SLASH!

Leo froze, his back drenched in a cold sweat as his heart raced like there's no tomorrow. Irta Lopus was glaring at him with a sword inches away from his neck, the reason? Wang Ling just admitted something he shouldn't have.

"Let go!" Irta shouted as he further increased his strength.

"You know you can't get past me, let me finish my words before we — oh for the love of." Wang Ling grew exasperated at the sight of Irta swinging his fist.

Leo froze at the sight of this but Wang Ling did not stop Irta, instead, Wang Ling just spoke, "Leo, did I teach you to be a coward?"

A simple set of words set off Leo, a sword appeared in his hand and like a snake, the boy maneuvered his hands and grabbed the oncoming fist. He caught it, but the power behind it was too strong and sent the boy flying and crashing on the wall behind him.

Irta let go of the Saber's handle, he was about to finish Leo when Wang Ling decided to intervene, "Okay that is enough." Wang Ling swung the saber!

SLASH!

"YOUNG MASTER!"

A direct hit on the stomach and Irta was sent flying on the wall opposite of Leo. The man with Irta glared at Wang Ling fearing the death of his Young Master, Wang Ling just scoffed, "Don't front, you're more of a coward than Leo here, so look away before I gouge your eyes. Besides, your Young Master's alive I use the blunt side of the saber, so I think it would be in your best interest if you look after him now."

The man quickly turned around to tend to his Young Master and Wang Ling did the same but to check on Leo who was struggling to stand up, "You okay kid?"

Leo held onto his stomach, laughing, "hahahaha…. No - I think I broke several ribs."

"I like that honesty, hold on I'll patch you up quickly." Wang Ling circulated his qi in Leo's meridians and then punctured several points on the boy's body.

A light feeling descended on Leo's body, "Thank you, master." The boy felt grateful to the man who let this happened to him.

"Well, seeing how you conquered your fear against the Lopus brat, this is the least I can give you as a reward. You did good kid, and seeing how you are nearing the Late stages of Qi Reinforcement Stage, it seems like you are improving steadily."

Well, it was not that Wang Ling hated Leo that he would let this thing happen, rather, it was all for the boy. Leo's skills lie in his bravery and instinct, he's talentless so these two parts of him must always be honed. If this defeat proves to be his downfall then this would be the end of his path.

But seeing how Leo handled this loss and how cool he's acting with his Master's method gave Wang Ling hope that this young man was more than he lets on.

It took a while for Irta to return back inside the house, and as the lackey stayed outside out of fear from Wang Ling's eyes and to keep out the prying eyes of the villagers, Wang Ling questioned Irta, "So, how are you feeling? Ready to talk now?"

"What's there to talk? His older brother killed Seran, my brother, with all due respect Grand Master Wang, do you think it is possible to control this seething rage within me?"

"You post a great point, if I was you, I would have eradicated his existence and devoured his soul at the thought of killing a member of the family if Lucius was indeed the one who killed your brother that is."

Irta creased his brows, "What do you mean?"

"Well, you see, Leo here is the brother of Lucius, and as his Master do you think I would do something to endanger his life without thinking it through?"

Leo wanted to say yes but didn't dare to.

Irta was silent, this man before him just risked his life fighting against the beyonders, take the matter with Seran and of course, he was nothing but a righteous man in Irta's eyes.

He wanted to first hear what Wang Ling was on about.

Wang Ling played with the saber, he balances it through its tip and began speaking, "Let me first ask you a question, what is the situation of your family with the [Star Seeking Sect]? Are they hostile against your family?"

"Yes, they have been showing their fangs against us since my brother's death."

"Oh? I did not expect that but go on. I thought the Sect would have blinded your clan and pour the hate into Lucius' rotting existence."

"It seems like Grandmaster Wang has a broad view of things, and you are correct we were almost blinded and controlled by rage. My father actually wanted to go out himself and take the head of Lucius, but, the Sect Master came to visit us carrying Seran as quickly as he could acting as though he wanted to show his condolence.

"Claiming he wanted to have the Sect offer the head of Lucius to our Family may sew the rift between the two caused by this incident. My father obliged to let the Sect take care of matters, he wanted to trust them. We were waiting for news and then when the truth surface with the death of the Elder.

"The truth about the greed of the Star Seeking Sect spread to our ears. Their mission was not to seek vengeance but to cover their tracks as they gain their hands on the Overhaul Phoenix Rebirth technique. This truth enraged my father, learning that the Star Seeking Sect was actually using Seran's death as cover sent him to a fit of rage and fought with the Sect Master, gravely injuring himself and the Sect Master and this would eventually lead to conflict, then a war against our groups."

Wang Ling raised his brows, "Wait, is that the reason why you say you do not have enough people to protect your lands from the Demons or Beyonders as you call them?"

Irta nodded his head with a grave expression.

Wang Ling knew that the Star Seeking Sect had Lucius kill Seran in the competition so they could achieve two things — lower the strength of the growing Lopus Family by killing the arrogant yet prodigious son Sera, and then unearth the lost art of Overhaul Phoenix Rebirth.

[It seems like the Star Seeking Sect is a formidable existence. They would have succeeded in achieving their goal. They accounted for everything well, everything that is except for me.]

"I understand your situation now. I would like to go back to the discussion about your brother but I also wish to know about the story of how Lucius escaped."

"The survivors claimed he showed formidable sword techniques and the only reason why they lived was to let everyone know the might of his clan and announce the promised time of his revenge a year from that time — wait, what happened to Lucius anyway? Is he alive still?"

Wang Ling looked at Irta, he was currently contemplating how he should go about the details, "No… he died that night… but I cannot tell you the details of the matter."

Irta looked over at Leo who showed a grieving expression — such a face could not be faked. He too had lost a brother and he knows that Leo's pain was true.

Irta chose to believe Wang Ling.

"So, Grandmaster Wang will you tell me now what all of this has to do with my brother's death?"

"Oh yeah, the truth was that Leo's Master, the Seventh Sword Mountain, Lucius' Master had a hand in your brother's death."

"What!?"

Wang Ling smiled within, "You see, your brother was a genius and the sect feared your brother's rise may lead to your Family's strength rising beyond theirs. The fear drove them to have Lucius kill Seran by holding Leo hostage and when the job was done, they pinned everything to Lucius without honoring their words. They also wanted their legacy and with this scheme, they killed two birds with one stone—" And so, Wang Ling's bullshit went on.

Some of them were truthful well, as for the rest of them… they were being pulled out of his ass.

Leo looked at his Master with confused eyes, he did not know if he should be amazed of Wang Ling's intellect or be ashamed of him.