After the sect master left Arc paced around he wasn't sure if he should tell Aurora about this
Since she kept it a secret from the sect master finding out he figured it out and confronted Arc using that as leverage
This could very much cause a "familiar dispute" , and Arc also doesn't want to worry Aurora
Arc exhausted decided to not say anything for now, and just headed for bed
Normally a cultivator can use cultivation to replace sleep, but Arc's wyrm sutra codex is extremely taxing on the body so sleeping occasionally can help his recovery speeds
When he awoke the next morning he found that at some point ink-star had left the flag and was attempting to read one of the many books on his walls
He had a serious expression on his face as he read the book, finding it incredibly fascinating
When Arc turned his head to see the cover he noticed that it was a cookbook he has bought previously
Arc laughed lightly catching ink-star's attention, who immediately started speaking
"I didn't know making good food was so complicated"
"Yeah it takes lots of effort to make something tasty"
Arc nodded as he responded
They chatted for a while, to be honest it was just Arc answering ink-star's seemingly endless questions, before then beginning to cultivate
A flood of spirit energy entered Arc's body responding to the pull of his intent. This energy would flow through him tempering his body before coursing through the flag planted beside him
Then through the painting on its fabric the immortal city, the dragon; Ink-Star stirred within the ink.
His shadow shimmered across the flag's surface, as he mimicked Arc's actions calling upon more spirit energy
His energy would flow through Arc and Arc's energy would flow through him, creating a cycle that increased the purity of both their mana
Arc felt the gaseous mana within his body bloat before condensation seemingly unstable as if the formation of a gas giant before pulled together by gravity
Suddenly a something came out of the formation flag wrapping around Arc's body
Ink-Star's presence emerged from the painting, not physically this time, but spiritually.
He coiled around his dad's soul, lending his own spirit to increase the flow of energy.
The two point cycle had just became a three point cycle, as while Arc and ink-star's souls resonate, ink-star's body had the innate ability to absorb spirit energy
Thus Arc's cultivation speed increased exponentially this was not without cost though
Arc felt no gentle flow of qi, no nurturing warmth; This was force; destructive and dangerous with a pressure that caused each breath to feel like inhaling molten iron.
His veins bulged across his neck; bones creaked beneath the force, The energy entered his limbs with the force of a train.
His muscles convulsed as spirit energy and world qi overloaded every fiber of his being, causing them to tear and reknit in an instant.
He could feel the microscopic ruptures snapping one after another as the newly forced mana rebuilds them under greater tension. Thicker, tighter, stronger.
Ink-star could sense the pain Arc felt through their soul residence yet he also felt Arc's emotions and they were bland almost completely unbothered
To him this was normal, this was to be expected cultivation is to struggle and grow physically and mentally
These feelings brought confusing feelings to ink-star as it began questioning why Arc would something painful to himself
Ink-star being a dragon felt no pain from the cultivation technique because unlike Arc whose body was modified due to his physique
Dragon's instinctively use body tempering arts naturally, it doesn't put any real stress on their bodies
Similar to human's using normal spirit cultivation arts
He would put himself through this pain and yet deep within his subconscious he found it no different than breathing normally
Even with his ignorance ink-star knew that was abnormal and strange yet this was his creator so whether or not its normal doesn't change a thing
He would aid him wherever he could, but this was a lack of hesitation that disturbed him. The way his dad threw himself into it. Like a man jumping off a cliff,
After a few hours Arc concluded his cultivation time, he stretched out his body before deciding to go see Aurora to ask for advice on where he could get a higher quality pen
As his previous one shattered after painting ink-star, leaving him in a situation where he was unable to draw or paint anything else
Arc knocked on her door and upon opening it Aurora invited him in, ink-star immediately jumped out of Arc's spirit ring
He flew onto Arc's head before asking
"Hey Arc, who is this?"
"This is Aurora, she is my love" Arc said enthusiastically
The dragon nodded gently before saying "hi mom!"
Aurora's smile faltered for a second before she responded. "call me Aurora "
After taking a deep breath Aurora looked at ink-star seemingly analyzing it
"It really is incredible, i see no faults and it seems to have a complete bloodline"
"If i didn't watch him jump out of the painting that first time i would have no way of knowing he came from a drawing"
Arc nodded proud of his work, "yes he was my most ambitious painting yet, and now he is alive and well"
"To be perfectly honest it almost felt like a fluke, i doubt i will never make a painting of that quality again, though i will definitely try"
Aurora nodded understanding the feeling as she had similar experience in the forge
"Oh yeah that reminds me I wanted to ask you a question, do you know where I can get a first or second order pen?"
"Since my normal pen broke i wanted go get an upgrade"
Aurora thought for a moment before shaking her head. "No sorry I don't have a clue, i know how to make a carving pen for inscription, but art is outside my expertise"
" My best guess would be that Luton might have some knowledge on that considering that he is a practitioner of magic-craft
He may not be an artist, but he does often have to draw magic formations, and magic circles, so he probably does have a decent idea of where to get a good pen"
Arc nodded his head before asking a question that he had previously wondered about
" What's the difference between spells and magic craft?; you guys keep making the distinction, but I don't really know the difference between them."
Aurora laughed lightly before speaking " I forget you're still new to this; spells use the spirit energy within one's body"
" Magic-craft is the process of using your mental power to manifest "spells effects" through the energy known as mana"
" it is an energy outside of our plane of existence, but it can be accessed through the use of mental power regardless of location "
" I remember telling you previously that other worlds have different power systems, this is one of those power systems"
" and it's probably one of the most unique ones as mana does not exist within real space, it exists in its own dimension, made up entirely of energy"
Arc's eyes widened as he had never considered the possibility that Mana truly existed when he "stole" the name for his energy
Arc muttered to himself 'it seems that i will need to change the name since it's already taken'
Arc then asked "if mana can be used anywhere and everywhere, why isn't it a power system that we are taught"
Aurora thought for a moment before responding "i did speak about that to Luton previously but all he said was that cultivation was qualitative, and mana was quantitative without going into to much detail"
"He also said that he can only use mana to such a high level due to having a nascent soul"
She then took a seat at her table, Arc glanced over and saw stacks upon stacks of documents, contracts and tax forms
Each elder in the sect was required to manage their "area" in its entirety, Aurora being a grand elder would have to review all documents and approve any changes
This of course was split among the sect master, Aurora and Luton, and well now this also includes the librarian
As a elder in the foundation establishment realm, he usually would not have the authority to do such,
Usually only grand elders have such authority as to prevent a rise in corruption within the sect as in the age of the sect master corruption was rampant
But considering the old man's wisdom, His unique position of being one of the eldest people living in the sect, and the fact he was raised there
The sect master decided to take the risk believing he was loyal, "Allowing" him to work filling in Aurora's position during the time of her advancement
This risk greatly aided their sect for it had significantly decreased their workload, so they "permanently" gave him a seat
Yet even with his aid, the territory of the black mountain sect was far to large, thus Aurora is still frequently held back due to her work
Especially in a situation like this, where both the sect master and Aurora would be leaving the sect for an unknown period of time
Arc wondered the possibility of "streamlining" the management system of the black mountain sect was possible
Sadly he lacked the necessary skill to aid in such a department, making him unable to help
With the information he needed Arc thanked Aurora before taking his leave he didn't want to bother her further due to her workload
'I don't really know Luton personally, going to him just to ask a favor would be extremely rude, especially since the last time we met he had already gifted me something'
Arc muttered to himself before shaking his head, and thinking
'I can go to the marketplace near the city perhaps someone selling talismans will have an extra pen'
With that thought in his head Arc started descending the mountain, in hopes of finding a new pen
Arc stood at the edge of the bustling market square, the scent of spirit herbs and roasting beast meat drifting through the air.
The vendor's shouted over one another seemingly trying to get the attention of any potential buyer
Arc hadn't been to the marketplace in a very long time usually he shops directly within the city
He was unable to do so in this situation due to the fact that rune pen's don't feel comfortable with his hand
In his opinion rather than a pen, it was more like a paintbrush, Arc prefers something more like a calligraphy pen for his own art style
But he has become increasingly aware the mortal pens would no longer be viable for him while painting due to the powerful unique method, he will be using his "mana"
This had made him consider forging a high-quality calligraphy pen, but that would take time to design one from scratch
He would soon be leaving so it's better to just find something he can use for now
Arc followed the scent of ink and burnt cinnabar that clung to the air, while giggling at the fact that he was like a hound
Arc found the market place quite lively and while on his path toward a talisman vendor, he took a look at many of the stalls
Many of the them manded by rogue cultivator and outer disciples, and on occasion an inner disciple making Arc appear out of place
Stall owners would stop and bow, hawkers stopped mid-pitch as to not annoy him,
the beasts would stop struggling within their cages, and submitted to Arc seemingly terrified of his presence
Which brought fear from everyone in the marketplace, unaware the beast were simply showing respect to "one spirit beast superior to them"
Then Arc finally arrived to a talisman stall, he looked over to the vendor who seemed to be almost shaking
"Do you have any high quality pens for sale" Arc asked calmly and casually
which calmed down the vendor as he pulled out a box containing several pens
He then spoke "yes senor brother, these are the pens i'm currently selling if you would like to test them i can offer the talisman paper"
Arc found the vendor quite clever, seemingly attempting to gain back ground and gain a positive impression from Arc
Arc looked at the pens and found three that had a metal tip, the rest being brushes
Seeing as the man already offered the paper to test the pen, Arc grabbed a sheet and took one of the pen's
While Arc didn't know to make talismans he knew certain art techniques that had similar effects so he decided to use one of those to test the pen
Every stall quieted as many outlookers seemed to want to burn this into their memories, they wanted to know the gap between them and the core diciples
The moment the pen touched the paper everyone present felt the shift in Arc's precision before it was only felt by the beasts within their cages
But now they truly understood why, every cell within their bodies seemed to shake before Arc
This crushing pressure seemed to press everyone's heads down, this was not something Arc did on purpose
This was just the pressure born from the higher pure "mana" contained within his body
Only when releasing aura would someone know the true dept of the person before them
His pen moved fast lines soon overlapped and changed color and shape, not once did his pen dip into ink yet the painting took form anyways
A thick layer of black and white fur, large claws and a and a long tail; a tiger took form
Large and threatening, those watching seemingly felt the blood on it's breath and they could feel the hate in its eyes
At that moment Arc lifted his pen and nodded his head seemingly impressed with the pen
"This is a good pen, I'll take it" arc handed the painting over to the vendor before explaining how it works
"The tiger within can be pulled out ten times before the intent dissipates, it has the strength of a half-step foundation establishment"
This brought a sweat to all those in the market, as to the average cultivator foundation establishment was the end goal
Yet this core disciple could paint something similar in strength to a level most of them would never reach
The vendor was overwhelmed and thrilled as he thanked Arc and bowed towards him
This was a good live saving measure, even though it has limited uses,
he doesn't believe he will need to use it very much, nuclear bombs are most threatening with the finger on the button
Thus this deterrent will help him for a very long time period in his opinion
After completing his goal, Arc decided to just wander around the marketplace to see if he could find something interesting
Much to his dismay, he didn't find anything good and the originally interesting turned stale as everyone was clearly terrified of him
With that being said Arc departed back to the first peak and began cultivating
Time quickly passed and it was now the departure time,
Due to its far distance they will be taking a ship to a city far south and from there take a carriage to the devil crow valley,
the ship being used is large boat; larger than any battleship from earth, being almost entirely made of iron wood and covered with formations and runes
It had power defensive capabilities, that could withstand the attacks of a late stage golden core if necessary, and it's speed was extraordinary
Arc stood on the ship watching it break the waves rapidly as the wind blew like a storm due to the speed
Ink-star small head poked out of Arc's robes and was quite excited to take in the new sights looking at the ocean was something he had never done before
Just the Arc felt a hand pat his shoulder, he turned around to find that Iris was trying to catch his attention
"Hey Arc, how are you feeling about the tournament?; since master made is clear she is choosing you to fight"
Arc rubbed his chin slightly before responding "well as long as they don't send a late stage foundation establishment, i should have a decent chance"
Iris seemed relieved to hear his confidence, she was worried that Aurora pushed this onto Arc without to much though
After all there is a reason Mia is Aurora's student, they are extremely similar
but at the same time Aurora has a century of experience making her more reliable, thus putting the monster know as Archean within the competition
Iris of course is simply unaware of Arc's strength after all they have only met a handful of times; even then Iris had been cultivating for Aurora for years while Arc just appeared one day
After conversing with Iris; Arc glanced around at everyone else who was on the ship
It wasn't many, it included the Sect master and three of his students one being wuji, Aurora, him and Iris, a handful of inner diciples
As well as a couple of outer disciples and handyman whom were brought around to bascelly act as servants and workers during the trip
Overall there were less than fifty people present, making Arc wonder why they took such a large ship most probably just for the prestige and the name of the sect
After awhile ink-star couldn't take being inside Arc's robes and jumped out and began flying around Arc
The other while surprised remembered that Arc already has a spirit beast bear
This the made the assumption that he is a beast tamer of sorts and this was perhaps just a rare spirit beast he got his hands on
Ink-star flew up to the crows nest and looked to the distance "it's beautiful"
As the journey progressed, Ink-Star's curiosity remained insatiable. He flew around the ship, examining every crevice, every corner, occasionally startling the disciples flying by them at rapid speeds