30 Crystal City

The competition would begin in little over a month. Crystal City was at a distance that would take a day for a round trip in a carriage, and the tournament would take three days to complete. That meant that Shui would be away from the Primordial Library for four days at the least! That meant he would have 400 hours less to improve himself. That was equivalent to him being knocked out for about seventeen days! Since this was the case, Shui hoped the experience he would gain from watching the competition would truly be worth it.

Though he resigned himself to not having those four days, he still planned on maximizing his time and effort. He spent less time reading books and more time cultivating and practicing inscriptions. Anything that he thought he would need to know for the trip was mesmerized and digested outside of his Library time.

Since he had attained a one-star saint body, it got much harder for Shui to feel tired, and he still did his daily jog. However, he also set aside a time for meditation. During this time, he would sit on the boulder in the center of the lake at the waterfall, and attempt to sense the transcendent force from the nature around him while lifting orbs of water with his martial intent. Moving liquids was much more troublesome than moving solids so it was good training, and though he would only occasionally sense any transcendent force, he was still refining his connection to his body.

A week before the inter-clan competition, Kate broke through to fifth level in the Mortal Realm and Shui did the same two days subsequent to that. Though the clan only knew about one of these breakthroughs, it was enough for the elders to feel confident about winning the 10 and under category. As for the over ten category...that would require luck.

When it was finally time to head to Crystal City, Shui packed Grandpa Carlos' journal and some daily essentials into his satchel and entered the same carriage as Bartos' family. Since it was an important event, many of the clan members wanted to come, however there was a limit on the amount that was allowed to. Only the immediate family members of the eight participants that were chosen, and the Patriarch could go to watch the competition. Shui was a bit of an exception but no one stopped him since he was closely related to Kate.

Though this event should have been one of excitement, most of those going had low expectations. Even if Kate won the ten and under division, they had no confidence in winning the over ten division. Winning the ten and under category was worth ten points, getting runner-up was worth five points and ending in third place gave two points. Winning the over ten category gave twenty points, second place was ten points and third place was five so it was still possible to win the overall competition without winning first place in the over ten category. However, that would only be possible if they managed to reach at least third place and did a clean sweep in the under ten category.

Besides Kate, Nathan was also a child they could put some hope in, but that was only for third place. For the past three competitions, they had no one in the top three so it was no wonder why they thought it would be the same result this time as well.

Within the carriage, Shui had his head on Kate's lap. Naturally, this wasn't his idea. Kate asked for it as an incentive to work her hardest in the competition. Though Shui could have refuted that she should do her best regardless, he didn't mind humoring her this much. As she brushed her palm across his black hair, he read Grandpa Carlos' journal. He could easily recite the contents of the book by heart, but he found it easier to analyze it by looking at the source.

Within the journal were many secrets and astonishing events that Shui almost couldn't believe Carlos had experienced. Every time he looked at the book, a solemn expression would form on his face which made Kate smile.

'He's so cute when he's focused.'

Lilia had the same thought as Kate while looking at the two. When she saw Kate holding Shui's head on her lap, she imagined the two of them in the future, married. On the other hand, Bartos was more interested in what Shui was reading. After teaching him for so long, he knew that when Shui became completely focused on something, the result would never be ordinary. And so, he could tell that whatever Shui was reading had to be something special.

After Shui had flipped through the book a few times, Crystal City was finally in sight. Unlike Cyrus, Crystal City was surrounded by forests on one side and a grassland on the other. It also lacked a wall and was smaller than Cyrus, but that made it seem busier. Crystal City was located on the most direct path from the Blackrock territory to the capital city of the Alterna Kingdom, Lyrillis. The Blackrock territory was a group of cities owned by the Merchant Alliance where everything and anything was sold while Lyrillis was where the influential nobles and core members of the Kingdom lived. This caused many merchants and important figures to pass through Crystal City from time to time.

The competition would begin the next day so they could walk around the city first. Before they explored, the clan members went towards the mansion that the clan owned in the city. Along the way, Shui saw many blatant criminal acts, to which he carefully blocked Kate's eyes from. It was already clear to him that though the three clans ruled the city, they weren't properly enforcing the law. While he did have enough strength to stop most of these minor criminal acts, what good would that do in the broader scheme of things?

Would it stop crime? Would it improve their lives? Would it make them stronger? He couldn't even be sure he wouldn't get killed by whoever was behind these criminals so why would he stick his neck out for complete strangers? However, he knew that Kate was different. Even if she knew not to interfere, it would burden her heart if she looked away from a child being killed or an old woman getting robbed. Therefore, it was his duty to protect her eyes from those sights, at least until she was strong enough to face them.

At the left of the two children, Bartos had noticed what Shui was doing and nodded approvingly inside. He also agreed with his decision to shield Kate's eyes since he also hoped she would remain pure-hearted, even if just for a little longer.

'It would be nice if he became my son-in-law.'

While the two of them were thinking about her protection, Kate was simply happy to be on a trip with her family and Shui, while Lilia was admiring the crafts that she glimpsed on the way. Only Bartos had been to the city before so both of them were unfamiliar with the new sights and sounds around them.