章 17: Lancelot

"Sect master! Are you there?" Even though Arith wasn't satisfied with Ace's sudden change of attitude, he was someone who knows how to repay favours. But of course, only to a certain extent.

Not getting a reply even though he called a few times, Arith carefully stepped into Ace's apartment only to realise that it was only slightly better than theirs even though it was only decent at best.

Shouldn't the sect master at least spend more effort on his own dwelling as the sect master? This was the first line of thought that came across Arith's mind, but what he neglected was that Ace was more willing to invest resources into the sect.

"Arith, can you meet me outside?"

Before Arith could step into the room, Ace had already sat up as he woke Charlotte up by poking her face.

"Yes, Sect Master!"

Arith replied before stepping out of Ace's apartment, closing the doors before him as he looked at the unconscious beggar on the ground.

"Charlotte, I need to settle some matters first. I'll be back later alright?"

"Mhm."

Charlotte replied listlessly before closing her eyes to rest.

Ace stepped out of the room and the first thing that caught his attention was the pungent smell in the air.

"Arith, what's going on?"

"Sect master, I found this beggar unconscious at the foot of the mountain. Judging from his clothing, he might be someone who has been on the run for his life from somewhere far away." Arith explained as he glanced towards the unconscious beggar he just found.

"Ding! First sect mission has been issued!"

Details: Recruit 100 members into the sect

Rewards: Foundation Rebirth room

Foundation Rebirth room: Enables a cultivator of a cultivation realm above the Foundation realm to improve his or her foundation

A treasure! That was Ace's first thought as he linked it to this beggar...the young man who's unconscious.

The moment Ace saw this young man, the system mission was actually triggered. That enough was enough to show that this unconscious youth right now, wasn't as simple as he seems on the surface.

"System, how many points would it take to get me the details of this person?" Ace asked the system in his consciousness as he looked at the remaining 1062 system points he still has.

"In order to gather details on someone who's already at the Martial Master realm, it would take 100 system points!"

Name: Lancelot

Age: 16 years old

Cultivation base: Middle stage Martial Master

Cultivation technique: Roaring dragons, lightning element, peak heaven grade

Description: Unknown

"Arith, sorry about throwing my weight yesterday. If you would, can you help me to carry his body towards the dwellings?" Ace apologised sincerely with a slight bow which surprised Arith who was only prepared to receive his next order.

"It's fine, Sect Master, would you be coming along with me?" Arith stuttered and replied, surprised that Ace would actually apologise for something as common as disrespect towards someone of lower status such as him.

In terms of both cultivation and forging techniques, including age, Arith might be a senior compared to Ace. But from the first day he joined the Nirvana Sect, Ace had become someone of a higher status than his.

In fact, Ace's status didn't change one bit, it was him who lowered his own status, striving for the chance to learn more forging techniques, which the Blacksmith Guild and associations might never offer him.

With a wave of his hand, Ace replied, "It's fine, just be back here to inform me when he wakes up, I have some admin matters to settle."

"Yes, Sect Master."

Even though Arith didn't know what Ace was going to be occupied with, he knew that he didn't have access to that classification of information yet. Arith knew that Ace wasn't disrespecting him, but until he can prove his loyalty and make contributions to the sect, there would be no chance of Ace offering him any blueprints he desires.

It seems like I would have to improve quickly in order to capture his attention and gain more blacksmithing blueprints.

Arith was only helping Ace for his own selfish intentions at the moment, he was only supporting Ace in order to reach higher levels of forging, but never would he know that he would be mocking himself for this thought one day.

Returning to the room, Ace realised that Charlotte had already woken up and change into a new robe.

It was a simple blue robe with orchids painted on it, but on Charlotte, she eluded the aura of a neighbourhood girl. The design on the robe was plain, the material used was ordinary as well, yet it was unable to hide her charm.

Even though Ace wanted to spend time commending Charlotte on her looks, he knew that he had to remain true to his heart. At least, that's what Charlotte would hope for.

That idiot, is he ignoring my appearance just because I got him to stay true to his heart? Doesn't he know that a young maiden's heart can change quite quickly and that I need to be coaxed as well?

"Charlotte, do you happen to have any information about locations where I can search for potential youths?" Ace asked without realising her inner conflict as he invited Charlotte to walk out of the apartment as they sat beside each other on the swinging log.

It was simple and Ace only spotted it yesterday by a stroke of luck.

I'm sorry Charlotte, but this might be the best I can devote to you for now.

That idiot, he still knows how to care for me...it was only a simple gesture from Ace, but Charlotte understood him better than anyone else in the world for sure, which was why she was glad that he was willing to take out some time for her.

If she truly had no place in Ace's heart, why would he invite her to such a place, which would usually go unnoticed?

Feeling warmth rising from the deepest parts of her heart, Charlotte replied with a wide smile. "Mhm, you might want to consider making a trip to all the villages and towns nearby. You might get lucky and pull in some potential talents after all."

"I'll see to that later, do you know of any locations where I can gain access to a list of youths who have attempted to join a sect but failed?"

Ace asked again as his hand wrapped itself around Charlotte's thin waist while he pulled her into his embrace.

"You don't know?" Charlotte was surprised as she stared at him with innocent widened eyes. Unknowingly, she was coming to terms with being fine with physical contact, even though it was still far from them going past the last barrier.

Using his other hand to scratch the back of his head awkwardly, Ace laughed and admitted, "Any problem with that?"

"Nevermind, nevermind, I'll be helpful to you as your cute and gorgeous junior. The Universal Hawks."

"Universal Hawks, why have I never heard of them?"

"You won't have to, they'll most probably be here shortly once the Nirvana sect is known to the outside world. Usually, they would sell information daily by sending one of their messengers to the sect, the price would then depend on the location of the information and grading of the sect."

"Wouldn't that make them the enemies of most major sects?" Ace asked again as he began to contemplate having a dedicated group of disciples for intelligence, provided that he's able to find someone to raise the new blood for him of course.

"The prices they charge are reasonable and if a sect dares to mess with them, they would be put on the blacklist permanently. There were even cases in which the sects that offended the Universal Hawks a second time were eliminated by the time the sun rose again, not a single trace of evidence would be left behind."

"What?"

Being someone who has devoted a large amount of time to reading, it was natural for him to read about war and even if the scale of the sect isn't that great, it was still difficult to eliminate a sect without being detected."

"Charlotte, follow me somewhere else first before we travel around to look for new blood alright?"

"Mhm, just remember to walk around with me when we're out later."

"Haha, of course, you're my dear junior after all."

Jumping off the log together as they held hands with each other, the two gave each other a smile.

The two of them then took a quarter of an hour to walk towards the dwellings even though it would've only taken them a minute or two if they wanted to with their cultivation base.

"Sect Master, you're finally here. I don't know what is wrong with him, but his mental state seems to be off…" Before Arith could finish explaining, the sound of a human growl interrupted him.

It was the youth from just now, from his body, there was one scent Ace was disturbingly familiar with, blood.

Lancelot was currently on his knees, crawling around on the ground mumbling, at times, he would just scream all of a sudden.

"Please stop!"

"Don't!"

"Father! Mother!"

"Gwen!"

"Lotus!"

It was a list of names and Clarissa, who had been with Arith the whole time, couldn't help but feel sympathetic towards this youth as well.

"You desire revenge, am I right about that?" Ace asked coldly, only to be ignored by Lancelot.

"Do you want to revenge your loved ones?" Ace asked again as he squatted down, his face only one fist away from Lancelot's face.

"Revenge...I want revenge!"

"Good. Come to your senses, Lancelot!"

Hearing his name, clarity returned to his eyes and the next moment, Lancelot broke down in tears.

Knowing that Lancelot can hear him, Ace knew that he had to speak.

"Lancelot, I can help you seek revenge through your own hands."

"You lost your loved ones, it hurts, I know."

"What could you know?" Lancelot who was laying on the ground screamed in pain.

"My mother died giving birth to me, my father died to save me, my family scorned me, my whole town was killed in one night before my eyes, I survived."

Everyone stared at Ace in shock, they had always thought that he was someone from some huge family force with a background they can never offend. Yet to think, he was just another child affected by the cruelty of the cultivation world.

Maybe there was still kindness radiating in the cultivation world but compared to the evil, which has since long corrupted more than just the cultivation world, the kind side of human nature can only be buried away for them to progress.

Lancelot's body was still trembling, but he was gradually coming down.

"Are you sure that you can help me get revenge?" He questioned as killing intent enveloped his body, blood flowed down his palm as his nails dug into his flesh in anger and sorrow.

"I promise you that as long as you enter my sect, revenge is possible if you're willing to devote your heart into cultivation."

Getting onto his knees, cupping his hands, Lancelot said respectfully, "Disciple Lancelot pays respect to sect master!"

"You may rise."

Ace said calmly as he supported Lancelot up and arranged for Arith to help him settle down. As for food resources, he had gotten Arith to purchase dry food that would last them for some time.

"Now now, we need a chef urgently!"

*Smashes*