Ku Xing

Edrick wasn't sure how to respond to that, was he- Or rather, Zixuan Elt, supposed to be familiar with this woman in any way? He had heard that the Elt and Xing enjoyed rather cordial relations, indeed, he had heard about it because the memories of Zixuan were not very clear and not ripe with intel of interest, in fact, this fool had possessed a most muddy memory.

Elder Ku Xing was a rather, distinct-looking woman, the title of 'Elder' seemed like an insult, as unlike Gang, she did not appear nearly as old, in fact, she was youthful and had no wrinkles anywhere.

Her hair was basically as black as it could get, long enough enough to reach waist in some places, but only a few as she seemed to take care of cutting her hair alone and had decided that the best style was to randomly cut strands at various length and differing angles, it was no wonder people thought Ku Xing was insane, she looked like a ghost that had come crawling out of a well with that approximate hairstyle.

Similarly, her robes were incredibly messy, the way it was put on made it seem like half of it was way too big for her, the sleeves only reached down to her elbows, revealing rather toned arms, muscles that one wouldn't suspect she possessed without having a clear view on them.

Her eyes were intense and lazy at the same time, coloured bloodred, it seemed like her pupils and irises were ready to come flowing out at any moment, but most impressively about the supposed elder, Ku Xing was an incredibly tall woman, standing at what Edrick judged to be one meter and ninety centimeters tall, she was taller than Gang and certainly way above the average of both men and women.

Fanqia was about average for a girl, and she was only one meter and sixty-one centimeters tall, whilst men hovered just around one meter and seventy centimeters in height on average, still, Anoteros had to look down to meet her gaze.

He looked a bit lower and shrugged, since she was offering a hug, he might as well take it, what was the worst that could happen? Getting crushed by a bear hug?

"My apologies, Elder Ku Xing, but have we met before?" he asked, after accepting the embrace.

"What? You don't remember me? I was there at your birth, boy! I changed your diapers, once and when you were a baby, you tried to suck on me like I was your mother- And you would come up running to me while calling me Big Sis Ku, you really don't remember?" she seemed a bit hurt.

"I fear that my memories of my childhood aren't coming back to me" he casually responded.

"Heh, no matter, how are you doing? You've grown a… Whole freaking lot, if they hadn't done tests at birth, I would think that your mom cheated with an orc" she chuckled.

"Though, what happened to your hair and eyes? I can feel that you're the right person, but you don't really look the same as you used to… Well, I suppose the face could just be that I haven't seen you since you were a little kid, but I am fairly confident that hair and eyes don't change colour as you get older" she touched upon the most suspicious thing concerning his identity, by all means, Edrick Lucien Anoteros was Zixuan Elt, at least in body, but after he had taken over commands, the physical body itself had changed and shifted to adapt to the change in ownership.

Most noticeable, his hair and eyes were nothing like those of the late Zixuan Elt, he still bore facial ressemblances to the original lineage, but event that had been muddled, anyone of the Elt family who had seen the good-for-nothing before he was sent away would immediately notice that his appearance had changed.

"Miss Ku Xing… I am as fine as I can be, and as for this, I don't really know what happened to cause this change, I just woke up one morning and I looked like this" that was technically, the absolute truth.

"Mmh… That's odd, but not the weirdest thing I have heard- Where did your old folks send you in exile? They refused to tell me when I learned about it-"

"It is not really important, it was merely a village, or rather, a dump without any wealth to be seen anywhere"

"Huh… Well, it isn't something I do often, but I wanted to apologise, I was supposed to be your godmother and I wasn't around when you got kicked out of the family… I was told that it was because you had no aptitude but that's clearly wrong! Look at you, a big boy! Handsome and successful at that- I saw the results of Gang's tests and you seem pretty talented in cultivation all-around…"

"...What in damnation did you do to get sent away like this? With that talent, you could like- At least get away with a few instances of mass murder and being a prick all days, of every weeks, of every months"

"My talent only bloomed when I was in exile" he simply responded, which was also true.

"Aah, I guess cheating at that game of mahjong was worth it, I'll make sure to be there for you from now on- Joining the Myriad-Arm Sect was a pretty good move on your part, there is a lot for you to learn here, and you will be able to claim the merit if the sect and your family stop giving one another the cold shoulder…" she nodded, walked a few steps away and cracked her knuckles "...I suppose the old geezer told you about my training methods, that limp fool is a disappointment but he should have been spot on, do you want to learn from me? I'll understand if you say no"

"Even before remembering that you were basically family, I thought that it would be best to receive your guidance" bringing his enclosed right fist against his left palm into a salute, he made sure to show some proper respect, he had come here intending to learn so it was no-brainer to be respectful and show some etiquette.

But upon learning that Ku Xing was not only a great Elder of the sect, but also his godmother apparently, he found it even more important to establish a good relationship with her.

The Xing family was influential and had good relation to his own, even if Zixuan had been exiled, it was likely that Edrick's achievement would earn him a spot right back in, which he would accept without issue.

Truly, the former owner of this body was a humongous fool, not only had he been born a direct heir to a powerful and respected family, but he also had a direct tie to the Xing, through Ku, and moreover, she seemed to actually be fond of him.

Though, it was rather obvious that even when looked at the hulking and properly intimidating figure of Edrick, she still saw him as the little kid that Zixuan had been, at least in part.

Smiling delightfully, Ku Xing rubbed her hands together.

"Very well then, follow me and we'll see how much suffering you can endure…"