Possibly the most powerful master besides the Grandmaster was Elder Sada Yoshida; his legend was quite widely adored by the elite of Ei'en and the commoners. Formerly a military captain who learned cultivation on his own he joined the academy five years ago at forty years old. With his military experience that refined his cultivation though it was self-taught it had caused him to have a deep understanding of cultivation of ki energy. This was why he was the perfect master for Ezio who needed the best if he was going to impress his father and by extension his grandfather.

The Eternal Emperor nowadays rarely emerged from his cultivation and allowed his children to run the empire via a council along with several other important figures with his father at the head. For nearly two decades his father had been basically the de facto ruler of Kuro. While his other two uncles and aunt were powerful in their own right they had less interest in ruling and basically supported his father in his endeavors.

Ezio saw the burden his father was under and knew that he had to be strong like his siblings so he could take some of the burden from him. All the hard work he was going to put into his cultivation was for that goal. While his siblings were all getting old enough to assist he was still aways from being capable of ruling. Cultivation was the first step in this process.

It didn't help his father that the war with the Kalaminra alliance had taken a toll on the empire as a whole and still no end was in sight, so he had to become strong quickly if he was going to bear the burden of ruling by his father's side. However, his siblings wouldn’t just lay down and let the youngest child take a leading role so easily. Particularly his half siblings.

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"Master Sada, I appreciate you taking me in. It is an honor." Ezio said as they walked towards Master Sada's courtyard "I am truly thankful as will my father."

"I didn't do it for you or your father" he said gruffly "I did it because you had the most talent out of this year's batch. Your lineage had no bearing on my choice... if you do not perform to the expected level you will be tossed aside and a new student will take your place. Do you understand?" Master Sada said without any hesitation despite Ezio's obvious rank. The man didn’t hide his intentions or mince words which Ezio appreciated; it was clearly a byproduct of his military training.

Ezio nodded his head confidently as they continued onward.

They walked along the stone pathway before in the distance the girl with blue eyes was trailing behind the Elder Xinya. The only reason the blue eyed girl would be with Elder Xinya is if she had been accepted as a disciple. Of course their courtyards were not far from each other, each butt up against a small mountain filled with small bamboo forest.

It took a second before Ezio could process the situation. Ezio almost tripped over his own foot from shock. “How did that girl manage to impress Cui Xinya, the legendary youngest master in academy history!” Ezio couldn’t help but dwell on the fact that the rude girl was powerful enough to impress a nearly as famous Elder as his own!

"Ezio" the gruff voice came from his master as he glared at Cui Xinya with unusually hateful eyes. "Watch out for that blue eyed girl. Do not let her get near you...anyone that witch takes an interest in is not good news. The only thing you should do is humiliate her in the upcoming showcase to the nobility. It’ll cripple her prospects now before that witch makes her a deadly weapon...." He turned to Ezio. "Do you understand?"

Ezio nodded, not sure how to take his master's words. What was so bad about Elder Xinya?