After the two were doused but hot steam, Mar-Dule, and Sol stepped away from the pits, but Mar-Dule suddenly sniffed. His face crinkled up as he looked at Sol.
Sol, seeing this paused before taking a step back to the pits, and his long hair whipped about as he was doused by the steam for a second ti.
After he stepped out, Mar-Dule's face was still crinkled up slightly but nodded and was about to walk toward the pool. However, he stopped and looked at Sol suspiciously.
As Sol walked over to him, he tilted his head and asked confused.
"What is it? Do I still sll?"
Mar-Dule shook his head.
"No, it's your height. Have you beco shorter?"
Sol stopped next to Mar-Dule and with a glance, Sol was shocked to see that he was almost a head shorter than Mar-Dule.
Suddenly, Sol was struck by a bout of nervousness.
"Isn't it because you've grown since we last t?"
Mar-Dule shook his head once more.
"When we first ca to the Tribe you were a head shorter than , however, you suddenly grew a lot. We were about the sa height after you went seclusion. I haven't grown since then so it must an you've shrunken by a few inches."
Mar-Dule gave Sol a weird look.
When Sol heard that his expression changed multiple tis, but he soon released a depressed sigh.
He knew what caused it, it was because he refined his body for a second ti. It must have compressed his bones and muscles, which made him lose a few inches just like in the past.
He hadn't noticed before because he was too focused on cultivating, and he never had sothing to compare his height to.
When Mar-Dule saw Sol's expression, he patted his shoulder and said.
"Don't worry Sol, I don't know what happened but you're still young. You'll probably gain back your lost height when you eventually beco an adult."
Even though Mar-Dule words were ant to be comforting, Sol clearly detected the smug look in his eyes.
Slapping his hand away, Sol said.
"You're not much closer to becoming an adult than ."
Mar-Dule looked at Sol with an amused expression and said.
"Says the kid who can't even grow a bit of hair where it counts."
Instead of getting upset, Sol looked at Mar-Dule with contempt.
Seeing this, Mar-Dule's eyes flashed, and he looked down. His pupils imdiately constricted.
Sol smiled smugly upon seeing his reaction and he puffed out his chest.
However, Mar-Dule suddenly rembered sothing and he instantly recovered and the amused expression returned to his face as he looked at Sol. He then waved his hand dismissively and walked off while saying.
"Congratulations Sol, you're finally growing up, but you have a long way to go before becoming a true man!"
When Sol saw heard that he was confused at first, but his eyes flashed.
Walking to catch up to Mar-Dule he asked.
"What do you an?'
Mar-Dule turned to look at Sol, his eyes twinkling with a strange light.
"Sol, you're still young so you might not understand. To beco a real man, you have to… have to..."
Before Mar-Dule could finish, his words trailed off before his expression suddenly changed. He then imdiately clamped his mouth shut, and tried to dispel the thoughts that just arose in his mind.
Sol seeing this, was even more confused.
"Mar-Dule, what is it? What were you going to say?"
Yoon-Jae who was seated cross-legged by the side ditating, suddenly opened his eyes and looked at Mar-Dule with a strange expression on his face. He then laughed.
Mar-Dule shot a glare over at him, but as Sol continued to urge him to finish what he was going to say, Mar-Dule started to get nervous.
"Ah, Sol, forget what I was going to say, alright! You and my sister are too young for that, it wouldn't be too late to think about doing such things until after marriage. You understand, right?"
Sol discerned a threat in Mar-Dule's latter sentence, and he frowned. However, after mulling over his words, the confusion on Sol's face slowly faded and he gave Mar-Dule a forced smile.
Mar-Dule seeing this, glared at Sol for good asure, but suddenly smiled and said.
"You're definitely an adult already so there's no need to prove yourself, right?"
Even though Mar-Dule was smiling at Sol, the smile didn't reach his eyes. And that threatening feeling from him was even growing stronger.
With the forced smile still on his face, Sol nodded.
Mar-Dule eyed Sol for a bit more before he turned and dove into the pool.
Sol scratched his cheek and smiled embarrassingly, but he suddenly looked down and got excited.
Looking at Yoon-Jae who was cultivating next to the pool, Sol smiled and took hurried steps over while his hair dragged on the ground.
But a distance before reaching Yoon-Jae he suddenly said.
"Brother Yoon-Jae, I finally grew hair, look!"
Upon hearing that, Yoon-Jae's expression beca weird, but his eyes remained closed as he said.
"Congratulations."
Sol continued walking over but he pursed his lips.
"But you aren't even looking."
However, he soon placed that at the back of his mind, and his eyes flashed as he asked.
"Brother Yoon-Jae, do you want to spar?"
"Sure."
Yoon-Jae nodded but then added.
"But go take a bath first, you still stink."
Sol ca to a stop next to Yoon-Jae, who was still sitting cross-legged while facing the large pool.
Looking at him, Sol hesitated, but after a mont, his eyes suddenly went wide as he pointed at a rock nearby and said in astonishnt.
"Ah! Brother Ushi, what are you doing here?!"
"What?!"
Yoon-Jae's eyes suddenly snapped open, and he instantly jumped up. He then quickly swerved around to glare daggers at the rock, and as fast as a spark flying off of a splint, he flicked his hand and sent out a wave of flas shooting toward the rock.
Swoosh!
The terrifying flas spread out but quickly converged onto the rock and engulfed it in the blink of an eye.
In an instant, one could visibly see the rock lting, and not long after it beca sothing like molten lava.
Seeing this, Yoon-Jae frowned, while Sol started sweating profusely.
Those flas were utterly terrifying. If Ushi had really been disguised as that rock, even if he was in the Sky Expanse Realm, he wouldn't have escaped unscathed.
"It's not him."
Yoon-Jae muttered, but Sol suddenly turned and lung towards him.
Yoon-Jae's eyes flickered, and he went to dodge, but Sol was fast, and he was caught off guard. Yoon-Jae was thus sent flying backward into the pool along with Sol.
With a splash, the two youths entered the water.
Yoon-Jae's head broke the surface of the water soon after, and he imdiately began cursing Sol.
"Damn it, you did that on purpose."
Sol, who was still underneath the water, laughed. Bubbles erged from his mouth and raised to the surface of the water before bursting. As the bubbles burst, Aether Energy spread out and Sol's laughter could be heard.
Yoon-Jae couldn't help but glare down at Sol in the water. But he suddenly sighed.
"What's wrong you two? Are you both children?"
Yoon-Jae then floated up out of the water and with his towel tightly secured around his waist he drifted towards the bank.
However, before he could get far, Sol's figure beneath the water suddenly vanished, and without any sound or even a ripple in the water, he appeared behind Yoon-Jae in the air.
Before Yoon-Jae could react, Sol grabbed him and threw himself back carrying both of them in the water.
This ti the splash caused huge waves across the pool. Mar-Dule who was floating on his back so tens of ters away was swept up by them.
After the waves surged on the surface for a few breaths worth of ti, it started to calm down. Yoon-Jae's head popped out of the water next to the bank.
Sweeping his hair back from his face, one could see an enraged as well as a helpless expression on his face.
"You're definitely a child, an annoying brat even."
Sol's head popped up from the water, his long hair creating quite the scene as nurous strands floated around his head.
Sol looked at Yoon-Jae and smiled in amusent.
Yoon-Jae turned to glare at him for a second ti but sighed once again.
"Why do you always go after , why not bother Mar-Dule? You two would make a good pair of immature brats."
"I like seeing Brother Yoon-Jae's reactions."
Sol said with a chuckle.
However, Yoon-Jae who was getting out of the water suddenly stopped and turned to look back at Sol.
"See my reactions to what?"
Yoon-Jae's face was unnaturally serious as he looked at Sol.
Sol paused upon hearing Yoon-Jae's question, but when he saw his serious and almost angry expression, his heart almost stopped.
'Ah, I slipped up…'
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