Puttering raindrops rippled across the skies like a gentle drizzle on clear waters. What immortals commonly called The Leaking.

  Spanning as far as the eye could see, the pattern of concentric rings rippling across the sky was a sign well known in the heavenly realms, and even the least of immortals understood its source... Lumen.

  A dense light which flowed like a fluid flare, and the primary power and cultivation of the realms.

  Such were the skies in the third realm the day the Sole Disciple of the Great White Phoenix chose to defy the Reigning.

  The evening skies had cast a violet hue stretching over the horizon while he sat atop a cliff overlooking the waters of the Luminous Pebble Bay. He sat in deep focus and hadn’t moved since early dawn, when the sky’s deep blue bled to violet.

  Not even the trailing ash of unattended embers from the nearby campfire could deter him. Eyes closed and hand poised upward, he hovered an amber lumen flare in his hand, quietly cultivating.

  A ragged teal string wrapped unevenly around a bun with unruly strands framing his jawline... His features were not only familiar. They were etched into the memory of every immortal in the third realm, ever since the Ancient Hall imprinted his image into every immortal’s memory element, declaring a new mark of distinction: ‘Paragon of the Reigning.’

  Most referred to him as such, although some named him ‘the young immortal who dared to put on airs as the dragon spirit’. While others frankly referred to him as, ‘the young immortal who breaks your fingers when you touch his Pendant’.

  He was just over a thousand years old, his body immortally halted at the peak of youth. But he did rank young immortal indeed. Just one rank above the lowest. Nevertheless, he was a master cultivator unmatched by all peers. Although, that day he struggled. For the lumen flare hovering over his hand was still a modest teacup draw, and it flickered like a flame caught in the wind.

  Shifu, it's been three months, and I’m still crafting the primordial retrieval technique… Please, Shifu, just this once, allow me to use my true core… he spoke in a thought transmitter.

  There was no response, and he sensed an apprehensive hesitation from his Shifu’s end. Hesitation that needed further convincing. Quietly, he resumed his focus, cultivating.

  The inner parts of his wrists were imprinted with water emblems, shaped like concentric droplets no larger than the royal seals. They were translucent and outlined with amber lumen. Yet with each draw of willed breath, they filled entirely with the amber hue of his lumen.

  The left water emblem, his lumen receptor, served to draw lumen from the atmosphere and into his lumen veins. Drawing on his will, it pulled the prickling cool trail, and coursed it towards his core pocket located in his diaphragm.

  Within the core pocket, his core hovered in its midst, while lumen seeped within through a network of lumen veins impressed upon its veil like glowing spirit roots.

  Meanwhile the right water emblem on his wrist was his lumen effector, which effected his will outward. Attempting to grow his hovering lumen flare, it carefully pulled refined technique from his core and along the lumen veins on his right.

  With each draw of willed breath, he drew lumen into his form, trailed it into his core, and cycled… Tempering and refining his technique. All while maintaining momentum and gauging intensity with the pull of his will on his water emblems.

  The night breeze was settling in, yet his lumen draw was barely a bowl size.

  Clutching onto the glowing white jade Pendant that hung from his sash, he gauged his progress, detecting its contents… It was still empty. Nor could he detect any of the rippling droplets from the Leaking skies.

  Shifu, you chose this core for your quest... But I cannot break through. Please, Shifu… Allow me to use my true core and I will complete your lifelong quest...

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  He sensed hesitation, but finally, in a thought transmitter, his Shifu responded.

  …The seal of a thousand scales draws from the dragon spirit’s token…To lift it, is to unveil my quest and my intent…His Shifu replied.

  The Sole Disciple paused, eying his amber lumen receptor. Three months he’d sat cultivating. His patience was wearing thin. He opened his thought transmitter and with hardened determination, made his request once more.

  The Leaking will cease tonight and reappear in 30,000 years… As for the dragon spirit… If he dares to stand in my way… Then I will honor him with the distinction of my first disciple and teach him true meaning of ‘Paragon of the Reigning…’

  A low chuckle rumbled from his Shifu’s thought transmitter… You are my Sole Disciple for this very reason. No one in the realms has the courage to achieve my quest... I have given you my sword, Qi Yuan. Forged from the three primordial crystals from the Greats of the Reigning… And the fourth, the primordial crystal I’ve cultivated since my early years in the mortal realm...

  He paused as if his hearing had failed him.

  Shifu… You cultivated a primordial crystal?… His ceased his thought, and his memory flashed to the day his Shifu gave him his sword. Fully resolved, understanding took over all reason.

  …I have spent this lifetime vowed to your follow path… After much adversity, tonight, I will complete your quest. I will hand you the last token of the Reigning Grounds… I give you my disciple’s vow….

  The Sole Disciple never gave his word lightly. It was the reason his Shifu granted him the honors of fulfilling such a quest. Moments passed, then he felt a seal lifting in his core and sensed the settling assurance of his Shifu’s approval.

  Instantly, the outlines of his water emblems turned silver and a sharp lumen gust billowed from within, trailing against his strands. His lumen flare grew to a bowl sized draw and slowly moved in a whirl.

  Finally, a familiar pressure formed within his core. Refined dense lumen of his crafted technique condensed into a tiny speck within his core nucleus. Slowly, it filled with refined lumen until it fused with his core as a newly formed core element of retrieval.

  Immediately he willed it to course throughout his lumen veins.

  Ready to execute his will. The lumen hovering over his hand whirled faster as he aimed to refine it into the ancient waters of form.

  The eye of the Leaking, he commanded with willed thought, setting his retrieval onto his target.

  But he’d willed too soon. And instead of turning to ancient waters, his hand tensed, and the lumen whirl in his arm slowly crystalized with shards of smooth ice.

  Dread crept in as he struggled to stabilize his draw. But his lumen whirl hardened while slowly diminishing as it condensed onto his hand in flickers of frost-like crystals.

  He halted cycling, eyeing the frost-like icy lumen on his hand with sweat beads forming on his forehead.

  "Is everything alright?" an immortal young lady and personal physician called from behind.

  He cocked his head to the right and hid his hand. If she saw it, she would insist he rest for three days at the very least. That was simply unacceptable.

  He heaved willed breath, cycling. And in a moment, crystalized frost trailed up his right hand and across the core pocket in his diaphragm, gripping his core.

  His physician let out a loud gasp at the sight of his crystalizing body.

  Aiming her cultivation, a quick surge of teal lumen crashed against his back and into his body. It coursed through his lumen veins and slowly, the frost on his body dissipated, trailing back down his arm, as she strained to push it back it.

  On his hand, it lingered. Trying to push back against her will.

  "Heal!" she willed her words in a guttural tone, her eyes wide with dread.

  His core blockage was the bane of her existence. And she’d always warned that his cycling lacked balance. But no matter how much she advised, the Sole Disciple couldn’t help it. Nor could he quell the zeal of his drive as she’d often prescribed.

  Gauging his breathing, she matched his willed draw and aimed a seal on his core. His water emblems became translucent, and she quickly took over his lumen veins and cycled lumen at his pace.

  His water emblems turned teal, and she controlled his draw. Soon, his hovering lumen crystal likewise responded, as it returned to a stable deliberate lumen flare. A dense light whirling at will.

  Finally, his lumen whirl refined and transformed into clear waters with amber undertones that glowed like trapped light. Then, his lumen veins ceased their draw, leaving the quiet relief and certainty of a sealed technique, store and ready to execute his will.

  "Now…" she gently urged, releasing her grip on his lumen veins.

  In an instant, the Leaking in the sky above likewise stirred, mirroring his draw. Flowing inward like his hovering whirl, the Leaking reflected gentle swirling waters until an opening appeared at the center of its spiral.

  A realm opening. And what minor immortals mistakenly called the eye of the Leaking.

  With willed thought, his retrieval chipped a fragment of his primordial spirit and he formed a projection of his body. Outlined in amber lumen and hovered mid-air above his body.

  Again, drawing willed breath, the essence of the Leaking skies rushed into his core, and as it filled his body, his projected form likewise filled with amber lumen from the point of its core.

  His awareness drifted right into the Leaking’s bounds and with eyes closed, the Leaking’s realm pocket unfolded before him. His confidence soared, as he could hear the sound of rain and roiling thunder within the Leaking’s realm pocket.

  In a moment of willed thought, his projection dissipated in a portal mist.