sneered at. He had recovered his foundation and could cultivate again, but his cultivation was still ruined. To climb from nothing to the Spiritual Emperor Realm in a single year… even with the Chaos Pagoda's help, it was like trying to scale the sky with bare hands. Even so, whether it was to keep his waist intact or to settle his hatred, he had to break into the Spiritual Emperor Realm within a year. At that moment, the Cutmore family side branch in Quirby had its meeting hall packed to the brim. Every elder was present. "Since Archie Cutmore's cultivation has been crippled, the academy assessment slot will be inherited by Flynn Cutmore," a stern-faced middle-aged man announced. He was Santiago Cutmore, the head of the Cutmore family side branch in Quirby. The young man standing behind him was his second son, Flynn Cutmore. "With Archie the way he is, he's just a cripple. Of course he doesn't deserve the academy assessment slot." "Exactly. That slot is priceless. Young Master Flynn is exceptionally talented, and with the main family backing him, he'll shock everyone at the academy assessment!" "Congratulations, Branch Head! Our Quirby side branch is about to produce a second academy disciple!" Voices rose one after another, eager and flattering. Within Certonville, there were three great academies, the empire's highest martial institutions. Every young cultivator took pride in the chance to join one. Each year, the three academies held a joint academy assessment. Only the finest youths from each region earned a slot and the right to compete. As one of Quirby's top powers, the Cutmore family side branch held a single slot. That slot had belonged to Archie. But Archie had become a cripple. So the slot was stripped away. "I don't agree!" A cold voice cut in from outside the hall. Archie strode in. "You wanted to curry favor with the main family, so you stole the Spirit Flame Bloodline from my body," he demanded, his voice ringing off the pillars. "And you're still taking my academy assessment slot. Tell me, where's the fairness in that?" An elder's eyes narrowed. "You're a child of the Cutmore family. You enjoyed the family's support for years. Sacrificing the small self for the family's future, what's unfair about that?" "That's right. With the main family's full support, our Quirby side branch will rise like a dragon and dominate Quirby. It's only a matter of time." "The academy assessment slot belongs to the family's top genius. You're a cripple. Naturally, it must be taken back." Each sentence struck like a blade, carving into Archie's chest. "So that's your 'sacrifice for the greater good,'" Archie said through clenched teeth. His fists tightened until his knuckles whitened. "Today, I finally see what kind of people you are." Santiago's eyes narrowed to slits. A chill flashed through the depths of his gaze as he spoke slowly, each word measured. "Archie Cutmore made a great sacrifice for the family and should receive the best rest and care. Someone, escort Archie to the countryside estate-" He didn't get to finish. "Half a month from today," Archie cut in, voice like steel, "I want a life-and-death duel with Flynn Cutmore. Life or death, we leave it to fate!" Archie understood perfectly. If they sent him to the countryside estate, he would be as good as dead. Santiago would make sure he suffered an "accident" out there. Archie could not go. And if he wanted to take back the academy assessment slot and repay blood with blood, there was only one way. He had to challenge Flynn to a life-and-death duel. The elders' expressions all changed. A life-and-death duel was the cruelest kind of confrontation. Both sides had to sign a life-and-death contract, and it ended only when one of them died. No one expected a crippled Archie to dare issue such a challenge. All eyes turned to Flynn. "Since you're begging to die," Flynn said with a sneer, "I'll grant your wish." If this had been Archie five days ago, Flynn might have felt a flicker of fear. But Archie was a cripple. Flynn could crush him with one hand. The thought of the man who had always stood above him finally dying by his hand sent a twisted thrill through Flynn's veins. Flynn's acceptance drew a cold gleam across Archie's eyes. He turned and walked out. Everyone thought he was finished, that he would die in half a month. He would prove them wrong with facts, not words. Back in his quarters, Archie shut the door and sat cross-legged on the bed. In his mind hovered an ancient, weatherworn nine-story pagoda: the Chaos Pagoda. With a thought, the first floor's gate swung open. "Whoosh!" Archie's body vanished from the room, reappearing in a vast space. This was the interior of the Chaos Pagoda's first floor. Inside, there was only a meditation cushion and an enormous stretch of farmland. "There's farmland in the pagoda space…" Archie's thoughts raced. "Does that mean I can plant things in here?" If the pagoda space could be used for cultivation of herbs, then he could fill the fields with medicinal plants. With the first floor's hundredfold time flow, he would only need to plant ordinary herbs. One year outside would become a harvest of hundred-year medicines. Ten years outside would become a harvest of thousand-year medicines. Many medicinal plants could speed cultivation and increase one's realm. The problem was that those herbs often took hundreds or even thousands of years to mature. With the Chaos Pagoda, Archie could search for seeds, or even transplant immature herbs, and plant them inside this space. All he had to do was wait. Then he would reap everything.