51 What Remains II

"Congratulations." Lars Borgin broke the silence that had taken over the room ever since Lawrence Meyer arrived. The light still seemed to undulate on the red walls of the room, and the golden words still shone above the doorway.

The only difference in the room compared to a few months ago was that Crimsonroar was nowhere to be seen. Borgin was sitting comfortably on the charred throne, looking with an amused expression at Lawrence's cold face.

"To acquire such fine control over Qi in Body Tempering, your son is really something else." Borgin poured more salt on Lawrence's wound. Even if there was mockery in his words, they still held some truth.

The way Daniel Meyer had fought in the final round of the Promotion Competition had attracted attention. His style of manipulating multiple swords with Qi and using them for ranged attacks was something unseen in the sect.

On further thought, it was something natural. Most people disregarded a proper training in Qi control until they reached Elemental Purification, at which point such techniques were of not much use.

It was incredibly hard for a cultivator to channel Elemental Qi into objects that he had no direct contact with, as the Elemental Qi was stored in his dantian. Therefore, even for cultivators in the Elemental Purification realm, adapting such technique to their necessities would be incredibly hard.

Therefore, such a technique would be used as it is, manipulating weapons from a distance, nothing more. A concept not so useful in fights involving rampaging elements and volatile environment. Nevertheless, it could have some uses for assassinations techniques.

For Body Tempering cultivators, on the other hand, they were completely overpowered. The strikes would not be as strong as if they were dealt while holding the weapon, but the flexibility, speed and agility of the weapons made up for such a disadvantage. Whoever mastered such fighting style would be able to take on multiple opponents at a time from a safe distance.

Borgin was in deep thought. Maybe he should speak with Daniel and develop a training routine and a manual for such technique. The Body Tempering cultivators of the Abyss Sect would have a qualitative leap in strength, and would learn how to properly control Qi earlier, making their Elemental Purification smoother.

It was not something he had paid much attention to before, as the Inner Sect disciples usually had masters that guided them through the process and taught them Qi control. Maybe spreading the knowledge outside the Inner Sect would be a good idea in the end.

As Borgin was pondering over what to do, Lawrence still had the same cold face as always. He ignored Borgin's comments, but he still felt somewhat dissatisfied inwardly.

"He gained fame in the Outer Sect, nothing more. Nevertheless, he is now a member of the Inner Sect." Lawrence's voice was as cold as his expression. "I will expect and demand nothing less than perfection from him."

Borgin send Lawrence a weary glance. The red light coming from the walls made Borgin's face have a hellish glow as he stared at Lawrence for a long time. In the end, Borgin directed his gaze to the cold area Lawrence always surrounded himself in.

"Still suppressing your injuries?" Borgin asked, truly concerned. It had been more than five years, yet Lawrence Meyer had never healed the injuries Lloyd Kressler inflicted on him. All he could do to use his own Frost Qi to directly suppress it.

As such, all that Lawrence could ever feel in these five years was his own coldness.

For the first time in a long while, Lawrence showed emotion. His face distorted in a mask of hate and loathing as he remembered that day.

"Not even the Fifth Elder could help me with the injuries." Lawrence said with a voice filled with hate. His black eyes seemed to be pools of viscous darkness as hatred shone in them. "But I will be sure to repay this debt one day."

Borgin started tapping the armrest of the charred throne with a pensive look on his face. He closed his clear eyes, trying to focus. Nemeus had surely thrown a bomb to him the previous morning.

"I have some news for you." Borgin said as he sighed. Dark lines creased his forehead as his gaze turned unbearably sharp. "They concern Lloyd."

Lawrence narrowed his eyes, failing to hide the cruel glint in them. Borgin's gaze turned even sharper as he saw that.

"The Hellblaze Secret World will open in a few months." He said, with a serious tone.

"What!?" Lawrence couldn't hide his surprise. His cold eyes widened for a split-second before he managed to control his expression, but he couldn't hide it from Borgin.

"This will be a good opportunity to train the Inner Sect members." Borgin ignored Lawrence's reaction as he continued explaining. "As always, five members at Elemental Purification and five at Body Tempering will gain entrance to the Trials."

"Are you sure about this?" Lawrence's tone was indifferent, but he couldn't fool Borgin. "Lloyd stole a Hellblaze Gateway. He will surely know when the Secret World is open and he will be able to create a backdoor to it."

"I know. That is exactly why we are doing this." Borgin said, closing his eyes. "It is about time we smoked the rats have infiltrated our sect."

"But the members we send in…" Lawrence tried to argue. He was sure this would be a great opportunity to harm the future generation of the Abyss Sect.

"As you know, all of the Five Sacred Sects will send representatives." Borgin said with as he tapped the armrest with more strength, making the crisp sound of his knuckles hitting the wood echo through the room. "But yes, our members will be at risk."

"The other Sacred Sects most likely have spies infiltrated on them, too." He continues, hitting the armrest harder and harder. "This will be a good opportunity to try and make whoever is acting from the shadows to show himself."

"I suppose you have the members in mind." Lawrence asked, returning to his cold expression.

"I do." Borgin nodded, making shadows dance over his face as the red light shone on it. "Jake, Karen, Joshua, Evan and Skylar will comprise our Elemental Purification members."

"Daniel, Abraham, Malia, and Orson…" He said, closing his eyes and letting out a long and weary sigh. "As well as Amon Kressler will comprise our Body Tempering members."

"Are you planning on sending that traitor's son in there?" Lawrence asked in a chilling voice as his aura rose.

"That is the best way to confirm if he and Rebecca are truly unrelated to the actions of Lloyd." Borgin answered, straightening his back and unleashing his own aura with an annoyed look on his face.

Lawrence shuddered once, before an unwilling look showed in his face as he retracted his aura. Borgin snorted coldly, but didn't make any more comments.

"If anything at all happens to my son…" Lawrence's voice was poisonous as he glared directly at Borgin with a savage expression. "I'll make sure both Rebecca Skoller and Amon Kressler don't live another day."

"You have two sons, Lawrence." Borgin said as he sent another piercing look to Lawrence Meyer.

Lawrence ignored his words and gave Borgin a slight bow. Borgin sighed and waved his hands dismissively, excusing his Second Protector.

In absolute silence, Lawrence stood up and left the room, always enveloped by the cold mist he produced.

Borgin didn't bother with Lawrence's threat to Lloyd's family. Truth be told, he didn't really care about them. Nemeus' interest on the boy was strange, but he didn't explain anything to Borgin, so Borgin would ignore it.

Truth be told, Rebecca and Amon were a problem for him. He was actually glad that Rebecca got herself crippled and stopped being a threat five years ago. This calmed down most of the High Elders opposing her.

The exception would be Natasha Barnes, but there was no way Lars Borgin would let her find a way to cure Rebecca and create a ticking time bomb inside his sect yet again. He blocked Natasha to protect the newly found internal peace, while Lawrence blocked her out of spite towards Lloyd.

That being the case, he couldn't bother with Rebecca nor Amon. He would rather have Lawrence calm down than to protect them. If anything did come to happen to Jake Meyer in the Hellblaze Trials, sacrificing them to salvage the situation to a certain extent would be a price he was willing to pay.

Because not only would it calm Lawrence Meyer to some extent, it would be an indirect attack to Lloyd Kressler. Borgin doubted that the man really had no concern for his family, no matter how much Lloyd's actions contradicted Borgin's intuition.

Therefore, he would not be afraid to turn over Rebecca and Amon to Lawrence if push comes to shove. Because Jake was not only Lawrence's son.

Jake Meyer was also his disciple, after all.