Ruri slept for hours, and upon waking up, she saw her master deeply meditating on the bed with closed eyes. She smiled and gazed at his lips for a while, remembering everything that happened, feeling an almost irresistible urge to jump into him and lose herself there again.
Her whole body pulsed with a new flame that emerged. However, she just sighed, controlling herself; she had taken significant strides toward a goal, and she couldn’t ruin everything. Opportunities came and went. So, she turned around and left the room so as not to disturb him.
However, she didn’t know that Alm and Bruno were watching her movements, equally assessing and studying possible evasive methods for the exact opposite. The silent war between them had begun, and each attack and counterattack was being scrutinized by both sides.
After an hour, the whale opened his eyes, and Liumi, alongside Ruri, entered the room. They stood side by side, and Alm and Bruno sighed, seeing Ruri’s expression. Now, she seemed more confident and appeared to have befriended the Grassrunner. At least, the entire event had changed her and served to prevent similar problems in the future.
Still, they gave a last warning to Ruri while pointing at Liumi. "There is one thing I will absolutely not accept any more. Your possessiveness. If you go out of control ever again, that will be the moment we will go our separate ways. Understood?"
Ruri trembled for a moment and fixed those words to her soul. The last thing she wanted was to be left behind. "Yes, master. I will never act like that again..."
"Very well," Alm nodded, satisfied. Her lack of control would definitely cause trouble in the future, so that much they must fix it at all costs, and the best method was threatening to separate from her.
Liumi was completely confused, not understanding why she was pointed at and used as some kind of reason. Nonetheless, she tactically refrained from commenting on it. Instead, she began to speak about the information she got. "The easiest part was obtaining information about the Divinestone clan; their members are easily sold," Liumi commented with a nod, then continued. "And surprisingly, I crossed information, and it seems they have a strong connection to the events from five years ago."
She explained about the arrival of a being from the divine world that suppressed the entire continent. Alm and Bruno knew it perfectly well, as they were the ones who caused it. Then, she talked about what happened afterward.
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"The divine being invaded the sect and caused great destruction... everyone was horrified and thought they were going to die. But as suddenly as he arrived, only a thunderous sound like the strike of a divine hammer was heard by most."
"Later, I asked around, and some reported seeing a meteor rise from the center of the clan and strike the divine being. It was so powerful that spatial laws immediately shattered, and it flew into the sea, crossing the continent like a blood star."
"So far, it’s common knowledge... but the clan members report that he returned and attacked the Divinestone clan. He appeared in the sky and didn’t fully activate his cultivation as before, but the skies above the clan were flooded with lightning. And he, controlling everything, was going to ruthlessly destroy the entire clan."
"And when all seemed lost, another meteor struck him. He didn’t fly very far this time, as if that had been a weaker counterattack. So, no one from the clan knew much more... they only reported seeing a gigantic mountain of a hundred meters rise near the clan."
The whale was intrigued. Meteor and mountain? Could they be manifestations of the laws of the earth? He knew that his behemoth bloodline came from within the sect, and there were others... but this level of power... they had to investigate.
The Grassrunner continued gently. "So, currently, something strange has happened in the region of the Divinestone clan. The beasts that lived in the westernmost forest of the continent, those more powerful than even the central elders of the sect feared, started a territorial dispute to decide who would claim the mountain."
The whale narrowed his eyes; this only meant one thing. That mountain was created by dense power and Qi to become a treasure; it definitely was the work of a powerful behemoth lineage.
’But why did he save the Divinestone clan?’ Bruno thought to himself.
Alm then spoke emotionlessly. ’This certainly has a connection to us and the fact that the patriarch wants to recruit us again. Anyway, whatever. We have free time, and in that mountain, there must be good things.’
"I’ll pay a visit to that mountain," said the whale, and Ruri’s eyes gleamed, but they noticed and added, looking at her, "Did you forget the orders I gave? Join Corin and Loeus and study at the institutes. If you remain isolated in practice, you won’t be attacked."
"I’ll keep institute members close to them all the time, and they won’t have a chance to attack," Liumi promptly replied.
The whale then looked at the disappointed Ruri but quickly saw something shimmer in her eyes. They trembled slightly but ignored it and turned, saying, "Liumi, come with me. There must be good things there, and you need merits. Do you have any more information?"
"The Nightflare clan is tough to get information on. But, I heard from some sources that they have a longstanding connection with the little Divinestone clan. Also, a large flow of Montide humans is kept with Nightflare people from the inner region of the sect... The peculiar thing is that it’s always the opposite gender that hangs out with them."
The whale sighed; there were many possibilities. The easiest to imagine was crossbreeding to increase the bloodline concentration. However, common Montide people only had a little denser Moonlight family bloodline than Nightflares themselves did. Creating offspring with them would only produce progressively weaker children.
Ruri’s family, with a purer bloodline, no longer exists. So, they must have some other method that benefits them. But, they were only the sect’s inner people; it would take six months to get there.
Ruri was pensive, then the whale asked the Grassrunner, "The sect doesn’t allow them to remain as simple slaves. To keep them, they must turn them into workers or disciples, right?"
Liumi nodded in agreement, and they added, "Great, just free the slaves from the clan, and they will be free. After that, they will be protected by the sect’s rules. Did you hear that?"
The whale asked, looking at Ruri. She heard that clenching her fists firmly; then they continued gently, "Focus on your studies. In six months, we will investigate this, and we’ll probably have to take action. I’ll go out to get cultivation resources for everyone; in the meantime, rise. And now, think long term."
"Yes, Master!" She replied, bowing seriously.
The whale nodded and asked Liumi to prepare to leave. Then, he asked her to fetch a copy of all the sect missions that could be done in the forest. It was a dangerous place that few explored; common cultivators valued their lives above all else, so they were mediocre in combat.
Soon, there were hundreds of requests. The ones for herbs, coming from the alchemy institute, and beast cores, from the beast institute, were the overwhelming majority. But there were also reports on metals, ores, and rare woods that the forge institute itself requested help with.
The whale read everything satisfied; there was much to be sought and harvested in the forest. Before, he was weak and didn’t explore anything there; now, he would return and go quite far. And... before leaving, the whale made a request that made Liumi petrify.
"Release the information as if it leaked. Say that I’m going to the forest, let’s attract some fish to roast," they said indifferently.
The Grassrunner was frightened, but she felt an unfounded confidence in that human. And in the forest, that’s where her bloodline was strongest. She might be weak, but her cultivation at the forcibly attained Heaven Stage level wasn’t low. She had survival methods if necessary.
So, after avoiding being alone in the room with Ruri for a day, they departed immediately, and quickly silent eyes focused and saw them leave.