Chapter 19: Reunion- Part 5

Ying Yue had finally regained most of her composure, "I am sorry," she said while smiling. "I should not have laughed at... pfft." A few deep breaths later, "I should not have laughed at you, I was simply caught off guard... it was as if you had seen a ghost!"

Eric grinned and shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

"That's what friends do right? Now, could you please explain this to me?"

Ying Yue blushed at Eric's constant affirmation of their friendship. It was something she obviously missed dearly, "Yes, I forget that you have no memory prior to your arrival. You remember how the Thunder Emperor's Body technique says to picture your body as a vessel?"

"I believe it used the term 'waterskin'..."

"Yes! Exactly. Well that is not just alliteration, our bodies can only handle absorbing so much Primal Essence before the amount of space is insufficient. Primal Cores are highly condensed masses of Primal Essence, drawing from them is like opening a flood gate inside your body. It would be one thing if our Thunder Clan possessed a complete cultivation technique, but even then, a Primal Core of that size, color and quality would require an impossibly firm foundation and a fully manifested dantain, at minimum." She sipped her tea while contemplating before saying, "Not to mention a black core would more than likely belong to a Demonic Beast... and the odds of a Demonic Beast strong enough to develop a Demonic Core making it through the storm wall that didn't immediately kill its way to the Lightning Sect? Not likely."

"Do they ever break through?"

"Occasionally." She seemed to be looking into the distance as she spoke, "Only the weaker ones, however. The Great Cyclone is harder to enter the higher one's cultivation level is. The ones that manage to slip through are rarely above the Houtian realm and are usually severely injured, not that it makes much difference to those of us lower clans and mortals."

"You really are special, you know that Yue'er?"

Ying Yue crinkled her nose at him in a playful manner, "I am nothing of the sort, Ah Eric. Clearly the day's excitement has addled your brain."

"I'm serious this time! Sheesh... I just mean to say that I think it's very strong of you to not accept the fate of this clan, despite your current roadblock in your cultivation."

Ying Yue seemed to be at all loss for words.

"That being said, I believe it is time I returned to my dormitory. I haven't slept once since I awoke in this very home and I fear my ability to find time to do so will lessen as time goes on and my cultivation grows."

She blinked a few times before coming to her senses, "Yes... yes, well then," she made a point of putting a smile on her face, "Please try to steer clear of any more primeval beasts before I see you again."

Eric chuckled as he was escorted to the door.

Before he could walk out, Ying Yue added, "And Eric?"

"Yes?"

The look of concern on her face was completely genuine as she softly said, "Try to find a way to hide your cultivation as long as possible. The cloud badge can only show your growth for the Strength Training realm, everything else can only be either observed or directly measured with a testing stone. Just be sure to use caution before you gain the strength to protect yourself. Please."

The young maiden's concern brought a smile to his face.

"I will try my best."

...

Eric walked back towards the village at a leisurely pace. His fingers were knitted behind his head and his eyelids where slightly closed as he whistled a tune from a favorite movie of his.

After reaching the village square, he turned right and headed east towards the cultivation dormitory.

The moon had long since hidden itself behind the majestic Mount Qixuan, it's radiance now casting a dark shadow. Eric looked at the seemingly infinite number of bright stars in the clear night sky that provided a surprising amount of light.

The view was breathtaking. Unlike any he could dream to see back on Earth.

The rest of the light was provided by luminescent stones on the corners of almost every roof, as well as shop windows and on the occasional pole.The were called Sunstones and were unlike anything he had seen before. They absorbed sunlight during the day and released the stored light in its absence.

Their light purple glow combined with the silver-blue shine from the stars, gave the night an etheral, haze-like feeling. Eric recalled Ying Yue's delicate profile in the moonlight hours before and found himself wondering how the current light would accentuate her face...

He shook his head slightly to clear his thoughts.

'Get your mind right bro.' Aaron again. This particular phrase was from Eric's early years, when he was untrained, fighting neighborhood punks and was just cocky enough to allow the occasional hit to his head. His younger brother's vioce had a way of cutting through the haze that came with those moments.

'Right. I need to focus.'

He crossed the market square where his brief altercation with Pen Yushui had taken place, careful to sidestep the crater caused by Qianggong Jian Gang's sword earlier that morning. The sword was no longer there, but the stone work needed to fix the damage would require at least a couple days to erase its effects.

Eric then came upon the spot he had left the Primeval Boar's corpse lying. The the body and blood trail had long since been removed and washed away. The village butcher had wasted no time after Eric had gifted the monster to the locals, immediately coordinating a team to handle the monumental task of moving, prepping and distribution.

Since Eric had stood up to the regional problem child, Pen Yushui, and had only asked for a single portion of the boar's meat and a fair reward for his efforts, he had inadvertently raised his image in the eyes of the Thunder clan. All while dragging Pen Yushui's through the dirt.

His gaze lingered on the distant, dark woods. Seemingly seeing past the break in the treeline where he had emerged with his quarry.

Eric resumed his unhurried pace, his thoughts straying to those of bodily explosion and the concept of dantains.

'Focus dammit.'

Eric shook the memories of his childhood, where he and his friends would stomp on ketchup packets to see whose spread covered the largest area, from his head.

He was sure this village's atmosphere was dulling his edge. His natural weariness and usually fine tuned alertness seemed to be in constant danger of slipping from his grasp.

He was as sure of this being the case as he was of the fact that he was being followed.