In the present

“These levels, or better, this state of our Soul are divided into six. Mortal state, Ascending state, state of Detachment from Earthly Things, Heavenly state, state of the King, and Emperor state,” Iblis said as he listed out the phases that a Soul could reach. “Each of those states split in three further levels, the Early, Intermediate, and Advanced.”

Helial gazed at Iblis as he wondered what level might his Soul be at.

“I know what you’re thinking of,” the Devil answered before he could even spell out his question. “I have examined your Soul very carefully. The state you reached is a low one. What you have experienced with your sister and brother really strengthened your mind, but they prevented your Mana Essence to blossom out.”

Indeed, the more the traumas experienced during one’s lifetime, the stronger one’s heart and Soul. However, this highly affected the growth of Mana Essence.

The strength that came with the hardening of one’s heart would let a practitioner face many challenges. In a not so remote future though, it would also make the greatest obstacle to face itself. Sometimes, the best thing you can do is let your heart soft out. Its plasticity made it far easier to make the fullest use of one’s potential.

Up to that moment, Helial had frozen his every feeling out. He had become numb to everything. He sure had gained a great power from this. His Soul, though, was now at a very level. In theory, it would take him years to take the tiniest step forward.

“So my Soul’s currently in the Mortal state, Early level?” Helial asked. He was baffled by the mediocrity of the state reached by his Soul.

Iblis nodded. He gazed at his disciples as frowned: “You know, in the Clan of Life…

***

Countless years before

The voice of Qinguang resounded extremely solemn as if the king wanted to scold the Devil standing in front of him: “You forgot to explain your pupil the faults of her Soul, Iblis. In order to reach his Emperor state, Marte has been training strenuously for thousands of years. The benefits he got from his continuous hard training is immeasurable. There is no way you can achieve the same results as easily as you say.”

Qinguang wore a disdain expression on his face. It was surely true that Iblis was the most terrifying creature in the universe. When it came to help disciples grow though, who could claim to be better than the Clans of Life? The high hierarchies the Clan had established through its power and authority had helped them fun countless schools in which trained extraordinary warriors.

On the contrary, the members of Destruction cultivated with no masters. They were left free to make mistakes and destroy their Dao of Mana. They weren’t provided with advice of targeted teachings. They had to rely on themselves and uncontrolled experimentation which often times resolved in failing attempts.

Amaterasu, Qinguang, and Kirin stared at Iblis. They were waiting for him to answer. The Devil though completely ignored the disdainful remark he had just received. He piercingly glared at the old man of Life and casually shrugged. Then he turned towards Siche. With a seriousness in his voice no one could have predicted, he asked her: “What are you willing to, in order to get strong enough as to avenge yourself? Are you willing to train for thousands of years just to let your Mana Essence emerge through your Soul? By reaching this peak, you would bring your Dao of Mana to a terrifying level. However, as the old dinosaur here said, matching the level of a Life member like Marte would take your thousands of years, or more even!”

Iblis blinked at his disciple without letting the members of Life noticing it. Siche was familiar enough with her master as to grasp the fact that he was hinting at something. What she could not grasp was what thing, exactly. Therefore, she gazed back at him with a puzzled expression on her face.

“The poor girl has no idea how hard Soul cultivation is. It’s not like Mana cultivation at all. In order to temper your Soul, you need to make it the purest a Soul can be. It’s a greater feat than you could even imagine,” said Kirin as he shook his head. Despite the fact that Siche was a Destruction member, her looks of an angel made it impossible for him not to sympathize with her a little.

“It’s no wonder only Amaterasu reached the King state, indeed,” Qinguang added as he cast his daughter a proud gaze.

Meanwhile, sitting on the breach of a near tree, Tsukuyomi listened to their exchanged and gazed at them from above. She immediately wore a baffled expression. “Hard? Big bro… Thousands of years?” she whispered. Though no one paid her no mind.

Amaterasu glanced at Iblis and said: “Don’t you really want to make your pupil train here, do you? Go away. It’ll take you millens for her to match Mart-“

Iblis blocked Amaterasu’s trail of words by raising one hand towards her. He theatrically lowered that same hand until his palm brushed against Siche, then thrusted her in the right place where lay her heart. In a split second, the hand of the frighteningly powerful creature turned into deathly weapons. He didn’t hesitate to hit in the chest one of the best promises of the Clan of Destruction.

Iblis withdrew his hand drenched in blood and flesh of Siche. The young woman panted for the pain. The grevious expression hung on the face of his favourite pupil aroused no pity in Iblis’ heart. He hastily delivered another blow. To her stomach, this time. The Devil’s speed rate increased with every blow he inflicted until it became impossible to distinguish his moves. He was hitting Siche’s body opening hundreds of agopuncture points with millimetric precision.

Siche had no time to pant before Iblis finished.

***

In the present

Helial fell down on his face. His heart was blown to shreds. His body was covered in countless injuries from which gushed out black thick blood. His face was entirely covered in it. Blood was dripping down every orifice In his face. Helial fell down on his hands and knees. Pain was penetrating every fiber of his body.

“HAAAAAA!” Helial felt like his body was catching fire. A new wave of extremely pure Mana flowed through each of his Meridians gushing its way to his Soul. The process took place repeatedly.

Each time his Mana flowed through one of his Meridians, they would fortify and glisten with some unusual metallic glare.

In the meantime, his Soul was undergoing dramatic changes too. The world created by Iblis inside his Soul began to tremble as if about to collapse. Space distorted. The air glowed with some mysterious gleam.

His Meridians were starting being rid of every impurity. Helial’s skill was ever more similar to a block of jade-like marble. The looks of Helial were growing refined. At the same time, his skin was quickly covered by a film of the dirt coming out of his body.

“Soul transformation comes with physical transformation…” Iblis murmured as from the remote past, the image of a young woman appeared before his eyes.

***

Siche was rolling on the ground in the grip of pure pain under the goggle eyes of everyone. Iblis was staring at her with a sneer on his face.

Her body had already flushed all the toxins out. Those jolts of suffering running down her body were the last ones. The girl began to stand back up. With one firm wave of a hand, he took the dirt off of herself.

***

Helial’s Aura looked now extremely different than before. On his face was an expression that had nothing to do with his usual ecstatic face.

***

For Siche, this feeling was a completely new one. It felt like coming back to life, as if she were noe breathing for the very first time. Time had gained back his color. Everything as she knew it seemed now to belong only to a small part of what the world was actually made of. Its shades, its essence… never had she perceived them so vividly.

Two tiny tears brushed against Siche’s pearly cheeks. She realized she had unconsciously begun to cry for she had reached an oustanding level of perception.

“Is… This… The state of the King? No…” Qinguang said in terror. He was desperately trying to grasp the level of profoundness of the power now exuded by the young girl. “That monster has brought her to unblock the Emperor state, Advanced level…”

Amaterasu gave Iblis a shocked look. The Devil nodded at her. “I can lay my hands on you too, just ask.” The general shock was so complete no one paid no mind to the Devil’s misunderstanble words.

Siche stared at her own two hands as her vision gave her new unexplored feelings. She turned her hands downwards, then upwards again.

“How could that have been so easy…” Amaterasu whispered before the miracle Iblis had just accomplished.

“Thousands of years, huh? Even these five minutes to show you this were a waste already,” Iblis said contemptfully, his hands folded and a sardonic smile on his face.

Amaterasu stepped closer to Siche. Iblis, however, stopped her immediately and snorted: “One more step and this war will start all over. Unless it’s a step towards me, to hold me in your arms.”

Amaterasu raised an eyebrow and retraced her steps, her hands behind her back. She knew what Iblis meant. The Devil was afraid the Forces of Life could hurt Siche, now that she had turned that strong. So strong she did pose a problem to each member of the Forces of Life.

“What I have just done is something no one but Siche will benefit from. I could do that for every disciple. Judgking by your shit faces, I will definitely do that,” Iblis said in a yawn.

With a twist of hand, the Devil told Siche to approach Marte.

Iblis clapped his palms. With utter calm, he gave his disciple a smile. “Go get him and tear him apart.”