83 Journey to the North Gate part 1 (1/2)

Sat behind his wooden desk Kang sipped milk from his cup then said, ”I could see your unique potential from that one exchange wtih Song Zemin but it seems even I have under estimated you Hartley,”for the first time Kang addressed Hartley by his name, it was a subtle declaration of respect.

How could Kang not know about Goldie's resentment towards Hartley and his followers, he had set up a sparring match on a whim hoping that Hartley would give a good account of himself and at the same time teach his snobby disciple a lesson on not judging an opponent just based on their perceived realm. Kang didn't expect for Goldie to be humbled with in one exchange.Kang sighed, Goldie's wounds weren't life threatening and would heal with time but the wounds to his pride were a much more serious matter.

”Sometimes long life isn'talways a blessing,”Kang said as he looked at Hartley sat in a wooden chair across from him.The room was bathed in bright sunshine and the sweltering heat crept in through the large windows making the temperatures unusually high for a day in spring.”You remind me of my elder brother you know, he too was a genius at a young age,” Kang exhaled and a deep sadness could be seen on his face, His usual playful demeanor no longer existed.For the first Hartley saw a glimpse of the real Kang, the man who Hartley had put on a pedestal since meeting him had disappeared and in his place, there was a white haired man with wrinkles sculpted along his features, a man who looked old and weary. A feeling of sadness radiated from his very aura, Hartley guessed that his child-like behavior was a coping mechanism for his sadness.

Seeing a promising young genius was nothing new to Kang, he had seen his share of geniuses fall and rise, he'd seen his own brother fall, a person he had loved and looked up to, a person who had meant more to him than a thousand years in the saint realm. Now Kang looked at Hartley who reminded him of his brother and that opened the emotional old wounds he'd thought were gone.

He sighed, ”one can lose their humanity in viciousness but one can't survive without it, it's a necessary evil in the world of cultivation and you've proven you've got the stomach for it with such a ruthless display...but even so, I fear your journey ahead will be a arduous one, the enemies you've inherited will strike in the open and from the dark and there are still things you need to learn before tackling the dangers ahead. I'm a saint of the Aldora continent and have long since passed the stage of meddling in the affairs and squabbles of this world, anything you achieve will be with your own hard work.”Hartley nodded his head in agreementas a weight was lifted off his shoulders, he'd half expected to be reprimanded but was instead complimented for his viciousness.

He spent the next few weeks learning from Kang, training and getting prepared for the next leg of his journey. He didn't once see Goldie on the remainder of his stay at the Kang estate but every guard he encountered behaved very politely and usually hailed him with a formal bow.

There was a gentle wind in the tranquil mini forest, Hartley stood with a face full of concentration among the criss-crossed shadows projected by the trees. Taking a deep breath he threw out his knife with gravity repel and watched as it sped away then his eyes shone blue, he applied gravity attract, the two forces countered each other and for a split second the knife stood still in mid air then suddenly the suction force of gravity attract made the knife fly back towards Hartley at the speed of light, his eyes bulged, there was no way he was going to attempt to catch it, he dodged neatly to the left and it stuck quivering into a tree behind him.

Hartley was experimenting with a set of 6 leaf-blade throwing knives he got from Kang, the black knives had flat broad blades sharpened on both sides with no hilts, it was like a piece of metal shaped like a knife. These were rank 2 spirit weapons with exquisite balance and thanks to Kang Hartley could now appraise the level of a weapon properly.

Next, he activated his advanced state of focus. Since entering the 7th layer of the xanthian realm his advanced state of focus had improved, time was running ten times slower than usual in this state, Hartley had used this coupled with his advanced minute movement technique in his battle with Goldieto dodge Goldie's wild charge with consummate ease. He threw the blade out and it was easier to control. It spun and zipped through the air and as he got more adept at utilizing gravity repel and gravity attract in tandem, his control over the weapon got better really quickly.

After a couple hours of experiments he threw it out and it hovered at shoulder level with blade pointed forward one meter in front fo him, he was applying gravity repel and gravity attract in equal measure. Then suddenly the knife flew out like a bullet as he disengaged gravity attract, it whistled, arced and curved around the maze oftrees under Hartley's control, leavingflashes of black light in its wake before returning and hovering a meter in front of Hartley. Hartley was happy with his progress, this would address his long range capabilities for the time being.

As the days progressed, Zhi ruo was getting ever closer to the boundaries of a 1st layer xanthian, her skills in combat was now to the point where she was now capably sparring with Hartley, of course he was taking easy but her skills were unmistakable.

Hartley took refuge in the shade of a tall tree and sat down crossed legged to cultivate and digest the results of his throwing knife training. it was now in the evening hours, suddenly in the cool of the trees he picked up an explosion of wind elemental energy in the distance, he spread out his awareness that could stretch 2 kilometers now and then a big smile appeared on his face. Qin Li had broken through, it was time to begin the final thrust of their journey....

The wind screamed between buildings andwailed through the streets like a torturedsoul, its whistles swayed the distant vegetation back and forth with dusty blusters, then it would calm down to a whimper for a while before stirring up again in a whizzing temper. It was approaching the summer months but today the sun hid behind grey fluffy clouds and the wind had free reign to lash out at all in its path on this overcast and grey day.