Spirit Hall Move (Part 1)

A month after Aiden's arrival at Suotuo City. Spirit Hall HQ.

It was a quiet and well-lit room. Every piece of luxurious furniture and book spine outlined by the bright light from the sun in its zenith, yet despite scorching weather outside it didn't bring any warmth here, preserving a cool temperature.

"Another one." - sounded a dispassionate voice with intonations of boredom.

A girl sat by the table while placing her chin on the hand and writing some generic reply to the unassuming letter of an unremarkable noble who exalted himself to the level of the sky above the land. It was boring but necessary, as this was part of her job as Saintess of Spirit Hall.

She wondered why Spirit Hall still needed to keep pretense and strive for an amicable relationship with noble clans and families. Still, one thing she couldn't help but admit - there are many hidden forces moving in the shadows, and several very strong sects and clans resurfaced five years ago.

Now the position of Spirit Hall might seem illustrious, but in no way as stable as a decade ago.

"No, I don't like flowers, they wilt in days. Why do I need a life that so short-lived as a present?" - she mumbled while scrubbing some polite reply to deny another invitation. It was made in pretty words, but essentially all of them wanted her to go there for a quick fuck. - "What stargazing? What wine from your sect? Do I need to care?"

She read another one and sent it to others. The floor was already littered with that type of correspondence. And the more that garbage gathered, the darker became her mood.

"Attend to me!" - she commanded in a loud but still cold voice.

The door immediately opened, and a man in his thirties walked in hurriedly.

"Come and sit here." - the lady pointed at the side of her desk where another chair was standing empty. - "Take this pile of letters, sort them into official and not. The ones that are not you send there." - she pointed at the fireplace. - "Official ones bring to me. Understood?" - the girl stood up, exuding ruling aura and grace of someone in a lofty position.

"Yes, Saintess." - replied the man hurriedly. Despite the difference in age and power, he was terrified to even look in her eyes.

The girl squinted her blue eyes in irritation.

'Am I that scary? Why all of them always tremble in front of me?'

"I will take a walk in the garden. Stay here and work. You have half an hour." - she commanded and without listening to the mumbling of a man walked out. After several steps, she was no longer alone, as two knights of Spirit Hall followed her seamlessly from behind with respectful distance.

She walked to the garden and breathed fresh air full of flower fragrance. Despite all this luxury and nice scenery, the girl felt suffocated and rubbed her eyes tiredly. Today she slept for two hours before returning to work after training.

'Should I go visit grandpa? No... he has no time and will scold me. Or he just will lock me up to train again. Every time I drink that strange elixir I feel stronger, yet it doesn't feel right. Why do I have such a feeling?'

She pondered about the cup of bitter green water her grandpa will give her from time to time. Aside from unsettling intuitive rejection, she doesn't have any reason to refuse using it.

It even strengthened her first ring!

'And grandpa said when I finish incorporating divine power from it inside it will give me unknown power and help surpass her. It can help me prove my worth to her.'

A figure of a woman flashed in her vision, yet it birthed only coldness and hurtful feelings in her heart as memories of disregard and distant tone tore apart her affection for the woman. Several years passed since the last time she cared about that kind of attitude.

'She wouldn't even see me.' - a rare sigh escaped her lips and melancholic look covered her face for a brief moment, but soon disappeared under the mask of indifference.

The girl walked alone to the bench she used often. It was not near beautiful flowers, neither it was something well decorated. It was a simple bench near an ancient tree. She liked to sit here.

'Why do I need pretty things that wilt in days and don't last long? I better have an ugly tree that will stay with me.'

She shifted slightly to the shade of the tree corona and felt slightly better. Her hand touched a little necklace hidden deep within clothes.

"I will prove to you my worth. I will surpass you and you will acknowledge me." - the girl gritted her teeth and sighed. She didn't let her mental exhaustion overrule her will and after ten minutes of rest stood up to return to her duties.

Soon she will depart and before that many things needed to be finished and even more to be prepared.

She made her way back to the room and saw a pile of letters in the fireplace with only three remaining on the desk.

"Excellent work." - she nodded. Her voice was dispassionate, but not ruthless or threatening. She never was mean to her subordinates or people of Spirit Hall. On the contrary, she was rather benevolent. Not even once she assaulted someone physically or gave serious punishment. At most, it was some detainment or monetary deduction.

Both were considered light ones.

That is why she never understood the fear her people have in front of her. She never grew close to anyone, spending most of her time on learning or cultivating. So the petty girl failed to notice one crucial thing.

Most of the punished people never returned.

"Saintess, we received a report from the nearby city. It might interest you." - the man who remained in the room respectfully gave her one of the letters. He knew that for at least a year Saintess was very interested in talents. Why? Who knows, but most likely to pouch them to her side.

"I understand. You can go." - she replied and sat by the desk. Her lithe fingers gracefully unfolded the letter and sapphire eyes ran through the lines of text. In the end, an indifferent face slightly warmed and a little genuine smile appeared on it. - "I found you, my number one."

She stood up and walked to the door, half opening it.

"Pass down my order. For the next month movement, we are changing the route." - she said to one of the knights who guarded the entrance to her workplace. - "We will pass through Suotuo City."

* * *

Several months after Aiden's arrival at Suotuo City.

Aiden threw the letter from Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan to the back of his mind and next several months spend inside the arena, honing his battle experience against human masters. When their cultivation realm was enough to close the gap in body strength and force of techniques, that's when actual fights started.

He could rival spirit masters of 49 level, but spirit kings were another realm altogether with total ring age exceeding his by several thousand years, as the fifth ring is normally about 12000 years old. So yeah, a Spirit King can give him much trouble without Tree of Life buff and him attacking with true intention to kill.

Duels helped him, and Na'er to enhance their battle experience tremendously. In terms of cultivation, Na'er made the most progress, manifesting her spirit ring and becoming rank 23 by the end of their training in the arena. As for her second skill, it's troublesome to deal with.

She could cover her two tails with a unique force and elongate them to become very similar in characteristics to whips, but extremely sharp ones. Paired with her dual dagger fighting style, Na'er became a menace in close combat.

But Aiden grew depressed by the day during the entire thing.

The foremost reason for it was his understanding of the demonic creature's prowess. As it is now… humanity stands no chance. Demons are just too strong and almost felt like beings created for war. Humanity on the other hand is a soft persimmon today. If he wants to survive the upcoming disaster just a bunch of comrades like Shrek Seven Monsters are far from enough.

And his best bet would be large clans. Several of them at that. That's when he finally decided to give his all to solve some actual problems as soon as possible. One of them is Seven to Nine transition of the pagoda. For that purpose, he apparently needs to get Beautiful Silk Tulip. And that would be in a poisonous garden of Dugu Bo. That's actually very dangerous. The man in question is a damn deviant and did whatever rushes into his head, minding no consequences.

'Hm… and why should I do it myself? Let that pagoda clan know and purchase it or something, they surely can reach the deal with their wealth. But I need to be there when Rong Rong consumes it to scan the process. Well, that's for the future. There is always a way to just wait for Tang San to do the trick.'

Aside from other things and planning, he started everyday practice playing the zither and soon enjoyed it very much. It not only brought him relaxation but helped develop a new outlook on things. A creative way to tackle situations.

He was hard-pressed to explain why, however, zither had too many styles and ways to play it, yet results can be similar, thus giving several roads to achieve the same thing. It was enlightening and strange at first, but original songs and melodies can bring so many variations of thought, that he found his training in zither broadening his horizons.

It was an invaluable thing for a cultivator.

Another thing was his own way to express the things he has been through. While learning more and writing a song for his own experiences he can further understand how he felt about them and even drew an emotional closure.

In some sense, zither helped him purify his mentality.