Chapter 67 The Edge of the Empire (1/2)

After leaving the stronghold, Arran traveled in secret

Although the Acade for him just yet, he kneas only aa trail for thees and even roads

Instead, heall he could to avoid other travelers The fewer people who saw him, the feays the Academy would have to find him

The journey was lonely, but not uncos contained all the supplies he needed, as well as a large tent to protect hihts

He didn't know exactly where he was going, but that didn't bother hi west, he would eventually reach his destination

The Shadowflame Society controlled the western border of the Empire, and from what others had told him, he knew the entire border was covered by a e that stretched thousands ofwest he would eventually reach the mountains, and after that, he would have to find one of the border cities It would be a long journey, but not a difficult one

As he traveled, he often thought about the things Panurge told hi — a distinct possibility — Essence was only one of the Pillars of Poith Strength being another one

Thinking about thehad told hith in all regards, ical, mental, and physical

At the time, Arran had dismissed it as ahad actually been talking about the Pillars of Power, even if he hadn't used the words

And thinking back further, he also recalled how Master Zhao had started his training: not with ic, but with ht about it, the e had told hian to understand that even if he hadn't known it, his training so far had involved more than just one Pillar

Until now, he had believed Essence s, but looking back, he wondered how he could have been so blind to the truth

When Lord Jiang had taught Arran Body Refinement, it was to allow Arran's body to withstand more Essence than it could handle otherwise

And conversely, when he first learned about Body Refinethen his body

Although he had later switched to using Natural Essence — Essence drawn from the natural world instead of Realms — the er connection between the physical and the ot over his initial shock at both these new insights and his own blindness, he set off on a frenzied quest to learn more about the connection between Body Refineh , he used every free ical and physical powers affected each other

Yet despite these efforts, he ue idea of what he was even looking for, it was like searching for a needle in a haystack without ever having seen a needle before

After nearly two e had said Arran would learn more about the Pillars of Power at the Shadowflaly accepted that his curiosity would have to wait until he reached his destination

Instead, he iven hi Force and Force shi+eld