Unfortunately it was too late for regrets. With a thought ‘what’s done is done’ Leo decided to leave the self-scolding for later and began to observe his own condition.

The many wounds didn’t bother him. He knew they would heal soon, even the deeper ones, and similarly the cracked ribs should be fine in a few days. What he was worried about was the overuse of Qi and the condition of his Qi pathways, but strangely enough they seemed to be fine as well. Additional bonus turned out to be the lack of toxins within – either it was the work of the stinky bath or the constant usage of the Lightning techniques during the day, but no matter how he looked, there were no signs of accumulated poison anywhere.

The problem was completely different and realizing it, Leo paled in fright. His dantian after the incident of forming the purple core was in a size of a walnut and later, after cultivating for several months under the Divine tribulation trees and at Izel’s place, grew almost doubling it’s inital size. Now though, it was already smaller than a hazelnut! Just a bit more and he wouldn’t have any core at all!

Of course, it was not possible since he was still alive, but it was clear he had emptied his tanks and was only a step from Qi deprivation. The question was – did he have to go back to the Greenland mortal realm to cultivate under the Divine tribulation trees to recover or could it be done anywhere? Since his affinity had mutated to a lightning one, he kind of figured that the lighting environment might be the most beneficial for him, but at the same time he did suffer from lightning during the formation of his core.

Sadly all he got from trying to figure things out was a headache and the best he could do was to let the things be as they were. Clearly he had done his part and now could rest for a few days and probably the war would be over by then anyway.

“You’re awake?” An elderly voice disturbed Leo’s train of thought.

Either he inadvertently had moved around the tub or elder Cooper sensed the youth regaining consciousness from the Qi fluctuations, the head of the Artisan division was the first to notice he was awake even though the room was still covered in darkness.

“How do you feel?” The genuinely concerned female voice was much more pleasant to Leo’s ear.

“Fine … I guess?” He answered, realizing who the owner was.

Leo truthfully had mixed feelings about her. Earlier in the day she clearly threw him under a wagon filled with the army of thousands, but judging by how he was currently treated, she felt guilty or maybe even indebted.

‘Rule number one! Rule number one!’ Leo repeated to himself several times to remind that this young lady was the daughter of the ruthless sect master, who used him without batting and eye and without paying a single spirit stone for his efforts. And that meant her offspring was most likely as heartless.

“I must say – you impressed everyone greatly, young man!” This time the elderly voice belonged to elder Payne.

He was somewhere further away, apparently turning on a lighting formation, because a moment later pale lights lit up around the hall. In a way they resembled the luminescent stones Leo saw in the imperial mausoleum back in Dreadlands.

“I’m sure by now everyone in the Avila city is talking about your achievements.” He continued, “Probably even your grandfather knows you’ve returned.”

“Grandfather?” To Leo it sounded they had mixed him up with someone.

“Yes, your grandpa Noel.” Elder Payne said. Before sending Leo to Dreadlands they did an ‘extensive’ background check and he felt pretty confident he knew all about the youth there was to know, “But don’t worry about that. You must focus on your recovery, because tomorrow might turn out much more difficult compared to what you experienced today.”

“Leo, if you don’t …” Lady Etessa actually did feel guilty and wanted to relieve Leo from the dueling duty, but elder Payne easily guessed her intention and interrupted.

“If you don’t feel at hundred percent in the morning, you might get hurt for real during the upcoming challenges.” He said, “I guess this is the time for you to utilize everything you learned from the immortals of the Golden city and recuperate to the best of your abilities.”

“Indeed!” Elder Cooper also wanted to postpone lady Etessa’s duels for as long as possible, “But from our side we have done our best. With your help the bath you are currently having should mend the lightest wounds, but those that’ll remain we’ll treat in the morning. I’ve also prepared large amount of Qi replenishment and blood pills if you’re out. These, of course, are our own products and can’t be compared to what the Golden city offers, but we’re doing our best, you know?”

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Leo was no genius, be even he realized that elders thought he spent some time or even a lot of time in the Golden city before returning. Clearly they attributed his growth to some mysterious ‘immortal training’ he received and alchemy products he acquired there.

“Still, even though my expertise can’t be compared to your teachers from the immortal realm, I’d like to remind you that our Qi reserves are limited, no matter the training we have had.” Elder Payne modestly said, “And even though you have persisted due to expensive pills, you should have a limited amount of those, right?”

Leo’s first impulse was to smack the old man shouting, ‘no sh*t!’, but then he realized they haven’t checked his amulet yet were lie close to a third of the alchemy supplies he initially ‘borrowed’. Only a loud gulp betrayed his actual feelings, but fortunately the rest translated it according to their own understanding.

“No need to worry, though.” Elder Payne continued, “What elder Cooper will provide you with are the top products of our sect, in fact, most of it was concocted by him personally. But may I suggest some things regarding your fighting style?”

“Mhm …” Leo nodded not sure what to think or do.

“Judging by how you utilize the fire element, I must admit – you have rather remarkable Qi control.” Elder Payne respectfully said, “Anyone else in your stead at least once or twice would’ve done something flashy like punching with a burning fist or a palm. Refraining the unnecessary Qi expenditure allowed you to preserve your Qi reserves, but I’d like to suggest you limit the usage of Qi in your footwork as well. I’m not suggesting to do that at expense of the speed, no, Heavens forbid! I just couldn’t help, but to notice that sometimes you used Qi fueled movement technique on occasions you were not under a threat or even weren’t fighting. In addition, the huge weapon you carry but don’t use surely wastes a lot of strength – I’d suggest you store it away for tomorrow’s fights. Also, trading wound for wound is a … a somewhat suicidal way of fighting, you know? There are thousands of enemies and you are only one person!”

While what the man said made sense, Leo only wanted to cry. All of that would’ve been nice to hear before he almost crippled himself! He had no clue when or how he could accumulate the expended Qi again, to not speak of fighting, but from what it looked like, these people somehow were certain he would continue the next morning from where he left off.

‘Wait a moment!’ Leo suddenly had a bright idea, ‘What in the world is wrong with me?! I can loose, can’t I?’

The next morning he would go and win a couple of duels, but get hit somewhere where it didn’t hurt too much, of curse, and fake loosing consciousness. Then the pretty girl and the rest can continue, but he’ll find Jack and vanish. With how empty the sect was it won’t be too difficult to use the teleportation platform unhindered.

The plan was so simple Leo wanted to punch himself for not thinking of it sooner. He immediately recovered the good mood and casually followed elder Cooper’s and lady Etessa’s instructions performing multiple breathing exercises.

What he didn’t appreciate was lady Etessa actually being an expert of cultivating in the Spirit tower. The hall they were currently in had been her home for several years and here she painstakingly had cultivated in order to step into the Nascent soul stage. Leo didn’t notice how quickly his wounds recovered and how much Qi he was absorbing, but probably it was nothing in comparison to what he had expended during the previous day.

The night flew by in an iffy and in the morning Leo felt surprisingly fresh. After getting out from the tub, he rinsed himself, with the help of elder Cooper applied fresh bandages and while listening to elder Payne’s ‘modest combat instructions’ got dressed, this time in the Sacred Order’s colors. Without holding back he swept in the amulet all the medicine supplies that were offered and whistling a joyful tune proceeded to the place where the two armies were stationed.

Lady Etessa and the two division heads were surprised by his careless attitude, but on the other hand it became clear that Leo had surely received a life changing training from the immortals of the Golden city that allowed him to look at the current predicament as if it was a child’s play. Obviously he knew how dangerous the duels were and what was at stake, but maintaining calm and positive state of mind was certainly crucial. Such maturity from the youth who was barely eighteen was surprising to say the least and all three noted they had still long ways to go.

Meanwhile Leo enjoyed the stroll under the first rays of sun that was lazily climbing behind the horizon in the east. Yesterday morning he followed elder Cross who rushed through the outskirts of the sect without realizing how pretty and peaceful these parts were – no wonder there was an army of people who wanted to take over. The Sacred Order was surely nice place to live by the standards of a mortal realm.

When they arrived at the wast field, the two armies were already gathered there and strangely enough there was another crowd of people at one side. They were dressed in casual clothing, indicating they were civilians, probably nosy people from the city who came to observe the event. The problem was – Leo knew one of them. In fact, he could recognize the old man from a mile away.

“Excuse me for a moment!” He said to the elders and lady Etessa and jogged over.

Thousands of people watched him rush towards the smaller crowd, some confused, some annoyed, but most from the Sacred Order’s side cheered loudly the moment they noticed him while those from the Seven peaks grew serious. He didn’t carry the big weapon he had yesterday though, but most never noticed that.

“Grandpa Noel!” Leo resisted the impulse to hug the old man.

Besides Jack this was the only person in the Aurora realm he could trust. Of course, he had never divulged the expert’s secret of belonging to the corrupt path and Leo honestly felt he could count as his disciple thus technically making him the corrupt path’s cultivator as well.

“Boy! It really is you!” Noel patted Leo’s shoulder suppressing the tears of joy, “When they told me what ruckus you made here yesterday I had hard time believing it was really you! On the other hand – who else could it be, right? Therefore I and the guys came over to take a look.”

“I’m sorry, grandpa Noel!” Leo lowered his head in shame, “I know I drew too much attention, but I got carried away. They gave me one target after another to practice on and I …”

“Hahaha! Don’t you worry about that, boy!” Fortunately the old man wasn’t angry at him, “I hope you’ll do even better today! I know neither I nor anyone in the city can help you with anything, but I brought you a small gift. I used this thing back in the day … you know … this allowed me to win quite a few fights. It’s just a keepsake that I don’t have any use for ...”