Seeing that things have taken a natural course, he decided to return to his room. There is still a truckload of things he needs to do before going to sleep.
While his thoughts were focused on other things, it isn’t that he had forgotten about his tome. But cold logic dictates that even if he rushed out now, he would be like a headless fly, without any leads to find the culprits. Furthermore, that book seems to be only readable by him. No doubt they would try to probe its secrets, but the cultivation method within seemed extremely powerful, so wouldn’t whatever protection it has to be likewise as strong?
“I just hope they don’t destroy it in a fit of anger.”
The tome is cumbersome, almost as wide as a small table, and as thick as a dictionary. The material is old, and even for Kairos’ low benchmark, it had a rather bad smell. But, because he had always believed it to be a pictogram of ancient myths and legends, he had lugged it around, as a memory from home.
Whenever he felt homesick, just a flip of those pages will dispel his thoughts and bring him back to that old and dirty fireplace at their shabby house, listening to his old man’s exciting stories on myths and legends.
After a while, that fireplace which is something crudely handmade by his dad has become something that no other fireplaces in the world, no matter how extravagant, can replace it in his heart. For a moment his thoughts have already returned home, and he couldn’t wait for six months holidays to start.
The value of the book changed after he has realised that it is actually a precious book which depicts a powerful cultivation method. From then one he had wanted to keep it on himself because compared to a worthless storybook, this tome can cost kingdoms.
Unfortunately, because of how poor he is, he could not afford a storage ring and had to leave that huge thing around.
On the day when he was preparing to head out to the exam grounds he actually attempted to strap that large tome behind his back, but because of just how ridiculous it looked he finally gave up and put it down.
Sending it home was another idea that had crossed his mind, but he simply didn’t have the money to do it. Besides, such an action will only be calling for unnecessary attention, like waving a flag in the air, and may even endanger his father.
“Besides, who will think to rob a poor kid like me?” regretfully he thought something like this at that time.
Now he really regretted his decisions.
His main concern wasn’t the others learning the cultivation methods within, but something far more urgent instead.
“What if those guys cannot get anything out of that book and target my friends?”
He had later found out that all four of his brother’s rooms had been searched through as well, so it’s obvious that they were all targeted.
By his speculation, their enemy probably knows that Kairos is their leader and the most likely one that holds whatever they are looking for because there are no burnt marks nor things destroyed in his brothers’ rooms because of the search.
Moving out would probably be the best idea right now, however at this hour, where could they move to?
“Perhaps Jones’ place would probably be a good alternative?”
Jones is, of course, living at the disciplinarian’s mansion a little far off from the school, and he could bring his friends along. After all, they were all playmates since young.
Thinking deeply for a while, he realises that every idea he came up with were temporary solutions. The underlying problem is because they are weak! If they had been strong enough to deter these people, he wouldn’t need to be worrying now.
At this point, he can only leave things in the dorm matron’s hands; a feeling that he dislikes.
Fortunately, she seemed reliable, and an S ranker to boot.
When he returned from the dorm matron’s office, he discovered another person before his door.
“Great! The incidents tonight never ends.” Kairos mumbled. His body is crying out for rest.
At first, he thought he could find the comfort of his bed immediately, but that ended up in a six-hour chaos, between his room and the courtroom.
“Jones!” Seeing the figure of his brother, Kairos’ thoughts are stilled, “What are you doing here?”
“Kairos… My God-father is on trial! Have you heard yet?”
“The Disciplinarian head instructor is? I just went to the courtroom to give my statement, but I did not know who the prosecutors and defendants are! What happened exactly?”
Not only was Kairos summoned to the courtroom, but there were several others also summoned, but none of them has any idea what was going on.
“I don’t really know either. When I reached home, I went around every room in the mansion but couldn’t find god-dad. Even the servants didn’t know. It seemed like he did not return home!
It is only just now when I was aimlessly roaming within the academy grounds that one of the instructors told me he is placed on trial right now.”
“It is nearly 2am in the morning, and they are still holding a trial. I suspect something happened at the end of our mock battlefield exam. Why don’t we go in and wait?” Kairos said pointing to his room, and seeing Jones’ nod, he opened the door to the disastrous view inside.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
“Whoa… what happened, you blew up your room?”
“…No way! Someone came in here and searched for something” he sighed
“Haha, you’re kidding, right? What do you have that warrants such a search, you found some treasure?”
“Nope, money is still my biggest enemy.”
“Maybe Jim stole Luciette’s underwear again and put it in your room? It would certainly explain how come the entire room is destroyed so thoroughly.”
“Gah. If that’s the case, I’m going to string up that brat and leave him in front of Luciette’s dorm.”
“That’d be a sight! Makes me kinda hope that it happened!” Jones said with a wide grin on his face.
Others might not have known that their relationship is like this because the two haven’t been on talking terms for a while. But Kairos’ single-minded offer of friendship that eventually won him over, and now it simply felt as if there was never a parting in the first place. Everything felt right once again.
Of course, if they left their issues unresolved, over the years it could become dire.
Cultivation requires one to carefully make the ambient energies into one’s own without the slightest distractions. Any blunders made could be cause permanent damages, driving the cultivations into depravity and madness. Since the root cause of these oftentimes stemmed from the heart, it is therefore known as Heart Demons.
The two got seated on the floor and started exchanging what they know had happened during the training ground to come up with a logical deduction regarding the trial. Kairos, as the commander of the red team, had long been baffled by strange responses from the academy and he them brought up.
The two became puzzled at the number of prohibited things that happened without any intervention from the school. Not to mention the odd absence of instructors during the Orc siege.
In return, Jones shared a few intricate political relationships among the groups that Kairos did not know before.
“Currently the Nobles and major powers are split between three factions. The first group is the one that Calculus’ family, the Devilheart family, belongs to. They report to the Third Prince, the oldest living son of the current Emperor.
The second group is the one that Alucard’s family, the Angelheart family, belongs to. They report to the Fifth Prince, the youngest surviving son to the Emperor.
Besides the princes, the Emperor also have a daughter, the youngest amongst the royal siblings and one who is still too tender of age but well protected from political strives.
Both the Third and Fifth Princes are Kings of their domain and have enjoyed a great amount of freedom. Each control a sizable force, about a tenth of what the Emperor has, and below him, they are both the second largest military force within the empire.
The third group called the Free Factions was a huge gathering of many small noble families, either unable to join one of the factions or truly neutral. Most of them are absolutely loyal to the Emperor, and therefore they do enjoy quite a bit of favour from the throne.
They naturally gather power rather quickly, that even the other two factions do not dare to take advantage of them.
While they do not possess much military strength, they were given liberty by the crown to create a combined force of practitioners from the ten most powerful sects.
Although they are the most numerous and a force to reckon with, the Free Fractions is not as unified as the other two factions. They are an amalgamation of different interests bond by a common patriotic spirit.”
“Which faction does your God-father belong to then?”
“His clan is one of the more powerful existence in the Third Faction.”
“Then that is odd, is it not? If he is from the First or Second Factions, I would have assumed that he is held on trial because of their game of politics.”
“That’s exactly what I think at first, but perhaps one of the other factions got greedy and wants to tap into the Third Faction’s unclaimed strength?”
“Well, I’m not really familiar with things like this, but you remember how we played Kings and Kingdom’s game when we were younger right?”
“Yeah… What about it?”
“You do remember that whenever one of us wishes to claim the Overlord’s throne, we would first try to take over anyone who is neutral that we can overpower?
If one of the faction started attacking the Third Faction to gather power….”
“…. you mean, that they intend to rebel against the throne?”
“I think it could be? You’re wasting your breath asking a commoner like me.”
“What’s wrong with being a commoner? Hmph! I don’t get why some of those nobles are so stuck up with their own status. All they get is a big head that will send them tumbling down the stairs because they can’t see past their noses. How I wish to smack those self-important ideas they have been feeding themselves out of their heads!”
“Whoa, Jones you have built a temper towards them.”
“Hahaha. Don’t think all I know is my training. After living with my god-father for a year I’ve seen all kinds of disgusting behaviour from some of those nobles. They are simply like dirt in my eyes.
Oh yeah, talking about training, what exactly is that odd energy you guys have been using in your secret arts?”
Immediately Kairos made him promise to keep it a secret then he told him all the things that happened before the exam, including the existence of Origin Energy. When Kairos considers someone his brother, he will treat them extremely well.
But, despite his age, he is wise enough to judge the potential dangers and what should not be said.
As he explained to Jones, the boy’s eyes opened wider and wider, making him fear they might pop out.
What he heard was simply too unbelievable.
To reach Peak E rank from J rank within two months, that in itself have no predecessor in Saint Empire’s history. To be able to use a 6th sensory ability called the Soul perception is completely unheard of.
To use soul energy to infuse into weapons and strengthening it or send it to someone to rapidly heal the person is Just Plainly Mythical!
“That’s so unfair!” Jones cried out after he snapped out of his astonishment.
Kairos merely smiled because he hasn’t even begun on the way to cultivate Origin Energy. When he told Jones that to enter the state of pure-self cultivation is the first step of learning Origin Energy, Jones’ mouth simply opened and couldn’t close.
“Why, you are a perfect imitation of a goldfish Jones!” Kairos laughed when he saw that. He secretly felt satisfied at receiving the expression he had been expecting.
“W… w... What did you say? Pure-Self state? You have the method to enter the pure-self state?
That is a top-level secret that even I did not get to know! Only the royal family and those above S rank know such a technique. And, do you know how fast the royal family trains?
It’s rumoured that they are at least double the speed of other practitioners in cultivation.
The most unbelievable part about all these is the royal family were said to need a month’s preparation and a lot of spiritual stones to enter this state, and yet you tell me you have a method to enter by meditating?!
Do you know how many top-level martial arts requires one to somehow enter the pure-self state as their final step, but you have it as your first step? Finally, I understand why all of you have secret arts.”
Kairos enjoyed Jones’ animated expressions and gestures as he gave him a look that seems to say, ‘Hah. Take that!’
As the boys previously experienced before, the state of pure-self cultivation not only quickly increase their cultivation speed but also improve their physical ability. Although the effect is different from person to person, but no doubt, any improvement on a person’s five senses was beneficial for many different martial arts.
Without waiting for Jones to calm himself down, Kairos told him about the Selfless state that he and Edward went into.
“E... e… even the selfless state? Are you trying to finish me off with a heart attack? That is something that is only met by chance and not by effort!
Do you know just how rare it is? No, I’m sure you don’t. Most of the old ancestors of the Empire that became famous only entered the selfless state once in their entire life and every person that did so became great men who built the country.
How old are you that you’ve already entered the selfless state?”
By this time, the most talented combatant that Saint Cadets Academy had, is banging his head in defeat.
The Selfless state of cultivation is simply wrestling from nature her power and knowledge.
“Jones, do you want to learn it?”
Immediately Jones nodded his head repeatedly, so quickly that it kind of made him look like a chicken pecking the rice on the ground.
“Y…YEAH!! Of course, I want to! Quick, tell me how my man!”
“Okay, just give me your hand, I’ll check your meridian channels and forge you a good method.”
“HUH?” Jones let out a gasp of shock.
“What?” Kairos asked confusedly
“Y…you… you mean you can create cultivation methods?”
“Uhhh… I won’t say that I can….? But, I think I can use what I’ve learned to make way for you to gather energy efficiently, and assimilate them into yourself without impurities, that’s all…”
“T..T…th...THAT’S ALL?” Jones went back to banging his head, then he looked up and rubbed his temples as though he has a headache, “That is the definition of cultivation methods.”
“Eeeh? Is it really incredible to do so? I’m just copying what I’ve learned from the old tome, and readjusted things to suit you.”
“Uhh..well. I should’ve loaned you a book, then you’ll understand how unbelievable this is, but passing our clan’s method to an outsider would get me in serious trouble. Man... I’m sorry!”
“Oh. Yeah, don’t worry about it, I know how valuable cultivation methods are to each clan. If a rival family found it, they could make all kinds of martial arts to counter your techniques right?”
“Yep, since cultivation methods largely decide which martial arts suit the cultivators, it would become an easy thing to devise counter-methods once a cultivation method has been exposed.”
“Anyway, give me your arm. I’ll see what I can do.”
Kairos quietly felt the gentle throbs from the meridian points on his wrist. He sent out a strand of soul perception that went into the meridian channel and into his system. After half an hour of checking, he fell into a thoughtful silence.
The results he had uncovered were astonishing.
“Whoa, what kind of constitution do you have? It’s like a beast’s body instead of a human’s! Did you eat something weird while growing up?”
“Hey, how rude! I grew up normally okay?”