Chapter 226: The old family head.

The old man that was now standing in front of Haru was obviously from the same family that the chef was talking about given his appearance was the same as what he described. Haru looked at him for a few moments and thought of what to say.

The man was much stronger than he was and he could tell at just a glance. If he decided to do something about what Haru had said then he would have to fight. But he didn't see much of a chance that he would fight at the birthday party of one of his family members. And especially in front of so many people. And the more that Haru looked at the man.

The more he could see the underlying expression of joy on his face.

"Are you the head of the Hong family?" Haru asked with suspicion. He didn't know exactly who he was talking to but with strength like he had it wouldn't be strange if he was the head of the family. After all, he was at the final cultivation stage someone on earth can reach before being rejected by the planet and tossed out into the upper realms at random.

"Am I the head of the family? No. Not anymore at least. I passed that title down to my son. But you are the young man who was searching for something within this house, aren't you? I felt your presence so don't think about denying it." The previous look of joy on the old man's face had faded and he was now staring at Haru with a harsh expression.

"Yeah, that was me. What of it?" Haru asked in return. He was in someone else's territory right now and he was currently standing before someone more powerful than he was. There were only two things he could do in this situation.

The first option would be to behave like a dog while trying not to anger the old man. But Haru was never the type of person to give up on his pride to save his hide. He knew that if he wanted to be taken seriously by this old man that he would have to show that he had some backbone and wasn't afraid of him despite the disadvantageous setting for him.

"I can see that you think that you need to act tough to hold onto your pride. But depending on your answer to my next question you may either carry on living or die right here. So let me ask you.

What were you looking for?" The old man asked Haru with a look of suspicion and distrust on his face.

"Like I said. I was looking for either the head of the Hong family. Or the girl that is around the same age as me and has greater strength than I do." Haru replied honestly. He didn't have anything to hide since this man was the old head of the Hong family.

"The girl around your age… Do you mean Hong Xia? What business do you have with my granddaughter?" The old man asked with hostility. He didn't know what Haru had planned or hidden up his sleeve but he felt like it wasn't anything good given the fact that he had to come to a kid's birthday party to talk to the head of the Hong family.

If it was something that couldn't wait until the day after then it wasn't something good.

"I can't say right now," Haru said and then turned to look at the chef who was still standing in the kitchen and staring at them both as they talked.

The old man seemed to understand that it was a sensitive topic whatever it was and realised that they had to talk alone if Haru was to open up about what he wanted. He looked at the chef and considered asking him to leave but they were all still standing in the kitchen. It would be for the best if they were the ones to leave and let him get on with his job.

"Then follow me. If you want to talk then we can go somewhere quiet. I just don't want you to cause any trouble at my granddaughter's birthday party. Although I can't feel your cultivation I feel like I am the only person who could stop you if you decided to look for trouble here today." The old man spoke before leading Haru up to the second floor and into a room that looked like a library.

Bookshelves were surrounding them on all sides and in the middle of the room, two identical couches faced each other with just enough room to fit a coffee table between them. The old man sat down and then gestured for Haru to sit down in the one facing him.

"Come and join me." The old man said before Haru sat down as he had instructed.

"So what is it? What's so important that you would come here during my granddaughters birthday party to speak with the head of the family?" The old man asked and then sat back slightly and crossed his legs. Indicating that he was ready to listen to whatever Haru had to say to him.

"Well, I have a question to ask you first," Haru said.

"Sure what is it?" The old man asked.

"Do you have any idea what happens to you once you break through the nascent soul stage?" Haru asked. He needed to know how much the old man before him knew about the universe. If he didn't have any idea about what happened after the nascent soul stage Haru could just let him know that an evil sect will be trying to take over the world in a few weeks and he needs help to fight against them.

But if he had even a little bit of information about the upper realms then it would make it easier to explain the truth.

"After the nascent soul stage… I have researched it a lot. I had a friend when I was younger who was stuck at the nascent soul stage for a while and one day he just vanished out of nowhere.

A few years went by and I ran into a man who was also at the peak of the nascent soul stage and befriended him. He told me about the universe being connected to things called realms and hidden worlds that can only be accessed once your cultivation reaches a certain height. But after some time he too disappeared randomly…

Sorry I got a little carried away there. Yeah, there is probably another cultivation stage but I don't have a clue what it is. Or how strong cultivators of that level are. But what does that have to do with why you came here today?" The old man replied before asking what the relation is between Haru's question and the reason for coming to his house.

"Well… Your friend was right. I can tell you more if you want but there is a matter where I might need your help. In the higher realms, many different species are living there but there are three major clans. The elven clan, The human clan and finally the demon clan." Haru started but was quickly interrupted.

"The demon clan? So that confirms things. My first friend that vanished on me always told me that the reason he didn't join a sect was that he was a member of the demon clan. I thought that it might have been a family line or something similar to my own family but do you think that he might be from the same demon clan that you mentioned just now?" The old man seemed shocked by the revelation.

"Hmm… Possibly. I have run into a couple of members of the demon clan recently so that wouldn't be too hard to believe. But as I was saying I can't be certain but I think that war has broken out between the three clans. Last night a member from the demon clan came from the upper realms and was searching for someone.

He tried to attack me and my teacher so in self-defence my teacher killed him. But before he died he released a beacon to the rest of his clan. They will probably come here and look for revenge in the next couple of weeks. So I am trying to gather as many people as I can to fight them." Haru explained but was interrupted once again.

"That is your problem. My family doesn't have a problem with the demon clan so why should I help? Your teacher is the one who killed him right? If they come for revenge then that's fine. I'm not going to put my family at risk by helping you fight some strangers." The old man said as if he had heard enough and was done with the conversation. But Haru wasn't ready to give up just yet.

"Then I'm sorry for your losses," Haru said and began to get up from the seat.

"What is that supposed to mean?" The old man asked.

Haru turned back to him and looked at him with pity in his eyes.

"If you don't help fight back then your whole family will die. Not only that but humanity on earth will probably be extinguished. The demon clan aren't ones that listen to reason and I have seen how they deal with revenge first hand.

You probably don't know of this but there is a soul world called the soul tempering grounds. It is a place that is used by cultivators in the upper realms to safely spar with each other and strengthen their souls. Recently the demon clan found a way to access the soul world with physical bodies and murdered the owners of the place and began to damage the souls of all of the people that were there at the time.

They are brutal and they seek only destruction. If you refuse to fight them then your family will die. It's as simple as that. It was nice knowing you. But I think I will be leaving now." Haru said. If he knew that the people that he cared about would die if he refused to help then he would be more likely to help fight against the demon clan but without warning the door to the room shot open.

"Grandpa! Where's dad? I can't find him anywhere." A girl with long ashen grey hair and eyes that gave off a purple hue announced as she entered the room and saw Haru standing next to the old man. She stopped and then looked at the old man for an answer.