After they have left the principal’s office, Jones asked Kairos once he is certain they are alone, “So what do you think?”

“About what?”

“The offer to join the Fifth Prince of course.”

“Definitely not.”

A swift answer.

Jones looked blankly at him, it seems as though he had never taken the offer into considerations even after pocketing the bribes.

“Well, why not? It seems like a pretty good deal to me.

You can have the Fifth Prince’s men to fend off anything that Calculus is scheming and at the same time make use of their resources.”

“I don’t like Principal Gai.”

Kairos said simply, but Jones kept staring intensely at him until finally, he gave up more details.

“Sigh. Okay, everything I’m going to say is merely formed from my personal opinion, but I think it is most likely the truth.

Firstly, Principal Gai’s compliments are way overly done during the award ceremony. It felt as if he is rubbing salt in Calculus’ wounds. Doing so will only cause the rebound to be bigger, and when the situation explodes, it will leave me with no other choice than to hide under the Fifth Prince’s protection.

Secondly, when I told him that I could support myself with my skills without joining his faction, his face turned dark immediately. I cannot trust someone whose face can change in a split second. He would stab me in the back the moment I lost my value.

Thirdly, Principal Gai seemed to be very good with his words, and I’m sure that he is able to control his emotions and hide his feelings very well. Yet his face easily turned unhappy at my words. To me, I feel that he does not really think of me as a valuable talent to groom but a tool. If he can act like this when he is inviting me, what will happen after I joined?

And…..lastly, when you gestured to him about ‘showing his sincerity’ his face lit up happily, almost too swiftly. The speed of his reaction makes me think that his character is simply too dark! Like he was practised in under-table dealings.

If I am not wrong, he did not expect twelve years old like us to hint for bribes. Otherwise, he would have offered it beforehand instead of trying to impress me with the Fifth Prince’s power.

However, instead of feeling concerned with our morality despite our age, he only smiled when we accepted his gifts. This makes me wonder about the social circle of the Fifth Prince.

That’s my analysis, what do you think?”

It was a silent moment for Jones, and he felt as if his brains short-circuited. A look of pure admiration appeared on his face when he looked at his brother.

*clap clap clap*

“Wow, you did think deeply on this! Somehow because of how completely you analysed the situation, I feel that you are right. I can’t believe that I quite liked that Principal Gai after he praised us during the award ceremony, he almost tricked me.

Just how did you gather that much information from a simple conversation? It’s like you got a brain upgrade!”

“Hmm… Maybe I did? I’ve noticed this change about myself after practising this cultivation method. It was like my head had cleared up totally. Did you experience this as well?”

Kairos is talking about his mental capacity gaining a boost after his cultivation had changed the synapses of his brain completely.

“No way….. Something so abnormal will only happen on you Kairos!”

“Hey, come on, give me a break. I have a hard time too because it makes me attract abnormal friends like you,” by saying that earned Kairos a punch on his arm. The force rattled across his body.

“This strength! Jones has certainly powered up quite a bit. Looks like I have to work harder to not fall behind!”

“Jones, have you got spare cultivation pills to borrow the guys and me?”

“Sure. Here!” Jones pulled out a pouch from his robes and handed it to him without question. Inside is all the cultivation pills that he had received from his godfather, the Disciplinarian, head instructor. Without a doubt, they are definitely top of the line cultivation resources.

Being one of the older instructors of the school, he has always thought proudly of Jones as his own son. At his well-advanced age, it felt as if good fortune had rained down on him by getting a talented foster son and he doted Jones unsparingly.

Kairos opened the pouch and took a peek, and at once he wanted to return it.

“Whoa, this is too expensive, I can’t accept it. There’s no way I can pay it back!”

There were all kinds of cultivation pills, including the Heavenly Scent pill from the mountain cat clan and many more that are even more expensive.

“Keep it younger brother. You’ve always called me your big brother when we were growing up, although you have always acted more mature than me and have been taking care of me instead. This time let me do something in return for you.

Besides, the cultivation method you gifted me is definitely worth more than this pouch.

.

.

.

Also, I didn’t pay for any of the pills. Wahahaha!”

Kairos looked at him with a wry smile then added, “And also, also, you can guilt trip me into giving you a share when I make a profit during the trade fair right?”

“Exactly, Bwahaha! Remember to keep a share for me!”

“Alright, alright. I’m heading back to train now. Time waits for no one. What about you big brother?”

After such a long time, they were back to the same as before, and it made him feel great!

“Haha. I’m just going to walk about town,” Jones looked away with a brotherly smile on his face.

“To stalk that girl no doubt.”

“Ye… No! OF COURSE NOT! What are you thinking? You think that your big bro is this kind of person?” Jones said and then disappeared in a flash, his figure flying off so fast that he left an afterimage in his wake.

Somehow Kairos managed to return to his room after nearly laughing the entire way. It seems his brother is much more attracted to the girl than he thought, but he didn’t realise that they haven’t even got her name yet.

The rest of the week fly by quickly with him busied with refining weapons and cultivating.

During this time, everyone managed to break through their current cultivation rank thanks to the pill pouch; with the lack of essence crystals and spirit stones, it was indeed timely assistance.

Of course, no matter what training resource they have, the reason they could rank up so easily and quickly is definitely attributed to their cultivation method. The Origin’s technique was indeed profound, but Kairos tailoring the method to each person’s uniqueness was no less shocking.

However, besides Kairos who finally entered D rank after successfully learning how to project his Ki, the rest found themselves stuck at Peak E ranking. They will need to find their own ways to manipulate their Ki to succeed, but it was a task that required more than talent alone. One has to understand the workings of Dao to a certain extent before it is possible to have the level of control that makes them D rankers.

Granted, with their understanding of Dao, at Peak Mortal’s way, they are already better than most their age and would reap its rewards for the near future, but they still found themselves stuck.

This is only the first bottleneck on the path of cultivation.

Now that they are stuck, they shifted they're focus on strengthening their bodies, but the process for ranking up the body is much more difficult than improving the cultivation level because the body can only naturally enhance itself a little at a time. The bulk of it all depends on hard work.

On the other hand, for Kairos who just had his breakthrough, his energies are not yet stabilised. Each time a practitioner step into a new tier of cultivation, their body undergoes an important strengthening phase as large amounts of wild energies gathers within themselves. It will take a while to assimilate those energies to become part of their own.

They were hurried in their training. Although they have no immediate dangers looming before them, each of them knows there is little time left to prepare themselves.

With their martial arts, they might be the top-tiered in combat ability within their age group, but the Orc King is still out there somewhere.

While the Emperor had sent out an expedition team into the wild lands surrounding the training ground to hunt down the Orcs but it seemed as though the race has entirely disappeared into thin air.

For these creatures that used to be spread across the lands to have such a sudden disappearance felt like an invisible grip choking on Saint Empire’s neck, and it is tightening by the day.

Even though Kairos truly believed that the history books are wrong about the Orcs, but there is simply too little information to know what kind of existence they are because of the language barrier between the two races.

As the ones that allowed the Orc King to escape, they could not sit back and wait for the army to resolve the problems. It may be a simple tribal thing that the Orcs disappeared when their King rose, but it could very well be a prelude to war. With the lives of millions on the line, no one could place their hopes on things will eventually turn out for the best and sit on their thumbs.

Besides, people are targeting their cultivation methods. So far, Kairos is unclear of the identity of the culprits, but he can confirm one thing: the perpetrators do not know about Origin Energy, because if they did, then their attempts would not have stopped merely at the burning of his room.

Other than that, the political game between the Third and the Fifth Princes are also causes for concern. Whether he wants it or not, Principal Gai has already dragged him into their game after publically shaming Calculus and then praising Kairos.

“That old scheming fox. He’s too tricky.”

…..

The day of the trade fair finally came, and everyone was gathered in the main hall.

“Ahem, kindly settle down,” a lady on the stage coughed a few times, waiting for the people to keep silent as the trade fair is about to start, but when nobody reacted to her, she was forced to speak out. Many of those present are people she could ill afford to offend.

The hall had been completely filled up with not only students from all years but also many of the Trade Federation leaders and noble family representatives who are invited to the academy. Even itinerant cultivators and adventurers are present.

Seeing that everyone has finally quietened down, the lady started her introduction.

“As all of you know, the trade fair will officially start later in the day after this auction.

Right now we gather here to introduce to you the products sold at each of the student’s booth.

While you get to observe the quality of their products, you may also bid for any item that is displayed during this process. For those that did not manage to purchase what they want, do not worry, you can still visit the student’s stall after this.

I’m sure all of you already know the rules, so we shall begin without further ado, kindly ready your bidding crystals as our first entry is displayed.”

The process of the trade fair every year always begins with a show of the products one can find at the booths through an auction.

Afterwards, the fair itself last a week long, the success or failure of one’s business during this time largely depends on how well they market themselves. Each item on the auction comes with their creator’s name, the item’s ability and of course the bidding price for each item. Besides this, every person in the hall is given a handbook listing all the auctions for the day, as well as the products they can buy from the creator’s stall.

If one does well, it is possible for even students to earn a substantial amount of money.