Kairos who is in shut-eye meditation did not stir even after Aisa returned. He had over-used his concentration on the refinement of the weapons and is now recovering from his mental fatigue, and the best way for both mental and physical tiredness is by going into cultivation. The meditation process will quickly draw in surrounding Heavenly Energies into the body and refresh oneself much better than sleep.
In fact, if cultivators could, they would prefer to go into cultivation all the time because it feels extremely ‘right’ to do so. Unfortunately, they will still need rest as they are only mortals, and mortal cultivators do not have a perfect cycle of energy in their Ki Centre, nor could their meridians sustain without sleep.
Although he trained throughout the night, his progress was slow. For the past few days, Kairos had already been feeling that he had started his way towards rank D, but to enter that rank it is still quite a way off. Not to mention that the D rank is the first rank which practitioner can send internal energy outside of their body, and such an ability will require the body to adapt to a higher cultivation degree.
It is well known that the bottleneck before reaching D rank is one of the harder stages in cultivation. And the next most difficult bottleneck would be breaking through Peak B rank into Entry A rank.
By breaking through into A rank, a practitioner may use the excessive amount of internal energy to drift for short periods of time in the air or easily run across large bodies of water. This is something all practitioners look forward to!
To actually fly for short periods of time, one needs to breakthrough another bottleneck, and enter Entry S rank. Of course, for Kairos, these ranks are still too illustrious for him to think about.
As he struggled with his bottleneck, Aisa curled up at the corner of his room and started taking a snooze. Not only so, but his body was also reaching the limits of tempering at Man rank, Heaven grade.
After cultivating to refresh his mind, he had somehow gathered a pool of energy within himself, and because he couldn’t find a good avenue to use this energy, he had started to concentrate on strengthening that fire Ki within his Dantian that looks like a dragon. The excess energy he has left are eagerly absorbed by the invisible runes now hidden beneath his skin.
Far above them, fifteen intruders rapidly dashed on the roof chased by an angry woman close behind them. They have somehow triggered an alarm even with all their care, and the matron had tracked them down.
Even the strongest of them are only at Peak B rank. They are in no way a match against the S ranked matron.
The people living below continued what they are doing peacefully, oblivious to the mad chase above.
The intruders activated their prepared seals like they were free, and also used every life-saving item they had just to get away. As their tears rolled down their cheeks and their hearts bleed from the cost, they scrambled to get away while yelping for dear life.
In the end, left on the roofs alone was a woman with her uniform nearly bursting from her bulging muscles, as she roared furiously like a beast that let its prey get away.
That night, quite a few residents had intense nightmares, and soon after there was a rumour of a demon lurking in the city.
The next day, after a peaceful night completely unaware of the danger that passed by their heads, Kairos got ready to go into town. He had long since planned to visit some of the families of his subordinates who had fallen during the exam.
Even if he successfully managed to keep the bulk of them alive under the endless onslaught of the Orcs, there are still fatalities. Although none of those eleven that fell during the Orc siege is from the Snowdrifts, they are still under the command of him at that time.
Moreover, there were also three from the Snowdrifts that had fallen by protecting him against the Orc War Chief, back when they were saving Alucard’s hide.
“Aisa?” Kairos said as he prepared several pouches that are filled with the crystallised essences they had collected.
Yawwwwn…. Yes, Kairos?
“Aisa, you are a powerful primordial dragon yes?”
YUP! Aisa is strong!!
“Why didn’t you help us during the Orc siege Aisa? Was it because they are not directly related to me?” he refers to the students under his command during the siege.
Nooopee…. Aisa is not allowed to help!
“Not allowed…? By who?”
By you!
“Huh? I don’t remember disallowing you? If I’m the one that told you that, then I should have some recollection about it.”
Aisa doesn’t think you will remember. Hehe.
“Hmmmmm. Have I lost my memories at some point in my life? That’s odd, I do have all my memories since I am really young. Did I meet you when I was a baby?”
Nooooppee, Aisa met you many MANYYYYY years ago!!
The small dragon spun around as she spoke, emphasising her words. Her voice is squeaky and girlish, and her eyes are wide and filled with emotions.
“I don’t get this at all” Kairos doesn't know whether to laugh or cry in this situation. Everything is simply too odd for him to figure out even the tiniest hint.
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“But didn’t you help me when I called you for that old immortal?”
Hmmm…hmmm? Oh, that nice old man? He shouldn’t be here. Therefore Aisa chased him away!
“Okay…,” He muttered uncertainly, it seems as though there are exceptions to the rule, but in that case…, “Well, if I am the one that didn’t allow you to help then can I allow you to help us from now on?”
Nooope!! Until you are you, Aisa cannot help! Hehe
“Until I am I? Hold on, I don’t understand what you mean at all… Aisa, what if….. one of my team is going to die in front of us?”
Aisa cannot help!
“What if I am going to die?”
Aisa cannot help!
“What if the land wyrm is going to die?”
Aisa will kill whoever that tries to bully Wrymy!
“You would need to kill yourself first,” Kairos’ face darkens as he privately thought. The one bullying Wyrmy the most is you, alright?
Then, a complicated look flashed across his face. He just realised that he seemed to be less important than a land wyrm to his pet.
:’)
With an expression that looked like he is crying and laughing at the same time, he asked one last question, “Aisa, what happen if my entire team, including me, got wiped out?”
Aisa cannot help! But if you died, Aisa will revenge you!
After hearing that, Kairos truly wants to cry. Firstly, after chosen by the Primordial Dragon, she wouldn’t help him but help a land wyrm.
Excuse me, Miss Aisa, would you please get your priorities straight?
And, secondly, what is the use of revenge if he was already dead?
Couldn’t this mighty True Holy Dragon at least lift a finger and save him first, instead of allowing a pointless need for revenge to happen?
Kairos has entirely given up at this point. In some ways, the tiny dragon is quite invincible. He doubts that anyone would be a match for her when after asking a whole bunch of questions, there are even more questions in his mind now than before.
He went out of his room dejectedly and headed for the city. His team already know where he was going, but he had rejected their offers to go with him. This time around, Kairos felt that the responsibilities lie with him who is the leader, and he wishes to do this by himself.
Besides, now is the best time for the others to extract the benefits from the trove of experience they just gained from the exam.
There’s no doubt that after a week or so of training, their ranks will go up once again, by going out with him now will only hinder their progress. Granted, he is in the same position, but with his memory that exceeds logical explanation, he is an exception.
Furthermore, it takes more than experience to breakthrough his bottleneck right now. What he needs most are resources and time. Therefore, his considerations are instead to focus on rushing his rank after the trade fair.
Of course, all cultivators need money, the richer they are, the stronger they can become and with the size that Snowdrifts had become, they need to earn as much money as possible before the holidays started!
Having tried out the Heaven’s scent pill before, they truly understood the ancients’ wisdom that placed Wealth in the first place as the leader of the four main needs of enlightenment. Wealth before Disposition, Disposition before Teachings, and Teachings before Land.
Walking alone, Kairos strolled down the street looking for the first address. Moving away from the busy market street, he took a turn into a dirty and desolated slum area, where the smell of dust and sludge lingered heavily on the air.
The thick odour of waste and grease that were collected nearby nearly choked him when he entered this area. This is the place where it is home for several of the students that had died during the ten days siege.
When he entered, he immediately felt several pairs of eyes on him. Although there wasn’t any murder intent, some of those gazes were filled with greed, but they quickly restrained themselves when they saw his academy badge. The penalty of assault or robbery on an academy student is the gallows-without-trial, and they wouldn’t dare.
There were also many eyes filled with fear instead, especially when they saw a stranger came into their slum alley from the well-to-do main street. However, noticing Kairos’ shabby clothing, their fear alleviated somewhat.
Compared to those living here, his clothes are only barely better. While there are many cases of the poor robbing the poor, the people here are less fearful of him because it is common knowledge that academy students will get double punishments if they commit any crimes.
Granted, in this world where the disparity of rights between the strong and the weak are huge, it is only the case if that student is not a high-ranking noble’s heir. That was the reason seeing Kairos’ shabby dressing had made them feel much safer, especially plenty of them were bullied by the rich before.
Even if those young nobles vent their unwarranted anger on people like them by destroying their homes or taking their meagre possessions, who will fight for their rights? Everywhere they go, they are looked down upon, shunned, and disregarded.
After searching for a while, he found a dark and dirty corner and finally stopped. At the end of a narrow lane was a small hut made of scrap metal.
The way it is constructed looked extremely dangerous as if a good gust of wind will blow it apart and the sharp shards of metal could easily stab someone.
He walked forward and called out with a steady voice, “Excuse me. Is this the family of Zhu De?”
After a short moment of silence, a drunk blubbery man swung opened the door and threw an empty alcohol bottle at Kairos.
With a flick of a finger, Kairos redirected the direction of the bottle, and it smashed into bits on the floor nearby.
“Are you the father of Zhu de?”
“Who are you? Why are you asking for that useless whelp son of mine?”
“Is there anyone else home?” Kairos asked. Seeing this drunken man stumbling around in broad daylight, he could guess that there must be someone who is feeding his alcoholic habits since any decent man would be out at work during this hour.
Just as he guessed, a tiny woman who looked like she is in her early thirties fearfully peeked out of the scrap metal hut.
“Auntie, are you the mother of Zhu De?”
“Y…yes…? How can we help you, Sir?”
A frown appeared on Kairos’ face when he heard her servile tone. He had been taught to be respectful to his elders and polite to those with high status, but never to be grovelling or subservient towards anyone!
It was already beyond submissiveness, with a tinge of fearfulness.
“Auntie, who might this man here be?”
“H..he? He is my Lord,” she answered with a bare whisper as if fearing her reply might’ve earned her a punishment.
The “my Lord” description which she used is an honourable way to speak of one’s husband in Saint Empire, however, no matter from which angle Kairos looked, that man does not deserve to be addressed this way. The way she replied was more akin as a slave towards her master, and it instantly caused anger to stir in the boy.
Any decent man would be working at this hour for his family. Any good father would never have called his son a dog. Any good husband would never have allowed his wife to be this fearful.
Although Kairos is only twelve, he can see very clearly that this person is a swine.
The father of Zhu De scratched his belly and continued stumbling in his home searching for things. When his wife did not assist him because she was talking to Kairos, he quickly fumed angrily.
“USELESS WOMAN! Where Did You Place My Wine?!” He shouted with spittle flying, then in a single motion, he took an emptied wine bottle and flung it at the back of her head.
With battle senses honed through blade and death, Kairos reacted swifter than a swooping peregrine falcon. His figure flickered and disappeared from view, earning a surprised gasp from the woman. But before she could respond or turn around, the young boy is already standing behind her.
With another flick of his finger, the wine bottle that had almost hit her somehow reversed directions and smashed right into the man’s face. If someone were to look at them, they would’ve thought that the drunk was doing a magic trick.
“My goodness. The wind certainly is strong today, isn’t it?” Kairos said with a grim voice. Despite his pain, Zhu De’s father heard those words and cursed in his heart.
“Wind? Your head! I live in a corner. The heck, how could a freak gale rise in this slum?!”
Granted, most of his swearing was unintelligible gurgling noises, followed by a display of pathetic whimpering since the force of the bottle was had mysteriously became more than double than how hard he threw it out.
Kairos turned around, ignoring the cries of the wallowing man now rolling on the floor holding his face.
He gritted his teeth, and after a moment, spoke with a quiet, solemn, voice, “Madam. I bear grave news. Your son is… a hero. During the recently mock battlefield exam, he had given up his life to save many others.”
All of a sudden, the world seemed to have crashed down for her.
The lady before him, Zhu De’s mother, is called Xuan Xian. The word Xian in her name stands for immortal, but when used in a feminine way, it is to describe breath-taking fairies whose beauty are beyond words, and just as her name is, she is extremely ravishing for her age.
But her gorgeous looks suddenly seemed to be sapped away with his words, and she appears to have aged ten years, instantly.
Xuan Xian could have put up with her useless husband who will scold and hit her whenever there was a lack of wine of food in the house, and she can tolerate her neighbours’ perverted gazes at her whenever she walked past.
She can even bitterly suffer from the advances from the lecherous old master of the house where she worked as a maid, but that is only because the pride of her life, her little boy, is depending on her.
Knowing that he was doing his best at school gave her the strength to carry on every day.
“Madam!” Kairos shouted in shock, and he reaches forward to her, right as she collapsed.
Seeing that she had gone into unconsciousness from the trauma, he quickly infused a strand of his life force into her body, protecting her heart.
When he grabbed her arm, his soul perception had naturally picked up that in her great sadness, her heart is about to burst. Fortunately, due to his swift response, he was able to save her life at the last moment. He secretly thanked Alan and Jones, for they gave him the experience needed to lend a saving hand in time.
“Madam! Strengthen yourself!”
After saying that, he poured out his life energy for her.