Ebony went through the trouble of writing a visiting notice to the Nings.
The Shi Clan was almost empty, all of them entering Xiaoya’s only dungeon along with some older generation Xengs from other clans. Shi Tao stayed behind, not interested in the group activity of youngins since the second-generation leaders of other clans went along. They might still be Emperors but the power gap seemed obvious between generations.
Ebony had never seen Shi Tao open her eyes but she shouldn’t be blind so he once asked his cousin Shi Qiang but the reason was simple enough. The higher being just didn’t want her family members to fear getting traumatised while also protecting Ebony from dying. The Ning Clan leader who was also a woman did the same.
Shi Tao claimed not to have any optical skills but this was a common act from both Saintess of the Xeng. Shi Qiang was unwilling to talk about the Wen, the third Saint of the Xengs. Since that was the case he just asked without fear.
“Why must you close your eyes if it's not a passive skill or fortification?”
“It’s the same reason why our people aren’t well liked. You can call it the suppression of a higher being if you want. Those descendants of mine who went to Elcra will find out how subservient their ‘friends’ would become if they don’t put their masks on and actively withdraw their aura. This is also due to the difference in baseline traits that some call natural order. A large tiger can stare a human child down but not necessarily a human adult. Something like that. I might have evolved but I’m still their parent and grandparent, I don’t want that from my family. I am still only human.”
“So the evolution and so-called higher being has nothing to do with holiness or whatever? I’m guessing from the words Saint, Demi-God and God.” Ebony didn’t question why he could look at Gearhart without any issues. From their reaction, Gearhart wasn’t even on their list of potential enemies or prey.
“Holy? It depends on how you see it. As an individual, it's not like our personalities would change much. Our perspective changes but that is no different from any creature that gained power and control over weaker creatures’ lives. But the power we have with a tier 7 skill can be considered unimaginable to most. And in many cases, that is seen as holy or unholy which is honestly the same to me.” Shi Tao worded herself carefully, not leaking any clues to why tier 7 skills were so hard to obtain or why having one was part of the requirement to evolve into a Saint.
“It shouldn’t be a problem to learn what levels those ranks equate to, is there?” He was already familiar with these Xeng seniors. The only reason they would withhold information is that learning some knowledge too early would negatively affect their descendant’s growth.
“I can tell you that, it wouldn’t affect your progress. Saints range from level 1000 to 1500. Demi-Gods from 1500 to 2500 and I don’t know the limit for a God after 2500.”
Neither of them was fixated on levels so they moved on quickly. Shi Tao was supportive of him marrying Ning Xin but the Nings had a very bad opinion of him right now. He was told that by his cousin, he didn’t send a proper explanation letter or have any follow-up like an immediate written marriage proposal. They didn’t know about his desire for a battle since they’d already assumed he was part of the Xeng after Shi Tao wrote his name down in their registry without his consent.
That reflected horribly on Ning Xin who was their descendant. Thanks to his Auntie Tao, they did not come for him in violence but the pot had been boiling for 5 months. Never had he had such a short training session that brought the most substantial increase in his abilities.
Ebony made sure to double-check his language and writing since the letter of visit would not be able to land in Xin’s hands without being read by a few other people. It was an invitation to go back to Elcra and he had to make sure they didn’t know he lived under the same roof with her. He did not want to know what their reaction would be.
At the same time, he had to explain himself properly and why he delayed the letter. That was easy enough, he was told to blame it on his upbringing away from Xiaoya and he didn’t know their culture. They will accept the reason for urgent training so the delay would be overlooked.
Not only that, he had to make the reason for going back to Elcra with Xin not suspicious to Xin while also subtly telling the Nings his intentions. So he included going back with Kong Jing. To the older generation, it was only natural for the younger generations to go out for more effective and unimpeded growth. Being sheltered for an extended time was poorly looked upon. Recalling the Epic dungeon that he had access to if he wasn’t already kicked out of Magus Consortium, he added that to his letter as the excuse and premise for leaving Xiaoya. To Xin, it would be an invitation to enter a higher-level dungeon than they’ve ever been to although her intuition might lead her to believe otherwise, she shouldn’t be able to deduce why.
The nod of approval from Shi Tao assured him that the letter was suitable.
She was patting the spear on the floor by her side, placating the spear.
“Are you not going to try?”
“My mother didn’t want me to, even if it's in my blood.”
“...That’s too bad but I see where she’s coming from.”
“Because there’s no point in me picking up the spear if I’ll never be number one with it.”
“But…”
“If I live long enough, one day. I will find the answer to how many ways a spear can be thrust.” He didn’t have to be a spearman to learn and find out a definitive answer.
“Good. good.”
The spear rolled itself over to his feet.
“Auntie Tao, I’ll go back to training. Please let me know when I receive a reply from the Nings.”
Walking out of range, Ebony didn’t hear Shi Tao’s mutter.
“Rebellious one, you’re already holding the spear. Why did you block that path from him ah Wu, by then you were already…or are you still…”
She watched her sister’s spear firmly sticking itself within the child’s grip.
❅❅❅
The reply took three days to come over and the date they would leave would be in ten days. Kong Jing would be their chauffeur. Her excitement to leave this place was clear enough.
Ebony wasn’t that disappointed that he wasn’t able to use Infinite Variations much. It had a limited battery charge and using the change in recording with variations would not be worthwhile compared to using it when he gets to Emperor rank. The current setting wasn’t enough to push him while setting power to King would simply kill him without resistance. Those strikes erase his mana chassis out of existence, he wouldn’t even have time to shut Infinite Variations off.
The large power rise might be a hint that she evolved with plenty of natural potential put to use or the settings they input into Infinite Variations were inaccurate.
“Ebony, come over here. We have something to discuss.” Shi Qiang gestured for him while he finished the washing of dishes with Shi Ling. The Shis that went to Elcra returned for a family dinner and was present. The husbands left after dinner for another activity they planned, it sounded like a fishing trip with alcohol involved.
“What’s up!” Shi Ling cut in.
“Not you girlie, you can go home.” Shi Han patted both Shi Ling’s shoulders and physically pulled her away and pushed her out of the temple.
After he dried his hands, he found himself sitting on the floor and surrounded by all the unmasked Shis who were sitting in a circle with him. He had never entered this room on the third floor and it was likely a storage room of old clutter from chairs to vases.
“I’ve told them you plan to propose on this disguised trip.” Shi Tao explained what led to this meeting.
“Since you are a man and a man of Shi, there are some things we have to tell you. It’s crucial and you must remember this!” Shi Qiang started it off.
“You must not get her pregnant before you’ve peaked or nearly peaked at Emperor rank. You don’t want to have your children hate you for giving birth to them inferior right!?” Shi Han exclaimed. He didn’t think they would get loud and other than Shi Tao, Shi Qiang and Shi Ling, the others don’t talk to him much if at all. They still treated him normally and did not want to show any type of disrespect to an elder.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“I suggest you don’t consider waiting till you’re a Saint too.” Shi Tao further explained,“ We’re already pretty much infertile, a successful pregnancy after that might be impossible but more than the impossibility it is the fact that you will cut off your child’s path to anything else but your paths. Well, our husband passed away before that so I don’t have any idea if the infertility problem increases but that is our understanding.”
“Are you referring to having genetics that are too potent?” Ebony knew that the Ning Clan leader lost her husband as well and the common understanding in the room was to change the subject as fast as possible.
“As you’re already aware, you have the strengths of your parents. For Saints and above, it's almost impossible for their children to do something else other than what their parents are good at. From what we know about human Saints, their genes or baseline traits are locked and ultra-optimised. This means their children are completely talentless in anything else their parents are unable to do or not good at. You can see it as the deletion of useless traits and using that potential to further strengthen what is working that made a creature able to reach the stage of a Saint. This includes personality traits.”
“That would indeed sound terrible.” He couldn’t imagine deciding what his children would ultimately want to be or do just because they were his children didn’t mean they had to be an ice mage or gravity mage. That’s not to say they shouldn’t make use of their advantages but directly removing other possibilities because he as a parent didn’t explore other paths be it magic or otherwise just sounds wrong to him. They did have to be strong though.
‘Wait, I am thinking just like any other Xeng. I never even thought about having children yet…’
“That brings us to the next point.” Shi Ke of the fifth generation spoke, she was the shortest person in the Shi family that Ebony had been acquainted with. Barely 1.8 metres tall. Other than that, their figures were all very similar, lean. He couldn’t tell much else since the garments were thick and covered their entire bodies.
There was a long pause from all of the women he was surrounded by.
“We’ve never had sons so we’re not sure how to teach one.” Shi Han of the fourth generation told him honestly.
“Let me start somewhere cousin since mother keeps talking about baseline traits, we can start from there.” Shi Qiang once again helped push the conversation somewhere. She was very helpful for the entire room full of people not good at conversation or people interaction.
“Ah, that’s right.” Shi Yi of the fifth generation gestured understanding by knocking her head with her fist. It did not seem like a cutesy act, she used force in that as if to knock some sense into herself.
“As part of natural order and normal evolutionary process, our low fertility is combated and balanced with equal amounts of libido. I know what you’re thinking, you doubt it. That is also planned, it would harm us and our training so our libido doesn’t surface fully until we have our…first taste.” Shi Han pondered seriously with her fingers on her chin.
“We can’t have a man of Shi fail our clan name. It’s too bad we don’t have any techniques for men. We can only teach you about women from experience. No matter the clan every woman is different so it doesn’t matter if we’re not a Ning.” Shi Tao lamented for the rest of them to hear.
“The first time, your nuptial night is extremely important!” Shi Ke declared.
“Take note of her mood a few years into your marriage, get your nightlife adjusted according to your bodies.” Shi Yi sternly glared at him. It was just her resting expression and he was familiar with them.
“You must like her if you went into her room and are so close so I’m sure you want her to make her happy.”
“Healthy sex life, healthy marriage.” Shi Han nodded to herself and the room of ladies copied her gesture at the same time.
They were taking this talk so seriously that Ebony had to listen just as seriously.
He did not expect the lecture and lesson to last the entire night and half a morning. The mothers and daughters had too many conflicting experiences and advice.
Shi Ling had to knock on their door angrily after running throughout the temple and shouting for their whereabouts since this house was very secure when it came to privacy. Otherwise, they might not have finished their lessons.
The unmarried women were waiting for them at the table for breakfast and the conversation shifted to tips about what the Ning Clan could possibly teach Xin in the last 5 months to raise his chances of success in a duel. Thanks to the diversion, Shi Ling’s unending pestering about what they were talking to him about the whole night wouldn’t have quietened down.
They believed there wasn’t much because the Nings were magic and mind focused, 5 months might not be enough to find a suitable teaching angle that would fit Ning Xin’s existing style since she was so different from the other Nings. However, he could expect extremely efficient usage of her magic if not a potent increase in magic output. It was said that they were experts at micromanaging mental facilities to perfection in terms of battle efficiency.
There were fire, lightning and wind mages amongst the Nings but none were blood magic users like Ning Xin’s father who wasn’t a Xeng. As for sword users, there were a couple.
Xin’s parents were known to have disappeared but they told him it was the Nings' matter so they didn’t dig much into another clan’s issues if there wasn’t an external threat. For example, another race unfairly hunting a Xeng down. They wouldn’t care about clans if that were the case, all of them would be on the case. Understandable when many of the clans were connected by marriage. If it was a duel or mutual hunting, it usually wouldn’t escalate to extermination.
“Are there any clues on extracting energy from raw materials and ingredients to refine physique?”
“Just eat it if you can before you evolve. Our bodies can digest many things. If it’s a similar element you can control, the energy can be used during your evolution as natural potential. It is a bit of a waste but there’s far less hassle with random ingredients.”
Ebony took out the Pyrothernite Source Stone but their opinion was still for him to swallow it down regardless of the technique required to make use of it. ‘You mean to tell me I can just eat anything high in energy that is similar in element before evolution without pain or effort to change my physique?’
“I heard the Ning girls and Kong boy went to the Blood Realm. That is a dangerous place. Now that I think about it, she probably went to get something for the seventh-gen girl. Hmm, I don’t think you need to worry about a huge physique refinement or mutation from her. They will probably prepare something similar during her evolution.”
In the end, Shi Qiang took the Pyrothernite Source Stone from him to request someone from the Yin family who makes these types of pre-evolution potions. After thinking about it, Ebony had no qualms with it. There was a waste but unlike the Molten Nucleus with proper methods that Cinderashians use, there was no one who used the Pyrothernite Source Stone like a drug, it was a rock after all.
It was even less of a problem for a blood mage like Xin, they were known to be good at digesting energy. They didn’t need manual mutation of their bodies which has a high chance of leading to death or a weaker body that’s flawed in some way.
Another problem of having good genetics and naturally high baseline traits meant that these ingredients wouldn’t help much unless they were a lot higher in rarity and quality. That’s why the Xengs didn’t seem interested in his gain or loss in losing the energy from the source stone. However, Shi Tao knew he was born on Earth and his normal stats could stand to gain a lot since their low state could be increased considerably cheaply.
He was taught to leave specifics alone, if he wanted to increase a stat effect, it was better to spend more and improve them overall instead of increasing a certain portion of that stats’ effect. For example, increasing endurance, there were many parts of endurance he could improve. Muscle endurance per point, maximum stamina per point, stamina regeneration per point. However, he took that recommendation lightly. He was well aware of some things that could be improved for his balance.
The scheduled date came quickly.
Ebony had a plate of shrimp fried rice he made for himself in front of his mother’s tombstone where her spear stood behind. Patting the stone after he finished eating and recounting his experiences, he turned around to wash up. “See you around…I don’t quite know your name.” The spear bent and smashed his skull. Gently.
Since he didn’t have much to pack up, he was able to leave any time after the farewell.
Ebony was released from his prison cell with some help from Kong Jing. He had Kong Jing pass over his Myriad Bracelet and cell over to someone more capable.
By his request, the crafter seemed to have left the spirit alone and didn't harm her. He didn't want to kill the spirit, nor did he want to brainwash it in any way. It was a living entity and Ebony didn't see it right to force his will to change the spirit.
The spirit could still steal and eat his mana and stamina but it could no longer morph into liquid form to physically trap him. On the other hand, the spirit was now trapped in the reforged gem. The physical body it inhibited was reduced in mass. The material was of the Legendary rarity and became the main material of his Bracelet but the mixture with the previous make-up removed this liquid form ability. The Bracelet's ability to absorb mana was vastly improved. Now even without a mana ore fitted into place, it had an unknown mana capacity for him to figure out. Thanks to the presence of a living spirit, it also increases the efficiency of converting his mana to the universal standard. If the spirit wished to help him, it would be the same if it didn't help him.
The crafting process still put a lot of stress on the spirit so the Xu crafter put the spirit to sleep before he started working on it. It lost most of its body after all, but Ebony saw that as an even punishment for it. As a Spirit, it could recover its body over a few hundred to thousands of years depending on the spirit's ability and its original body's materials.
It would be in an induced coma for the foreseeable future. Much like how Icicle's spirit didn't seem to be growing or maturing, spirits generally followed a different scale of time when it came to growth and recovery. For all he knew, it would be aggressive towards him again when it woke up thanks to its birth being given a duty by its creator. In any case, it wasn't a threat if he could knock it out with a roar and he could just remove the gem on the bracelet now that it wasn't bound to him.
Kong Jing came over to pick him up and only then, did they go to the Ning Clan to pick Xin up.
Ebony could tell he was not welcomed by the same man who had his hair burst into lightning. He was clearly a son of Ning and Lei. The swapping states of the Ning and the lightning of the Lei. The Shi had pitch-black hair and pupils and irises regardless of the element they wielded. Ebony’s eyes never changed despite his hair taking on some light blue. The Nings were the same in their calmer mode.
The rest of the Clans had colourful hair depending on their heritage and dominant element.
“Hello, we’ve come to pick Xin up.”
“Please behave appropriately, uncle.” The fourth generation Ning was Xin’s Great-grandfather, where Xin’s lightning affinity came from. He must be fuming deep down that Ebony was technically a generation higher but he was in his calm mode right now.
“Mmm.” Ebony had their culture and thinking understood, they wouldn’t be angry once he wedded Xin and took responsibility. He just had to leave before they found out he had done more inappropriate things.
Kong Jing took Xin’s hand and they were whisked away.