Sacred Arts

36. The Ascended Realm

Jake entered a deep state of meditation. Eventually, Jake woke up in his mental world. The mental world is deep within a person and that world becomes more stabilized the higher one's cultivation level. "This is so beautiful," Jake thought to himself. "There are infinitely many different colors," he continued. Jake's spiritual energy rose to its peak and began to rise beyond its old limit.

At the same time, Jake's physical energy was rising so it could keep up and withstand all the new power. Jake's spiritual energy became over twenty times stronger than it was before, his physical energy also became twenty times stronger. In fact, all aspects of his power were at least twenty times stronger than before. "All my organs, veins, blood, and even the cells in my body feel so alive," Jake whispered. "It's as though I feel every part of my being communicating with one another to keep me alive," Jake continued as he was amazed at how sensitive his body has become.

About four months had passed and Jake still had not completely broken through. "Should we be worried?" Dustin asked Lee and Amon. "Let's give it more time," Lee suggested. "Yeah, maybe each new realm takes a little longer than the last," Amon added. Lightning began to race throughout Jake's mental world. "Is this my lightning-attribute energy?" Jake wondered.

"It feels so alive and pure," he whispered to himself. "I'm sure, once I reach the ascended realm completely, my attribute energy will be significantly stronger and won't drain me as much," Jake said happily as he watched the lightning in his mental world race around it. Several more months had passed and Jake finally opened his eyes. When Jake came to, his body was floating all the while he was sitting in a cross-legged position. "About time!" Dustin said, smiling. "How long have I been cultivating?" Jake asked.

"It has almost been a full year since you started breaking through to the ascended realm," Lee mentioned. "Which means we've been here for far too long," Jake responded. "I apologize guys," Jake said, annoyed. "It's fine, we all have been advancing our cultivation too," Amon said grinning. "Yeah, I can tell, you are already at the seventh rank within the spirit realm," Jake thought surprised at Amon's progress. "Our team's overall strength is pretty formidable," Jake said out loud.

"We have a seventh rank, and two eighth ranks, all within the spirit realm," Jake continued. "We will begin our hunt for more titans tomorrow," Jake informed his squad. "I'm not sure if the others can tell, but the aura that Jake has now is unimaginable compared to before he broke through," Amon thought to himself. "Hey Jake, how about a little sparring match between me and you," Dustin suggested. "That's actually a great idea," Jake responded eager to test out his new abilities.

"This is a great opportunity for me too," Amon thought to himself. "I'll be able to see how I compare to an ascended realm warrior," he continued. Dustin and Jake walked a few dozen feet away from where Amon and Lee stood. "I'm not going to lie, I'm excited about this," Dustin said with a broad smile on his face. Dustin got into his fighting stance and stared at Jake in confusion.

"Aren't you going to take your stance?" Dustin asked Jake. "I can't explain it, but for some reason I don't want to," Jake responded, as if he was confused about it too. "Don't understand me just because you're in a new realm," Dustin roared as he charged at Jake. Jake rose into the sky, and stood there as he looked at his surroundings in awe. "This ability to fly is really amazing," he thought.

"He's more fascinated with his new abilities than fighting me!" Dustin thought, annoyed. Dustin jumped high into the sky and drew his sword, attempting to slash at Jake. Jake looked at the incoming attack and stopped the sword, catching it with his bare hands. Jake grabbed Dustin by the collar with the other hand, and completely disarmed him. "I can also read the minds of those I'm stronger than," Jake thought surprised.

As Dustin's sword fell out of the sky and landed on the ground, Jake punched him in the stomach, forcing Dustin to hunch over. Immediately after the punch, Jake brought his heel down on Dustin's back, sending him flying towards the ground. The impact of Dustin crashing into the ground created a small crater next to where Dustin's sword had landed. "You admit defeat?" Asked Jake. "Not just yet!" Dustin yelled as he managed to get to his feet and wipe the blood from the corners of his mouth.

"Alright," Jake said with a grin. Jake channeled his lightning-attribute energy all throughout his body and focused it into both hands. "Wow, this is much more potent," Jake whispered. Jake opened both hands and pointed all ten fingers at the ground where Dustin stood. "Lightning Storm!" Jake yelled as small bolts of lightning shot out of his fingers and swept across the area that Dustin stood in.

"No way!" Dustin yelled in fear as the streaks of lightning got closer and closer to him. A loud boom was heard, and Dustin's body was flung backwards a few dozen feet. Dustin was knocked unconscious with lightning still being visible as it ran through his body. "Within three moves, Dustin was knocked flat," Amon whispered, with his eyes wide in surprise. Jake landed back on the ground and went to check on Dustin.

"Sorry if I used too much power," Jake said, worried about his subordinate. Dustin had woken up, and coughed up blood before rising to his feet. "It's all good, I'm happy I can now see how much harder I have to work," Dustin replied with a smile. "Even after that battle, he still cherishes me with all his heart," Jake thought as he stood looking at his friends. "Ok Dustin you heal yourself and as for Amon and Lee, you two can get some rest for tomorrow's hunt," Jake ordered.

Some hours passed, and the moon had risen high into the sky. Amon woke and saw Jake in a deep state of meditation, at the base of the waterfall. "How is he not getting wet," Amon wondered as he approached Jake. "Is everything fine Amon?" Jake asked, opening his eyes. "Yes, I was just wondering if you could help me comprehend lightning-attribute energy," Amon asked.

Jake's eyes shot up and a grin spread across his face as though he had been expecting Amon to ask him that question eventually. "I'd be glad to help, but we are going to do things a much more efficient way than I learned," Jake informed Amon. "Alright that's fine," Amon responded. "Now that I'm an ascended realm warrior, I have this inner world called a divine domain," Jake said. "Oh you mean like our divine dimension?" Amon asked.

"Exactly, but the divine dimension is where you store items, and the divine domain is where you can go to train," Jake continued. "Sit down, and I'll show you," Jake instructed Amon. Amon joined Jake in a cross-legged position and went into a deep state of meditation. Jake synced his consciousness with Amon and brought Amon into his Divine Domain. "This is truly remarkable!" Amon exclaimed as he glanced around the small world of light and darkness.

"It isn't much now, but as I get stronger, I'm sure it'll also become more powerful as well," Jake said. "Since my world is using lightning as a base, I can help speed up your lightning-attribute comprehension," Jake said, smiling. "Starting tomorrow we will train here, and when we aren't fighting titans, we will be in here," Jake informed Amon. "Sounds great to me," Amon said grinning. "Ok this is all for now," Jake said as he unsynced their minds.

Amon opened his eyes and noticed some of his energy was gone and blood had dripped from out of his nose. "What's this?" Amon said curiously as he wiped his face. "Sorry about that," Jake said. "I'm assuming it's because you were in my divine domain which isn't very stable yet," Jake added. "Right now it takes a good toll on me, so I figured it might do you the same way," Jake speculated.

"Oh ok, no worries, I'll just have to become strong enough to withstand the divine domain's power," Amon said determinedly. Amon and Jake went back to where Lee and Dustin were so they could also get some rest. Quite some time had passed, and the sun began to rise. Jake woke all three of his squad members up bright and early. "Alright guys, let's begin our hunt," he said eagerly. "Oh and as we hunt for titans we will also continue mapping out the island," Jake said before heading off in the opposite direction him and Amon had taken before.