Chapter 27- The Aura of a Ruler

'There's 6 weeks till the competition to become a core disciple. Maybe I can reach the 12th Stage of Foundation Establishment before it. I should try refining the seeds that are left in my body since I can't remove them.'

Maxwell was moved while immersed in his thoughts back to his master's cave.

"You fought off those assassins easily. I must say even I couldn't perform so well."

"Weren't you supposed to help me grow stronger safely?" Maxwell asked after realizing what happened.

"You won't grow in a peaceful paradise."

"That's fair but what if I lost?"

"You didn't lose, that's all that matters. Now start cultivating, let me fix your mistakes."

Maxwell sat down cross legged and started cultivating. He took deep breaths and meditated. With every breath he absorbed the qi around him.

His master brought out a regular wooden rod and poked Maxwell on his back, making him adjust his posture from a curved and slouched back to a straight back.

"Wrong, this is so wrong, stop."

"What was wrong? I cultivate extremely fast with what I normally do."

"Firstly, let your aura reign free. The qi you need will come to you. They will feel the call of your affinity, it's like a moth being drawn to a fire, the stronger your affinity, the brighter and larger is your fire.

Right now, you're absorbing all the qi near you. It might seem safe, but you can absorb the wrong qi and suffer terrible consequences."

Maxwell let out his caged aura. It ran rampant out of its restrictions, and it made him seem like the ultimate monarch that stood undefeated. It was glorious and imposing, but it wasn't suffocating. Anyone who saw this sight would immediately be filled with awe just like Maxwell's master. This was in fact the first time Maxwell had let out his full aura.

'What an aura! It can nearly make me, a martial saint, kneel in respect. No Emperor has possessed an aura of such grandeur and majesty.'

In a single second, Maxwell was covered in coatings of the qi around him, all the qi in the cave stuck to him. There was so much qi that it could be seen as a multi-colored mass. This colorful spectrum was speckled with rare dots of purple and even rarer dots of black. All the qi veiled Maxwell in a dazzling sight. Maxwell then unleashed his Lightning Dragon. The qi started compressing and combining as if they were being reattached together. The spectrum turned gold and lustrous before being absorbed into Maxwell's body. The qi seemed to change every single meridian in Maxwell's body, expanding them and also tinging his blood very slightly gold.

Maxwell's dantian was filled with the gold qi and all of it was absorbed. Maxwell broke through and felt something he hadn't, it was his Spiritual Sea. His spiritual sea housed his soul and for the first time, he could feel it. Without his past life memories, he would have never been able to realize that he had upgraded his Spiritual Sea.

Niel stood amazed at the sight. He was still in shock and comprehending what he had just seen.

"Ahem." Maxwell cleared his throat to get back his attention.

"Oh yes, excellent. You broke through almost immediately. I won't pry into your secrets, but I would recommend you hide yourself as much as possible when you are cultivating." His master quickly regained his composure and responded.

"What stage of foundation did you reach, master?"

"I reached stage 13 after a long, long time of cultivating. I have faith that you can do much better based on your current progress.

"Here's one of the most important Space Techniques that I have collected. It's called Call of the Void. Once you use it on someone, they will be sucked into Space Cracks. It's not easy to pull off but once you use it successfully you are guaranteed to win at the price of most of your qi. It is an excellent trump card for a one-on-one fight."

"Thank you master, I'll learn it by the end of this week."

"Okay, I'll transmit you here next week. Only cultivate with a small amount of your aura, weak formations won't hide the full glory of it."

"I will be going now master, bye!"

Maxwell was sent straight into his house. He went to his small garden and set up quick formations to nourish the plants before he forgot. He gave some of the golden qi he had collected to each plant. A drop fell onto the leaves and the herb experienced a miraculous change. Its stem grew three-fold and new green leaves grew in seconds. White buds also formed and nearly bloomed. It was like time had sped up for the plant. Once Maxwell had given each herb a drop of qi his yard of small saplings had transformed into a proper garden with some vibrant flowers.

'The yard is looking much better. Now I need to recover my qi.'

For the rest of the week, Maxwell practiced his newly received technique along with his other techniques. Halfway through the week, he was informed by Leonidas that there was going to be an auction at the city at the foot of the mountain. It was sure to have a lot of his fellow disciples participating. They could change their points into Spirit Stones.

His master transmitted him as agreed to his cave and tested his progress on the technique. He also passed on his knowledge on how to find weak spots in space to target for the most efficiency or in case of a dire situation. Maxwell cultivated there for an hour and refined one of the seeds in his body. It caused him to breakthrough again. He couldn't cultivate there for long as he wasn't officially his master's disciple, and he was supposed to be in the inner sect.

On the day of the auction, after informing the manager of the inner sect Maxwell headed to the foot of the mountain. The city there wasn't too large, but it was bustling with trade. A large portion of the people in the city were the students of the Roaring Dragon Sect.

The city had more stores than houses and their profits relied largely upon the sect. The city was under direct protection from the sect, so people lived there because of its safety. The branch of the treasure pavilion there was a busy place. The treasure pavilion didn't discriminate among its customers, and everyone was welcome. It was particularly busy because of the auction and Maxwell noticed many of his juniors and seniors entering.

Maxwell had arrived in regular clothing to not be recognized. He was vigilant against assassins even if he knew there was supposed to be someone protecting him in the dark. He showed his VIP card to the attendant inconspicuously and prevented him from acting surprised on seeing it. On the way to the VIP room, he saw a person he didn't want to, out of the corner of his eye. It was Hamilton, the sect leader's son.

'Let's avoid him, he's a spoilt kid and he will not let me get away.'

He went to the VIP room that was not as grand as the one in the capital, but still very magnificently decorated. He could hear Hamilton's arrogant voice demanding the best VIP room with disregard for the Treasure Pavilion's strength.

"Sir, I'm afraid we can't do that. We have strict rules and only owners of a VIP card can enter them." The manager of the branch attempted to handle the situation to protect his poor employees.

"Then give me one of those VIP cards, I'm the son of the Roaring Dragon Sect leader."

"Each organization can only receive one official VIP card; we aren't able to issue one for you. Even if I could I don't have the authority to hand them out."

"What now? This is outrageous, mere employees dare to go against me. I'll tell my father to stop cooperation, let's see what you can do then."

"I wonder if he would break our partnership because of this, after all we supply a lot of important resources. I'm sure he wouldn't be pleased." The manager's response shocked Hamilton who was always used to things going his way. Maxwell was satisfied with how the manager acted. He wasn't a pushover, but he would try to deescalate a situation peacefully without any hostility.

Hamilton stormed away, his footsteps causing loud noises. He went to his small VIP room that his father had purchased for him that contained only a couch to sit on in an enclosed room. He was very angry, and he was very close to exploding in rage and losing control. Luckily, there was nothing in the room for him to express his rage on other than the cushions beneath him.

After handling the situation the manager knocked on the door of Maxwell's room.

"Yes?"

"Sir, it's the manager of this branch of the treasure pavilion. I wish to speak to you."

"Enter." Maxwell responded.