CHAPTER 13

They took back Lan to the Imposing Thunder School then his inn and room. By that time, only the ninth prince and elder Delfi were with him. The soldiers were forbidden to enter the school grounds as they were a personal army. The elders didn’t have anything left to do with elder Lan, only elder Delfi as she was healing him. The ninth prince just made sure he was brought back safely. Then left. Delfi ruffled through elder Lan’s grey hair as she murmured into the ear of the unconscious old man. After she finished healing him, she gazed once at him, sighed, and left as well.

The next morning, elder Lan and the ninth prince were so fucked up, they had to stay in bed. They said it was due to heavy drinking…Mir went with his father to tour around the stalls. Today was a break after the finals. They enjoyed a calm and relaxing trip alongside the roads of the Imposing Thunder Mountain school outer court. It was a nice bonding time between father and son, though the father was oblivious to the evil deeds of his son, scammer of royalties… And finally, the true competition was going to start, the under twenty division. Basically, the true genius was going to fight it out and the final winner would be crowned number one genius of the Sea Walker Kingdom. To Mir it didn’t mean much, at most, it meant a few thousand golds more earned through bets. But that was about it. However, to elder Lan, it was a very important time. The dozen or so disciples that had been waiting and betting alongside him for the past month were going to compete. It was a crucial time. As Mir was sitting beside elder Lan, he could feel his heartbeat as it was so loud. The old man really was excited. However, Mir knew his school had no chance to win. In this division, the Royal Palace School was taking part and they had always won. It was a fact and everyone had talked about it during the past month, they awaited the true geniuses entrance. But before that, there was the opening ceremony. It was done by the king himself.

An old man wearing gold came on the scene. He was tall and stood straight. His face was reflection of age itself yet his eyes were fierce and determined. As he stood there alone, no one dared to utter a single word. the tens of thousands of spectators were quiet, it was overbearing. This old man’s aura really was something else. Mir couldn’t help but gasp at the scene. Everyone had a solemn expression and waited in silence for his words. And he began:

“Dear friends from all over the kingdom and further away, welcome to the Sea Walker Kingdom and our Genius tournament final division. This is the 12630th edition and I, Mare Reg Ichi, with my title as king, declare this competition open!”

He opened his arms and the screams were without break for minutes. However, the king wasn’t moving. After a time, it became quiet again and he went on:

“However, before that, I will be taking the opportunity to announce a very important matter. I ask for my son, Mare Reg Nio, to get up on stage.”

Mare Reg Nio, wearing gold like his father, got up on stage. He wasn’t looking like the drunkard from two nights ago… And elder Lan didn’t forget to joke on that with Mir:

“Look at this guy, not fooling anyone! Clothes don’t make the monk! Ahahah!”

However, once he got on stage, the elder shut up, like everyone else and the king spoke:

“Yesterday, my ninth son, Mare Reg Nio, brought me ten royal tokens! Everyone here should know what this means. I declare, right here and right now, with my power as king, that the ninth prince, Mare Reg Nio, is qualified to contend for the throne!”

This caused a huge tsunami of discussions from people. It wasn’t anything trivial, they were talking about the future of the country. And this ninth prince, he was renowned for drinking and gambling and enjoying life…How did he get ten royal tokens?! People were debating and discussing however, they were shut by the king’s words.

“Everyone! Now, I shall announce the beginning of the competition! May the first contestants come in the ring!”

After that, the king and the prince got off and let two young men go up. It was an honor in itself to be the first stepping on the ring after the opening ceremony. They were both powerful martial cultivators at the second rank seventh realm. What’s more, their battle power was nearly identical, at least they were very similar. It was a very enjoyable battle and a fitting start for the competition. During the fourth match, an envoy from the ninth prince left a message for elder Lan. He and Mir were invited to a diner, a celebration for the ninth prince recognition.

The party was complete and filled with high personnel. However, the guards and such were also partying alongside them, regardless of ranks. This night, every worker affiliated with the ninth prince was allowed to enjoy himself and bath in the glory. It was his way of thanking them for their support. Mir understood easily that this was all just for show, a businessman way of making sure the sheep keep working from now on. as expected, it went on with formalities and greetings, all useless talks and stupidities. It was saddening to see it from the side. Before, Mir was in the position of the prince or at least one of the executives. Now looking at it from an external point of view, he only felt pity and disdain. Even some shame towards his past self. After a few hours of party, the prince went to see elder Lan and Mir, they were enjoying themselves with a few maids at that time… They went to the private office of the prince and closed the doors behind them. The prince had not drank yet which was rare. He said:

“Thank you for everything. Meeting you was a misfortune but we turned it into our greatest fortune. To my newly-found friends. No. To my new brothers-in-arms!”

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It was his first coupe of Champagne of the night and he exchanged it with Mir and elder Lan, going as far as to call them brothers. It meant a lot. After he finished his glass, the prince said:

“I’ll go straight to the point. It worked well once, I want to go for it again.

-Ninth prince, that’s…

-Please, brother Lan, call me Nio, we are brothers now!

-…Then, Nio, I would prefer it if we could refrain from taking such huge risks. Haven’t you earned enough already?

-Oh? It’s not for me this time. It’s for little brother Mir. Have you heard of the king’s challenge before?”

Elder Lan knew and so was taken aback, however Mir had no idea what this was about so he asked:

“What is it?

-To put it simply, little brother, it is as its name implies, one challenges the king. If he wins, then he earns glory and a unique title bestowed upon him by the king himself. He becomes someone protected by the kingdom itself. One can challenge the king as long as he has two things. First, he needs to be referred by a prince qualified for the succession; here, there is me. Second, he has to sacrifice a royal token. I have a few leftovers so we’re good there as well.

-What if he loses?

-He dies. His family die. His friends die. And the prince is beheaded alongside his guards and servants. Considerable risks, high returns. If you were able to win, we would be legends.

-No, I won’t bet using something that doesn’t belong to me and all those lives are not mine to play with.

-Hum…That’s too bad but then I guess it is understandable. Anyways, we won so let us enjoy the party. From now on, you can consider me your brother till death! Let’s go back!”

The party was nice, even more so after most of the girls got drunk. Profiting from his age, Mir did all sorts of lewd things and they were brushed off as a child’s play. No one was even questioning how a five-year-old kid got to be at this party, that’s just how messed up they were from drinking. Most people weren’t martial artists and even those who were let the alcohol take effect. After a few hours, even Mir was able to get his hands on some booze in secret. And when he woke up, it was still the night…The second day. It had been a violent party. He roamed around the villa looking for elder Lan and found him snoring in the giant bathroom alongside a dozen young people from both genders. He partied hard as well. After Mir woke up, he was complaining non-stop about his head hurting. But they had their fun.

The competition went on with Mir winning every bet and a disciple from the Royal Palace School winning the overall competition. After that, it was time to leave. They went to pick Mir’s mother and headed to the capital. There, they bought a mansion, hired servants and guards and finally Mir left. He took 10 million golds with him and left the rest to his parents. Elder Lan had offered him to enter the Burning Sea School. He had accepted and his parents consented. After receiving millions of golds, how could a farmer not trust in someone?... And they knew their son was fated for more than cultivating potatoes. So, Mir departed for the Burning Sea School.

On the way to the school, Mir asked something he had completely forgotten:

“What kind of place is the Burning Sea School?

-Oh, that’s right, we never really talked about it… Hum. Let’s see. It is about the same size as the Imposing Thunder Mountain School. The number of disciple is different though and so are the rules. We have three distinct categories of disciples. Outer, Inner and Core. They are the same as the other schools but the eligibility rights are different. For outer disciple, one must be under ten with an awakened core. We accept nearly everyone in as long as they can cultivate. Because of that reason, we have more than ten million outer disciples…To get into the inner court, one must reach the second rank before 20. It is quite difficult considering the talent required and the resources needed.

-What do you mean elder?

-To martial artists, there are two ways to cultivate. One is to meditate and absorb the energy between heaven and earth. Everyone can more or less do it but the effects take time. A very long time. Most artists only meditate to recuperate their stamina and only the poor ones are forced to use this method to break through. The second method is to absorb the energies from medicine and such, like the pellets you earned in the quiz. It is far faster and the results are greater by a large margin. However, it has a cost. Not everyone can start like you with ten million golds and a supporting elder ahah. And because of the high number of outer disciple, resources are sparse and the competition for them is harsh. Only the most talented are then able to distance themselves from the crowd. That being said, we still manage to have more than two hundred thousand inner disciples. Since disciple can stay and learn until they finish their first century, most inner disciples are quite old compared to you. They enjoy great resources while in the inner court so they generally stay until they reach the hundred years of age. Those are our pride. They either become elders of the school and stay to nurture future generations and benefits from our facilities or go back to their families and such. Well, they end up as strong individuals. And finally, the core disciple. Only the most outstanding talents are given the authority as core disciples. It isn’t about ranks and age but rather strength, achievement, backgrounds…Many things are considered. They are the top of our school. As of now, we only have four such core disciples.

-They must be incredible then if they are only four of them qualified.

-They are indeed. Core disciples are those who will achieve wonderful things without doubts. They either become grand elders, like me or even headmasters. For the most outstanding, they are hired by the royal palace…Only good things await them.

-So, elder Lan was a core disciple then?

-Ahah, that’s right! Are you impressed?

-Yes… Anyway, what will I do there?

-Hum. I thought about it for a while. At first, I wanted to send you I the outer zone like anyone else because even if you had talent in awakening, it doesn’t mean much if it doesn’t blossom. However, after everything that happened, I changed my mind. You’re still too young. For the next two-three years, you will be staying with me as my “assistant’’. It is just a way to keep you close for some time until you mature enough to be sent in as an official disciple. I will also be able to nurture you better this way. What do you think?

-I am grateful to elder Lan!

-Good, good.”

Obviously, it was better to stay close to elder Lan for now. As he said, Mir was “young” and weak. If he entered the outer zone, he would be bullied and his talent might never have a chance to blossom. It was better for him to remain hidden for a while. Mir understood that fact very well. He knew from experience that children were evil. And if it was a place of severe competition, the violence would be increased. Even with rules, he would become a target since he looked and was officially so young. He was really grateful to elder Lan. The old man had thought this through and didn’t disappoint Mir.