章節 7: The Fourth Prince (3)
As promised, instructor Robert handed William a box of pills, which he should take every twelve hours.
"Take them as long as you still feel blockage in your qi flow. If you ran out, ask more from me!"
Aside from that, William was exempted from classes for elementary stage disciples. He only attended morning and evening drill to keep his shape up.
His old master, the village elder, had ingrained the importance of basic training to him. Exercising had been a daily routine for him, something that itched if he didn't follow it.
Robert approved the boy's diligence. He kept getting fonder at William the more they interacted.
After exercising, William went to his room to meditate. He finally understood why the rooms were made soundproof. Although not as effective as a proper meditation chamber, the disciple's rooms were adequate for training!
"Inhale... exhale..."
He circulated his qi, emphasizing on the place with blockage. He hoped that the dregs preventing him from breaking through would go away soon.
His storied roommate would disappear for an entire day. He would only return after William had finished his evening drill. On days when he didn't disappear, he would either read his books in silence, or slept for an entire day. It was as if he didn't even notice William's presence.
William himself wasn't too keen on befriending this individual. As a commoner, having contact with nobles were too dangerous. The royal family was the worst of them all. Your head could disappear with one wrong word. That wasn't the kind of life that William wanted.
Their current arrangement, treating as if each other was a mere statue, suited them just fine.
Only, William would sometimes sneaked a peek at the books he was reading. He thought it would be a literature work to pass time, but it turned out to be technique manuals!
"They're all techniques for common people or those with elementary stage cultivation..."
When a martial artist advanced to higher stages, they strength would be supplanted by qi. Naturally, techniques that utilized only abilities of mere mortals wouldn't be able to draw their utmost strength. Most people only learned the basic version of these techniques until they reached qi condensation stage.
Of course there were exceptions, like people without talent, or someone like the fourth prince who couldn't cultivate further...
William suddenly developed a tinge of pity for him. When the prince returned one evening, William unconsciously made a solemn expression, like a merciful buddha overlooking the sinners.
"...What?"
Hearing the fourth prince's venomous tone, William quickly turned away.
Three weeks passed in a single blink.
William still couldn't achieve breakthrough. The blockage still refused to clear the way, even with steady supply of cleansing pills.
Robert was really distressed. Cleansing pills were absurdly cheap, so it wasn't really a problem. However, consuming them constantly might develop bad effects in the future...
Sensing Robert's disappointment, William couldn't help but feeling dejected at himself. Maybe he just didn't have the talent?
"Don't be so down, it's not your fault!"
In his heart, Robert was blaming that old master of William's. See, your negligence had caused this student grief! How would you compensate that, huh?
Meanwhile, the village elder sneezed, feeling that someone was cursing him somewhere in this world. Why? He was innocent...
"How about this. Let's wait another week. Maybe it just takes time. If you still can't breakthrough, we'll ask one of the Elders for hints."
William could only nodded in response.
In the meantime, he got news that Sean had advanced to the seventh rank of elementary stage, while Gilbert was at ninth rank. Perhaps soon he would enter the qi condensation stage!
"Alright, I'll try harder!"
During this timeframe, a curious incident happened.
On one evening, he had trained until a bit later in order to clear up his mind. The rest of the disciples had either retired to their rooms or attending other business. In the empty hallway of the dorm, he was stopped by a group of youths.
William inhaled deeply. They seemed to be bad news.
Jet-black hair, sharp and handsome face that could bewitch even the most haughty of the fairer kind... this youth in the front was awfully similar to someone else that he had known for the past three months.
Both the second prince and the fifth prince were core disciples. They rarely showed up in this area. By process of elimination, only one person would fit this criteria.
"This Prince is impressed with your diligence. Such a hard worker."
The third prince, Jonathan Harwell. Even though his cultivation was lacking compared to his other brothers, he was still a monster who had attained Foundation Establishment stage at his age.
The pressure coming from him was suffocating!
"T-thank you for your kind words... Your M-majest-ty..."
He had to add the last words quickly, or else he felt that this pressure would swallow him whole.
"No need to be polite. We are all disciples here. This Prince is just the same as you."
Liar.
Of course, William didn't retort like that. Even if he was brave enough to do so, the pressure wouldn't let his body to move.
"It seems that you have become the roommate of This Prince's younger brother. Is that correct?"
"Yes, Y-your Majesty."
The third prince walked closer to William, each steps increasing the pressure on his shoulders.
Damnit-!
"This Prince is deeply concerned with This Prince's younger brother. In the future, This Prince will have to trouble you to take good 'care' of him. You'll definitely be compensated for it. What do you think?"
Before William could refuse, the third prince shoved a gold coin onto his palm.
"You may rest now. This Prince will call you in the future. This Prince hope that this young gentleman could pick the right side..."
Leaving behind those enigmatic words, the third prince led his convoy away.
The moment the pressure was lifted, William crumbled to the ground, panting uncontrollably. He gripped the gold coin in his palm tightly.
"I can't do anything... damnit!"
It was utter humiliation.
---
Thankfully, the third prince didn't contact him in the following week.
He still brought the coin wherever he went, putting it in his pouch. Whenever he saw it, a bad taste appeared on his tongue.
He wasn't an idiot. Even though he was inexperienced in schemes, he could more or less tell what the third prince wanted from him. Perhaps, sooner or later, an order would arrive.
If he refused... well...
"What's wrong? You seemed down," Sean remarked while chowing on the rice in his oversized bowl.
"Finish your food first..." one of Gilbert's friends, the sword-wielding girl, was dining with them. Gilbert was undergoing special training with the two spear-users in order to hastened his breakthrough, so she was the only one who came over.
Sean finished the food in one big gulp. The girl groaned, but Sean ignored her.
"C'mon Cecily, as if you're not used to that now!"
"I wish I'm not!"
William laughed with Sean. How he wished that he could join these merry people as an outer disciple. The inner disciples, which were dominated by nobles, was purposefully pushing him aside. Meanwhile, his roommate was a cold block of granite. If he wasn't entirely focused in breaking through, perhaps he would've collapsed from stress.
"Right, you're rank eighth now?" William turned to Sean.
"Yep! Funny, huh? It took me years to advance back home. Now it seems like just breathing helps me advance!"
"You got the best cultivation technique in the kingdom, and we got body tempering pills every week... if you didn't advance then there's something wrong with you!"
Cecily snorted. True, compared to cultivation technique from his hometown, the royal academy had a better one...
"Right, so... you got something to tell us, bro?" Sean turned to William, his expression turned serious.
"Well..."
At first, he didn't want to involve Sean and the rest, but the temptation to share his burden won through.
He told the two about his qi blockage that prevented him from breaking through, as well as the threat from the third prince.
"That's... I told you the fourth prince is bad news, bro!"
"So, what will you do?" Cecily asked.
"I haven't decided yet."
She sighed.
"In my opinion, you shouldn't do anything. Don't agree to his demand, but don't openly reject him either. Royal family members care about face too much. As long as he's not too excessive, just oblige. Although... people might think that you're roped in to the third prince's faction. Tread carefully."
William and Sean stared at Cecily with an awed look.
"...What?"
"You're... surprisingly adept in this kind of thing!" Sean remarked.
"Something to do with my family. I'm used to it."
So, in the end, he still had to relent, at least publicly... William didn't like it, but for the sake of his future, it might be the best possible route.
"Thanks, Cecily!"
He bowed slightly, full of gratitude.
"No need for thanks among friends. I was just rambling anyway."
William returned to his room, intending to continue his meditation. The fourth prince was nowhere to be seen, as usual.
By the time that the sun was high up in the sky, however, their door was abruptly opened.
"Huh?!"
When William opened his eyes, he saw the fourth prince drenched from head to toe. Water was still dripping from his hair, while his robe clung on his body. His bun was pried loose, letting his long hair sprawled messily, covering half of his face.
He looked like a drowned ghost. In short, really miserable.
"What happened to you?!"
William quickly got up to approach him, but the prince just held up his hand, the pair of cold eyes glaring at him.
"None of your business."
The same rude reply as always.
Usually, William would back off at that point, however, a strange sense of responsibility began to swell deep in his heart.
Ignoring the prince's rejection, he grabbed a towel, and then began to wipe the water off his hair.
"Hey-"
"Stay still! You'll catch a cold!"
It would be impossible for a cultivator to catch a cold, wouldn't it? However, the fourth prince's cultivation was crippled. He was no better than mere mortal, so there was a possibility...
"..."
Unexpectedly, the prince didn't struggle after that. He just stood in silence as he watched William wiping his hair, and then his body.
Soon, the towel was also drenched wet.
"Do you have another towel...?"
"Forget it. I'll just take a bath," the prince sighed. He took out a small wooden tablet from the drawer, and then started to walk out of the room.
"Wait!"
William grabbed his wrist out of reflex, causing him to freeze.
After a while, the perpetrator finally realized that he was being too touchy-feely with a royal family member, so he froze too. Panicked, he quickly let go.
"What do you want...?"
"No, uh... what happened to you? Why are you looking like that?"
"...You're nosy."
The prince shook his head.
"I fell to the lake. That's all."
Fell to the lake...
"But-"
"I told you, you're nosy. Don't concern yourself with me."
With that, he blocked William's attempt to find out more.
As he turned around, however, he stopped, seemingly thinking about something.
"Why are you flowing your qi like that?"
"Huh?"
William was caught off-guard.
"This past month, your flow of qi, why is it going that way?"
The prince walked closer to William, and then touched his chest with the tip of his index finger.
A strange sense of warmth began to appear in that spot...
"Go the other way around. Here."
His finger traced a path down William's body. The path was... different. It was like a distorted mirror image, where everything was twisted and reversed. In the end, the finger stopped back at his dantian.
After he was done, the prince didn't say anything else. He just left the room.
William was dumbfounded.
'What... just happened?'
He caressed the spot where the prince's finger had traced. A faint warmth still lingered.
"..."
It seemed that he was going down a weird path...
"What he said... why did I flow my qi that way?"
Because it was the correct way, right? Everyone else did that. The path the prince had traced was the one against the norm!
Both his old master and instructor Robert had briefed him about qi flow. Pushing qi the wrong way wasn't good for a cultivator's body, because it would damage their meridian. The dregs wouldn't be refined properly, and blockage might even remain...
...
Wait. A. Minute!
"Could it be?!"
William sat in the lotus position, once again gathering qi. This time, he followed the path that his roommate had showed him.
It was a gamble. If it didn't work, the wrong flow would damage his meridian further, perhaps crippling him! However, William was desperate. Rather than running in circle, it would be better to grasp at the drooping branch that fate had given to him.
Even if it would end up merely a Devil's temptation.
"Ugh...!"
He felt pain. Pain! Something seemed wrong. The flow of qi was different than before. Faster. Wilder. Stronger! They were coursing through his meridian like flood, causing his body to grow hotter.
"Agh... Argh!"
William gritted his teeth, trying to withstand the pain.
He could feel it. The lump of dregs blocking his meridian was corroded by the strong current. At the same time, the effect of cleansing pills that he had consumed for the entire month kicked in with a vengeance, infusing his flow of qi with tremendous heat.
"Uargh!"
The dregs were getting shaved off!
Qi flowed unrestrained into his dantian, forming a vast sea! Power was brimming throughout his body, reinforcing his bones, strengthening his muscles, giving them explosive power equal to thousands horses!
Qi condensation stage!
This was the feeling of breakthrough!
William let out a painful yell as the last dregs had finally disappeared. There was nothing else that could hinder his meridian!
"Ugh..."
William blinked his eyes.
Did he pass out from the pain?
He looked out the window. The sun was still up. It seemed that he was out for just a moment.
Feeling giddy, he closed and opened his palms. It felt different. His entire body felt different. His vision was sharper, and his movement seemed to be faster!
"Haha... hahaha!"
He couldn't believe it! The thing that had stumped him for almost a month was cleared, just like that!
"The fourth prince...!"
That's right. It was thanks to that guy!
William leaped out of his room, wanting to find that guy and expressed his gratitude.
He didn't know whether it was really the prince's hint that had helped him, or it was just coincidence. However, the end result was still the same. Not paying him back would be dishonorable!
"We meet again."
When he reached the ground floor, he met the last person that he'd wanted to see.
Jonathan Harwell chuckled upon seeing William's unresigned expression. It seemed that the dog wasn't trained enough. But he didn't mind.
"Have you gave it some thought? Incidentally, This Prince has something that you need to do. It won't be hard."
He gestured with his finger. A youth standing behind the third prince showed William a water pouch.
"The night is warm these days. This Prince wants you to pour this pouch to This Prince's younger brother's pillow after he fell asleep. Don't worry, it's just a special concoction to cool him down. Nothing will happ-"
"Was it you?"
William's sudden question made the prince stop. He was still smiling, but his eyes grew sinister.
"Whatever do you mean?"
William exhaled. A hidden pressure began to suffuse into the air. It seemed that the third prince wasn't too happy.
"My roommate came fully drenched. He said that he fell into the lake. Was it your doing?"
The third prince narrowed his eyes.
"Why concern yourself with him?"
The pressure came in an instant. It was so strong that even the third prince's lackeys fell onto their knees.
"Haah!"
However, William exploded the qi in his dantian, surrounding his body with a milky-white aura. Stomping his feet, he stood tall, not allowing the pressure to win over him.
"!"
"Q-qi condensation stage? And that aura... is that middle rank?" One of the lackey murmured out of shock.
What happened? He was sure that this guy was just in peak elementary stage last week. Even if he managed to break through, it would be just early rank at best.
But this...
"This humble servant has to apologize. It seems that this humble servant wouldn't be of any help to Your Majesty. Please take back this token. This humble servant isn't worthy of it!"
William's speech was excessively polite, but it was laced with obvious disgust.
With trembling hand, he took out the golden coin in his pouch, and then threw it with all his might toward the third prince's face.
"Your Majesty!"
A lackey quickly rushed forth, shielding the third prince with his body. The coin struck his chest, causing him to howl in pain. When the coin fell, it left a recess on his skin.
"Then, please excuse this humble servant."
Without waiting for his reply, William turned around and walked away, not sparing him another glance.
"...William...!"
The third prince's face was distorted. His fake, amiable smile was no longer there. Instead, a sadistic grin had replaced it. His lackeys were greatly terrified by the sudden change!
Meanwhile, on the fifth floor balcony, a boy wrapped in towel watched the entire scene unfolding down below. A conflicting feeling swirled in his heart.
Elias Harwell, the fourth prince, let out a long sigh.
"I told you already, you're too nosy..."
A thin, faint smile betrayed his stoic face.
創作者的想法 
RanixAurus
RanixAurus Done with this sub-arc. A new one will start soon :3
In case anyone is wondering, I'm not planning for BL. At most bromance... xD
Well, you'll know later.
Do leave comments below if you have questions or suggestions. Author is lonely ;3;
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