Chapter 18: Chaoyue, Zhihui, Shenghuo

Zax swept his hand and the little blood from his last kill was erased. 'In the end I've gotten sloppy... ' His tone possessed a hint of criticism. His business here was over and he left back to his Master's place.

Rarahel was safeguarding the cave's entrance the same way she did when he left for the Savage Caves. As she saw him her poised countenance turned to shocked. In a few months the atmosphere of the boy underwent multiply changes of growth.

Rarahel was not oblivious to what was the first Savage Cave. She had been there herself. But no need to mention Rarahel, the third youngest in rank of her Master's eight apprentices, even her most talented eldest Martial brother did not manage to surpass the savagery in such a short time. And when Zax left and she checked him out with her Soul Sense, at the time, she could not determine his soul's level, but treasures? She could tell that he clearly did not have on him.

"Big sister Rarahel!" Zax happily greeted her most welcoming face, even if it carried a stupefied draconic expression. "Big sister Rarahel", he lowered his head a little. "Please forgive me for taking your warning for granted back then, when I left for the Savage Caves. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for looking up for me!" He said courteously.

On the receiving end, Rarahel kept arranging her thoughts and Zax's apology and gratitude were a side note in what was going on in her head. Her mouth opened and all she could do was blubber. "What happened to you?!"

As the question reached his ears, Zax's smile faded and he solemnly responded. "I've been to the Savage Caves". There was nothing more than this to elucidate, nor did he want to say further. "I'll see you later, big sister Rarahel". He left straight to his Master.

In his return Zax did not pass by the Krikitory village. In a short time span he arrived to the base of the mountain where his Master punched the ground and opened an underground tunnel to the Essence Cave. By now, however, the tunnel was sealed again, and so Zax imitated his Master's left and right.

Despite knowing that the entrance to the Essence Cave is shrouded by the most dangerous concentration of smoky mist, Zax was curious to test his bodily improvements and decided to risk it by venturing inside without the support of his Master's mantle. At worst he would retreat back to the tunnel and look for the assistance of his Martial elder brothers and sisters.

First Zax let his hand in the smoky mist and it tickled. After a few seconds the tickles began to itch and his hand reddened. Zax pulled away and his hand returned to normal.

Assessing the distance he had to go with his Soul Sense and how deeply his hand got hurt, Zax smirked. "It's just an area of eight hundred meters or so. Nothing much". He jumped in.

Two things that escaped Zax's calculation were the pouch and loincloth.

Practically two steps into the Essene Cave, the smoky mist incinerated the pouch and loincloth and Zax's glory was fully presentable. Luckily, the plants that he brought were fine and unharmed.

Zax breathed a sigh of relief. He was used to his Master's Mantle as the means for transportation in and out the Essence Cave. Also, when he trained in the Seven Stages Of Bodily Refinement his clothes were also being soaked in the herbal liquid, it was the sole way to preserve them outside of the protective formation around his Master's cabin without the mist energy mantle.

'I should have tested a piece of cloth ... at least the most important thing, the plants, are fine'.

"Zax!" Laivien's voice rang in his head, full of delight and immense surprise. Her familiar and warm voice filled the emptiness left by in Carl in his heart and Zax mood improved greatly. "You entered on your own?! So impatient! I was about the tell him ... Never mind. Come to the cabin, I'll tell big brother to meet you there". Laivien said in a hurry and her presence left his consciousness.

"Big brother?" Zax was startled. It was the first time he heard of it. Was the voice in his head his Master little sister?! 'Ah! Almost thought to ask Master for explanation ... better wait for Laivien to tell me that it is okay to let him know that we converse sometimes'.

...

Kartius was standing still on the terrace. Zax saw him from afar, waiting expectantly for his Martial son. As he saw him, the expression on his Master's stag head changed from happiness to surprise to bewilderment.

"Master!" Zax dashed to Kartius. He stopped a meter from his Master and greeted him. His body was shaking; he truly missed his Martial father!

"You have grown". Kartius place his hand on his Martial son's head. "And you are naked..." He did not need to guess why, Laivien already told him in an amused tone.

"That is..." Zax was embarrassed. His Master's remark made him feel indecent by being exposed, even though his Master did not wear clothes either and almost none of the humanoid beasts his saw. On the other hand, they had no need for clothes in any other form than their human one and it only now dawned on Zax.

"Come inside, I have a few beast skins. Cover yourself and sit with me". Kartius pulled Zax to the cabin. "I sense that many changes occurred in you and I see that you found the plants, although I'm not sure that they are of use to you anymore ... Regardless, let's first enter inside. Tell me of your experiences in the Savage Cave and then I will decide what to do with them".

With the delicate control of his mist energy, Kartius made a pair of pants and a shirt whilst Zax told him everything about his time on the way back and forth from the Savage Cave and his time in the cave itself. When he shared the parts about Carl and the things he learned or partly learned from him, his temperament became morose.

Kartius listened assiduously to every word without raising any question. Most of what Zax told him did not faze him, but a few parts were too shocking that his hand clenched and his aura was struggling to get free, wanting to express the wildness he restrained.

Zax finished at killing the canines and leaving back from the entrance of the Savage Cave.

'She was right'. Remembering how Laivien persuaded him to let Zax go, Kartius now admitted to himself in her favor. "You have managed to surpass my expatiations, Martial son, even for a human your growth cannot be described as anything but stupendous..." Kartius's gaze fell on the lower area of Zax's stomach, his dantian. 'How much of it is thanks to you... '

"Master", Zax said anxiously. "Everything that took place ... your decision to send me to a place such as the Savage Caves, those canines that wanted to capture and kill me, the things I learned from big brother Carl, the discovery that he actually was related to the canines, Can you further explain it all to me?"

Gauging his Martial son pleading countenance, Kartius sighed inwardly. "Of these enemies you will learn everything soon enough. For now, it is good that you did not leave anyone alive".

"As for the one that took you under his wing ... I'll say a these words. That Carl was in league with the tribes that seek to detriment my big brother. However, even in those tribes there are some, few, who are not interested in creating enmity with big brother. Carl, as I believe, was one of those few. Furthermore, knowing that you follow a bodily refining technique, he probably suspected or did not want to take the chance that you have relations to big brother, for that he refused to show you his animalistic form. He chose to trade our conflict for your friendship".

"Big brother Carl..." Zax felt a lump in his throat and his eyes revealed a hint of red. 'So that was his reason ... if he wanted to..." If Carl used his animalistic from when he first learned of Zax method of cultivation, he could kill him effortlessly just in case. 'But he did not care who I was even when we just met... ' It was fine if he wanted to ignore a possible enemy of his tribe, but to refer to him as brother ... How could his place in Zax's heart not grow?