How high do you think your bodyguard can rank?"
"He was ranked 48 before we left for the central zone. He should be able to get to the top 20 now."
Ken underestimated Henry's abilities on purpose. He was sure the monk could rank first if he wanted to, but Ken never revealed his strength, and Henry was part of his strength.
"That's a high estimation, what is he doing as a mere bodyguard then?"
"We got close during our time together in the central zone and he decided to stick with me when he learned about my alchemy skills."
"Be careful of being manipulated and used, his motives might be ulterior," Fernando warned him.
'As if you get to say it to me.'
"I will. I don't see it as an ulterior motive, he simply knows my potential is great and wants to be by my side since the beginning, knowing his status will be much higher in my eyes this way than if he joined later when I'm already strong. Thank you for your warning, Grand Elder."
Ken kept his real thoughts to himself and answered something else.
"You don't need to call me Grand Elder, especially now that I'm your teacher. Just call me Uncle or Uncle Fernando. Make sure your bodyguard lives within the clan's territory until we solve the enmity with the Han clan. Tell him to set the next challenge to a week later, and we will pressure them for compensation for hiring those outer disciples to attack you. His challenge will be a threat to kill their descendants to urge them to agree."
"I will do so, Uncle."
Ken had no qualms with this plan. Getting more resources was always nice, and he already lost the original goal he had in mind for instigating a war between the clans.
"Any questions before we begin our training?"
"Yes, Uncle. Have you heard about Cultivation Bodies or Sect Seeds before?" Ken asked something that intrigued him. He wanted to know if his sect also had them.
"Of course, I have. But where did you hear about it?"
"Someone talked about it in the central zone. Do we have them in our sect?"
"No… It requires immortals to create them, and sects out of the top 5 only produce one immortal every thousand years, or even worse. Our last immortal ascended 940 years ago, and he failed to produce any sect seed, killing them all in the process."
The elder explained the situation to Ken who nodded when he realized it aligned with the information he got from Vivienne.
"Are the sect seeds famous?"
"They are very famous, and killing one of them is equivalent to declaring war directly. Don't ever try to fight one; they can battle opponents above their stages, and you must never kill one even if you're stronger. Hence, you lose either way if you fight them."
"I will remember your words, Uncle. Have you heard of the name Vivienne Ashford?"
"I have, she is the fairy and sect seed of the Four Seasons Sect. She is very famous, just like the other sect seeds," Fernando's voice turned slightly impatient by the multiple questions.
"When I was at the central zone, someone said that she might get there, but some incidents made it impossible for me to meet her. Do you know anything about her?"
"Yes, but that was your last question. I don't see how it helps you to know all this useless information. She is said to be 28 years old, her nickname is Platinum Flame Maiden after her favorite element, fire, and her platinum hair. She is said to be a prodigy even among the other seeds. Nobody knows the exact Qi types she cultivates other than Fire Qi. Now let's go out and see your flexible sword skills."
'28 years old? But she told me she was 51… wait, she said she was under 52, and let me assume her age was 51. Did she check the extent she can deceive me to while being under the effect of the slave collar?' Ken pondered to himself as he walked outside.
"I heard you have an interesting unsheathing technique and a dashing technique, but you haven't shown any other techniques at all. I'd like to see them, but first, let's see your basic control over the sword. We will spar for one hour today and I will give you some pointers to work on until our next training session."
Ken nodded and unsheathed his sword, charging toward his uncle. Fernando did not use a sword; he simply coated his fingernail with Sword Qi and deflected Ken's hits.
"Hmm, not bad, you know how to utilize the sword's elasticity to your advantage and heighten its speed. Let's see how you do against multiple enemies."
A suffocating sensation enveloped Ken, and he felt danger from everywhere. He could see swords materialize out of Sword Qi in the air around him and he readied himself to defend.
"This is my domain, be careful."
With this short warning, the swords charged at Ken in curved routes, making them hard to predict. Ken spun in his place and his sword turned into a blur as he responded. The light blade jumped from one sword to another at an insane speed, and each attack seemed to only cause his sword to bounce to its next target faster.
"Great! Great! I can't believe you've reached this level of mastery over your sword without any proper teacher!" Fernando said excitedly when he saw the results.
One of his sour points was the lack of an inheritor to his flexible sword; he had no inheritance per se, he could only pass on his teaching, and it was not attractive enough for the young generation to try to master a troublesome weapon as the flexible sword.
The two continued to spar, and Ken constantly improved his control over his sword from the intense pressure.
"My techniques are not special to the flexible sword, except for a few earth-grade ones I managed to develop. The specialty is my intent, sense it and try to learn."
And the air turned sharp.
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