Capítulo 22: Monster
The test seemed pretty straightforward. Ma Sa was to identify the hundred or so rock samples on the bench and then organise them according to the metal that could be obtained from smelting them. He could probably do this legitimately using his own knowledge but... he could also just cheat by holding a sample and checking the inventory. He settled on doing both. He'd identify everything he could by sight and check his answers by inventory.
With his decision made, Ma Sa set to work on writing labels, placing them on the sample bowls, then sorting the bowls into groups of similar ores. He was finished within twenty minutes. If he included the time spent in his inventory space thinking and reading up on ores he knew less well, he probably would have spent the full two hour time limit.
Having finished the test, he decided to spend the remaining time cultivating. Hopefully he would be able to expand his middle Dantian, the Violet Palace, to match the others. Once he achieved that, he could then have a go at expanding other points. He took up the lotus position and started absorbing the kinetic energy from the breeze, the heat from the ambient environment, and the light that entered his sphere of influence.
Su Ya's small face poked out of the narrow gap between the shutters of her bedroom window. She was watching the boy to make sure he didn't try and cheat on her grandfather's test. To her shock, he seemed to have completed it in mere minutes before sitting down to cultivate. Even more shockingly, the air of the courtyard chilled and the boy was engulfed by an inky black sphere. This was seriously sinister! She knew that those who bore the blood of the Xia monsters would be deceitful, evil, and unnatural but she had no idea that it would be so pronounced. The chill in the air was obviously from some evil Yin technique and the dark sphere should be a cover for his evil cultivation method! How could she allow her grandfather be tricked into allowing a monster into their home? She must stop him!
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"Sixth brother, it is good to see you again!" Guan Yuang Fei allowed himself to be pulled into Su Won's embrace. "Why didn't you come earlier? All of us brothers have been waiting for you, you know? Little Sixth, pride has always been your weakness. How could you refuse our help again and again? Don't you know how much it hurt us to see you suffer alone?"
Guan Yuang Fei's eyes reddened at his second brother's words. Indeed, he had refused their help but it was not for hollow pride! He did so in order to protect them! He was both saddened and touched by his brothers' unwillingness to see him suffer alone. If he had any other option he truly wouldn't have shied away from them. Sadly, his enemy was far too insidious. Kong Gui was not to be trifeled with.
"Second brother, it truly pains me to have been out of contact for so long but it simply wouldn't have been worth the risk if I hadn't met the boy! It would be a grave sin I would have to bear if my enemy became your enemy as well. Kong Gui is not just a profligate son of the Governor. He is more dangerous than you could ever imagine!"
"Haha if I didn't know you I would think you'd gone crazy... The problem is that I do know you. What could possibly spook you so much Little Sixth?"
"If I tell you and he ever finds out that you know... You'll likely be ruined in the same way that I was. And don't think that he can't do it! If you really want to know, I'll tell you. Then you'll understand..."
Guan Yuang Fei's voice trailed off as he remembered the series of events that led to his fall from grace. What was scarier was that he was even denied the ability to ever rise again and the inevitability of a swift death should he ever enter the Jianghu once again. He had barely arrived in Tianzhu with his life last time.
Su Won observed his little brother with a complicated expression. He had never known his hooligan scholar of a brother to fear anything. Now his face was a picture of worry. Su Won may be a lofty Forgemaster in an almost untouchable position in society, however, Guan Yuang Fei's previous position wasn't inferior. Since he had fallen, so could Su Won himself. He didn't fear for himself although he was somewhat concerned by the fates his employees and granddaughter would suffer if he were to fall as well. His bond as a brother to Guan Yuang Fei would not allow him any other course but to share his little brother's burden.
"Speak, Little Sixth. I couldn't call myself your brother if I didn't know why you chose to suffer so."
"Haaahh... Well, then... As you know already. I am a soul cultivator." he paused briefly as he steeled himself to endanger his own brother. "Kong Gui... is also a soul cultivator!"
"Wha- But how? The Governor is a Qi Refiner. It's just not possible!"
"It is. I don't know how... but I felt his soul fluctuations and he felt mine. As soon as he recognised me as a fellow soul cultivator he had decided that I would be a threat. He knew that I could compromise his identity..."
"But to ruin you and go after your life just for that?? Why?"
"His soul cultivation is based around illusion and manipulation. Its very existence means that he should be permanently denied from the settlements unless he takes binding vows. No one in civilisation would tolerate the possibility of being supernaturally hoodwinked at any time!"
"This!..." Su Won was speechless. He could now see exactly why his little brother would behave as he did. Kong Gui was an existence that could not exist in civil society!
The two sat in silence as their minds ticked over, contemplating any possible course of action they could take.
...
"Grandfather!!!!" Su Ya burst into the room, shattering the silence like a bomb. "Grandfather you have to come now! That evil Xia boy is cultivating some evil technique!"
"Silly girl! What are you talking about? Ma Sa should be doing my test."
"That monster finished the test ages ago! Now he's cultivating... I think he's summoning a demon or something!
"Haha nonsense! Little Yu, demons aren't something a kid can summon on a whim! And you say he's finished with my test? Impossible. Those ores are mainly basic but there are a few that even I couldn't identify without a month of study!"
"But he's done! You don't have to believe me! Just come and look for yourself!"
Guan Yuang Fei may have remained silent but he was secretly wondering what ridiculous thing the kid was up to now. Curiosity soon got the better of him.
"Big brother, let's go and see what all the fuss is about. The kid constantly shocks me after all. I wouldn't be surprised if he had, in fact, finished your test!"
"Yes! I told you! Come on grandfather! He must be stopped!" Su Ya ran towards the door whilst doing her best to drag her well muscled grandfather behind her.
Defeated by her cuteness, Su Won had no choice but to follow. The scene that greeted him when he entered the courtyard was something that he wouldn't soon forget...
Ma Sa sat in a bubble of darkness. He could see his surroundings but others could only see a globe of pure, void-like blackness in the courtyard. The surrounding temperature was icy and frost crept outwards from his position along the grass. He heard no sound and felt no wind. It was a peculiar feeling that was strangely comfortable. The flow of energy was steadily expanding his Violet Palace. The of pain this time was definitely more bearable than before. It was more like a nasty case of heartburn.
He had just passed through the first expansion when Su Won, Old Guan, and Su Ya returned to the courtyard at great speed. He was going to stop but, since the trio didn't approach further, he figured that it was alright to continue. He wasn't aware of the awe-laden exchange of curses that was currently going on between the two old brothers as Su Won clapped his hands over his granddaughter's ears.
This kid really was just as Old Guan described. Su Won's eyes had already brushed over the workbench of test materials and verified that the kid was a freak. The crazy darkness bubble and abnormal chill? Confirmation that he was a superfreak! Since the kid wasn't stopping he figured that he'd just let him finish. He wasn't naive enough to think of the phenomenon as evil but he certainly was intrigued as to how a Martial Novice was able to produce such crazy phenomena. He guessed that there was a bit of subterfuge in regards to the boy's Qi fluctuations.
...
Just over an hour passed before Ma Sa emerged from his cultivation. The entire courtyard was frosted over and the trio huddled near the entrance. Su Won and Guan Yuang Fei quickly discovered that this cold was unusual. Normally they would be able to shrug off cold by producing heat with their cultivation. In this case, their heat was instantly drained as they produced it and, little did they know, was relished by Ma Sa!
The small boy's frame shook slightly as he broke his posture and stretched his muscles. He felt ridiculously powerful right now! He flicked a finger and startled himself and, somewhat amusingly, Su Ya with the sound of a gunshot! His fingertip stung with the residual heat of the friction with the air for a split second before his cultivation resolved it.
He wondered how he'd stack up against a Martial Warrior... Well, that was a stupid idea since he currently only had a broken cultivation method. His fighting skills were non existent unless you counted a little MMA during a phase. There was no question he'd get owned. He'd have to ask Old Guan about how to go about learning a fighting style in the near future.
Before that, it was time to have grandpa Su validate his test results!
Ma Sa strode over to the waiting trio with the twitching lips.
"Grandpa Su! I finished early but I decided to cultivate and give you and teacher some time to catch up with each other. I hope I haven't inconvenienced you!" Ma Sa couldn't help but look at the crystalline grass surrounding him as he said so... He really did want to remain low key!
"Come here kid! I see you passed the test with no problems at all! As expected of Little brother Guan's student! So from now on you'll be learning from me too. Both of you stay the night. We'll discuss it all over a feast!" Su Won was somewhat unsettled so he figured the best course of action was to go with it and buy time. He'd also need to clear up Ma Sa's identity for his granddaughter if he ever wanted to set them up. At present she thought he carried some form of bloodborne psychopathy! Hardly a good foundation for a relationship...
Old Guan admired his newfound control over his individual facial hair follicles as he restrained them from bristling at his student's freaky display. This kid impacted his surroundings more than a Heroic Saint level practitioner and he'd only been cultivating for two days!
He had decided... After dinner, there needed to be words!
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