Chapter 259 Chapter 259 – Ken's Activity During the War
Soleil swallowed her saliva in worry but knew she had no choice but to wear the collar her young master presented her with. Although she was playful in nature, she feared Ken, and he made sure she would keep a balance between happiness and fear. Heaven when she's on his good side, and hell when she's on his bad side.
Taking the 'gothic-style necklace', she closed it around her neck, and the runes on it glowed for a moment.
"AHHHH!"
Pain assaulted her head for a few seconds, and she screamed in panic as she grabbed her temples with both hands and her green eyes turned bloodshot.
'Oh, it seems much more violent than what Vivienne experienced. I guess manufacturing a fourth-grade collar based on a sixth-grade one is harder than I thought,' Ken mused as he watched the scene take place with a calm expression.
After 20 seconds, the pain finally subsided, and the young maid breathed heavily while looking at Ken in horror and confusion, her body drenched in sweat.
"I guess you want to ask what this necklace is. I like to call it a subordinate collar, but someone else told me it was also known as a 'slave collar'. It practically forces you to obey my commands or you will suffer from a strong headache and eventually death. Your first orders will be to never tell anyone about this collar, never disclose information you hear or learn in some way from me or Henry to others, and never do anything that might cause me trouble later on."
Ken continued with a series of commands that encompassed all types of betrayals he could think of, and all Soleil could do was remain on her knees on the floor and tremble as she bit her lips and listened. When she heard the last command, she burst out immediately, terrified.
"Please, Young Master, have mercy! I will be forever loyal to you!"
"Don't bother me about those commands."
"AHHHH!" Soleil screamed in pain when she tried to continue despite the direct order to stop.
"Do a good job and I might change my opinion," Ken threw her a bone. His belief was that anyone needed a shred of hope to care.
Ken freed his leg from her grip and left the house while his thoughts returned to his nascent soul. While normal cultivators took at least a decade to form it, he managed to shorten the time he needed considerably despite making his manual ridiculously long and specific for maximum benefits.
He stopped his stroll in front of a certain stall managed by an inner disciple of the sect.
"Hello Tony, I see your pills are just as shiny as always," Ken smiled as he looked at the dull-looking pills. Tony was the spy from the Serene Lotus Sect, and it was their code for declaring that the interaction was safe and not compelled by a foreign force.
"Thank you, Young Master Sue. That's great, I meant to find you myself if you didn't come. I have some news for you. Some inner disciples were coerced into assassinating you by different means. Most have their families hostage in the Four Seasons Sect's territory," Tony moved on to give Ken more details about the situation.
"Thank you for the warning. I also need a few preparations done for the near future."
Ken began to tell the man what he needed from him. Everything was already set in motion, and he needed the Serene Lotus Sect to add the final touch with their greater strength.
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"Argh," Ken groaned in pain and spat out a little bit of blood from light internal injuries. He got up and brandished his sword, ready for another clash against his great uncle.
"That's enough for today. Your comprehension abilities are amazing. I think you might develop intent before long if we continue. I hope you don't slack in your training outside our weekly sessions."
Fernando sent his sword back to his storage ring and Ken swallowed a healing pill to mend his wounds. Every time they'd train together, Fernando held back as least as possible, unwilling to waste his precious time by going easy on Ken.
"Of course not. Thank you for your tutorship, Uncle," Ken bowed and cupped his fist. He indeed neglected his sword training outside his weekly training sessions with the elder and the few spars he had against Henry. Thanks to his perfect memory, his proficiency never regressed from one session to another, so Fernando never complained.
"Do you have anything you need?" Fernando asked when he saw that Ken did not leave at the end of the session but remained instead.
"Yes, Uncle. I've developed a very keen sense of danger, and I feel like I've been watched lately. I think I might be targeted by someone. Maybe a traitor who doesn't support going to war against me or a spy from the Four Seasons Sect. Although I trust my bodyguards, they're only at the fifth stage, and might not be enough now during times of war."
Ken observed the elder's expression at the mention of spies but saw no surprise.
"Hmm, it is indeed possible. We all believe that the top 5 sects have spies in the weaker sects, including ours. What plan did you have in mind?"
Fernando never treated Ken as a child. He held him in high regard and respected his opinion, thus, he assumed that Ken already had a solution since he brought it up.
"Our clan specializes in Darkness Qi, meaning our cultivators are best at hiding. I suggest disguising me and sneaking me out of the sect's base to a secret place where I won't be found until I break through to the next stage. I won't be safe from their spies even with sixth-rank bodyguards while the elders are too valuable to protect me all day long. They are already spread thin as it is."
"That's also true… I will consider it and see if that's an option. For now, I think you can be safe within the clan's territory. Why does it matter if you break through to the next stage?"
"I'm sure that no spy would be able to take me down swiftly enough inside the sect once I form my nascent soul. By the time they managed to defeat me, I'd already gotten help from the sect, unless the spy is in the seventh stage."
Fernando shook his head to deny that option right away.
"The sect doesn't let anyone they don't trust in 100 percent to have enough resources to break through to the seventh stage. I'm sure none of the elders are spies."
"I see, that makes sense. The elders are the pillars of our sect. Uncle, I will only be willing to go with you and Grandfather. You're the only ones I know well enough to trust."
"Do you suspect your own family?" Fernando asked with a strict tone.
"Yes," Ken shrugged.
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'Medical Hall.' A sign marked the building Ken entered a few minutes ago. Since he didn't participate in the war himself, he visited the place every other day for a couple of hours to treat wounded disciples. This way, he could help the general opinion about him be more positive, making the disciples less unwilling to battle for his sake.
Ken channeled his Qi into the meridians and flesh of an unconscious disciple after feeding her with a healing pill. His cold palm touched the center of her chest and guided the medicinal Qi from the pill inside her body in the absence of a conscious effort from the body's owner. Her wounds were closing rapidly until her breath turned even and stabilized.
"Thank you, Young Master. You've saved many lives of our disciples."
One of the staff thanked him with a bow. Although Ken only worked two hours, his pace was much faster than any other fourth-rank alchemist. The alchemists worked as healers during both routine and war since the Alchemical Qi was one of the greatest benefits. At war, many left their studies and joined the healers to support the sect.
"No problem, it's the least I can do for those loyal to the sect. Only by bonding together, we can resist overbearing forces that want to humiliate us."
Everyone looked at him with mixed feelings as he turned around to face them at the exit, bowed to his fellow disciples, and left the Medical Hall. His bodyguards, Max and Jake, shadowed him from behind as always; they never let him out of their sight ever since his conversation with Grand Elder Fernando.
'Hmm, Tony's warning still didn't occur. Maybe next time…'
Ken sighed in dissatisfaction. He disliked having to wait for the Four Seasons Sect to make their move.
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'Medical Hall.'
Ken stood outside the familiar building once more. He had been there dozens of times already since the war began. He entered the place and scanned the patients on the long rows of beds with his gaze as if he were searching for someone specific.
"Welcome back, Young Master Ken. There's a patient who said he wants you specifically to treat him and is not willing to accept the care of anybody else. He is a ranked disciple and at the sixth stage, so we could not do much about his refusal…"
A young male healer bowed after waiting for Ken to finish scanning the room. All the healers were used to this behavior; Ken did it every time he visited. They weren't sure why he did it so they assumed it was to check if there was any specific injury that interested him for research.
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