Chapter 45: Decree

Chapter 45: Decree

Marven walked into the courtyard only to be faced with a black-robed duo. These were likely elders of the Onyx Scorpion sect or, as he assumed, an elder and the sect master. He didn’t recognize them by looks, but he recognized the spirit of the elderly one.

He assumed it was the sect master because this man was on the third step of the golden path. Such a level of cultivation was exceptional, even among rather prominent sects. And he was betting that Neave’s crap from earlier today was why they were here.

Marven hid his cultivation from these folk. Gabrias still had the cloaking treasure Marven had granted him. Still, Marven chose to make Gabrias stay behind. Even though they couldn’t tell he was on the bronze path, it was impossible to hide that he was clearly a damn coward.

Marven walked out, the sun bouncing off his shiny bald head. He bowed politely and greeted the newcomers. At this point, Marven remembered their sect didn’t yet have a name.

“Greetings, leaders of the Onyx Scorpion sect. I am the elder of...” Marven racked his brain to come up with a name, “... the Falken sect. May I inquire as to why you grace us with your presence today?”

The man on the third step of the golden path looked pissed, but Marven kept his composure quite well. At least in a direct fight, this man was not a threat to Marven.

“I’ve heard that a young master from this...” He looked over the shoddy ‘courtyard’ and their tiny little building scornfully, “... Sect... Had won a duel against my daughter. I wish to meet him personally and thank him for his guidance.” Every word he spoke dripped with venom.nôvel binz was the first platform to present this chapter.

At this exceptionally inopportune moment, Neave showed up out of nowhere.

The elder jabbed the man in the back a few times, and he turned, only to be greeted by Neave’s theatrics. Neave held himself high and straight with a relaxed, distant expression.

His demeanor was as if he was dismissing them as less than worms. The sect master waited patiently for him to introduce himself or greet them, but Neave merely cocked his head and asked.

“What do you want?”

“What do I...? Oh, dear elder of the Falken sect, please, do you not teach any manners to your disciples whatsoever?”

Marven looked uncomfortable as he could smell Neave was up to no good.

“Are you here to challenge me to a duel or whatever?”

The two men stared at him incredulously. The sheer arrogance of this young man was truly out of this world.

“Be careful with your words, young master. One may mistake them for a provocation.”

“That’s exactly what it is, old fart, so which of you two will fight me? Both at the same time?”

Marven spoke up.

“I apologize, esteemed leaders. We seem to have been lax with our discipline. Our young master here is quite talented, which may have inspired undue confidence. I apologize on his behalf.”

“Suck my ass, baldy. They are here to intimidate us! I say we protect the honor of our glorious sect and show them what true warriors look like!”

Neave was trying his hardest to embody what he imagined to be the picturesque brave young master. One who wouldn’t tolerate an insult even if it came from the gods themselves.

The sect master raised his sword, and a massive scorpion mirage appeared behind him. As he was about to strike Neave down, Neave disappeared.

Neave struck the sect master with a life-force-imbued punch to his back. He could feel the man’s spine resist, as he probably had a spirit power that boosted his defense. It was useless, however.

Punch after punch pummeled the man into mince as he screamed and desperately resisted. At some point, a golden shield appeared before Neave that managed to block a punch. Neave simply used a movement technique to move through the barrier.

Neave’s fingers morphed into sharp claws and sank into the man’s chest. Neave clenched his fist and tore his heart out.

Marven watched the whole thing go down with terror. How had Neave gotten so much power so quickly? He was ready to help, but the man was already dead on the ground before Marven could even sense a threat to Neave’s life.

Marven desperately wanted to believe that he had made the right choice. Although what Neave had done was a great offense to their sect, they still accepted the challenge, and he had won without permanently injuring or killing their disciple.

As far as Marven, the cultivator, was concerned, death was appropriate for these fools. But Marven, the father, felt despair. Neave had chosen to take their lives without any hesitation. How much work was there to help him heal from his trauma?

Was it even possible for him to ever be mentally well again?

He wasn’t sure. But he felt a profound responsibility to at least try to save him.

Neave liberated the two men of their possessions and burned their corpses with fire breath. Marven tried to sound casual as he warned Neave of the potential danger of doing this.

Neave understood that shit was about to go down but didn’t care much. While there was no evidence, there was little doubt that they would eventually be suspected. By the time their deed had been discovered, there would be nothing anybody could do about it.

Marven and Neave discussed what to do with the spoils of war, but Marven insisted Neave should take the rings. There was a lot of money in them and an absolute ton of supplies.

His spirit oath with Ilkivir prevented Marven from granting cultivation treasures to Neave, but this didn’t bar him from refusing to take them from Neave.

Neave gladly pocketed the rings and decided it was time to go shopping.

***

Neave strolled around the streets and looked for different types of shops. He was immensely disappointed. All of the shops around here were vastly inferior. After asking around a bit, he was told that if he wanted to find a high-end shop, he would have to go to one of the prominent merchant groups.

After asking around some more, he learned that big merchant groups were very exclusive with who they did business.

Their crappy new sect was far from qualified. There was one exception to this, however. Neave made his way to a large tower. It looked unbelievably ostentatious, and the higher it went, the more threatening the tower's outer walls looked.

Neave used his spirit senses to find an empty house. He used a movement technique and appeared within someone’s vacant home. He used his shapeshifting ability to transform into a large, morbidly obese man with a lazy eye and a thick beard. He pulled some robes from the dimension ring, but even the largest ones still couldn’t fully cover him.

Perfect.

Out on the streets of Keyishin, a tall, fat man appeared. He wore black robes stretched so thin they would likely break if they weren’t made of such durable material. His saggy tits flopped around unabated, and his massive stomach was barely restrained by the tight leggings reaching his navel.

And this large man walked to the outer capital tower of the Crystal Palace merchant group.