Chapter-4 A cripple

Ryan quickly returned to the training area where he usually trains with his grandfather. His grandfather, Amon Dèvel, was the most mysterious figure in the family. Nobody knew how he lost his eyes or what realm of power he has reached. Ryan just knew that he is one of the most powerful person in the kingdom, on par with the elders of the royal family and other 4 noble families.

Once he reached there, he saw his grandfather's lanky figure was sitting lazily on the ground smoking pipe with his back facing Ryan. His walking cane was nowhere near him and he still wasn't aware if anybody had arrived. Ryan saw this as an opportunity and quietly climbed the top of a tree nearby. He knew that if he approached him from the ground, his senses will detect him. Although his grandfather was blind, his other senses were really powerful. He could sense even an ant crawling around him.

'Today I will definitely be successful in sneak attacking grandpa. I will throw myself at him from the air, he won't even sense me coming as there won't be any noise' Ryan quietly readied himself as he bent his knees to propel himself. 'Here I gooo'

Ryan jumped with an astonishing speed at his grandfather. It was difficult to understand how such a frail boy of 9 could have such leg strength. There was no sound, even the wind around him didn't get unsettled. It was as if the wind was helping him which made him all the more delighted, 'Hehe.. This time I will definitely get a hit in'. Just when Ryan was an arm's distance from his grandfather, his grandfather's figure flashed and it disappeared. In another moment, his grandfather appeared behind him all the while Ryan was still in the air. A cane came out of his sleeve and smacked it right on Ryan's flying butt, propelling him face down in the ground. He did all this while holding a pipe in his other hand. Like a hedgehog, Ryan removed his half buried face from the ground and looked towards his grandfather's towering figure. Although Ryan's grandfather looked thin, but he was almost 6 and a half feet tall and all his chiseled muscles were visible from half opened kimono like robe.

"Boy, you skip a day of training and then have the gall to think that you are strong enough to sneak attack me." His grandfather snorted. Although inwardly, he was a little shocked because Ryan's speed had abruptly increased a lot more than before.

Ryan looked at his grandfather's evil smile and grunted in displeasure. But then he registered the words spoken and was shocked. 'what?! A day has gone by while I was in that pocket of space. Looks like grandpa will peel my skin off today. Should I tell him the real reason why I skipped? Maybe I won't be punished.' However, Ryan still thought that it was better to shrug it off than tell what happened to his grandfather. So Ryan decided to not let that subject arise.

"Grandpa you definitely used your cultivation power to detect me, otherwise, how could I have failed. There was utterly no noise made this time" Ryan retorted.

"You think too highly of yourself boy. You are still too green for me to use my cultivation", Amon smacked Ryan's butt again with the cane. A giggling sound came out of nowhere. Ryan looked up while wincing in pain and glared at his twin sister Zahia who was peeking from behind a tree. Zahia caught her brother's stare and stopped laughing.

"I have told you many times that an attacker always needs to pay attention to their breathing. My senses could detect your breathing since you started climbing the tree. It was like listening to a dog humping. How could I not sense you then? Do you ever learn anything?" Amon sighed and then continued "Since it's your spirit awakening ceremony tonight, I won't give you a beating for skipping training yesterday." Amon then accurately turned to Zahia, who was behind the tree.

"Zahia, my beloved granddaughter! You should also come here, I am explaining something important. If you understand it well, then grandpa will give you the 100 year old flood berries." Amon called out Zahia in a gentle tone as if he was afraid that his voice would startle her. Zahia had beautiful green eyes and the same black hair as Ryan. Zahia's petite and slender figure walked out from behind the tree. All this while Ryan was ogling at her body brazenly, completely forgetting about the scolding. Zahia who saw Ryan's stare immediately lowered her head while blushing and meekly sat down with Ryan. Amon's pampering tone vanished when he talked to Ryan, "Boy, you too, listen carefully, I won't repeat again".

Ryan thought, 'That blind oldey has become a pervert again'. Then he realised the hypocrisy and shook his head.

"Now that you both will have a spirit to cultivate I should explain all the cultivation levels to you. Firstly, there are two possible approach to cultivation in this world: Qi Cultivation and Physique Cultivation. I'll start with Qi cultivation. The profound energy of heaven and earth that exists everywhere around us is called Qi. Cultivator utilise their spirit to absorb the Qi around them. Thus spirit plays an important role on how far along a cultivator can reach in his journey. The cultivation levels of the path of Qi are:

Energy Origination Realm

Spirit Transformation Realm

Yin-Yang Enlightenment Realm

Core Creation Realm

Saint Realm

All these realms have 9 levels which one has to ascend to breakthrough into the next realm."

"Grandpa what cultivation level do you have?" Ryan interrupted since he wanted to know how strong he would have to be in order to defeat his grandfather.

Amon scowled, "What are you so hasty about? You think that you could easily reach the realm I am at? Boy, I wanted to tell you this after your spirit awakening ceremony but since you are being so haughty I'll tell you now. The reason I started training you so early is not because I was being cruel. It was because I was worried about you since your body couldn't absorb Qi in the surroundings."

"Wha---What do you mean by that?"