Chapter 127 127 – Progress [1]
Starting from that day, Kai's training improved quite significantly. He replenished his Spirit Power again and did control training with Ao as soon as he woke up.
Because something that held him back was lifted, he could concentrate more and had improved in controlling his Spirit Power. The one year he felt inside the dream wasn't for naught too.
While it didn't physically affect him, he could also train his control while he was dreaming. That gave him an idea of how to better control his actual Spirit Power in the real world.
"Fuu…" Ao let out a sigh as the morning arrived.
They were still in the room near the throne room, sitting on the floor. Kai sat in front of Ao in a lotus position, half-naked, while Ao had her hands on his back.
"That was enough for today." Ao pulled her hands and smiled. "You did better compared to yesterday, dear husband. You made really good progress."
"Is that so?" Kai asked as he turned around. He fixed his clothes and smiled at the Dragon King. "To be honest, I didn't expect this either. My body's condition has improved ever since I slept in that attic. What exactly did Qianlong do to me?"
That question had been bugging his mind since he couldn't understand it at all.
From what he knew, he just went to the attic of the library to train with Qianlong. But she suddenly pulled out an incense, and he became sleepy. When he realized it, he was inside that strange dream space that he couldn't explain.
At least, he wanted a little bit of explanation, so he knew what he had experienced.
"Qianlong is a blue dragon." Ao started. "While she is one of the faction leaders, her fighting ability is actually quite weak. But she used her intellect and unique way to use what all blue dragons had to create a technique. It was an illusion technique using a mist."
Kai listened to Ao's explanation closely while looking at her.
"She's also quite skillful in poison making. She must've used incense to make you sleep, no?" She asked, to which he responded with a nod.
"That incense helped you to relax, drifting you to your deepest sleep. That way, you could fully acclimate to your dream as she watched from outside. However, the effect seems to work a little bit better for you. She also mentioned that some parts of your dream after you followed something went blurry. What's that?"
'Blurry?'
The part after he followed something. That was when he entered that portal, and everything went dark.
But before that, his eyes widened in surprise as he finally registered Ao's words.
"Qianlong is able to see my dream?" He raised his voice slightly.
A lot of parts of the dream he watched earlier were something private. There was also a secret he didn't want to tell anyone. At least not to someone he just met a day ago, like Qianlong.
While Ao seemed to fully trust that woman, it was different for Kai. He didn't trust anyone rather easily, especially someone cunning like Qianlong. He might be better suited and trust Panlong easily than her, as the old dragon seemed straightforward like his grandfather.
That was why he was surprised when Ao said Qianlong was watching his dream outside.
"She is. But don't worry, Kai. She's unable to see anything you want to keep secrets or something private, just like our night activities." Ao smiled playfully.
Kai was relieved if that was the case. He certainly didn't want Qianlong to intrude on his privacy. So the technique she used was to produce his dream? That was actually effective.
Because he didn't know his trauma and what shackled him, he might remember it wrong if he only counted on his memories. So the fact that his true, real memories were used to create a dream space was something great.
Thanks to that, not only did he manage to understand what his trauma was, but he also managed to combat it. That shadow was what his trauma was. He found out its identity when he was wandering in his dream.
The answer was simple. His missing memories had become his trauma. He was afraid to remember. He was afraid that he would change. But now he wasn't afraid anymore because he knew that he was just himself, and nothing would change.
His fear of the Boogeymen was just an illusion he created to run from reality. But he had accepted it already. He didn't fear the Boogeymen; he was only scared of what the Boogeymen did in his memories. But that was in the past.
He was grateful to be given a chance to relieve his memories of the past.
Not to mention his meeting with Abe no Seimei, which was truly impactful and helped him greatly, a little bit of his advice helped him to calm down and free himself from the shackles he made himself.
'Right.'
Ao did ask about what happened after he chased after something. He hadn't answered her yet, and she was waiting.
"Actually…"
He started and told Ao about his meeting with Abe no Seimei when he entered a certain portal in his memories.
From what he felt and how it ended up. He explained in detail about his encounter, hoping she could tell him what had happened.
The Dragon King was quite surprised. That was the first time Kai saw her eyes widen like that. And when he finished his explanation, he asked.
"So, what was that about? Is Abe no Seimei still alive, or was that just my illusion of him?"
"The answer to your question is no and no, dear husband. That guy certainly died, as I was there when he was cremated. Also, that was also no illusion."
Ao's smile looked a bit strained and sad as she reminisced about her old friend.
"Probably, he left a bit of his Spirit Power to his descendant, hoping that he would be able to help someone who awakened the power of the Ruler. You might meet him again when you are in trouble or are stuck with a problem. That's just the kind of guy he is."
"I see…" Kai just nodded. "So it will not be harmful to me?"
"No." The Dragon King shook her head. "It will be beneficial to you." She added.
He fell into thought again. Was that truly the case? For some reason, he was a bit skeptical. But Abe no Seimei had indeed helped him.
If not for the fact that Ao confirmed that it wasn't his illusion, maybe he would just think that his meeting with his ancestor was an illusion.
But what Abe no Seimei told him still weighed his mind.
Kai stood up, feeling great. He had got 6 hours of sleep thanks to Qianlong's technique earlier. He was ready to face another day, to face Panlong's training.
"It would be great if that's the case." He smiled at his wife, the Dragon King.