When Inanis opened his eyes he was met by the familiar view of the One Profound Hall. It was surprisingly much smaller than the wide hall he had met with Elder Ming. Its height fifty meter high and its width three hundred and two hundred meters respectively. The walls were littered with paintings depicturing warriors taking up a wide array of stances; everyone had one thing in common, wearing an azure robe. The floor was oceanic oak, a material sturdy and by evidence eternal. It was pristine, not a single particle of dust could be seen. At the end of the hall the largest painting in the entire hall hung, it was enormous and carried a sense overbearing might. The picture was a detailed version of their ancestor, the one and only Azure Serpent of legends. He cruised over the tyrannical Azure Sea, by all means unhindered by its mighty waves.

“Welcome back young master!” A man suddenly came into view.

The man had black hair and appeared to be middle aged, no wrinkles of age lithered his pristine face, and his features seemed heroic yet cold and distant. Those not familiar with him would describe him as a statue of ice, not reflecting anything their way.

He lowered his head in respect as he waited for the young master’s response.

“Greeting Old Hai”

“The hall has been kept in pristine shape, as expected”

Old Hai nodded in response

“As requested”

“Pick me up a, Oceanic Devouring Pill, will you?” Inanis said with grin lingering on his youthful face.

Oceanic Devouring Pill was a pill concocted by gathering a large amount of ingredients that held high affinity with the Azure Sea, the result was something that could temporary increase your cultivation speed by sizeable margin. The higher affinity you had towards one specific energy the faster you would gather it, it was self-explanatory. Some pill could even store a large amount of energy inside them which could be used to directly cultivate, but those pills only worked towards the less aggressive energies.

Mere seconds Old Hai returned with the azure pill in hand. His speed was so terrifying that Inanis had no way too followed him with his eyes. As Inanis took the pill out of the old servant hand

“Old Hai is there no short cut in gaining enlightenment on the Azure Sea concept?” Inanis said as he starred towards the painting depicturing their great ancestor of old.

“No” Old Hai simply said shaking his head.

“Some may take two years, other might take a millennium. It’s all about insight and luck.”

Inanis frowned as he heard the words coming out of the old servant mouth.

A concept was an illustrious and mysterious way of cultivating; some concepts would increase your power by terrifying degrees while others would only support you mildly. Cultivators that had gained enlightenment regarding a concept was excessively rare, but was in the entire realm regarded as unquestionable geniuses.

“Didn’t father understand the Azure Sea Concept when he was young?” Inanis said as he swallowed a mouthful.

“Yes, when he was nineteen.” Old Hai simply stated, not catching the meaning of the young masters remark.

Inanis gritted his teeth as he popped the pill inside his mouth and swallowed. He then walked in front of the painting and took a steadfast meditational position.

He stared intently on the painting for an hour long, his eyes tried its hardest not to blink during the entire duration. Still not a whiff of enlightenment came fleeting inside his mind; he tried to ponder on the oceans interaction with the great ancestor but could not find any logical explanation why the water seemed to fear his very presence.

“I guess it’s helpless” Inanis said as he pouted.

“And Old Hai can’t seem to grasp the state of my heart” Inanis thought internally. His servant, Old Hai had mentored his father before him several hundred years ago and was therefore naturally placed to take care of Inanis. Still he didn’t spend much time here and often went to visit Senior Ming instead, the reason, he couldn’t understand the underlying meaning in anything that he said. He was not unpleasant in his presence, the man didn’t say much to begin with, but it was definitely not pleasant. ‘Did father not have any self-doubt?’ were thoughts that sometimes plundered his mind.

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“Old Hai, prepare a couple of more Oceanic Devouring Pill’s, I will not leave here until I have reached the foundation realm!” Inanis said as he closed his fist tightly.

“Yes” The Old man said disappearing in a flash.

A drop of sweat fell from the black haired youth’s face as he was immersed in a set of movement. The movements were fierce and direct yet unpredictable in their nature. The normal observer, which had not cultivated in their life, might describe them as beautiful and graceful, which in its essence they need to be as it was a way to cascade to the mighty ocean, hoping to gain its favor. Inanis continued for an entire day, which based on the intensity of the movement would be far beyond what any normal person could tolerate, but he was by no means normal with cultivation in the late stages of the Spirit Realm. Already a caterpillar awaiting that one moment that he could finally hatch and gain wings.

The tyrannical energy of the sea turreted with every movement he made slowly seeping inside his skin, passing through the interweaving veins and finally storing itself inside his Dantian, or what Old Hai would call it, the center of his being. The terrifying and overbearing energy would slowly sooth down as it was entering his skin, its ferocity could not be completely tamed under the fierceness of his movements. [Repressive Ocean One Profound Art] contained nine completely different stances and changing between them required both needle like precision but also unwavering determination and certainty. It was not an art you could casually pick up and train in, the discipline and skill needed years of training to getting to a high level. Obviously there were many genius es in the realm that had the capability to grasp this particular set of moves and the Azure serpent’s descendants had a strong bloodline connection with Azure Seas to begin with. Which meant that many disciples of the Azure Palace could quiet easily grasp these moves.

As the sullen atmosphere of a dark night laid its grasp over the world, Inanis quietly sat down in a meditative position. He grasped for air as he breath was by all means exhausted, sweat poured down his face as continued to catch his breath.

“Old Hai” Inanis said as his breathing quieted down.

“What is 3rd cousins cultivation at?” He said as he stared intently towards the Azure Serpent painting.

“He stepped in to the foundation realm recently. He should be stabilizing his realm as we speak” Old Hai said as he stood straight, his exterior was distant to the extreme. He had watched the young master performing the [Repressive Ocean One Profound Art] for hours on end and had still not left his position.

“Tsk” Inanis could only pout and frown in response. His 3rd cousin was his only competition in the clans younger generation. The bloodline of the Azure Serpent had excessively hard to give birth to descendant, especially those that belong to the “Main” bloodline. By estimation only a single child would be born from the main bloodline every one hundred years. More than ninety-nine percent of clan members living on Azure Profound Island were a result of mixed blood, some had so little of the ancestor’s blood running through their veins that it was hard to tell if they even belong to the Azure Serpent Clan. Only those that belonged to the main bloodline would have the privilege of entering the main clan’s sect, The Azure Palace. The resources at their disposal was like the difference between heaven and earth, compared to the other cultivation clans located on Azure Profound Island, which there were several of. On occasion some highly talented branch members would gain entrance and acceptance into the Azure Palace, but that was rare and they were already part of the “older generation”.

Inanis was fourteen and his 3rd cousin Yunre was fifteen, two people born during a single century was especially rare, which beckoned a great celebration lasting for thirty days. Both had learned of their circumstances and had instantly become competitive, which one would expect from youngsters.

“3rd Cousin is eleven month’s older, I should therefore be considered more talented, at least in term of speed.” Inanis thought reassuringly. Still he couldn’t help but narrow his eyes and frowning slightly.

“Old Hai, am I close?” Inanis asked darting eyes.

“Yes, the energy has settled. In a day or two you should be ready to spiral your energy.” Old Hai said as he kept his posture, expressionless.

Foundation Establishment required you to spiral your energy into what was called the “Ki Cyclone”, which would increase the speed you could circulate your energy across your veins.

“Which method do you recommend?” Even though Inanis didn’t particular like this old servant, he was certain that his knowledge regarding cultivation was at the top of the entire clan. Obviously he trusted his judgment.

“[Abyssal Heavenly Cyclone Foundation].” Old Hai said keeping his posture straight.

“Why?” Inanis said as his eyes widened slightly. The Azure Palace had a number of Foundation Establishment methods, everyone with a wide array of effect on what foundation would be laid for said cultivator. It was therefore surprising to have such certainty, and this method was in his opinion not suitable.

“It’s what your father cultivated.” Old Hai said simply not stating anything else.

“So what?” Inanis tilted his head and furrowed his brows, with a questioning look on his face.

“The way you cultivate is compatible”

“Sight” Inanis couldn’t help but sight out loud; getting a satisfying answer out of this old nut was under certain circumstances hard. Inanis sometimes questioned if this Old Hai was the ideal character to teach, I mean he had difficulties explaining his though process into simple and direct terms. But every times those thoughts came bubbling up in his mind he would shut them down. He clearly remembered his father’s remarks regarding this man

“trust in Old Hai, he will not lead you astray”

This old man had received such high words from his father. A figure with even higher status then the current patriarch of the Azure Serpent Clan, a figure that hardly gave a single being a word of praise, to not speak of trusting someone.

“I’ll trust in Old Hai’s judgment!” He said as he met Old Hai’s eyes.

The man only nodded slightly in response as he continued to stand still in the same position.

“Old Hai, prepare the [Abyssal Heavenly Cyclone Foundation]”

“Yes, young master!” Old Hai said as he suddenly disappeared out of sight.

Inanis slightly rubbed his eyes as he stared into space. As his eyes wandered across the mighty depicture of his grand ancestor, his heart couldn’t help pounding slightly faster.

“Obsessed with testing himself, while always progressing” He couldn’t help but feel a hint of envy creeping up, something he who had everything laid before him since birth, envied.

“The constant silence, the lack of adversaries, the lack of excitement, indeed takes a small toll on the heart.” Inanis said tugging his ears as he laid flat on his back. The celling was littered with black dragons slithering across a black sky.

“They must also be lonely in that black empty sky” He said quietly as he closed his eyes immersed in dreams of adventure and excitement.