Reaper of the Martial World

Book 12: Chapter 65: The Only (2)

“Why are you so sure that the Nightwell Clan is holding Amethyst against her will?” Saru asked curiously.

Usually, when Dyon was cultivating, Saru and Lilith would stay out of his way. They didn’t like to unnecessarily distract him. However, when it came to Dyon working on his array alchemy, they didn’t feel bad at all. It came so naturally to him that he almost seemed bored practicing, so there was almost no need to take it too seriously.

“That old bastard had some really weird eyes when he was looking at her.” Dyon said noncommittally as he observed another heavenly herb closely. “It’s just creepy watching an old fogie fall over himself for such a young woman.”

Dyon knew that he was likely being unfair. When Amethyst transcended, the retired Patriarch was likely still a very young man. Unfortunately for him, though, his talent was lacking. And, though Amethyst was actually currently several levels weaker than he was, she still remained young because Phoenixes simply had this innate advantage.

It was probably killing the retired fogie that he was getting closer to death yet the woman he had grown by the side of was still as young as ever. He likely would lose his calm demeanor completely if he had heard Dyon’s words just now.

“Stop being mysterious.” Lilith said, nibbling away at a bit of exotic fruit. “Be more straight forward.”

Dyon smiled. “The simple answer is that the Nightwell Clan underestimates me too much. That retired pervert probably thought that I was just shooting at the dark, when the truth is that I can plainly see the restrictions placed on her. Not only is her cultivation speed being sealed, but so is her range of movement.

“I’m not as good at seal theory as I am in formation theory, but from what I saw, if Amethyst attempted to leave the range of the Nightwell Clan mansion, her dantian would implode and even if she didn’t die, she would become a cripple.”

Lilith pouted. “She’s so pitiful…”

“Are you going to help her?” Saru asked.

“Absolutely not.” Dyon harrumphed. “She’s lucky I didn’t go all out to kill her like I did Lilianna back in the day. She only has Madeleine to thank for that. No one’s who’s tried to kill me has gotten away as cleanly as she had.”

Lilith and Saru looked at each other before pinching at Dyon’s love handles.

“Hey! Hey!” What’d I do?”

Dyon finally looked up from the flower-like herb in his hands. Its delicate pieces reminded Dyon of the Ice Petal’s Dance fruit he had peeled for Ri on what could have been considered their first date. In fact, its touch had the same subtle coolness to it as well. Though, instead of being blue, it was a very pale green.

“Save her.”

Dyon’s lips pursed. “I tried to help her already, but she threw me through at least ten walls.”

“How do you think a woman would react to sensing their Primordial Yin in an unknown man?” Lilith rebutted.

“How the hell is that my fault? It was she who decided to leave her Faith Seed behind. No one forced her.”

“How do you know that no one forced her?” Saru cut in. “If you don’t perfect your mortal body, leaving behind your Faith Seed is an inevitable consequence. She spent her whole life fighting against the Ice and Fire Phoenixes for revenge for her parents, how could she have the time for such subtle and nuanced cultivation? With her talent, she even had to hold back from transcending for as long as she could.

“By the time the Heavens started forcefully rejecting her, it was already too late to do anything about her imperfect body.”

“Plus,” Lilith assaulted Dyon from the other side, “If her life was filled with fighting and blood, where would she find time for love? It’s not like she’s…”

Lilith’s voice trailed off. What she wanted to say was that it wasn’t like Amethyst was lucky enough to have the perfect husband all but decided for them like they did. But she felt it was best she didn’t.

“Don’t you see? It was never a choice to begin with. She tried her best to make it one by leaving her Faith Seed as an inheritance instead of allowing it to drift in reincarnation like others had, but even then, too much was out of her control.” Saru quickly covered for Lilith.

“She may have eventually chosen Madeleine, but she most definitely didn’t choose you.” Lilith completed the tag team with a single line.

Dyon was left speechless. The two had completely opposing personalities. Saru clearly had far more rational ideas, while Lilith was focused on thoughts of love and emotion, but when they came together Dyon found it hard to refute.

“… That’s still not an excuse to try and kill someone…” Dyon muttered to himself as though rejecting the idea of taking this loss.

“You’ve killed people for a lot less than ‘taking’ your virginity without your consent.” Lilith rebutted. “Plus, you didn’t even knock on her door. You just barged in and appeared before her like you owned the place, how could she not have made assumptions about you? Don’t you have any manners?”

Dyon opened his mouth to refute but found that he really had nothing to say this time.

“Fine, fine.” Dyon put his hands up in defeat, cradling the herb in one palm. “Not for her, but for the sake of you two and Madeleine, I’ll help her out. If she pisses me off again, though, I’m not giving her a third chance.”  

Like this, three months went by in a flash and Crystella finally came to the Tower with news that her Clan had accepted his first request to see the world core and that the competition would be beginning soon.