"Oh, come inside, come inside. I was going to let you inside anyway, haha! I'm not scared of some righteous cultivators," Frank laughed happily and a hole was opened in the ground, revealing a tunnel underground.
Atum hovered down the tunnel and landed gently on a bed in the corner with a grunt.
"Hey buddy, you are ruining my bed with your blood. Can't you clean yourself first? Besides, why can't you heal your body with a pill instead of bleeding?" Frank complained when he saw Atum staining his mattress.
"I will get you another bed, let me rest. I was attacked by a weird talisman. My core, mind, and soul are all heavily wounded other than my flesh. I've already consumed seventh-grade healing pills for each aspect, but it will take me at least half a year before I can get out of bed."
They were old companions who have gone through a lot together. It didn't mean Atum blindly believed in Frank, but he knew that his old companion won't try to kill him since Atum never carried his wealth on himself-
"Maybe I can just kill you and take your money!" Frank chuckled as if he could read Atum's mind, "Relax, I know you never carry your wealth on you. If a righteous cultivator will hunt you down one day, they will have more trouble than treasures, right?"
"Exactly," Atum sighed in relief when he saw his friend still remembered his old quote.
---------------
Ken was meditating at his home as he considered what he should do next.
'I guess I should meet with Maria soon. She only has less than a month left to live if I don't go to get her some pills,' Ken thought to himself as he recalled the woman under his command.
"Young Master, Senior Brother Henry and Senior Brother Miles have come to meet you," Soleil knocked on his door and announced the comers' identity.
"Let them wait in the living room," Ken instructed her and got up from his meditation. He was still curious about how things went after he entered the secret realm.
He stretched his limbs and left the room, finding Henry and Miles sitting around the table while Soleil served them tea. Although she was rather willful as a maid, she respected her senior brothers and only showed her misbehavior next to people she wasn't afraid of, also known as Ken.
"Young Master Ken, we are glad to see you alive and well!" Miles exclaimed in relief when he saw the client he was supposed to protect. He felt anxious ever since he heard that Ken disappeared in the central zone as he knew they shouldn't have let him leave their sight.
The monk remained silent as always, only nodding his head when he felt Ken's presence in the room, his dull eyes stared forward.
"It's good to see you are fine. I've heard you holed up in your rooms for the past few months, is that true?"
"It is! We were worried about being hunted by your family if we leave the base or enter your family's territory. I was nervous when I heard the news you summoned us here; I couldn't tell if it was the truth or just a ruse to lure us to our death."
Miles spoke excitedly as if he had been waiting a long time to vent to someone who would answer back with actual words.
"Why did you decide it wasn't just a ruse?"
"Henry made a good point. He said that we can't remain hidden for the rest of our lives, so we should trust you and come here. Gladly, he was right!" Miles explained.
"Did he speak?"
"No."
"I see. So why did you come here 3 months ago? What happened to the war?" Ken asked the question that has been bothering him.
"Because the war ended over three months ago. Young Master, it can't be that you haven't heard of it. Something happened at the other end of the Outer Ring of the central zone, close to the entrance to the Four Seasons Sect. After that event, there was a lot of activity in the Divine Sword Sect and all foreigners were told to leave since the war has ended."
Ken understood that it had to do with the Bloodthirst Sect's secret realm, and apparently, none of the cultivators of his sect entered the place. He remembered that Tobias, the original team leader of Tiara's group before Ken killed most of them, was head over heels for Tiara and invited her to the secret realm.
'I guess the ice princess was quite lucky then,' Ken thought to himself. Tiara might be the only one except for him that wasn't from the top 5 righteous sects or the top 10 evil sects and got to enter the secret realm.
"I see. Do you guys want to keep working as my bodyguards?"
Miles opened his mouth to outright refuse, but he felt a hand on his arm. Looking at Henry in surprise, he saw the blind monk nods at Ken.
"Ah… I guess we want to?" Miles said confusedly. He thought they only agreed to escort Ken last time as a highly rewarding one-time job as they planned to go to the secret realm anyway, but now they had no reason to work as mere bodyguards as top rankers of the inner sect.
"Good. Miles, please keep watch outside for a while. Soleil, go prepare a room for them in the house."
The small house was now at full capacity; there was only free room, so Ken planned to let them use it whenever they wanted. They wouldn't live there, but he figured they might be there a lot.
"So, Henry, why are you back here instead of going to the Peaceful Demon Sect?" Ken asked the man.
Sensing Henry's will, which now Ken recognized as a weird type of intent, Ken got the impression of surprise.
"Does it mean because the war ended in a surprise, and it didn't allow you to slip away?"
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