"I'm sorry. Diana and Jane died in front of my very eyes and there was nothing I could do to save them," Ken sighed with a ping of pain when he recalled the two cheerful ladies.
Ken was well aware that the moment to face the girls' masters would arrive eventually. Being core disciples of the sect, they were under the tutelage of influential elders, and it was only natural for those elders to seek answers about the girls' whereabouts.
"Please tell us how they died and who killed them."
"We hunted together for a while and my bodyguards kept us safe as well. However, the guards wanted to train for a while, so the girls and I decided to venture to the war zone alone, relying on the rules of war that specified one must not attack an enemy disciple from a lower stage than themselves."
"new-born calves don't even fear the tiger," Elder Leylin said. Ken paused for a moment, thinking the elder had a point to convey, but soon continued when he understood there was nothing else.
"Right. We ambushed a few groups, and everything was fine until we eventually attacked the wrong people. Diana's arrow killed a young girl from the enemy's side, and a fifth-stage cultivator was enraged. He screamed he would get revenge for his little sister even if it costs him his life for breaking the rules and began to chase us."
"Losing a family member is indeed heartbreaking," Elder Fang said in a sad tone. It was obvious that he referred to his disciple as family, and hearing of her death was devastating even when expecting it.
"I'm sorry for your loss, I lost two good friends that day," Ken said sincerely.
"How did you escape?"
"As soon as the man swore to take revenge for his sister's death, we agreed to split up and run away, hoping to delay him enough for a fifth-stage cultivator or higher to save us."
"Out of 36 stratagems, running away is always number one," Elder Leylin remarked. This time, Ken assumed he only enjoyed inserting idioms and continued without a pause.
"He chased after Diana first because she was the one who killed his sister directly. A few cultivators of the fourth stage chased after Jane and me, and after I killed my pursuers, I helped Jane. Jane insisted that we go to help Diana despite the danger since that's what real friends do, and they were killed during the fight."
"Did you fight?"
"No, I helped Jane because I could, but going to fight the fifth-stage cultivator was suicide. It pained my heart to abandon them, but I did what I had to do to survive."
Ken answered half truthfully. Most of the story was true, and they did die because he let them. However, it was a result of his indecisiveness, not by choice.
"I see. I can sense that you truly are sad about their deaths, so I will not criticize your choice. I will not say it was right, but it also was not wrong. Please, order what you will, the bill is on us," Elder Fang said and got up to leave.
"No! Your choice was wrong! Aren't you stronger than those two silly girls? If you helped them, maybe you'd survive for long enough until someone would come to help! Maybe you would have won!"
Elder Leylin burst into tears and admonished Ken for running away. He was clearly agitated, a rare sight to anyone who knew the elder.
"It was bad luck, there was nothing I could do. Some things can only be left up to fate. Would you feel better if I died too?" Ken asked with a strict tone.
"Elder Leylin is grieving the death of his only disciple. We are glad to see you alive and your death wouldn't fix anything nor make us feel better. We will take our leave now."
Fang and Leylin left the restaurant, and Ken remained alone at the table. It was a separate room meant for VIP guests, so there was nobody around him. The room was beautiful, the walls were decorated by carvings of soaring phoenixes, and the silence attested to the existence of Silencing Formations.
'I guess it'd be wrong to eat now if they still watch my reactions,' Ken mumbled to himself and left right after them.
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Ken passed the next month by getting the first spot in the age group between 18 to 24. The strongest there was at the higher phase of the Core Formation stage, so it made no sense to remain behind after revealing his stage.
The main reason he revealed his stage was that he already learned that those at the seventh stage or above had abilities beyond his current understanding, and many of them could see past his concealment. He would be able to revise his cultivation concealing technique only after he learns more about the Supremacy Phase.
"Hey Emrys, how are you doing?"
Ken smiled at the wolf and stroke his fur. He looked at the egg of the Sunscale dragon in his room as he visioned the future of the two pets. This past month, he had read a lot about beasts and different experiments that took place in the sect.
He even purchased a few cubs of different species for his experiments, but unfortunately, none of them yielded any fruits yet, and they all ended in failure and in the animals' death.
Emrys was also growing with the new supply of Bloodline Refining Pills and Bloodline Enhancing Pills. His grey fur was turning white, and his yellow eyes contained a glim of power.
'He is on the verge of breaking through and becoming a third-rank beast. I need to hurry up my experiments.'
Ken thought to himself as he played with the wolf. He needed the wolf to get used to him and trust him for his future plans.
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A/N:
(1) – new-born calves don't even fear the tiger – innocent or na?ve people don't know enough to be afraid
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