Chapter 74

Just a day later, two wooden boxes were delivered to Ji Li's yard. Although it was enclosed and not even a speck of essence left the box, he knew what they contained. He took it from the courier and thanked him as he closed the door.

Inside he contained his excitement till he was in the inner yard, where he presented it to his newly awoken younger brothers "Guess who brought presents."

Stone and Monkey instantly jumped up, both asking at the same time "Is… it really 'it'?"

"Yes," he opened both boxes as he put them on the table in the front yard "eat them. They might look good, but nothing comes out of staring!"

Both nodded and eagerly gulped it after inspecting the fruit for a second. Both shined instantly, first it was bright green in the colour the emerald tree shined normally, then it dimmed. Not even a second later, both bodies shined in their individual colours: Shixuan had an earthy brown and Qianyu a flowing turquoise.

They instantly sat down and absorbed the fruit to it's full potential, awakening their Talent. The attribute was already awakened when they advanced to the Essence Awakening stage, it was prior obvious what they got, the Talent would truly be the important part.

Shortly after, Shixuan opened his eyes. He contemplated what he had seen before he looked at Ji Li and told him "I got 'Earth Fortress', it seems to be a defensive capability!"

Ji Li smiled; this was good. Although he himself had some defensive measures, they were weak and only an aura, even the aura was more of a personal buff than anything else. Additionally, there was an underlying meaning he would elaborate after Qianyu also woke up.

He didn't take a second later and smiled as he looked at his elder brother "I have awakened 'Exhilarating Breeze'! I think it's a buff-ability that gives all those that inhale it a brighter and excited mood while their injuries and giving them greater endurance!"

This was another thing that Ji Li liked. In all honesty, none of their Talents were offensively focused. Sure, Ji Li did have offensive abilities, but he was more focused on a crowd-control path, while he could command plants to fight for him.

But that didn't mean that the other Talents didn't also have somewhat of offensive abilities, he didn't want to tell them too much, it was their path to explore. But he still said something "Shixuan, think about how fortresses defend their walls. Qianyu, don't forget that being calm in a battle is one of the essential things. I shall say no more, what you told me already confirms that you are thinking of how to use your Talent, and both of you are right as long as you like it."

Shixuan and Qianyu had were thankful of their brother. They knew that he would never be stingy with advice, but he normally never told them what to do. It was their decision to act and behave like they did, he would only tell them how to do what they want to do properly. Since he gave them advice, they would properly contemplate about it.

They had an initial idea already, but it wasn't enough to call it enlightenment. A proper testing phase was needed, and luckily, they would be going out on a mission in just over a week.

"Alright, I know you want to go back to cultivating, but we have some things to do. Shixuan, go and call the elder brothers and tell them that the fruit has arrived and that you used them… don't forget that such things are to be treated with utmost secrecy. Qianyu, you go and arrange some papers and scrolls about proper manners. You guys have forgotten a bit in Ferrarius City and should read upon the proper ceremonial proceedings."

The last thing was obviously just a reason to keep them both busy. There was no special ceremony etiquette they hadn't learn, and since it wasn't the yearly ceremony where many dozen eunuchs participated, there wasn't really a need to.

Ji Li just wanted them to get a bit off cultivating as long as they were in this excited state. They would read but in actuality think of their Talent the whole day, at least tomorrow they should have calmed down. Cultivating with an excited mind would only be a waste of time, they might as well jump around, but he just cleaned the training yard and didn't want to see them make a huge mess of it when they would have to go to a ceremony just tomorrow.

Yes, he didn't know when the ceremony was, but a minute later, Shixuan told him that it would be exactly the next day. They had given themselves two weeks to finish everything, but if they finished beforehand, then there was no need to waste time in the city.

Pointers would be better given when they could instantly use them in a fight against wild beasts. There was just one last think Ji Li wanted to do, something Qianyu and Shixuan would absolutely abhor. "Monkey, Stone, come here. I reckon there is something we should do."

They came closer and listened as Ji Li took out two stacks of papers "Well, since I told you that we would take tests, here are naturally the tests! I know, I know, I took a long time, but I wanted you guys to be fully recovered and not unfortunately have your wounds hinder you from taking the tests or even answer them wrongly."

The tests were very broad and contained several pages. Shixuan and Qianyu felt like their eyes were falling out of their head, this was… something they wanted to avoid at all costs! They became weak because of the injury and forgot to be wary of their sadistic elder brother…

"It's about all the arts, don't worry, you will be able to do a lot more later if you wish so, no need to look at me with those greedy eyes, start!"

…

The day ended fast… well, slow for Shixuan and Qianyu, but that just meant that they enjoyed it more. The next day, Ji Li woke up early and used his essence in a free form to control a small tree in his room. The tree formed into a small mannequin; some vines put on one of his many identical Eunuch robes.

 He let the tree sprout and grow a bit larger; it was of a smaller variant, so it didn't grow higher than two meters, taller than Ji Li. At it's peak, it froze and gave off a smell and energy unique to his Winter Blossom. One could call it the aroma one catches in a forest when in winter, while also giving off the vibrant smell of leaves unique to spring.

It was a weird combination of a smells that mended in well together, the strong spring smell soft yet consistent, unlike its usual strong smell that was fleeting and flowing away with each breeze.

Ji Li had this idea some time ago. Perfumes and all that normally always smelled like flowers, while his power basically connected him with exactly those smells. If he just let his power give him the smell of it, added with the fact that the smell is naturally essence-induced and stays in plays as long as he wills it to, makes it incredibly practical.

The large variety and quality are of course the main reason why he used this method; it simply smelled better than most cheaper perfumes and barely few of the more expensive can compete with even the basic plants he's using for the smell. If he were to use the exact same plants in those perfumes, his would naturally smell even better.

He also taught this technique to his brothers, so Shixuan would smell like fresh dirt on a morning, wet from the few drops in the night, while Qianyu's ability already had a unique smell, he only willed it to focus on the 'excited' feeling. Together as a trio, they seemed like a garden at the beginning of spring, growing excitedly on the nourishing earth.

Soon they all stepped out, their smell mixing slowly. Although it was 'only' a dual awakening, both felt a strong connection towards Ji Li, supporting his aura and presence. Earth nourished and Wind toughed the trees; although a combination of earth and water would be more supportive towards growing trees, Ji Li focused not on the aspect of growing trees, but strengthening and leading armies.

In his imagination, they'd become a floating island thriving in the clouds. A tree at the centre holding the island together, earthen walls and structures around to defend it, wind that carried it and delivered deathly blows by combining with the ice-shards of the tree and the fortress structures. He knew it was a dream, his dream, which was why he wouldn't mention it to neither of them. That would make them focused on his idea, it would be much better if the idea came to be in the hearts of each of them without anyone calling for it.

Alas, this dream was still quite a streak away from them, but even without that, they combination was already the most effective when it comes to supporting large armies. Ji Li and his brothers weren't adventurers, nor were they fighters, not that they wished he would be.

They were esteemed Eunuch of the Emerald Brilliance Empire, their role standing above many. It would only make sense to literally stand above or behind all those, supporting them with buffs, long-range offense, and defensive measures. It was truly fate that their three Talents each was proficient in one of those, while still spreading into the other two.

'One day… one day we shall be called the saints of the battlefield; with our presents, no fight is lost, no enemy penetrating our defence and no ally giving up in the face of death.'