Chapter 5: Divine Radiance Bearer

"What did I just see…?" The vision was gone in a blink, but it left a chill carved deep into his bones. Duke Jaynes shuddered and swept his gaze across the courtyard. What had happened? "This place is haunted." His expression wavered between shock and suspicion. It had started with the muffled cursing from inside the Blood Moon, and it had peaked the moment he tried to look down into it. Primal Divine Radiance. It had to be Primal Divine Radiance! "Old Clan Chief… you kept me suppressed for five years just to wait for Primal Divine Radiance to awaken. That has to be it." "But what does Divine Radiance have to do with the Blood Moon?" Duke Jaynes stared into the Blood Moon hanging over Skyspine Ridge. It bled a deep crimson glow that soaked the entire mountain range. Somewhere in his instincts, he felt it. He and the Blood Moon were connected. He did not run out to chase down the Old Clan Chief and demand answers. If the old man refused to speak, he had his reasons. Besides, the Old Clan Chief was the sort who appeared and vanished like a legend. Duke Jaynes only ever saw him on the day of awakening. On ordinary days, even the four clan elders could not find him. Elara watched Duke Jaynes from the corner of her eye. The boy who had been plain as dirt had suddenly carried himself differently, as if a spark had been struck inside him. She leaned toward a simple conclusion: his body had undergone a metamorphosis. Power had accumulated in his mind as well, flipping his aura from the roots up. The empty plates covering the table only sharpened her certainty. Duke Jaynes had only just started to build momentum. The more she looked at him, the more pleasing he became. Even the thought of offering herself no longer made her sick, like those days she had once spent keeping officials company. When Duke Jaynes headed for the bedroom, she lifted a foot to follow, wanting to probe his condition more closely. In the end, she stopped herself. Black Turtle Village had to have hidden experts watching over it. Someone might be observing this outsider. As a spy planted in Black Turtle Village, Elara understood one rule above all others: patience kept you alive. "Black Turtle Village used to produce powerhouses generation after generation. Their young could seize great fortunes in the land of Immortal Fate." "No major faction dares clash with them head-on. That means their foundation is solid." "But in the thousand-year war, Skyspine Ridge suffered countless dead and wounded. The war even forced the ridge to close early. How much strength does Black Turtle Village still have? Hard to say." Elara fell into thought. The County Lord's refusal to storm Black Turtle Village spoke volumes about how wary she was. And as a chess piece buried inside, Elara needed to stay steady. Inside the bedroom, Duke Jaynes stood by the window and watched Elara tidy up the table and chairs. Then he roused the vast life force within him. It surged through his limbs and bones, ran every pathway in his body, and set his blood glowing. Hot. Hot. Hot! His body felt like a furnace roaring to life. The essence he had packed in through food thundered through flesh and sinew, tempering his bones, washing his meridians, forging his physique. Crack, crack, crack! His bones itched so badly he wanted to scrape himself against the wall a hundred times over. This was the shift from training strength toward training the soul. The short-term effect was brutal and obvious. He had grown noticeably taller, and his robe had tightened. Duke Jaynes studied himself in the Bronze Mirror. He stood around one-eighty, and the fat on his face had melted away. His features were still slightly soft, but there was a clean, handsome edge to him that had not been there before. He bared his teeth in a grin. He had slimmed down. No, he had dropped weight like a landslide. He lifted a broad hand to remove the armor. The Black Turtle Shell answered with absolute gravity. The weight spiked violently, crushing the rising swagger in his chest into dust. Duke Jaynes did not get angry. He knew exactly what the Tortoise Shell offered him. It let him train through pain, ignore injury, and stockpile the capital he needed to break through. "Something's off. I haven't actually stepped into the training-the-soul major threshold." The force inside him had grown at least tenfold. According to the descriptions of that threshold, once you formed it, your Divine Radiance expanded along with it. Yet his Primal Divine Radiance had not advanced. "Divine Radiance Bearers are meant to contend with sun and moon." In the legends, true powerhouses raised seas of Divine Radiance that pierced the skies and lit the heavens. That was the mark of the strong. In the end, the higher the realm, the more blazing the Divine Radiance. At the beginning, Divine Radiance was nothing more than a tiny spark under a vast night sky, hardly worth mentioning. When he finished cultivating, Duke Jaynes reeked of sweat. He called out through the window, "Elara, heat up a pot of water. Your master's taking a bath!" That night, Elara changed into a short white skirt, faintly translucent. The curves beneath were half-hidden, half-revealed, dangerously tempting. She sprinkled flower petals into the steaming wooden tub, then knelt beside it with a composed posture, attending him as he bathed. Duke Jaynes had not expected being "master" to feel this good. A hot bath, a back scrub, the whole service. But when she later suggested sleeping beside him, he waved her off. He was used to sleeping alone. After Elara shut the door and left, Duke Jaynes rolled over and stared at the ceiling. He snorted. This maid was eyeing his kidneys. Good thing he held the line and did not capsize in a gutter. He had only just stepped onto the path of cultivation. His ambitions were bigger than some soft bed and a warm body. Besides, he did not trust Elara. He needed to observe her carefully. "That turtle-man has to be impotent. Not even a twitch!" Elara fumed as she returned to her side room. The County Lord had given a death order. Before the Blood Moon Gate opened, she had to find out who carried the Innate Divine Radiance. … Over the next several days, Duke Jaynes trained strength every day. At night, he ate like a starving beast, then soaked in hot water until his exhaustion washed away. His weight kept dropping. The pace of his cultivation actually slowed, but his instincts told him that in another ten days, he could charge the training-the-soul major threshold. "Master, we're out of ingredients. We also need to buy spices," Elara said. She had endured these days like a wife worn down by hardship. The gloom in her eyes deepened by the hour, and the physical urge she had been suppressing was becoming torture. She finally found an excuse to go out. She wanted to go to the market with Duke Jaynes, buy food, and quietly probe the general situation in Black Turtle Village. "Fine. We'll go together." In the southern part of the village stood an ancient tree, gnarled and powerful like a dragon. Its fiery crown was lush and thick. A small vermilion courtyard sat within it, painted red as fresh lacquer. It was Vermilion Bird's home. Duke Jaynes climbed up by ladder and looked into the courtyard. Three unfamiliar young men and women were inside. Their clothes were made of glossy silk, the sort outsiders wore. Duke Jaynes was startled. What were they doing here? The three were equally surprised, staring at the blue shell on Duke Jaynes's back. What kind of look was that? They gave Elara a quick once-over and withdrew their eyes. They seemed well-mannered enough. "Jaynes, you're here." Vermilion Bird approached, her body wrapped in a red mist of light. She looked Duke Jaynes over, then smiled brightly. "You've been working hard. Later, your big sister will reward you." "Vermilion Bird… who are they?" Duke Jaynes glanced toward the small hall in the courtyard. A burly man stood inside. Burly did not begin to cover it. The man looked like a metal tower cast from molten iron. Silver hair spilled down his back. A lightning mark sat between his brows, and an enormous silver hammer was strapped behind him, heavy beyond reason. Duke Jaynes also caught a faint ripple of annihilating thunder from him. This man seemed even stronger than Ezra Yoder of the Aether Celestial Dynasty. Seth Lawne fixed his gaze on Duke Jaynes, open hostility in his eyes. But when he registered Duke Jaynes's age and cultivation, his expression lit up. "Hahaha! Fairy, since when did you pick up a little brother?" Seth Lawne laughed so loudly it sounded like thunder. Duke Jaynes's eardrums stung. The man was almost too enthusiastic. He strode over and seized Duke Jaynes's hands. "I'm Seth Lawne. First time meeting you. Just call me Seth!" Elara froze. Seth Lawne? If he came from the Lawne family of Celestia Continent, and if he was even from the "Seth" generation, then even if he was born late, his status in the Lawne family had to be terrifying. The Lawne family carried a long, glorious history. Their influence on Celestia Continent ran deep. Even the Aether Celestial Dynasty's royal house struggled to steer them. In short, Celestia Continent might have looked like it bowed to the Aether Celestial Dynasty, but top families like the Lawne family produced powerhouses every generation. Why would they ever live by the dynasty's mood? Elara guessed Vermilion Bird had ties to a senior of the Lawne family. It had to date back a thousand years. Which meant Vermilion Bird's lifespan likely stretched beyond a millennium, and her cultivation was no joke… "And you three," Seth Lawne barked, whirling on his disciples. "What are you standing around for? Call him Martial Uncle!" "Martial Uncle?" Two men and one woman frowned immediately. This kid's age and cultivation, and they were supposed to call him Martial Uncle? "I wouldn't dare." Duke Jaynes waved his hands quickly. "Brother Seth, I really wouldn't dare." Truthfully, even speaking to someone of the same generation made Duke Jaynes feel pressure. But with Vermilion Bird in the middle, he could only grit his teeth and force out the "brother." "Brother… do you even know what you're saying?" A dark-faced youth with a steel-built body jabbed a finger at Duke Jaynes and snapped, "Do you have any idea who you're talking to? He's from our Lawne family-" "Shut your mouth." Seth Lawne's eyes flared with fury, like a lion gone mad. "The elders are talking. Who gave you permission to butt in? I tell you what to call him, you call him that. Talk back again and I'll smack you." The youth's head buzzed. For a moment he thought he had misheard. Was this really his master? From childhood to adulthood, his master had never scolded him. And yet, because of this kid with a turtle shell, he was being cursed out in public? "Master… on the path of cultivation, the strong come first. The rules can't be broken!" Patrick Lawne said, eyes reddening as he turned his head away and swallowed the humiliation. "This is getting…" Duke Jaynes felt a sour knot in his chest. He wanted to speak up for Patrick Lawne, but Seth Lawne looked genuinely frightening, already rolling up his sleeves as if he meant to slap him. Duke Jaynes hurried to calm him down. Vermilion Bird spoke lightly, "He isn't wrong." "Fairy, my disciple's ignorant. Please don't take it to heart." Seth Lawne looked flustered, explaining in a rush, clearly afraid Vermilion Bird might be displeased. Patrick Lawne's eyes reddened even more. In his mind, his master was a towering figure who never bowed his head. And yet he was apologizing? Patrick Lawne forced down his rage and pointed at Duke Jaynes. "Your name's Jaynes, right? Fine. If you want to be my Martial Uncle, then fight me. If you win, I'll call you Martial Uncle!" Seth Lawne did not get angry. He laughed instead. With the Vermilion Bird Fairy's methods, how could Duke Jaynes be ordinary? He did not expose anything. He let his disciple "mess around." "My name is Duke Jaynes." Duke Jaynes stepped forward. "I haven't cultivated long. I'm afraid I can't match you." "Duke Jaynes is at the organ-training realm," Vermilion Bird added. Duke Jaynes was about to correct her, but he caught the warning in her eyes. He shut his mouth. Vermilion Bird's head did not work right sometimes, and if he irritated her, he would get beaten. "Only organ-training?" Patrick Lawne could not help looking down on him. "No problem. I can suppress my cultivation to organ-training." "You can even suppress your cultivation? Are the geniuses outside all this crazy?" Duke Jaynes's eyelid twitched. So this guy had already reached the fourth major threshold of the Embryo Stage. "It's just sparring. Don't tell me you're scared?" Patrick Lawne frowned. Were the people in this village all cowards? From the moment he entered, something had felt off. In Patrick Lawne's understanding, Black Turtle Village stood at the heart of Skyspine Ridge. In this deep-crimson, terrifying world, it was quiet like a sanctuary. It should have been packed with experts. He had come with the intent to trade blows with peers, eager to test himself against top talents of the same realm. Facing Duke Jaynes instead left him profoundly disappointed. "Scared? You don't understand me at all." Duke Jaynes lifted his chin. "Enough. Make your move."