Chapter 38: Leaving the Crater

After Jia Yuan finished his training for the day, the two

had a final dinner. To celebrate their leaving the crater, Guo Huo had slow

roasted some Blazing Pig meat. The meat of the Blazing Pig is extremely

expensive in the Fire Kingdom, as it not only had an exquisite taste, but could

boost cultivation speed.

In addition to the pig meat, Guo Huo had prepared some bok

choy and some beef and apple stew.

Jia Yuan tore through the meal with his regular abandon, and

Guo Huo gave him a rather dry look. As someone who had spent most of his life

among the high nobility of the Fire Kingdom and had learned proper etiquette,

it was almost hard for him to eat meals with Jia Yuan. In fact, he had

developed a habit of finishing his cooking early and eating before Jia Yuan

finished training.

However tonight, he wanted to make the dinner as special as

possible, so he had not done so… although he was starting to regret it.

Guo Huo grumbled to himself. “I’m going to have to get

someone to teach him proper manners.”

After the meal, Jia Yuan sat outside of the tent, while Guo

Huo had turned in for an early nap inside the tent.

Jia Yuan could already resist most of the heat and humidity

in the crater, so he comfortably laid on the ground and stared at the swirling

mist above him.

It’s been two months

since I came here. I wonder how master is doing… I wonder how Dou Di brother is

doing.  

I wonder how strong he

is. Has he found friends in the Burning Legion?

Jia Yuan had led a fairly lonely life. For as long as he

could remember, he didn’t really have any friends. For a few years, he had the

companionship of Dou Di, but after Dou Di was sold to the Burning Legion, the

only people he had spent time with on a daily basis were his old master and Guo

Huo.

Jia Yuan had been able to play with kids around his age when

he had stayed at Wan Shi’s house, but that had only been for a few hours.

I wonder how the

Burning Legion will be like.

After spending some more time resting next to the pool of

fire, he went back into the tent and rested for the night.

The next morning, teacher and disciple flew out of the

crater. Jia Yuan actually didn’t need Guo Huo to carry him, but they stayed

very close together in case Jia Yuan’s concentration snapped during the flight

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up for some reason.

‘Ahhhhhh now that’s the air I love!” A soon as they left the

crater, Jia Yuan was able to breath in some fresh air! For the past two months,

they had been breathing in the very humid and heated air in the crater.

“Ah, right. Teacher, where are we going?” Jia Yuan was rather

curious as to what location they would be training at next.

“Do you know about the geography of our continent?”

“Hmm. We have four main kingdoms, corresponding to each

element. Each kingdom controls about a fourth of the continent. The borders

shouldn’t have changed much in the last 50 or so years, so small cities have

popped up on the borders between the kingdoms.”

“Oh? You actually know quite a bit! Where did you learn it

from?”

“Oh, Dou Di used to tell me a lot of stores. I ended up

learning some stuff from him. He’s also the reason why I want to join the

Burning Legion.”

“I see, I see. It seems that your brother was quite the

interesting person. Actually, the place we are heading to is precisely one of

these border cities.”

“Since we’re close to the Water Kingdom, we’ll be heading to

a city between the Fire and Water Kingdoms. If my memory serves me well, I

believe they have an Arena of sorts there where people of any age and strength

can compete. You can even compete in battles to the death. This should be good

for progressing your Song, and will also prepare you for life in the Army. Although

the continent has been peaceful for the last 50 years, all of the Kingdoms have

been stocking up weapons and soldiers at an abnormal pace for the last few

years. We may see a large-scale war in a few more years.”

“As for your uh…manners… I will also likely be hiring a

private tutor for you. They will teach you proper etiquette when you are not

competing in the Arena.”

“Do I really need to learn all of that boring stuff?”

“If you want to be a respected human being, then you’ll have

to at least learn some basic manners. Furthermore, with your potential, you’ll

likely be one of model soldiers of the Fire Kingdom. As such, they’ll probably

have you learn manners so that you can represent the Fire Kingdom in

Continent-wide tournaments.”

“Military teachers will definitely be far stricter than

anyone I can find for you in the city. If you think about it this way, I am

actually saving you a lot pain."