Flora Guthrie’s words were rciless. Alvin Morgan’s face stiffened, rendered speechless for the first ti.
Jared Miles’s body shuddered at her words as well.
Bitterness flooded his heart.
’The day our master took Aurora on as a disciple, he had solemnly told that Aurora would one day be the Sect Leader of the Radiant Void Sect, inheriting his mantle.’
’Back then, I had thought our master was joking. After all, what could a little child possibly understand?’
But as Aurora grew, her talent for martial arts gradually beca apparent, and he realized just how vast the gap between them truly was.
’She was destined to be the one at the summit.’
’And all I needed to do was silently protect her for the rest of my life.’
But now, another man had appeared, forcing his way into their lives with an undeniable presence.
The last ti they t, he had already sensed that Aurora treated him differently, defending him at every turn, even willing to fight him over it.
Now, during this turbulent ti, she had even let them stay in the village and help with the master’s funeral arrangents.
’This is no longer a simple matter of having a crush.’
"Both of you, put those ideas out of your heads."
Flora Guthrie shot them a sudden, warning glare before slamming Aurora Sinclair’s door shut.
The two n froze, glanced at each other, and then walked past one another with stern faces.
***
Inside the room, Aurora Sinclair was already awake. Titus Miles and Leigh Miles sat beside her, clinging to her as if for a sense of security.
Flora Guthrie hadn’t expected her to be awake. She walked over quickly and sat on the edge of the bed. "Rory, are you feeling any better?"
Aurora Sinclair nodded slightly, her face devoid of its usual radiance.
Flora Guthrie took her hand, patting it in her own palm as she comforted her in a low voice, "The dead are gone, but the living must go on. In his final monts, your master threw out the token and Whitlock because he hoped you would beco a worthy Guardian."
Aurora Sinclair glanced at the Jade Token in her hand, tracing the three raised, ancient characters on its surface. "Flora," she said, her voice listless, "this token isn’t good at all."
Flora Guthrie took the Jade Token and turned it over, stroking the flawed jade on the back. She said faintly,
"It certainly isn’t. It looks bright and beautiful on the surface, but in reality, it’s covered in scars. Your master always wanted to trade this Jade Token for a drink..."
At this, a mory of Master Aerion complaining about the token surfaced in her mind, and a bitter smile touched her lips.
’If I had known it would co to this, I would have rather he traded the token for wine.’
"Your master didn’t like this Jade Token. He said that the status of a Guardian can’t be represented by a re piece of jade."
Her eyes reddened slightly. She looked up at the ceiling and, after a long mont, said in a hoarse voice, "But how many people in this world truly understand that?"
’Everyone in the world chases profit. So are muddled, and so are clear-headed.’
’The muddled only see the glory and wealth that co with profit, never realizing that the other side of the coin is a blade.’
’There are too few clear-headed people in this world...’
Suddenly—
A sudden coolness touched her hand. She turned her head and saw that Aurora Sinclair had pressed the Jade Token into Titus Miles’s hand.
Her expression was serene as she raised a hand to pat his head. "Work hard and beco strong enough to be worthy of these three words."
Flora Guthrie froze, staring at her in disbelief. "Rory..."
Aurora Sinclair continued, "Don’t take what your senior brother said to heart. You’re different from them."
"Senior Sister..." Titus Miles clutched the Jade Token, at a complete loss, and looked at her timidly.
"You must beco a man like our master. From now on, listen closely to Flora’s and your senior martial uncle’s teachings."
The dim light in Titus Miles’s eyes seed to brighten.
A bitter smile touched Flora Guthrie’s lips.
’I think I finally understand why Master Aerion always complained about the Jade Token but never actually traded it for wine.’
***
「Evening.」
Ronan Warner handed a key to Aurora Sinclair. "You recognize this, don’t you?"
Aurora Sinclair’s eyes flickered. She gripped the key tightly and looked at him in confusion.
"Your master foresaw that he would face a great trial. He gave this key to for safekeeping beforehand and told to give it to you if anything happened to him."
His expression was extrely serious, his features weighed down by a somber gravity.
"Aurora, your master’s murder isn’t a simple matter. Over the past few days, there have been nurous incidents at the free-fighting tournant. Martial Artists previously affiliated with the Lowell Family have been disappearing or getting killed, and all signs point to the Lockwood Family and the Vance Family. I’m afraid soone is making a move against Veridia’s Martial World..."
Aurora Sinclair’s gaze turned cold.
’Before any national war began, the Martial World was always the first to descend into chaos.’
The moon was hidden on a windy night, and all was still.
Aurora Sinclair leaped down into the mountain ravine, finding a hidden Ancient Gate behind a waterfall.
It was covered in many peculiar patterns and characters, now so weathered that their inscriptions were illegible.
The Ancient Gate had only one lock: a Myriad Machina Lock left behind by the ancestors. It could not be opened by external force; if one were to break it, the space within would also be destroyed.
The only way to open it was with the special key in her hand.
Her master had brought her here before.
With a CLICK, the lock on the Ancient Gate sprang open.
Aurora Sinclair pushed the door open and stepped inside, igniting a chanism on the wall.
Imdiately, the fla seed to pass from one point to the next, racing along a groove in the wall and illuminating the entire stone chamber.
Directly ahead sat a stone statue of a figure in seated ditation with its eyes closed. This was said to be the founder of the Radiant Void Sect, Master Verus.
In front of the statue was a stepped altar carved from stone.
Arranged in a specific order, it was filled with morial tablets of all sizes.
This was where the successive Sect Leaders of the Radiant Void Sect were enshrined.
Aurora Sinclair carefully took Master Aerion’s morial tablet from her robes, placed it respectfully at the forefront, and lit three sticks of incense on the altar.
She knelt on the ground and kowtowed deeply three tis.
"Master, I will avenge you!" Her cool voice, filled with determination, echoed through the empty stone chamber.
Aurora Sinclair stood up and turned the incense burner on the altar. A secret door slid open in a nearby stone wall.
She walked toward it slowly. This was her first ti entering the secret door.
In the past, whenever her master brought her here, he would always go inside to retrieve things himself, leaving her to wait for him on a ditation cushion outside.
The space inside the secret door was small. Inside was her master’s black briefcase.
It contained a laptop and two masks bearing the emblem of the Snow Wolf King—one large, one small.
The large one was her master’s. The small one was hers.
Years ago, to treat her autism, her master had taken her to many different places.
When they were short on money, her master would take on rcenary missions.
Later, Black established the rcenaries’ League website.
Her master was subsequently promoted to an S-level rcenary.
Codena: The Silver Wolf.
***
「anwhile.」
Flora Guthrie carried a food container as she walked toward the small courtyard on the back of the mountain.
The mont she stepped through the door, she caught the faint scent of alcohol. Her expression imdiately darkened, and she let out a cold snort.
From inside the room ca the frantic sounds of soone hiding alcohol.
When she entered the room, she saw two injured patients looking at her with guilty expressions.
"Master Guthrie..." Beta Morgan was the first to greet her with a smile.
Flora Guthrie rolled her eyes. "What’s this? Does the Morgan Family have too much money with nowhere to spend it? I can have a word with Warner and tell him to raise your dical fees."
Beta Morgan’s face fell instantly. "I didn’t drink..."
Quentin Stone shot him a glare, warning him not to let the truth slip.
In a foul mood, Flora Guthrie slamd the food container down on the table between them.
"Hand it over—"
Quentin Stone tried to play dumb, but withered under Flora Guthrie’s glare and finally produced a bottle of liquor from under his blanket.
"Who gave this to you? Was it Rory?"
Quentin Stone gave an awkward laugh. "N-no... It wasn’t... I had it stashed myself..."
"Think you’re real lucky to be alive, don’t you?"
Quentin Stone really had been lucky this ti. There happened to be a river at the bottom of the cliff, which was the only reason he hadn’t fallen to his death. But his power had dropped two entire realms, from Advanced Martial King to Basic, and he had broken several bones.
Ronan Warner had specifically forbidden him from drinking. She couldn’t believe this drunkard had snuck a drink the mont no one was watching.
Flora Guthrie put her hands on her hips, looking ready to give him a piece of her mind. Quentin Stone imdiately changed the subject. "Warner said Rory is leaving the mountain in two days? Why is she going again?"
Flora Guthrie’s brow furrowed slightly. "Rory won’t stay on Sunstone until she finds the person who killed Master Aerion."
"What about the Regulators..."
"Rory gave the Guardian Token to Tiger."
"What?" This ti, it was Beta Morgan who cried out in shock.
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