Victor Lance sat in his apothecary room. All kinds of medicinal herbs were arranged in front of him, but the excitement he usually felt while making medicine had vanished completely.
The reason was simple. He had received news from the Defense Clan. Spirit Hall had made its move against them.
In his letter, Mason Bastion told him that he had seen the Strength Clan's and Speed Clan's tokens in the hands of Spirit Hall's Saint. Through the special message method shared by their four clans, he confirmed that those two clans had been wiped out, from the patriarchs at the top to the children at the bottom. After a wagered fight with Spirit Hall's Saint, Mason had been forced to submit to the Saint in order to preserve himself and the five hundred plus members of his clan.
Mason also mentioned that Wu Ling had made him sign a contract. He sensed no Spirit Power from the contract, but after signing it, he felt a vague certainty that he could not violate it.
What he did not know was that the contract was called a Self-Geas Scroll, a Type-Moon world contract. Anyone who broke it would be entangled by a curse. Even after death, the soul would suffer torment.
Wu Ling had nearly forgotten the thing himself. For some reason, he suddenly remembered it just before leaving and had Mason sign it.
Afterward, Wu Ling even reflected on himself. After spending so much time on Soul Land, he felt as if his intelligence was being dragged down to the level of the locals.
In the terms of the contract, the information Mason sent was a little close to the line, but it did not count as betrayal. After thinking carefully, Mason decided to tell Victor so that he would have time to prepare himself mentally.
Thinking back on the contents of the letter, Victor sighed in frustration.
After receiving Mason's letter, he had considered fleeing, setting an ambush, and fighting to the death without surrendering. But with Spirit Hall's ability, unless he ran out of Soul Land or into forbidden lands such as the depths of Star Soul Forest, there was no way he could escape their pursuit.
As for an ambush, forget everything else. The mere fact that they could silently destroy the Strength Clan and Speed Clan, especially without letting that old fellow Gavin Vance escape, proved that Spirit Hall's forces this time were absolutely not weak. At minimum, two or three Titled Sages were guaranteed. And according to rumors, Spirit Hall's Saint might already possess strength no weaker than a Spirit Emperor or even a Titled Sage.
If Victor had heard that kind of rumor in the past, he would certainly have scoffed. Someone not even twenty years old possessing Spirit Emperor or even Titled Sage strength was pure fantasy.
But three years ago, Wu Ling had displayed the strength to crush ordinary Spirit Kings and even Spirit Emperors during the tournament. If three more years had passed, then rivaling a Spirit Emperor or even a Titled Sage was not impossible.
Add Soulcraft devices and the leaked spirit medicines, which were said to have been diluted several times, and in some Spirit Hall branches, Wu Ling had almost been deified.
Those spirit medicines in particular were said to be prizes Wu Ling gave outstanding students at Spirit Hall Academy. Some of those students, in order to win over followers, divided a portion of the medicine and diluted it for others. Some of those recipients later needed money for various reasons, so they diluted the diluted medicine again and sold it.
Even Victor had spent a large sum to buy that sort of medicine from some Spirit Hall Academy students. Even after being diluted so many times, the medicine still had a relatively obvious effect. To be honest, if he ignored all the grudges between them, then purely in medicine-making, he even wanted to seek out Wu Ling for a discussion.
Because of that, after receiving Mason's letter and thinking carefully, Victor discovered that he could neither flee nor fight. If he were alone, he would certainly fight until death. But over the past ten or so years, the clan had many newborn children. No matter how solitary his personality was, he could not bury their entire future because of his own selfishness. The grudges of the previous generation should not be extended to the next.
Spirit Hall had attacked them back then because of the Clear Sky Sect. Although Spirit Hall had done the killing, he had even more reason to hate the Clear Sky Sect. Now that the Saint had extended an olive branch, joining the Saint to oppose the Clear Sky Sect was not a bad choice.
No, not joining Spirit Hall. They would submit to the Saint. What did the people Spirit Hall killed back then have to do with the Saint?
Most importantly, the Strength, Defense, and Speed Clans had already made their decisions. The Strength Clan was loyal to the end, and the Speed Clan was arrogant, so both had been exterminated. With the Defense Clan as the first example of submission, lowering his own head no longer seemed so shameful.
This decision came after a long period of thought, compromise, and self-hypnosis.
"Patriarch! Patriarch, hurry! People from Spirit Hall seem to have arrived outside!"
A voice suddenly called from outside. Its words made Victor startle.
"Ah. What must come will come. Fine. Short pain is better than long pain. As long as they give me a way down, I will agree. I just hope they do not start by slaughtering the clan without a word."
While comforting himself, Victor stood and hurried toward the gate.
When he reached the main entrance and pushed it open, two figures appeared before him. The young man in front wore black. His handsome face carried a trace of indifference. Victor recognized him immediately as the Saint, Wu Ling. But the sight of Cassian Lance behind Wu Ling made Victor go rigid.
"Cassian!"
Victor cried out inwardly. Back then, he had believed that once Cassian was captured by Spirit Hall, he would surely die without a grave. In the end, not only was Cassian alive and well, he even seemed to be doing quite nicely. That lowered Victor's bottom line even further.
Even with his own younger brother standing in front of him, Victor could still distinguish priority. After a moment of distraction, he quickly cupped his hands toward Wu Ling.
"I did not know Your Highness had honored us with your presence. I failed to welcome you from afar. Please forgive me."
"No matter, no matter. I happened to pick up something on the road, and it delayed me a little."
As he spoke, Wu Ling tossed the thing in his hand to Victor's feet.
Victor jolted. It was a head, and he recognized the head.
Yet he felt only shock, not anger. The head belonged to the current sect master of the Flying Sword Sect. The two of them were both Spirit Emperors in the same city and had accumulated deep grudges through constant conflicts, large and small. In the past, if Victor had seen him die in front of him, he would have laughed aloud. Now, he only felt alarm.
They were in the same city. The distance between their two sides was not especially close, but it was not far either. Yet Victor had not sensed even a ripple of Spirit Power. This existence, a Spirit Emperor like himself, had already been separated from his body. Judging from the still-flowing blood, Victor was certain that the man had died less than ten minutes ago.
That made Victor even more wary. At the same time, his bottom line sank again.