章節 42: Training (III): Separation

Who says talent didn't matter, or that hard work could beat talent. Maybe it was so, utter if talent and hard work were mashed together, then talent trumps hard work by far. Alex felt stronger, he was stronger. He had a clarify to the world that he had never experienced before, there was no rush or haste to his pace, just an overwhelming understanding of who he was yesterday, the person he is now, and who he wants to be tomorrow.

This was the true power of the Yin-yang heart Protection stage. It gave cultivators the clarity and understanding of their true selves, so that they could have the courage to move forwards. It didn't eliminate or suppress emotions, it just gave Alex an understanding of it, made him know why he felt this way, and how he could make the best of it. Alex opened his eyes, an imperceptible glow hidden within them as he felt the Qi within his meridians surging and rolling as if to celebrate his new gain. He was at the peak of the first level of the open meridian stage. 108 meridian, 12 per stage, until he gets to the night stage where he would have to connect all of the meridian together and then channel the Qi from it to open and create his Dantian.

But that was quite some time away, right now he would live in this moment, enjoy and appreciate the power he had gained and improve on it the best way he could. Alex twisted a ring that his grandfather had given him, and West wind and East cloud came out. Both blades seemed him in delight as Alex grabbed their hilts and fell into a stance.

He pointed one of the swords forward, and pointed the other backwards. He took a deep breath, and then he exploded forward with a banging, the ground beneath his feet having signs of a tiny indentation. He swung both swords in a somewhat reckless manner against an imaginary opponent, it was wild, it was primal and it was dangerous. He gave no quarter, and he took none either, equally as brutal to himself as he was to his opponent.

He weaved, twisted and turned, his swords flashing as his opponents changed from one, to two, and then to three. But no matter what moves they made, they fell to his rage, it was hot like the sun, burning unfettered and unencumbered by the rules and laws of this world. He forged his own path, made his own destiny in s trail of blazing fire and destruction. Alex took a deep breath, all of the Qi within his twelve meridian shaking furious as a hot feeling seemed to suffice his body.

"Four Seasons Of The Weeping World: South Sword Of Summer!"

Alex moved both his swords in an upercut like fashion, swinging them upwards and then bringing them to the ground. And as he did so, both blades now infused with his Qi, caught on fire, releasing a blazing trail of literal red flames as opposed to the normal orange or yellow that was the norm.

Until the open Dantian realm, Alex would not be able to let his Qi travel out of his body. At the open meridian realm, and at such an early level, it was already a testament to his talent that he could infuse his weapons with his Qi, but doing so left him feeling very drained as all twelve meridians were drained dry of every smidgen of Qi left in it.

West wind and East cloud lost the red glow of flames on them as Alex fell to his knees, completely weak from his training session. He was breathing hard and trying to catch his breath, but he could not help but analyze and understand everything he just did. He has mastered the south sword of summer, there's still the sword of winter, spring, and Autumn. And even then he has not even started on the west, east and north sword moves. Either way he wad happy with his gains, he had wanted to play with fire before, due to how popular it was, and now he gets to do so.

Of course fire attributed techniques of any sort would only have half or maybe 60% of it's original power in his hands due to the fact that his spirit roots were aligned to different elements. But never the less the sheer destructive power he got from using fire attributed skills could not be underestimated. Or it could just be that he was stalling, Alex knew the wind called to him, but it was not what he wanted for himself, he felt at least everything about his life shouldn't be so destined and he could choose to go against that single aspect of himself. But that was neither here nor there, Alex would just keep on trying his best until there's nothing left to try.

"You've grown a lot stronger you know, I wish all those idiots that used to look for our trouble back in the village are here. We for show them levels."

Alex smiled, Anya always mixed her proper way of speaking with the pidgin language of the Nigerian colony on the dark continent whenever she was happy. So she probably had some good news.

"How was your test. Hope it went alright?" Alex asked ad he folded his legs over each other and started taking deep breaths.

"Alright! It went awesome. I have a platinum grade Dragon fire spirit root and a gold grade Cold metal spirit root. My perception is gold grade, not as good as yours, but my physique matches yours in grade. Platinum grade Fire Dragon Empress Physique. I guess we're really meant for each other aren't we." Anya said as she took a seat besides Alex with a wistful smile on her face.

Alex raised an eyebrow, she was happy about her talent, that much he could agree on, however there seems to be something bothering her. And Alex couldn't begin to wonder what it was. Anya was a simple yet very complex person, however the bottom line was that she was the kindest and most loving person Alex knew, even though she was prone to violence and arsenic tendencies.

"What's wrong Anya? Aren't you happy?" Alex asked as he placed his hands on hers intertwining their fingers together.

"Of course I'm happy, we're living our dreams aren't we? The cultivation world might not have been what we expected, but at least we got here didn't we. It's just that, I never expected that we would be unable to control our own destiny and fate, it doesn't seem worth it if we can't live the way we want to. But alas without strength there's no place for dreams in this world." Alex furrowed his eyebrows, something was definitely wrong.

"Anya what happened to you when you got tested?" Alex asked, his voice edged letting Anya know that he wouldn't let her beat around the bush again.

"Your mother and a couple of elders decided it would be wise to send me, and a couple of other female disciples to the Emei sect for a three year student exchange program. This is so to foster a close relationship between the sects, and ensure the partnership last longer, propagating both sects martial arts between each other, since they both come from the same place. I was tested in front of the Emei sect head, she took me along with your elder sister as her in name personal disciples. We leave tomorrow morning."

It would be easy for Alex to rage and scream, but he didn't. He wanted to cry at the unfairness of it all, but he didn't either. It took all of his strength and a significant help from (Wudang Heart Sutra) to hold his emotions together. Alex was young, but he wasn't that foolish as opposed to other boys his age. He might be a bit naïve, but he could see things clearly then most people. This was a move on his mother's part to separate Anya from him. While she's a valuable addition to the sect, and will still be a Wudang disciple, being an Emei disciple in name only; she was still a wild card that they couldn't control. A wild card that could be a distraction to Alex, and a hindrance to whatever plan they might have in store.

It was better to have her out of the way, at least for a little while in other for them to have more control over Alex. It was just three years, and to a cultivator that was just the blink of an eye, but to the young lovers, it was a significant chunk of their lives.

"You have to get stronger Anya, very strong. So that no one can control our lives and our destiny anymore. I'm sure I'll be fine without you for a while, it's just three years after all. And since we have only tonight to ourselves, let's make the best of it."

Anya sniffed as she nodded, raising her hands to clean the tears in her eyes. Alex looked at her with a smile, and spoke words that she would never forget for the rest of her now guaranteed very, very long life.

"Let's fight!"