Chapter 42: Princess
"You mean Seraph?"
Tamar asked, amazed. She hadn’t thought that Ariana would be an apprentice to the white-haired boy.
"Yes. Big Brother is skilled in the sword, the spear, the bow, and even other uncommon weapons like axe, hammer, chains, and many others."
Ariana explained, her expression filled with pride.
Her friend, blinked hard, stunned. "All those... weapons...?"
It was impossible to believe!
Seraph was even younger than her, being just eleven years old. Yet, according to Ariana, he had mastery over a lot of weapons.
’Who could have taught him... and how...?’
Tamar’s grandmother had hired a skilled swordmaster to train her since she was young. This gave her unparalleled skill among her peers.
However, she could see that Ariana was better than her.
’And her trainer is just a year older than her? Where did he get his own experience from?’
Unfortunately for her, she could never guess that Seraph was a reincarnator who had done several weird things in his past life.
At least, the people of that era would call it weird.
After all, who in their right mind would dedicate years to learning how to use weapons when they could make lots of money online.
"Big brother is just that impressive. Don’t underestimate him."
Ariana huffed, placing her hands on her waist.
"I see."
Tamar nodded, her expression returning to normal. She unsheathed her sword turned the blade slightly, staring at her own reflection.
"I wish to experience his skills someday."
............
Evening came faster than Seraph expected, but he didn’t mind. He returned to his room, opened the windows, and sat cross-legged on the bed.
Placing his palms on his knee joints, he closed his eyes and exhaled.
’A steady mind... subconscious intake of spiritual energy... and nurturing of the dantian.’
He took a deep breath, feeling the cool air fill his lungs. His porrs opened, and spiritual energy flowed into him, moving across his meridians and heading towards his core—dantian.
The energy reached his core, then slowly circled around it, brushing it gently.
Seraph’s brows furrowed, and he locked his concentration on the energy. Instead of letting it just brush by, he forced it closer to his dantian.
The spiritual energy was immediately sucked in, and the dantian pulsed like an organ. More spiritual energy was being passed through his meridians and sent straight to his dantian.
The process continued, slowly but surely. Each time a large amount of spiritual energy was injected into the dantian, it would pulse.
Finally, after a few hours, the dantian began pulsing weakly. Even without receiving any spiritual energy, it pulsed repeatedly.
Sensing this, Seraph’s expression became serious.
His dantian—an organ partially physical and partially spiritual, began enlarging in size.
A fierce wind blew in his room, and spiritual energy rushed into his body in waves, powering the growth.
From just a few inches, it rose and became seven inches, enlarging in size and capacity.
Finally, the enlargement stopped, and the dantian stabilized.
Seraph took a deep breath, feeling his lungs expand. Then he exhaled, feeling raw power—greater than he had ever experienced—course through his body.
’Pleasant.’
Seraph smiled and opened his eyes.
[Ding! You have become a Core Advanced Stage Cultivator]
The system’s message was unnecessary, but Seraph didn’t mind. He yawned, laying down on his bed after realizing the sky had totally darkened.
’Tomorrow, we’re going to escort the princess... then... I’ll have to...’
He closed his eyes, wondering why he was given such a complicated mission.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t going to get any answers if he asked that woman anyway.
’Let’s just go with the flow. My cultivation now should be enough to survive this ordeal.’
............
The next day arrived rather sluggishly. Seraph woke up early in the morning, did a light exercise, and walked around the outer court dormitary courtyard.
Once the sky brightened, he immediately left the Soul Peak. This was a joint mission, so he was to meet some other disciples outside the sect.
When he arrived, he was surprised to see a familiar face.
"You..."
Marcus growled, infuriated. Ever since he suffered a crushing defeat from Seraph, he had always been filled with anger, bitterness, envy, and hatred.
When he realized how precious the Soul Peak was, he felt very jealous of Seraph. How could that young boy get such a special privilege?
It was obvious from his expression that he was surprised to see him here again.
"Hello, Marcus. It has been a while."
Seraph greeted with a polite smile, even waving at him like they were friends.
A vein popped on Marcus’s head, but he forcefully controlled himself. Coughing awkwardly, he cleared his throat and smiled back—a strained smile.
"Hello, Seraph..."
Not paying any attention to him anymore, Seraph looked at the other disciples present.
There were two from the Solstice Peak, one from the Winter Peak, and another from the Summer Peak. Together, they made up to six disciples having the same mission.
The other Summer Peak disciple was an inner court disciple, having a higher rank than Marcus and the rest. Though, the other male from the Winter Peak was also at the same level.
Seraph could easily see through their cultivation levels since they were on the same level.
"Hm... greetings, seniors."
He said with a polite nod, then turned to the remaining two disciples.
"Greetings, fellow disciples."
Everyone returned his greetings, then the Winter Peak disciple spoke.
"I am Noel Shan. But you can call me Cultivator Shan. I will be in charge of this mission."
His voice was calm and even, without any fluctuations. He spoke with authority, completely controlling the atmosphere.
’Perhaps not.’
Seraph thought, then looked at the female Summer Peak disciple. Just as Noel opened his mouth to speak, the girl raised an eyebrow.
"You don’t expect us to accept that do you?"
The boy turned to her, his gaze cold and indifferent.
"Elder Mei instructed me to direct this mission. Do you have any objections?"
The girl immediately fell silent, unable to say a word. Meanwhile, Seraph and Marcus remained confused, not knowing who this Elder Mei was.
With no one saying anything anymore, Noel continued.
"The little princess’s carriage should be here soon. We are escorting her to Valmere City. There should be no mistakes, and our security should be tight."
The others nodded, paying attention to him.
"Although she will be having a few royal guards with her, we should not relax. This is a royalty being escorted."
Saying that, he also fell silent. Together, they quietly waited for the princess’s carriage to arrive.
After quarter an hour, a carriage pulled up before them. It was quite a luxurious carriage that even Marcus was amazed.
"Truly a princess..." He muttered.
Noel approached the carriage and bowed.
"Soul Cross Sect disciple Noel Shan pays respect to the princess."
The other disciples behind him also bowed and cupped their fists.
"Paying respect to the princess."
To Marcus’s dismay, it was the gruff voice of a butler that replied.
"Good. You’re all here. Let’s get going."
Noel nodded and stepped beside the carriage. Meanwhile, Seraph raised his head in confusion.
"Where are the royal guards, if I may ask?"
Noel froze, turning to look at Seraph in shock. The audacity!
However, he was also curious about why he hadn’t seen the guards around. The only other thing he saw was the spirit beast pulling the carriage.
After a moment of silence, the butler spoke.
"You do not need to worry. I simply sent them on a scouting mission. They’ll join us midway."
Seraph nodded in understanding, while Noel sighed in relief. At least the butler didn’t get offended and ask for Seraph’s head.
"Alright that’s enough. Let’s go."
The other disciples moved to surround the carriage, placing themselves at protective angles.
To their astonishment, Seraph remained rooted on the spot. He still had a smile on his face, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
"My second question. Can we see the princess? I want to be sure we’re escorting a real human."
Silence!
Noel’s eyes widened in shock and anger, glaring at Seraph with killing intent. How could the boy be so gullible and seek death?
He even dared to ask to see the princess’s face. This had gone too far!
He immediately turned to the carriage, bowing his head immediately.
"Senior Cultivator, please do not mind the attitude of my junior brother. He has a few screws loose."
"No, I don’t."
Seraph shook his head, his smile plain.
Facing the carriage like he could see through it, he continued.
"If you feel that it is too much to do, then can the princess speak so we can—"
"It’s okay."
A soft voice interrupted him, and the curtain of the carriage was lifted. A beautiful young girl with a very petite frame appeared, clad in graceful expensive gown with several expensive jewelries.
She looked gentle like a dove and had an auspicious air around her.
The disciples were mesmerized just from looking at her.
The girl looked straight at Seraph and smiled.
"Thank you for your care. I can see that you’re a very cautious person."