Journey to the North Gate part 1

Sat behind his wooden desk Kang sipped milk from his cup.

"I could see your unique potential from that one exchange wtih Song Zemin but it seems even I have under estimated you Hartley," for the first time Kang addressed Hartley by his name, it was a subtle declaration of respect.

How could Kang not know about Goldie's resentment towards Hartley and his followers, he had set up a sparring match on a whim, hoping that Hartley would give a good account of himself and at the same time teach his snobby disciple a lesson on not judging an opponent just based on their perceived realm.

Kang hadn't expected for Goldie to be humbled within one exchange. It was truly shocking.

Kang sighed, staring out through the window.

Goldie's wounds weren't life threatening, his scrapes would heal with time, but the wounds to his pride were a much more serious matter.

"Sometimes long life isn't always a blessing," Kang said as he looked back at Hartley sat in a wooden chair across from him.

The room was bathed in bright sunshine and the sweltering heat crept in through the large windows making the temperatures unusually high for a day in spring.

"You remind me of my elder brother you know, he too was a genius at a young age," Kang exhaled and a deep sadness could be seen on his face.

His usual playful demeanor no longer existed. For the first Hartley saw a glimpse of the real Kang.

The man who Hartley had put on a pedestal since meeting him had disappeared, in his place was a white haired man with wrinkles sculpted along his features, a man who looked old and weary.

A feeling of sadness radiated from his very aura, Hartley guessed that Kang's child-like behavior was a coping mechanism for his sadness.

Seeing a promising young genius was nothing new to Kang, he had seen his share of geniuses rise and fall, he'd seen his own brother fall, a person he had loved and looked up to, a person who had meant more to him than a thousand years in the saint realm. Now Kang looked at Hartley who reminded him of his brother and that opened the emotional old wounds he'd thought were gone.

He sighed, "one can lose their humanity in viciousness but one can't survive without it, it's a necessary evil in the world of cultivation. You've proven you've got the stomach for it with such a ruthless display...but even so, I fear your journey ahead will be an arduous one, the enemies you've inherited will strike in the open and from the dark shadows without remorse.

There are still things you need to learn before tackling the dangers ahead. I'm a saint of the Aldora continent and have long since passed the stage of meddling in the affairs and squabbles of this world, anything you achieve will be with your own hard work."

Hartley nodded his head in agreement, a weight was lifted off his shoulders, he'd half expected to be reprimanded but was instead complimented for his viciousness.

He spent the next few weeks learning from Kang, training and getting prepared for the next leg of his journey. He didn't once see Goldie on the remainder of his stay at the Kang estate, but every guard he encountered behaved very politely and usually hailed him with a formal bow.

***

There was a gentle wind in the tranquil mini forest, Hartley stood with a face full of concentration, his figure engulfed in the criss-crossed shadows projected by the many trees.

Taking a deep breath he threw out his knife with gravity repel, watching as it sped away.

His eyes shone blue, then he applied gravity attract to the flying knife, the two forces countered each other and for a split second the knife stood still in mid air, then suddenly the suction force of gravity attract made the knife fly back towards Hartley at the speed of light, his eyes bulged, there was no way he was going to attempt to catch it, he dodged neatly to the left and it stuck quivering into a tree behind him.

Hartley was experimenting with a set of 6 leaf-blade throwing knives he got from Kang, the black knives had flat broad blades sharpened on both sides with no hilts, it was like a piece of metal shaped like a knife.

These were rank 2 spirit weapons with exquisite balance, and thanks to Kang, Hartley could now appraise the level of a weapon properly.

Next, he activated his advanced state of focus. Since entering the 7th layer of the xanthian realm his advanced state of focus had improved, time was running ten times slower than usual in this state.

Hartley had used this, coupled with his advanced minute movement technique in his battle with Goldie, dodging Goldie's wild charge with consummate ease.

Hartley threw the blade out again, and this time with experience it was easier to control.

It spun and zipped through the air and as he got more adept at utilizing gravity repel and gravity attract in tandem, his control over the weapon got better and better.

After a couple hours of experiments and adjustments, he threw it out again, the weapon hovered at shoulder level, blade pointed forward, stably sitting one meter in front fo him.

He was applying gravity repel and gravity attract in equal measure.

Then suddenly the knife flew out like a bullet as he disengaged gravity attract, it whistled, arced and curved around the maze of trees under Hartley's control, leaving flashes of black light in its wake, slicing down a few tree limbs before returning and hovering a meter in front of Hartley.

Hartley was ecstatic with his progress, this would address his glaring lack of long range capabilities for the time being.

***

As the days progressed, Zhi ruo was getting ever closer to the boundaries of a 1st layer xanthian, her skills in combat was now to the point where she was now capably sparring with Hartley, of course he was taking easy but her skills were unmistakable.

On this day Hartley took refuge in the shade of a tall tree, sat crossed legged he began to cultivate, digesting the results of his throwing knife training for the past days.

Long shadows layed across the scene, it was now approaching the evening hours, suddenly in the cool of the trees Hartley picked up an explosion of wind elemental energy in the distance.

His eyes quickly flicked open, spreading out his awareness that could stretch 2 kilometers now, slowly a big smile appeared on his face.

Qin Li had broken through, it was time to begin the final thrust of their journey.

***

The wind screamed between buildings, wailing through the streets like a tortured soul, its whistles swayed the distant vegetation back and forth, stirring up with dusty blusters, then it would calm down to a whimper for a while, before stirring up again in a whizzing temper.

It was approaching the summer months but today the sun hid behind grey fluffy clouds, the wind had free reign to lash out at all in its path on this overcast and grey day.

Two and three-story stone buildings rose on either side as a matte black armored carriage was making its way north on the cobbled road, faces could be seen peering through windows watching the unusual carriage which was pulled along by four dark colored wild beast that resembled small elephants.

The smell of baking bread wafted through the air on the wind, Hartley and the others were still in the Cassia province, headed towards the north gate on board the armored carriage which was gifted to them by Kang. There they would exit and head for the Papine province, the final stop before they headed for the capital.

As soon as they had left the estate of Kang, Hartley could tell that they were being followed by a group of experts, the experts had followed patiently and showed no signs of making a move.

Hartley informed everyone of the possible ambush and kept heading north until it was dark, they managed to find and check into a rundown inn for the night. Hoping those trailing wouldn't make a move before sunrise.

***

The cobbled streets echoed with the footsteps of a squad of assassins, headed to exactly where Hartley and company were, they had been given orders to exterminate the target with extreme prejudice, each member of the eight man team was at least a 5th layer xanthian, they weaved their way skillfully through the narrow streets and approached under a blanket of darkness.

The assassins came into the square entering the front of the dilapidated two story inn, dressed in fully black attire with masked faces, they carefully and noiselessly made their way onto the ground floor, they'd heard the youth should not be under-estimated.

The wide-eyed inn-keeper made no attempt to stop the men, he tried to back away and exit but was rewarded with a dagger through the heart for his troubles, left on the ground as dead as a door nail and in a pool of blood.

A masked man checked the register for the last guest to arrived and then gave a signal.

The rickety stairs groaned under the weight as footsteps from multiple people thundered down, multiple assassins made thier way quickly to the second floor, ready to engage and eliminate the target.

Navigating the stairs of this old inn had thrown all pretense of stealth out the window, it would be a miracle if they could still catch the target by surprise, but it didn't matter now, they had a significant numbers advantage.

Hartley merged into the shadows at the side of the room, he had long been prepared and was near the door. He looked over towards Zhi Ruo unhurried and calm, which in turn relaxed her, she fell back to the rear of the room in the darkness.

Suddenly something crashed against the door of the room, loosing dust and shaking the floor as the door splintered to pieces, sending a spray of wood chips into the room.

A rectangular block of candle light invaded the room from across the hall where there was a half burned candle still mounted in the candle holder.

The silhouette of two black-robed men filled the doorway amidst the rising dust. One strode in towards Zhi Ruo, he could obviously detect her elemental fluctuation, sword out, and held pointing forward in his right hand, he marched in with menace, not noticing the shadow hidden at the side.

There were two blue flashes and the man wasn't there anymore. A boom sounded and the inn rattled like an out of control carriage. There was a huge puff of dust, bits and pieces were falling from the ceiling and there was even fragments of a dark robe swirling around through the air, falling slowly to the ground like butterflies.

The remaining dark figure stood at the now door-less entry to the room saw a large hole in the wall to the adjoining room, a naked couple was covered in blood as they shrieked in terror and ran for the exit, decorating the wall beside their abandoned bed was now a messy splotch of blood surrounding another large hole with a blood-stained skeleton sprawled on the floor of the room nextdoor.

The remaining assassin's brain couldn't fully register what his eyes were seeing, he raised his heavy crossbow and fired into the dusty room, discarded it and immediately a white sword was in his hand. Clang! There was a flash of white sparks which illuminated a female form for a split second, then she was swallowed up by the shadows again.

The man looked around in panic, the female wasn't the primary target and wasn't the overwhelming threat that the youth was, a green aura surrounded his body and he wildly thrashed his sword through the darkness unable to detect any other fluctuation in the room except for the female.

There was a rumble and the floor shook and vibrated, dust and debris came pouring down from the ceiling, there was a blue blur and another colossal crashing sound, thick suffocating dust jumped from the floor and swirled through the yellow candle light. The man disappeared back through the door which he had entered and was now nothing but a blood stain on the cracked stone wall of the hallway, the candle light flickered this way and that before extinguishing, flooding the hallway with darkness. "Stay close, lets go," Hartley said to Zhi Ruo in a serious tone.

Qin Li was already headed in the direction to the six remaining assassins.