SK 5

(5: For Power)

What happened afterward was only kept between Dai Mo and Dai Jin.

It was almost sunset and Dai Mo fed his grandson the soup he made. Rather than his health, Dai Jin felt his very soul being revived just by staying with his Grandfather.

Back on Earth, Dai Jin was orphaned due to the dissonance of both his parents. His mother was a foreigner and his father was always traveling on business. One day, both his father and mother didn't return home. Even with the connections and influence of the Dai Family and their allies, they found no clues on their whereabouts. His grandfather took care of him since he was young and raised him until he was 16, it was then when Dai Mo passed away.

His grandfather was his only close family and he taught Dai Jin a lot about life. Also, with the existence of the rest of the Dai Family eyeing his inheritance like hungry wolves, only Dai Mo had the power to suppress them all down.

After his death, however, Dai Jin was bluntly told off by his relatives who started going in circles with a lot of legal papers in order to take his guardianship. Once they were successful, they placed thousands of obstacles in his path but it seemed that his grandfather was cunning enough for him to make a deal with his friend from the Gong Clan and arrange a marriage for Dai Jin to act as his backing.

Still, Dai Jin had to struggle for five years in order to make ends meet. He had a short pro-gamer career which the Dai Clan used against him in order to frame him of loitering around and wasting money then he started running odd jobs. He could have received everything his grandfather left for him but if not for Dai Feng and Gong Chu humping onto each other like the dog and a bitch they are.

Thinking of all this made Dai Jin's blood boil but seeing the grandfather warmly looking at him made it feel like he was in a dream. Hell, if this is a dream, he would try to never wake up from it.

"Seeing you all healthy and well, it really is good news, Jin'er. Heaven has blessed our Dai Clan yet again." Dai Mo said.

"The Clan, eh? Indeed, I trust that our… clansmen will feel quite rejoiced about the news." Dai Jin said, trying to hold back his negative feelings.

"Indeed, they will, they will. Your cousin Dai Feng will return to the Clan in a matter of days and your fiancée Gong Chu will return to the town as well. It will be a happy occasion for everyone to get together." Dai Mo tried to cheer up Dai Jin.

"Hmmm… Dai Feng will be here? He hasn't arrived yet?" Dai Jin wanted to confirm something.

"Huh? No, it takes days to travel from the Flaming Spear School to Tianlong town. Don't worry, Dai Feng and Gong Chu will be here in a matter of days."

"So… they are coming together?" Dai Jin asked again.

"Yes, they both study at that Martial School."

"Hmph! The same campus just like before, I see." Dai Jin murmured.

"You're saying something, Jin'er." Dai Mo asked.

"Oh… the food is delicious, grandfather. I feel like being alive once again." Dai Jin smoothly replied with a smile.

"Good, do you want to eat more?"

"Nope. Thank you, grandfather. Having a meal with you is always enjoyable."

"Ah! That's my grandson. I am happy, too happy. If your father was here, I am sure he would be flying from happiness seeing you smooth-talking people like that." Dai Mo patted Dai Jin's shoulder, "Let's go outside and see Lady Xiao and Doctor Xi off."

"Grandfather…" Dai Jin hesitated before he asked, "What are the backgrounds of those ladies? I seem to remember big sister Yuyan but not quite well."

"Ah! Right… I don't know much either but your parents were once friends. Your father brought her here once a long time ago and she lived a summer with you. I remember she was 8 and you were 6. After your father and mother… well…"

"Departed." Dai Jin continued the word for Dai Mo.

"Yes… after they did, Lady Xiao would with the turn of every season in order to see you. I think it is some arrangement between your parents to look after you. Aside from that, I don't know any Xiao family in the near regions and I heard her mention places in the capital before."

"And the other lady?"

"Oh, be mindful of that lady. She is our benefactor, the one who nursed you back to health. Her medicine skills are not of some ordinary clan or sect. She is Lady Xiao's senior so be very respectful."

"I see."

Dai Jin was filled in on how to speak to such individuals of mysterious backgrounds making Dai Mo feel strange warmth with how perceptive his grandson has become.

The two walked out of the quarters to a spacious courtyard minimally decorated and have a table in its middle. Under the sunset, Xiao Yuyan and Xi Ming were sitting together drinking the tea which was presented to them by the servants.

"Doctor Xi, Lady Xiao, sorry to keep you waiting." Dai Mo cupped his hands and bowed a little to Xi Ming and Xiao Yuyan.

Dai Jin followed by bowing further to Xi Ming.

"Doctor Xi, I am forever indebted." He said.

"Never mind."

Cold as ever, Xi Ming didn't mind the grandfather and child pair and kept on with her tea. Dai Mo cleared his throat and sat on the empty seat opposite to Xiao Yuyan and Dai Jin sat opposite to Xi Ming.

"Little Jin, I can't say how excited I am. Your treatment has gone more than just well. I am happy for you.

"It is thanks to your kindness, big sister Yuyan and to the skill of Doctor Xi. Not only did I live for the sunset but even the knot around my mind was solved. No matter what is it…"

"Don't say that!" Xiao Yuyan interrupted him, "I am glad you're alright, there are no debts here. Sister Xi only came with me here as a favor. This is between us and I'll make sure she is compensated for her time."

"Such a thing…"

"If Lady Xiao said it then don't argue, Jin'er." Dai Mo spoke.

"Alright."

Xi Ming, who was ruling her eyes backward with the courteous conversation, changed the subject.

"Anyway, it was a curious case. However, regarding your mental state, I am still curious about how it recovered so rapidly. You were having a hard time talking in the past and now you got hit on the head and became as glib-tongued as a frog." She said.

Xi Ming's question was right on point. Metal treatments take forever to take effect and sometimes may never work at all. Dai Jin is simply a different person than the one from before.

"Haha… I don't quite understand, Doctor Xi. If you ask me, I would find it hard to act and react in the past but now, everything feels clearer. I could still understand conversations in the past though." Dai Jin replied with some bullshit.

"Truly?" Xiao Yuyan asked with a wide smile.

Dai Jin felt guilty spouting some bullshit to such a kind-hearted benefactor but he had to keep some secrets until he understands what exactly is his current situation.

"Yes, but I wouldn't rely on my memory to be honest. It is too painful to pull anything back other than the recent memories."

"No no, don't pressure yourself, Little Jin." Xiao Yuyan dismissed it right away.

For some reason, she wanted Dai Jin to be able to recall all their memories together and their conversations. In truth, there was nothing intimate between her and him other than a summer she spent within the Dai Clan with him and a few visits from when her father would come to see his old friend, Dai Jin's father. Nowadays things are way too complicated and her father is always bitter and angry, it is hard to even talk to him like the old merry days. With Dai Tian gone as well, the only ones who remained from those times are Dai Jin and her.

"Will you keep training on External Martial Arts?" Xi Ming butted in the conversation against her usual self out of boredom.

"Yes… I think I would." Dai Jin replied.

"External Martial Arts, eh? That's not an easy path, Jin'er." Dai Mo said.

"If it is the only way, then so be it." Dai Jin said.

"Only way for what?" Xi Ming asked as she was really the kind that would notice everything well.

Noticing that he let his inner thoughts leak, he made a natural face and shrugged his shoulders.

"To take care of myself, of course. Having Grandpa and Sister Yuyan worry over me all the time is simply me being impudent and too relying on others." He said.

"Hmmm." She hummed and sipped her tea without saying anything back.

"But to succeed in External Martial Arts, you need to have a great endurance over all else. We wouldn't help but worry over it, Little Jin." Xiao Yuyan said.

"Why is that? Isn't the point of any Martial Arts is being strong enough to take care of my own trouble?" He asked naively.

"Heh! Silly boy, you are not wrong. But External Martial Arts is like the last solution for many and the least favorable at that. It is all about pain and endurance. Internal Martial Arts rely on cultivating the Spiritual Qi through Breathing Meditation to fill the body with Elemental Qi and Refine it into Vital Qi. It requires healthy Meridians and a firm mindset. External Arts are about forging the body through hardship and pain in order to open the path for absorbing Qi by itself. You can already understand that Breathing Qi is simply way easier than Tempering the Body in order to slowly absorb it." Xiao Yuyan said.

"But if that's the only difference, I can imagine a lot of people willing to embark on that path if they can't afford Internal Martial Arts." Dai Jin said.

"You are not wrong if that is the only problem. Other than how difficult the External Martial arts can be, it has two major flaws. First, you can't use most of the Qi Techniques, the second is that its progress is limited." She explained.

"How limited?"

"You can only reach the Third Realm of Martial Arts, the Martial Master realm."

Dai Jin was really going along with the conversation since he wasn't even sure what kind of training the Game World provides him but he started learning more and more. There are Internal and External Martial Arts, Internal Martial Arts are more on the mystical sides of things which allows the practitioner to use Magic and such while Externa Martial Arts are the same old same old martial arts from movies and such.

"What are those Martial Realms like?" He asked furthermore.

"They are The Martial Novice Realm which you just stepped into. You can also call it the Spirit Novice as the correct terminology goes. After it is going to be the Martial Adept Realm and the Martial Master Realm then the Martial Grandmaster Realm and the Martial Lord Realm. Beyond that are the greater realms which you can't find easily in the continent." She said.

"I see… so the Martial Master Realm is in the middle of the common realms. I think it is good to set it as a goal." Dai Jin replied.

"Fufufu! It is nice to see you determined, Little Jin. Grandpa Mo is a Martial Master himself." Xiao Yuyan pointed towards Dai Mo who was proudly stroking his long white beard.

"Truly, how amazing!"

Dai Jin's eyes were brimming with excitement not that he understood anything about Martial Ranks but he thought about the world of his grandfather. Being a Martial Master is indeed great especially in a rural town like Tianlong but if you take this rank in the Capital, you would be as common as a stone on the side of the street. This is how things are.

"Jin'er, External Martial Arts are no joke so make sure to never give up halfway. That's your grandfather's only wish." Dai Mo said.

"It goes without saying." Dai Jin replied.

"Sigh! If I can provide you with some good manuals for External Martial Arts, it is sadly very rare and verbally passed." Dai Mo lamented neglecting to look into that matter.

"Who usually trains Externa Martial Arts?" Dai Jin asked.

"It would be normal soldiers and guards, vagrant warriors and… hmmm…" Dai Mo replied but he stopped halfway through and started thinking deeply. For some reason, the other two ladies caught what he was thinking and looked at Dai Jin with the same eyes as well.

"What?" Dai Jin felt creepy about their actions.

"I think what Grand Elder Dai wanted to say is that Demons also train on External Martial Arts and they are quite advanced in that." Xi Ming bluntly said it then added, "Since you are a Half-Demon of cour…"

"Sister!" "Doctor…"

It seemed that they couldn't catch Xi Ming before she spilled the beans.

"What?" Xi Ming looked at them both, "Don't tell me he doesn't know?"

On the other hand, Dai Jin felt like he heard something very important.

"Half Demon? I don't like the Demon associated with the word but what is a Half Demon?" Dai Jin asked in worry.

Xiao Yuyan looked at Xi Ming in anger then turned to Dai Jin.

"Little Jin, it isn't really a big deal or a secret, okay? We just don't feel like it is time to…"

"The patient has the right to know!" Xi Ming said.

"Sister, please."

"You are right, Doctor Xi." Dai Mo seemed to have taken a different thought in this matter, he looked at Dai Jin and with a deep sigh, he spoke, "Jin'er, it is nothing that serious and as Lady Xiao said, it is not a secret or anything."

Rather than being a secret, being a Half Demon seemed disadvantageous in a way to Dai Jin. In his past life, he was simply a human and quite an unfortunate one at that. Being a Half Demon seemed like some disability or something but he was used to Life throwing some of its shit on him from time to time.

"Your Mother is a foreigner, a Demon from a different land. She was a war prisoner of your father and they fell in love… I disapproved of the marriage at first but she was a good-hearted woman. Nothing like what you hear about Demons. On the contrary, our clan prospered when she was among us. The problem is that when a child is born between a Human and a Demon, the Half Demon child is not very fortunate. We didn't know that at first since there was no Demon War in centuries but know this, child, the reason why your mother and father left is to look for a cure for your condition. They never abandoned you. They loved you dearly."

Silly as it is to be a so-called Half Demon, Dai Jin expected a silly reason in return but turns out it is something as complicated as this. He never truly knew why his mother and father left in his past life and no one back then knew where they went but it wasn't for similar reasons like in this world. On the other hand, Dai Jin was a half foreigner in his past life which was something the Dai Family used to discriminate against him and insult him with, nothing really changed that much then.

All in all, it is nothing new to him.

"But… I don't understand. Why would they leave? Why is it so important for me to have Meridians or whatever that is?" Dai Jin finally asked the right question.

From that right question, he would get the answer which will set the course of his entire life. The words which will turn him into a legend. His grandfather said…

"For Power, your parents wanted you to have the Power. They wanted you to stand proud among your peers and to never feel lower than anyone. It may sound silly to you Jin'er but the answer is always Power, it is what built this World."