Chapter 38: Leaving the Crater


    After Jia Yuan finished his training for the day, the two


    had a final dinner. To celebrate their leaving the crater, Guo Huo had slow


    roasted some Blazing Pig meat. The meat of the Blazing Pig is extremely


    expensive in the Fire Kingdom, as it not only had an exquisite taste, but could


    boost cultivation speed.


    In addition to the pig meat, Guo Huo had prepared some bok


    choy and some beef and apple stew.


    Jia Yuan tore through the meal with his regular abandon, and


    Guo Huo gave him a rather dry look. As someone who had spent most of his life


    among the high nobility of the Fire Kingdom and had learned proper etiquette,


    it was almost hard for him to eat meals with Jia Yuan. In fact, he had


    developed a habit of finishing his cooking early and eating before Jia Yuan


    finished training.


    However tonight, he wanted to make the dinner as special as


    possible, so he had not done so… although he was starting to regret it.


    Guo Huo grumbled to himself. “I’m going to have to get


    someone to teach him proper manners.”


    After the meal, Jia Yuan sat outside of the tent, while Guo


    Huo had turned in for an early nap inside the tent.


    Jia Yuan could already resist most of the heat and humidity


    in the crater, so he comfortably laid on the ground and stared at the swirling


    mist above him.


    It’s been two months


    since I came here. I wonder how master is doing… I wonder how Dou Di brother is


    doing.


    I wonder how strong he


    is. Has he found friends in the Burning Legion?


    Jia Yuan had led a fairly lonely life. For as long as he


    could remember, he didn’t really have any friends. For a few years, he had the


    companionship of Dou Di, but after Dou Di was sold to the Burning Legion, the


    only people he had spent time with on a daily basis were his old master and Guo


    Huo.


    Jia Yuan had been able to play with kids around his age when


    he had stayed at Wan Shi’s house, but that had only been for a few hours.


    I wonder how the


    Burning Legion will be like.


    After spending some more time resting next to the pool of


    fire, he went back into the tent and rested for the night.


    The next morning, teacher and disciple flew out of the


    crater. Jia Yuan actually didn’t need Guo Huo to carry him, but they stayed


    very close together in case Jia Yuan’s concentration snapped during the flight


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.up for some reason.


    ‘Ahhhhhh now that’s the air I love!” A soon as they left the


    crater, Jia Yuan was able to breath in some fresh air! For the past two months,


    they had been breathing in the very humid and heated air in the crater.


    “Ah, right. Teacher, where are we going?” Jia Yuan was rather


    curious as to what location they would be training at next.


    “Do you know about the geography of our continent?”


    “Hmm. We have four main kingdoms, corresponding to each


    element. Each kingdom controls about a fourth of the continent. The borders


    shouldn’t have changed much in the last 50 or so years, so small cities have


    popped up on the borders between the kingdoms.”


    “Oh? You actually know quite a bit! Where did you learn it


    from?”


    “Oh, Dou Di used to tell me a lot of stores. I ended up


    learning some stuff from him. He’s also the reason why I want to join the


    Burning Legion.”


    “I see, I see. It seems that your brother was quite the


    interesting person. Actually, the place we are heading to is precisely one of


    these border cities.”


    “Since we’re close to the Water Kingdom, we’ll be heading to


    a city between the Fire and Water Kingdoms. If my memory serves me well, I


    believe they have an Arena of sorts there where people of any age and strength


    can compete. You can even compete in battles to the death. This should be good


    for progressing your Song, and will also prepare you for life in the Army. Although


    the continent has been peaceful for the last 50 years, all of the Kingdoms have


    been stocking up weapons and soldiers at an abnormal pace for the last few


    years. We may see a large-scale war in a few more years.”


    “As for your uh…manners… I will also likely be hiring a


    private tutor for you. They will teach you proper etiquette when you are not


    competing in the Arena.”


    “Do I really need to learn all of that boring stuff?”


    “If you want to be a respected human being, then you’ll have


    to at least learn some basic manners. Furthermore, with your potential, you’ll


    likely be one of model soldiers of the Fire Kingdom. As such, they’ll probably


    have you learn manners so that you can represent the Fire Kingdom in


    Continent-wide tournaments.”


    “Military teachers will definitely be far stricter than


    anyone I can find for you in the city. If you think about it this way, I am


    actually saving you a lot pain."