Yao Ning

The young lady lost interest in Amon once she uttered his second name. To her, it was just a passing, inconsequential thought that crossed her mind. Amon, on the other hand, could not believe his ears. His mother named him Amon, and his ancestral mother named him Enigma.

The young lady softly passed Amon and stopped by his side, without looking at him or face him, she gently bowed. "Thank you for returning my sister to us safely."

"So, the iceberg has a crack." Said Amon teasingly, he was able to detect genuine emotions coming out of the emotionless young lady, intense love for her younger sister, and gratitude for his actions.

Ignoring him, she continued her walk towards her father. Amon turned around, stepped to her side, and whispered in her left ear. "Whatever you did just now, never, ever do it again. I do not understand how you did it, and I doubt you yourself know how you did it. However, it is clear you are gifted, and the world will only think of one thing when they see the gifted, how can they steal their gift for themselves."

Amon stopped whispering and walked ahead of her. "Your stunning beauty already makes you a desirable target, do not voluntarily add more reasons on top of it."

The young miss kept staring at Amon's back. She sensed the young man had given her a piece of genuine advice. He was not trying to score points with her or win her favor. It was a novel experience for her, a male without hidden motives.

Gui stood up when Amon got closer. "Ah! Young hero Amon, I hope you have had a pleasant night in our home. I see you have already met my second daughter, Yao Ning."

Nodding Amon took his seat, while Ning and Ling took the last two free chairs. Ning gazed at her younger sister, who immediately understood her silent command. Standing up, Ling served Amon a cup of tea while hiddenly extending her tongue at Amon.

"You must be hungry. Lunch should be brought to us shortly." Said Gui.

Amon nodded. "Much appreciated, I do feel a bit peckish. Say, Gui, what can you tell me about your city?"

"Hmm? It is a small city populated mostly by a branch of the Yao clan. The rest of the city inhabitants are from all walks of life with no distinct origin. We usually joke that our city is the forgotten eastern corner of our Cai Countdom. Don't get me wrong; being forgotten and ignored is a blessing, in my opinion," said Gui.

"A noble nation? It must be an influential nation then on the continent." Commented Amon.

Gui sighed. "Unfortunately, our nation is the weakest on the continent. Our relevancy starts and ends with our sovereign, Count Cai. The land itself is cultivation resources impoverished, and we don't have other figures on the same level as our Count."

"Cultivation. Lady Ning, would you be kind enough to enlighten me on the different cultivation's terms? Where I'm from, we use the term Sorcerers or Source users instead of cultivation or cultivators." Said Amon.

Ning nodded. "What do you want to know?"

"For a starter, what are the starting ranks titles regarding cultivation, and how are they broken down further?"

"The first of the Nine Mortal Realms is the Elementary Realm; the second is the Nascent Realm, and the third is the True Realm. Each of the Nine Mortal Realms is broken into ten levels, the first level of each rank is called initial, fifth is middle, and the tenth is peak level." Said Ning.

"I see, where I'm from, it starts with Novice, Apprentice then Initiate. Everything else appears to be the same, just different naming scheme as I have thought. Do you know what the difference between a cultivator and a noble one is?" Said Amon.

Ning shook her head in the negative. "It is alright. Nobles are extremely rare. I'm surprised there is even one here in this nation." Said Amon.

"Big brother Amon, you are a cultivator, right? What is your rank?" Said Ling.

Amon smiled. "I'm both at the peak of the Elementary Realm and its beginning. Settle down, I will explain. The first realm is establishing one's Profound Ethereal Veins. Each level is about growing your veins further and filling them with Source gradually. By the tenth level, you should have a complete Profound Ethereal Veins network, spanning your whole body and filled with Source. I have the network completed, but its empty of any Source energy."

Ning watched Amon, puzzled. She recognized he was not lying but had no clue how he pulled it off.

Ling lost her excitement when she remembered she could not cultivate. Her saddened face reminded Amon of Zexian when she was sad.

"I do not mean to pry Gui, but Ling has mentioned she could sense the 'energy between heaven and earth.' By any chance, did you have an expert examine her?" Said Amon.

Gui shrugged. "I'm not a practitioner. I do not understand much of it at all. However, Ning's master did take a look at her."

Amon looked at Ning, silently requesting her master's diagnoses of Ling. Ning placed a hand on Ling's head and gently caressed it. "All of her sixty pores are closed; the profound energy within her crystals has no way of entering her body."

Humans have sixty Profound Ethereal Entrances. When the Ether touches them in their mother's wombs, it also opens a few of the sixty entrances. Usually, as Sorcerers power grows, they will attempt to open more of their sixty Profound Ethereal Entrances to increase their Source absorption speed.

Ling is a rare case where she has no Profound Ethereal Entrances open and no way for her to open any herself. The medical skill required to help her is beyond Amon as he only dabbled in medicine to understand Zexian's condition better.

Ling gazed at Amon. "Big brother, you know a lot of stuff, is there no hope for me?"

Amon shook his head and opened his mouth to speak. A vision assaulted Amon's mind and froze him. He saw a way to open Ling's pores, but it was savage, bloody, and, worst of all, fatal.

"May I serve lunch?" Spoke Chang, stopping Amon's thoughts.

"Let us eat." Said Gui.

Amon nearly lost his appetite. The vision he saw reminded him of the day he decided to save his disciple's life by removing her four limbs. Nonetheless, he did not want to be a poor guest and forced himself to finish his meal.

"Ning, dear, why don't you take our guest on a stroll around the city?" Said Gui after they all finished their lunch, hoping his aloof daughter will gain a decent friend.

Ning respectfully nodded towards her father and stood up. "Can I come with?" Said Ling.

"No, you have some catching up to do with your tutor. If you were a good girl and did not run away yesterday, I would have let you join them. Let this be a lesson for you." Said Gui in a stern tone.

Amon ruffled Ling's hair then followed the tranquil Ning. Once they left the mansion, Ning stopped walking and spoke.

"When Ling's asked you if there is any hope for her, it appeared to me that you have thought of something." Said Ning.

Amon stared back and stayed silent. The staring contest lasted for a while until a hint of disappointment appeared on Ning's face.

"Let us assume I do have a way to help Ling. Why would you trust anything I have to say when your master had no solution? I'm just a brat in the Elementary Realm, remember?" Said Amon.

Ning took a step forward and placed a hand over Amon's chest. She gently pushed Source through Amon's body, inspecting his Profound Ethereal Veins. Amon did not resist and just enjoyed the heavenly scent this young maiden exuded.

Once she was satisfied, she took a step back. "You did not lie about having completed Profound Veins with no Source. Neither my master or I have heard of a case like yours. It makes no sense, yet it is what it is." Said Ning.

Amon peered back at the mansion as if he was penetrating its walls and looking at Ling.

"I will end up killing her in the process. My method is neither medical in nature, nor is it sane. I cannot have her blood on my hands. She is just a kid, with a whole normal human lifespan ahead of her. The Profound Ether Way is not the only way to live. Your father is a prime example of that." Said Amon.

"Have you already forgotten what you have told me earlier? Or was it just a new way to try to impress the girl by feigning care? 'Your stunning beauty already makes you a desirable target.' Tell me what my sister will look like in a few years with no way to defend herself?" Said Ning.

Amon's eyebrows twitched. From Ning's cold tone and emotionless face, her care for her sister appeared to be fabricated, but he knew better than that already.

"Ah! Fairy Ning, what a wonderful coincidence!" Yelled a youth.

Amon turned around to see Yao Bai walking towards them with another youth.

Ning ignored him and immediately walked back towards her home, forgoing the idea of showing Amon around the city.

Amon chuckled at Ning's reaction and looked mockingly at Bai while clapping. "I'm impressed; you are a true master. I have never seen a more effective vagina repellent than you. Teach me your ways. I may have a use for it one day."

Bai's face went green from anger and shame. "You! The one who tricked uncle Gui by pretending to return his daughter to him when you probably kidnaped her yourself."

"Damn, you had me all figured out. How else would I be able to win Gui's favor and find my way to Ning's heart? I just finished enjoying lunch with her, and she was just about to show me around the city before your ugly mug appeared. Can you do me a solid and not ruin my date with her later by staying the fuck away?" Said Amon.

Both Bai and his friend gnashed their teeth, no one in the city dares talk down to either of them from their generation. They sent their Source, inspecting Amon's body. Once they found out he lacked any Source making him just a commoner, they both rushed him.

Standing still, Amon waited until Bai's launched right fist was close enough. Taking half a step to the left, he caught Bai's wrist with his right hand, guiding it to pass him, then using Bai's forward motion against him, bending down low to bury his left elbow in Bai's side.

Bai did not get a chance to process the pain from Amon's elbow before his head was caught from behind and driven face-first towards the hard ground.

Immediately switching target, Amon dodged a Source charged claw heading his way and dashed forward towards the other idiot. A palm strike to his heart stunned Bai's friend, leaving him defenseless and an easy victim for a rotating hook to his chin.

"Thanks, boys, I needed that. Damn, I hate being an indecisive coward. I hope you learned your lesson and now know that fighting skills do play a significant role in the cultivation world."

Amon stepped back to the mansion, opened its door, and found Ning standing behind the door, her back close to the wall. He walked to her, placing his right arm above her on the wall behind her. He forced her to lean on the wall by standing an inch away from her.

Looking down at the shorter girl Amon smiled. "I hatched hugging two different golden creamy thighs. You are about to become my third one, a mini, tiny golden thigh. You will first provide me with all the Chipped crystals I need to fill my ethereal veins to the peak of the Elementary Realm.

Then you will somehow get your hand on a grade four, Flawed Lapis Lazuli. It has to be Flawed or higher. I can't reasonably guarantee Ling's life without it. I will also need a decent Runes' drawing and carving kit; the best one you can find. Unfortunately, mine was destroyed with everything else that I own that contained Source in it. Do we have an agreement, gorgeous Ning?"

Ning locked eyes with Amon, she did not know him, she did not trust him, but she trusted the incredible intuition that never steered her wrong since she first was aware of the world around her. She nodded in agreement, which drew a bigger smile from Amon.