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Chapter 25: Strange Lightning Seed

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"Hmph!"

A loud and irritated harrumph sounded in the otherwise quiet room.

Against his younger brother's tantrum, Bon Gongwei felt completely helpless.

Since he had indeed decided to interfere without telling Bon Sa he couldn't really blame him. And he dotted on this little brother of his too much to get mad.

"Come on, Lil' Sa, this time I really had no option but to meddle in," he said in an appeasing manner.

"What? Did Big Brother think that I would not be able to handle this correctly?" rebuked Bon Sa.

This time, he really felt wronged by his older brother, who had coerced his own subordinates to mislead and distract him while the former had gone to talk with that cat, Kyu Cao.

Bon Gongwei had told him to be prudent as they were in someone else's territory, but did his older brother really have that little faith in his judgment?

"If I'm not wrong, you were planning to have a one-on-one duel with him, weren't you?" the older monkey teased, and judging by how his younger brother tail froze for a moment, it seemed he was spot on. But then, Bon Gongwei's face turned more serious, a degree of firmness appearing on his handsome features. "But we should avoid a direct confrontation between you two as much as possible this time."

Seeing his older brother taking this posture, Bon Sa too became more serious. "Did Big Brother learn something?"

"Nn," Bon Gongwei nodded. "One of my acquaintances told me, that this cat can be usually seen at the southern quarter. But what's more strange, is that he always seems to come and go from the western quarter."

"The western quarter?" A glint of suspicion appeared in Bon Sa's eyes. "The Bloodstripe Clan's main state?"

The western quarter, the area could be called the true main state of the Bloodstripe Clan.

It was divided in two major areas.

The outer area, where the more prominent branch families and some relevant figures of the army had their home.

And the core area, where only the main family, as well as the utmost important officials could reside.

The whole western quarter was not a place anyone could enter freely. However, the outer area at least was accessible with a bit of backing, and as long as one was acknowledged by one if its residents, one could go and come freely.

But his big brother would not be this careful just for someone from the western quarter's outer area.

"Does Big Brother mean that this cat might actually be from the core area of the Bloodstripe main state?"

"That seems to be the case."

"I see."

Bon Sa found this surprising, but not improbable.

It wasn't that the core area was bizarre or mysterious.

It was only that it was quite strict in its regulations.

Who could enter and who could not was a pretty clear affair. And even those who resided there couldn't bring in theriopes as they pleased, unless their status was at the very, very top.

Now he understood why his big brother went as far as interfere in his business.

The characters who resided in the core area were simply the most influential in the Bloody Army.

If this cat was related to one of them, then he indeed should better avoid confronting the cat directly.

Not because they thought these mighty figures would seek retribution. Such characters would never lower themselves to interfere in such minor affair.

Even Bon Sa would admit in front of them that this nothing more than a quarrel.

But if he humiliated too much a member of one of these influential theriope's family, this could indirectly sour a bit future relationships with the Bloody Army and his clan.

"He actually might be a guest from a foreign country, but that would actually make things even more complicated," added Bon Gongwei, looking at him with an expression of "so you get it now?"

Of course Bon Sa got it, but that didn't mean that he was no longer angry at his older brother.

"Hmph!" he hmphed and turned his head away, intending to ignore the other monkey.

Bon Gongwei only rolled his eyes with a smile.

In his courtyard, Kyu Cao sat in formal posture in front of the small, but exquisite tea table inside his room.

The sky outside was already dark, like a black curtain embroidered with countless and precious little gems, all surrounding the beautiful tassel pearl that was the moon.

What to do? Kyu Cao was quietly asking himself that question.

After finishing the tour and bidding farewell to the others, Kyu Cao had returned to where the infirmary personnel just in time to return to the southern quarter.

Mister Pong and the rooster instructor, Cuo Ding, were still there, seemingly finishing things off.

When the pair saw him, they both received him with big smiles, asking him about how his tour had gone.

Kyu Cao was vague with his response; he described his experience as interesting, which seemed to satisfy the dog-rooster pair.

When it was time to return, instructor Cuo Ding bid him farewell with a smile, though he was quite cold toward the dog.

The way back on the carriage had been lively with the dog's company.

Kyu Cao wasn't sure if the pair new of what had happened at the trainees' barracks, seeing as they were elders with some position, but he assumed they did.

In fact, it was better if he assumed that everyone who mattered if they knew, already knew, or might know soon.

It seemed he had gotten himself in a bit of a mess this time.

Kyu Cao silently mused for some time, before he muttered to himself, "I must increase my strength."

In any case, he believed this was his most important priority.

He rose from the table and went to his bed, where he sat cross legged.

Because the last days, he had focused more on practicing his martial arts and getting actual fighting experience, he'd put cultivating as his second priority.

This didn't mean that he had no progress in his Cultivation thought.

The opposite; Kyu Cao could feel that he was very close to achieving the Qi requirements of a level five Earthly Warrior, then he would refine and increase the purity of his Qi before advancing.

He calculated a bit, and reached the conclusion that if he focused entirely on cultivating, he could achieve the fifth level before the day of the duel.

However, doing this would mean that he would have no time to practice combat, which he believed would be his greatest disadvantage against the opponent.

Bon Sa's subordinates, it was obvious that they would be trained warriors with much more experience than him.

But he needed any advantage he could get, so it was difficult to only focus on one right now.

"... Can I stop sleeping?"

Right now, sleeping sounded like a waste of time.

He'd read and heard, about expert martial artists that could fight for entire days without sleep.

Of course, this wouldn't be as strenuous, so maybe even with his low level he could manage a short week. And it wasn't like he would not be allowed to take shorts rests to recover.

Actually... now that he thought about it. Whenever he cultivated, apart from that pleasant sensation at the end, he would also always feel rested and full or energy afterward.

Because he was not a Cultivator per profession, his mind was not obsessed with improving his strength as fast as possible, and had never thought that maybe cultivation could substitute sleep.

But maybe it could be done!

And indeed, it could be done.

Substituting sleep for meditation and cultivation was actually one of the first things most martial artist would think of.

However, since even now Kyu Cao still considered himself a regular theriope, maybe a scholar at beast, such line of thought had never occurred to him.

In any case, it was worth a try.

Deciding on his course of action, Kyu Cao proceeded to inspect his body first.

Qi circled in his Spiritual Veins harmoniously, supplying his flesh with vitality and slowly transforming his muscles continuously.

The early stages of the Earthly Warrior Realm consisted of using the Qi to transform one's muscles. It was also the first steps of a theriope toward nurturing the Innate Element.

The Innate Element, was a way to call the Qi gathered in one's body. It was the Qi that had permeated the flesh and hid into it, ready to supply extra energy in case it might be needed.

Kyu Cao's Innate Element currently only inhabited his muscles, since he was only a level four Earthly Warrior.

He could visualize it as a burning fire, the size of a small campfire. Yet, with only a little spark from him, this small campfire could explode into a furious burning wave.

So far, this was normal. A fire aligned Innate Element in every way, matching his fire attuned physique.

However, after passing the barrier of the fourth level, Kyu Cao had noticed a change.

As a fire attuned theriope's Cultivation increased, the power of his Innate Fire would increase, this much Kyu Cao was aware of.

It was the very much the same with all other elements actually.

This included intensity, size, temperature...

It was actually quite logical.

However, although the power of his Innate Fire had indeed increased a bit, it temperature was... lukewarm.

Rather than increasing, his Innate Fire's temperature had actually decreased.

Previously, when he had just begun to cultivate the Frozen Record, Kyu Cao had indeed noticed a slight cold edge to his Qi, barely noticeable. This, however, hadn't affected his Inner Fire's temperature like this.

And now this has happened.

Obviously, this had to do with him using Yin Qi to cultivate.

Even now, he couldn't even imagine how deep the Seven Deep Hells Frozen Record cultivation method really was.

Kyu Cao was not alarmed by this, and instead continued to cultivate, wanting to see where this would lead.

He was observing his Innate Fire, when he noticed another strange thing.

It was not his Innate Fire this time though. But something else.

This "something" appeared as a small sphere, floating quietly above the small campfire that was his Inner Fire.

What was this? This wasn't here before.

Surprised and confused, Kyu Cao naturally took a closer look.

The sphere was relatively small, around the size of a child's first. It had actually a color, this one being a murky white. Its appearance was nothing extraordinary.

Kyu Cao observed it a bit more, before probing it with his will, and he was almost shocked with what he found, quite literally.

Lightning Qi.

This white sphere contained an unexpected Lightning Qi.

Kyu Cao's puzzlement increased.

Seriously, where had this come from?

More carefully this time, he touched the white sphere. Prepared for it, the Lightning Qi was harmless.

He prodded it from various angles, getting the same response each time.

An electric current seemed to course through its surface in a lively manner, but it never jumped out of it.

It appeared the Lightning Qi was perfectly contained within the sphere.

Trying to push his will inside it, Kyu Cao found no resistance to speak of. However, the inside of the sphere was somehow dense, and his will traversed through it like a boat in a marsh.

The interior was no different than the outside. A murky white color everywhere, but the Lightning Qi now surrounded Kyu Cao's will, giving him an interesting experience.

Although weak, the Lightning Qi gave one a really strange feeling, and also a sense of danger. It made one want to get struck by it but also fear it.

The oddest thing though, was that he got the feeling as if this sphere was material. Unlike his Innate Fire which was more of an energy projection inside his mind, the white sphere seemed to have real mass.

Then, did this mean that there was literally something like this, somewhere inside his body, right now?

Had he swallowed some sort of oddity?

"... But, how?"

Recalling back to these last few days, the only peculiar thing with some relation to Lightning Qi was those spirit herb moss patches that he'd found.

However, those were still inside his extra space ring.

"Eh?"

No, wait. Wasn't there something else with an alignment to lightning that he'd had a particularly close encounter with also recently?

Hadn't he also... swallowed it?

It was then that he realized it. The white sphere's energy was particularly full of vitality, and this was not completely because of the Lightning Qi inside it.

It looked to be more inherent, and appeared to contain a certain imprint, as if this had come from a living being.

Kyu Cao's tail froze in place, and his thought process momentarily halted.

Then, he immediately pulled out his will out of the white sphere, akin to someone trying to run out from a house in flames.

The mutated thunderlightning gray wolf's seed!

Was this the mutated thunderlightning gray wolf's vital seed?!

Although he considered himself a pretty open-minded theriope, Kyu Cao had a hard time believing it this time.

He'd already exited from hid introspection, and now he was looking down at the purple silk sheets of his bed with a dazed look.

Yes, Kyu Cao face was truly and fully displaying a dazed and surprised expression.

He gradually calmed down, and after thinking it a little, he came to the conclusion...

That it should be indeed the wolf's seed!

Objectively, there simply wasn't another explanation.

As the idea settled within him, Kyu Cao felt his stomach knot uncomfortably.

His entire body became hot; the skin inside his ears acquired a red tint.

How... embarrassing!

A deep feeling of embarrassment welled up in Kyu Cao's heart.

The thunderlightning wolf's seed that he'd swallowed, was now inside him?!

No, that much should have been obvious. However, it had also somehow taken solid shape, and nested itself within him?

Was this possible?!

The more he thought about it, the more Kyu Cao's tail squirmed behind him.

His lips tightened, his brows furrowed, his face was wonderfully twitching in a funny manner.

And apart from embarrassment, another indecipherable feeling invaded him, making his whole body tremble to the ends of his whiskers.

Then he felt indignation; though indignation for what, he was not even sure.

Needless to say, Kyu Cao could not calm down for a long time. Thus, the Cultivation experiment would have to wait till tomorrow.