Chapter 30 30 – Oath
A few hours earlier:
On his sixth birthday, Ken stayed at home with Sol and Aaron to practice his killing intent as well as draw some formations for his training.
Sol was playing with Aaron when a knock was heard on the door. Sol went to the entrance and opened the door, seeing a woman and a man waiting outside.
"Hello, Seniors. Sixth Elder and Second Elder aren't home currently. They should be back in a few hours if you'd like to talk to them."
"Hello, I assume you're Sol. Don't worry about it, just call Ken to the living room; we would love to take a look at our genius nephew."
The woman threw a jade bottle to Sol who grabbed it immediately and placed it in a storage ring she got as a gift from Mei lately for being so long with them.
"Thank you, Senior."
Sol cupped her fist and bowed as soon as she understood those people were from a prominent background. She walked quickly to Ken's room and knocked on his door.
"Yes?"
Ken was surprised to hear knocks on the door; it had been a while since Sol approached him.
"Young Master, there are two people outside asking to meet with you."
"Okay, tell them I'm coming soon."
Ken changed his clothes to something cleaner and went to the living room to meet with the people Sol mentioned and looked at them carefully.
The man was tall and muscular. His long, black hair was tied behind his head and fell on his back. His white skin was healthy yet not as silky as a woman's, and his face was handsome and didn't have any wrinkles.
The woman was slightly shorter than the man, and her structure was also thinner yet still muscular. She let some bangs fall on her forehead, and her velvet-like black hair was free and untied behind her.
'They look around 30, but they're probably a few times that.'
"Hello Seniors, who are you?"
He asked with an innocent voice of a kid. He didn't cup his fist, as 6-year-old kids didn't do that.
"You can ask me Uncle Norman and the woman beside me is Aunt Krone."
Norman smiled at the kid and wondered if the information about him was true. He didn't plan to beat around the bush, and simply walked to Ken and offered him candy.
"Here, would you like to get candy from Uncle?"
"No, Mom said I shouldn't take food from strangers."
Ken took a step back suspiciously, but Norman was too fast for him. He held Ken's palm and sent a pulse of Qi and sensed him with his soul.
"Indeed, you're at the Soul Strengthening Stage as we've been told, and your foundation seems sturdy. You can go back to your room and train if you want, we will wait here for your father."
Ken already understood by now who those people were. He hoped his parents would be stronger, but doubted it since they were living in the countryside while those people enjoyed the big bucks at the main sect.
"Are you here to take me?"
"Oh, you already know about that? Yes, we're here to take you. If you're smart, you shouldn't fight back."
"I won't, so how about we just leave now?"
Since Ken didn't believe his family would send someone weaker than his parents, he preferred to do it cleanly without letting the problem escalate beyond his control.
"Haha, how could we be so cold toward our family? We haven't seen our dear brother for years; we can't let this rare chance to see him go."
Ken realized they didn't plan to just leave, so he went back to his room and meditated while waiting for his parents to return. The first one to return was his father, and he got alerted as soon as he saw the guests waiting in the living room.
"Norman, Krone, why are you here?"
"We've been told you have an outstanding son contrary to the letter you've sent to the family a few months ago. You can imagine our surprise when the evidence suggests that you have lied to the family and limited your son's future by forcing him to stay here without resources and techniques. We've been worried for our dear nephew and rushed here as soon as we could."
Krone explained the situation to Haoran. Krone always liked to see herself as a righteous person, so she'd always make sure to explain why the one she tormented was at fault.
"Don't sell me this crap. We've agreed to send my son there when he gets 10, and I won't let you take him away a minute before that."
"Do you have the strength to back your words?"
Norman emanated his aura to threaten Haoran who didn't budge from the threat.
"That's my agreement with the patriarch, you don't have the authority to change it."
"But I do. You see, it's the patriarch who sent me here to check whether the information about your son was true or not. In fact, I think you deserve justice for your crime."
Krone covered the three powerless residents of the house when Norman sprinted toward Haoran and sent a palm attack to his chest. Haoran quickly reacted and attacked back, causing the house to explode from the shockwaves.
Luckily, nothing happened to Ken under Krone's protection.
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Back to the present:
"Not yet Uncle. I still have one last thing to do."
He drew his sword and placed it on Sol's neck. Sol looked at him in surprise while Aaron looked at him with his big, teary eyes.
"Young Master, what are you doing?"
She trembled while asking him.
"I'm just wondering why you gave information about me despite all the gifts I've given you. Did they offer to make you powerful? Or maybe it's about money?"
"Young Master, I'm not sure what you're talking about. I've always been loyal and grateful to you."
Krone and Norman only watched the scene curiously while waiting to see Ken's actions.
"There's no need to act anymore. You're the only one who knew about my cultivation, so tell me why you've betrayed me within three seconds or remain silent forever."
His sword's tip pressed against her neck and a few drops of blood dripped on her skin. Her face turned pale with a tinge of fear, but she just gritted her teeth and lashed out at Ken.
"You've abandoned me! You stopped helping my cultivation, and you didn't give me a single pill over the last year. Since you forgot about me, I told someone about you when he asked me in exchange for fourth-grade pills. He also promised he will make sure I stay alive, so don't think you can kill me here."
She turned to Krone and Norman with expectant eyes for help, but they just shrugged it off.
"We gave you the pills we promised. As for keeping you alive, we just meant we wouldn't kill you when we attack the house. Ken, do whatever you want and let's go. we've wasted too much time here."
"Since you bit the hand that fed you, let me teach you one lesson that you can carry to the afterlife. Don't get involved in a battle between two sides you can't afford to offend."
Sol quickly drew out the saber he had gifted to her, but she didn't master any remarkable fighting art. Her head rolled a few meters away from her body and stopped, while blood kept spilling out of her neck.
Ken took the crying baby from the ground; Sol dropped Aaron earlier, but Ken made sure to coat him with Qi to cushion the fall and make sure he stayed safe. He placed it by Haoran's side and placed his hand on his father's shoulder.
"Raise Aaron well, and we might see each other one day. Don't forget to take care of Mom and tell her I said that I love her."
He swiftly slipped a storage ring into Aaron's clothes before leaving him on the ground. The ring belonged to one of his victims from a few months ago, but the content was different; it was full of pills tailored for Aaron from the first grade to the fourth grade that were invented by Ken after observing his brother.
Those pills were meant to help his brother change his constitution and improve his talent in cultivation, and some of them were meant to help him start cultivating earlier than normal.
The last gift he left for his brother was a set of three manuals he prepared especially for him, and each one was of a higher quality than the one he gifted to Sol.
'Since you're so cruel, I can be even crueler. The next time I come to see my parents, my father will have no relatives other than his two sons and his wife.'
Ken promised to himself and followed Norman and Krone to a flying beast that seemed like a large, winged lion.
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The end of Volume 1.