The City Lord's mansion was in the center of the city, at the highest point within the walls. As the Lord of Magnolia City, you might expect him to have the most magnificent mansion, but cultivators often do not care about such things. They could have various reasons for this. They might not understand art. After all, some might just be thick-headed. Some live in smaller houses because they know they cannot fill large homes and do not want to see the emptiness. And some know that they will soon leave this house as well. Perhaps to find another home, or perhaps because they know they are going to a place from which they will never return. That place they would go to could be called many things, but home was not one of them.
The sun was directly overhead when Denis arrived at the gate. Not much time had passed since he parted ways with Evra. How bold it was that his first stop was the City Lord's mansion.
The gate was large, the ironwork detailed. Two guards stood before it, holding their spears upright. They were in quite aesthetic attire, and there was no way for Denis to understand their cultivation levels. He probably couldn't defeat them either. Denis approached.
"I want to meet with the City Lord."
One of the guards looked at him, then looked at the other. Both laughed—openly, without bothering to hide it. When they saw this youth's hesitant approach from afar, both had suspected whether he actually wanted to approach here, but to be honest, they hadn't expected him to come directly to the gate and tell them he wanted to meet with the City Lord.
"Meet with the City Lord?" The laughing guard leaned on his spear. "Do you know how many people are in line? Even State representatives make appointments, who do you think you are?"
"An important matter—"
"Everyone's is important." The other guard interjected, his voice harsher. "Get out of here."
Denis's face flushed. He wanted to say something, but the words got stuck in his throat. His hands clenched at his sides, but there was nothing he could do—even though this was his city, he held no weight here. He was just a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator.
'I will find another way. It's not like the City Lord never leaves his house.'
Just then, an old man approached.
His white beard extended down to his chest, wavy and well-groomed. Not gray, completely white. This showed that he had been living for a long time. Or a difficult life. Although age remained a bit more ambiguous for cultivators, it was common knowledge that elderly people preferred an elderly appearance. Even cultivators couldn't change their appearance all at once. They couldn't suddenly become younger or grow older. This was a change that occurred through the methods they applied in their cultivation for a time. This old man's head was quite bald on top, and the remaining hair on the sides was also white. He wore a simple robe, without ornaments. He carried a few notebooks in his hand, their covers looking thick and old. His pace was unhurried but purposeful—every step was going somewhere.
His appearance was like an ancient philosopher. He looked like someone whose words would be listened to, purely from his outward appearance.
He possessed the aura of a true Sage.
When the guards noticed him, their laughter ceased. Instantly, both bowed and moved their spears aside.
"Sage Tomas."
The old man nodded his head slightly. There was a gentle and compassionate smile on his face. He wasn't a harsh, stern-faced person like the other soldiers or even the ordinary people of Magnolia City. He looked as if he didn't belong here.
It wasn't certain whether Tomas was truly a Sage. There were those in the city who knew him as the City Lord's assistant, but some had also heard that he was actually the City Lord's mentor. Whichever was true, the old man must have a cultivation that did not fall short of his reputation—this much was evident just from his gaze.
"Denis." Tomas turned his head as he walked, his eyes crinkling as he smiled. "How long has it been since I last saw you?"
"More than a year, I think."
"Is Faye Town doing well at least?"
"The same." Denis shrugged. "Ordinary."
Tomas laughed, in a low and warm voice. He tucked his notebooks under his arm, walked through the gate, and pulled Denis along with him. At that point, there was nothing the guards could do. It appeared that this ordinary man possessed a quite powerful social circle compared to his cultivation.
"How is your father's health?"
"Good. He sends his regards, he was asking the merchants about you. He was wondering when you would stop by the town."
Tomas let out a sigh. He looked at the pieces of paper under his arm for a moment. They were alone in the corridor. There were servants in the City Lord's mansion, but they had been specifically warned not to wander underfoot.
"These days, calls for war are rising, and the capital is putting pressure on us. Even though they have sent many Sages and Core Realm experts here, do they really expect us to defend the border without a true Lord... a true Origin Heart Expert? They are merely seeking to weaken the State Lord. They do not take the threat in the west seriously enough."
Tomas was in communication with the capital and the Bosua Family—with Suiren—regarding a lot of paperwork and on behalf of the City Lord. That was why he was very busy these days.
"As soon as I find some free time, I will go to bother him." Tomas laughed. Even though Denis's father was an ordinary person, he was an old friend of Tomas's. Compared to other cultivators, Tomas was much more involved with normal people.
As they walked down the corridor, Tomas's voice softened a bit. "Why did you come here, Denis? If it's for the girl—"
"I need to meet with the City Lord."
Tomas nodded his head and didn't ask further. He could see this young man's thoughts with a single glance. How could he not understand his intention? Hadn't they met because of his childish relationship with that girl anyway? No one could have predicted things would turn out like this. Denis could have asked him the question he wanted to ask as well, but he insistently wanted to ask Inuaki for the answer.
At the end of the corridor was a pair of doors, standing open. Beyond it began the garden where the City Lord spent most of his cultivation time.
The garden was large, occupying a wide area behind the mansion. It wasn't completely orderly—some parts seemed carefully pruned, while others seemed left to their own devices. A pond stood in the corner, its water still. It had probably been artificially integrated into the house, but it looked quite natural. A few wide water lilies floated upon it. A stone path wound around the pond and led to the middle of the garden. There stood an old tree, its trunk thick and twisted, its branches casting a wide shadow.
A man was sitting beneath the tree.
He sat cross-legged, his hands on his knees, his eyes closed. The clothes upon him were simple, not the kind expected of a lord to wear. The air around him was calm, but within that calmness lay a weight. The aura of this powerful Sage pressured the environment even without doing anything. Denis couldn't feel it. He wasn't even qualified to sense Inuaki's aura, but this didn't mean he didn't feel a suffocating pressure.
He was only able to relax when Tomas enveloped him with his own aura. Shortly after, the City Lord stopped cultivating. Thus, his intense aura calmed down step by step. At this point, Tomas cast a glance at the tense Denis, let out a sigh, and left from there. Though his aura also slowly left Denis, Denis couldn't take advantage of this brief time to approach the City Lord. Thus, he lost all his support in a short time. At that moment, he lacked the ability to approach the City Lord.
"You cannot even manage to approach me yet, but you desire a woman from the State Lord's harem."
The City Lord opening his mouth gave Denis the ability to move. Inuaki opened his eyes. The origin energy around him drifted harmlessly around him. The power of the Tao Trace within it also affected the Sage's power, and Inuaki had not bound all his cores with just a single Tao Trace.
The Origin Energy drifted for a while, returned to his body, and went back into his cores. Only Inuaki knew how powerful he was at that moment. Denis, on the other hand, couldn't even imagine it. And despite this, he wanted one of the lovers of Suiren, who was powerful beyond even Inuaki's imagination.
Inuaki's daughter.
"Stop dreaming, boy. The only thing you can do is get away from here and start a new life. In the event of war, you would be nothing more than cannon fodder. Emelia would also want you to live a proper life."
"Still!—"
At that moment, when Inuaki fixed his eyes on Denis, Denis's words were suddenly cut short. Not a single word more could escape his mouth.
"You cannot even finish your sentences yet. Do you believe the guards of the State Lord's harem would be any lesser than a Sage?"
At that moment, Inuaki sighed. He truly found Denis foolish, and at the same time, he felt sorry for him. If it weren't for what happened with the State Lord, perhaps this boy really could have held his beloved daughter's hand.
'Still...'
Denis had not taken even a single step back.
At that moment, Inuaki realized he needed to deliver the killing blow, blending it with reality. Doing this wasn't difficult for Inuaki. His feeling of pity for this boy pushed him even further to reveal the truth.
Thus, he spoke.
"Give up, Emelia is already pregnant."
"..."
And then, the expected silence. Who would expect Denis to hear these words when coming here? But from the very beginning, the reason Suiren married all these women, including Emelia, was to have children. Was what happened actually that surprising?
The only thing that happened at that moment was Denis's collapse. The old man's calm demeanor had made Denis think his lover was in a good situation, but how could Denis understand a hundreds-of-years-old Sage's ability to suppress his emotions? His eyes widened, and he just stood there. It took him a long time to respond. But by the time things reached that point, Denis was already crying.
"Why... why didn't you protect your daughter?!"
Shouting at a Sage could cause instant death. Your existence is completely erased from the world, and you wouldn't even notice. Yet, Inuaki didn't give a harsh reaction. Despite his stern image, even. On the contrary, surprisingly, he laughed.
"Haha, I am just a Sage. Of course, there is no Transcendent among my ancestors. Even so, Suiren took my daughter. There was... nothing I could do."
Inuaki stood up. When his aura intensified just a little, Denis was already rendered unable to speak. Inuaki looked into his eyes. There was now a displeased expression on his face.
"What is it? Did he fear that I would flee somewhere with the Western Border Army or do something dangerous? Nonsense! Does he expect me to overthrow the state with this piece of shit army?! He—"
At that moment, Inuaki noticed that Denis couldn't even breathe. The Commander-in-Chief of the Western Border Army, Inuaki, was not a Lord, but he wasn't too far from that point either. His stern demeanor was well-known within the army. Now, even when he unconsciously unleashed his anger, a weak Foundation Establishment cultivator was coming face-to-face with death. Denis's face was turning red, and even though he was a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator, he couldn't survive without oxygen. For this reason, the old City Lord calmed down. Instead of looking into Denis's eyes, he turned around and watched the cloudy sky.
"You may leave, Denis. This matter is over here."