Chapter 1: A Four Years Summery

With Karns's and Kardelion's death, the threat and irreconcilable enmity the two supreme experts had with Grandmaster Kartion and his household have also perished.

Since that major battle and perpetual defeat of the household's enemies, four years have passed.

Those four years marked a peaceful time for Zax and the people, and beasts, in his life, with several minor events and dealings.

Beginning with Zax's Martial household, as the dust settled and no one was left to fight the household and its allies, each of the five tribes brought to rest the casualties belonging to their tribes.

The funeral rites of beasts differ from humans' and even among beasts, every tribe had its own traditions.

Of Tularg, sadly, nothing could be found and the members of the household, with great sorrow, made for him an empty grave while hoping that his physique was strong enough for his spirit to pass on instead of being incinerated by his mist detonation.

Grandmaster Kartion, thankfully, managed to escape death. Nevertheless, his injuries were too extensive and severe. His high level physique also did not make it easier for him to recuperate. His body, of Chaoyue type beast that cultivated a bodily refinement technique, required either a high realm of bodily cultivation to be able to treat his wounds in a short amount of time, or immense resources with even greater vitality then the unripe Blood Red Grapes'.

Relying on the newfound freedom of the household, it was Kartius who left for the second Savage Cave, to collect whatever consumable treasures for Grandmaster Kartion. With that, Grandmaster Kartion took seven months to heal; however, some wounds were beyond full recuperation. His antlers could not grow to their former glory and his lower half that he managed restored was several times weaker, as if this part of his body lost a bit of its cultivation. That being said, Grandmaster Kartion was content with his condition and not worried. According to him, his Martial path was still intact, and as long that it remained he could one day reach a new realm of cultivation, the third realm of bodily refinement. By then, if his conjectures were not wrong, he will be able to recuperate and shape his whole body whichever way he wants to.

Thus, the instant he was able to, Grandmaster Kartion entered closed doors training, to keep developing the following technique of the Seven Stages Of Bodily Refinement, which was practically a whole new bodily refinement technique.

Other than putting to rest and treating the wounded after the war, while those things were going, some decisions about the remnants of Karns's and Kardelion's forces, the Black Horns tribe and its allied tribes, were also made.

A decision to thoroughly annihilate the number of tribes was annulled. The household did not wish to partake in the same vile occupations of its former enemies, since no one is entirely evil and tribe extermination would mean killing even the innocent. Besides, these tribes of the inner territory of Valgarel, will not be able to maintain their status now that their leaders and experts are dead, and so, even if the household and its allies will not do anything, other tribes will.

As for those who fought and managed to survive the war, on the other hand, they were a free game.

The funny thing is, when the two elders of the Black Horns tribe, who were left to govern the tribe in the absence of Karns and Kardelion, realized that their prominent leaders and other experts have died, to prevent the declining of the tribe have actually went and beg Kartius, as the so called "Successor" of Karns, to come and lead the Black Horns tribe. They even asked for Grandmaster Kartion to replace Kardelion. Their plea was that the matter between them and the former leaders of the tribe was one which they, lowly servants of the Black Horns tribe, had no say in or right to interfere. Whether it was true or not did not matter to Kartius when he received the two at the entrance to Grandmaster Kartion's cave. He despised these fellows either way and sent them off with a warning for the whole Black Horns tribe, never to bother the household again.

With regards to Zax's immediate family and friends, the course of time flowed in tranquility.

Laylen and Marco Zel successfully distanced themselves and their household from the hubbub caused by their son rise to prominence as Eden Formation's Pearl. A lot of this was thanks to the backing they received from Don, which handled all communications with those seeking to from relations with Zax.

Today, only on festive occasions would they receive gifts from all kinds of associations.

But if to say, what was the source of true happiness of the proud, yet humble, couple; it would be their youngest daughter, Liz. Although pampered to no good by her two older siblings, the little rascal she grew up to be in four years, unlike her brother and sister, did not display premature interest in anything related to Martial cultivation. Her interests were not just befitting her age, but also her parents' wishes, that is, candies, playing around and the kid show "Ducklings step by step".

Zax felt remorse in his heart for Liz's lack of interest in the gift she received from Tularg, which made her considerably livelier than others her age, but contrary to his parents, he held the hopes that when she will grow up and learn about the Cultivation Inheritance, her curiosity will also sprout naturally.

On another front, although not as intimate as it was when they were young, they relationship of Zax and his friends also received its nourishment through the years.

As nineteen years old youths, with the exception of Take who was older than the rest, the temperament of everyone was at the Peak of its evolution to adulthood. Granted, each person had his and her own unique nature that will not so easily change, but the commencement of signs of stability and clarity, with respect to the future everyone wanted for themselves, were inevitable at the age Zax and his friends reached.

Thus, with great exhilaration, a few of Zax's friends got married.

Take met his fiancée through arranged marriage. She was a distant relative from the main Edomachi family, and after meeting her for the first time Take could not help himself but fancy her. What made the marriage possible for someone from the branch family like Take to marry with a girl form the main family, although not said outloud, was his brotherhood with Zax, Eden Formation's Pearl.

Aside from Take, another three of Zax's friends got married or engaged. In an internship at the Mocca Kart Company Serah also met her chosen one, a good fellow Mocca Kart fanatic who also interned at the same division as her. Two had a small wedding, Mocca Kart's style. Three months later Serah got pregnant and five months from today is the appointed date. Zax is said to be the godfather if it would be a boy and Anet the godmother, if it would be a girl.

A side note: If it was not for Zax gifting the newlywed couple a precious Earth's Core, which he searched for in Valgarel for couple of months before finding, and giving them as a wedding present, and then, with Take as an intermediary, sold it to the main Edomachi family, the financial situation of Serah and her husband would not have been as bright as it currently is.

After Serah and Take, the last two to get engaged were Mi and Merly. The two opened up about their relationship only after Merly proposed and the wedding date was set to after their graduation. Zax already started looking for D level Earth's Core as a gift.

As for Zax's personal relationship ... although being apart quite often, he and Anet are still together. In fact, their relationship was doing better with each passing year and their bound only grew more affectionate. Conversely, the two did not reach to point, yet, of thinking about getting married. Viewing themselves as cultivators and pursuers of the Martial path, the prospect of marriage can be said to be a subject that would not make a different if discussed at this very moment or hundreds of years later. For now, the two tacitly made up their minds to live to pursue their selfish desires a while longer before succumbing to their parents' pressure.

Moving on, in the past four years, the more interesting things happened, as they should, on the affairs related to the path of Martial cultivation.