Refining the Heavens (炼天)

Chapter 108: Home (Part 4)

In a rundown hut made of rotting logs tied together with vines, a young boy sat by his fireplace in the quiet morning. The only sounds that accompanied him were the insects, the birds, and the occasional beast howling from the nearby forest.

With his back hunched over a wobbly table and the only light source is the sunlight seeping through holes in the wall, he worked furiously over an expensive looking parchment that did not fit in his home.

In fact, the processed Skycalf leather that he is writing on is worth more than the hut he is in, much less the table he is using. In this village, having such possession would be a grave sin. Not because his neighbours are covetous, instead they are generally hardworking and honest, however, Rutea is a small and backwards place, and poverty can drive a man desperate.

Fortunately, few are foolish enough to challenge the boy – a second-year cadet from the nearby elite school, Saint Cadets Academy. Even a combined attack of all his neighbours is not a match for a practitioner at his level.

Yet, the boy is lucky. The Skycalf skin may arouse the greed of mere villagers but fall beneath the notice of the truly rich and powerful. However, he did not know that the thing he is scribbling had a value that would make empires tremble and spark even the jealousy of gods.

Unimaginable wars will start and end for it, for what he has written unconsciously leads to the Grand Dao; The Universe's Truth.

While waiting for his manor to finish construction, Kairos was crafting a cultivation method for his father.

The boys are on a delicate balance and need all the help they could get.

Calculus and the Devilheart family are after the Origin cultivation method, and Principal Gai is heavy on inviting him to the Fifth Prince's faction. For now, there is no danger, but it is not unthinkable that it may happen in the future. Especially with the Gai's character, if he believes that there is no longer any chance for Kairos' group to join the Fifth Prince's side, he will not hesitate to turn nasty.

Not only this, but there are also many parties out there that have an unhealthy interest in his newly invented runic and sealing weapons. On the surface, everyone wants a trade relationship with the Snowdrifts, but the truth of the matter is, there is simply not enough opportunities to offer everyone. Underneath all those niceties, there are definitely some parties that are willing to take some risk to make a gain.

The young boy also knows this and recognises the need to prepare for the worst, because if they could not get him to properly refine weapons for them, they might resort to taking hostage of his loved ones.

No matter what preparation he could make, there is nothing that beats actual strength itself. Unfortunately, his father has little talent in the area of cultivation.

When he sent a strand of Origin Energy into the meridian channels through Vouno's wrist to see the kinds customisation needed for the Origin Cultivation Method, he discovered the worst constitution he saw so far!

It is complete chaos within his father's Dantian, and almost all the meridian channels are clogged or too thin. With such a physical condition, even if his father doesn't have a physical handicap, he shouldn't be able to be a practitioner at all.

"W..w..what What's this this, dad!?! How can you even have internal energy??"

"RAWHAHAHAHA Isn't it incredible? I was very stumped when I realised I could not cultivate like others. Aren't I amazing to still have this level of power?"

Kairos' father has failed his first-year mock battlefield exam in Saint Cadets Academy years ago. After he left school, he continued the family business of rearing pigs, but without much talent, in farming, he managed to feed all his animals with something suspicious and lost the farm.