Chapter 218 218



Two weeks had passed since the mission at Mount Kumotori ended. The students returned to school and carried out their study activities as usual.

Some of them, especially the first-year students, were traumatized because the mission was much more dangerous than they thought. Fortunately, the senior Realizers from the official organizations protected them in battle. Otherwise, many of the students would be seriously injured and even die.

Meanwhile, the rest were happy they could gain invaluable experience as a Realizer. They proudly boasted about it to the other students who didn't participate in the mission.

After returning from a mission on Mount Kumotori, Tenku stays away from Setsuka and Kaede. He had also asked the girl to stop making him a bento. When Setsuka asked why, Tenku said he didn't want to keep wasting her time on him.

Tenku's answer made Setsuka sad. Kohana also felt the same way as Setsuka. Her little sister kept whining to go to Tenku's apartment. She had not seen him for a long time and wanted to play with him. But Setsuka refuses and explains why. Those words made Kohana cry because she thought Tenku no longer wanted to see her.

Kaede was angry at Tenku for making Setsuka and Kohana like that but couldn't do anything. She didn't know why, but she felt lost and lonely after not seeing Tenku for quite a while.

After that day, Tenku no longer replied to messages and calls from Setsuka. He deliberately avoided her at school. Setsuka tries to meet him in his classroom and wants to talk to him one-on-one. She wanted to ask him why he stayed away from her after the mission on Mount Kumotori.

Unfortunately, when Setsuka comes to his classroom or apartment, Tenku suddenly disappears. He seemed to have sensed her presence and quickly left to avoid her. Setsuka became even more depressed when she realized about it.

Over the past few days, Setsuka had been mostly silent in the classroom and student council office. She can't do her job properly and is always pensive to think of something. On top of that, Setsuka also has big dark circles under her eyes because she can't sleep well.

"Are you all right, Setsuka? You look unwell." Kaede sat down on the chair next to Setsuka and asked worriedly. They were in the classroom and were currently on their lunch break.

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm sorry for making you worry." Setsuka looked at Kaede and smiled weakly.

Kaede felt sad when she saw that. She wanted to see Tenku and scold him for making her best friend like that. The two fell silent, and the atmosphere became awkward. Then the one who spoke first and broke the silence was Setsuka.

"Have I done something wrong? Is he mad at me because I found out his true identity? If I knew he would stay away from me, I should have kept quiet and pretended I didn't recognize him." Setsuka said in a hoarse voice, and a single tear rolled down from her eyes. Luckily she quickly wiped it off, and no student in the classroom saw it.

"No. What you're doing is not wrong. We still don't know why he's avoiding you. So you can't make random guesses. I'm sure he's not mad at you. He may need some time alone because he has a particular problem." Kaede held Setsuka's hand and tried to comfort her.

"Yes, you are right. But..." Setsuka thought what Kaede said made sense but didn't fully accept it. Her best friend quickly cut her off when she wanted to say something.

"Alright, we'd better put that matter aside for now. We can ask him why he stays away from you after we meet him. So I hope you are patient and don't think badly about this matter." Kaede said softly.

"I understand." Setsuka answered. Kaede couldn't help but sigh when she saw her expression.

"By the way, what are your plans for the winter holidays?" Kaede tried to divert the topic of their conversation.

Soon all schools in Japan will enter winter holidays, and students already have their plans, including Kaede. She could hear their classmates talking about it ever since their homeroom teacher left the place.

"Hmm... I don't have any plans. Initially, I wanted to invite Tenku to spend Christmas Eve with me and Kohana. But it looks like we won't be able to do that now. He doesn't even want to reply to messages from me. So how can I ask him out?" Setsuka's face clouded over, and tears dripped from her eyes again.

Kaede sighed because her words had accidentally made Setsuka remember Tenku.

(It seems like I have to find a way to meet him and ask why he's avoiding Setsuka. I have to get answers from him for Setsuka and Kohana)

Kaede said with determination in her heart. But she still didn't realize she was also doing that for herself.

Time is running fast, and the sun has shifted to the west. The students from Suisei High School came out of the gate and returned to their respective homes. They wore thick jackets because the weather was very cold.

Tenku walked among the students and quickly left Suisei High School because he didn't want to meet Setsuka or Kaede. He could tell with his spiritual senses that the two girls were still in the student council office.

After returning from the mission on Mount Kumotori two weeks ago, his heart was a mess. Tenku was worried that it would affect his breakthrough.

Wang Haotian had told him that a cultivator had to be at their best state of body and mind before breakthrough into the innate realm. If either of the two factors were unstable, their breakthrough might fail, and they would get a backlash. They would be deeply injured, and the worst thing that could happen was that their cultivation base would suffer a bottleneck or decline.

Because of that, Tenku felt he should stay away from Setsuka and Kohana until he broke through the innate realm. He was worried that his heart wouldn't be able to settle down if he had to continue seeing that girl after what happened on the mission at Mount Kumotori.

After Tenku returned to his apartment, he leaned on the sofa and checked his smartphone. He saw dozens of messages and calls from Setsuka today.

Setsuka had sent Tenku over a hundred messages in the last two weeks but never replied. He felt sad about it but couldn't do anything because he had to stay away from her.

Tenku remembered when he asked Setsuka to stop making a bento for him. Setsuka's face looked sad, and the girl could cry anytime. Tenku felt that his heart ached when he saw her expression. He couldn't bear to see Setsuka sad, but he had to make up his mind here if he wanted his breakthrough into the innate realm to go smoothly.

Apart from Setsuka, Tenku also received messages and incoming calls from Kirika, Huang Yuxin, Wang Ruyue, and Kaede. He was used to the first three, but he was a little surprised when Kaede started texting him more frequently with the excuse of Setsuka.

Tenku decided not to reply because that girl was Setsuka's best friend, and he didn't want to make contact with anyone related to her. If he did, she might keep asking him why he stayed away from Setsuka, and Tenku's mind would be distracted before the breakthrough day.

"My cultivation base is already at the pinnacle of the Sky Origin realm and already perfectly consolidated. I only need to cultivate for a bit tonight, and tomorrow I can break through to the innate realm." Tenku had been suppressing his cultivation base for the past few days to make his foundation more solid and stable.

It would help him when breaking through to the innate realm. Tenku looked at the calendar on his smartphone and frowned.

"December 24th? I have to break into the innate realm on Christmas Eve?" Tenku smiles bitterly and shakes his head.

A few days ago, Akina had asked him if he had free time on Christmas Eve. The girl thought that Tenku would sell crispy tofu on the day.

Tenku replied that he had nothing to do on December 24th. Then Akina invites him to spend Christmas Eve together. Of course, she had also said that to Takaya and Noboru.

Akina was still shy about spending time alone with Tenku. Besides, she was worried that Tenku would reject her. Because of that, the girl decided to take Takaya and Noboru with them.

"I must tell Akina I can't spend Christmas Eve with them." Tenku sighed and put his smartphone on the small table beside the sofa. He intended to tell Akina tomorrow directly at school.

After resting for a while, Tenku entered his room and sat cross-legged on his bed. He closed his eyes and began to run the Heaven Swallowing Monarch Scripture. Tenku only cultivated for an hour. After that, Tenku took a shower to get rid of the sweat on his body and then slept.

The next day, Tenku left for school early. He released his spiritual sense to ensure that Setsuka or Kaede wasn't nearby. Luckily the two girls still had not arrived at school.

Tenku accidentally met Akina in the school corridor. He tells her that he can't spend Christmas Eve with them because he has an urgent business tonight. Akina was initially disappointed, but she finally understood after hearing his explanation.

Time passed quickly, and the day had turned to night. Tenku has prepared to enter the innate realm today. He wanted to do it in an uninhabited territory, fearing that his breakthrough would create disturbances in the surroundings.

Tenku decided to break through to the innate realm on Mount Fuji because he thought that place was the best. He didn't take long to reach his destination. Tenku sat cross-legged on the top of Mount Fuji and was ready to break through to the innate realm. But before he could do so, he heard a ring from his smartphone.

He saw several people texting him, and one of them was Setsuka. Tenku quickly replied to all the messages and turned off his smartphone so he wouldn't get disturbed. He decided to reply to their messages because he feared something bad might happen to him while breaking through.

Afterward, he ran the Heaven Swallowing Monarch Scripture and was ready to enter the innate realm. Dark clouds gathered over Mount Fuji, and lightning fell with a thunderous sound.

Rumble!