25 “What Took You So Long!?”

Oji was pacing angrily around the camp he and Momo were sharing with the female Grand Elder, Keomi. Which in and of it self would have normally been considered a good thing. While the age difference was extremely noticeable, but women were very beautiful. Momo was still developing at a rapid pace, akin to a girl in a woman's body. Keomi was a mature beauty who had been treated well by the years.

But Keomi was one of those women who basically seemed determined to never know a man. Because all men were the enemy, disgusting and filthy creatures who only thought of strength and devouring weak women. And she was especially determined to ensure that Oji. "Won't be able to make use of your Cultivation and the remote location to do anything unseemly to our Princess."

That was the first sign of trouble, but Oji figured it would be fine. He wasn't a beast like that in the first place, even if he did have a tremendous appreciation for the fairer sex and their appeal. Of course, Oji didn't realize just how crazy Keomi was at that time.

He and Momo both had a penchant for choosing to Cultivate beside water. It was awkward at first, but after she opened up it got better. Oji found her emotional swings amusing and enjoyed good naturedly teasing her. He even gave her a few tips that helped her breakthrough her War Essence self.

This lasted a couple day, up until Oji made the mistake of Cultivating beside the the pool that Grand Elder Keomi was bathing in. Momo soon joined him, Cultivating on the other side of the pool. They had not been aware of Keomi's presence, as she had dove under the moment she sensed them and held her breath under water for a half hour before the lack of air got to her.

Since they were still there when she came up to breathe, only exposing her head, Keomi judged Oji guilty of trying to spy on her naked. Which resulted in a miserable beating for Oji at the hands of an overwhelming Advanced Pinnacle Origination expert.

Oji could handle gaps that would typically be deemed impossible as if they were 50/50 odds or even as though odds favored him. An example was Elder Noaki, who'd had 3 Stages on him. But he was more than two entire Tiers below Grand Elder Keomi. Meaning her advantages in speed, strength, toughness, comprehension and such were enough to render him completely defenseless.

It didn't last too long at least, and he was able to recover afterwards with the Invigorating Breath Technique. But now he had been labeled a pervert, and completely innocent actions and looks were treated as molesting and harassment! Which meant another beating!

All of which was unjust, humiliating, infuriating and extremely painful. But it would have been tolerable as a tempering exercise if not for the way Momo got a huge kick out of it all. She took to teasing him back in ways that bordered on flirting to get him to 'harass' her and giggled as he was beat.

Then would come over over afterwards and compliment his resolve. Oji wouldn't cry in pain at any point, or try to defend himself verbally. He stoically steeled himself against it and helplessly tried to fight back. Only to fail. Over and over and over again.

By the time a week had passed it had reached the point that Oji was beaten for being a pervert if he looked in Momo's direction with a smile. Being lectured on the Evil of his thoughts and perversion of his ways with every blow. Oji was starting to find himself regretting his insistence on staying with Momo until Cifer arrived. It was nice if they could explain the truth of Momo's exile to him, but surely Momo wouldn't betray him.

And every time he reasoned like that, Oji recalled his brother Sivla's betrayal. Then grit his teeth and renewed his determination to stay until Cifer arrived if it killed him.

So his joy when he saw Cifer could easily be understood. As soon as Oji caught sight of Cifer he leapt up and ran towards him. "What took you so long!?" He demanded as he approached.

The ice cold glare and gleam of the scythe's blade warned him just in time. He'd momentarily forgotten that Cifer still wouldn't be happy to see him at all. Still, the boy swung with impressive speed and force for his Initial Broken Origination. Oji reacted swiftly and caught the blade between his forefinger and thumb. "Certainly wasn't because you waited to leave until your Cultivation improved." Oji grumbles softly.

There were rings of exhaustion under the boy's eyes, and deep disgust in them. He kicked at Oji who tugged the scythe lightly to mess up his balance. It was enough to make him miss by a mile. Especially when his balance was already off. Oji could see multiple scratches on Cifer's body, and knew there were beasts in the woods. He'd clearly run into multiple of them.

"I just woke three days ago thanks to whatever you did to me." The boy growls, letting go of the weapon to attack empty handed. It was about a four days journey from here to the Aoi Kani Clan, but that assumed only traveling a fairly normal 10 hours per day. Oji was impressed he made it in just 3 while dealing with beasts along the way. Who knows what he'd have thought if he knew the first day had been mostly spent reading before leaving with minimal preparation?

Oji frowns in thought as he dodges. He chooses not to comment on Cifer's speed or the beasts, focusing on the long time that the boy had been asleep after using his Bloodline. "I guess that kinda does make sense. The Bloodline you activated was able to give you a bump in Cultivation of four Stages and seemed to carry other effects. Makes the next best I've ever seen look like a kitten by comparison."

For some reason that stopped the kid. "I have a Bloodline? Stronger than any in the Crimson Sect?" He sounded oddly hopeful and disturbed, the conflicted reaction making Oji wary. It was almost as if Cifer already expected that if he had one it would be on a completely different level. But what really made Oji feel strange about it was that Cifer seemed to think it might have been a bad thing to have.

"Yeah kid. If I limit myself to the Crimson Sect it's already considered a top tier Bloodline if it bumps you a single Stage of Cultivation and nothing else. Compared to you they are all merely frogs in a well." Oji laughs. He'd been comparing Cifer's Bloodline to Emor's Imperial Bloodline and found that if Cifer's was a Winged Tiger, the Imperial Bloodline was a newborn house cat. Let alone the pitiful Bloodlines that the Crimson Sect treasured for lack of anything highly impressive.

Oji than reminded himself he had to stop using Emor as a benchmark for normal people. Momo was as unique as Cifer, but using the traditional measures of Emor would make her almost as much a joke as himself.

Cifer nods, then his eyes narrow. "Why haven't you killed me yet? I attacked you with intent to kill!" He sounded suspicious, but his guard was lowering and he no longer was looking for a fight. Oji felt like smacking him. If Cifer had used his head before starting this he'd have already known that Oji could crush him with the same ease as flipping his palms. And if the fabrication was true than he certainly would have a long time ago.

"Come with me kid. It's best if you hear that from the crazy woman who came up with the most insane idea I've ever heard of. Even if it was to fix the most ridiculous situation I've ever seen." Oji replies, turning his back to show Cifer the way. He hoped he'd made the right bet in putting his neck on the line to support Cifer. After all, the Crimson Sect would want answers about why he'd paused for 10 days and saw fit to smear mud all over their name in Zhou. Which reminded him for the millionth time to come up with good, misleading answers.