The trees and all the leaves in the area started to vanish into nothingness. The destroyed terrain cleared itself and the grass disappeared. The whole space was changing and being replaced with white walls, a white ceiling, and a white floor. They were back in the original training room.
“Don’t worry about how long you’ve been in there. To you it must’ve been a while but to others, only a breath of time has passed. That’s the benefit of the Space-time Scenario Chamber, it gives you a lot of training in no time at all.” Third Elder’s eyes glowed as he talked about his Space-time Scenario Chamber.
“Third Elder, what exactly is the second part of my testing?” Akata couldn’t help but ask. He had many reasons to ask, one was that Third Elder had paused seemingly in the middle of admiring his work, another was to prepare himself.
“The first part of your training was to have you realize that you can’t fight everything. Even if they are a lower level than you, you have to be careful and retreat when needed. The second part of your training… doesn’t involve me so I don’t actually know.” Third Elder said this with a bit of loss as he scratched the top of his head.
He continued on, “Second Elder has a separate test for you that she intends to have you go through. I’m about to take you over to her right now actually.” Third Elder spoke with confusion and boredom, but then he remembered something that made him let out an “Ah!”
“I noticed when you were fighting that you picked up a stick to use as a spear. Could it be that you don’t have a weapon? And are you adept in wielding the spear?” Even though the Elders paid attention to the disciples and especially Akata, they didn’t put enough of their attention on them that they knew everything.
“It is true that I don’t have a weapon right now. Yet I am not that proficient in the spear either. I simply play around with it hurling it through the air hoping it will hit my target. That was actually the first time my aim was able to send the stick in the direction of my target.” Akata didn’t hold any information back as he told the truth to Third Elder.
“I see. Well every cultivator should have a weapon to use. Even if you solely focus on body cultivation, a weapon can help out in any situation. I’ll take you to get a weapon from the treasury while we are on our way to Second Elder.” Third Elder spoke in a wise manner this time.
Akata couldn’t understand anything about Third Elder. He felt that Third Elder was completely in his own world. He could laugh, be serious, and speak wisdom all in the same breath. This wasn’t the only thing he didn’t understand though.
“If you don’t mind my asking Third Elder, how come you all are helping me to this extent? Is there something special about me? Or this red rune in my soul region?” Akata was a genius so he was able to deduce matters quite easily.
“The reason why we are helping you is not important right now. Given your power this information would do more harm than good, so it’ll be best not to know for now. If you can manage to reach the Great Circle of the Saintly Rank then I will personally let you know.” Third Elder didn’t speak after that and looked like he had no more intentions of bringing up the matter again.
But to Akata the few words Third Elder had spoken caused his mind to race with many different thoughts. Not mentioning the information alone would cause his life to be in turmoil, but the mention of the Great Circle of the Saintly Rank was something completely out of this world for Akata. He had never heard of anyone even reaching that stage before, yet Third Elder who he was speaking to, said it way too casually. As if that level meant nothing to him.
Akata had many thoughts and ideas on the matter but he chose not to voice them. Seeing how quick Third Elder stopped the topic he knew he wasn’t going to get anymore answers. He might even cause trouble to befall on him if he probed too much.
Third Elder and Akata made their way across the Elder Quarters to the Treasure Pavilion. The pavilion wasn’t that grand at all. It was two stories tall and was covered with grey stone and red banners with the sect’s emblem on them. The two figures walked towards the two guards at the front gate.
Both guards stood up straight as they noticed Third Elder approaching. They clasped hands and gave a deep bow as they greeted him. “Greetings Third Elder!” They said in unison. Third Elder nodded his head and continued walking with Akata a step behind him. The guards didn’t raise their heads until Third Elder was inside of the building.
“Was that Akata with Third Elder? I wonder what he could be doing?”
“Be careful, right now you’re questioning Third Elder. Just accept it and keep doing your job.”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Inside of the Treasure Pavilion there was still the same grey stone and red banners. The floor was made of a dark brown wood that looked as if it came from Misty Forest some time ago, giving off an ancient air.
Akata looked around to see many many treasures. All the items he saw were particularly eye catching to him. He saw a set of crimson red beads that had the aura of blood. He also saw many sets of armor, although they looked like they came from old times. What caught his attention even more was a pair of swords that gave off a feeling of warmth and coolness.
“The Treasure Pavilion has better items than the Weapon Pavilion we have in the sect. We don’t really care about treasures here so most of our items are old and rustic. Even though they are ancient they are still usable, choose something that fits you.” Third Elder spoke nonchalantly as he talked about the Treasure Pavilion. He found a place to sit and then just waited. Any disciple in the sect would die to have the chance of acquiring something from within, but to him none of these items held value to him.
Akata’s eyes glowed with a bright light as he looked around at all the treasures and weapons in the room. He ran from side to side to check out various items and test them. He even used his Shadowfeet technique so that he could go faster.
The set blood pearls he came across radiated a bloodthirsty aura so strong that Akata couldn’t even approach it. He immediately gave up the idea of acquiring that set of items. He sped to the sets of armors that gave off and ancient feel. He tried many of them on and found them to be amazing. One set of armor caused his body to glow with a golden light, it was a natural protective shield that would last as long as he wore the armor! Another set of armor contained a daoist ability in it which could summon a thunderstorm!
Akata kept these sets of armor in his mind as he looked around some more. He then came across the pair of swords. One was the color of vermillion flames and the other was a calm azure. As he approached he felt the pressure from the swords that caused him to hold his breath. One sword gave off a blistering heat while the other was a soothing coolness. He reached out towards the swords and grabbed them. He instantly felt power course through his veins and it almost caused him to cough up a mouthful of blood. He hefted the two swords in the air and swung them down. A streak of fire and ice flew from the blades causing the surrounding area to feel intense heat and cold at the same time. The two blasts integrated together and formed a new kind of element. A thunderous boom rang throughout the Treasure Pavilion causing the ground to shake.
Akata couldn’t help but let out an “Eeee?!” sound as the boom resounded out. Third Elder was there, watching Akata run around testing the various weapons, with a blank face on. Whenever Akata picked up a weapon that could cause some damage he would set up a quick barrier to block the damage from the pavilion. So even though a huge boom rang out, nothing was damaged in the slightest. Third Elder continued to sit there with a bored look on his face and a hand to prop his head up. Even after Akata tested the twin swords he continued to wave a finger in the air on occasion and sigh out of boredom.
He knew how important it was to choose the right weapon as this choice would follow you throughout your whole life. So he didn’t want to rush Akata in picking a weapon, and he didn’t want to leave him either just in case he needed guidance. Third Elder looked off into the distance and a smile suddenly rose on his face. To others it looked like he was smiling at the wall. But his eyes weren’t looking at the wall, they were looking far beyond that.
Boom!
A loud boom could be heard all of a sudden. Akata looked in the direction of Third Elder and sucked in a breath of cold air. “What happened?!” Surprisingly this boom didn’t come from him this time, it came from the direction of Third Elder. Dust rose in the air and obscured his vision. Although it didn’t matter if he could see or not because almost immediately after he heard yelling. It didn’t sound like someone getting attacked though, but more like an argument.
“WHY THE HECK YOU DO THAT FOR?!”
“DON’T PLAY DUMB! I KNEW YOU WERE PEEKING AT SOME RANDOM GIRL AGAIN YOU PERVERT!!”
“I JUST HAPPENED TO LOOK IN THAT DIRECTION! IT’S NOT MY FAULT SHE WAS JUST ABOUT TO TAKE A SHOWER! AND WHO ARE YOU CALLING A PERVERT?!”
“YOU, YOU SUPER PERV! CAN’T KEEP YOUR EYES OFF THESE FEMALE MORTALS CAN YOU, YOU SEX FIEND!”
The argument caused Akata’s mind to reel. Not from the power they put into their words or the pressure emanating out from the two figures, but from the words being said to each other. After the dust settled Akata could clearly see who the second person arguing with Third Elder was. It was none other than his twin sister, Second Elder.
Akata stared blank faced at the two people in front of him making accusations and yelling out past events towards each other, trying to gain the upper hand using each others private knowledge. Eventually after a while they both settled down. Second Elder looked on with a lofty expression while Third Elder had a grave look on his face, clearly he had lost in the verbal dispute.
Second Elder cleared her throat and looked towards Akata’s direction. “I apologize that you had to witness our quarrels just now. How about we make it up by allowing you to choose two things.” She spoke in a professional manner that showed her dignity and elegancy. Although that didn’t help with her appearance much as she was covered in dust.
Akata’s eyes glowed when he heard that he could now choose two things. He vigorously nodded his head in agreement and continued on searching for a weapon to use. He searched and searched and found many things. He found cultivation pills, medicinal plants, sets of armor, daoist techniques, and more. His eyes started to turn bloodshot as he became obsessed with what he was seeing.
After a while he stopped in place and took a deep breath. He then sat down and started meditating, he felt as if he was losing his mind so he forcefully calmed himself down. He started to ease his mind and think things through. ‘There are so many wonderful things here! If I could take them all that would be great but unfortunately I can only take two. Right now I have to calm myself down and choose reasonably.’ He took a deep breath and slowly let it out.
‘If I’m going to follow the path of body cultivation I won’t need any sets of armor. Since Third and Second Elder are going to be training me, there won’t be any need to get pills from this place. The crimson beads have such a strong bloodlust that I can’t even approach it. The twin swords hold a lot of power in them but they don’t truly fit to my style. While I do like overbearing power, I won’t be able to fully use them for a while until my cultivation base rises. Until then they will instead hinder me.’
Akata calmly slipped into a deep meditative state as he felt his surroundings become much more familiar to him. He was able to “see” his surroundings now in full view and look at all the various items. Something rather completely ordinary caught his attention as he scanned his surroundings. Akata opened his eyes and looked in that direction. He looked in the distance at a corner that was covered with dust.
Second Elder and Third Elder were watching on and were actually a bit surprised to see Akata forcefully calm himself. They conversed to each other mentally about Akata, but the latter didn’t know that. Then they saw him look at a certain corner and their faces changed to one of interest and curiosity.