4 Good News

"With that face you're making I'd assume its good news come on out with it then" Vanessa said while smiling

"It's nothing too amazing just your soon can finally become a full fledged cultivator in the truest sense all three aspects Soul, Body, and Essence Gathering now" King said while puffing out his chest pridefully

"But how we did everything we could checked with every apothecary, any and every form of medical practitioner all said the same thing that there was seemingly nothing wrong but you couldn't cultivate" She exclaimed

Well of course they would think that with Mother's status I assume most of the apothecaries and medical practitioners were relatively low level it's quite unlikely any of them were experienced enough in soul cultivation to realize it was an issue with the soul itself especially with how weak I was unless it was someone with a peak 5th stage soul cultivation or higher depending on their prowess it'd look like I had a weak soul instead of a torn soul, I didn't realize it myself until I tried to merge our souls together. He inwardly thought

"Well Mother you know I've taken to studying herbs and alchemy aside from my bodily cultivation I hopes of some day fixing my condition after all no one would no my own body better than myself barring some extreme cultivation expert of course, and I found a Rank 4 Soul Nourishing Herb" He said

"Wait you didn't consume it raw did you that would've been incredibly dangerous and foolish in your condition" She exclaimed

"Of course not Mother I'm not desperate enough to do something so foolish what good is the ability to cultivate if I'm not even alive haha" He said whilst laughing

"Then how do you explain your condition then if it was so simple why hadn't we nor any other of the experts realized and how did you get better without ingesting the herb?" She questioned

"Well experts is a strong word Mother if we're speaking on strictly a theoretical level I'd say me and those "experts" you invited are about on the same level and like I said no one knows my body better than me" He said with a smug grin

"You still seem to keep eloquently avoiding my inquiry on the how young man, as happy as I am about you being better I want to know how it happened you've been going to Dierose Forest for the last 5 years in the outskirts and all of a sudden you find a cure today, also no way a rank 4 herb would've gone unnoticed that long in the…. You did you go to the Inner Region" She admonished

"Ah sorry you caught me I didn't want to mention it because I knew how you'd react but don't worry I just did breathing exercises near the herb while looking out for any magical beasts, you know how good my senses are Mom" He said whilst scratching his head

"King that's no excuse and you know it no matter how good your senses are that was incredibly dangerous even Rank 4 tri cultivators have to tread carefully in the Inner Region of Dierose Forest" She said with furrowed eyebrows

"I know Mom I promise I won't do something that dangerous again at least not without proper preparation beforehand I know you always say nothing is worth your life including resources but.."

"No buts mister if you knew that's what you needed your Father and I could've simply gotten it for you or helped you get it" She interrupted

"That's the main reason I didn't tell you Mom I knew how you'd react plus I wanted to do it myself what better way to start my cultivation journey than with my own two hands" He said gleaming

"Alright but as least promise not to be so reckless in the future I can understand where you are coming from but I really mean it with you should value your life more you only get one of them after all and your Father and I would be devastated if something happened to you" She said while hugging him

Quite ironic that was the wording she chose there considering this is effectively my second life haha, also this is quite weird getting used to I had Mother Olivia in my past life but I suppose this motherly affection is something I can get used to at least she treated me the same before and after finding out I can cultivate. He inwardly thought

"Well why don't we go in and share the good news with your Father I'm sure he will be incredibly elated about your condition as well" She said whilst pulling him along towards the house

"Mom can't we tell him later I want to go to the library right now before all I was reading about was herbs and alchemy all day now I can read up on cultivation techniques and martial arts instead" He said while gleaming

"Okay but you have to promise to finish up in time for dinner and be there to tell your Father the good news with me" She said

"I Promise" He replied while running inside.

This was his first time really paying attention to the house aside from what he had seen in his memories and it was quite large not too surprising considering that he came from a family of self made merchants.

After being exiled from his Mother's clan his father chose to move back to what King assumes to be the Western Continent based on the proximity to Dierose Forest although the forest itself is large enough to be it's own individual region it's not large enough to span across several continents.

That's also a primary reason he wants to visit the library although he has a solid grasp on the general geography of Asteria King spent most of his time in the Central Continent and quite a few things changed in the latter years of cultivation due either to wars or battles between peak ranked cultivators.

So the first thing he did after entering the library is finding a book that had information regarding Asteria, although he only needed it for a current representative of its geography in the future he can return to it to get a refresher on Asteria's history it was less prevalent in the past since he only had himself and getting stronger to focus on and dying from lack of information had less consequence.

Now not only was death final barring the ever elusive concept of reincarnation he needed to move in a way that not only was he not affected but neither was his family.

Asteria consists of a Western, Eastern, Southern, and Northern continent although for those in the know there was a 5th location the Central continent the reason it was lesser know was the fact that it was a floating continent.

King found it rather impressive that this was documented in this book then realized it's likely because his Mother originally is from the Phoenix Clan although she may be exiled it explains why she had access to knowledge most did not.

Unfortunately nothing is crueler than having access to information and resources you can't use, however this would not be the first nor last time something along these lines transpired King surmised.

King was quite thrilled when he noticed his inclination of where Dierose Forest was indeed correct in the Western Continent not the best nor the worst starting point, isolated enough he could rise relatively unnoticed and with enough resources to do so at an efficient pace however not quite as quick as he would like.

One thing he did notice were the distribution of land between the continents were a lot more balance than he recalled, likely due to surrounding continents being relatively evenly matched when it came to martial might something that one strong force or extremely talented youth could change.

Which led King to his next worry would it be better to create his own organization and followers or to either be a rogue cultivator and just accumulate as much resources from others without being tied down to any specific entities as a whole.

Better yet why not a culmination of the two it'll be better for me to hide my talents for the next couple of years until I'm powerful enough to not be taken advantage of or heavily questioned for what I can do. He inwardly thought

Now is a good time as ever to see what I can use immediately once I establish my meridians and begin refining and tempering them it'll be the optimum time to incorporate any martial arts techniques that are either exclusive to hybrids or at the very least able to be altered from human based techniques.

King knew at the very least he would still be using his Soul Devourer cultivation technique, it had stuck with him the large majority of his cultivation journey when he was playing Asteria but now he could utilize it in the truest sense, also with his experience and soul expertise he could likely do away with some of the drawbacks he'd experience from abusing it.

Soul Devourer:

An ability viewed as a trademark of demonic cultivators in which you would absorb the soul in it's entirety and then refine the souls of cultivators and magical beasts to increase your own soul cultivation, the drawbacks however were if you did this too often you would have a tainted soul which could create a heart demon and/or have your soul and mind corrupted if the negative emotions from every soul you absorbed began to became powerful enough or high enough in quantity to influence your soul.

The reason it was heavily frowned upon was it's believed that anyone that had this happen to them would be unable to enter the reincarnation cycle, however most were unsure if that was the case, but just the thought of it along made anyone caught utilizing the technique or one similar put at the top of the hunting list for Righteous Faction leaning cultivators.

I'm going to have to be very careful on who I use this on and around it's better for there to be no traces left of any I run into in the future, although considering the potential consequences and this no longer being a "game world" if it ever was I should choose even more carefully who to utilize it on not worth siphoning someone's soul to save face unless there was no other way out I'm not one to waste resources after all. King inwardly thought

"Young Master King Mrs. Bailrich wishes for you to come join her and your father for dinner" Andrew the Butler said whilst walking into the library and beckoning King to come along with him

"I'm not quite finished with everything I planned to take care of.."

"The Mrs. stated you would likely say that and told me to say it would be in your best interest if you postponed that for another time and urges you to make time for dinner promptly" He interrupted

"Okay I'll come along with you I know how Mother can get and she isn't wrong I can hold this off for the time being I have 5 years after all" King said

"What happens in 5 years Young Master?" He asked.

"It's a secret you'll find out in 5 years like everyone I promise" King said while grinning smugly.

So King followed Andrew through the hallways to the family dinner room which proved to be quite the walk once again reminding him of how large the house was along the way he started to overhear a conversation between a man and a woman having no doubt in his mind who those two individuals were.

"What's this news that you swore up and down that I'd be dying to hear, if the news is so great why would I want to lose my life before hearing it you use the oddest expressions sometimes" Dante said

"I obviously just meant you would really really want to hear it you almost take everything literally, and no matter how much you ask I'll let the bearer of the news deliver it himself.. oh speak of the devil he's just getting here" Vanessa said.

"I guess I'm the devil in this situation Mom and Dad I've arrived on time for dinner as per your request" King said while smiling