29 Master (1/2)

I sat there in silence, my heart racing. I tried to think of an explanation, but nothing came to mind.

”I've gotta admit, ya've got a pretty good cover story,” Yin Xue continued, ”people round 'ere explain anything weird by sayin' 'oh it's just another constitution.'”

”But ya can't fool my All-Seeing Eyes technique. What yer doing is Soul Expansion, the second half of the Soul Forming technique.”

I made sure not to seem surprised. Sure, I was practicing Soul Expansion, but the Soul Forming technique was something new to me.

”Soul Forming technique is pretty common in the Imperial Academy, so yer daddy probably got that for ya.”

”But that doesn't come close to explaining why yer soul is so big. Ya got a qi force of 866, only 66 of which come from yer body.”

He was able to measure my qi so precisely… this man didn't want to show his abilities in front of the other teachers.

”Unlike other qi generating techniques, the Soul Forming technique is pretty linear, so I can do some maths here.”

He leaned close to me, grinning.

”It would take an unparalleled genius at least 6 years to get that far.”

I couldn't help but show a bit of excitement. I'd had a few delays in my cultivation and it was reassuring to know I was still cultivating at a good pace. Seeing my excitement, Yin Xue perked up.

”Yer surprised to hear that? So ya really haven't had a teacher.”

I shook my head, and Yin Xue nodded to himself.

”Hm, yeah,” he pointed at my wrist, ”a teacher wouldn't let ya do anything so stupid that ya need to be saved by a demon.”

”Now, there's no way ya been cultivating for only 6 years, yer not that much of a genius. So how have ya gotten this far?”

Any happiness I was feeling disappeared. How would I explain that?”

”There are two options I can think of. Maybe ya got somethin' that lets ya cultivate in a shorter time period than anyone else, or…”

My heart stopped, waiting for the inevitable.

”Ya been cultivating since birth. So, what is it?”

He struck me down with a vicious glare. Pinpricks coated my skin as my stomach did somersaults.

I didn't trust Yin Xue one bit. Until I knew his character better, I wouldn't tell him the truth. I didn't have a good excuse either, so I stared right back at him, keeping my lips pursed in silence.

The stand off only lasted a few seconds, but it felt like minutes. Yin Xue broke it with a dry cackle.

”Haha! Fantastic! It woulda been so boring if ya just told me!”

He leaned over and put his hand on my shoulder.

”Listen, brat, forget what I said to those twats back there. I'm gonna help ya all I can,” he lowered his tone, ”but ya better believe I'm gonna find out yer secret.”

”So,” he leaned back in his chair, ”tell me a bit about yerself. Why are ya here?”

Yin Xue wanted to uncover my secrets, so I had to maintain the façade of an 8-year-old.

”Mister Yin, I…”

Yin Xue raised his hand to stop me.

”No, no, don't call me Mister Yin. Call me teacher. Actually,” he looked up and scratched his chin, showing a hint of a smile, ”call me master.”

It felt a little early to call him master, but I'd play along for now.

”Master,”

His smile morphed into a contented grin, accompanied by a gurgling chuckle. It seemed that 'master' was a bit delusional.

”father told me,” I continued, ”I could get strong here.”

”So, ya wanna be strong like yer daddy?”

I shook my head, ”I wanna be stronger.”

”Hm. Okay. Well, that much is obvious. Why do ya wanna be strong though?”