"Finally here, darling~? I was beginning to think sister Amelia was taking her time…" spoke the blue-haired beauty.
"My bad, I had some things to do and couldn't arrive right away but—"
His gaze swept over the small group of a little more than a dozen Core Disciples before him, all of whom he not only recognized by name and face—as was the case with more or less all the Core Disciples and higher of the Wandering Sword Sect.
He was acquainted with nearly all of the high-ranking members of the Sect, but often their relation wasn't much more than that of acquaintances, while for this group of a dozen…
It was different, for with the group often present at the Hebdomary Core Disciples Meeting, his relation with them was far friendlier, and they could even be called 'friends.'
Of course, that wasn't because Mikael had suddenly grown 'social' and decided to make a bunch of friends, but simply because he understood the usefulness of having… 'friendly relations.'
Even though the Wandering Sword Sect was a nice place to him and to the girls, it could even be called a pleasant place globally, he hadn't grown tamer or gentler and still kept his rather cold and calculating mentality.
Which was why his train of thought was shaped that way toward these 'friends,' but whether the girls felt the same or held radically different opinions was their own matter.
And the same went for the number of friends they themselves had within the Sect.
Whether it was like Lian'er, who was friends with all of the Sect and beloved by everyone as their lively Senior Sister or Junior Sister, or like Kiara, who had almost no friends at all since the only thing she needed was her beloved Darling~
They each had different relations with the Sect and its members, and that was perfectly fine.
At that moment Mikael finished his words, "—I'm here now, aren't I?"
He didn't give Kiara or the others time to answer as he shifted the subject, "You've been here longer than me, did anything related to the Realm of Broken Skies get mentioned?"
As he spoke that name, the Realm of Broken Skies, the lively chatter of the group seemed to dim, a tension laced with excitement slipping into the air.
"No, nothing," Brother Chen shook his head before glancing toward the Sect Master and the two Grand Elders, "Neither the Sect Master nor the Grand Elders said anything, they're probably waiting until everybody is here?" he declared, uncertain of himself.
The other Senior Brothers and Sisters nodded along, clearly sharing the same thought as Brother Chen, and with that the chatter shifted from Mikael and Amelia's arrival to the Secret Realm soon to open.
All the Core Disciples were speaking of it, for they all intended to enter, and their emotions were a mix of excitement and worry, since the gains awaiting them inside could be immense yet the dangers were by no means any less.
"If we meet each other in the Secret Realm, we should team up and help one another," declared Senior Brother Zhang, his words immediately met by a sea of affirmations from the others.
Senior Sister Mei Xuehong gave a sharp nod, the long spear strapped to her back shifting slightly with her motion as she said, "We need to be united against the disciples of the Flame Sovereign Sect and the Frozen Serenity Sect, we have the advantage of our unity against them, and we should use it!"
"Fufu, well said, Sister Mei, at least our Sect won't have internal fighting, which is already more than they can say, that's for sure~" giggled Senior Sister Su Qingya with teasing amusement.
From there the conversation continued about the Realm of Broken Skies, though it gradually turned more 'casual,' for they were proud and confident individuals who believed in their own strength and even more in the power of their Sect!
Because of that they could speak of the Secret Realm with a lesser amount of worry and a greater amount of excitement, though of course the Secret Realm wasn't the only topic, as other subjects were also brought to light.
As all this was unfolding a pretty Senior Sister bit her lip in hesitation before turning to the blue-haired beauty at her side, "Junior Sister Kiara, there is something that puzzles me…"
"Hmm?" Kiara raised an inquisitive eyebrow.
"I don't want to be impolite or anything, but why is your cultivation still so low?" she asked in genuine puzzlement, for it had already been nearly ten years since the four of them had joined the Sect.
At that time their cultivation realm was 'low' but it was normal as they had just been introduced to the cultivation world and cultivation.
Because of that having a low cultivation was totally normal, but with their talents in the last 10 years it would have been expected from them to easily break through one or even multiple small realms!
After all these four new Juniors were all supposed to be extremely talented, and while for a 'normal' cultivator not breaking through even a small realm of the Spiritual Foundation Realm in 10 years was totally normal.
For these four cultivators with their monstrous talent to not even break through a single layer in 10 years was undoubtedly weird!
The only exception was Amelia who had reached the 2nd layer, but for the other three, they didn't seem to have made much progress in their cultivation, giving rise to this rather strange situation…
Because of that the pretty Senior Sister was puzzled and couldn't contain her curiosity anymore, which was why she asked this question, and she wasn't the only one, as a lot of the other Core Disciples from this small group were feeling the same.
Previously they hadn't asked this question as it could be seen as impolite and even insulting depending on who you were saying it to, but—
Now that somebody else was asking it, they were all ears, attentively listening to the blue-haired yandere's answer.
This could be seen by how all the other conversations suddenly stopped as they waited for Kiara's answer.
"Low? By that do you mean how my cultivation progress is slow, with my realm still at the 1st layer, the same for Mikael and Lyra, while Amelia is the only one having reached the 2nd layer?" Kiara inquired as she tilted her head slightly.
Nod.
The pretty Senior Sister gave a small nod before gaining a sheepish expression, "If it's uncomfortable you don't need to answer, I don't want to pressure you or anything, it's just that I found your 'slow progress' rather curious…"
At that moment Kiara's gaze met Mikael's, who gave her a nearly imperceptible nod, and following that the beauty smiled as she shook her head, "It's okay, 'your—'" she placed a faint emphasis on the 'your' as she turned to look at the other Core Disciples who were clearly listening.
"Curiosity is totally understandable! But I must warn you the answer probably isn't as 'exciting' as you may expect and imagine."
"In truth, the reason behind our slow progress is simply because we are all suppressing our own cultivation to build a better and stronger foundation!"
"You can expect us to stay in the same realm for a while longer, until our foundation is truly the strongest possible!" confidently explained Kiara to the listening disciples.
The pretty Senior Sister's visage lit up in understanding, but then a flicker of confusion darkened her expression.
"Then… Junior Sister Amelia?"
"That I can answer!" Amelia confidently took a step forward as she replied, "My higher cultivation realm isn't a sign that I am more talented or anything of the sort, in truth—"
A partially self-deprecating smirk crossed her lips, "It's even a little the opposite, because at that time I didn't truly understand the cultivation world that well and broke through too soon when I should have focused on building a stronger foundation…"
"It was a mistake, a mistake I have no intention of repeating, so you can expect me to remain in this realm for a very, very long time!"
"Foundation Building! I should have expected it," murmured Senior Brother Li, who had been silently listening.
The other Core Disciples' reactions were similar as they all suddenly understood the reason behind this 'mystery' and consequently partially lost interest, for a mystery is only interesting as long as it stays one.
Consequently some of the Core Disciples' previous conversations resumed as they lost interest in the current subject, but—
That wasn't the case for all, as some, like the pretty Senior Sister who had started this entire subject, weren't finished, and she questioned with worry tainting her melodious voice,
"It's not that I want to question your choice, but Junior Brother and Sisters, are you sure of what you are doing? Foundation Building at the cost of one's cultivation can be extremely dangerous!"
"If you wait too long before breaking through, your potential could be damaged, and as your lifespan diminishes you could find yourself without enough time to successfully break through!"
"Making it so that you die before breaking through to the next realm, ultimately perishing without reaching the height you could have reached if you didn't do Foundation Building!"
"A lot of geniuses have fallen because of that, ultimately perishing before realizing their true potential… you should be cautious about that!" warned the pretty Senior Sister, who worried about her Juniors' future.
Seeing and knowing this pretty Senior Sister's character, and consequently understanding that she was simply worrying for them, Mikael gently spoke out, "Don't worry Senior Sister Xu, we all know what you do!" he confidently declared while giving her a small smile.
"Ah!... okay." she said, a blush coloring her cheeks as her too handsome Junior Brother's smile made her heart skip a beat!
It was on that note that the subject of Mikael and the girls' low cultivation was closed.
But… why did they answer, after all wasn't it personal and the kind of thing that one generally kept to themself?
Especially considering that neither Mikael nor the girls were the type to tell their 'life story' to others… right?
Normally this would have been the case, but in this situation answering Senior Sister Xu's questions was actually far more beneficial than not.
After all, it was undeniable that as time passed, questions about their slow cultivation would rise and consequently people would begin to wonder if Mikael and the girls were truly geniuses.
This line of thought spreading through the Sect, especially among the upper echelon, could bring with it a whole lot of problems.
Because of that a solution was needed, and the simplest one was simply to be open and tell everybody that they were doing 'Foundation Building,' which was the reason why their cultivation realm wasn't increasing fast and wouldn't in the future too.
With this 'simple' move a lot of potential future problems could be easily evaded, and this was even more true considering that in this group of a little more than a dozen Core Disciples there were a couple who were of the gossipy type.
With their presence, the reason behind Mikael and the girls' 'slow cultivation speed' was sure to spread through the Sect and beyond, further sparing them from any potential trouble!
On that note the conversations returned to what they had been before, with all kinds of subjects being brought up as time slowly passed, more Core Disciples occasionally arriving, and nothing else of particular importance taking place.
This went on for a couple of hours until finally—
Author Note:
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When we saw Mikael talking with the girls, normally it would have gone straight in face slapping but we evade that here(at least I tried to, and make more like a friend asking a casual question or something, don't know if I succeeded?)
At least I tried, like with that point the reason behind their slow cultivation is clear and save them from the usual problems we all know!
Now we'll see how this 'meeting' will go in the next chapter.
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— End of Chapter —