"I can't wait to spar with you guys after we learn our new skills," Kaelen said.
The students all went back to their resting places after everyone finished choosing their martial skills. Kaelen was in his room, imagining the move sets of the 'Nine Stances of the True Dragon' over and over. He would replay the moves with the abilities he currently had and see how he could improve.
"This martial skill, or rather martial art, is quite complex; each stance is related to a specific concept. The first stance is destruction, the second is life and swallowing, the third is chaos. I am not nearly strong enough to master the concepts mixed with the martial skills of each stance. However, that does not affect my power at all, since it is of such a high grade… Wait, which grade is this martial art? I forgot to ask Teacher Long." In his thoughts, Kaelen realized the grade of the art was unknown to him.
Normally, higher-grade arts require stronger cultivation; however, the restriction was quite low. Truthfully, the biggest blockage would be consumption, physical stress, and certain realm barriers such as elemental Qi only accessible after reaching Elemental Resonance or spiritual Qi after reaching the Innate Spirit Realm. But those lacking abilities only lower the martial art's power; it does not restrict its usage. So, Kaelen was not that worried about the grade. He knew, however, that it was probably extremely high because the concepts included in the techniques are outrageously advanced.
Actually, he was lucky that this martial art required Dragon might and no other forms of advanced Qi or power because he would not be able to bring even ten percent of the martial art's power. It also came at an opportune time since he just recently awakened his dragon bloodline and needs practice wielding Dragon Might.
"Hm, my dragon might is dark crimson. I wonder if it changes depending on the bloodline and if it has specific properties. I will ask Teacher Long tomorrow. This is great; not only can he teach me spear arts, but he can also teach me about my dragon bloodline. He really is the best teacher for me, actually. I cannot wait for tomorrow." Kaelen found it hard to settle thinking about his training with his master, Long Aotian.
Indeed, the latter was not only a Spear Grandmaster but also had a dragon bloodline. He was the best possible master for the young boy.
Calming his mind, he meditated for a bit before falling asleep on his bed.
The next day, Kaelen was on his way to Teacher Long's place, walking along the mountain road. Suddenly, someone called him.
"Junior brother." A young but mature voice called out to him.
Looking towards the source of the voice, he saw Yu Hao, who was on top of the profound crane.
"Senior brother Hao, how's it going?" Seeing the young man and the bird, Kaelen waved and greeted his now fellow apprentice.
"Good. Master told me that you became his second apprentice. Hop on; your training will not be happening at master's place but on a different mountain." He said as he directed the great bird to get closer to the boy on the ground.
"Oh? alright." Surprised, Kaelen leaped on the back of the bird.
"Where are we going, senior apprentice brother?" Curious, he asked.
"Oh, it's a secret; you shall see. Ahaha." The latter refused to spill the tea, lightly laughing.
"Hm." Kaelen twisted his lips, as he could only patiently wait.
The bird flew deep into the mountains of The Free Immortal sect. As it traversed through the sect, Kaelen admired the numerous distinct mountains.
Shockingly, among the mountains, there were some that had peculiar environments; some looked like heavenly swords, some looked like straight spears, some had red trees with flames flickering through them, some had blue trees with lightning snakes occasionally slithering through. There was even a mountain coated in silver; it had silver trees with sword-like leaves that released a sharp sword energy.
The scene shocked Kaelen a bit. "What is going on? Why are the mountains so weird?"
"Ahahaha, it is your first time deep into the sect, so it's no wonder you're shaken. The mountains that you see are where elders reside; the reason the environment is like that is because the mountain was affected by the cultivation of the elder living and cultivating in it. For example, that sword mountain is the abode of Great Elder Jian Wusheng, one of the top ten strongest people of our sect. He cultivates the Dao of the sword, and his sword intent is so powerful and complex that it affects nature around it. Each of his disciples is a powerful sword cultivator that rivals even the Southern Sword Palace's core disciples. That Blue Thunder Mountain is Great Elder Zhu Lei's resting place; he cultivates the Dao of lightning, which affects the nature surrounding his cultivation place."
His explanation caused Kaelen to once again gasp in amazement. He truly has been learning so many things since he entered the sect. He even met some great people and made new friends.
"Wait, senior apprentice brother. How come only some out of all those mountains are affected by cultivation?" Noticing that only a dozen out of a few dozen mountains had a special environment, Kaelen grew curious.
"Well mostly, those are unhabited places, but also It's because only people that have contacted the great way through their specific Dao can affect nature with it," he explained.
"Furthermore, the environment becomes a sacred land for martial artists that follow the same or a similar path. If a sword master was to cultivate on Elder Jian's Mountain, he would see his progress in sword cultivation soar in a short amount of time," Yu Hao added.
"Ohh… wait, does Master have his own mountain?" he suddenly thought about the location of his practice…
"Senior apprentice… could it be Master has..?" He tested the validity of his hypothesis.
"You truly are smart, junior brother. Yes, the place of practice is master's own personal cultivation mountain. The Ascending Dragon Mountain is also considered his own, but the place where he practices is the Azure Dragon Mountain. Which is where you will begin your training," he said, confirming Kaelen's suspicion.
"I see…" nodding in understanding, Kaelen wondered what his master's mountain looks like.
A few hours later, a waterfall mountain appeared in Kaelen's view.
The mountain had at least a dozen waterfalls of different sizes. The smallest was around fifteen meters tall and five meters wide, while the tallest was at least ten times taller and wider. It was difficult to see its top. The loud noise of waterfalls hitting the ground was omnipresent on the mountain.
The bird flew around the waterfall mountain, and a different one appeared in their view.
"That is…"
A forest-like mountain stood before them.
The mountain was relatively big, about half the size of Culinary Haven Mountain. It was also mostly normal, besides the fact that the trees were not green but a bluish-green color, and it had surprisingly dense vegetation; it was hard to see deep into the mountain. If there was something truly special about the mountain, it was the heavy atmosphere surrounding it and the powerful cries of beasts that would occasionally resound from deep within. It made Kaelen wonder what was living in its depths.
"Senior brother Hao is that the Azure Dragon Mountain?" he asked.
"Yes."
The crane flew toward a suitable landing area and landed on the ground.
The two jumped off its back, and Yu Hao took the lead, Kaelen following him. The two did not step into the forest but walked around the edge of the mountain; a path was trodden on the ground, as if telling visitors that they were not supposed to walk into the forest, but to follow the path laid before them.
Eventually, they arrived in front of a large courtyard.
A man sat cross-legged, bare-chested with an azure spear resting on his knees. Sensing the new arrivals, he opened his eyes, showing his calm yet deep viridescent irises.
"You have arrived. Come sit." He instructed the two.
Kaelen and his senior brother both went and sat in front of their master.
"Kaelen, how do you like the art I passed on to you?" He first talked to the young one.
"I love it, master. It is extremely complex with very advanced concepts intricately connected to the spear moves. I have a sense that even if I could master the moves, I would barely scratch the surface." Kaelen answered.
"Yes. The Nine Stances of the True Dragon is a very advanced martial art. You will be using it probably for a very long time."
"Master, what level of skill is it?" Kaelen asked.
"It's a peak-Stellar grade martial Art," the latter softly said.
"Peak Stellar grade? How is this possible?" The answer shocked Kaelen to his core. He knew that heavenly martial arts were the peak of what he could realistically find in the southern region, unless he went into the Desert Abyss. Stellar Arts were extraordinarily rare in the Southern Lands, let alone peak-Stellar grades.
"Master, where did you find a peak Stellar Grade art in the southern Lands?"
"It was found by my master, your grandmaster, in one of his adventures. Indeed, martial arts and cultivation arts of this level in the True Martial Great World can be counted on one hand."
"Grandmaster? Is he very strong?" hearing about his master's teacher, Kaelen's eyes lit up.
"Yes, at least, he's among the strongest of this world, and he was the strongest person I knew until a few months ago."
"A few months ago? Did master meet someone more powerful than Grandmaster in the Southern Lands?" Yu Hao, who was silent, suddenly jumped in fright.
He had met the Grandmaster once, a few years back. Though that old man did not release any aura and appeared to be like the average mortal elder, however his eyes told an utterly different story. When he made eye contact with the Grandmaster, he was completely terrified: He felt like he was falling; his soul was swallowed by a massive invisible force, all light disappeared for a moment that felt like a millennium, he lost the ability to breathe, think, and speak as the massive black nothingness stared at his soul. Unable to bear the pressure, he passed out. After he woke up, he could still see that scene in his mind; he kept thinking with a trembling heart: How is that still considered human?
Now, the possibility of someone stronger than that person… What the hell is going on, he thought.
Long Aotian did not answer but simply looked at Kaelen. "The Nine Stances of the True Dragon is the martial art my master taught me. It can only be learned by people of dragon bloodline like you and I, as well as Hao'er."
"Hao'er? Senior brother Hao, you also have a dragon bloodline?" Kaelen asked.
"Of course, or else the teacher would not have accepted me; I'm not a spear master after all."
"Oh." Indeed, Yu Hao always has a holstered sword on his waist and exudes the aura of an unsheathed sword at all times; he was clearly a very talented sword master.
"What is the name of your bloodline, brother Hao?"
"My bloodline is the White Jade Horned Dragon bloodline, a half-step Stellar bloodline. My dragon might is called Jade Dragon might, which is the same might as the White Jade True Dragon," he said smilingly.
"White Jade Horned Dragon? So senior brother's bloodline is not a fully transformed dragon. However, the white jade dragon's bloodline is extremely rare so his bloodline should be able to compete with most low-Stellar grade bloodlines of other types. Senior brother is quite talented." Kaelen thought. The last few months, he has also been to the sect library to learn more about dragons and the True Martial Great World, so he knew a bit about the rare types of dragons.
"What about you, master?" He turned to the bare-chested man.
"I have the Azure Dragon bloodline, a Mid-Grade Stellar bloodline. My dragon might is the Everlasting Dragon might."
"Mid-Grade Stellar bloodline, Everlasting Dragon might…" Kaelen mumbled.
"Teacher, do you know what dragon might, mine is?" Saying that, he lifted his hand as a dark crimson aura covered his hand. An air of authority and nobility oozing from the red energy .The space around his hand trembled, showcasing his dragon might's tyrannical power.
Seeing the Dragon might for the first time, Yu Hao was a bit caught off-guard by the unsettling power it exuded. He felt like he was facing an Emperor, a higher being among dragons.
Long Aotian looked deeply at the crimson dragon might. He fell into deep thought.
"I have never heard of your bloodline before. Which means it has never appeared in this world before. Therefore, it is hard to tell. However, I sense a destructive intent and slaughter intent from your dragon might; it should be related to Annihilation and slaughter."