Chapter 205
"If you can establish a massive merit to gag the mouths of the clan members, I would very much welcome your return to the family."
"However, if you cannot establish merit, or if the merit you establish cannot convince the masses..."
"Then do not blame me for being too unmindful of past affections."
Isolde was silent for a moment. Then nodded heavily.
"Saint Lord, I understand!"
"Rest assured, I will definitely establish a heaven-shaking merit and will absolutely not put the Saint Lord in a difficult position!"
"Mm, very good." Alex nodded with a gratified smile.
"I will wait and see."
"Then, I will take my leave first." Isolde packed up the bowls and chopsticks, carrying the food box and preparing to leave.
Suddenly thinking of something, she said. "Oh right, Saint Lord. In three days, the assessment will begin."
"This assessment will be held in the Azure Dragon Valley."
"There is a young talent from Hundred Souls Peak named Blair. His cultivation is formidable and his aptitude uncommon. In the elders’ discussions, he is considered a dark horse highly likely to seize first place."
"Is that so?" Alex said with deep interest.
"Formidable cultivation... is it as formidable as mine?"
"That... of course not." Isolde laughed awkwardly.
"That Blair is merely considered an outstanding top talent among the newly entered disciples."
"If compared to the Saint Lord... he is nothing more than an exceptionally ordinary, mediocre disciple from the peaks that were slaughtered."
With that said, Isolde knelt on one knee, placed her palm over her chest and performed the highest-level clan salute of the Hale family.
She stood up and left riding a flying sword.
"Blair? Dark horse?" Alex stood with his arms crossed, giving a dry laugh and shaking his head.
"To happen to join the sect in the same period as me. I can only say he has bad luck."
"However, Isolde’s intelligence isn’t completely without value."
"This year’s assessment will be held in the Azure Dragon Valley... how interesting."
Whether according to Adrian’s intelligence or the plot in the original novel... Azure Dragon Valley was the exact place where the Vault of Divine Sword Heart would descend.
Originally, Alex wasn’t entirely certain whether the Vault would still descend on schedule after he had killed the Evergreat Sword Ancestor’s avatar.
But looking at it now, the answer was affirmative.
Because this year’s assessment was going to be held in the Azure Dragon Valley, and there was a very high probability Knox would make it back in time to participate.
Taking the Protagonist Halo into consideration, Knox would almost certainly obtain the Vault of Divine Sword Heart during the assessment.
Therefore, Alex was certain it was absolutely necessary for him to participate as well.
Although he already possessed the Vault of Divine Mirror and the Vault of Divine Magatama... and could summon the Vault of Divine World-Destroying Sword at any time through the Asura Path... who would ever complain about having too many weapons?
The Vault of Divine Sword Heart not only enhanced one’s comprehension of the Sword Dao but also came with an Emperor-tier cultivation technique, the Nine Stars Divine Sword Technique.
Alex’s absolute bottom line was: even if he couldn’t get it himself, he absolutely could not let Knox get it.
...
Just as he sat on the bluestone, eyes closed in quiet contemplation... Sylra arrived behind him at some unknown time and slapped him on the back of the head.
"Brat, what are you zoning out for here?"
Alex smiled faintly. "Senior, I... was thinking about something."
"Tsk, thinking about something?" Sylra curled his lips.
"This old man thinks the only thing you should be thinking about is how to achieve a good result in the assessment three days from now."
"And then take your good result, go find any elder to take you in as a disciple, and become a direct lineage disciple of the Divine Blade Sect!"
Alex asked with deep interest. "Senior, I just want to take you as my master, is that not allowed?"
"Ha? Brat, stop joking around." Sylra waved his hand and sneered.
"Broken Sword Peak has long been abandoned, we don’t receive any resource support from the sect. Aside from disciples being punished, absolutely no one ever comes here."
"If you stay here, eating and drinking with this old geezer every day, what future could you possibly have? You can only slowly rot away."
"I actually don’t think so." Alex shook his head and smiled.
"In my eyes, in the entire Divine Blade Sect, only you, Senior, are a wise man possessing great wisdom."
"Even Elder Vincent appears far too immature in front of you."
This flattery clearly hit the right spot, moving Sylra quite a bit. He was silent for a long time before breaking into a grin.
"Brat, many thanks for your praise."
"Having these words from you is enough to be worthy of the destiny our grand-pair has shared this past month."
"However, destiny is destiny, and one’s future is one’s future."
"Even if you insist, this old man still won’t accept you."
Alex smiled slightly, not continuing to argue, but in his heart, he had already developed a strong sense of favor toward Sylra.
If possible, when it was time to leave the Divine Blade Sect, he fully intended to take this old man away with him. Bring him back to the Hale family and appoint him as the Fifth Great Elder.
For no other reason than that, at this very moment, Sylra was genuinely considering his future.
For that alone, Alex was willing to use the family’s resources to let him enjoy his twilight years in comfort and see him through to the end of his life.
...
Late at night, Alex sat cross-legged in his cave dwelling, resting with his eyes closed.
A wisp of spiritual mist drifted in through the crack in the door.
It was Blaze revealing himself.
"Hehe, I pay my respects to the Saint Lord!"
"You brat, you dare come directly here to find me?" Alex said with deep interest.
"Aren’t you afraid of being discovered by Sylra?"
"Hehe, Saint Lord, rest assured." Blaze waved his hand and laughed cheerfully.
"Although my cultivation isn’t high, this evasion technique was personally taught to me by the Second Elder back then!"