Family Reunion III

Inside a mansion, a bald man with a crippled dantian is currently being tortured while being watched by a beautiful lady while surrounded by multiple unconscious and properly lined bodies. The man was stripped of his clothes and has been tied to a chair. The intensity of the torture made the body of the man more grotesque than those butchered pig hanged for display waiting to be chopped. Even his genitalia did not escape the hands of trained executioner however, no matter how gruesome the man’s appearance has become, his eyes still maintained a luster of willingness to live which annoyed the lady watching from the side.

Seeing that the man is about to die any minute soon, he ordered the torturer to leave then poured an unknown liquid on one of the sleeping bodies lying on the side. The lady is Revlyn and the helpless man on the chair is none other than his half-brother Pionar who killed her side of the family.

“For twenty-nine years I’ve longed to reunite with everyone. Day after day I’ve always wanted to go home and the idea that I get to visit one day is what fueled me to become stronger and yet when I’ve finally earned the rights to transmit message to this planet, what I got is you and your misguided anger. Our sect coincidentally has a mission to pass through this planet which means the heavens just really wants me to exact vengeance.

Since you’ve taken away my side of the family, you should have been prepared for this. Before you die, witness how I’ll kill your side of the family, starting with your twin. He’s about to wake up now.”

Revlyn smiled but her eyes were lifeless. As a cultivator who had been accepted and raised by ancient cultivators, the extensive training she had undergone primarily focused on external strength but not her emotions. Now that she is about to complete her revenge, she is lost and helpless like a little lamb as she watched another man struggling to wake up.

That person she poured with the unknown liquid is Clay who has been clueless the entire time.

When Clay opened his eyes he struggled to move and realized his hands were tied on the back including his feet as if it had been glued together. Clay forced to stand on his knees and when he looked around, he was surprised that his cousins were lying unconscious. His aunt and his first cousin Nuir III, his niece and nephew and Nuir’s wife together with some close friends in the village. All of them are lying on the floor. But what really struck him the most is his twin brother bleeding all over the place whilst tied to a chair.

Clay’s last memory was drinking as he celebrated his decision for refusing to visit another planet and embrace a simple life yet here he is, greeted with the nightmares he kept having. What’s more is that his twin being tied on the chair reminded him of the exact scene he experience when he was tortured during his first reincarnation at Gar Wahgar planet.

Clay composed himself seeing that everyone is still alive. He looked at the lady standing beside his brother and remembered his half sister. Twenty-nine years ago, the crazy driver informed him that his twin brother was accepted by this planet’s Alliance but her half-sister was accepted by an outside sect. It never occurred to him that this would sister would return and kidnapped everyone with an intent to kill and revenge.

He heard what his sister said upon waking up and he is trying to figure out a way to pacify her. He calmly circulated his Qi. Judging from Revlyn’s aura, she should be a Core Formation expert. It is clear that her sister had suppressed her strength so that she would not easily kill everyone on impulse.

“Killing everyone will not bring back the dead. If you spare the innocent, I will give you key to a safe. I can promise you will not be disappointed as you will inherit the coordinates to Fire Class Dao Stone.”

“Ha ha ha ha.” Revlyn laughed like a maniac then said, “Did you hear that Pionar? Your beloved twin just said spare everyone. Why don’t you do the same? Come on, tell me to spare everyone as well.”

“a…skkkhhhh …. Ashhhkkk “Pionar could hardly talk with his almost dismembered throat and all that comes out from his mouth is gibberish but his eyes were defiant.

Revlyn squatted and placed her ear closer to Pionar and said, “What did you say brother? You want your twin to live? Ha ha ha ha.”

Revlyn slowly walked towards Clay and when she was close enough, she kicked him on the stomach and when before Clay could bend over from pain, another kick was delivered to his face immediately breaking his nose.

“Arghh”

Revlyn then stepped behind Clay then kicked him again and again until Clay rolled over closer in front of Pionar. Clay wanted to retaliate with his Qi Projections but he felt a magical tool on her sister’s body and did not want to take chances. He would rather endure the pain and see if he could convince her to spare his cousins.

Pionar on the other hand watch as Clay suffered.

“aa ….hhhkkkkk… come ..cohhk… closer”

*Pant *Pant

Revlyn coldly smiled when she hear Pionar.

“Did you say something brother? Are you saying you want me to spare him?”

“ahhhkkkkk… come …. closer .”

Revlyn walked towards Pionar and stood in front of him and said, “What? Say it now and I may change my mind.”

“Closer”

Revlyn bent slowly as she moved her face closer to Pionar.

“You have something to say brother? Do you want him to….”

Pionar smiled and when Revlyn’s face was close enough, he bit something on his teeth and spat it directly towards Revlyn’s left eye.

*Phhssst

“How dare you.”

Revlyn could have had easily deflected Pionar’s saliva but she had been restraining her strength. Her face twitched and did not even bother wiping what was spat on her eye and delivered series of punches on Pionar’s face.

*Pant *Pant

Revlyn noticed Pionar is about to lose consciousness so she stopped and said, “Don’t you die on me yet. Watch how I kill your brother.”

Revlyn turned to Clay and released her aura as she no longer suppressed her strength but just as she was about to circulate her Qi, she noticed how chaotic her Spiritual Qi in her dantian and could not even control her strength. It then occurred to her what was spat on her eye.

“What did you do?” Revlyn shouted furiously and turned around to Pionar but before she could take a step, she tripped and stumbled on the floor with her mouth foaming and started convulsing.

“Let’s all die together.” Pionar coughed blood and smiled one last time before taking his last breath.

Three seconds after Revlyn collapsed on the floor, the necklace she was wearing floated a few inches above her chest then a Formation within activated creating a circular blue light that expanded in a blink of an eye stunning everyone within a kilometer radius. Anyone below Rank II Ascendant would be defenseless against such spiritual mental attack leaving them unconscious for an hour up to a day. This kind of heavenly treasure is a onetime use artifact bestowed upon to core disciples of powerful sects to allow reinforcements to come when someone is in danger.

Meanwhile, Clay was struggling to get on his knees and beg his sister to stop but the sudden spiritual mental attack hit him but unlike everyone whose soul was penetrated and shocked, the attack hit the outermost layer of the Soul Seal inside him. While he was saved from being knocked unconscious, a thin layer of his Soul Seal activated creating a temporary barrier around him and in the process, a cold wave of energy coursed through his meridians and into his dantian.

Clay could feel the temperature within his Qi channels getting lower and it felt like he is being frozen from the inside. He wanted to ignore it and save his brother but circulating his Qi is becoming more difficult. Like a wiggling worm, he tried to move but instinct is telling him that he will turn into a cold statue if he does not do something to relieve him of this unknown energy.

His mind went into overdrive. The first thing that comes to mind to counter cold is heat and he immediately recalled the Lievrem Essence Flame. Thanks to the spatial ring that looks ordinary and cannot be scanned through normal means, the ring remained in his pocket and was not confiscated.

He did not have time to think through his actions and sent his Qi into the ring and retrieved a wooden jade box. Without any hesitation, he unsealed the box and using his Qi projections to contain the flame and bring it close to his navel.

Within seconds, the Essence Flame was absorbed and assimilated into his dantian.

*Pant *Pant

The Essence Flame began to rampage and slowly spread towards his body. The flame is on its un-refined state so the burst of heat is a perfect counter to the cold energy.

Clay felt relieved it is working but he did not dare lower his guard and concentrated on guiding the Essence Flame to properly integrate with him. Despite the pressure to save everyone and escape, Clay remained unusually calm. He could not fully grasp what is going on but judging from Revlyn’s reaction, Clay guessed she was poisoned.

Now that he thinks about it, twenty-nine years ago, her sister was recruited by an outside sect and during that time, the one conducting the selection as Kyan Han Sword Sect. Recalling the time when he visited Pionar in the prison, the guard told him that Ascendants of this planet are helpless about it. That should explain how someone with an Elemental Affinity of 9 was crippled. And the final clue was what Revlyn said when he just woke up.

For a person to earn the right to communicate to an inhabitant of a neutral planet with stringent rules just shows how much her sister is valued by Kyan Han Sword Sect, the same sect the crazy driver had been in contact with and the same sect who should be giving him a safe passage to the Galactic Bank of Andara Federation.

Clocked ticked and what felt like a long time is not even a minute and thanks to his perfect Qi control, Clay was able to integrate with the Essence Flame smoothly. Even if he is not on meditative position, he is still able to control the flow of his energy.

After confirming that his circulation has stabilized, he opened his eyes and stood on his knees as he searched his spatial ring again for any items that would help him break the chains.

While Clay is busy and occupied on the matters of freeing himself and save everyone, he is unaware that within the depths of his soul, another layer of the Soul Seal activated and shined after he fused with a flame.

As soon as he found a gun-looking artifact within the spatial ring given to him by the cabbie driver, the Soul Seal emitted a type of spiritual mental attack that shocked him from within and causing his sight to go dark. Clay did not have time to react and just like the rest inside the house, he lost consciousness as well and lay on the floor not far from his half-sister.

*Thud

Meanwhile, not far from the Arshua mansion where Clay is having a bitter reunion with his siblings, the Ascendant accompanying Revlyn carefully assessed what was going on. Earlier, he received an automatic distress signal that Revlyn was in danger but he thought it was a glitch. As a captain of the ship, he did not perceive any danger or any potential threats and considering that their junior would be surrounded by cultivators, the possibility of her encountering a life threatening situation is close to zero. And even if she did, it would be a manual signal should her life saving treasures which is capable of deflecting attacks from Peak Ascendants is unable to help her out.

As soon as he restarted the communication tool, he received the same distress signal so he travelled in haste.

When he arrived at the scene, what greeted him was their junior on her last breaths. He wanted to save Revlyn but he felt a trace of a chilling and forbidding aura coming from the house. He did not dare move nor expand his divine sense and could only stand by and carefully observe where that terrifying aura came from.

After a minute, the powerful and mysterious deadly aura disappeared and what was left were two lifeless bodies. One of them is Revlyn and the other is a man who had been subjected to extreme torture. After confirming that the powerful aura truly disappeared, he spread his divine sense.

He investigated the scene carefully. As an experienced cultivator, the spatial ring in Clay’s pocket did not escape his divine sense. Since there are no restrictions on it, he inserted his Qi into the spatial ring.

To his surprise, he found a coin associated with their mission.

He ordered the scene to be investigated again and went back to the ship to make a report.

Inside a sealed transmission room:

(We retrieved the coin from someone else and it’s through coincidence.)

(Are you sure it’s an RHP token?)

(My subordinate said it’s a 201 series.)

(And the owner?)

(He’s in coma from a Soul Seal backslash and we can’t determine which rank.)

(Wait six days then proceed to Litna Base. Keep the conscription mission as planned.)

(Our pretend mission has been compromised and we’ve spotted rats from Green Mist Soul Sect. Do you need insignia samples?)

*Silence

(Secure the owner at all costs. A battle-class Mothership will pick you up.)