The Scholar

Aerion woke up the following morning.

Looks like Xia is still sleeping, what should I do? Right, I should check up on Daemon.

Aerion enters the Sky Poison Pearl and looks for Daemon. The cub was still meditating as if going through some kind of breakthrough. Aerion decided that he would not disturb Daemon.

"I see, you're just like Yun Che... a sex fiend!"

"To be fair, I've never had sex. So..."

"Hmph, whatever."

Aerion left the Sky Poison Pearl and returned to the real world. Once Tai Xia woke up, Aerion made preparations for the upcoming journey. Once they were both ready to set out, they got onto the bird and it flew into the blue sky. While riding the bird, Tai Xia asked Aerion a serious question.

"Was yesterday just a fluke or...?"

"It wasn't a fluke... I love you, Xia."

She smiled. "Prove it."

"It would be my pleasure."

They kissed for the second time.

~Oldtown~

They returned to the Noble Rogue Sect at last. They went to the mission board to collect their reward, which was 250 purple profound coins. Pennies, I know... but every little helps.

"See you later, my Silver Prince." Xia kissed Aerion on the cheek and left.

One of the disciples yelled loudly. "ONLY EIGHT DAYS TILL THE ASSEMBLY, OH MY GOD!"

"AND ONLY 78 DAYS UNTIL THE BLUE WIND RANKING TOURNAMENT!"

"Why are you so stressed about the ranking tournament when you're too weak to even attend?"

"That's true... but still..."

The assembly, the quarterly assembly where all adepts can choose which division they want to join. Aerion decided that he would attend that assembly; he heard that divisions complete much harder missions and they focus on their talented disciples. I'm talented, so that would benefit my cultivation.

Blue Wind Ranking Tournament... I don't know much about it, apart from Tai Wentian getting first place a long time ago. Aerion decided that he would find out more about this world, the best way to do that is reading books! So Aerion left the mission board pavilion and moved up to the Library. The Guards stationed there took a close look at me.

"Jun Long, a divisionless adept..."

Another guard nodded. "We usually don't let divisionless disciples in but..." He looked at the paper at his hand "you seem to be one of the special few that are allowed, the Grandmaster himself gave you unrestricted access to the Library... so you may pass."

Aerion nodded. "Thank you."

Tai Wentian is too nice of a grandmaster. One of the guards took out a key and unlocked the gate, Aerion went past it and continued to move up. Eventually, he reached the Library.

Time to look around for some books...

Aerion spends a few minutes picking up books about the Blue Wind Empire/Nation, The Sacred Grounds, the other nations, cultivation and the world in general.

"So many books... I didn't know you were such a scholar, Jun Long."

Aerion jumped and turned around. He saw the person's razor-sharp eyes and instantly recognised the person before him, the Grandmaster himself.

"I can be a scholar when I need to be one"

"A useful skill indeed. At this time of year, all young disciples are either doing missions... cultivating or training at the training pavilion. While you are reading books, most interesting."

"Training pavilion?"

"A group of buildings dedicated to making disciple's stronger, if you go right from the mission board you'll find it."

"Alright, I'll go there later."

"Good." The Grandmaster walked away, probably to his desk or private chamber.

Aerion wondered why the Library such an important place, why does the Grandmaster live here? Is there a secret locked here, something that the Grandmaster himself must protect? Or perhaps he values knowledge over everything else? Whatever, there's no point in overthinking about it.

Aerion sat down on a chair in the Library and started to read the first of the many books he selected.

~SIX HOURS LATER~

Aerion was extremely tired but he managed to finish the last book. It was... all worth... it.

*BUMP*

Because of his exhaustion, Aerion bumped his head against the table and went to sleep. Tai Wentian eventually checked up on Aerion and saw him fast asleep.

"Hahaha, truly a dedicated young disciple. Finishing twelve large books in one day, this would usually take other disciples a month... but you did it in one day. Such extraordinary talent... it was truly a blessing from the Heaven's when you joined my Sect, Jun Long..."

~Next day~

What!? I fell asleep in the Library!? Come on, Aerion, fix up.

Aerion put all of the books back to their original places and left the Library. He went down to the mission board.

"JUUUUUUUUUN LOOOOOOONG!"

An absolute meteor came falling down on him, well... not really. Liu Lei appeared out of nowhere and hugged Aerion.

"You're really alive..." Tears dropped down from his eyes.

"Of course... how could I die to that old bugger?"

"Yeah, that's true..." Lei wiped his tears off. "You're truly amazing, surviving an encounter with someone three great realms above you... how did you do it?"

"Eh, I got lucky. He cut my left arm off and left..."

"But your left arm looks normal..."

"Are you... sure?"

Aerion showed his left arm up close... and he was shocked. The almost-invisible scales... they were completely gone.

What? I couldn've sworn that...

"It looks completely normal to me."

"Nevermind." Aerion changed topics "How has your life been since then?"

"Well, I just locked myself in my room and meditated the whole time. Then, once I heard that you returned, I left my room to find you."

"What's your cultivation at?"

"I had quite a few surprising breakthroughs, I reached True Profound Six!"

"Oh? That's very nice indeed."

"So what are you doing here, at the mission board?"

"Looking for a quick and easy mission, making my record look better."

"Shouldn't you be preparing for the Quarterly Assembly, the Disciple Ranking Tournament especially?"

Aerion smiled. "I'll prepare on the day before... hahaha."

"Knowing you, you'll still rank pretty high."

"Of course."

"Well, I'm going to go and prepare for a mission myself."

"Farewell, Lei."

"You too, Long."

Aerion began to read through the missions on the board:

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Type: Assistance

Area: Oldtown

Description: A well-known noble in Oldtown needs your assistance, his dog is preventing him from shagging his wife. Essentially, the dog is cucking the lord and he hasn't had any action for YEARS. His wife is beautiful and she absolutely loves her dog. Your objective is simple; find a way to stop the dog while keeping the wife happy. Physically harming the dog will mean instant failure and punishment.

Difficulty: Unknown

Reward: 15 Purple Profound Coins

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Wow, being cucked by your wife's dog. Must be a sad reality for the nobleman.

Aerion considered taking on the mission, but the reward was way too low for his heavenly abilities. If it was something like a hundred purple profound coins then he probably would've taken it. Still, he might do it later just for fun. He wanted to witness how a dog managed to cuck a man.

Hmm, this one looks interesting and worth my time.

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Type: Assassination

Area: Rising Star City

Target: Jun Tian

Description: A powerful elder of a sect turns rogue and begins to run rampant. He is like a demon, killing everyone in his way and raping every beauty he can find. He does what he wants... put an end to this.

Difficulty: Earth Profound 1

Reward: 5000 Purple Profound Coins

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Jun Tian? He puts a bad label on my fake surname, I must eliminate him. I gave the paper to an elder and he agreed.

"Good luck, Jun Long." The old man said as he signed the paper

Luck? I don't need luck, I only need my pure skill!

Rising Star City... a good 150-mile walk north! Damn, that's going to take ages... oh well. I can probably run for a whole day and make it, so if I rest and take my time the journey could take up to 3 days. Hmm, I guess it's not that bad when you're a cultivator.

Aerion swiftly left the fortress and looked around for the Silver Cloaks. He had neglected them for a whole week, so it was about time he talked with them again.

~

Dai Fang looked at Aerion. "Well, we have a new job. Leader, are you coming with us?"

Aerion shook his head. "No, I'm quite busy at the moment. But... I'll give you guys some resources."

Aerion took out several weak pills that didn't increase his cultivation anymore, perhaps the Silver Cloaks can make better use out of them.

"Wow... all of these pills, thank you. We will make great use of them."

"Good to know."

Now that the Silver Cloaks were all sorted, Aerion could finally begin his journey north. Once outside of Oldtown, Aerion let Daemon loose.

He wasn't meditating anymore, interesting.

Observe!

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Name: Daemon

Species: Chimera (Lion, Eagle, Goat and Snake)

Age: 1 year, 2 months

Cultivation/Profound Core: Nascent Profound

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Oooh, he's nascent profound. Here, catch.

Daemon catches the piece of meat and gobbles it up instantly.

"You're only going to grow stronger..."