POV XINSU YUN - ISLAND MOUNTAIN SECT LEADER

  Xinsu Yun had many problems on his mind at the moment. The life of a sect leader was not easy even in times of peace. Meanwhile, in times like these, it was a living nightmare. It seemed as if the whole world was against him.

  Xinsu had been the leader of the Island Mountain Sect for many years. He had never wanted it, but it had happened against his will. He had always known that he shouldn't be the leader, but ironically, there was no one better. He felt like a fraud. Although he was not one.

  And now the situation seemed to be falling apart... He was too old. However, not a single person in the entire sect was able to replace him, despite many willing candidates.

  “Leader?” His nephew Ze Yun spoke to him, waking him from his lethargy. He was a good boy, but a little too serious.

  “You don't have to address me like that when we're alone, Ze. Why don't you call me ‘uncle’?” He asked, hoping to feel some warmth from him at least. Apart from him, he didn't trust anyone else in the entire sect. Especially no one from his own clan.

  “With all due respect, I cannot do that, leader. Your position comes with a responsibility that I respect, so I will address you with the title that befits you.”

  He did not try to argue with him, knowing that he would achieve nothing that way. Despite the passing of years, he had not changed a bit since childhood. It was his parents' fault, but also his own, his inaction and lack of response.

  However, what was done was done. Now was not the time to dwell on the past. He had more important matters on his mind.

  “As I said, during my absence, you will temporarily take over the duties of the sect leader,” he said slowly, preparing to leave.

  Ze Yun was not the strongest of the High Elders in the sect, but he was the only one he trusted not to exploit his new power for the wrong reasons.

  Xinsu squirmed at the thought of his own incompetence. How pathetic it was. After all these years, he had only one person he could trust.

  “I understood. When can I expect the Leader to return?” He asked, bowing. While he loved him in his own way, his formality irritated him.

  “The journey to Liem City alone will take me over a month…” He said, thinking. “So, I guess a minimum of two months, but probably even more.

  ”A month? Liem is a city near Lake Sanqia in the Celestial Sect Of The Fire God, isn't it? The flight shouldn't take that long, because if I'm not mistaken..."

  The man interrupted him, unable to bear the young man's smart-alecky attitude any longer. As if he didn't know that.

  “That's why I'm leaving early. I'm not like you, I'm already old. I can't fly at high speeds,” he said. Decades ago, he could have gotten there in half the time.

  Ze Yun just nodded. After a moment, however, his expression changed. Xinsu knew very well what that meant. He had known him for too long. He already knew that he was about to start lecturing him.

  “Leader, I still maintain my opinion about your presence at the Regional Summit. You shouldn't go there alone,” Ze Yun began. “As the only cultivator at the Nascent Soul stage, you should stay in the sect. I can go on your behalf—”

  “No. Nascent Soul is the minimum stage at which we would not become a laughing stock for the entire region. Not to mention that the invitation is only for leaders. They will not accept intermediaries, this was clearly stated by the messenger.”

  It was the second meeting in the history of the region. This time, it was organized by the strongest sect in the Yellow Mountain Region, the Celestial Sect Of The Fire God. Never before had the leaders of all the sects met. One could say that the witch's attack changed the fate of the entire region. Never before had the leaders of almost all sects met in one building.

  That changed decades ago. It was the first meeting he had ever attended. The destruction of the Kurita continent after the “Silent Destruction” caused by the Witch.

  No one knew at the time whether the Witch from the Stars would attack this continent after she had destroyed and plunged millions of people into darkness. It was at this meeting, decades ago, that they decided to accept huge waves of refugees from this continent - mages, but also civilians.

  This time, a second meeting was to take place, which meant that the risk had to be equal to that of the Witch. At least for their region. Otherwise, the leaders of the sects would not have agreed to come to the territory of a foreign sect.

  Xinsu Yun had his suspicions. He knew it had something to do with his latest problems. First, there was the goblin attack. The goblin king attacked his sect with a huge army. Many powerful cultivators died, and the offensive lasted for months. Even now, they were still trying to mitigate the consequences of those events.

  Not to mention other less important events. The spread of a soil-damaging plant called Scarlet Groiua, as well as the attack of a parasitic race on the academy in Eastern Court.

  All of this was related to the Swamp Monster Area. An inaccessible region located thousands of kilometers away from their sect. However, something was clearly happening there. Something bad that was pushing all these tragedies from that place into their sect.

  He was convinced that there he would find out what was really going on. Unfortunately, the news from their sect was not very good. They did not have enough strength.

  “Farewell, Ze Yun. Take good care of the sect. I have passed on the information to the other Elders, but they may cause troubles.”

  “You do not have to worry about that. I am capable of handling that unruly group.

  Xinsu just smiled at his nephew's words. Then he activated his technique and flew into the air. Translucent blue wings with a slight white glow sprouted from his back. Soon after, he set off on the journey he had to take. Straight into the lion's den.

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  Meanwhile, May successfully completed the first part of her Qi manipulation training for the first time. She managed to freeze the water in a glass.

  It took her less time to master these techniques than her senior had expected. She owed this to the system, which allowed her to eliminate her fatigue and thus train more.

  “I'm really impressed,“ La Xia said to her. ”You mastered it even faster than I thought."

  May's main problem stemmed from Qi Compression. Even with her enormous stats, it still put enormous pressure on her body. However, she had no problem with the last step of Qi manipulation. It was easy for her to imagine the effect.

  A combination of two things worked: the scientific explanation and her feelings. She combined the explanation of why water freezes. She kept repeating the formula she had written down earlier in her head: water crystallizes at 0 °C. During this process, H?O molecules, which in their liquid state form a dynamic network of hydrogen bonds, organize themselves into an orderly crystalline structure. Each water molecule forms four hydrogen bonds with neighboring molecules. She imagined in her mind how the molecules arrange themselves into a rigid, hexagonal crystal structure.

  But at the same time, she had an image in her mind of real water turning into ice, imagining the cold and the piercing chill coming from the glass.

  And somehow it worked.

  She decided to check the description of her new technique.

  This description was extremely interesting. She had never seen anything so mysterious before. Descriptions were always clear and specific, but here everything appeared to be vague.

  After thinking about it for a while, however, it made sense; after all, this skill was extremely versatile and allowed her to do many things. The user was the one who determined the skill's power.

  May was pleased with herself; her progress was rapid. La Xia also seemed to be enthusiastic about her.

  She continued to progress, alternately turning water into ice and then thawing it back into a liquid state. This time, she tried to improve her time. Currently, it took her over two minutes to freeze the water. Her goal for the next week was to get it down to under a minute.

  After a moment, she resumed her training.

  She repeated the exercise a few more times. Unfortunately, her time only increased instead of decreasing, which was due to her fatigue. However, she knew that this was normal and that it would get better with time, but for that to happen, she had to continue what she was doing.

  Suddenly, a familiar face appeared on the square: Shui Gai. An elderly maid who had taken care of May during her stay at the estate. She approached La Xia and whispered something in his ear. May noticed a change in his expression.

  “Did something happen?” May asked when the maid left the training ground.

  “Not really. Just a certain person showed up at the estate.”

  A certain person? I wonder who that could be? Could it be a member of the Yun clan? But judging by his sour expression, I doubt it.

  “Continue training. I'll take care of it,” said the gray-haired man, walking away toward the main building, leaving May alone.

  With little choice, she continued her Qi Manipulation training. However, not for long, because soon after, La Xia returned with a young man with dead, dark-circled eyes and a scar that cut across his entire forehead. Seeing them heading toward her, May suspended practices at once.

  More trouble? Can't I have a moment of peace?

  Soon after, they were standing next to her.

  “Let me introduce you. May, this is Xing of the Hao clan. He came here at the request of Elder Ze Yun to take you to the Hao Holy Cave and measure your talent using the Spiritual Qi River.” He explained the situation to her.

  Oh, yes, Ze Yun did say that he wanted to test my true talent as soon as possible... It's a pity that I didn't have time to improve it even more, but I don't have time for that now.

  The price of another improvement was too expensive. She would need more than 25,000, and that was just for an indirect improvement from Intermediate to Strong. Improving her talent to 1 in 100,000 was basically unrealistic for her. Such amounts were significant even for people at the Golden Core stage. Currently, a nine-year-old girl had no way of earning that kind of money.

  However, it is commonly believed that talent cannot be changed. So I have to make sure that no one measures my talent a second time in the future, once I improve it! If the information was inconsistent, I could be in trouble. But again, no one believes that talent can be changed, so why would anyone want to test it a second time?

  May didn't really have a choice at the moment. So she decided to say nothing and go with him.

  “Let's go,” the man replied in an icy voice.

  “Wait a minute. I'm coming with you,” La Xia said suddenly. Xing Hao gave him an ice-cold stare.

  “ Honorable Senior La Xia. My orders were to take Junior May Shang alone.” He said in an indifferent voice and with his characteristic empty gaze.

  “I am aware of that. But I am currently her guardian. I cannot leave her alone.” He replied.

  May was surprised by this situation. Could it be that La Xia didn't trust him? Well, if he accompanied her, it would be even better for her. At least she wouldn't be alone in a completely unfamiliar environment.

  “With all due respect, but—”

  “Junior, that wasn't a request,” he said, interrupting him mid-sentence.

  Xing Hao was speechless for a moment, but after a moment he turned back.

  “As you wish, Senior. However, it is not up to me what will happen to you on the Hao Clan's territory.”

  “I am quite ready for the consequences.”