Lady Vena became uncertain as she said, "As for the fourth transformation, I have no idea what their lifespan is. But I am willing to bet that they reach a thousand years in life span."
The more Arthur heard, the brighter his eyes became. Even his breathing became hurried. It caused his lungs to become more irritated, which made him cough.
He felt this way because of the news of extra lifespan. He can still remember the way he had died in his past life.
He can also remember seeing powerful and rich individuals waste away due to old age. He doesn't want any of that for himself if there is an option to transcend.
He said to himself, "All this while, I only thought training was to improve the strength of the body. I didn't think that they would even use it to cheat death."
He had been cultivating to gain power, wealth, and control over his life. But now he had another thing to add to his list of goals.
He swore to himself, "I must do everything to get that much lifespan."
Then he asked his mother, "Mother, can I live forever? Is immortality possible?"
She laughed. "I don't know about that. Probably only someone like a true lord can live forever. But I wouldn't know."
"If you want to find out, all you need to do is ascend through every stage of transcension. You will surely know one day if you reach the limit. But first, you must join a sect, or you will be stuck here and will never find out.
He nodded and became determined to reach the limit of transcension. Lifespan and become his incentive and motivation to train. So he was motivated to start his exercise.
He said to her, "I have to go, Mother. I have work to do."
She held his shoulder, "Not so fast. There is still something you need to do before your exercise."
She took him outside of the house to the backyard. There was a white sheep waiting there for them.
The sheep looked like a normal sheep from Earth. It was white and fluffy. It had a pair of black curved horns on its head.
The only main difference was that it was very big. It was half as big as a cow.
The sheep was tied to a pole and was eating grass placed in a bowl before it. It looked harmless, but Arthur wasn't willing to bet on that assumption.
He asked, "What is a sheep doing here?"
She looked at him and said solemnly, "The sheep is for you."
Then she handed him a knife.
He looked at it and then looked back at the sheep. His eyes widened as he made the connection.
He said, "You can't be serious."
Her eyes became steely as she said, "I am as serious as death. You will kill this sheep today."
He asked, "Why?"
She asked in return, "Why not?"
He wasn't stymied by her turning the question on him. He replied confidently, "Because we have servants to do this job."
She insisted, "But I don't want the servants to do it. I want you to do it. No son of mine will be squeamish about blood."
He shook his head. "I'm not squeamish. I just don't see the reason for me to do something that I don't need to do."
She smiled and said, "If that is all, then this is simple. Your reason for doing this is because I said so."
He huffed. "Fine."
Then he took the knife from her.
He approached the sheep to kill it. But then he stopped and asked, "How do I do this?"
Lady Vena rolled her eyes but followed him to the sheep. She held it down with both hands and said, "You do the honors."
The sheep began to kick and scream. Its loud bleating tugged at his heart.
He said to himself, "You can do this. You have done it before. It was just a long time ago."
He gripped the knife tightly and bent down beside the sheep. Then he put the knife against its neck and inserted it into its throat.
Blood spurted out of the sheep's neck and washed all over him. It also splashed into Lady Vena, but she didn't take her eyes off of him.
Her eyes were focused on him, watching his every reaction as he killed the sheep. It was as if she wanted to see something specific from him.
He didn't know what she wanted. All he knew was that he was disgusted, smelly, and had hot blood in his face.
He wanted badly for all of these to end so that he could have a bath immediately. But Lady Vena had other plans.
The sheep struggled with all its might, but it couldn't escape from Lady Vena's tight grip. Ruff was the side giving encouragement by barking at the dying sheep.
When he was done, Lady Vena stood up and nodded. She said, "You did well. Now you must perform your exercises. It is only after you are done with your exercise that you are allowed to have your bath."
He complained, "But blood is gross."
She said sternly, "Life is rough. It is gross and messy. Things don't always go our way. But we must do what must be done before we can do what we want to do. Do you understand me?"
He sighed as he gave up. "Fine. Not that blood kills. I'm sure I can manage."
She nodded. "Good outlook. You will need it these coming days when you have to kill sheep for Ruff to eat."
He asked in disbelief, "What? This wasn't a one-time thing?"
"No, it was not. Now get this sheep to Brooks and prepare it together with him for Ruff. Then call me to take you through your new exercise regimen."
She said that and walked away. Her behavior signified that there was no changing her mind.
He grumbled inwardly about it. "This is what I would like to change about her. She doesn't care about a lot of things, but she will never compromise about what she cares about."
Then he looked at the sheep and said, "But why does she care about me killing sheep, though?"