The first night after returning to the Shadow Sect went very smoothly. Kai was actually able to rest after the continuous massacre in the Shadow Sect.
At this moment, the rays of the rising sun were already shining through the windows.....
Kai was no longer asleep, but was quietly dressing himself. When he cleaned himself up and looked in the mirror, he found a slight change in his appearance.
- Hmm... Am I taller now? - He muttered.
Previously, Kai hadn't had the chance to look at himself from the outside. But now he realised that his body and even his facial features had become even more mature. Previously, Kai's appearance had resembled that of a 16-18 year old boy. Now, he was more like a 20 year old. It seemed that the martial artist's lifestyle had led to a faster physical development.
- Right... - Kai suddenly realised something and unconsciously reached for his chest.
He decided to check all his stats that were recorded in his character... As soon as Kai touched his chest and infused some energy into it, detailed information instantly appeared in his mind.
It read:
Name: Kai
Age: 15 years old
Cultivation: Cloud Sphere High Stage
Status: Personal Apprentice
Master: Shadow Elder Mo
Nickname: Immortal Drunkard
Rank: 245
Organisations: Alchemy Alliance, Array Alliance
Reputation Points: 33 536
- Right!!! Indeed, sometime recently, I should have turned 15 years old! Hehehe. - Remembering that fact, Kai laughed.
Only now did he realise that in his endless hunting he had completely forgotten that an impressive amount of time had already passed. He had spent about half a year in the Shadowlands alone....
When Kai began to calculate the different stretches of time, everything turned out to be correct. A year ago, in the Tomb of Time, he had turned 14 years old.
- Time has flown by so quickly... This year has been a very busy one for me. - Kai said thoughtfully, 'Just like every year since I left the orphanage. Hehehe. - Kai laughed light-heartedly and walked out of the shelter.
Kai didn't notice that he had once more risen in Rang. In the past, when he had defeated Sacred Flame, he had ranked 271 in the Personal Disciple Rank. But now, his Rank was already at 245th place!
This was most likely due to his increased cultivation level. Kai was now at the High Stage of the Cloud Sphere. The Patriarch Formation had automatically redefined his status.
This actually happened quite often, it was just that everyone had a different reaction. There were masters who checked their Rank on a daily basis, as it was very important to them. In turn, there were people like Kai who generally didn't care about all these formalities.
The only fact that mattered to Kai was to enter the Top 100! Once he could visit Reincarnation Island, Kai would stop trying to raise his Rank at all. All in all, there was no point to it for him.
At this moment, Kai had enough of his resources. They had even accumulated quite a bit during his time at Shadowlands. Even after subtracting all the expenses for the half-year hunt, Kai still had over 33,000 Reputation Points at his disposal.
Kai didn't even know what to spend them on. When the prospect of visiting Reincarnation Island loomed in front of him, all other cultivation areas simply paled. Right now, Kai had no interest in visiting them. He hadn't even once entered the training room that was placed right inside his house.
Only if he couldn't make it to the Top 100 Personal Apprentice Rank would he start spending his Reputation Points on various training arrays.
While evaluating his development methods, Kai had already realised that ordinary auxiliary territories and arrays would be useless to him. When there's such a marvellous method like absorbing the blood of victims, and with it the energy... Is there any point in sitting in a closed room and slowly absorbing it from the outside?
This was another incentive to visit Reincarnation Island. The sects of the Mysterious Sea Region are in a conditional neutrality, or even allied relationship. But one would have to be a naive fool to imagine a picture of peaceful adventures in a forbidden zone.
In such places, everyone pursues their own advantage and the Elders are no exception! They wouldn't have time to keep an eye on the youngsters, they would immediately go to the deeper regions of Reincarnation Island. Under such conditions, everyone would be responsible for themselves!
Such conditions were simply a feast for Kai! Only the strongest martial artists from the entire Shadow Sect, Sword Sect, and Spiritual Fire Sect would be there!
Of course, Kai was under no illusions that he would be able to massacre those places. Still, if he were to make it to Reincarnation Island, he would be one of the weakest representatives there....
In fact, he himself might fall prey to the stronger disciples of one of the three Sects. But who's to say that he couldn't finish off an already wounded person? If he were to encounter someone in a situation like Silver Spear and Purple Illusion... Those people would quickly bid farewell to their lives and turn into a resource for development!
At this moment, Kai was calmly walking towards the Alliance Array. Previously, he had not visited it yet. He mainly had many other things to do, and he also didn't want to cross paths with Iris at all.
But now was a good time to meet with Elder Caius, as well as read the archival texts that detailed the various arrays.
Most likely, as one of the Great Elders, Caius should also know all about the Tournament. Kai decided to combine the useful with the pleasant.
After half an hour, he finally entered a large and beautiful building. It was also made in the style of the entire Shadow City. Except, the interior seemed more refined, and there was also a lot of light.
This entire area was quite vast, more like a square inside the building. There were many people walking around, and in some places, someone was drawing arrays directly on the ground.
Near such masters, there was constantly someone standing around and discussing something.....
It seemed that this square served as a place for general discussion. The Array Masters were able to display their work in public and share their opinions. Also, they could hear an outside perspective that might encourage them to come up with a new idea. Or on the contrary to get food for thought.
In general, Array Masters also liked to work in solitude. But for that, there were separate rooms. And this place was for the purpose of exploring the ways of their craft....
When Kai saw this, he was immediately interested... This was a place where he could sneak a lot of interesting things! Even without the archival work, he would already be able to learn a lot of things. So far, Kai's variation of possible arrays was lame. Besides the Alchemical Array, Kai could only create a few of the simplest ones like the Concealment Array.
'Too bad Alchemists can't do something like that...' - Kai thought sympathetically.
The process of alchemy was indeed very different. The only thing that would change from someone watching you process ingredients was that you could lose concentration and create an explosion!
That said, the Alchemists had another advantage. They could write down the recipe and the process of making the pill itself on a scroll, and pass it on to someone else without much trouble. If you practised enough, you could create a similar pill in an instant.
But Array Masters couldn't do such a thing. Only the masters in the Star Sphere were beginning to get a slightly better feel for the drawn array. Because of this, such an array was simply necessary. At least with words, each of the Array Masters could tell more about a particular element. Or learn about something he was interested in.
Kai decided that he would walk around first and stay away from the front desk. He was interested in assessing the surroundings.
'Eyes of Suti!' - Kai said in his mind.
Walking near the many masters, he listened intently to their conversations. As it turned out, knowledge sharing was quite common among the Masters of the Array. Naturally, none of them were teaching their personal developments. They were mostly discussing individual elements of the arrays. Or different variations of commonly known arrays.
There were also people speculating about hypothetical arrays. Kai even overheard a conversation where a woman speculated about the possibility of an array that could help a person levitate. Although Array Masters had learnt how to create hovering platforms... But they all required large amounts of energy, and were integrated into even larger arrays superimposed over the entire building.
Thus, it was impossible to make a hovering platform outside the building. Therefore, she reasoned about a micro array that would be able to superimpose itself over the clothes. And also, which would be able to work without the auxiliary arrays of the entire building.
This really interested Kai and he even stopped to listen. Only after evaluating the discussion and the arguments of the different sides... Kai realised that this woman was still quite inexperienced... One Elder immediately gave her about a dozen factors that were impossible to implement. As well as the names of the great Masters of the Array who had been battling over this idea for decades. But all attempts ended in failure....
This kind of environment was incredibly pleasing to Kai! He wandered around this square for so long that he didn't notice that about five hours had passed....
- Shit... I need to find Elder Caius... - Kai suddenly remembered, - That's enough. If I continue, I'll forget my goal again! - He muttered to himself and went straight to the front desk.
A second ago, he had started listening again to the discussion he was interested in. If he hadn't interrupted his interest, he would have fallen back into thought. Kai realised that this way he wouldn't get to Elder Caius until tomorrow as well....
- Hello. May I ask where to find Elder Caius? - Kai said with a smile.
- Greetings Mr Immortal Drunkard! Of course! Grand Elder Caius has even issued an order to that effect. - The girl politely replied.
- О? What kind of order? - Kai asked interestedly.
- If you look for him, you should immediately notify his location. Even if he's busy. - She explained with a smile.
- Elder Caius is so kind! Heh-heh. - Kai laughed snidely, 'So where is he now? - He added with a smile.
- He is in his personal training room. Mistress Azure Blade is also there. But I don't think she will mind your presence.'' - The girl replied politely.
As soon as Kai heard this, his face instantly creased.....
- Did I say something wrong? - The girl asked with slight concern.
- No, it's fine, don't worry. I just don't want to see Mistress Azure Blade... - Kai answered slightly irritated, - Okay, fuck her... Can you walk me out? - Kai asked politely, starting to smile again.
- Sure! Now I will call a man to help you! - Respectfully replied the employee and bowed slightly.
She very tactfully ignored Kai's earlier words. It was obvious that she was very aware of the things that needed to be 'ignored'.