The emperor and his regent walked into the downstairs area fluidly. When they walked in, they found all 69 in the room's center, chatting happily.
Kaze chuckled when he saw them. After his last session, everyone was so excited, nervous, or [afraid] that they assembled in the cultivation area an hour in advance.
"Kaze!"
"Hey, Kaze!"
"Emperor Scrawn!"
An explosion of hellos and suck-up statements assaulted him instantly.
However, everyone quieted down when they saw a familiar face.
Jacob Hays.
The scrawny geek with pockmarks, messy hair, and glasses less than a month ago was half as transformed as Kaze—so completely different.
He wore a light green button-up shirt, charcoal grey slacks, black leather shoes, and a matching belt.
His haircut was professional and well-tailored and suited his dirty blonde hair.
Most importantly—
Jake wasn't a virgin anymore, and everyone didn't need to know that Veronica seduced him to sense that.
The man was also far more tone, and the people with Minor Vision were awe-struck by his Qi breathing. It made everyone present look like a joke.
It wasn't just his [Sky's Breath] cultivation technique that made him impressive—it was his Qi breathing, which was pathetic compared to Kaze's but vastly superior to everyone else's.
Everyone knew that they were far behind.
However, they felt inspired because Kaze and Jake had one thing in common—skill in cultivation.
The misleading interpretation was that cultivation was the key to success and beauty as if it could make a person smart, capable, and fashionable.
Nevertheless, it made their hearts burn with the desire to improve.
"This is where you introduce yourself." Kaze smiled mockingly.
"Um…." Jake swallowed nervously. Then he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, ignoring the emperor's twitching eyebrow.
The regent opened his eyes fluidly and addressed everyone.
"My name is Jacob Hays, and three weeks ago, Kaze told me that if I didn't help him, I'd [die a hopeless virgin on the cusp of despair]. Jake chuckled.
After a moment of stunned silence, everyone exploded with laughter.
"Well, I helped Kaze and now I'm not a virgin nor on the cusp of despair." He continued, "So I guess getting berated constantly has its benefits."
More laughter followed; many were rolling on the ground dry-heaving.
Veronica blushed and turned away but giggled, pleased by his social progress.
Kaze smiled wryly. Everything about what he was seeing was bitter-sweet.
Caustically-sweet.
Murderously-sweet.
Treasonously-sweet.
If the person speaking weren't Jake, the emperor would cut the man down where he stood.
Establishing authority was tantamount to leadership. So, like Evalyn, Kaze let him do as he wished.
Jake looked at his clothing and grabbed it slightly. "I thought that I'd die before dressing like this. But here I am, still confused about how I ended up wearing this."
More people burst into laughter.
"This guy just showed up at my house and ran my wallet dry, lecturing me the whole time." He chuckled, making everyone gasp, "It was mortifying, but… it's not so bad, right?"
Kaze smiled, watching the strange self-deprecation humor. His regent was simply telling the truth and pointing out the absurdity, but that's all it took to become popular.
"You want to hear something funny?" Jake chuckled in disbelief, triggering everyone to fall silent in anticipation, "I loaned him money for a haircut and some clothing, and he gave me $1,000,000 two weeks later.
I spent three nights panicking that the FBI would show up thinking I was a drug dealer."
Everyone erupted in laughter, many rolling on the ground, clutching their stomachs. Everything the students heard was horrifyingly absurd.
"But that's not the funny part." The regent chuckled, "When he sent me that million, he said [while this doesn't repay my debt to you, it's due interest].
I swear to god, those were his exact words."
People dry heaved on the carpet, desperately trying to breathe, and Veronica's lips curved upward in amusement.
"Imagine how confused I was when I filmed him fighting people with crazy kung fu and somehow that resulted in him giving me the cultivation technique that led me here." He chuckled breathlessly.
Everyone's eyes widened in shock.
"That's right." Jake smiled, "That's how we met. I did him a [small favor] by filming his conversation with Evalyn in case he needed to defend himself from her friends.
Just a random video. That's all it took to transform from a hopeless virgin on the cusp of despair into… this."
He looked at his shirt again and grabbed his slacks.
The students overcame their shock and erupted into laughter again.
"So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that if Kaze could build up a hopeless virgin on the cusp of despair, imagine what he can do for you." Jake smiled.
"He's an arrogant jerk, berates me constantly, and doesn't tell me shit, but things always work out… somehow."
Everyone burst into laughter when they saw Kaze's twitching face.
The regent turned to the emperor with a wry smile that said [what else was I supposed to say?]
The emperor returned a murderous look that said [anything but that, you swindling buffoon!]
"He's good to people when they trust him and respect him." Jake said honestly.
The students fell quiet for a moment. They finally felt like the regent got to the point: the sales pitch.
"A lot of respect." He chuckled, "Like, an obsessive amount of respect."
Everyone burst into laughter again, including Kaze, who didn't mind him advertising his desires.
"I suppose I should get to the point." Jake said nervously, "I'm here to help with your cultivation for the next five days before you entertain the main faction."
Everyone fell silent for a moment and listened intently.
"I'm not Kaze, obviously." He continued, "But everyone with Minor Sight can see I'm more than ample enough to help people between lessons."
Over forty students could use the technique now that they had time to practice, so two-thirds of the room fell silent, and those who didn't have the technique down stared at everyone else's gobsmacked expressions.
"Once again, I'll be here once a day for five days." Jake continued, "During that time, we plan to turn you into elites strong enough to be incomparable to the main faction members."
Everyone's eyes trembled in shock, turning to Kaze for confirmation.
The emperor gave them mocking smiles before ignoring them.
"That way, when you're introduced, we can say that you were elites from the beginning." Jake explained, "No one can claim favoritism if you're miles ahead of them; that's what we aim to do."
Excited cheers waved through the area on his words.
"There are a few more things you should know." He continued, trying to retain his composure.
"You're only here for five days; for that reason, I will not answer any questions about affairs outside these walls.
If you ask me one of those questions, I won't teach you."
Everyone fell silent; even Kaze was surprised by the man's boldness.
"Each of you has an insurmountable advantage over everyone in the faction and world because of Kaze." Jake continued, letting his unnaturally bold voice drown out the sound of his beating heart.
"If you can't respect his desire for mutually beneficial secrecy for five days, I won't help you.
My policy isn't a directive from Kaze. You can confirm that by the look of surprise on his face."
Kaze was indeed openly surprised, making everyone chuckle in bewilderment. They had never seen him look confused before.
"In case you're wondering why that door is there, it's because we cannot enforce the seven days of secrecy without it." Jake explained, looking at the steel door.
"We'd risk your elite treatment devolving into a riot if there was a single leak. That's all."
Everyone listened to hung on his every word, far more trusting than when Kaze spoke.
He locked eyes with everyone.
"There's nothing more to explain." Jake said dryly, "If you're not out of this room in five days, complain then.
I'm here to teach you; that's all I'll do. Is that clear?"
A few students nodded and the agreement spread through the area.
"Thank you. I look forward to teaching you all and helping you become Immortal Skye elites." He said with a slight bow.
Everyone exploded in cheers.
The emperor looked at his regent with a satisfied expression. He was pleasantly surprised by Jake's actions, especially because he could hear the man's heart beating like a war drum.
Kaze clapped to get everyone's attention. "Okay, now that you've met Jake, let's get started, shall we? Let's start with Qi channel tracing."
Everyone nodded and set to work.
When practice started, Jake frowned. There was a group of women that the men avoided like the plague.
There were a disproportionate amount of females in the group. As a result, there was always someone without a partner.
However, the men wanted to network with as many women as possible, so there was shifting.
When shifts occurred, not a single man or woman looked at the group of women, and when one asked a man, they explained they had prior commitments.
It was the most depressing sight he had ever seen.
"Kaze, why are those women being avoided?" Jake asked, turning to the emperor, "They're pretty and seem like popular women, so I don't understand."
"Oh them?" Kaze chuckled, "They think I'm a serial killer, and those with common sense ignore them because they don't want to get on our bad side."
"I see…." The regent cringed, conflicted, "Should I—"
"You're a leader, Jake." The emperor declared dryly, "You have your directives; accomplish them however you wish.
As a leader, you must make decisions and take responsibility for your actions.
p
So long as you're willing to bear the impact and don't perform unforgivable actions, you can act and learn from it."
Jake swallowed nervously and began to act, but the emperor stopped him.
"Before you do that, you must think." Kaze said sternly, "Right now, everyone's happy and satisfied, and those people are more bitter than before.
Those people are the only thing standing between you and accomplishing your goal.
Ask yourself if it's worth risking everyone destabilizing for the happiness of the few who cannot be pleased.
If you decide to help them, remember that it wasn't necessary if you fail."
Jake tried to turn to the emperor, but the man vanished out of thin air, which bewildered everyone who saw the warping space.
Kaze had a far more pressing and deadly concern to deal with—his soul.
Only one thing would fix it—other people's souls.
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