When Jared and Ghaylen returned, they were greeted by a scene of utter chaos at the base. Many houses had collapsed, and Zebediah was leading a cleanup effort. The two of them were left dumbfounded by the sight.
“You’re back, Mr. Chance, Master!” As soon as Zebediah saw that the two men had returned, he immediately rushed up to them.
Ghaylen noticed that Zebediah’s face was littered with bruises, making it clear that the latter had suffered a beating. He questioned sharply, “What happened here, Zebediah? You’re the eldest disciple. As such, I entrusted you with keeping guard over the place. Yet, everything is in shambles when it’s only been a few days?”
At that, tears of grievance escaped Zebediah’s eyes. “This is Bilius’ doing, Master. He came in search of Mr. Chance, saying he wanted to recoup his pride. With both of you gone, he destroyed our houses and beat us up! His capabilities were too powerful, so we weren’t his match. This is all my fault for failing to guard this place. Please punish me as you see fit, Master.”
While saying that, he dropped to his knees before his master. Having heard everything, Ghaylen was so livid that he flushed bright red with fury, and his entire body trembled.
“Bilius has gone too far, not bothering to show me any respect! If I don’t teach him a lesson, I’d never have a foothold in the Emerald Cauldron Sect henceforth!”
In a towering rage, he thundered about seeking Bilius out to settle the score. However, Jared stopped him, saying, “This happened because of me, and I’ll settle it myself.” After saying that, he shifted his gaze to Zebediah and asked, “Did Bilius say anything before he left?”
“He told you to go and look for him at the inner court when you return because he wants to have a duel with you at the arena. He also said… He also said…”
“What else did he say?” Jared pressed. “He also said that if you don’t dare go, he’d come and beat us up once a day until you do,” Zebediah murmured.
Following the man’s words, Jared narrowed his eyes a fraction. Invisible waves of anger radiated off him. So, Bilius even went as far as making a move against his fellow disciples to force me into making an appearance. How utterly despicable!
Sensing the fury emanating from him, Ghaylen and Zebediah were very much surprised. “Clean this place up. I’ll go and deal with Bilius.”
With that, Jared turned around to go in search of Bilius. “I’ll go with you, Mr. Chance. He would never have dared to do such a thing without Ebenez’s orders. I want to know whether they plan to rip off all pretenses of civility with me!”
Ghaylen wanted to go with Jared, but the latter dissuaded him from doing so. “This is a matter between the two of us, Mr. Samoll. As an elder, if you were to get yourself involved, it’d inevitably lead to an even greater conflict. Bilius merely wants to have a duel with me at the arena to recoup his pride, no? I’ll grant him his wish, then.”
He was only discouraging Ghaylen from. tagging along because he was afraid that the latter would make the matter worse and affect the opening of the medicinal pool. If that happened, things would be troublesome.
After all, his purpose in visiting Emerald Cauldron Sect was to await the opening of the medicinal pool. At that precise moment, Sigurd arrived in a mad dash. He heard that Bilius went to pick trouble with Jared and even destroyed Ghaylen and his disciples’ houses, so he hurried over.
Ever since Jared became Ghaylen’s disciple, he had also gotten on close terms with Ghaylen’s other disciples. “Where are you going, Mr. Chance?” Sigurd inquired upon catching sight of Jared. “Mr. Chance is going to look for Bilius,” Zebediah interjected.
“Bilius has broken through to the Body Fusion Realm, Mr. Chance. Besides, Mr. Erdell must have instructed him to do this. I think you’d best put up with it for the time being. If the matter were to get out of hand, it might affect the opening of the medicinal pool.”
Sigurd advised Jared not to retaliate, aware that the latter came to Emerald Cauldron Sect for the medicinal pool.
“Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing. So what if Bilius has broken through to the Body Fusion Realm?” Jared sneered.
I’m not scared of Bilius when he has just advanced to the Body Fusion Realm. I wouldn’t even be afraid of someone in the Third Level of Body Fusion Realm, much less a newbie!
