Verus launched himself sideways. He moved with incredible speed and grace as his feet danced across the stone of the training ground. Void ki cycled through his channels, which he used to boost himself and make several quick disorienting turns. He seemed to bounce effortlessly around, almost as if he was nothing but an illusion. This was a property of the void ki he was using, although it took concentration and skill to display. It allowed him to imitate nothingness and thus disturb the world around himself less. The effect wasn’t all that strong, but it might become more useful as his competence with void ki grew. He could hope, anyway.

Something suddenly flew through the area he was training in, and it was moving with startling speed. Reacting, Verus came to a stop and spun to face it. The flying object was a perfectly round stone larger than his fist, moving with enough speed that it looked blurry.

As the stone whizzed by, Verus reached out with a hand. More void ki flowed from his core and streamed out of his hand toward the stone. Upon impact, a connection was formed, but the stone was moving quickly and heavy. Thus, when Verus tried to collapse the beam and pull the stone toward himself, the connection threatened to snap.

Struggling, Verus grit his teeth and concentrated on his technique. It was hard, but he succeeded in pulling the flying rock into his hand. Only when his fingers closed on the cool stone did he let himself relax and smile. His ki channels felt strained, but he’d done it! This was the first time he’d managed to catch such a heavy object moving so quickly!

From where he was standing off to the side, Elder Caligo nodded in an approving manner. “Your intuitive grasp of void ki and your ability to shape it has improved considerably.”

The elder with messy black hair had been the one who’d thrown the stone. There was a small pile of them on the ground next to him.

“Thank you, master. I’ve been practicing hard at my techniques and regularly doing the exercises you gave me.”

“Diligence is the root of will, and only will can carry you along the path of the cultivator, little disciple.”

Verus felt a mild bit of irritation. His master seemed to like calling Verus his little disciple. Verus didn’t know why he felt the need to be insulting. He wasn’t a child. Maybe Elder Caligo did it because he’d essentially been ordered to take Verus as his disciple by his own master, Lady Nightclaw? More likely, he was just an ass. Regardless of the reason, there was nothing Verus could do about it.

“While your Empty Grasp has grown stronger, your strongest point is definitely your speed and agility,” Elder Caligo observed. “Void ki really is quite suited for movement arts.”

Verus sighed. “It lacks both defensive and offensive power though. The Empty Grasp is more of a support technique than anything else.”

By necessity, Verus had focused almost all his recent training on his body enhancement technique and the Empty Grasp. Developing his human ki techniques would be inefficient and he had no other combat abilities at the moment.

“Ha, perhaps. However, you’ve only begun to touch upon the secrets and uses of void ki. It is not power you lack, but understanding,” his master told him as he stretched lazily. “Give it time, something will come to you. All your techniques are only at the most basic level. None of them have even incorporated the slightest hint of dimensional elements yet. Once you touch upon that insight, many new paths will open to you. Remember, ki is far more than a representation of an element. All ki is connected to the eternal.”

“Will I be able to understand such things while still within my current Realm?”

“Perhaps. You certainly won’t master them, and it would be unusual for a disciple to gain even basic insight into the dimensional characteristics of ki at the Tempered Realm, but you’ve shown hints of touching them already. So, it’s possible.”

“I have?”

“Indeed, but trying to force the issue would be a futile waste of effort, so don’t worry about it. Just concentrate on mastering your existing techniques and slowly moving toward the next Realm. Inspiration never comes as we wish. Whatever happens will happen.”

“Yes, master,” Verus replied sullenly. Elder Caligo could be rather nonchalant about things, but Verus had never been given any reason to doubt that knew what he was talking about. He was an elder after all. He couldn’t be entirely incompetent.

“Do you think I’m ready for the tournament?” he asked his master nervously. Time had gone by quickly, and this was the last scheduled training session before the official beginning of the princess’ tournament. It was tomorrow.

Elder Caligo grinned darkly. “Simply do your best and try not to get killed, my little disciple. Your basics have come along nicely, but your chances of entering the top ten percent are still nonexistent without a miracle. That’s nothing to be ashamed of though. The very best young geniuses of this world will all be competing. You have shown impressive talent yourself and made it into the inner sect by overcoming no small amount of disadvantages and trials, but you’re not among the very best of your age group. Don’t fool yourself.”

The tired looking elder then took a drink from the silver flask he always kept on him. Verus knew there was alcohol in that flask. His master drank a lot, which was quite unfitting for a cultivator of the empire. They were supposed to be ascetics.

“I can see that look of disapproval in your eyes,” Elder Caligo chuckled in amusement. “You need to work on hiding your inner thoughts better, my little disciple. You’re easier to read than a book.”

“How could I ever disapprove of anything my master did?”

Verus’s master simply snorted rudely. “Regardless, don’t try and go beyond your limits or take too many shortcuts to power. Real life isn’t like a story. Push yourself too hard and all you’ll do is cripple yourself. I know this lesson well. Once I was a young genius too, but I stumbled and paid a heavy price for it.”

Verus eyed his master. His own instincts were telling him he needed to seize the moment, but he could tell that the man had lived through some painful experiences, and he was an elder. The forbidding image of the sect’s asylum rose in Verus’s mind. Maybe Elder Caligo knew what was talking about.

“I bow before your wisdom and experience, master, but is there really nothing more I can do to prepare for the tournament? I want to do my best. Lady Nightclaw told me not to embarrass her.”

“The competition forbids most sources of external strength such as artifacts or pills. Only bonded spirit weapons are allowed, since they are earned and considered inseparable from the cultivator that holds them.”

“The sect has quite a few unbonded spirit weapons lying around. I’ve seen them,” Verus replied hopefully.

Spirit Weapons were special living weapons that contained trapped spirits. You could only use them if the spirit inside allowed you to bond with them. Verus really wanted one. They all had special ki abilities, so having a spirit weapon would definitely help him overcome his lack of offensive techniques.

Elder Caligo chuckled. “True, but the sect still doesn’t just hand them out to new inner disciples. Also, bonding spirit weapons is very dangerous at your Realm and it’s unlikely you’d find one that suits you anyway. The spirit weapons the sect has ‘lying around’ as you put it have all rejected everyone that tried to bond them for centuries. If you perform a great task for the sect then you’ll get a chance to see if any like you, not before.”

“The sect seems to care about this tournament -and my age group in particular- a lot. Winning would be a lot easier with a spirit weapon.”

“Not if half the contestants die and the others are all have weakened souls. A new weapon they don’t know how to use won’t make up for that. Like I said, bonding a spirit weapon at the Foundation Realm is dangerous.”

Verus sighed in defeat. “Alright. Why does the sect care so much about this tournament though, master?”

“You’ll know soon enough,” Elder Caligo responded, continuing his longstanding practice of not answering questions that weren’t directly related to Verus’s immediate cultivation training. It was quite annoying.

“If you’re really desperate for something to do, practice conjuring void essence or just meditate and gather ki instead of letting your mind roam pointlessly. It will take you a long time to get to the Expanding Elements Realm, but every drop of ki will make you stronger.”

Verus was confused for a moment. “I’ve always just heard it referred to as the Expanding Realm.”

Elder Caligo sighed. “After the Origin Realm, which is the Realm all humans start at, all the Realms are divided into groups of three, with the first three being the Element ones. So, you’re actually in the Tempered Elements Realm at the moment. It’s just that this classification doesn’t mean anything to new disciples, so they’re usually only referred to by their simplified names.”

“What are the insight requirements for reaching the next realm? I’ve heard a little about it, but no one has gone into detail yet.”

“The Expanding Elements Realm is the last stage of the first triad, but the enlightenment required to reach it is fairly simple. All you have to do gain a certain mastery over your element and build up enough power to breakthrough your inherent limit. Anyone can do it with time and practice.”

“Then what’s the next triad about?”

“The next three Realms are the Heaven Realms and have more to do with understanding the eternal plane, but don’t worry about them yet. Concentrate on gathering enough ki for the next step.”

“Yes, master,” Verus replied. He’d gotten an unusual amount of information out of his master already.

That was pretty much the end of the training session, so Elder Caligo soon left and Verus went back to his residence. His master hadn’t reassured him, so he was still quite nervous about the tournament tomorrow. He hadn’t dared tell his master why he was so worried about it though. His grudge against Highcloud was a personal matter that his master might discourage him from fighting with others in his sect, and his memories from his past life were a dangerous secret he wasn’t planning to tell anyone about, especially since he still hadn’t remembered who he’d used to be. Not knowing that made him very nervous.

Once he was sitting down at the small table in his room, Verus mind began to wander away from cultivation. The tournament was going to be tomorrow, and it was supposed to be in the princesses’ honor. Was she going to watching? She should at least be there for the finals, right? The image of her sitting on her throne as gazing out imperiously at the parade crowd was seared into his memory.

Verus groaned at his own foolishness. Why was he thinking about the princess? He wasn’t the type of person that would ever have a chance to even talk to her. She was a descendant of the Archon! As high above him as the stars. So what if she was incredibly beautiful? He was an ascetic and wasn’t supposed to care about things like a woman’s slender legs… so beautiful.

Ack. There was no way he’d done anything as stupid as fall heads over heels in love with a princess. No, this had to be residual effect of the devotion ki used at the parade or something. He wasn’t so mentally weak as to be captivated by a girl, even a princess supported by devotion ki. He could resist this, whatever it was!

Still, she probably would be at the tournament, so he’d be able to see her again. Verus’s heart skipped a beat and excitement coursed through him. He just couldn’t forget her slim and majestic appearance. Something about her resonated with his very soul...