"Yun'er, you must let the energy flow. Do not control it but guide it."

"Yes, Teacher."

Cain stood in a garden while instructing the Princess.

In the end, she wished to cultivate so Cain didn't stop her. Although this made the two Princes upset, he couldn't refuse to teach.

During his stay in the Palace, many envoys from the other Princes and Princesses came. Sun Xiang had lots of children. Each of them had different goals and desires to achieve from Cain. A few Princesses even wished to do some private things that would be found only in a brothel.

There were many different personalities among the children, and almost all of them didn't have the same temperament as their father.

'The arrogance is within all of them, but it's only surface-level arrogance with no intelligence, nothing more. I wonder if the Emperor truly sired all of them.'

"Master, I did it! My Dantian grew again!"

Cain smiled, "Good job Yun'er, out of all your other siblings you by far have the most talent."

Yun'er wasn't the only one who came to Cain. He would have multiple lessons a month with many different sons and daughters of Sun Xiang. Although he was only in the Founding Stage he was experienced and had the teachings of a Sword Saint to stand on.

'Only a few more days until I reach the Peak of the Founding Stage, then I can go and look for a usable soul.'

Cain watched over the Princess and gave a few more pointers before their lesson ended. The Princess gave a bow and thanked Cain like always.

"Oh, Teacher! I almost forgot. There will be an auction hosted by the Royal Family in a month. Father will be there and all the most famous people in the Dynasty will go! Do you wish to come with me?"

'An auction? They sell Mystical Souls, right? Perfect!' Cain's eyes flickered.

"Sure, Teacher will be happy to go."

Yun'er smiled brightly, "Perfect! Yun'er will get you when the time comes!"

The servants finally came over and escorted their lady away.

'I'm surprised by the Princess's personality. I wonder who made her such a caring person. Her mother perhaps?'

Cain was in a good mood, he decided to go out and buy some jerky to enjoy while he walked around the city. The jerky in this territory was especially good, they used a special way to dry and age the meat, and even the spices they used were out of this world.

Licking his lips, Cain hummed a tune as he left the Palace.

...

Blood covered the land, red dyed the sky. There was no life, no death, only despair. Bones shifted between the surface of the crimson surface before again sinking beneath it.

Red-like souls drifted around, some were hollow while others were full of thought.

One of these souls hovered bedside's a young man sitting on a menacing throne. The soul's Master would sit here and replay the past or strategize all day long. He could tell his master was bored, he also seemed to be turning crazier by the day.

But one thing remained, the more the strange orb seeped into his master's chest, the more lively his master would become.

"Hah, it still hasn't completely fused with my soul. Using a territory's power before consumption would have helped the digestion process....but at least I've had time to think and enlighten myself. Change is always present haha..."

Leon wouldn't utter a word while his Master spoke. He had the utmost admiration and knew these self-talks helped his Master's existence remain strong and present.

But today he wished to say something, he needed to.

"Master, is letting the other soul have free roam necessary?"

The man sitting on the throne's eyes fully opened and his dark red pupils lit up, the realm shook, the ghosts froze and the bones sunk below the surface. In the sky, a massive red eye opened and peered down at the bloody world

"Hmmm. You make a good point Leon. But at this point, I see no purpose in constantly watching and acting. I have to wait for the right moment, if I'm too present he will get used to me, and if I don't say anything he will become too confident.

"What is happening is a battle between two people. Me, and Fang Yuan.

"Fang Yuan wants his Disciple to become his own person without me, while I need him to go through horrible experiences and become another version of me to fuse properly."

The young man clicked his tongue.

"And I'm not letting him roam free, I still have some control over the situation and can cue his subconscious to some things as long as it doesn't get out of hand. Overall I will win in the end. Fang Yuan put himself in a passive state, his Disciple is alone and only now opening up to his surroundings. It's the perfect time to condition him slowly and turn everything against him, but it must be done with precision."

Leon listened and nodded, he didn't understand much but he got the gist.

"I understand Master, I apologize for my incompetence."

The handsome youth waved his hand while staring at fragments of memories.

"You're not incompetent Leon. If you were I wouldn't have you standing beside me right now. I trust you and your judgment."

Leon couldn't help but let his eyes swell with tears. Although he didn't have much of a physical form, the mist could form the tears, albeit a little unrealistic.

"There there my servant. No worries." Leon's Master smiled as he patted his shoulder. His movements were slow and sluggish.

'Everything will come together. I only need to focus on my truth. I am close to understanding. Just a bit more.' 

The youth closed his eyes once again, the ghosts moved and the bones floated back up. The horrid realm continued to move its gears.

...

It was late at night but Cain couldn't care. He was at an important moment in his cultivation.

"Sword Spirit activate! Dantian expand!"

Sigils on his right arm lit up one by one as his body glowed white and blue. The heavenly energy in his Dantian was constantly purifying and expanding the space, hardening the walls and absorbing more and more Spiritual Qi.

Cain quickly concentrated and stopped speaking. Seconds became minutes, minutes became hours.

As the daylight began to creep into his home, the energy around Cain was pushed back as his body exploded in shades of white and his skin cracked and burned off.

When he opened his eyes, Cain smiled and stood up in one quick motion. He left his residence and looked to the sky with bliss.

"Haha! The peak of the Founding Stage, and I modified my other arm! I did it! Two birds with one stone!"

Looking down at his hands, Cain watched the sigils on his right and left arm disappear. He raised his right hand and swung down. Blue incandescent light was swiftly sent out and cut down the tree in his yard.

The tree truck was cleanly slashed and slid off.

Boom

It was magic, and the truck showed no signs of anything cutting it down.

Cain's power had increased. 

"Sword Spirits are sharp and quick. Many cannot see its power until it's too late!"

Laughing to himself, Cain went back inside and sat down to cultivate, solidifying his breakthrough.

'The auction is coming up. This is perfect timing!'

 

 

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