Tens of eyes were glued on Daniel's body the second he stepped out of the cultivation room. The old master-at-arms, the old alchemist, the city lord and almost every sect, school of martial arts, or family leader within the city, was now looking at Daniel in curiosity.
A natural phenomenon was rare, but not unusual, while an abnormality during cultivation, that was no small matter, especially in Phyrri.
In the past, the city had been known as the city of abnormalities, as almost every single cultivation singularity recorded in time, had in fact, happened here.
And there was a simple reason for it.. The Catering Tree.
Most unranked citizens might have let the stories of The Catering Tree turn into myths and legends, but within archives of the various powers, many such events had been recorded.
Like when a swordsman of the past, that after managing to obtain one of the tree's blessings, during the breakthrough to the seventh rank, had lost control of his sharp untamable ki. He was only able to watch as, in the end, it had exploded, turning everything within the radius of a hundred meters into pieces and killing hundreds of people.
Or when a spiritual cultivator, thousands of years ago, had turned the entire city into a frozen land when achieving perfection in the Spiritual Synchronization stage.
Many of these types of events had contributed to the increase of Phyrri's fame within, not only the kingdom, but the entire continent.
Tonight's event, had reignited something within the hearts of these powerful cultivators, and as they looked at this young man, casually walking out of the middle of a cultivation anomaly, they felt their hearts beat in excitement.
Both the old master-at-arms and old alchemist had wide smiles on their faces. From each of their prospective, Daniel had picked their cultivation path.
But as fast as those smiles grew, they disappeared right after.
The first ones to notice that something was amiss, were those in the crowd at the seventh rank of cultivation. No matter which kind of cultivator, their eyes slowly opened wide in shock. The kind of shock a person who had just seen an impossibility take place would have.
Martial cultivators noticed the young man's vibrant ki and body at first, and from what they could see, he had just reached the fourth rank of martial cultivation.. They then noticed how his spiritual essence was being emanated by his body.. Clear sign of the fourth rank of spiritual cultivation.
While instead, the first thing spiritual cultivators sensed, was the oddly pure spiritual essence which lingered around Daniel's body, making it look as if he was steaming. They then noticed how pure his ki and the level of refinement of his body.
For the next few minutes, complete silence reigned supreme within the entire area.
The first ones to react, were the old alchemist and the old master-at-arms. They dashed towards Daniel and landed next to him.
The others who had reached the seventh rank approached as well, but didn't get too close to Daniel. They simply looked at him as if they were looking at a mythical beast.
The rank 6 martial and spiritual cultivators stayed for awhile, then left to report the situation to their own powers and backers within the kingdom.
The area around Daniel started to get crowded with the most powerful figures within the city of Phyrri. The first who talked to him was the old alchemist.
"What the hell happened to you?!" He said with shock still present in his voice.
Daniel looked at the two old men in confusion and said "I.. I don't know.. I blacked out for a moment.. And when I woke up I just came out of the room.. And here I am." He decided not to hide anything.
"The brat is lying! Reaching both Nigh Inhuman and Spiritual Synchronization stages at the same time is impossible! Search him, he must have had a lucky encounter. He must be hiding a secret on him!" Barked viciously an old man, hidden under a black cape within the crowd.
Another cultivator, dressed in a white martial artist attire, looked at the previous old man with disdain and said "What the hell are you blathering about?! You're a spiritual cultivator.. You can feel the air inside every pocket of the kid, how would he be able to hide anything from you?"
He then looked at Daniel and said "Can you tell us what you did before attempting your breakthrough?"
Daniel looked at the old master-at-arms and at the old alchemist, and after seeing them nod, he looked at the white dressed man and responded "I've used two partially consumed rank 4 beast cores to cultivate.." He then paused for a second, then continuing "This isn't the first time i've blacked out during cultivation.. It also happened when i've reached perfection"
A woman within the crowd looked at Daniel and shouted "Stop spewing crap! How old are you? How can you have reached perfection?"
The old master-at-arms waved his hand at the woman to shut her up, then looked at Daniel "..Perfection of which path?" He asked.
"Both" Said Daniel.
"Ha! That's rich!" Exclaimed the old man hidden under the black cape. "In order to reach perfection with both paths of cultivation.. You'd need to be as old as I am!"
A quiet old woman approached the old alchemist and old master-at-arms. She slightly nodded at them and said "Vice president Noala, you know me, i'm a doctor.. Would you mind if I checked his body? I just want to verify his age."
The old alchemist did know this woman. She was a fairly known doctor, and part of his group, Golden Cauldron. He quickly nodded at the woman, and allowed her to get closer.
Daniel knew that the old alchemist wouldn't have put him in danger, so as the woman approached, he offered his arm and allowed her to check his pulse.
After a brief examination, the woman turned at the silent crowd, and simply uttered a few words "He is definitely not over fifteen years old.." The shock in her face was unmistakable.
She wasn't alone, as after hearing her words, every single one of these powerful cultivator's mouths gaped in shock.
"That's not all.." She then added "His body is not that of a normal martial cultivator.. His spiritual essence.. It's not restrained by his body.. If a normal martial cultivator's body is like a stone pool, from which water can't come out.. His body is like fine sand"
"Has this ever happened?.. Did anyone ever try to reach perfection in both cultivation paths at the same time, and then breakthrough the fourth rank?" Asked the man dressed in white.
A robust middle aged man with a greatsword strapped on his back, took a step forward and said "Who would want to be stuck at the third rank for sixty.. Maybe seventy years?.."
He not only was right, but to his unbeknownst, he had also recognized the reason why nobody had ever managed to discover a way to cultivate both paths, and that was time.
Usually, these men and women would have been shocked by Daniel's inhuman speed of cultivation.. But right now, with the prospect of having just witnessed the birthpoint of a new era of cultivation.. All they could think, was ask themselves 'Can this be replicated?'
While the sound of discussion buzzed in the air, Daniel quietly looked at his profile.
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Dan Hiel - Karmic system's wielder.
Age - 14
Rank
- Early rank 4 of Martial cultivation (Perfect Body)
- Early rank 4 of Spiritual cultivation (Perfect Connection)
Karma - 1412
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Weapons Masteries (Details)
Martial Arts (Details)
Skills (Details)
Spells (Details)
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Reap What You've Sown
Time Is Precious Lv.1
System Upgrades (Details)
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It was true.. Daniel had really managed to break through both paths of cultivation. He hid his excitement deep inside and looked at his two teachers.
The two old men looked at him, then looked at eachother.
The old master-at-arms cleared his throat, and looked at the city lord. He then said in a loud voice which caught the attention of the entire crowd. "Keep a secret what you've just heard. The city lord will inform the governor of what is happened, which will then make the matter known to the King." His voice then turned more serious than ever "If words of this reaches a bordering kingdom.. A war will break out. And if that will happen, the first to pay for it will be the present."
The robus man with the greatsword looked at the old master-at-arms and asked "What about the kid?"
The old master-at-arms responded right away "The kid is our student, he'll stay here until we hear words from the King." after a slight pause he continued by saying "I expect the lot of you to help if anything were to happen in the meantime." The old master-at-arms didn't want to accuse anyone, but he couldn't be sure that none of these powerful cultivators would attempt to do something to Daniel, before the king came to know of the situation.
The old man's suspicions were not only right, but also came too late, as both the woman doctor and the man with the greatsword were, in fact, spies of two different neighbouring kingdoms.
Within their minds, tens of different plans on how to report their discoveries to their homelands formulated, and unfortunately, none of those plans included leaving Daniel alone.
After receiving a quick agreement from the various cultivators, the crowd disperse.
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A few hours later, inside the old man's private room, Daniel, the old alchemist and the old master-at-arms himself, sat around a table.
"This is quite a problem.." Said the old alchemist while stroking its beard.
Daniel kept quiet as he listened the conversation between his two teachers.
The old master-at-arms slowly rotated a small spoon inside his teacup, his expression was spiritless. He then looked back at the old alchemist and said "He would be safe with your father.. But his majesty would never allow that.. The city lord will inform him that you are here.. he would expect it"
The old alchemist nodded in agreement, then looked at Daniel and said "Even monsters should have limits.. Daniel.." He then forced a faint smile out. After a few minutes of quiet, he added "A deal is a deal.. You're a spiritual cultivator, so technically, you are still my student."
As he finished saying that, a small ring appeared in his hand. He then handed it over to Daniel while saying "This is my gift for you." Daniel took the ring off the old alchemist's hand, and as his attention was focused on the small ring, he felt the old man's bony hands weakly patting his shoulder.
The old master-at-arms got up on his feet, with a face which seemed to have just managed to recover a bit of color. He walked right up against Daniel, and put another small ring on his hand, right next to that of the old alchemist. "And here's mine."
Daniel looked at the two rings in surprise. He had already come in contact with items which had been enchanted with spacial essence. And while he had never seen one the shape of a ring, he still felt the similarity to the spatial bag he had been given to store the prey, during his hunting trip.
He looked at the two, and with a grateful expression, he bowed deeply while saying "Thank you, masters!"
A grim smile appeared on the face of the two old man, but just for a moment. They had no idea of what the king would do after learning about Daniel.. He might be imprison, and experiments might be conducted on him.. Yet, not wanting to worry Daniel for now, they decided to give him some cultivation resources, and decided to let him have a few happy days, before his situation would change drastically.
The news would reach the king in two months, and one thing was sure.. That was the time they had to find a way to keep Daniel safe.
After spending a few more minutes with his teachers, Daniel left the private room of the old master-at-arms, and went to see his sister.
As he walked through the corridors, his expression turned grim, and anxiousness started to squeeze his heart tighter at every step.