Aurora and Xuanyin now aware of Arc's physique; began to do several experiments once they arrived to Arc's room so they could better "distinguish" its effects
they developed a working a theory that Arc's physique effects actives through touch,
It was difficult to narrow down the exact moment Arc's physique had activated, thus they were left unaware of how long it has been affecting Aurora
Narrowing it down on Xuanyin was significantly easier, since she was only around for a short period of time
she first tried drinking his blood due to the abyss amplifying her hunger
After making that first contact, the "want" for his blood never vanished much like a hidden craving it dug into her mind
While this "want" never vanished it was unlike the emotional amplification born of the abyss
It didn't create nor amplify emotions that weren't previously there, it simply "speed up" their development
Leading to such a dramatic meltdown happening in such a short period of time
Aurora made a mental note to not make physical contact with Arc until his physique was under control,
As due to her recent advancement to nascent soul her foundation was still somewhat lacking
Xuanyin didn't seem to have such a fear as she remained glued to Arc's side, his influence was significantly easier to deal with than the abyss
After learning of the physique's existence, it essentially lost all power over her due to the massive gap of power between them
Aurora suddenly turned her head seemingly listening to something before looking back at Arc
"I just received a message from the sect master, the tournament will begin soon; they have already begun picking everyone's opponents"
Xuanyin smiled lightly before speaking
"Well then Arc, im expecting nothing less than first place"
Aurora nodded in agreement as she spoke
"You have two nascent soul lovers, if you aren't able to get first place you deserve a punishment"
Arc felt a chill run down his spine seeing Xuanyin and Aurora happily plot how they would punish him should he fail,
Xuanyin then sniffed the air, her expression turning into surprise as she looked towards Arc and spoke
"Did the threat of punishment make you aroused?"
Arc suddenly felt like crying realizing that having a dragon as a lover will be very stressful
Aurora raised her eyes slightly before looking at Xuanyin and speaking arrogantly "Arc loves to be spoiled, it seems you haven't been doing a good job"
Xuanyin glared at Aurora as they began arguing once more, Arc sighed gently as he thought
'It gonna take some time before they will stop hating each other'
They continued their argument for some time leading to Arc to at one point tune out their voices
When Arc finally tuned back into the conversation he found the topic had shifted significantly
Aurora nodded gently before speaking
"I have an idea on where we could get our hands on such a technique but it would be expensive"
Xuanyin shook her head lightly before speaking
"I already have a few techniques in mind; the problem is that Arc's body is very weird, i believe many human techniques are incompatible with him"
Her tone then changed into one of pure annoyance when she continued speaking
"Our best bet at that event, i could ask "teach" for help converting a technique for Arc's body"
Aurora somewhat confused asked
"What event?"
Xuanyin smiled lightly
"I forgot, i only told you i was taking him to the astral realm to gather my belongings; but in truth i would also be taking ink-star to a spirit beast event"
Aurora frowned slightly, that wasn't part of their previous arrangement, Xuanyin had lied to them before
"Who is teach?"
Arc asked curiously after all he spent a decent amount of time developing a technique suitable for himself
So for him to hear someone might be able to make him a new compatible technique saved him a headache
Xuanyin face scrunched up seeming to remember her dislike for this "teach"
"Teach is a spirit turtle and collector of supernatural techniques, he collects as many as he can regardless of the power-system"
"The problem with him is that he just never shuts up, any conversation with him ends up turning into a cultivation lecture that's also why everyone calls him teach"
Arc's face turned into a slight smile as he grew interested, he spoke lightly "Sounds like someone i should meet"
Xuanyin rolled her eyes aware of how everyone who had said something like that regretted it
Aurora turned towards Arc before speaking, "we need to get going its starting soon and we are expected to be present"
Arc nodded his head before the three of them started heading towards the tournament ground
After a few minutes of silence Arc couldn't hide his curiosity as he asked Xuanyin regarding the creation myth
"So do you think that's the story about the mother, was that true?"
Xuanyin froze slightly her face turning visibly reverent as she spoke
"Yes"
This sudden change from her usually calm or arrogant demeanor caused waves in Aurora and Arc as they realized the true scale of the past
"The mother is real, and so are her works"
Xuanyin spoke her native tongue clearly as if afraid to misspeak anything in relation to this topic
Arc had only a passing knowledge of draconic, but it was just enough for him to understand she believed it to be true from the bottom of her heart
The three returned to silence after that, as they made their way towards the meeting grounds
Soon they could hear the chattering of thousands of people, Arc looked around and saw flags representing at least one hundred different sects in attendance
Aurora and xuanyin said their goodbyes to Arc as the went to sit with the sect elders and leaders
Arc being left alone walked towards the flag corresponding to the black mountain sect
Aurora eyes trailed the cultivators in the area searching for her uncle before freezing as she saw a symbol on the robes of a golden core cultivator sitting there
The symbol looked like a knife covered in back flames and it adorned a young lady sleeves
She was a golden core cultivator yet even the nascent soul cultivators kept their distance,
For that was the mark of the gray knights, one of the most powerful and ancient organizations of the central continent
Her fingers absentmindedly twirled the edge of her sleeve, brushing over the burning knife insignia.
Their "children" are occasionally let to roam the world to learn life lessons, seeing her naive and excited face they all assumed that why she was here
She sat in silence, her eyes trailing around her looking for any signs of danger just as she'd been taught.
Xuanyin yawned slightly as if unaffected by the tense atmosphere before then receiving a mental message from Aurora
'That girl is the child of a faction containing earth immortals; don't get any strange ideas'
Xuanyin glanced back that Aurora her face turning a smug as she responded
'You're foolish if you believe I wouldn't recognize the gray knights; they have branches across the universe'
Aurora's eyes widened, as she thought to herself
'It seems all the information Luton has gathered of the cosmos pales in comparison to Xuanyin's vast knowledge'
Suddenly Regan coughed lightly grabbing everyone's attention
He spoke clearing and was heard across the entire area
"I welcome you all today to participate in our party, we are here to celebrate the advancement of my dear student Vei"
"He has reached the level of nascent soul cultivators; but we bring you all additional great news"
"Aurora of the black mountain sect has also advanced to nascent soul cultivation"
"We are honored to be here today hosting the celebration of these two amazing figures, may their legends spread for thousands of years"
While Regen was having his big speech The black knight apprentice sat up upon noticing Xuanyin;
'She is a dragon? And a Vampire?, not just that my father's sword reacted when she entered the range of my divine sense….'
The young lady finally realized why she was told to travel the world; seeing monsters like that is the only way for her to understand just how weak she truly was without the name of "Gray Knight"
"Now for the moment we have all been waiting for, we shall now officially begin the tournament!"
Regan spoke clearly before stapping his fingers
A large projection appeared before showing two names
"For our first fight, we will have Yuan from the seven lands sect vs melody of the wayward sect"
Watching this fight gave Arc and the gray knight apprentice second hand embarrassment
They had both received rigorous and brutal training so watching people of a similar age have such low skills was an interesting experience
The elders and sect masters seemed to believe it to be normal, considering twenty and thirty year olds no different than children
Arc sighed gently, but he then thought to himself
'This is most probably the case for outer disciples, inner and core disciples should be much better'
'Hopefully one can give me a good fight so that Aurora and Xuanyin can feel proud of me'
His face turned a crimson color at that thought, Arc then took a deep breath regaining his control over himself
Arc watched every fight carefully looking for any possible advantage when facing these possible opponents most weren't anything special yet there were several people on Arc's level
In fact he even saw a couple of people who were significantly faster than him; they could run circles around him before he could even stab them with his spear
His first three matches were a breeze, he didn't even need to draw his spear as he shot an energy beam towards his opponent's
Xuanyin's eyes twitched slightly as that was the technique she had taught ink-star
So for what reason was Arc capable of using it with such ease??
She took a deep breath while thinking to herself
'Ink-star… im going to have to teach him to now babble out my techniques the second i turn my back'
Xuanyin then turned her head slightly and saw the young gray knight fidgeting slightly while looking in her direction
The girl seeing Xuanyin notice her staring turned flustered and she turned her attention back to the tournament
'She is scary… i only looked for a second and she locked onto me instantly'
The gray knight exhaled
"The next fight will be begun shortly, Archean of the Black mountain sect vs Wei Li of the sword mountain sect"
Arc expression turned serious for the first time he entered the ring this person radiated a huge energy
He didn't make any attempt to mask his power, so he was either a fool or hid a greater weapon
Arc choose to believe the answer was the latter, as he readily himself for battle
Aurora glanced at Arc and his opponent before then sending a mental message to xuanyin
'Arc was able to mask his fighting style; so this child will be surprised to get hit with the weapon known as Arc'
Xuanyin laughed, nodded her head slightly before responding
'It a shame he hadn't mastered the technique to the highest level'
'If he did than he would be able to fuse them with his physical attacks as well'
'Oh? You taught him that attack?"
'I taught ink-star, hmm that reminds me…. We left him with those attendants'
Xuanyin stood up before saying gently
"Well it's easy enough to tell who will win this fight, so it shouldn't bother anyone if a take a quick leave to grab ink-star"
Aurora laughed gently as the sect leader of the sword mountain sect snorted before saying confidently
"Wei Li; is extremely powerful for his stage, your Archean might have good spell damage but it will be far too slow to land"
Xuanyin smiled gently while walking away
"You'll see soon enough"
Aurora smiled gently agreeing with Xuanyin's arrogance for the first time turning her attention back on the ring
The moment the match began Arc shot out multiple energy attacks which Wei managed to dodge with relative ease
He ran circles around Arc causing many of the fighters to believe Arc would soon be overrun by his sear speed
Arc was forced completely on defense as his attacks grew to be less aggressive every second
Wei the got close and just as his sword made contact, Arc smiled gently before grabbing his wrist stopping his sword
He then punched Wei so hard he flew out dozens of feet before stopping after shattering a stone pillar
Everyone's eyes went wide, at the stunning revelation that Arc was in fact a body cultivator….
"Why the hell is his ranged attacks so powerful?!?"
"Chi has a massive drop of range losing power once it reaches a certain distance from the body"
"His merging his spirit energy into his chi elevated that, rather clever; i believe dad uses a similar method"
The gray knight girl muttered with slight amusement; her hands pressed on both her cheeks
Aurora was suddenly enlightened at those words
"Oh, that's why he merges his energies; I thought he did that so his defenses would be higher when i throw him"
"Eh,... .why do you throw him?"
The black mountain sect leader asked with genuine concern
"How else will he learn to tank a fatal blow?"
Aurora said absentmindedly as if it were common sense
These words echoed in the room causing a stunned silence; this silence was soon cut short when xuanyin returned with a small curled dragon in her arms
She smiled gently as she lovingly rubbed her son's head as he napped in her arms
Wei Li, stood up from the rubble with a hint of a smile on his face; as he began condensing his energy around him
Arc no longer able to hide his close range capabilities pulled out his spear; and entered a ready stance
Wei Li then charged forward, his attack so fast that Arc would have trouble blocking….
If he hadn't seen it coming; Wei Li might have been great undoubtedly, but when compared with the attacks he received from Aurora….
It was no different than child's play; he blocked Wei using to tip of his spear to keep a certain distance
Droplets of energy escaping his body as they formed more energy beams; Arc didn't require his hands to make such an attack
This sudden shift of energy beams and Arc's spear stabbing towards him took Wei off his high ground
Wei laughed as he jumped back creating some distance;
They stood dozens of feet apart, as Wei circled Arc slowly almost like a shark would
Arc suddenly shifted as his spear's formations opened instinctively; he covered himself with them like a shield
Almost immediately after that Wei's aura's merged; ki, spirit energy; divine sense each endlessly flowed into his sword
They then shot out as sword intent; Arc felt his hairs stand on end, it was as if the air itself had become a deadly blade
Realizing his defenses
Wouldn't hold long focused his energy into his feet; charging straight at Wei with the cloud walk technique
The sudden burst of speed caught Wei off guard, but he managed to dodge Arc's first attack
He then swung his sword intent with the goal of creating distance; if his opponent had been anyone else this would have worked
Seeing this sword intent charged in his direction, Arc gave no reaction as if it wasn't even present
He allowed the energy to tear through his chest to give him the opening for his next attack
He pulled Wei into his formation, and struck him with his spear dozens of times; poking countless holes into his body
After ten seconds of that, the referee grabbed the tip of Arc's spear before saying
"Haha, looks like these two got a little carried away; Archean of the black mountain sect, you have Won"
Regen then interjected
"Take Wei to the infirmary; hmm, use the highest grade spirit pills"
Regen sighed regretfully as he thought to himself
'I would love to take advantage of this and pit the black mountain sect and the sword mountain sect against one another; but we are currently allies'
"Archean; you lungs are completely shattered, would you make you way to the infirmary"
Arc nodded gently with his slight smile on his face looking un-effected while he thought to himself
'Shit-shit; I didn't think the energy would explode inside my body, focus focus; jeez using ki to replace my lungs is freaking hard!!!'
Xuanyin and Aurora both beamed with pride seeing Arc remain standing after "fatal" injuries;
while the various sect elders and masters began understanding why they believed he would win