75- The Honored One

Mason lounged in Yao’s ‘boudoir’, which was the room where she received guests. He lazily glanced through the Chinese lattice window, out onto the training yard below, where hundreds of people waited. For him.

He looked back inside, addressing Izo as he tapped his fingers against the wooden ledge of the window. "So, what’s the plan now, old man?"

They did not have the time to talk about it before, but to corner Krahllak and trick it into revealing the position of the Hand Headquarters, he had made a sacrifice of his own by betraying what he had believed in for hundreds of years and learning the Mystic Arts.

It was only the First Form of Magic, Egocentric Magic, but that was the path Stick had taken too.

Izo did not look too heartbroken, though, waving his hand dismissively. "This old man has been standing in the same spot for over a hundred years, so Mystic Arts or not, it doesn’t change much. It might actually represent a chance for a new path for me."

Mason already knew that Izo’s path of advancement had essentially been severed for a long time already. Although learning magic was a way of cutting one’s path in cultivation by cheating death and increasing his lifespan, Izo had also caused irreparable damage to his foundation, cutting his path also.

As for this opportunity, Mason looked at Izo’s ear, mumbling, "I don’t like those gods, but I suppose Wukong was friendly enough."

Izo grinned with more vitality than ever, rubbing his ear as he replied, "I’m sure they hate you more than you hate them. And don’t give me grief about the Ruyi Jingu Bang, I feel bad enough picking up your scraps already."

Mason rolled his eyes, thinking of the ‘surprise’ he had for him when he returned to Kamar-Taj. Sun Wukong had made a lighthearted offer to Mason about his divine staff and becoming his champion, which he had refused, and then went to Izo and offered the same thing.

Now, Izo was officially Wukong’s champion, and was gifted the Monkey King’s staff for his trouble. As for what exactly this position entailed, Mason was not sure, and honestly, he did not care to know. He was in no position to judge his master’s decisions.

Izo watched his disciple carefully and asked with a slightly more solemn tone, "So, a teacher?"

Mason shrugged with an easy smile, "More like a guiding light. Martial Artists have been stumbling in the dark for so many years that they have started forgetting where they were headed in the first place. And so many talented fledglings never even set foot on the path because they never found the path. My goal is to become a light so bright that even the deepest shadows may be dispersed. And if I can do some good along the way, all the better."

"So you will be mostly teaching ordinary people?"

Mason nodded. "That’s the plan. Today will actually probably be the most advanced lesson I’ll give for a while, with all the Awakening Masters present. People getting started with martial arts don’t need to know about the Foundation Establishment Realm, and the day they do, hopefully, they will be able to find the way without seeking me out."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from NovelPhoenix; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

As the Honored One, it came to Mason to name the cultivation realms he discovered. At first, he did not necessarily intend to follow the classic cultivation realms from his old world’s Xianxia stories, but as he progressed in his new realm, he realized this truly was a fitting name.

Of Mason’s Three Treasures, it was his Essence that had received the true transformation. His Breath and Spirit had also been transformed, but it was because of their connection to his Essence that they did. As he progressed in the realm, his Divine Sense and Spiritual Energy, now in liquid form, pooled within their respective treasures, but it was simply accumulation.

For his Essence, things were different. At first, when Mason only had a few drops of Chi, it had been impossible to tell, but thanks to the progress he made in the Eighth City purifying all those souls, Mason had condensed enough Chi to tell that his Essence was not simply filling up, but his Chi was forming pillars within. Presumably, by the peak of the realm, the pillars would reach the ‘top’ of his Essence, bridging heaven and earth.

At least, that was Mason’s current reading of his situation. But in any case, Foundation Establishment did feel perfect as a name, because he truly was setting the foundation for future realms. Only when Mason’s Essence completed its transformation would he be able to tackle the other two Treasures.

Izo got up from his seat, stretching his back with a satisfied sigh as he commented, "Well, I’m sure you’ll do a lot of good. Just being in the same room as you makes me feel twenty years younger!"

Mason knew that to be true, although it was not that impressive considering how Izo’s lifespan had stagnated. There was hardly a difference between today and twenty years ago.

But there still was an effect. Since his breakthrough, Mason’s Chi had become so powerful that it rippled out of him at all times, affecting his surroundings. In the Eighth City, this caused the tortured souls around him to be passively purified.

It was the same for living beings, except that for them, it did not mean deliverance from their mortal flesh, but a healing of said mortal flesh. As a result, anyone with minor ailments would find them disappearing if they spent any amount of time in his proximity. And that was only with the Chi remnants he passively radiated.

If he were to actually treat someone with his raw Chi, the effects could be quite miraculous, he believed, although that could also be a bad thing. The Immortal Weapons needed a lifetime of training to be able to hold and control the Chi of the Immortal Beasts, and while Mason would only be giving a fragment of his Chi, he still needed to be careful, especially as he grew stronger.

He did not get the opportunity to test it out so far, though, and he was feeling conflicted about whether he should even want to test it. On the one hand, he was curious, but on the other, for someone to require him to directly inject his Chi, their situation would have to be especially bad.

Shaking off the idle thoughts, Mason walked with Izo, asking, "You still haven’t told me what your plans were. Are you planning on doing the whole mysterious exit again?"

Izo suddenly grumbled, "You’re ruining my fun, Stupid. I’d only make a fool of myself trying to sneak away from you now. So I’ll retain some of my dignity and walk off into the distance, leaving you with nothing but a view of my back, and the eternal question of my whereabouts."

"Quite trying to be poetic, old man, just come visit from time to time, and reach out if you need help."

Izo reached up to pat Mason’s shoulder, cackling, "Alright, alright, if you absolutely can’t separate from this old man, I’ll pay you some visits. And who knows, maybe that by then, I’ll be the strongest of us two."

Mason smiled silently, choosing not to comment on that. It was not that he did not believe Izo could become stronger, only that he doubted his old master could match his own rate of advancement.

Although Izo had been stagnant for a few hundred years, with only his understanding of the Sword Dao slightly advancing with time, since he had become Wukong’s champion, a new path had opened.

Becoming a god’s champion was not that unusual, Mason actually knew of a few cases thanks to his meta-knowledge, such as Moon Knight and Black Panther.

Normally, becoming a god’s champion would result in an immediate increase in power, but Izo and Wukong had done things differently, and although Izo would not tell how exactly it would happen, he would slowly appropriate the power of the Monkey King.

The slight challenge still excited Mason, though.