Curo trembled when he heard those words. He gently nodded his head before departing. The dragon gave him a long and meticulous glance as he seemed to ponder something. He then sighed deeply and muttered, “As expected, after these countless years, my Jing Clan had died out.
Since he was progenitor of the bloodline, he could feel every single fluctuation of the same blood. However, besides Curo’s, he couldn’t feel a single other fluctuation, indicating that Curo was the last of his Bloodline. With a deep sigh, he closed his eyes and focused on healing his injuries.
***
When Curo arrived back in his courtyard, he discovered that there were two people standing there. His father and the middle aged man that stayed to guard him on the battleground. Seeing the two of them, Curo maintained his calm as he landed and respectfully cupped his hands towards them, “Father, Uncle Zheng.”
The two nodded their heads lightly and Ji Long asked, “How were your meridians repaired?” Curo expected for this to happen. Now that Ji Long had finished with all of the urgent matters, he was sure to question him on the matter. He had been thoroughly crippled, so to now suddenly being able to cultivate was something that stunned all of them.
In addition to that, he was stronger than ordinary Foundation Establishment Cultivators at the same stage as him. Just as Curo was pondering on what to say, a voice echoed out in his head, “Bring the two of them here. I’ll explain everything.” Curo released a sigh of relief as he said, “Come on, follow me.” Ji Long and the man named Zheng exchanged a suspicious glance before following behind Curo.
It didn’t take them long to arrive at the place where the old Dragon Senior was located.
On the way, no one said a word as the two behind Curo knew that everything will be explained when they arrived. However, the two were on guard as they didn’t know if the person in front of them truly was the boy thy had known. When Ji Long and Uncle Zheng laid their eyes on the gigantic dragon, they instantly grew alarmed as they drew their weapons. Seeing this, the dragon just snorted and the two were hit by a massive wave of pressure.
The dragon then said, “I am not here to pick a fight, I only need a breath to annihilate the both of you.” Ji Long and Uncle Zheng exchanged a wary glance as they understood that although the dragon was visibly injured, he would have no problem killing the two of them. Seeing the situation like this, Ji Long straightened his back as he stared towards the dragon, “I am honoured that senior is here, however, may I ask, what relation do you have with my son?” The dragon let out a chuckle and said, “He is the last of my blood and he is my direct disciple that I owe my life to.”
Hearing this, Ji Long’s eyes widened to carriage wheels as he muttered, “Jing’s Founding Ancestor….” Hearing this, the dragon narrowed his eyes as he nodded his head, “Indeed, I am the Founding Ancestor of the Jing Clan of Ancient Times; Jing Fang.”
Hearing this, Ji Long’s face alternated between shock, realization and confusion. He then said, “But, Qing said that you fell countless years ago in the Realm War….” The Dragon shook his head gently as he said, “No, I didn’t fall. Me and the three other Ancient Primordial Beasts were sealed. Since they couldn’t kill us, they used some underhanded methods at the end of the Realm War to seal us, so that they could take over the Realm when the next Realm War arrived.”
Hearing this, Ji Long nodded his head in understanding. He then turned towards Curo as he asked the dragon, “But how were you able to repair his meridians?” The dragon glanced at Curo and said, “I didn’t repair them.” Ji Long was baffled by the statement before the dragon continued talking after he had glanced at Curo, “By using an intricate Formation and giving up some of my own cultivation and Origin Blood, I reforged Curo’s body to be the near my own in Bloodline Purity.”
He then took a pause before he said, “You could say, I completely reforged his body from scratch. However, that strictly applies to the things that could be reforged. It can’t recover lost limbs or lost organs, such as eyes.” After hearing this, Ji Long’s face fell as his worst fear had been truly realized, Curo had lost his sight.
They all had the suspicion since he had never opened his eyes since they met him. Ji Long sighed deeply as he asked, “What happens now?” The dragon was surprised by this as he said, “If you allow it, then I would like to stay here and be Curo’s Mentor. However, I will strictly teach him techniques, as to comprehending them and tempering himself, I will not help him at all.” Hearing this, Ji Long’s face turned thoughtful as he asked, “You just wish to stay here?”
The dragon nodded his massive head as he said, “As you have realized, I have many injuries that require healing. Rest assured, if the Ji Territory should meet a disaster, I will not hesitate to act on the behalf of the Ji Clan.”
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Hearing this, Ji Long let out a deep breath and cupped his hands towards Jing Fang and said, “I will have to thank Senior for protecting my home.” The dragon let out a chuckle and said, “I have no other family left, so doing this is only natural but may I ask, are there still Academies around?”
Hearing this, Ji Long nodded his head and asked, “Does Senior plan on sending Curo to an Academy?” Jing Fang once again nodded his head and said, “That environment is the best to temper his techniques and strength. There, everything will be decided by his own strength and his own temperament.” Hearing this, Curo, who was neglected at the side raised his brows.
Ji Long fell into thought and said, “Our Myriad Beasts World houses one of the Five Ancient Academies; The Hidden Dragon Academy. However….” After talking this far, he let out a deep sigh as he said, “However, they are an extremely eccentric Academy. Each year, out of the countless people that want to enter the Academy, they strictly accept only 1000 students. Never one more or never one less.” Jing Fang seemed to fall into thought as he asked, “What is the criteria to participate and what strength does one need to usually enter?”
Ji Long let out a bitter smile as answered, “The person has to be at least the Qi Kindling Condensing and under 20 years of age.” Hearing this, Curo let out a deep breath as he thought to himself, “Palace Building…. I have five years of time left but to enter Qi Spring Stage in that time… That is simply dreaming.” However, what Ji Long said next made Curo lose all hope, “The people that are usually accepted are at the Peak Qi Kindling Condensation and some have even broken through to Qi Spring Stages.”
After Ji Long said that, he waited for the dragon to answer. Jing Long let out a deep “Hmm….” and soon asked, “When is the next registration for entry?” Ji Long thought for a moment before saying, “The last entrance exam was a month ago so, in eleven months.”
Hearing this, Jing Fang nodded his head and turned towards Curo and said, “That is plenty of time for him to enter the Qi Spring Stage." Hearing this, not only did Curo’s face change, Ji Long and Uncle Zheng seemed to be floored. Curo cried out, “To reach Qi Spring Stage in eleven months is impossible for me.”
Jing Fang let out a thunderous laugh as he said, “You underestimate yourself far too much. Your talent is something that was even rarely seen in Ancient Times. You have also not fully awakened the Primordial Dragon Bloodline inside you. In addition, don’t you have a strong Clan and me assisting you?” Hearing this, even Ji Long glanced at Curo and fell deep into thought. “Even if you don’t manage to meet the deadline this year or fail to enter the Academy, you still have four more years.”
Jing Fang said in a low tone and added then with a sigh, “All of this doesn’t matter, inside the Academy you will have access to far better cultivation resources than me or the Clan can offer you. Besides that, you will be able to obtain a gigantic leviathan to stand behind your back and shield you from disasters that we are helpless against.”
After having talked this far, Jing Fang turned quiet as all of the gazes turned to Curo who was in deep thought. No matter how much they pressured him, unless he himself truly wanted to go, it didn’t matter. As Curo thought about it, he suddenly said, “I will try to reach the bare minimum of the qualifications.”
To Curo it would only bring benefits and he would also be able to bring benefits to his Clan. As Jing Fang had said, even if he didn’t qualify this year, doesn’t he have four more years left to try? He also was eager to try it. He had not been able to cultivate until now and now suddenly being able to…. The feeling was intoxicating. He had slowly become addicted to cultivating as he felt his power rise with each cultivation session.
When he thought back to how he had managed to enter Foundation Establishment in only a month, he felt that maybe what Jing Fang had said was true, it would not be a pipe dream to enter Palace Building Stage in the next eleven months. Although, each progressive stage and layer were harder and harder to cultivate, it didn’t let Curo dampen his mood as he had already made up his mind to give his best. Seeing Curo’s expression, all of them smiled.
Jing Fang then said, “Head back for today, tomorrow, we will start your high intensity training.” Curo nodded his head solemnly. He knew from the past months experience that the “High intensity training” was in fact a straw short of self torture. He didn’t know what Jing Fang had in store for him but he could guess that pain was going to be the least of his problems.
After exchanging a few more words, Curo headed back to his courtyard to rest for the night. He needed his body to be in peak condition when the training starts the next day.
After Curo had left, Ji Long looked towards Jing Fang and asked sincerely, “What does Senior think of Curo’s future prospectives?” The dragon fell silent before saying, “No matter what we do, it will all depend on him. If he lacks the will or drive, there is nothing we can do.”
Hearing this Ji Long thought back to something but could only bitterly shake his head. He knew the best what it meant that if one lacks the will, their cultivation will always stagnate. There was no cure for this, they could only wait for the person themselves to find the drive to do it.
“However, if he has the drive, I feel as if his accomplishments may not stay in the Realms of Saints.” Hearing this Ji Long’s face turned surprised. Before the Tribulation were the Qi Gathering, Foundation Establishment, Palace Building, Core Formation, Nascent Soul and Origin Realm.
Then Came the Saint Tribulation and after the Saint Tribulation, there were three Mayor Realms; The Saint, Earthly Saint and Heavenly Saint Realms. After the Tribulation to pass that, there were higher realms but Ji Long had no knowledge of them as his own strength was too weak.
Suddenly, Jing Fang looked towards Ji Long and said, “You know, with your talent and foundation, given a bit of time, you can also step into the Saint Realm.”