Translator: Wuxia Dog Editor: Wuxia Dog
With a loud clunk, the door slammed shut. Han Jin speechlessly stood outside the door. He then turned around, only to be greeted by the smiling faces of Moxinke, Cessacioun, and everyone else.
Han Jin frowned and asked, “Which of you made Sunier mad today?” Though it was normal for friends to have arguments over careless mistakes, the fact that the argument had now affected him made him a bit unhappy.
“I haven’t.” Moxinke shook his head in astonishment.
“No? Why is she acting like that then?” Han Jin pointed to the closed door.
“Maybe you are the one who annoyed her?” Moxinke asked in a weird tone.
“Me? I have only said one sentence to her. How could I have annoyed her? And we were discussing serious business today,” Han Jin explained.
“Aha…” Moxinke winked and gave Han Jin a meaningful look. “So what I’m hearing is that you never talked about serious business with her in the past?” He laughed. Moxinke was a hard person to judge. You could call him smart, but he constantly acted foolishly. You could call him dumb, but he had immediately caught onto Han Jin’s slip of the tongue.
“Fuck off!” Han Jin shouted angrily. It would be troublesome if Sunier had heard what Moxinke had just said…
Moxinke clicked his tongue and wanted to say something more, but swallowed his words back when he saw that Han Jin was really annoyed.
Just then, Steelberg came in from outside. Han Jin beckoned to him.
“Young Master.” Steelberg’s face immediately lit up when he saw Han Jin.
But Han Jin froze. He suddenly realized that he had shown too little affection toward Steelberg in the past year. Though he didn’t forget their good relationship, even through the trials and tribulations, he focused most of his energy on cultivation and working with the fighting members of the team. On top of that, they were constantly running from danger. He truly did not have much time to think about this until now.
The past events all came into his mind. He remembered when Steelberg had knelt on the ground, crawling forward like a dog, only to beg for a piece of bread for his young master. A feeling of shame emerged in Han Jin’s heart. “Steelberg, you are learning magic from Cessacioun, aren’t you? How is it going?” Han Jin asked in a concerned voice.
“I…” Steelberg didn’t know how to reply, and subconsciously cast a glance at Cessacioun.
“Are you kidding with him, Raphael?” Cessacioun said with a wry smile.
“What’s wrong?”
“I only taught him the basics of meditation, and how to cast fireballs. He hasn’t come to me since then,” Cessacioun slowly said. “Do you think he still needs to learn from me, when he has a master like you?”
Han Jin was confused, but soon realized what Cessacioun meant. If one was to learn magic, would he choose the ordinary magic that Cessacioun knew, or the special magic that Han Jin knew? That was an easy choice to make. Besides, everyone talked about Han Jin, and spoke highly of his magic in front of Steelberg all the time.
“Do you want to learn magic from me?” Han Jin asked smilingly.
Steelberg looked at Han Jin timidly, finally plucked up after a while, and heavily nodded.
“Come with me.”
“Young Master…” Steelberg said in a quavering voice. Though it was obvious Han Jin had accepted him as a student, he still couldn’t believe that his dream had just come true.
“What are standing there for? Come with me.”
Tears welled up in Steelberg’s eyes. He felt so happy that he nearly fainted on the ground. He immediately followed behind Han Jin.
“He agreed?” Moxinke looked at the backs of Han Jin and Steelberg in puzzlement. Suddenly, he slapped Cessacioun’s shoulder. “I want to learn magic from you too, Cessacioun.”
“You? Want to learn magic? Have you gone mad?”
“How dense are you! I just have to learn for a few days, and wait for Han Jin to…”
“Give me a break, please.” Cessacioun interrupted Moxinke with a wry smile. “You really think Raphael will teach you?”
“That’s none of your business. Are you going to help me or not?”
“Go away!”
Moxinke and Cessacioun started to act up, while Han Jin had walked into his room with Steelberg following him. He saw Steelberg every day, but seldom talked to him these days. The only topics between them were about trifles, and they were usually started by Steelberg. Things like: “It’s time for dinner, Young Master,” “Your robe is dirty, Young Master. Take it off, let me clean it for you,” or “Please wait a few more minutes, Young Master; I haven’t lit up the fireplace yet,” and the likes. Meanwhile, Han Jin had hardly showed concern for Steelberg, because he had been busy with his grand plans.
For Han Jin, the most important thing was to protect himself and his friends, and try to carve out a land of his own in this world. However, for Steelberg, Raphael, his young master, was why he lived! Steelberg had been instilled this absolute loyalty since he was still a babbling baby. Loyalty had been merged into his soul.
“Sit here.” Han Jin pointed to a chair.
Steelberg sat down, looking at Han Jin in a trance, while Han Jin paused for a moment and grabbed Steelberg’s wrist. Steelberg’s heart thumped in his chest as if it were playing the drums. Feeling this, Han Jin didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. “Why are you so nervous? Relax, relax.”
“But I am relaxed, Young Master,” Steelberg whispered.
Han Jin said helplessly, “Well, you have learned how to meditate, haven’t you? Now, you just need to meditate, and I will think about where to start.”
“Yes, Young Master.” Steelberg heavily nodded.
Seeing the serious look on Steelberg’s face, Han Jin realized he might have made a promise too early. Could he teach Steelberg the way of cultivation via eating? Though it was possible, some key points were hard to explain, such as the heavenly circuit, the pressure points, the ideal conditions, and so on. And even if he were to clearly explain this basic knowledge to Steelberg, how could he teach him to cultivate?”
Steelberg didn’t know what Han Jin was thinking. He pretended to be meditating, but was in fact immersed in his excitement. Though he had seen the great changes in Han Jin during the past year, from an unknown and impoverished noble to the Raphael today, he still, and always will, consider him as his young master. No matter poor or rich, weak or fragile, or strong or powerful, one thing was for sure – Raphael was, and always would be, his young master.
However, Steelberg felt a little sad, for his young master had never told him anything about how he had changed, which sometimes made him feel as if he were being excluded by his young master. They had asked Steelberg many times about Han Jin’s past, but Steelberg never gave them a clear answer. He knew his young master was good at nothing in the past, and he vividly remembered their lives as beggars. “I will never tell them the decadent past of Young Master,” Steelberg said to himself in his heart.
Now, his young master was going to teach him magic – the secret which he had never shared with anyone else before! Thinking of this, Steelberg could hardly control his own excitement.
Han Jin pondered for a long time, and finally gave up his intention of teaching Steelberg his way of cultivation. Instead, he searched his mind for a set of basic cultivation methods for a basis construction. As long as Steelberg cultivated according to these methods, he could use charms much easier once he accumulated enough energy. This was all Han Jin could teach him at the present. He knew that if his knowledge leaked out, it would exert an enormous impact on this world. No matter if this impact was good or not, it was not what Han Jin wanted to see at present.
Han Jin interrupted Steelberg’s random thoughts and started to teach him his cultivation method word by word. When it came to meridians, Han Jin had to explain it as the channel for consecrated elements to run inside the body. Even though he tried his best, Steelberg was still confused. He knew what elements were, but didn’t understand what ‘consecrated elements’ meant. But he dared not to ask questions. He believed that what his young master was teaching him must be something good, and what he should do was to follow Young Master’s words.
Steelberg showed extreme enthusiasm this day, regardless of his original willpower and intelligence, and even forgot whose room he was in. He closed his eyes and started to regulate his breathing.
Outside the room, Moxinke and Cessacioun had not left due to curiosity. They leaned on a wooden column, and chatted in a low voice. Little Joseph also came in to the courtyard, looking at Han Jin’s room from time to time. He was just a little boy who didn’t know how to hide his true feelings; his thoughts were all plainly reflected on his face.
“Come here!” When Little Joseph passed through the courtyard by some excuse for the fourth time, Moxinke beckoned to him.
Little Joseph quickly headed toward Moxinke. “Do you want to learn magic from Raphael too?” Moxinke looked the boy up and down and asked in a low voice.
“I…” Little Joseph felt nervous.
“You wanted to learn sword forms from me in the past, didn’t you? But no one taught you at that time. Do you still remember? What, do you look down on warriors? Are you sure you have the potential to learn magic?” Moxine said in a muffled voice. “Don’t be too greedy, boy. Dedicate yourself to learning sword forms from me,” Moxinke said. He knew better than anyone else about the close relationship between Han Jin and Steelberg. Han Jin might be willing to teach Steelberg his magic, but there was no way he would teach it to Little Joseph.
Little Joseph felt a little bit disappointed at first, but Moxinke calling him greedy also impacted him a lot. He was just a little boy who was good at nothing, but they all took good care of him, never asking him to pay anything back. Thinking of this, his face blushed, and his eyes lit up. “I knew, Brother Moxinke,” he said in a serious tone.
