The Urban Dao Child

Yang Dao woke up the next morning and found himself inside his bedroom. He did not get up immediately but looked at the ceiling in a daze. His head was feeling light. A soft voice sounded in his ears, "Dao, you are awake." 

The dazed eyes regained their focus and the dao child turned his head to the side. He found that Yue Jing was sitting beside him, with a soft smile on his face. She held his hand gently for the whole night. She was very worried about his health. The boy has given her a lot more than she could have ever imagined. So, he meant a lot to her. 

Yang Dao hummed weakly. Yue Jing took out a green pill from her spirit ring and dropped it inside a glass of water. The pill dissolved and the glass of water began to emit a sweet fragrance. She helped Yang Dao sit up a bit and then placed the glass in front of him and said, "Take a deep breath." 

The Dao Child listened to her and he inhaled the fragrant fumes from the glass. After just a couple of breaths, his condition was getting better and the boy asked, "What is this?" 

The girl replied, "This is a soul rejuvenation pill. I refined it personally, however, due to the level of the pill purity being low, it is better to inhale the fumes. The pill toxin will not harm you this way." 

Yang Dao nodded and said, "This is a good thing. How is Athena?" his eyes showed a concerned look. 

Yue Jing smiled and said, "She is fine, Master has asked her to rest for a few days. Her meridians were almost hurt to the point of incurability. Thankfully you arrived on time. Even master was late and she exhorted the fact that you did her a great favor." 

Yang Dao shook his head and said, "If not because of my knock, her spirit flow would not have altered. I disturbed her in cultivation. I am the cause of all this." 

He sincerely felt guilty. He was a child after all. Yue Jing shook her head and said, "You think too much. Your knock could not get past the barrier placed around the room. Stop blaming yourself." Her tone was solemn. 

Yang Dao asked again, "Are you telling me the truth? I did not cause all this?" 

Yue Jing nodded and said, "Yes, you did not." 

The boy sighed and leaned back on the headrest. He asked, "There are nineteen days left in the upcoming assessment, why are you here? Also, what did you do to make Yue Ming vanish?" 

Yue Jing smiled and told him what she said to Yue Ming in order to send him in seclusion. Then she told him that she stayed here to take care of him. The boy was surprised and said, "Why do I feel like I am a bad influence over you?" 

Yue Jing let out a giggle and said, "I am not as cunning as you, little brother." 

This was the first time she had called him little brother. Yang Dao shook his head and asked, "Did you break through recently?" 

The girl nodded and before she could say anything more, she was interrupted, "I will have you stay here for the rest of the time, your realm is unstable. We will work on your consolidation and for the next nineteen days, you will practice sword and movement techniques with me. Okay?" 

Yue Jing nodded and said, "That was what I wanted to ask for. Master had told me not to proceed without a firm foundation so spiritual cultivation is put to rest, what I need to do now is learn the sword and movements. Senior Sister Shakti is occupied so, I will be bothering you." 

Yang Dao shook his head and said, "I will have others help you too." with that said, he stood up from the bed, and barefoot he walked out of his room. He found Alisha standing at the side of his door. 

Alisha saw him coming out and immediately asked, "Young Master, are you fine? Do you need anything?" 

Yang Dao sighed and said, "I am sorry to make you worry senior sister but I am fine. Can you please send a message over to Daina, Trent, and Daniel? I would like to invite them over here for the next few days."

Alisha did not know what he meant but it was what he asked her to do. As his aid, she will complete this task. After giving him a bow the girl rushed out and mobilized the service disciples in the palace to get the messages delivered. Yang Dao went back inside his room and Yue Jing said, "Dao, wash up." 

The boy nodded and walked the bathroom and put on a black and red robe. This robe was his casual wear. He rarely ever put on black as his attire but today he felt like it. Yue Jing helped him tie up his hair and she asked him to cut them if he finds them too hard to maintain. The boy shook his head like a rattle and said, "Grandma will beat my butt to a pulp. She only set this rule, I am not to cut off my hair. Other things are fine." 

Yue Jing chuckled when she found him so nervous. She tied a knot of his hair and the boy was ready. He look at his reflection in a polished bronze mirror and nodded. He said, "Let us go, we will have some food and then we will train." 

The two walked out of the room and came to the dining hall. He sat down across Yue Jing and the two people began to eat. Alisha stood beside Yang Dao and kept serving food to his plate as soon as it was about to go empty. The boy did not say anything and focused on eating.  Yue Jing saw him swallowing everything down and smiled. 

Soon the three guests arrived. Yang Dao asked the service disciple to bring them all to the dining room directly. 

The three people came in and sat down at the table. They all were served with food and juice. Trent asked, "Dao, what is with the morning summon?" 

The boy gulped a mouthful of food and said, "Eat first." 

The three people shook their heads and they began to eat. Yang Dao hiccuped after he finished eating and said, "For the next nineteen days can you all stay here?" 

Daina had finished eating earlier and asked, "Why do you ask?" the other two were also paying attention to the conversation and wanted to hear what Yang Dao would say. 

The boy replied, "Big Sister Jing is going to take part in the assessment of the older disciples. I would like to ask for your assistance in training her. She is lacking in movement and sword skills. The four of us have different fighting styles and thus she will be able to learn the movement techniques better if we were to spar with her. Other than that, we can learn from each other as well. What do you think?" 

Daina said, "I am in." 

Trent raised his thumb and Daniel nodded. Yang Dao turned his head to look at Yue Jing and said, "I will not hold back, and neither will they. You might suffer injuries, might break a few bones, and might vomit blood, the pain will be so agonizing that you might come to hate me. So, this is the last chance, after this, I will not let you back away even if you begged me. 

If you committed suicide then I will revive you and we will train again." his voice and words did not match at all. 

Yue Jing chuckled and said, "As you command Young Master. I will follow your arrangements, I will not give up." 

Yang Dao nodded and said, "Senior Sister Alisha, dismiss the service disciples in the palace, tell them to come back to work after the assessment. I do not wish for the spies to discover what we are doing here." 

Alisha nodded and went to make arrangements. Yang Dao said to Daina, "Can you call over your aids? They can help us guard the palace and they are all golden core so they can spar with each other and learn." 

Trent and the rest immediately nodded and send out a message with the communication talismans. 

... 

With that, the training camp commenced. The back garden of the palace echoed with metal clashing sounds and harsh scoldings. Yue Jing did not imagine that this ten-year-old child was so cruel. However, he was crueler to himself. 

After just one morning, the people realized that Yang Dao was not a genius but also a hard-working person. The entire morning they have been sparing and Yang Dao was the only one who had not taken a single moment of rest. He would watch them when they all sparred and point out weaknesses, alternative moves, and how to make their uniqueness stand out and become stronger.. The knowledge seemed to have been imparted by a saint and not a child.