Asking Uncle For Help

Katania hated being separated from the Empress, her heart was torn in two.

"I need to be stronger," she thought tearfully.

There were many ways to increase ones cultivation, however, not all of them were viable.

Katania wasn't willing to just wait around though, she had a month, so a Sect or School was out of the question.

Her mother would often tell her stories about the most powerful and famous people on the continent, and how their family had given birth to one such genius.

It was this man that currently filled Katania's thoughts.

"If Empress needs a Heavenly realm cultivator as a vessel, then I can only give my all," Katania knew there were 2 types of people in this world, and she was already traveling in the direction of one of them.

On the Vida continent there were naturally, the Martial Cultivators, who trained their bodies, and the Divine Sages who manipulated spirit energy.

Spirit energy was divided into two realms, the Neutral realm and the Void realm.

Neutral realm Sages could create vast worlds, the flow of time in these worlds were much slower than that of the real world.

A truly powerful Neutral realm Sage could allow one to live an entire year inside a month.

Luckily, Katania knew one such Sage, her mother's older brother.

Katania arrived at a huge castle, the gates were like an immense mountain, their height reaching the clouds, they were silver in color and had intricate designs wrought in the metal.

Katania pulled a long silver handle that hung beside the gate, it was attached to a chain that swung idly far above her head.

When she pulled it a loud crisp ring rang out, a bell cracked the air like a bolt of thunder.

Katania did not wait long before the gate swung open.

The grounds were truly vast, Katania spent several minutes traversing them.

She felt her Uncle's aura and raced towards it at an incredible pace.

Upon seeing him, Katania, this 6 foot 15 year old girl threw herself into the man's arms.

He looked surprised but immediately embraced her and spun her around twice, her feet leaving the floor. 

She smiled breathlessly at him as he placed her down,

"Uncle," she breathed happily.

"My dear Niece, to what does this old man owe the pleasure?" His eyes were sharp, but the edges were crinkled pleasantly as he gazed upon his beloved niece.

Katania grew serious at that.

Her smile drooping slightly she said, "Uncle, your niece needs a favor…" she began slowly.

"Haha, I expected as much!" He smiled, "Come, tell Uncle what you need!" He grinned as he sat at a small table in the courtyard, picking up a cup of tea, he passed a hand over the brim, it instantly began steaming.

He took a careful sip while gazing through the steam.

Katania twisted her hands, her relationship with her Uncle could be considered extremely good, however, she knew it required no small measure of power and effort to create the sort of space she required.

Seeing this her Uncle tried to alleviate her concerns, "Since you've come you may as well tell me as it must be extremely important, otherwise-" he paused, he offered a wry smile, "Tell Uncle," he said, a huge grin plastered on his face, "I promise as long as this old man has the ability I definitely won't disappoint you." He held up his left hand and swore.

Saying so, he returned to sipping his tea.

Katania grit her teeth and blurted, "Uncle, I'd like you to create a space for me to train in."

"Oh? Is that all?" He nodded, this was indeed no problem for him.

But Katania shook her head, "Uncle, I need to reach the Heavenly realm in one month." She knew she was asking a lot so she found it hard to meet his stare.

And indeed, the cup of tea her Uncle had been holding slipped from his grasp and shattered upon the stone at his feet.

Stuttering slightly he asked, "M-My dear niece, what is your current cultivation?" Fear of her answer was evident in his speech.

"Grade 8 Soul realm." She replied without hesitation, "but Uncle, I know I can do it if I have enough time!" She pleaded pathetically, her eyes shined a little as she rushed up to her uncle, she took his hands in hers and assured him.

"Grade 8 Soul realm…" he was shocked, he himself was only a grade 2 Earthly realm cultivator. "What a truly terrifying existence," he thought secretly.

Realizing that he had been silent for quite a while he said, "Girl, you are already virtually unmatched on this continent, why do you need to advance to such an extent in such a short period?" He was feeling extremely concerned, thinking someone must be threatening his niece.

Katania shook her head, "Uncle, this…" it wasn't that she was unwilling but that he would think she was crazy if she told the truth.

He sighed, waving his hand he said, "Forget it, it's unimportant," He revealed a complicated expression as he pondered her request, "I can give you at most a year," He said. "I have one treasure made by a Void realm Sage, it should provide you with enough monsters to train on during your seclusion."

Katania's eyes lit up and she wrapped her arms around his neck and began kissing him repeatedly, she continued to thank him rapidly between kisses.

He revealed a pleased expression, having earned the love of his niece for his trouble.

Smiling he said, "Alright girl enough, let this old man work, I'll come for you when it's prepared.

In the meantime, make yourself at home." He ran his hand through her hair before cupping her face and placing a soft kiss on her brow. "Go go go-"    He ushered her out of the courtyard.

Katania shrieked with happiness as she ran into the castle, feeling like a spoiled child after 15 years of neglect.

She wanted to experience this feeling forever but after settling down inside the castle Katania grew more solemn.

She began comprehending her martial path, this was extremely crucial to cultivation, without comprehension one might end up trapped in a bottleneck that would hinder future breakthroughs, so martial cultivators should always take the time to comprehend their abilities, without understanding strength is limited.

Katania slowed her breathing and entered a trance-like state.

Her martial path was one that connected stars, it was exceedingly rare to train in a transcendental path like this one, in fact, most cultivators trained in singular martial paths, like air and water, not dual paths like her star path.

Katania steadily gained comprehension long into the night, her eyes fluttering open only once as she increased her cultivation to that of a grade 9 Soul realm cultivator.