Three tents were set at the edge of the crooked stone fields. From the highest elevation of the stone field mounds if anyone observes then one could see a child of around seven years of age running around the barren and rugged fields carrying a huge boulder on his back while the father of the child sat on a flat stone monitoring the former. At the centre of the field stationed a woman preparing lunch for the three of them. They had been living together in the wilderness for a year now.
It was difficult for Arthur who was only seven and half years of age and was already at the Rank of Skilled Practitioner Advanced Stage to stay in the village for he grew too rapidly in his cultivation that it became impossible not to be noticed by others. If he had no secrets then staying in the limelight would not have been an issue but the village was already exposed to the great powers of the city and the discovery of the dragon by their clans was also made public. If any powers from the city were secretly investigating the Woodsman village without the knowledge of the Lu Clan to find out whether the villagers hid any treasure related to the flood dragon for themselves then the chances of discovering the oddity in Arthur were also highly possible even if the remains of the flood dragon were not found Arthur would be in trouble. Thus, for the safety of their son Lu Xiang and Zhao Mei left the village with Arthur and started living in the wilderness.
One day as Arthur was making rounds around their temporary dwelling place like the usual morning exercise he practised a gale-rabbit ran over him. The wild rabbit first leapt on Arthur's head then jumped away so fast with the gush of the wind that it blew dust all over his face making him bewildered and indignant. On encountering a moving and living lunch Arthur started to pursue the gale-rabbit with his parents laughing and cheering from behind. Initially, there was no apparent danger whatsoever but all of a sudden, out of nowhere a space tore up behind Arthur and a fireball was shot out from it projecting towards Arthur's direction. Before the parents could act and save their only child an imp-like silhouette of fire struck Arthur leaving him unconscious. When the parents arrived at the impacted area the ominous fire entity fled with a swoosh tearing open space again and disappeared completely leaving them alone as if nothing had happened at all. They saw the water Emperor's silken cloth wrapping around and bandaging Arthur like a wounded person. They discovered that Arthur was still breathing normally but had fallen into a deep sleep.
Then, a while later another tear in space materialized before them and two people appeared out of it. They looked around and the older person asked the couple, "Hey, you two scums did you see a short guy coming here?"
Zhao Mei wept while caressing Arthur, she was oblivious of the two new visitors. Lu Xiang on the other hand noticed the two. He knew that the visitors were very powerful, not only did they tear the space to enter the world but he also found it very difficult to breathe in the presence of the two strangers. He bowed and replied humbly, "Esteemed seniors, something just appeared before our son, it knocked him and left, if you can save him please do so and I shall be very grateful to you, sirs."
Then the younger one asked, "Which way did it go?"
Lu Xiang replied, "It went away as it came, it appeared out of nowhere and disappeared again, after striking our son." He was nearly into tears when he explained.
The taller and the older man stroke his beard and mumbled, "It's not possible, I injured that imp grievously, he shouldn't be able to use his powers and open up the space again, it's unbelievable. He might have been helped by someone. What a pity? We are late, the space is already closed and we cannot trace him. That thief can be anywhere by now licking his wounds hiding in some remote world. We cannot do anything anymore, so let's head back and report it to the master." He was puzzled but since that thing had escaped he wanted to do away with this inferior world and return home.
Just as they were about to leave the younger one said, "Senior, do you see the silken cloth protecting the boy? It looks like an Emperor's treasure. Let's take it and gift it to the master, he would be certainly pleased with us and he may even forgive us for our failure."
He laughed and replied, "You sure do have an eye for treasures. Good job! I shall reward you when we get back." Then, he looked at Lu Xiang and commanded, "Bring your boy to me, I shall heal him."
The called senior did nothing, he only observed Arthur and remarked, "What a useless boy? His body is sturdy but he doesn't even have proper cultivation." Then he took off the silken cloth from Arthur and disappeared with his junior. Zhao Mei wanted to protest the daylight robbery conducted before her eyes but was stopped by her husband. And soon the stone the fields were once more left with peace and silence.
Two days later Arthur woke up from his coma-like slumber. He found out that his soul space has disappeared completely and his cultivation was only at the Beginner Rank of cultivation. The spiritual source of energy which nourished his soul was altogether nonexistent. He had just become a normal early cultivator like any other child in the village, he was no more a cultivation genius.
"Sansan, how are you feeling? Are you hurt?" Asked his worried parents and touched all over his body again checking if he sustained any injuries inside his body. They also noticed the absence or the disappearance of the soul space inside Arthur's mind. The deeply concerned parents surrounding Arthur asked more questions and encouraged him not to be disappointed with his decline in cultivation.
Seeing his worried parents Arthur felt deeply moved for the second time and he laughed it off by saying that nothing has happened or changed in him except for the disappearance of the cultivation and spiritual source in his soul space. He reassured them by saying that he was relieved instead, to have his spiritual energy source disappear entirely. He was almost 8 years of age at present and to start his cultivation anew would place him at the lowest of the cultivation rank among his peers and even at the bottom compared to his juniors but it was not his actual power, he knew that relying too much on external powers was a curse which befell him in the cloak of blessings. However, it forecasted his doom, the power was like a sword hanging on top of his head which could fall on him anytime to burn out his existence.
Arthur consoled, "Mom, Dad, don't worry about me. Grandpa Hai will be very happy to see my present state. You don't know, but as he has reached Tribulation Realm he knows and he said that depending excessively on external powers for the rise of consecutive stages and ranks in cultivation is destructive. I have had this burden on me the whole time. It was feeding me well and I grew up in cultivation as no other person had ever done so but my foundation was not stable. Even after trying to suppress my cultivation in every rank and minor stage, it just grew unstoppably. The silken cloth was not able to contain the energy leaking out from it entirely and I also had no other choice but to absorb it. Look at me, I'm free now, please be happy for me. I can live in the village without any constraints, visit my grandparents in town, visit my sister Niu in the city and I can go anywhere like other members of our clan. I don't need to hide from anyone. Now, I don't even have any secrets that I should guard. Isn't it better to live a life completely free and as I want it to be? This is the best thing that has ever happened to me, we don't need to stay and live in the wilderness, let's go back to our clan."
After discerning how their son was genuinely glad about the present situation he was in. Zhao Mei happily started preparing lunch with her husband, for themselves and especially for their beloved son.
Twenty-five days later the camping family returned home, back to Woodsman village. By the time they reached the village Arthur was already at the Advanced level of the Beginner's Rank. It was very quick to grow in the cultivation stages but Arthur was already too strong physically for a beginner, the only thing that would hamper or delay his cultivation growth was his formation of soul space. The irony was that his biggest advantage has now become his greatest obstacle.
Lu Donghai had mixed feelings about discovering his grandson's new disposition. He rejoiced for the trouble to be lifted away from Arthur, at the same time he also felt troubled and worried about Arthur losing his cultivation. Unlike the varied views of most of Arthur's loved ones and well-wishers, Arthur had a completely different perspective. He didn't want to stay hidden from anyone, instead, he wanted to visit every place in the cities and learn new occupations. He wanted to build a new route to the city from his village. He wanted a relaxed life, a life where no one put him either in the limelight or totally dismissed and shunned by everyone.
No matter what Arthur did to raise his cultivation it grew at its own pace. Being freed from the restraints that bound him, Arthur looked forward to working on multiple projects.
The water from the lake that flowed out was directed northwestward, it was a substantial river system, which also formed a tributary to the Tai river. Tai, a mighty river that flowed through the Fire Dredge city originated from the north of the three snow-capped mountains and flowed in the southern direction. Presently, sailing from the lake to the city was impossible because of two steep waterfalls that lay on the course of the river and also because of its long entwined detour. First, it flowed northwestward and then joins the Mighty Tai to flow south making it a long stretch. And transportation via blooming lily town which they undertook currently was not an easy route either. Hence, Arthur proposed to build an underground canal system bypassing the detouring river channel and joining the grove's water body directly to the Tai river. It would demand a tedious and laborious job but the idea was also to meet out punishments that some new members had to go through. In the Meantime, Arthur wanted to expand the clothing and shoe business completely under his name. For the clan's growth, he wanted to open a business in smithing, alchemy and many other fields too. From construction to household items, putting all his knowledge of the business from his previous modern world to the current cultivation era. And so he wanted to first learn about Alchemy, Smithing, History, Geography and Political structures on the continent from the city library besides reading books on cultivation and battle techniques for his personal growth.
Arthur thought that if he cannot become the strongest master cultivator, the noblest profession in the Weida continent. Then at least he should be the richest one in the entirety of the world. The most prized things were treasures that aided cultivation and powerful weapons but other articles and household items were also important nonetheless. Most clans had their manufacturing departments and many mundane items were easily made by themselves if the raw materials were provided. Thus, capturing the market was not easy. Only the articles or weapons with intricate designs and objects made with rare items were possible for long term business options.
He could introduce new things but it would only work a single time because once they were sold replication of those items would soon be followed, there was no patent or copyright system. The rules were completely different from the previous one that he lived in.
Even their clothing business worked because he could give out new designs regularly or else the sale would lessen drastically. The things that were traded were mostly comprised of raw materials or things that weren't easily copied. His available options for business were to first experiment with food, snacks and wines. Other options were to venture into the earth's modern-day and futuristic designs of shipbuilding and construction businesses. Businesses on guns and bombs would work too but once the secrets were leaked it would create chaos in the world. Cultivators were creating enough havoc so adding more was not on his mind.