Time passed in an instant as the morning sun arose. Karn opened his eyes. His body had gained vigor and strength that was not present before.
Ding
Cultivation Completed
+1 Ability Points
Lifespan Increased
The fruits of the cultivation session were quite rewarding. Not just the ability point but also the lifespan gain could be felt in Karn’s deep recesses of his body.
"This cultivation thing is really addicting..." Karn said to himself. Being able to meditate for just one night and awaken with such vigor was far too addicting. The feeling of youth was something every old man would chase, and for Karn, this was the closest he had felt to being young again in decades.
Alas, the technique itself had restrictions. Karn could only meditate like this every 3 days or his body would degrade instead. ’Too much of a good thing can ultimately be harmful’ was the last line written in the cultivation technique.
Karn got up and changed into the Sect Elder robes that every elder had to wear to identify themselves. Karn had no thoughts about this especially since his system provided robes were torn during his fight with Zhao Long.
Karn walked outside in the courtyard and was surprised with what had greeted him.
The blindfolded Shin was in the training grounds. His slim body was currently drenched in sweat. His breathing was heavy, but steady.
"1....2....3..." Shin repeated the numbers as his body completed each pushup.
Once Shin counted up to 22 and his body could not get up any farther he finally stood up. Even though Shin was exhausted and could not see, not once did he consider removing his blindfold. The seed of change in his soul had started budding.
Shin bent down looking for his wooden sword that he had been using to practice. Shin’s hand kept moving around until the sword was moved inside his palm.
"Master!?" Karn’s presence brought with it an ever present intent that was hard to mistake. Shin knew the man who had helped him was his Master.
"Don’t overdo yourself Shin. Recovery is part of becoming stronger as well." Karn said as he ruffled his disciples’ hair.
"Go call your sister over. She will fall behind others if she stays asleep for too long." Karn spoke with a devious smile.
"Yes Master!" Shin said before hurriedly making his way over to his sister’s room.
While Shin ran off to wake his sister, Karn was busy picking up little stones.
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"Rei! Rei!" Shin ran over to Rei’s room to wake her up. Stumbling on the walls due to his lack of sight many times over.
"Shut up!!! I am trying to sleep." Rei shouted back frustratedly. This was the first time in months that she had gotten a good night’s sleep. The days of hardship of stealing and worrying about Shin were gone. The bandits were all gone as well and she now had her own room in the Dragon Meteor Sect due to one single elderly man; Karn.
No matter how unruly and rude she was to her master, internally she was truly thankful to the old man for saving her life.
"Master said you are falling behind the others if you keep sleeping." Shin slowly said knowing the full effect of this sentence.
Silence followed until movement could be heard behind the closed door. The door suddenly opened, revealing a half-asleep Rei with an annoyed expression.
"Let’s go." Rei sighed and made her way to the training grounds while dragging Shin along.
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Rei and Shin arrived at the training ground and saw Karn standing there with a fist full of pebbles in his hand.
As he saw his two disciples arrive Karn smiled slightly.
"Good, lets start then." Karn spoke as his two disciples lined up in front of him.
"First, answer this question of mine.... Why do you cultivate?" Karn questioned.
"To become strong and protect the people I care about." Shin replied resolutely.
Karn nodded, Shin’s answer was not surprising at all. Rei, on the other hand, was different. She had cultivated to Tier three Martial Warrior due to her talent and out of necessity to protect Shin but now that Shin was safe why would she bother becoming stronger?
Rei stood silently, a memory came to her mind as she contemplated the question...
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During the night Rei had gone out to get some water. In her groggy half-asleep state she had heard some of the mortal guards of the courtyard gossiping with each other.
"They say Elder Karn fought Zhao Long himself." One of the guards stood eating a full drumstick of meat.
"And survived?" The other guard asked while sitting down on the ground, clearly slacking off on his duties.
"Apparently he even forced him to retreat." The guard replied with a nod.
Rei’s hand tightened around her cup of water.
’He came back injured.’ Rei thought as she remembered the blood on her master’s clothes.
For the first time, she understood something that she had disregarded. Her master was a human just like her. Karn’s overwhelming strength had given her an illusion of absolute strength and safety but she had understood. She could not rely on her Master forever. She needed her own strength.
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Rei finished reminiscing. She looked at Shin, her little brother and then her Master.
"I don’t want to be someone who needs to be protected. So I need to be stronger." Rei spoke, resolving herself for what needed to be done.
Karn heard this and nodded with a slight smile. His disciples had started growing with such vigor and he had barely done anything.
"What happens when even with all of the strength in the world you cannot protect the one you care about then Shin? Will you give up cultivation?" Karn spoke, rebutting Shin’s claim for cultivation.
"And what if someone wants to protect you anyways? What if with all of the strength in the world that person still is there to help ease the burden on your shoulders?" Karn spoke to Rei asking her a deeper question.
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