Journey Towards Dao

Auslen, dressed in a fresh set of black robes, made his way through large open doors and into the Weapons and Armaments Hall. Vincent, who had entered soon afterwards, separated from Auslen and moved to stand in his normal location with the other servants until his presence was needed.

The familiar sight of vast amounts of weapons instantly filled Auslen’s vision. Rows of bookshelves lined the perimeter of the hall, each of which containing various leather-bound books.

Standing in front of a large, isolated rack of weapons was his father, who was currently speaking with a white robed, middle-aged man. Auslen immediately recognized the man as Gerard, Aiden’s master.

Auslen had come to know more about Gerard during the years since they had previously met.

He was one of Father’s trusted subordinates and currently held the position of Manager of the Weapons and Armaments Hall. He was also one of the five Dao Soul realm cultivators that guarded the Royal Palace Grounds.

Both of the tall men turned towards Auslen as he made his way over to them.

Although Cedrick’s expression did not change, Gerard’s face lit up with a large smile, as if he was about to receive a long awaited gift.

He bowed his head slightly towards Auslen and said, “We meet once again, little prince! Have you finally gained some interest in Martial Techniques?”

Auslen sighed slightly in his heart. He knew why Gerard was here, as Gerard had made his intentions towards him quite clear over the years. However, Auslen knew he would have to disappoint the man today.

In helplessness, Auslen forced a bit of red on his cheeks as he nodded his head towards Gerard before rushing to the side to greet his father.

Cedrick looked down towards Auslen and spoke, “Now that your body has reached the Qi Refinement realm and has gained adequate strength, it's time for you to choose a weapon for your continued martial training.”

Cedrick stepped aside to give way to the tall, black-stained weapon rack. The rack held three simplistic looking weapons lined up in a neat row.

Cedrick raised his hand and pulled out a 3-foot-long, dual-edged, bladed weapon and held it gently in front of Auslen.

At the sight of the weapon, Gerard’s face visibly brightened in expectation.

“This weapon is a sword. It is the most complicated weapon of the three in front of you. It has many basic stances, requiring much time and effort in order to master. It is also the swiftest weapon of the three. With sufficient mastery, a sword user holds endless means to defeat their opponent.”

Although Auslen was well aware of the basics of each weapon at this point, he still listened patiently to his father’s explanation, trying his best to ignore Gerard’s frequent glances.

Cedrick put back the sword into the rack and pulled out another weapon of similar length. Its blade was single-edged and looked visibly heavier than the sword.

“This weapon is known as the saber. Due to its single blade, it's less complicated than the sword. However, it's significantly heavier, increasing the potential lethality by multiples. Although a saber user has less available means than a sword user, each of their methods are several times more dangerous by comparison.”

As he held the saber, Auslen could see an air of certain familiarity and comfort that his father exuded, which was quite dissimilar to the way he behaved with the sword. It was obvious that the saber was his weapon of choice.

After noticing no change in Auslen’s curious expression, Cedrick placed the saber back before picking up the last weapon.

In his hands was a long polearm, around 3 meters in height. Its shaft was made from a white colored wood, but the top of the polearm held a comparatively small, sharply pointed blade.

“This weapon is called a spear. It's the simplest of weapons, allowing for only three basic methods of use. It is the longest and slowest of the three. It is also the heaviest weapon, making each connected strike potentially fatal. It is the least used weapon amongst cultivators, but it's also one of the earliest weapons ever created. Despite the limited basic methods, there are a plethora of alternative uses.”

Cedrick put the spear back in its place.

“Now it's time for you to make a choice. Try to not think too long or hard about your decision. Just choose the one that you feel the most attached to at the current moment. If you later learn that you don’t enjoy the feel of your chosen weapon, you can always change to another.”

Off to the side, Gerard also wanted to say a few things, but each time he opened his bearded mouth, Cedrick would glance toward him, eyes full of hostile suggestion. Gerard had no choice but to close his mouth shut each time.

“It’s ok Father, I've already made my choice!”

Cedrick’s eyes widened slightly, while Gerard’s smile grew brighter.

Auslen continued, “I will choose the spear!”

“Haha! I told you he’d be my disci—”

Gerard burst into proud exclamation before halting his words as he registered what Auslen had actually said.

It didn’t take long for his expression to droop noticeably in both disappointment and embarrassment..

Cedrick’s left eye twitched as he glanced at Gerard before turning his gaze back to Auslen.

“The spear? What led you to make this decision?”

Auslen did not bother acting as if he was considering his answer.

“It’s because the spear is the safest weapon!”

Cedrick paused briefly before he said, “Continue.”

Auslen smiled brightly as he succinctly explained his thought process.

“Like you said, Father, I didn't think hard about it. The spear is the longest weapon of the three, with the furthest reach. This means that the spear is the safest choice. That’s why I picked the spear.”

Gerard grimaced deeply.

He was rearing with newfound energy to righteously admonish Auslen’s seemingly immature logic but was promptly interrupted by Cedrick.

“Then you shall learn the spear.”

At Cedrick’s declaration, Gerard’s sudden passion deflated like a pierced balloon. His disappointment was starkly obvious, making him seem somewhat pitiful to the nearby Auslen.

Cedrick patted Gerard’s well-built shoulders and decided to comfort the man.

“Even if Auslen had chosen the sword, you still would not have been able to become his master.”

Gerard’s pitiful look revealed hints of betrayal as he looked back at Cedrick.

Cedrick continued, “You can’t be Auslen’s master because Auslen will be leaving the Royal Palace later this year. He will be joining the Five Profound Elements Sect as an incoming disciple.”

Gerard was extraordinarily shocked! He opened his mouth to question Cedrick, but a sharp sound suddenly rang out in the hall.

Clatter!

Auslen instinctively turned his head to the sudden noise.

Aiden was standing still not too far away, black robes swaying slightly on his 160 cm tall frame. Beside him, a 3-foot-long sheathed sword was still bouncing slightly on the stone floor as if it had just fallen out of Aiden’s left hand.

Aiden’s expression, for the first time in years, had cracked in front of Auslen, showing a mixture of shock and dismay.

Auslen tilted his head at the boy curiously. Behind him, Cedrick could be seen sighing silently to himself.

Aiden collected himself somewhat and asked hesitantly, “Auslen’s leaving? To join a sect? But.. I mean… Why does he have to go?”

Cedrick explained briefly, “Auslen has a Water Elemental Affinity. The Royal Palace does not have any suitable Cultivation Methods for his talent, so I am sending him to the Five Profound Elements Sect so that he can obtain one for himself.”

Aiden was still visibly hesitant, glancing from his father to Auslen’s small frame hurriedly.

“He can’t—”

“It was my choice, big brother!”

At Auslen’s interruption, Aiden was even more shocked.

Auslen knew exactly what Aiden was worried about, so he cut the topic short before he could speak something he was not supposed to.

“But, you—”

Auslen interrupted his foolish brother once more as he raised his left hand, wiggling his ring finger slightly in a back and forward motion.

“It’s ok now! Father took care of it.”

Auslen was showing off the ring that Cedrick had given him, hinting to Aiden that he did not have to worry about his Soul Force.

Auslen was not surprised that Aiden had guessed, as the Demon had explained the matter pretty straightforwardly. Even though Aiden was frightened shitless at the time, he wasn’t deaf.

In addition, he had witnessed Auslen’s true personality first-hand. But, perhaps the most obvious clue was that he saw Auslen successfully activating a Top Grade Mystic Artifact. After five years, even a true fool would not have to think hard to understand why that Demon was attracted to their small group.

Aiden was worried that Auslen would somehow manage to attract some other creature to himself the next time he went out, but Auslen’s subtle hint seemed to set his fears to rest.

However, Aiden still did not look very content, as a slight frown was now pasted on his face. Thankfully, he refrained from saying anything else.

He glanced one last time at Auslen before stepping forward to greet Cedrick and Gerard.

Cedrick eyed the exchange between the two brothers but did not make any further comment.

Gerard, however, was not so satisfied with the current events.

Gerard transmitted his thoughts to Cedrick questioningly: “Cedrick, how could you let a young boy like Auslen join that Sect? You know better than I how dangerous it could be. I do not even slightly believe that flimsy excuse about lacking a suitable Cultivation Method! As long as you paid a little something, you could easily obtain a suitable Method for Auslen to cultivate.”

Cedrick glanced at Gerard, but did not explain himself.

He simply transmitted back, “As Auslen said, it was his idea.”

Seeing Cedrick’s firm stance, Gerard had no choice but to accept his decision. He decisively led the still-frowning Aiden away to begin their afternoon training session.

Turning away from Gerard and Aiden, Cedrick raised his hand towards a bookshelf standing beside a far off wall.

In the next moment, a black, leather-bound book shot from the bookshelf and into his outstretched hand.

He kneeled down and gently handed the book to Auslen as he explained.

“This is a Foundational Weapon Art. It's not a Martial Technique, as it does not require the usage of Profound Qi.

“Practitioners and cultivators alike are required to begin their weapon training with Foundational Weapon Arts. We cannot jump straight into learning weapon-type Martial Techniques, as we did previously with your movement-type Martial Technique. This is because we are not initially familiar with weapons in the way that we are familiar with our bodies."

He pointed to the book in Auslen's hands before he continued.

“This Art in particular is called the Foundational Spear Art. It's designed to allow the practitioner to grow deeply familiar with the spear, enabling them to control the weapon as if it were a part of their own body! Once you have mastered the Foundational Spear Art, only then can you begin to learn spear-type Martial Techniques.”

Auslen looked down at the leather book in his hand with a soft smile.

“Thank you, Father!”

Cedrick nodded before taking Auslen’s hand and leading him to another area within the large hall. As they passed by rows of weapon racks and bookshelves, the two eventually stopped in front of a wide rack filled with 1-meter-tall wooden rods. Each rod had a different color than the one next to it.

Cedrick used his free hand to pick up a white-colored wooden rod.

Kneeling down in front of Auslen, Cedrick replaced the leather book in his hands with the rod as he introduced, “This is a spear shaft crafted from White Ashwood. This is what you will be training with as you learn the Foundational Spear Art. Once you have gained a certain proficiency, we will then add a wooden spearhead to this shaft.”

Auslen observed the Ashwood shaft closely as both of his small hands glided along its length, taking note of both its smooth texture and somewhat light weight.

Even though he lacked even the smallest clue as to how to properly wield the spear, he could distinctly feel the faint sensations of security that the shaft provided him.

Auslen had been waiting very patiently for this day, as it would be his first step in increasing his combat strength!

After spending months in consideration, researching studiously to ascertain the best weapon for himself, he had finally decided on the spear. And now, as he held the spear shaft within his grasp, he felt a sense of deep validation in that choice.

After releasing a soft chuckle, Auslen waved the shaft around with childish glee, sending unspoken emotions blooming in Cedrick's eyes.