{"sf1_id":1019966,"sf2_id":"rnaE8JNn","title":"The Cat's Stroll 26","author":"PermaFrost","words":2248,"posted_at":"2016-06-03T03:22:00.000Z","tags":["Action","Cat","Dog","Fantasy","Multiple Species","Series","martial arts"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1019966-the-cat-s-stroll-26","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/rnaE8JNn","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/94/94/9494344c-863e-441d-b315-b944ef2ac37b","description":"#26 of The Cat's Stroll\n\nAccording to my calendar, today is the Dog's International Day, so go and give your canine friends an extra hug today.\nAlso, according to someone else, yesterday was the Milk's International Day -_- , so... maybe you went and gave your breakfast a hug? Well, at least I hope you did a good \"milk\" joke ;p\nI have good chances of finishing chapter 27 on time, but we'll see. See ya!","content":" **Chapter 26: The Young Generation's Level**\n* * *\n\nThe next morning, after getting up from the bed, Kyu Cao calmly took a towel damp with cool water and a bit of perfumed oil and began to rinse his fur.\n\nThe room's illumination was dim, yet the silky fur seemed to reflect a luster like that of the most prized fabrics.\n\nTogether with the cat's uncovered body, defined with carved muscles and an elegant profile, would have made many young girls swoon.\n\nKyu Cao then brushed himself as it was ritual, needing only a quick pass to finish.\n\nIt appeared Cultivation really made many things much more convenient.\n\nA deep green, long formal attire, like a piece carved from the darkest jade and decorated with precious gold carvings, finished Kyu Cao's morning routine.\n\nBut as he smoothed his outer robe and his paw passed over his abdomen, this one stopped, but only for a brief moment.\n\nRegarding the Thunderlightning Seed, Kyu Cao actually couldn't do much about it so he put the matter aside for now.\n\nAnyways, thinking about it was bad for his heart.\n\nReady, he came down to the first floor.\n\nThe servant with his morning meal should be arriving soon, but Kyu Cao walked toward a small high table at one end of the room.\n\nThere, on the small table, was a golden disk with a cyan stone embedded on it. The golden disk was carved with an assortment of mysterious symbols, and although these were quite harmonious and beautiful, appearing merely decorative, they were in fact a complex formation.\n\nThis was an echoing disk, a rather convenient tool.\n\nPutting his paw on the disk, Kyu Cao inserted some Qi into it and activated the formation.\n\nNothing seemed to happen, but the echoing disk was already operating.\n\n\"Send some food that can be preserved for a few days. Enough for a complete week. It is fine if it is all the same dish,\" he said clearly and loud enough to not be misinterpreted. \"Also, send someone to carry a message.\"\n\nThen, he retired his paw and moved toward a drawer on the other side of the room.\n\nHe took out some paper, a brush and an inkstone, and took them with him to the table.\n\nLast night, Kyu Cao had more or less decided on how to proceed with the matter of the duel.\n\nNotifying the Goldcloud brothers of the place he had decided upon could be said to be the only important matter left.\n\nAnd while he would very much not mind giving them a yank on the tail and only tell them the location a day before the duel in retaliation for having cornered him at the sparring rings, he really couldn't do such rascally thing as this concerned the reputation of the Bloodstripe Clan. Even if the other party possibly didn't know this fact.\n\nFor this, he was planning on asking Mister Pong for his assistance, so he was going to write him a letter.\n\nHe had promised Li Ling too that he would tell them, so they could go.\n\nHe had to delegate some matters if he wanted to maximize his training time.\n\nThe limit was one week, no, only six days.\n\nAfter finishing all his business, Kyu Cao went up to the Backdoor's Forest the same manner as previous days.\n\nIn front of the forest's entrance, the figure of the dog guard, Uncle Wan Tanpei, could be recognized.\n\nHowever, the other two guards had changed, with now them being a pair of cat and snake.\n\nWan Tanpei and the two newcomers too noticed the young cat.\n\nThe dog's eyes briefly illuminated, before it was quickly concealed. As for cat and snake, they stared inquiringly at the youth, who for some reason had come here donning a long, obviously expensive robe.\n\nKyu Cao advanced forward, however, his direction was directly toward the three guards, eliciting some confusion from the trio.\n\nRegardless, they kept their backs straight and their expressions sharp, maintaining the bearing of stern guards.\n\nIt was when Kyu Cao reached in front on them that Wan Tanpei decided to speak.\n\n\"Early greetings, Third Young Master.\"\n\n\"Un. Greetings, Uncle Tanpei.\"\n\nAgain, Wan Tanpei's eyebrow imperceptibly twitched.\n\nRegarding this form of addressing, he felt rather complex about it.\n\nThe cat and snake guards observed curiously from the side, maintaining their distance.\n\nThey believed this third young master should be someone close to this senior, so they decided to let them be.\n\nKyu Cao too, ignored the two guards since they had not greeted him.\n\n\"Senior Uncle, about yesterday, you said the most important thing in battle was to know when to retreat, right?\"\n\nThe Young Master ways of addressing were becoming stranger, but Wan Tanpei put this aside for now and responded the question, \"Yes, that's what I said.\"\n\n\"Then, what happens when direct confrontation is the only option?\"\n\nThis question, was something Kyu Cao had been wondering since yesterday.\n\nAlthough what Wan Tanpei had said before was not what he had imagined, Kyu Cao pretty much agreed with the dog.\n\nHe would rather live to try again, than have a glorious death.\n\nActually, he didn't think there was anything glorious about dying. In his opinion, retreating now and coming later with more strength was a more sensible way of action.\n\nBut this was his opinion anyways, and he had to admit that he had not much experience when it came to these matters.\n\nThus, he had thought of asking this uncle soldier for advice, since he got a pretty good feeling from him.\n\nOf course, the matter of the duel was not that serious, but it should make a good reference.\n\nWan Tanpei suppressed the urge to ask for details, and dutifully began to consider his answer.\n\nThe previous time, he had oversimplified his answer, because he thought that it would be better for the Young Master, who was not very powerful, to have a more cautious and evasive disposition toward conflict.\n\nHowever, could the Young Master have encountered some sort of problem?\n\nNo, just what position the Third Young Master held? Within the Bloodstripe State, there was simply not someone who could make trouble for him.\n\nHe should only be curious. Wan Tanpei was clear on how curious the cat could be.\n\n\"I think it is always best to approach things smartly. No way of retreat does not mean it has to become a direct confrontation, and a direct confrontation does not have to be an exchange of direct attacks. Bluff and wasting away the opponent is a valid tactic. Being three moves ahead is better than one, and five is better than three. Young Master, a direct confrontation is only a hot-blooded term.\"\n\nAgain, not exactly what he'd expected, but Kyu Cao found this answer extremely to his liking.\n\nActually, these were things he was pretty familiar with from his dealings in Bloodbath City's Auction Houses.\n\nBut since he believed a battle between martial artists to be something entirely different thing to his usual experiences, akin to comparing calligraphy to dancing, he'd thought that maybe existed a completely different and more advantageous method he could use.\n\nBut it seemed he'd been thinking too much, and this had actually cleared his mind a bit of his misconceptions about fighting.\n\n\"I see. I thank Senior Uncle for his advice.\"\n\n\"No, it is this lowly one's honor to be of use to the Young Master.\"\n\nThe idle pair on the side couldn't help but notice that the atmosphere around these two was somewhat peculiar.\n\n\"Right, I have something else I have been wondering?\"\n\n\"Please do not hesitate to ask. I will respond at best of my abilities.\"\n\nSeeing the dog being so cooperative, Kyu Cao didn't hold back. \"Regarding Cultivation, what is the normal level for youths ranging from thirteen to eighteen years?\"\n\nHearing this, Wan Tanpei was briefly stumped, and he only recovered his wits a moment later.\n\nRegarding Cultivation? The level of youths ranging from thirteen to eighteen?\n\nWhy was the Young Master interested in this?\n\nIn Wan Tanpei's mind, Young Master Kyu Cao's image was that of a brilliant, if pitiful, scholarly young master.\n\nMartial arts and Cultivation were things that simply had no relation to him. Not only because it did not seem to suit him, but also because of his difficult position.\n\nWan Tanpei carefully considered the possibilities.\n\n... He couldn't be thinking of starting to cultivate himself, could he?\n\nCultivation was not an easy thing. Or at least, it was something that required constant work of entire years and many precious treasures for it to show some rewarding results.\n\nIt maybe would be fine if he'd thought of this only because he'd become curious.\n\nBut if the Young Master was thinking of starting cultivating for some other reason, like, trying to make his father notice him... He could only end being disappointed.\n\nThat was because he was simply too old already.\n\nCultivation was something that had to be started as soon as the body could handle it, at childhood.\n\nEven with precious spirits herbs, breaking through the many levels of the Earthly Warrior Realm was something that took dozens of years for most.\n\nAnd spirits herbs were something that even if one had in abundance, they couldn't be used wantonly to raise one's level too fast; otherwise, there would be grave consequences. Plus, they took long times to be digested.\n\nSo even if he started now, he was already a decade behind those his age, and once he went past his prime, cultivating would only become more difficult.\n\nThe Young Master couldn't really be thinking of this right?\n\n\"Senior Uncle?\"\n\nThe cat's voice snapped Wan Tanpei out of his musings.\n\nHe looked at the Young Master's impassive face, who seemed to be staring back at him wonderingly.\n\n\"No, I must be thinking too much. The Young Master is not that kind of individual,\" he mentally scolded himself. Then, he hurried to answer the question. \"If the Young Master wishes to know the average... well, I would say regardless of if it's thirteen or eighteen, the average level would be the fourth level. That's because from level four to level five it's the first big span of time between levels.\"\n\n\"The first big span?\"\n\n\"Yes.\" As he expected, the Young Master had limited knowledge of Cultivation, so Wan Tanpei was not stingy with his lecture. \"As the Young Master might've heard, the Earthly Warrior Realm is also known as the Cultivation Abyss. Because, simply the time required to gather enough Qi to transform the muscles, the bones and the marrow, is truly too frightful. Many can advance to the fifth level after some time, but countless martial artists can spend the rest of their lives without even advancing to the sixth.\"\n\n\"Oh?\" Hearing such a thing, Kyu Cao was surprised, and his interest was really piqued.\n\nThe cat and snake guard pair too inwardly nodded, also issuing a deep sigh of helplessness.\n\nIt was only the very first realm of Cultivation. Yet, for any commoner Cultivator, this was comparable to a monstrous trial.\n\n\"That is, of course, mostly the case for martial artist with no backing or luck. But even theriopes with access to good cultivation methods and precious spirit herbs might not necessarily advance too quickly, as consuming a spirit herb's energy takes a long time. Thus, many youths at that age are at the fourth level, five if they have the resources. Youths with talent and good constitution may achieve level six.\" Toward here, Wan Tanpei's stern voice couldn't help but turn a bit passionate.\n\nHe himself was only at the twelfth level of the Earthly Warrior Realm, and currently digesting a spirit herb, something he was at since a year ago.\n\nFor a relatively common soldier with only above average talent, this was an astonishing figure that would make many drop their jaws to the floor, and would make one wonder what kind of experiences and hellish training he had to go through to reach such level.\n\nBut compared to those beloved, Heaven sent talents, he was only lagging behind, and his time of most potential was already coming to an end.\n\nHe didn't envy those nobles though. That was their luck, and luck was also a strength. Plus, he was proud of what he had achieved.\n\n\"This could be said to be the average level of the young generation.\"\n\n\"So the most is a sixth level?\" Kyu Cao asked.\n\nWan Tanpei immediately shook his head. \"There are also those geniuses that could only be described as monstrous. They are the ones that can advance to the middle stages, and become a level seven Earthly Warrior.\" Then, he thought a moment before adding. \"But the utmost pinnacle is theriopes like Second Young Master Min Lao, who has what could only be called a perfect constitution. He achieved level eight by the time he was seventeen, which is something this Empire had never seen before.\"\n\nKyu Cao nodded.\n\nHe actually remembered that event, and how much commotion had caused.\n\nEveryone in the state was discussing heatedly the topic, calling his older brother a never seen before, unparalleled genius.\n\nWhile at that time, he had never doubted that his brother was indeed an outstanding talent, he hadn't truly comprehended such achievement, so he'd been at most impressed and glad for him.\n\nHowever, it seemed his second brother was much more extraordinary than he'd ever thought.  \n  \n\n","series":{"name":"The Cat's Stroll","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1017261-the-cat-s-stroll-25.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1021729-the-cat-s-stroll-27.json"}}