Chapter 520: Conflicts Among Trainees

Even though Kai still thought it was bizarre that sex could be training, somehow, he wasn't going to complain about everything he'd learned in dual cultivation. It was a wonderful fusion of two different aspects of his life with his wives, and it wasn't so awkward once he got used to it.

This session left him lying with Zae Zin Nim cuddling against his chest as they both caught their breath. All of the mana and qi had faded, and the chakra was no longer surging between them so powerfully, leaving just the two of them and their relationship. And that relationship definitely involved a lot of training.

"My Physique progress has been consistent," Zae Zin Nim was telling him. "I think a large portion of my development now is internal, building on the foundation I set up with the Blackblood Physique."

"You must still need outside energy." As he spoke, Kai lazily slid his hand up and down her back. "Do you think you'll slow down on Deadwaste?"

"No, not with all the cultivation resources we've gathered. I only expect progress to slow when I hit the peak of E-rank."

"And what then?" Kai asked. His entire body was relaxed and he was in an oddly contemplative mood. "I mean... you were training to fight your father for so long, what's your next goal?"

"I have to become an untouchable Sky Soul." Zae Zin Nim nodded in determination against his chest. "We need power so overwhelming that no one would dare try to team up against us. However... I will also refine my destructive techniques to help with the incursion. And assist Inafay and Orotaisin with their cultivation so that they survive as well."

"And the trainees, of course."

"Maybe." She spoke flatly, but Kai thought she was joking. Well, he didn't expect her to adopt them as quickly as he had, and the important thing was that she was contributing to their training so that the entire group was ready.

They lay together for a while, absorbing the last traces of the energy that had flowed between them. Each session of dual cultivation produced new qi, grinding both of them toward the next tier. Physique also passed between them, his wife's Blackblood energy mixing with his monstrous Physique and making each grow slightly.

"What about you?" Zae Zin Nim placed her hands against his chest and shifted upward to stare directly into his face. "Beyond the incursion, what are you aiming for?"

"Well... I think we need to keep aiming higher, toward powers we don't understand." That was a bit abstract, so Kai forced himself to think beyond the incursion timeline. "If everyone survives, that gives us a whole seven years before the next one. We might be strong enough to explore the Blood Current again, properly this time, or we could try for Lostwreck, or maybe even search for the theoretical fifth continent. If we want to totally surpass the power we've seen so far, we need a new source."

"Very good." His wife nodded somberly, but he saw the deep approval there.

He kissed her again, then they finally split up. With all the new qi flooding through her, Zae Zin Nim was going to begin another session of cultivation, while Kai's next step wasn't clear. The Beggar King's Robes wrapped around him as he left their cabin, searching for some sort of insight.

"Dual cultivating, huh?" Omilaena popped up beside him and slapped his butt, though it was almost perfunctory. "I have a more boring duty for you, dear husband: make the trainees shut up."

"What's this?" Kai asked. He could hear some sparring throughout the ship, but nothing shocking.

"Juray and I are doing some good work, but their bickering keeps distracting us. My solution would involve copious application of poison, so maybe you'd better take care of it."

"Sure, I'll check on them."

"By the way, we're getting closer to some results, so you should look forward to something new and get ready for some dual cultivation of our own." Omilaena gave him an exaggerated wink. "We're going to need some raw materials."

Kai would look forward to that, but he was distracted by what she'd said about the trainees arguing. The group seemed to have bonded during their stay on Darkmist Island and he'd always imagined them as a tightly-knit team, so the possibility of real conflict troubled him. He'd wanted to return to Deadwaste with a unified army.

When he searched out the sounds with his monstrous hearing, Kai thought he detected a fight more aggressive than mere sparring on the back deck of the Clanless. He bounded in that direction, nearly bowling over Mariyay, who was staring toward the fight. She retreated, perhaps to get out of his way, but also oddly quickly, like she was avoiding him.

No time to think about that: Cragrila and Untariin appeared to be trying to kill one another.

Kai hadn't gotten a chance to see the Krysali fighter in action, so he hesitated for a moment, watching. Untariin was practically juggling knives, generating new crystal ones before hurling them at his opponent with real anger. Yet despite the number of knives he had in the air, when he touched one, it was always a firm grip preparing him for a serious attack. Meanwhile, Cragrila swept her spear in an aggressive arc, not only deflecting his knives, but shattering them entirely.

She turned one sweeping movement into a thrust that seemed deadly serious, aiming for his heart. Untariin barely managed to dodge and hurled another knife at the same time, directly at her face. Cragrila shifted her shoulder and the knife exploded against the crystals growing from her body.

Despite the fact that they seemed serious, Kai didn't think they'd kill each other in the next few seconds, so he took the time to examine Untariin's soul.

<

Name: Untariin of Cuulisi

Total Power: 257

Crystal Cultivation: 9999 (125)

Physique: E-9 (107)

Soul Level: 5 (25)

>

He had a total of 257 Power - among the top trainees - coming from crystal cultivation and Physique that seemed locked at local maximums. In a way, he was like the inverse of many crystalliers Kai had fought: they relied on raw power, while Untariin was much more skilled than his strength suggested. Perhaps in the past he would have been given a lot more crystals and made into a Diamond Crystallier.

Both of them drew blood in the next exchange. Kai noted that as strong as Untariiin was, he didn't stand a chance against Cragrila. She was fighting to subdue him, while he was using lethal techniques, either out of the anger flashing in his eyes or just desperation.

"Enough!" Kai stepped in between them and activated Famished World. The aura sent Cragrila staggering back to the railing of the ship, while Untariin dropped to one knee and clutched the side of his head. "What is this about?"

When he deactivated Famished World, the two of them recovered. They didn't exactly look chastised, but at least they weren't trying to kill each other anymore.

"This one revealed his true intentions," Cragrila said with an accusatory finger. "He wants to undo the revolution and enslave the crystal miners again."

"I'm not enslaving anyone," Untariin spat back. "You just flipped the social order, and now people like me are made the new slaves."

"A little discomfort only seems like slavery if you have no idea what the real thing is."

"Your revolution took everything. It left us penniless, robbed me of my future, threw my parents into the street to-"

"Their fortune was built on the slave labor of-"

"Okay." Kai raised a hand and, to their credit, they both stopped arguing. He used his other hand to rub his eyes. "I guess it's inevitable that we need to talk about this. Cragrila, you know I'm sympathetic to you, but before the incursion isn't the right time to relitigate Krysali problems. Can I trust you to understand that?"

She sighed as she nodded, and he trusted her to be responsible. That left Untariin, and it now seemed logical why the young man hadn't engaged with him directly. In fact, based on the flashing anger in his eyes, Untariin might blame Kai even more for taking away his future.

And he wasn't entirely wrong.

"Alright, the two of us should talk." Kai stepped closer and took Untariin's shoulder, gently guiding him away from the training deck to one of the paths along the side. With the wind whipped past them, they should be able to have a private conversation.

"Is this where you kick me out?" Untariin demanded. "Or actually throw me over the side?"

"Is that the sort of thing you think I'd do?" Kai asked.

"Based on your track record, it's hard to guess what you might do next."

"I guess that's fair. But I have an important question for you: if you had the power to change Krysal, would you make things go back to the way they were before?"

Untariin stared at him for a long time, anger fading to skepticism. Eventually he turned to lean against the railing and spoke slowly. "No. I think a lot of the revolutionaries are a bloodthirsty mob, no better than the worst nobles... but... not worse. They made us see the mines and acid pits, and conditions there were bad. Krysal shouldn't go back to the old ways."

It was hard to know if Untariin was just saying what he thought Kai wanted to hear, but there seemed to be some sincerity in his voice. "Did you know about them before?" Kai asked.

"I'm not going to lie and say I had no idea. I knew, it just... wasn't what I was thinking about. I was trying to be the best crystallier I could. I figured the others just had their place, same as officials or city workers."

"That's how it usually goes."

They lapsed into silence for a time, staring off into the sky. It was still ocean on all sides, but in a strange way Kai could feel that Deadwaste was over the eastern horizon. Soon enough this pure world of training and preparation would disappear and they'd be plunged back into the politics.

"You didn't know who I was," Untariin said abruptly. "Now that you know I'm a former noble, are you kicking me out?"

"Oh, I heard about that before." Kai shook his head. "The reason I fought in the revolution was because I want to help people who have been treated unfairly by life. You've been lucky in some ways... but life has been unfair to you too. If you're sincere about fighting the incursion, I'll do what I can to help you."

"My city was in the east, I saw what the incursions could do. But... I can't fight in Krysal. They wouldn't want me there. If you can get me somewhere else, I promise, I'll do everything I can."

"We'll have to think about where you might fit in," Kai said, then put a hand on the younger man's shoulder. "But first, let's get working on that Physique."