Chapter 165: Apparent Desires

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Cynthia fell silent as she recounted the conversation between her and her late father. It was related to Apollo's dad. When it came to this matter, she was always silent about it. Before he passed, this was the sole request her father asked of her.

Almost everyone was unaware of this bit of information, but Apollo's father was a true anomaly. At birth, he was stillborn. In other words, he was born dead. It was a truly ironic situation. Furthermore, it was something that almost never happened in the Astarat world. The Natural Essence ensured the offspring of this world were healthy.

At first, they thought something was wrong due to the Terror's having claimed a part of the world. However, that was tossed out the window. Numerous babies were born alongside Zarel, and they were perfectly healthy. His case was unique and that scared them. Soon enough, they gave up and prepared to bury him.

Yet, when all hope was lost, miraculously, he came to life. The shrill cry of a newborn baby was heard. 

But, that was only for an instant. That was because immediately after, he stopped and uttered his own name "Zarel". There was an otherworldly level of intelligence in his eyes. 

This was odd, even in their world. While the occurrences of extremely advanced children happened often, they could never speak at birth. They needed a short time to develop speech patterns.

Yet, such an event took place with Apollo's father. Naturally, this was something that could be taken lightly nor could it be disclosed easily. After all, if it was one thing people coveted, it was unforeseen talents. 

Among his growth, Zarel faced almost no bottlenecks. But, he also experienced a weird pattern of growth. It was never stable! One day he could be a simple mortal, the next, a Zul General. It was something inexplicable.

This was another reason Sirius believed him to be a wolf in sheep's clothing. He thought his concealment techniques were that advanced because he was unable to delve into them. One had to know, back then Sirius was already a Spirit Emperor—the 4th realm of Spirit Cultivation.

Nonetheless, Zarel led an obscure life. Although his family was close to him, there always seemed to be an unfamiliar veil around him. Not even Cynthia was capable of peering into his secrets but she didn't want to.

In fact, the last time he returned to the family, he bought back Reili. By that time, she was already mysteriously pregnant with Apollo. The oddest part was they shared no intimate moments inside the family. It was like they were strangers; like Zarel was completing a mission.

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"Ahem, Miss, are you okay? You have blanked out. We've been calling you for over 10 minutes," Sirius said, waving his hands before Cynthia. It appeared she was lost in thought for longer than she felt. However, while she recounted the events, she started to piece things together.

"You said my brother was a wolf in sheep's clothing right?" Cynthia uttered.

"Brother, you say? Ah, you're the lass who eloped with the Dongguang's Golden Child!" Sirius blurted. After his outburst he fell quiet, he was lucky none of the Dongguang's were here and that Aran traveled by himself. 

After all, similar to Aran, they disliked the fact one of their offspring wasn't within the walls of the family. Regrettably, the location of the Kaiser Family was never disclosed. Not only did Zarel withhold the information, so did Suren.

In truth, it was Zarel who facilitated their meeting. He orchestrated a few events that led to budding feelings between Suren and Cynthia. Unfortunately, there were also other things in his calculations. And, because of them, he and Suren settled on an agreement.

Needless to say, all this time he abided by that agreement.

"Yes, that's me. But, that's what you said, right?" Cynthia added.

"Yes, he was one indeed. I saw with my very eyes, his change into a calm wrath where he slaughtered a Rank 5 Terror. It was something obscene because once they hit Rank 5, only a Spirit Emperor could combat them. But, he wasn't one," Sirius answered.

"What if his body was filled with Spiritual Essence? What if he found a way to let Spiritual Essence temper him the same way Natural Essence did? Wouldn't he be able to take his pure physique to the level of Terrors?" Irauk interjected.

"Theoretically, yes. However, that would be impossible. We have tried many times to do so. It doesn't agree with the body. The natural meridians reject the energy and vice versa for the opposite," Sirius answered. This was one of the issues the Supreme's researched with the Estrade and Castille. 

Regardless of the routes they took, it all came up empty. No matter how they approached the issue they made no headway. Their techniques came to a standstill. If they could advance them, they had no qualms with disclosing the old obsolete ways to the masses.

"It's not impossible at all. The problem is the thought process you all use is too human—too recluse. You need to broaden the spectrum of your thinking. You guys test for it, but never utilize it properly. That is, the grade of the Dantian and Soul Temple," Irauk chuckled.

He waved his hand. Unlike the cloudy white color of Natural Essence, a faint blue aura flew towards his hand. It was Spiritual Essence, but as the others watched they became astounded. Until now, the only way they knew to control this was with the mind.

Yet, there were no mental fluctuations from Irauk. This meant only his body was being used to stimulate the Spiritual Essence. Then again, they also remembered he attained harmony. To summarize, this was an auxiliary ability attached to reaching that state.

"While that may be true, I never once saw him do something like this," Sirius continued to reject the idea. One enigma on the level of Irauk was enough to deal with. He couldn't wrap his mind around a second one.

Nevertheless, Irauk smiled, "Do you think everyone is upfront with their secrets? You hail from a Supreme Family, you should be familiar with the practice of hiding. I'm willing to bet the man in your memories is not as he seems."

Sirius fell silent. He couldn't rebut because first, Irauk was right. Secondly, he felt foolish for overlooking this fact. Despite wanting to, Sirius didn't implore Irauk to disclose the way. At best, it was a lost cause, at worst it was unattainable.

On the other hand, Apollo continued to venture aimlessly. As he walked, he took in the surroundings. While doing so, his eyes fell on the pavilion he trained in. He was tempted to enter but there was a problem. He didn't possess any Spirit Shards.

'Should I just follow the others to the special healing area? No, I don't want to see their faces. I need to get my wrath under wraps,' Apollo thought. However, while thinking to himself, he felt a light tap on his shoulder.

As he turned, he caught sight of a beauty with luxurious indigo locks and clear silver eyes. Like two limpid moons, she continued to look at him silently. After a while, he became uncomfortable by her gaze, "Do I know you?"

It was short, but Odessa smiled, "They say I can't have you but I would like to have you."

Upon hearing this, Apollo looked at her blankly. Instead of replying, he walked away. However, he was stopped in place by a screen of light. While it appeared translucent, when Apollo bumped into it, the screen was solid beyond belief.

"You know, it's too rude to just leave like that. Can I at least have an answer? Just because Sir Irauk is your master, that doesn't give you the position to disrespect a Paragon," Odessa said in a displeased tone.

"I'm really not in the mood for this. I'm asking nicely, please release me," Apollo said, ignoring what she said. 

In response, her frown deepened. "Give me a reply then."

Meanwhile, back among the crowd, Sirius looked around but couldn't find the person he was looking for. "Has anyone seen Odessa?"

"Oh, yes. She followed right behind the lad. I wonder what she could be up to. She concealed her presence meticulously before leaving. It seems you have a handful as a Paragon this generation," Irauk laughed. 

In his eyes, he could see exactly what was taking place. And, to him, it was hilarious. The crazy lad was being chased by a girl!