Chapter 2: Varis Clan

The next morning after getting up from bed, John walked to his wardrobe. There was an assortment of various luxurious robes with multitudes of patterns and designs. He decided to wear a black robe with a Phoenix embroidered on the back of it, the symbol of the Fenix clan. Ever since he was young, John enjoyed wearing black, and was rarely seen not wearing that color.

After getting himself ready for the day, John walked out his mansion and headed towards the martial library. The martial library was located towards the center of the Fenix clan grounds, near the martial training area. Ever since he found out he was unable to cultivate, he decided to make up for this by expanding his expertise in other fields, including academics, military strategy, weapon theory and more. He would often spend entire days inside the martial library, reading the countless books that lay within.

After walking for a few minutes, John arrived in front of the martial library. The martial library was named the White Feather Library, and had served as the Fenix clans library for hundreds of years. It stood seven stories tall with six towering brownish red walls and eight black flying eaves, and was made of smooth stone and wood. The interior was lightly decorated with carved beams and statues of past Elders and leaders. Each floor contained interior balconies that overlooked the entrance hall to the library, as well as exterior balconies overlooking the clan grounds.

He stepped through the main door and walked straight to the stairs. As he began ascending the stairs, he stared towards the center of the library and thought to himself, "Damn, I'll be out of reading material before long".

John had already read all the books on the first two floors and was working on completing the third floor. Arriving at the third floor, he passed by a few aisles before deciding on where to start. Each aisle was lined with dark wooden bookshelves, filled with neatly packed books and scrolls.

He turned down the third aisle and grabbed a book regarding cultivation theory. Though John could not cultivate, he enjoyed learning everything he could, and cultivation theory was no different. The book had a dark leather cover over the bamboo panels, it's pages sandy white with a texture like sanded wood. After examining the cover, John walked over to one of the outside balconies overlooking the martial training grounds.

Below the library, dozens of children between the ages of eight and eighteen could be seen training and sparring. Sighing, he opened the book and turned to the first page.

"To cultivate is to challenge the heavens themselves. Only those with unbreakable wills should tread the cultivation pathway, as doing so..." Reading the opening page of the book, John felt the words stir an intense desire within him, but also a deep bitterness as well.

"I don't care how, but one day I will find a way to get this damn body of mine to start cultivating" John thought to himself. He turned his eyes back to the page and kept reading, eventually coming across the section he was looking for.

"Cultivation starts with the body. In order to cultivate and utilize Qi, one's body should be strong enough to handle the berserk energy that rampages within. Starting with the organs, the five stages of Body Refinement are Organ Refinement, Bone Refinement, Tendon Refinement, Muscle Refinement, and finally Blood Refinement. Once one's body has been completely refined, it is able to handle the Qi provided by the dantian.

After body refinement comes the Mist Creation realm. To step into this realm, one must absorb Qi from the surrounding air, and guide it through the body and into the location of the dantian, three fingers below and two fingers back of the navel. Successfully cultivating to this stage will result in the formation of a dantian of misty Qi. Mist Creation has three stages; early Mist Creation, middle Mist Creation, and Late Mist creation. Each minor realm will further condense the mist dantian, until it is unable to be condensed anymore in its mist state. Each major realm after Body refinement all have the three stages of early, middle, and late.

At the peak of Mist Creation, the dantian will condense into a liquid dantian, known as the Qi Condensation realm. After condensing the liquid dantian to its peak, a cultivator will solidify their dantian into a solid core. This realm is known as the Core Formation realm. Beyond the Core Formation realm is the Meridian Forging realm."

John read through the pages describing the cultivation stages, but it appeared to stop at the Meridian Forging realm. No information was provided other than its name.

"Too bad it didn't include more information on Meridian Forging and the realms after that. I suppose books with that information are stored in a more secure area." thought John. John stopped reading and watched the children below him train, various thoughts swirling through his mind. After a few hours of watching the sparring, John decided to grab a few more books to read.

The moon was high in the sky before John snapped out of reading and realized what time it was. Stretching his aching legs, he stood up and left the martial library, and headed back home and fell asleep.

The next morning, John woke up and walked back to his wardrobe. He was debating on whether to wear his favorite black robe or something more luxurious. Afterall, today was the day that the nearby Varis Clan was paying the Fenix clan a visit, and a celebratory feast was planned for the evening. He decided against the luxurious robes and donned his favorite black robe with the embroidered Phoenix.

"Guess I'll go read some more today before I head over to the festive hall" thought John as he walked out of his mansion. He walked to the martial library and up the stairs to the same book aisle as he visited yesterday. Grabbing the next few books to read, John sat back down on the balcony and opened the first book, perusing through the contents.

"John, the Varis clan is already here. Come down already" a yell suddenly interrupted John and snapped him out of his reading. John looked over the balcony edge and noticed Ryan at the base of the building, waiting for him.

"Oh, I guess I lost track of time. I'll be right down" replied John. After putting the book back in place, John walked down the steps of the martial library and met Ryan outside.

"How long has the Varis clan been here already?" asked John.

"About thirty minutes. Your father sent me to find you since you were late. Also, Miko has been asking non-stop about where you are." replied Ryan.

"Hah" John rubbed his head. He felt a headache coming along whenever Miko was mentioned.

John and Ryan walked through the clan grounds before they came to a massive sprawling building. The building was one hundred feet tall and almost a thousand feet long, with lavish adornments and lifelike statues all along the outside and on top of the building.

John noticed that there were many carriages parked outside. In front of the carriages were Qi Condensation Realm Armored Rhinos. The Armored Rhinos stood nine feet tall and fifteen feet long, and had grey armored plates all along the back of their bodies. They weren't very fast, but they were quite powerful and served as the perfect beast for pulling heavy carriages. The Armored Rhinos signaled the power that the Varis Clan had to be able to have Qi Condensation beasts serve as mere carriage mules.

Walking passed the carriages and up the front stairs, John and Ryan entered the great hall. The hall was large enough to hold thousands of people, with hundreds of tables scattered throughout. The walls and ceiling had detailed designs painted on them, and large lifelike statues of previous clan leaders and patriarchs lined the edges of the hall.

"John, you're finally here, come say hello to our guests" boomed a powerful voice at the center table. The voice belonged to Cade Fenix, the clan leader of the Fenix clan. He was quite tall and had an intimidating face and short black hair with graying tints.

Next to Cade was a contingent of people, with the front led by a middle aged man in a luxurious white robe. He had long brown hair, a full beard, and a friendly face. This man was Waylon Varis, the clan leader of the Varis clan.

"John, good to see you again. It's been awhile. How have you been?" asked Waylon.

"I've been doing well uncle Waylon. I hope the journey wasn't too rough" replied John.

"Not at all" replied Waylon. John smiled and turned his eyes behind Waylon.

Within the crowd behind Waylon John noticed two girls talking to each other, both fourteen years old. One of the girls had long black hair, a pretty face, and wore a luxurious golden robe embroidered with a Phoenix. She was Ralia Fenix, the daughter of the sect leader's second son, Rodi. Next to Ralia was Ella Varis, the only daughter of clan leader Waylon Varis. She had long brown hair tied into a ponytail, with slender eyebrows, large hazel eyes, and a radiant smile.

Noticing Ella, John looked at Ryan and said "I see you're still infatuated as ever with Ella. Why don't you go over and talk to her?"

Snapping out of his stupor, Ryan looked towards John and replied "Easier said than done. Why don't you go talk to her instead?"

"I'm not the one whose in love with her now am I? All you have to do is..." John's voice trailed off as he felt something was off. He quickly looked towards the rest of the Varis clan group, his eyes darting back and forth trying to find someone. Failing to find the person of interest, John had a bad feeling and quickly turned around.

"Eat this" a voice shouted as a foot came crashing towards John. John was a step too late to block it and the foot landed square on his face, sending him crashing backwards into and over one of the tables, food and drink flying everywhere. Slowly standing up while clutching his face in pain, John looked up to see a child standing there, with his arms crossed and a satisfied look on his face.