Serenity Peak. Martial World Sharang.
Everwood Palace.
Hour of the Pig. (05:00 PM – 06:00 PM)
In one of the palace’s grand halls, Aksai sat upon a lavish throne-like chair placed over an elevated platform, overseeing the performance of his maids.
The hall itself was a sight to behold, with towering marble columns adorned with intricate carvings that reached up to a high ceiling adorned with shimmering chandeliers.
The floor was polished to a mirror-like sheen, reflecting the warm glow of the torches that lined the walls.
A band of musicians played traditional music instruments in one corner of the hall. The beats of this lyrics-less song were fast and lively, adding to the overall ambiance.
As Aksai watched, the maids gracefully moved across the floor, their movements fluid and mesmerizing. Each maid wore a traditional ensemble, the fabric flowing around them as they twirled and spun.
Their dresses were adorned with delicate embroidery, shimmering in the soft light of the hall.
The maids themselves were a picture of elegance and grace. Their hair was styled in intricate braids and adorned with flowers. Their eyes sparkled with excitement as they danced, their smiles radiant and infectious.
As the performance came to an end, Aksai applauded enthusiastically.
The maids accepted Aksai’s applause with grace. Some of them ran towards him and asked if he wanted to see their performances in private.
Aksai laughed and talked with his maids cheerfully. He teased them and entertained them at the same time. It was as if he had turned into a different person from his usually reserved attitude in Dadangar.
However, Aksai stopped his play with the maids when he saw Zinnia entering the hall from the opposing end. He clapped his hands and gestured to the maids to return to their quarters.
“My lord,” Zinnia greeted Aksai with a bow. The latter nodded before getting up from his position.
“Follow me,” he said to his head maid as he walked towards an open passage of the palace that provided an unobstructed view of the palace garden.
This open passage was on the third floor of the palace. As such, it also provided a clear view of the city that lay beyond the palace walls.
“Tell me. Any good news?” Aksai asked as he placed his hands on the ledge, looking blankly at the city view.
The evening sky had draped over the city. As such, Aksai could see from a distance that some blue-collar workers were returning to their homes. And the shops in the markets had lit lamps and candles, attracting customers for some evening shopping.
“I’m sorry, my lord,” Zinnia kept her head down as she said with a bit of disappointment and shame. “I failed to convince the martial arts schools to give us their Martial Intent Diagram. All of them insist that you need to join their Martial Arts School if you want access to their Martial Intent Diagram.”
“I see,” Aksai sighed to himself. “Well, that was kind of expected anyway. You did a good job, Zinni dear. Don’t think too much about it,” he assured his head maid then turned around to look at the city’s distant hustle and bustle in silence.
***
Aksai had reached Advanced-level proficiency in three of his martial arts. These three martial arts were Harmony Palm, Qi Flow Arts, and Qi Sword Arts. He had also reached intermediate-level proficiency in the remaining martial arts.
It had been quite some time since Aksai had reached Advanced-level proficiency in the martial arts. However, he couldn’t go past that level. The mastery-level proficiency was still eluding him.
The reason for his lack of progress after the Advanced-level proficiency was the Martial Intent Diagram.
Each well-established Martial Arts School in Martial World Sharang had its own heritage and source of origin. The five martial arts that Aksai had practiced under the guidance of the tutors also had their own distinct heritages.
The Martial Intent Diagrams related to their respective martial arts schools were considered as their core inheritances.
It was said that only by analyzing the Martial Intent Diagram for hours on end everyday would allow a martial artist to break into the mastery-stage of that respective martial arts one day. Once someone breaks into the mastery-level proficiency, they were considered as the potential successors for any martial arts schools.
Thus, the Martial Intent Diagrams were only shown to the core disciples of any martial arts school. It was not meant to be seen by the outsiders.
Aksai had only hired private tutors from Serenity Peak to teach him the five martial arts that he practiced regularly. He hadn’t officially joined any of the martial arts schools and was only considered as a legacy disciple in all of the five schools.
Most of the martial arts tutors that Aksai had hired had stopped coming to him after he reached the intermediate-level proficiency. The second stage proficiency was considered as the limit a martial arts school could allow an outsider like Aksai to progress in.
For the past 12 years, Aksai had used the power of money to get over a lot of obstacles. He had bought many premium-grade elixirs and medicines from the five martial arts schools to support his rigorous martial arts training.
Aksai didn’t really need the martial arts tutors anyway after he reached a certain level of proficiency in all five martial arts. He bought their manuals upfront and progressed way ahead of anyone of his peers.
The martial arts tutors had thought that Aksai was going to damage his foundation as a heretic martial artist. They didn’t know that he could rely on his neural link fabric and the Qi Fusion Arts to sidestep a lot of pitfalls that came with being a mixed martial artist.
The Harmony Palm didn’t really belong to Martial World Sharang. It was a martial art that Aksai had learned from the Everwood book. He didn’t have a Martial Intent Diagram related to it and he didn’t think he would be provided any by the Everwood book.
However, he needed the Martial Intent Diagrams in the rest of the martial arts if he wanted to unlock the mastery-level proficiency in them.