“Fucking peasant! Who do you—”

  Arthur’s indignant roar was cut short as Cade’s arm blurred, his large palm smashing into the noble’s face and shattering the left side of his skull. A loud crack echoed through the courtyard like the snap of a divine whip as the young Brightheart was blasted backward, flying over forty feet through the air. He crashed to the ground, tumbling uncontrollably with bone-jarring thuds before lying still, sprawled out on his back.

  All the young cultivators around the Hall froze, a collective, stunned silence falling over the courtyard.

  King stared, petrified, his jaw hanging open. It was obvious the blonde-haired youths were Jade’s family, which made them Brighthearts. Nobody in the Empire could strike a Brightheart and live. Brickwall, on the other hand, grinned like a maniac, nodding in approval.

  Jade’s eyes turned wide as saucers, and she was struck completely speechless. A group of elves who had wanted to spar with Cade nervously swallowed, a shared look of dread passing between them. Amelia and Regina were a bit further away, but both saw what happened and stared with shocked expressions, covering their mouths.

  Roland’s face twisted in fury, and he pulled a large, golden sword from his storage ring. There was no chance Cade wouldn’t instantly recognize this weapon. He had seen a sword just like it once before, when he was five or six, during a Sword Sacrament parade. This was Judgement, the blade of the Sacrament Knights, the very weapon that all the village children dreamed about.

  “Roland, stop!” Jade exclaimed, terrified of how the situation was developing.

  Cade’s brows drew together, his jaw muscles rippling under his skin. “Put the sword back in the ring, or I swear I’ll take it from you and use it to smack your arse in front of everyone here,” he gritted out.

  “You… you killed my brother!” Roland spat hatefully, his body shaking from rage.

  “Don’t be stupid, princeling. If I wanted to kill him, I wouldn’t have slapped him. I have a terrible migraine, so I suggest you pack your sword, grab your brother, and fuck off,” the Asura stated grimly, pointing in the direction of the tents with his thumb. He wasn’t concerned about Darkheart, not on Sword Dao grounds.

  The younger brother looked around with hesitation. Once his gaze met Jade’s, he gulped, quickly stowed the sword, and ran towards his unconscious brother.

  “Cade! Why did you hit him so hard?” Jade stood in front of him, her hands on her hips and an angry expression to match her raised voice.

  He looked at her, grinding his teeth and trying to throttle his rage. In all fairness, he had no idea why he had suddenly exploded like this. Taking a deep breath, he managed to calm himself a little. “I tried to restrain myself, but this little bastard picked a bad moment to piss me off,” he answered, struggling to keep his tone level.

  “Cade, look at him! You nearly killed him!” she retorted with a reproachful glare, pointing at Arthur’s unconscious body.

  “So what?! If anything, I did him a favor. Next time he will think twice before opening his mouth. If he offended a Sword Dao disciple, do you think he’d still be alive? Nobody here gives a fuck about your family! Get it through your skull and stop expecting special treatment.” If Cade’s anger was previously a marginally overflowing river, it now broke through a dam. He knew he wasn’t being fair towards her, as the princess had never requested anything on account of her station, but his fury momentarily overwhelmed him.

  Jade was rooted in place, completely stunned by his reaction. Then her eyes started to glisten, and a couple of tears trickled down her cheeks.

  “Fuck! I’m sorry. I don’t feel too well,” he quickly apologized before storming off. He wasn’t apologizing for striking Arthur; he only felt bad because of the way he made her feel just now. He didn’t get to witness how the princess attempted to chase after him but was promptly stopped by Amelia, who whispered calming words into her ear.

  “Jade, give him some time to cool off,” Brickwall suggested. “He’s not wrong though. Station means nothing here, your cousin needs to quickly adjust his attitude.” From Reeve’s perspective, infighting within a sect was normal. People who lived together often developed deeper relationships—some good, others not so much. Most of the time, the elders didn’t interfere unless someone broke the organization’s rules.

  Amelia wrapped her arm around the sobbing Jade, walking her back to her tent.

  With his head lowered in thought, Cade followed along the courtyard wall, walking to clear his head. He went through everything that had happened today, including revisiting Yin Tian’s memory several times. No matter from which angle he examined the ancient flashback, there was no denying it had influenced his state of mind. He wasn’t that concerned about his fit of rage just now, as he felt this was mostly down to a combination of a splitting headache and him not yet fully recovering from his sleep deprivation. What worried him was that he had poured all of his willpower into holding back that slap, and he still nearly killed Arthur. He had initially thought it was because the man’s character reminded him too much of Griswold, but he was gradually realizing there was more to it.

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  It was clear that his mind was incorporating information from the memory, and it strengthened his Asura side. It felt natural, though, almost like he was regaining something he had been missing all along. Since his rebirth, Cade had always struggled with tolerating insolence, but today was the first time he truly lost control of his actions without entering bloodrage. His instinct was telling him he needed to sleep it off, to give his mind the necessary time to recover and fully process Yin Tian’s memory. And who the hell is Yin Tian anyway?!

  “You have a bit of a temper, don’t you?”

  A flippant male voice broke Cade out of his deliberations, forcing him to raise his gaze. Thanks to his life sense, it wasn’t easy to surprise him. However, right now, he was so deep in thought he had failed to pay attention to his surroundings and ended up nearly walking into someone. Leaning against the black wall was an elf, tall even by his own race’s standards. Handsome and ageless, with long, dark hair, he was dressed in a blue tunic made from a flowing, shining fabric, with brown trousers tucked into high leather boots. He looked quite distinguished, though not at all like a cultivator. As their eyes met, the elven man smiled lightly. He didn’t release any spiritual fluctuations, but his life force blazed like the star from Yin Tian’s memory.

  Late Soul Avatar realm! Doubtlessly one of the four Sword Saints.

  Cade immediately stood at attention, swiftly snapping his fist to his hand and bowing deeply. “Senior, I apologize for not noticing you earlier. I was lost in thought, please forgive my rudeness,” he said in a respectful tone.

  The elf laughed lightly, waving it off. “Relax. You didn’t see me because I didn’t want you to. Come with me.” The elf’s voice was pleasant and melodious. He sounded more like a carefree youth than an old monster. Without waiting for the Asura’s reaction, the elf pushed himself lightly off the wall and began walking, not towards the citadel, but in the direction of the courtyard’s exit.

  Puzzled, Cade followed behind. What else could he do? “Senior…” he wanted to ask what it was about, but the Saint cut him off.

  “We’ll talk in a minute.”

  Sighing internally, he continued to follow the elder. Nobody around seemed to pay any attention to the two of them, and they continued onwards uninterrupted. As they began to approach the gates, the huge mithril wings opened slowly as if pulled by immense, invisible hands. To his surprise, he saw a figure standing outside—a rather thin man with a shaved head, a polite smile, and eyes hidden behind round, orange spectacles. He was dressed in dark, elegant attire and his age was difficult to judge on account of his face possessing an ageless quality. His appearance was deceptively harmless, and together with the lack of spiritual fluctuations would have likely fooled everyone except someone like Cade. Soul Avatar, early stage. Damn, what is going on?!

  “Greetings, Grandmaster Erendriel,” the thin man bowed respectfully.

  “Master Salizar. I hope you’re well,” the elf nodded.

  “Thank you, I’m not doing too bad,” the bald man cupped his fist, turning his gaze toward Cade.

  “Young man, I have to congratulate you for dealing with one of our squads. An impressive display of ability, despite your lacking cultivation. Those three youngsters will doubtlessly benefit from this lesson. Furthermore, you turned a potential calamity into a financial opportunity. I think you’d make a great assassin. Would you be interested in joining our Shadow Dao Palace?” His voice was pleasant, though rather forgettable. He spoke very casually, as if discussing the weather.

  The elf’s eyes narrowed, but he remained otherwise quiet.

  Cade swiftly cupped his fist, offering a customary bow. It never hurt to be polite towards people who could wipe you from existence, especially if they weren’t being impolite towards you. “Thank you for your kind words, Senior. I got quite lucky in making the first move, otherwise the outcome might’ve been different. I appreciate the generous offer, but I have favored the sword since I was a boy. Please take no offense. Here are the pre-cores.” He took out the glowing orbs from his ring, presenting them to the assassin elder with both hands.

  The scholar chuckled, flicking his index finger, and the pre-cores flew towards him.

  Cade maintained a straight face, but inwardly he watched the floating cores with fascination. During one of his lectures, Master Lao Ren had explained that the early Soul Avatar realm was the first stage that allowed experts to use soul qi to manipulate their environment. This nonchalant display of power was, in truth, a basic form of bending reality’s laws to one’s will.

  At the same time, a small bag appeared above Master Salizar’s hand and flew in the Asura’s direction. “Well, it’s a good thing I didn’t expect any other answer; otherwise, I might have been disappointed. In case you change your mind, seek out Shadow Dao Palace on the southern fringes of the desert. Since the Grandmaster himself chose to accompany you, I shall consider this matter settled. Good day,” the man offered a faint smile, cupping his fist at the elven Saint before turning around and walking away. His body turned transparent, and a moment later, he vanished without a trace from all of Cade’s senses. Even his life signature was gone.

  The Asura breathed out in relief, feeling drops of sweat trickling down his back. While this unassuming scholar didn’t trigger his danger sense, his presence alone radiated a suffocating danger. He briefly checked the contents of the bag. Unable to stop himself from grinning, he sent it into his ring.

  “Thank you for your help, Senior,” Cade bowed.

  “You’re welcome. What you did during the trial was quite bold. It would have been doubtlessly much safer to let the assassins do their thing, and most would do exactly that, disregarding all allegiances and prior arrangements. It says a lot about your character that you chose to fight, despite being outnumbered and outranked,” the elf said in a serious tone. “Let’s continue our chat in my study.”

  As the huge gates behind them closed shut with a resounding, metallic thud, Cade obediently followed behind the Saint towards the dark, triangular silhouette of the Sword Dao citadel.