Chapter 42: Chapter 40 Exam Preparations

‘Man, for a moment there I thought I was getting divorced.’ Raul looked at his old house in the Vault Compound with mixed feelings while remembering the conversation he had an hour ago.

He’d really lost track of the days… they were leaving the valley in just four days.

‘Tai, Ellen and I used to make jokes about the idiots who’d sign up in the Refining Realm, now I’m gonna be one of them.’ He sighed helplessly before walking into the small house.

He looked around his familiar haunts, but his face remained expressionless. He didn’t feel anything here, he simply wanted to leave again.  

He recalled when he first moved in. Old George was always absent from the compound and Tai’s training had just gotten serious. It was just him alone in that huge house, with the judging eyes of the servants.

He thought out here it’d be better, but he never imagined he’d come to miss even those scornful gazes.

Nine years, he’d lived here for nine years, yet he’d never considered this place home. He felt more emotions leaving the training cottage he’d spent the last six months in.

“Sigh, what do I do now?” He wondered despondently. He’d spent the last few months with his schedule completely packed, now he had no idea what to do with himself.

Even before he met Marina, he spent most of his time in this house training and trying to absorb qi.

‘I wonder what she’s doing right now.’ He wondered curiously. When he left she only told him she’d be busy over the next few days.

‘It’s probably some exam preparation stuff.’ He sighed again before descending into despondence again.

He shook his head bitterly; he really couldn’t stay here. ‘I guess I’ll head to the library.’ He decided. These past months forced him to admit that he really was ‘uneducated.’

Marina could only have so many books on her, he would definitely find a much vaster array of knowledge at the family’s library, he might also find some books that could help him with his sealing techniques.

Despite pouring over the book all month and having live demonstrations when the Vault Guards used them in sparing, he felt no closer to understanding sealing than when he started.

Ellen told him sealing has a high entry point and to not expect quick results, but he couldn’t be patient. He’d already lost ten years, a burning desire to catch up spurred him forward.

He turned his back on the small house without hesitation and headed to the library.

…

“This is perfect Ellen, I couldn’t have done better if I picked them out myself.” Marina said after inspecting the various profession tools in the workroom. With these she wouldn’t have any problem preparing for the enrollment exam.

“No problem. You should actually thank Tai though, he arranged it all. That said, are these really the tools you need?” Ellen couldn’t help commenting as she looked around the small workroom for the first time as well.

“It’s fine, I know how to use them.” Marina ensured, causing a chill to roll down Ellen’s back.

The tools here were for the Smith and Weaver professions. There were also some tools for amulet making, which was an offshoot of the Talisman profession.

This was already three professions. Even if Marina was originally a Spirit Ascension Cultivator, it was still an impressive feat for her age. But just that wouldn’t be enough to surprise Ellen.

The issue was that it wasn’t the only three. Alchemist, Formation Master, Immortal Cook, and Physician, they already confirmed that she knew these four professions as well, and her proficiency wasn’t low.

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If she had the same level of proficiency in these three as she’d shown in her previous ones, then it wasn’t just on the level of genius anymore.

“How many professions do you know?” Ellen couldn’t help asking curiously.

“Not many. I only really specialize in cooking, physician, alchemy and weaving, the rest is just dabbling.” Marina said while still looking through the equipment.

“You make that sound like a small amount.” Ellen’s lips twitched. Most Spirit Ascension Cultivators only knew one profession well, the exception being households like the Vault’s that major in a profession like Sealing Master.

“Aren’t you in the same boat though?” Marina tilted her head. “Beast Master is a pretty advanced profession. You probably could’ve learned another three or four if you picked something simpler. Plus, you’re a Sealing Master as well.”

“Ugh, my sealing’s actually not that great… and Beast Master isn’t as hard as they make it sound, I’ve never really found it difficult.” Ellen scratched her head awkwardly.

“You don’t give yourself enough credit.” Marina shook her head. “It’s easy for you because of your talent. How is the Shadow Silhouette Cultivation Method working for you? I hope there’s no issues with it.” Marina suddenly changed the subject.

“Huh? Oh, yes. I’m still adjusting to the switch, but a lot of moves are already smoother.” Ellen did a few tricks with her shadow for emphasis. With each flick of her fingers the shadows in the room morphed.

Ellen consented to Marina doing a physical on her half a month ago. Though a lot of information could be gleaned through physicals, Ellen didn’t have any special physiques, blood, or qi to hide. She never imagined Marina would gift her a Qi Cultivation Technique just two days later. Normally Ellen wouldn’t accept such a large boon, but her situation didn’t give her room to refuse.

“That’s good. From what I’ve seen there’s no damages from your old method since you materialized your meridians properly. Still, keep a check on it and let me know if anything pops up.” An edge of anger crept into Marina’s voice as she mentioned Ellen’s old technique.

Marina never intended to share a technique of this quality with the Vault Family so early, but Ellen’s situation really left her speechless. It’s not that the Qi Cultivation Method she had before was bad, far from it. Marina was actually surprised to find that it was only a step below her Strings of Creation.

The issue was that it was a darkness technique! While shadow is a branching attribute of darkness, the two were not the same. While darkness had access to some of the shadow attributes abilities, there were many, many abilities that could only be touched by the true shadow attribute.

She knew it was pointless blaming the Vault Family. The shadow attribute was much rarer than the darkness attribute, and darkness was already a rare attribute. They did it simply because they had no Shadow Qi Cultivation Methods to begin with, and she knew that. That’s why her hands were forced.

Keeping such a configuration would eventually push Ellen into a dead end. It was simply a careless waste of talent Marina couldn’t bear to watch.

“Mhm, I’ll come to you at the first sign of any irregularities.” Ellen assured while rolling her eyes. There were no incompatibilities between this technique and her previous one. There was no reason for concern, but Marina’s worries still touched her. 

She still remembered when she opened the book up and saw the messily written words. The warmth that spread through her as she realized the entire several hundred paged book was handwritten in a hurry.

It was at that moment that Ellen felt her friendship with Marina was something to be treasured instead of an obligation. She rather liked this angry and warm girl who pretends to be cold.

‘I don’t know what you went through to end up like this or what you want with Raul, but I’ll help you as much as I can.’ She thought earnestly.

“I need to get started now. Can you come back in six hours? I’ll have the meal from our bet done by then, and it’d help me if you could carry Raul’s to him as well.” Marina said while gathering the things she needed.

“No problem, I’ll see you then!” Ellen wiped her chin at the thought of their bet and left.

“Hmm, I suppose I should start with the clothes.” Marina’s eyes turned intense as string spread out from her hands.  

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