257 Where Are They?

In a dimly lit room sat Taf, across from him was the Grand Elder. No words were exchanged as they both took sips from tea provided by a servant who hastily made her exit. 

"You have put me in quite a difficult position." Uttered the grand elder. Being so close to the borders of her sect, of course, she saw both May and Taf mercilessly kill City lord Fen and Cathlene. 

"My apologies. I've taken a few liberties over the past week. If there is a means by which you feel I could compensate for the loss, please do tell," Apologized Taf.

Truth be told he really respected the Grand Elder. Without her guidance, he would still be naively wasting his qi and leaving himself carelessly open in fights.

"You are young but not unwise. I will overlook your killing of two of my city lords. Knowing those two I'm sure you had valid reasons for what unfolded, I'll just write it off as a temporary loss, as I myself had intentions of removing them. However is there anything else that I should be made aware of?"

Inquired Old Perth, it could be said that she was more than understanding in the matter. Though she spoke of it as though it was a trivial matter, there was no doubt it was not as simple as she made it out to be.

Being the perceptive individual he was, Taf no longer wanted to pile up on the worries of someone who has gone beyond her means to be kind toward both himself and May. Therefore he did not disclose any details of Elder Zander and his seeming sinister plot. The truth of the matter was this was May's as well as his problem to handle. He then responded, "Nothing at all." 

The grand elder lightly smiled in response. With her years of experience, she was even more intuitive to a person's subtle facial shifts than Taf himself. She knew there was more to the city lords' deaths but since he did not disclose, there were no doubts in her mind that he had it all under control.

While sipping the hot tea within her hand the grand elder somewhat changed the topic, "Having taken your blood oaths, yourself and May are still honorary members. I only have one request, if the sect is ever in peril, You will answer the call to assist. These are dark times and there are many enemies who lay await in the shadows. The more allies the sect has the better its prospects for the future." 

This wasn't a hard decision for Taf to make as he held no animosity towards the Dark Abylis Sect, "Yes, you have our word. If there is ever a time you are in need of help, do not hesitate to call. This is the least we can do. He then continued,"With all the formalities over I would like to say thank you."

"I'll definitely remember to add exquisite teas to the list of must-have on my journeys. Do not forget I still have plans on returning once more to challenge you in battle. I'll bring the tea as we drink and speak of our insights." Taf chuckled as he happily drank the tea which was so exquisitely described.

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Having left the grand elder's resident Taf hastily made his return to what would now be known for the next seven days as May's temporary residence. He and May had a lot that they needed to accomplish in quick time before making their exits.

When entering he saw May conversing with Lisa. With them leaving, the housing circumstances for Lisa would also be changed. There was now a need for her to make her return to the swamps, but from the looks on Lisa's face, there was only dread.

Dejectedly Lisa replied, "I can't, I just can't May." Her reaction seemed expected by May so she smiled responding, "We'll make a visit home to Marvel City before going on our adventures. You are more than welcome to join us."

With the mere mentioning of Marvel City, a longing for something familiar, safe, and secure could be seen in Lisa's sparkling green eyes. Sure it meant that she would return to a place devoid of other cultivators, but The Dark Abylis Sect was only filled with pain. Living a life suited for mortals was pure bliss in comparison to past experiences.

Shortly afterward Lisa left both May and Taf finding a means by which to occupy her self. Having exited it prompted the two into action. Swiftly they disappeared into one of the space stones with its flourishing new world and abundant qi.

When arriving May wasted no time summoning two blue roses to her hand. These were her previous trophies of war from Marco and the recently deceased City Lord Catheline. Each rose contained an exponential amount of qi similar to that of a core obtained from a demon beast's body.

There was no doubt in her mind that she would be able to boost her cultivation from that of an early ninth stage qi realm to the minimum full circle qi realm. While May called upon the services of her rose, Taf drew for the remaining demon beast cores and other resources obtained over the past few months.

The two were quite wealthy in loot. Having taken the possession of four lord realm cultivators there were thousands of pills, stones, and elixir. The resources at their disposal were so plentiful that when they eventually planned on attacking the lord realm, they would have no problem whatsoever. 

They cried,

????Cultivation art - Hungry wolf????

Spiraling Qi then rushed forth to the two as their dantians gobbled it all up with haste, total engorging themselves. With the two already having had solid fountains and suburb affinities, the purification of the qi was quite a simple task. Thus began the two's week-long rush to see how far they could push themselves. 

How strong they would become was yet to be known.

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A week had passed and now it was the time for the tournament to reach its conclusion with the beginning of the final rounds. With Taf and May's expulsion and the death of Shinoda, perhaps it was not as highly anticipated as during the preliminary rounds. It was truly a shame as most would have loved to have seen a final battle between Taf and Jason to decide who was the strongest within the sect.

Alas, it was not meant to be, and just like all the previous years, this tournament's top spot was already decided before the rounds had even begun. Even so, there was still anticipation in the air with the many new faces in the finals. If anything the positions behind Jason and Bathelemu were still up for grabs.

With new candidates such as Rita, Niesha, Zenki, and Aria, it would be quite interesting to see which of the four would be the final victor on top. It didn't take long for the tournament to finally begin with the participant coming into deafening screams from their thousands of supporters. It was quite a thrill as each could feel their hearts thumping nervously. Yet there was a thirst to prove themselves at the highest level.

Soon however the crowds realized there was something odd about the participants who had entered the area. There were only eight participants, that was not right. Then it became evident which two participants were missing.

One disciple shouted, "Hey, where the hell are Jason and Barthelumu!?"

Unedited Version

To be continued....