Path Of The Lilies

The place in this area was similar to the one where Ye Jiao usually went. They have to stand in a certain location to be able to see the headquarter and enter it. If not, they wouldn"t be able to see anything but forest.

"It"s truly a strong array," Qi Huan commented as they walked into the hall. There were less people in this place, probably because of the remote location in the middle of the large swamp in the South area of Cao Kingdom.

"Good afternoon, is there anything I can do to help?"

"Is there any mission to exterminate bandits in this area?" Qi Huan directly asked.

The man checked on the list and nodded. "There are a few of them. Did you want to accept them?"

"We encounter some bandits on our way here and they mention having a.s.sa.s.sins from Bao Fu Organization chasing after them, so we conveniently take care of them," Qi Huan responded. "I believe there should be a reward for that."

The man looked over to the list before nodding his head. "Yes. If you can show me the proof, I can hand over the reward."

"Good."

With a wave of his hand, Qi Huan directly took out the heads of numerous bandits that they had gathered. The man was surprised to see the pile, but he quickly checked them and soon confirmed their points.

"The reward for this bandit is 50 points," the man looked at the two of them. "Will you split your reward or?"

"Half and half," Qi Huan handed his badge and Ye Jiao followed suit.

"Got it."

After getting their reward, Qi Huan proceeded to take a mission directly while Ye Jiao didn"t because she wanted to use the point to train in the room there first.

"You can just take your time to train later. These Eon Energy Masters rank 2 are nothing much for us anymore," Qi Huan tried to persuade.

His words were not loud, but some people who were there were mostly experts. They have keen hearing and the words that Qi Huan uttered kind of stabbed them in their hearts.

Brats, do you want to seek death by underestimating Eon Energy Master rank 2?

"Shan Dian, do you want me to give you a mission to exterminate a beast horde?"

Both Ye Jiao and Qi Huan froze in their place when they heard that cold voice. Slowly, they looked up only to see their master standing there. He was smiling, yet there was a dangerous aura emanating around his body.

"Ai Jiao (Shan Dian) greets Master!" The two of them immediately bowed down. Internally, they were confused about how their master could find them so quickly. It was too bizarre.

Seeing the surroundings looking at them, Zhan Jing beckoned for the two of them to follow after him. "We should move."

"Yes, Master."

Ye Jiao sneaked a glance to the people and noticed their weird gaze. Even though Zhan Jing was supposed to be one of the greatest masters in Bao Fu Organization, they looked like they were looking at enemies. It was a weird gaze.

Zhan Jing booked a training room and took the two children inside. He looked at Ye Jiao. "Do you know what you have done?"

"I know, Master," Ye Jiao looked down.

Zhan Jing raised his hand and stopped in front of Ye Jiao"s head.

FLICK!

He flicked it right to the girl"s forehead. "You"re a genuine idiot! Do you think that they won"t be able to find out if you disguise yourself? When this incident is fully investigated, it can even lead to you as one of the instigators, you brat!"

"I"m sorry, Master!"

Ye Jiao bowed down. Her master had warned her before to never show her real strength outside, but she didn"t heed it and decided to appear before the Wei Family. It was only Su Lian, but it would be enough to bring her more trouble in the future.

Zhan Jing sighed. "Seriously, all of you are nothing but trouble."

"Master, I…"

"I know," Zhan Jing crouched down to put his eyes at the same level as Ye Jiao. "You"re impatient because you want them to pay for what they do."

"Yes," Ye Jiao replied timidly. It was not truly praiseworthy, but she just couldn"t let them go for what they had done. When she saw a chance, she just took it without thinking too much, hoping for her little scheme to work. She knew: she"s not a good girl. She"s just a brat who couldn"t even hold back her own emotions and impulse to take her revenge.

Zhan Jing raised his hand and patted Ye Jiao"s head. "You"re a bit too impulsive, but it"ll be fine. You"re still young and many youngsters make a lot of choices that might end up as mistakes in their path to adulthood."

Ye Jiao blinked her eyes. "is it a mistake, Master?"

"I can"t say that it"s a mistake too, but I want you to ask yourself, is it something you regretted or not?"

Towards that question, Ye Jiao was not sure. She had to admit that aside from feeling bad that she involved some (stupid) villagers who chose to fawn their way, she didn"t feel regret for what had happened to Wei Family.

Zhan Jing watched Ye Jiao"s expression. He faintly smiled. There was never right or wrong in the matter of revenge. At the very first, nothing was right.

From the very moment one was greedy of power, money, or women or something else, they have already started to make mistakes. Chasing after other people just because they have something they wanted but couldn"t have, it started this accursed wheel. Those who survived and witnessed might not be able to take it lying down.

Some would take it upon themselves and deliver the revenge to destroy them. And the cycles continued.

He had seen it for a long time, so he knew that it was a never ending cycle. The only way to end it was to completely eliminate the possibility of another revenge or if one side chose to forgive. But either chance was awfully low.

"Will you stop me, Master?" Ye Jiao asked.

Zhan Jing shook his head. "I won"t. It"s better for you to push forward so that you can learn."

"Learn?" Ye Jiao blinked her eyes in confusion.

Seeing her, Zhan Jing shook his head lightly. She was still too young. There were many things that she needed to learn. Besides, one would never stop learning until the day they died.

How much she learned would depend on what she experienced. He would not shackle her and let her roam free. That way, she would understand that in a cycle of revenge, one side has to be the one to end it. 

Zhan Jing grinned. "Youngsters better be headstrong and reckless rather than submissive and never take risks."

Qi Huan arched his eyebrows. "Why do I feel like you"re cursing me, Master?"

He always calculated his action, making it hard for people to catch his tail. Asking him to act recklessly would be close to impossible.

"I"m not directing my words to you," Zhan Jing sighed. "You already know your wrongdoing, so you should try to not stand out too much, understand brat?"

"Yes, Master."

"Good. Anything else you need to report?"

Ye Jiao recalled the stone that she found under the tree. She quickly took out it out and showed it to Zhan Jing. The faint movement of Eon Energy within the stone was still clear for her. 

"Master. I found this along with a lot of Natural Essence Fruit. I"m not sure what it is."

Qi Huan glanced to the rock. Even now, he still thought of that rock as an ordinary rock without any special feature. However, Ye Jiao said that she could sense Eon Energy movement, so he chose to stay silent.

Taking the stone, Zhan Jing used his Eon Energy to probe. He smiled when he sensed what was inside. "There"s pure Eon Energy inside this stone, sealed in the form of liquid."

Ye Jiao"s eyes shone. "It means there"s Eon Energy inside?"

"Yes." Zhan Jing exerted force and destroyed the stone. There was a drop on the air that looked like it was glowing. "This is good for your training. This type of pure liquid Eon Energy rarely forms, so I think someone might have left it there. It"s your luck to find it."

Controlling his Eon Energy, Zhan Jing brought the liquid to Ye Jiao. As she drank the drop, Ye Jiao could sense warmth feeling began to spread all over her body. At the same time, she could sense that her Eon Energy was growing along with her core.

Qi Huan looked at Ye Jiao with interest. "Is the effect really good, Master?"

Zhan Jing nodded. "It"ll help you to advance faster, but you shouldn"t rely too much on this type of luck. Finding this pure liquid Eon Energy is too hard. You"ll be better off absorbing naturally from the nature during training. Besides, using this meant that you"ll have to adjust the newfound increase of power inside your body."

"Oh? There"s sudden increase?"

"Just a bit."

By now, Ye Jiao had finished. She looked at Zhan Jing with her eyes sparkled. "Master, it"s amazing! I can feel that I"m growing much stronger."

Zhan Jing nodded in acknowledgment. "That"s natural. Now that I"m here, I"ll be training you for the time being."

"…" Master, can I just take a mission?