Sunday, August 26th, 2046
Lost Base, Kunlun Mountains, China
Keith and Rouxi exited the military helicopter and took a good look at the base that was situated at the end of a vast cold desert.
The wooden Pagoda which stood over a hundred feet tall, was quite a remarkable piece of architecture and vibrant with history and majesty. And what was interesting was that its outlines were plated with pure gold, which made them sparkle under the sunlight.
A few monks walked out to greet them, each wearing a different coloured robe, but with dark tones, and after they bowed to them, Keith gave the na of the place he wanted to go to and showed them his God Ring.
"Shangri-La."
The Monk who was wearing the black robe with a golden serpentine dragon on it, imdiately bowed to him again before he turned around to walk to the back of the Pagoda.
Minutes later, the man returned with two beautiful bay-coloured Kabardin Horses with saddles on them, and Rouxi's eyes imdiately lit up at seeing those beautiful creatures.
"Two days," The Monk inford them and then bowed to them again.
Keith smiled and nodded to him before he gently traced his hand to the face of the horse that Rouxi had left for him.
He had to admit that these monks took great care of these horses as they were in perfect health, and they were quite the cheerful creatures too, not shy in the least.
"Thank you."
Minutes later, the husband and wife were being taken to the mountains by their horses, who knew where to go, and Rouxi just enjoyed her ti as she looked around the beautiful place.
"You know, if we run, we can reach the place sooner?" He said to her, but she adamantly shook her head.
"This is fun. I want to go there in the traditional way."
"Is that so?" He chuckled and did talk about it again.
For hours, the two of them travelled in silence, and though Rouxi curiously looked at him from ti to ti, catching him reading a book, she kept her focus mostly on their beautiful surroundings.
At first, it was all fun and peaceful, but as hours went by, and the sun started setting, she beca a little dissatisfied with him for only keeping his head in the book.
"Keith."
"Yes?"
"Let's stop by that stream." She pointed towards the flowing water, and he nodded to her before he smiled and offered her the book he had been reading.
"What's this?" She asked as she guided her horse closer and accepted it.
"An encyclopedia."
She curiously raised her brow but then her eyes widened as she opened the first page and saw an image of a beautiful creature with its na and detailed information on it.
"All the Magical Beasts that are classified under the Heaven Rank are listed in it." He told her, and she imdiately looked at the index and jumped over to the section of horses.
She did not even realise that as the sun disappeared and the light dimd, her eyes turned to their athyst shade to help her see better in the dark. Even as Keith set up their tent and took out so fruits to feed the horses, she just sat on top of the boulder, next to the stream, and kept looking through the Magical Beast Encyclopedia with a smile on her face.
"Don't you want to eat?" He asked as he created a wooden table and chairs for them, and then brought out a al that he had been keeping in the storage ring.
"Keith." She brightly smiled at him as she stood up and walked towards the table. "Do you know about the Alkaynian Horses?"
"Beautiful, aren't they?" He asked back as she sat down, and Rouxi then enthusiastically chatted with him about them.
"They are the most beautiful non-winged horses!" She declared and then told him about everything she now knew about them.
"Do you know that they are 11 feet tall on average? And the tallest are as tall as 13 feet?" He teasingly asked as she expressed her desire to get one for herself.
"Kiara told that we will keep growing taller and taller as we grow stronger."
"True."
"And they are capable of manipulating their size." She grinned, and he chuckled at her words before nodding his head.
For hours to co, even after they finished their al, Rouxi kept talking to him about all the Magical Horses and even listed the ones she wanted to bring in Aerzar.
If he had left her to her own devices, she would have stayed up all night reading the book, but he took her inside Aerzar with him to spend a passionate day in bed.
When they returned to Gaia, it was the hour before dawn, and the horses were well-rested and fed, all ready for the day.
Since she had covered all the Non-Winged Horses the previous day, Rouxi started looking at the Winged Horses now, and her smile never ceased.
But this ti, as they journeyed towards their destination, she did not remain quiet and chatted with him about every creature that she read about in the book.
"You have a photographic mory too, don't you?" She guessed when she listened to him not miss a single detail of any of the Magical Beasts in the Encyclopedia.
"It's better than yours." He teasingly smiled, and she rolled her eyes at his words. "I don't forget things I see, hear, or read to morise them, and I can recall them anyti I want. The sa goes for any significant event of life. But my ability is nowhere close to the Absolute mory that Rebecca possesses. She's much superior to in this regard, and, unlike , she can't forget things no matter how insignificant they are. However, that's..."
"A curse, just as much as it is a blessing," Rouxi nodded her head.
"Yes." He smiled. "At least, for a Mortal. As she grows stronger, she will keep unlocking her Powers until she has access and full control over her Absolute Mind, and it will no longer be a curse then."
"Her potential has no limit..." She frowned, knowing well that there would never be anything that Rebecca could not possibly learn in her life once she set her mind on it.
"Technically, her ntal powers will have no limit," He nodded and smiled. "She is the kind of person whom no one would want as their enemy."
"Lucky you. She is your wife and daughter."
"Lucky you. She is your sister." He grinned, and Rouxi giggled at his words.
"You have no chance of ever surpassing her in Chess."
"That's not true." He smiled. "My dear Rebecca easily gets bored of things. When she feels that no one is challenging enough, she will start focusing on other things that interest her. She will aim to better all of you in things that you are proud of."
"Is that so?"
"Yes," He confidently nodded his head, and Rouxi curiously looked at him.
"She wouldn't try to better you?"
"Of course, she would." He chuckled. "But she does not see as a challenge in the sa sense as she sees her sisters. Besides, she knows that I wouldn't care about it much if she surpassed in certain skills. She is also aware that it would never be enough as I will always stay ahead of her in certain things which can not be surpassed."
"The Blood can never best its Origin," She nodded her head, rembering the line from one of the stories that Minami had narrated to them from her storybook.
Rouxi knew very well what Blood and Origin ant because she had awakened the God Stone and officially beco the Inheritor of Nuwa now, and with her awakening, she had gained knowledge of a lot of things.
"Indeed." He smiled.
"So, which one is your favourite winged horse?"
"Arkaejin." She unhesitatingly answered. "Yours?"
"Sa."
His answer made her smile and then she started talking to him about how beautiful those Winged-Horses were.
"We will breed Arkaejin and Alkaynian Horses in Aerzar. I want to see hundreds of thousands of them in those lush fields..."
Keith nodded his head, noting down all her wishes, which aligned a lot with his own.
The two did not even pay attention to the passage of ti, and before they knew it, the sun had started sinking again, but they also entered the fabled Shangri-La, a group of valleys which were surrounded by conical mountains, whose peaks pierced the clouds that always covered the valleys, making it hard to find them from the sky.
And finally, they started seeing and sensing the presence of people too.
They had only travelled a few hundred tres into the Central Valley before they saw a group of Aurors rush towards them, all wearing black robes with golden dragons on them.
"Esteed guests, welco to the Valley of Immortals. My na is Qin Fan, and I will lead the way to our Sect."
Keith smiled at the overbearing na and chuckled in his heart at the foolishness of the Mortals who did not even know what Immortals were and yet they dared to give such a na to this place.
"Please," He nodded as he got off the horse, and Rouxi followed his lead.
The mbers of the Qin Guards took the horses away, and Qin Fan then led them to the only passage through the mountains leading to the Valley in the West, which was where the Qin Sect was situated.
At first, he was trying to keep a slow pace, but after realising that both Keith and Rouxi could keep up with him, he increased his pace and led them to the Qin Sect as fast as possible.
The guards stationed at the Mountain Gate did not even stop them when they saw the Grey Hound Aura Spirit rushing towards them, but they were quite alard at seeing that Keith and Rouxi were rushing over just as fast without even using their Aura Soul.
And then their hearts nearly dropped when their Great Ancestor suddenly appeared at the Gate to welco the Guests.
"Lord Erebus, Lady Nuwa." Qin Zhijian smiled and politely bowed when they stopped in front of him, and they returned the greeting.
"Lord Ren."
Reviews
All reviews (0)