Chapter 31: Moving Forward

The next morning, they pick up and packed away their cots and sleeping gear. As soon as they dump the water from the tubs, Master Lee puts them in her ring. A minute later, they are off and running. They eat as they run. They have plenty of prepared food in their rings for this purpose.

They make a bee-line for Dong Kyu. If they encountered any kind of beast, they simply avoid it and outrun it. They do not stop for anything. Forty-seven hours later, they are at the gates to the city. The guards can feel an intense pressure radiating from them. It isn’t killing intent, but it carries the weight of power that warns them not to mess with this group. It takes the guards a moment to realize they know these people. It’s Master Lee from Jade Academy and three of her students.

When guard asks for the 15 copper entry fee, but he does so with reverence. Master Lee pays for all four of them with a smile. From the gate, Master Lee escorts them home. Miss Tham is the first one home. Ki Jung spends a few minutes talking with her parents, who are pleased to see her back and safe. They do not mention the power their daughter exudes now. They simply pray it won’t affect her ability to find a suitable husband in the future.

Next, they head to the home of the Peng’s. Mrs. Peng is home, but Mr. Peng isn’t. The two women talk for a few minutes before Master Lee, and Min Joon head out.

From the Peng household, the two of them head to the merchant quarter Ki Jung favors. There, she and Min Joon sell off their portions of the meat, skins, bones, and everything else they had obtained during their time away from town.

In a few cases, the items are so valuable that the merchants can only make trades in kind, or put it on credit. This was mostly at the alchemy shop and The Five Elements. In each case, she makes the trade against future purchases. She makes sure they will make the same deals for all three of her students. Min Joon takes care of his right away. Phong Ahn and Chanming would have to come by at another time.

From the markets, they head to see Auntie/Mom to inform her that they are back. Mrs. Pak closes up shop early, and they head home, get cleaned up, and head out to dinner on Ki Jung’s tab. Or it would have been on her tab if Min Joon didn’t head off the waitress and pay her in advance. When Ki Jung discovers this she scowls at him for a moment before bursting out laughing.

They get caught up with each other over a delightful meal. Sales have been steady, as always, for Auntie Pak. What she earned rarely differed from one day to the next. What she wanted to know is what her son and Ki Jung have been up to. She had some idea, but nothing specific.

Being the storyteller of the two of them, Min Joon weaves a tale of all that transpired. He describes the fights with various beasts in the kind of details usually reserved for the telling of legends. His description of their body cultivation experiences have people at nearby tables gasping in horror. This is, of course, intentional. In the end, he is smiling, even though a lot of what he described was unpleasant.

Although the tale was exaggerated, it is plain to see that Master Lee is quite proud of these three students. This pleases Auntie Pak the most. She knows how much her own son means to her adopted niece. Mrs. Pak also knows that she feels nearly as close to the other two students who went on the excursion.

As one might expect, the “news” of what they had done and experienced spreads far and wide within the walls of Dong Kyu in a few short hours. Anyone who recognizes Master Lee bows and give her a respectful salute upon meeting her. The same is true of Min Joon, Chanming, and Phong Ahn from that day forward. No one else can compare to them. Even if their overall levels were still Apprentice, they were well into Journeyman level in their martial arts skills. That, combined with their cultivation levels, makes them powerhouses beyond compare in the inner ring of the First Realm.

The next day, the four of them met at the entrance of the academy. Master Lee is there to resign and place her three top students in positions as Master Aikido instructors. This will allow them to study as they pleased while training others. At first, they meet with opposition. After a private match between Phong Ahn and their best martial arts Master, other than Master Chen, the school agrees. Of course, Master Tham beat her opponent by making him submit within half a minute each round. That’s when everyone became aware that Master Lee had been holding back during her matches all that time ago. Even Master Chen paled upon this realization.

The three new Masters receive three uniforms each, from Master Lee, who demands they call her by her name from then on. Ki Jung turns in her uniforms from the academy, since she was no longer a teacher there.