The Restless Curiosity

After what happened with Dragon God, Asura Ryuu and Asura Tenka continued going to the forest to hunt and everything rest was normal - there were no Spirit Beasts anymore, just the usual beasts. They noticed that the place they've been to last time, where the tiger led them, was now the usual forest as before but there was a bit of Spiritual Energy surging out from there.

That meant Spiritual Energy was about to return to this area now that there was no separate world draining it. It'll need a few years to do so, but it will happen regardless.

The two would often set up a camp around that place because the beasts loved Spirit Energy and would come to take over this territory when they found out about it. That's why if they couldn't find anything for a long time, they would just go to the same old place and would find something to hunt always.

After several times, Xun Meng and Xun Bao joined them as well, having finished the training they've received to do with spears. Now that they knew the basics and how to use the spears, they loved going with their younger brother and sister to hunt because it was always fun being around them. Xun Bao was getting more and more energetic with each day, but there was still a bit of the usual laziness that would creep in with a moment of relaxation.

The old man seemingly vanished, his rocking chair no longer swaying. It was unknown where he went, but he was sure nothing would happen to these children when all four of them could watch out for themselves.

Neither of the four knew that most of their peers would usually study about cultivation before they went to school, not practical combat and skills. Although they didn't know, they would soon find out because the time to say goodbye was nearing. Xun Meng and Xun Bao were already six years old.

The Asura pair didn't really know when their birthday was, so they took a day when the old man brought them in as their birthday. It was just a bit after the Xun Bao and Xun Meng, but it was still enough for them to be considered 'younger' siblings even though they were older than all of them together.

Asura Ryuu often wondered what would happen when he awakens because of the Dragon God's influence - his blood, to be precise. The two talked with each other quite frequently and the two Asuras would occasionally go into Asura Ryuu's Spirit World that turned into Micro Divine Plane and breathe in the rich Energy inside, tempering their bodies and fortifying their foundation for the future. The sooner one starts doing that, the better. Naturally, the Divine Energy within that world was nowhere near the level of the one in The Realm of Gods but compared to the energy in the outside world that was oozing out of that place in the forest, it was much, much purer and richer.

If murky water from the lake was the Spirit Energy in the outside world, then the Divine Energy was the almost-perfect water from the spring - refreshing, cool and rich with natural supplements of this world.

Naturally, only the two of them did that because Asura Ryuu was afraid of what could happen if he let the Xun siblings inside - after all, even they who were once divine beings almost fainted the first time because of the thick Spirit Energy. For normal people who didn't undergo awakening such a thickness of Spirit Energy would cause the same reaction as trying to inhale the thick mist - they would notice the absence of oxygen and, depending on its concentration, possibly even faint.

His own awakening wasn't the only thing that weighed on Asura Ryuu's mind. He didn't know what would happen with the other three and especially with Asura Tenka who gave up her Spiritual Blood of the Heavenly Devil tribe. Would fate still force her on the path of the devil or will she have a better life this time? Being used as fuel for the entire realm isn't a happy feeling at all, especially when one has almost eternal life. It essentially turns one into a mindless tool, and those who could keep their mind in check are the ones with extremely strong and resilient will.

Time trickled away in the form of a smoke rising from the incense stick and drifting off to the sky, carried by the wind that would usually be warm and occasionally refreshing. Asura Ryuu found himself on the balcony of the mansion, staring at the rocking chair that was still and had the same aura around it as if the old man was around. His sharp black eyes with red stars focused on the chair and noticed something abnormal, but he wasn't able to pinpoint what exactly.

Trying to suppress the urge to sit in it, he paced from one end of the balcony to the other, contemplating other things and twirling his fingers or trying out various hand positions. He would cross his hands in front of his chest, then in the next moment they'd be hanging free alongside the body and then they would be behind his head. Time trickled away like sand between the gaps of the fingers.

But in the end he found himself once again in front of that chair, overflowing with burning curiosity in those glistening crimson stars confined within the darkness of his eyes. There were several states he was the most dangerous in and this was one of them - insatiable curiosity turns Asura Ryuu into a monster, among other things.

Asura Tenka, who watched the unfolding event with a strange smile, saw all of that. "That part of him never changes. Once his scientist nature awakens, he can't go back to normal or the curiosity would devour him..." She thought.

Dragon God saw this because he was within Asura Ryuu's mind and everything he experienced and saw would naturally find its way to him as well. He couldn't help but laugh and marvel at this guy's childlike behavior even after all the lives he had been through.

He found Asura Ryuu to resemble an adult who forgot to grow up, or rather - the grown up who remained a child with the usual carefree aura and thoughts. He marvelled at that fact because he knew that there was no way that he'd be able to do the same. Even now, the Dragon God still had his elderly arrogance ingrained in his soul that would instinctively cause him to look down on weak things - but wasn't he the weak one now?