All in all, the evening was quite pleasant. After the walk, Kai agreed to take the girls to his house. As usual, they didn't manage to sit down for a while. They stayed at Kai's house until almost morning. They were only finished at dawn.
At that moment, Kai finally went to take a bath and clean himself up.
- Ehhh... Good... - Kai said with a satisfied exhale.
He was quite relaxed now... Over the past month, some of his habits had changed. Although he was still the same Kai, he had become more considerate of others. This was generally a result of Shuo's advice. Kai tried to listen and memorise what others were telling him. And as it turned out, it worked really well.
Of course, Kai only used this method with people who seemed useful or interesting to him. Other times, he still ignored the world around him as well.
Kai had been a very judicious person since he was a child. Those around him marvelled that a child could think so sensibly and maturely. Many in this world lived in terrible conditions. There were fates that were even worse than Kai's own... Hard times do create strong people. But at the same time, children like Kai were rarely born. Many were broken rather than hardened by such an environment.
But even with all that in mind, a sober and cold mind does not equal life experience. A lot of things were still out of reach for Kai. The Lust Queen's illusions showed Kai the diversity of the world of carnal pleasures and pleasures. But she could not show the deeper, human feelings. Such as friendship, loyalty, love, sacrifice, betrayal, the fickleness of human nature, and many others. All these things can only be earned by systematically living this life.
Now was the exact stage when Kai started paying attention to such things. It was only now that he was beginning to analyse and evaluate all these things. In recent times, many of Master Mo's phrases and stories had begun to make sense. Previously, they seemed to Kai to be just the usual ramblings of an old man.
'Spending time with Iris and Taemi is really nice... But still, pursuing the pinnacle of martial arts is much more interesting. It's unlikely that I would ever be able to give up my goals for a quiet life with my loved ones. It's just not for me...' - Lying in the hot water, Kai thought.
Such thoughts had appeared in his head more than once. And each of them led Kai to the same result... Kai wants to break through to the higher echelons of this world! Only then will he be able to find the answers to his many questions!
In his short wanderings, Kai has 'seen' at least two masters whose powers defy realisation. They were the Astral Emperor of Alchemy and Kessia. Having learnt the entire hierarchy of the Heavenly Continent's powers, Kai was certain that they were at the peak of the Core Sphere! Perhaps they had even touched the secrets of the Divine.
Although in modern times, it was believed that the Core Sphere was the final stage of a martial artist's development. But it seemed that before the apocalypse, the overall strength of the world was much stronger!
Even Elder Brood spoke of the Shadow Sect Patriarch's words. On the Core Sphere, things are changing and simply absorbing energy doesn't work anymore. One must match the properties of one's Core and extract only what suits one's needs from the outside environment. In fact, the current masters of the Core Sphere are acting on a whim. They are experimenting, trying to get ahead. What if they simply don't know the right method? Or under the conditions of the current Heavenly Continent, it's simply impossible to apply the right method?
''From one day to the next, the Tournament should be held... If everything goes smoothly, I will go to Reincarnation Island. What awaits me there, we don't know yet...' - Kai continued, 'It's foolish to look very far... But if everything goes well there, then I'll go on a long journey. So, seeing Iris and Taemi often is just not meant to be.' - Sipping his wine, he thought.
- Hehehe... Okay, we'll see how it goes. There's no point in worrying about it right now. - Kai smiled and drained his glass in a gulp.
He was already thinking about his next steps. In general, he had two options. Either he would pass the Top 100 Rank or he wouldn't. If he did fail, Kai would go to the outside world.
Kai was already well aware that the Shadow Sect was issuing assassination orders. If one took such an order, one could go to quite distant lands and see the world. It was a good way to gain even more experience and also strengthen one's bloodline. In the outside world, you could find many more 'victims'. And you wouldn't be held back by the laws of the Sect shared with them.
If he did break through to the lucky number, it wouldn't change anything either. After returning to the Shadow Sect, accepting a contract to kill would be just as great an option.
In any case, Cai would not cultivate quietly within the confines of the Shadow Sect. At the first opportunity, he will go on adventures of his own. The idea of taking someone else with him, Kai didn't consider at all. In that case, any of the companions would become ballast for him.
Kai's actions and deeds were quite extreme... Hardly anyone would want to participate in what Kai had arranged in the Shadowlands... Especially, Kai had a lot of things he didn't want to show to other people.
It turned out that in any case, his path was meant for him alone. And he must walk it alone.
In fact, Kai understood that very well. And this fact did not seem hard or sad to him. Solitude had many advantages of its own, you just had to have the right nature to see them. Or otherwise, to cultivate the right qualities for it....
For a holistic person, loneliness is never a burden. On the contrary, it is a time when you can talk to the only person who understands you and has been with you since birth. The person who shares every second of life with you.
Kai was the first type of person. He didn't have to cultivate these qualities in himself, his personality was originally like that. Ever since he was a child, he had always kept a slight distance from everyone. He wasn't an aloof or withdrawn person. It was just that, alone with himself, he felt fine.
In fact, these were some of the most important traits of a true martial artist... Integrity and self-sufficiency! Only such individuals could endure all the obstacles and hardships of their path.
People have always wanted different things... For example, money, power, women, family, friends, or to do evil.
There were techniques that were cultivated through violence or many other vile things. And it must be said that the masters who cultivated them were proper, such deeds brought them pleasure. But even amongst those, there were true martial artists. They were distinguished from all others by only one thing - their self-sufficiency and understanding of themselves, suppressed any outside temptations!
Very often, even strong martial artists stopped in their tracks. And the reason is that they were originally incomplete... For example, it often happened that the master found a woman that could make him happy. At such moments, they were like two halves complementing each other. And in general, this is fine and is not something bad. Not every person should relentlessly advance only forward, not paying attention to anything.
Except that an initially whole person does not need a complement. He does not need a life companion, a friend or other factors that will overlap the lack of personality. He is already initially complete, without the need for outside help. No reason will make such a person stop.
All that drives them is following their path and perfecting their completeness. If we imagine that the personality of a completed person is the core. Then life experience, various situations and new ideas are the elements of which it is composed. The longer he goes along the path, the more elements come into his possession. Gradually he replaces some of the elements of the core with new, deeper ones... Thus his core was constantly becoming stronger and stronger. This was the refinement of its completeness!
Kai was a man who was only at the very beginning of this journey. He was just beginning to fully realise himself. Finally, the moment came when he began to replace some of the older, more primitive 'elements'. One clear example was when Kai began to listen to and memorise the words of people important to him.
All of this was the reason why he didn't care much for Iris and Taemi. Even though he was attracted to them and was slowly entering the circle of people close to him... They couldn't become part of the core. In any case, Kai would continue on his path alone, only occasionally returning to them.
Realising this, Kai neither promised nor expected anything from these girls. He was glad he had directly told Taemi this. She seemed to accept those words without hesitation. But how it would turn out in the future was a mystery. People were changing and life didn't stand still.
Expecting to be waited on forever until he reached that pinnacle of martial arts was just plain self-deception.... And Kai didn't want to engage in such a thing.
The sun was slowly rising in the sky, approaching lunchtime...
Only at this moment, Kai finally left the confines of his home. He decided to go to the Alchemy Alliance once again. Lately, there hadn't been anything interesting to do anymore, but Kai just didn't have anything else to do. He didn't really want to waste the day.
Calmly walking out of the Shadow Palace, Kai suddenly stopped.....
- Hehehe! This was it! Finally! - Cai shouted out happily.
He saw, a large sheet of parchment that was posted near the entrance. It read:
'The Tournament of Hundred begins in three days! To register, go to the Palace of Shadow!'
- And I'm already here! Hehe. - Laughing merrily, Kai let out a laugh.
He immediately turned around and went to look for the guards. They should know exactly where he needed to go.
As it turned out, the man immediately redirected Kai to the correct area of the Shadow Palace. It was there that all potential applicants were registered. Kai didn't have to wait and went straight to the place. He had been waiting for this for a very long time!
After a quarter of an hour, Kai finally entered the large round hall. At this moment, there were many middle-aged Elders there. It was obvious that these were Elders not of the highest order in the hierarchy of the Shadow Sect.
They sat in a circle and received the people who had arrived there. Since the flyers had been posted recently, there was now a noticeable influx of Personal Disciples here.
The atmosphere was also very different from the banquet where everyone was gorging and celebrating merrily. At this moment, everyone present was a competitor! The very air was saturated with the smell of belligerence and confrontation.
Many realised that they had no chance. But one shouldn't forget that in this Tournament, you could at least advance in Rank! That wasn't a bad prospect either. Especially for flashy youngsters who were constantly trying to compete with each other.
Kai quietly joined the queue and paid no attention to the frequent verbal altercations. Many were now throwing loud phrases and provoking each other. In fact, this was also an element of strategy. Intimidating potential applicants always worked well.
- Hello, I would like to sign up for the Tournament. - With a smile, Kai gave out when it was his turn.
- Greetings Immortal Drunkard. Are you sure? Still, you're still quite young. - Good-naturedly, the young man asked.
All of the Elders present had detailed information about all the Personal Disciples. Given their abilities, memorising all this information was not a difficult task. The man at the table knew very well that Kai was only 15 years old, and it would be better to try it next time.
- Yeah, I'm sure. Anyway, why not try your luck? Hehehe. - Laughing, Kai asked.
- Eh... You youngsters are always so unreasonable. But it can't be helped! - smiling, the Elder said, - Alright, Immortal Drunkard, you are registered for the Tournament of Hundreds. Come back in three days to the Fatuma High Arena! - The man solemnly announced and immediately called out the next person in line.
- Thank you! - Kai replied with a smile, bowed, and left without delaying the queue.