Chapter 660: Last days on the Caravan (21)

The employee stated the amount, a quantity of mid-grade spirit stones numbering in the hundreds of thousands. Kyrian remained silent for a moment.

’Not bad.’

It was not a fortune capable of completely changing his situation, but it was more than enough to cover his expenses during a long journey. After putting away the ring, he thanked him and left the place.

Now he was truly ready. Tomorrow, he would leave.

When Kyrian finally returned to his courtyard, night had already completely fallen, the sky dotted with stars that shone like distant beacons. The place was silent. After the bustling days in the city, that silence seemed especially pleasant, a balm for his tired mind.

Kyrian entered the courtyard, his footsteps softly echoing against the stone. The tree remained exactly as before, its branches slowly swaying in the night wind. He walked toward it and sat beneath its shade, feeling the rough trunk against his back.

For a few seconds, he simply remained there, allowing the silence to envelop him. The night wind gently passed through the leaves, creating a whisper that seemed to tell ancient stories.

Kyrian raised his head, his violet eyes traveling across the star-filled sky.

’I’ll leave Sky Caravan tomorrow.’

It was strange to think about it. He had arrived there without imagining how much he would be able to obtain.

Now he was leaving with new techniques, new experiences, enough resources to continue his journey, and, most importantly, a much deeper understanding of his own path.

Kyrian touched his spatial ring, feeling the presence of the objects stored inside. There was one thing, however, that he had yet to study, the secret technique.

He took out the ancient book, his fingers feeling the rough texture of the cover. It was an extremely ancient book, with pages that seemed to have been made from some special material, resistant to the passage of time. There were no words on the cover, no title, and no symbol, only two large wings.

The wings were clearly drawn, even without any striking colors, and there was something about them that made Kyrian feel a strange sense of freedom. He ran his fingers over one of them, feeling the smooth texture of the drawing.

’Wings.’

Kyrian opened the book. Nothing happened. He tried again, but the pages did not move. His strength increased, but the book still remained closed.

Kyrian narrowed his eyes.

’A seal?’

He examined the book with his violet eyes, his perception penetrating its surface. The spiritual structure was extremely peculiar, there was a thin layer of energy surrounding the entire book, a formation that seemed to be directly connected to the object itself, as if the book possessed a consciousness of its own.

Kyrian thought for a few seconds. Then he had an idea. He raised a finger, and a small drop of blood appeared.

’Drip.’

The blood fell onto the cover. In the next instant, the book trembled, and a soft light traveled across the two drawn wings. Then.

’Whoosh!’ The book opened on its own, the pages beginning to turn rapidly. One, two, three, until they finally stopped at the first page.

Kyrian looked at the words. There were only a few characters.

Wings of Freedom.

Kyrian read slowly, a small smile appearing on his face.

"Wings of Freedom..."

Now he was truly interested. Secret techniques were extremely rare, unlike ordinary techniques, many of them possessed unique characteristics that could not easily be replaced.

Kyrian turned to the next part. The first page did not contain the technique, it was an introduction, a story.

And it began with a man. A man who was born into an ordinary family, without a powerful bloodline, without extraordinary talent, and without a famous master. His cultivation aptitude was mediocre, and, throughout his entire life, that man desired only one thing. Freedom.

He hated being bound to the earth. He hated watching birds cross the skies while he had to remain beneath them. From a young age, he watched the birds, seeing how they spread their wings, how they took advantage of the wind, and how they could travel thousands of kilometers without needing to ask anyone for permission to leave.

He wanted that. He wanted to fly. He wanted to cross mountains without having to climb them, cross rivers without needing bridges, and observe the world from above.

But his cultivation was never enough. Even after spending decades cultivating, he remained in a relatively low realm, never reached the Spiritual Fusion Realm, and never managed to leave the earth through his own strength.

The older he became, the more distant his dream seemed. He tried movement techniques, artifacts, spirit beasts, and countless methods. None of them truly belonged to him.

And then, at the end of his life, he had an epiphany. That man realized that perhaps he was trying to imitate the cultivators who flew. Perhaps he did not need to. Perhaps he did not need to wait until he reached a high realm, nor did he need a beast. Perhaps he could simply create his own wings.

The idea seemed absurd. But he spent the final years of his life trying to make it a reality. He failed countless times, his Qi escaped, the first wings were unstable, others simply disappeared, and some could not even support his own weight. But he continued. Until he finally succeeded.

Two wings made entirely of Qi. And, shortly before he died... he flew.

Not a few centimeters. Not a few meters. He truly flew. He crossed the sky above his residence, and felt the wind touch his face. And, at that moment, he finally understood that he had achieved what he had desired throughout his entire life, freedom.

The introduction ended there, with a name beneath it.

"Luo Jiyin."

Kyrian stared at the name for several seconds, his eyes beginning to shine.

’Interesting.’

He had read many techniques throughout his journey, cultivation techniques, battle techniques, movement techniques, and Qi control techniques. But this one was different. It was not exactly a battle technique nor a cultivation technique. It was a technique that allowed one to do something that normally only cultivators of the Spiritual Fusion Realm could accomplish, fly.

Kyrian knew this very well. As far as he knew, only upon reaching the Spiritual Fusion Realm could a cultivator truly break through the restrictions of their own body and remain in the skies using their own strength. But this technique had found another path.

’So it is possible to fly before that.’