30 Hi...?

This statement caused a commotion to the elves present.

"Incredulous, Arith are you shameless. You are just after his talent. By offering your daughter you will have more talented offspring." Similar outcries and sentences were said by the elves present.

"Humph. You are just all jealous I was the first one to offer my daughter to him. You all are also jumping to get more talented offspring." Arith Vonalu righteously said.

Meanwhile Benjamin was again unable to react to anything that was going on. He was stunned. One of the clan leaders of the great families was willing to betroth one of his daughters to me, only because I am talented?

Ben got a little angry. Are these people seeing their daughters as tools? Just offering them up, just like that? Don't these people know of freedom? But then Ben remembered he was in a whole different world.

Where he is the only one currently of his race. He is surrounded by elves and their culture. In a world where cultivation is a thing. He himself already cultivated his body and energy. He can't escape reality anymore. This is reality right now.

"Ahem!" Ben tried to get the attention. Everyone became quiet and focused on Ben. "Your offer to just give your daughter to a stranger is very tempting sir Vonalu. But I'll have to refuse."

Arith frowned. Just as he was about to say something, King Orion spoke. "Well said Benjamin. No one will be marrying Ben. He is under my protection and will be guided by the ones I choose!" The King declared.

Everyone settled down. The king again spoke. "In a few days the academy will start up again. And I have decided that Ben will attend the academy, but he will receive special care. He will be treated like a royal elf that has a late awakening.

This means he will attend the academy but will not be put in a class. He will learn what I decide for him and appoint the teachers for him."

With this last statement the king concluded the meeting and dismissed everyone.

A voice transmission floated into Ben's ears. "You stay, I have more to say to you." Ben just stood in his place.

"Do you now know how much your worth and have you learned from this?" The king asked Ben. "Thank you for showing me and opening my eyes." Ben said respectful.

"I didn't want to tell you this while everyone was here because I don't know what you would do if you knew." King Orion said. Ben raised his eyebrow in curiosity.

"For the problem of being disconnected from the heavens. There is a solution in theory. But this solution is kind of a temporary replacement, probably." King Orion looked at Ben to see if he knew the gravity of his words.

Ben's eyes widen. His will to become stronger was already very strong. When there is a solution to his problem of course he wanted to use this solution as fast as possible.

"In the cultivation world marriage is a heavy subject. When we talk about marriage we talk about an eternal bond. On the wedding night when the male and female make love with each other, this is what we call dual cultivating, they will both merge their souls. When this happens, they are considered two halves of the same being.

And when one isn't connected to the heavens but the other is. The one who isn't connected will use the other who is connected to the heavens as a proxy to connect to the heavens. This connection isn't as powerful as the real connection to the heavens but can be used as a temporary replacement.

Do you see where I'm going with this?" The king explained.

Ben slowly nods. "I understand. The soul is where all your laws and comprehension come from. So, the soul path is the strongest connection to the heavens. When the two parties dual cultivate the one who is disconnected merges his soul with the other. That means the one who is connected has a small percentage of his or her soul replaced with the other party.

That means for example his soul is 95% original while the other 5% is from his partner. The connection of the heavens targets the soul the most. The 5% of the soul that is from the partner is then also connected to the heavens but is from the partner. That means the partner who is disconnected has a small connection to the heavens and can cultivate his energy and soul path only at a much slower pace. But this is only in theory because it has never happened before."

The king nods. "Exactly. That is why I wanted to know your thought on marriage, I knew when the families knew of your talent, they wanted to offer marriage agreements to you. If you had accepted just like that I would not have supported you throughout your cultivation journey."

Ben got confused. "Why not? It is a chance to get stronger quicker."

"I cannot tell you the answer to that. You will eventually find out.

But enough of this. I have informed Miranda to make more clothes for you. Your sword is also almost done. It will most likely be done tomorrow. Now you go and prepare to go to the academy." The king smiles and sends him away. Ben retired to his room.

The next day Ben woke up to a peculiar predicament. When he opened his eyes, he stared straight into two royal blue orbs that stared back.

"Hi…?" Ben asked confused. "Hi! Good morning." Luna said back. "What are you doing here?" Ben asked. He was extremely confused at what she was doing here. "I'm here to wake you up and take you with me to the front of the palace where we will be taken to the academy." Luna said

Then she squealed excitedly. "Ah! I can finally go to the academy to learn and cultivate!" Ben was a bit confused by this statement. "Huh? Haven't you been cultivating since young?"

"No, my entities didn't awaken when they supposed to. I'm the daughter of the king so dad pulled some strings and got grandfather to teach me sword fighting since I was 10 years old. I was given a spirit sword on my 18th birthday." Luna took out her spirit sword of nature. A sleek sword only able to cut on one side, the other was blunt, to manifest next to her.