His cultivation would always burn away when he used power beyond his cultivation. That was why he lost four and a half years, for the lightning bolts he unleashed were beyond what his current cultivation could afford.

This power was tied to his summoning skill. It gave him the chance to compete with greater cultivators in empires. But it was also the thing restricting his cultivation. It had kept him alive despite the dangers he'd faced, but it had drained him more than anything. A fair trade, he would call it, but would always feel... cheated.

But this time would be different. He would get enough cultivation and lifespan that he wouldn't be afraid of death again. He just got 32 years and lost 4.5 years, which was proof of progress.

It would have taken him more than two months of secluded meditation to get the same amount. But he had gotten it for driving a squad of twenty cultivators away. He gave a small smile. As always, protecting the castle was better than sheer meditation.

"You... You are smiling," Juwaira said incredulously. Abdin didn't notice when she moved near his face.

"Get ready, everyone." He changed the topic and just ignored her. Usually, people would keep asking him but they wouldn't understand his cultivation method so he had given up on explaining it. "You can meditate and recover, but I want these walls under twenty-four-hour watch."

He turned to the side where the slaves were kept. Laluri was there cowering with the other slaves. She had touched every one of them, Abdin thought. Perhaps a tattoo would be found on their bodies if he were to check.

He glanced at Juwaira questioningly. He'd seen the slaves ever since he claimed the stairs but didn't have the time to ask. "What are they doing here?"

"I wanted to use them as a meat shield. But then they prove their usefulness. That one has helped," she said, pointing at Laluri.

Abdin ignored the first part of her statement and stared at the slaves and Laluri with narrowed eyes. What help?

"Oh, she is called Laluri." The princess nodded her head briefly as though that was the first time they ever spoke about Laluri with Abdin. "That silver-masked was using some invisibility skill. I think it has something to do with the leather robe he was wearing. The slave was the first to see him. He stopped the skill and became visible after realizing he was found."

So that was what happened? Laluri had also seen through his invisibility skill, so he wasn't that surprised, but that only served to prove how special the woman's eyes were. Abdin stared at her for a while before he turned to look at the said masked man.

He debated for a few seconds before he marched toward the frail slave. When he was in front of her, he forced a smile. The woman, surprisingly, returned the smile.

"I was just told about the help you rendered. I shall reward you duly in a few days."

As he spoke, he was gauging the space between them. She couldn't have the chance to touch him this time.

"Thank you." The way she spoke was off a tone that looked like she had more to say.

Abdin raised his brows as he stared at her eyes. Perhaps she wanted them to leave the open so she could get close to him.

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A sinister smile came to the corner of his mouth and he motioned for her to follow him. He would like to hear what she had to say.

The two retreated down the stairs out of earshot. But, shortly after, he sensed Juwaira following them along. The princess had done a similar thing in the previous loop when he was having a conversation with the slave.

Abdin wasn't bothered. He was more surprised that Laluri wasn't aware of Juwaira's presence, or at least her face didn't betray that she was aware. The chemistry between them... there must be something going on between these two women he wasn't privy to.

"You can speak now."

She nodded. "I... I saw him before."

Abdin frowned. "Who? Silver Mask?"

She nodded. "The day we came, he was waiting on his horse in the same spot. I am not sure if he left afterward, but it was the same spot I saw him today."

Abdin narrowed his eyes in confusion. Did the mist manage to attract some ancient trouble?

But if it was true that the man had been there since the first day, why then didn't he sneak into the castle as he wasn't noticed by them all? What was the meaning of the mask? A mask would only be done by someone who didn't want to be recognized. Was it some famous cultivator trying to get a piece of the castle?

Laluri was still giving him that look. As though there was something she wanted to say but was afraid to say it. "Say whatever the hell you want to say."

She lowered her head. "I don't know how to explain... it was as if... I don't feel any signs of his cultivation. He isn't a cultivator."

"Or you haven't reached the level to detect him," Abdin said. A thought crossed his mind at that moment. He had been bluffing at them with his cultivation all this while. He acted as though he was on a higher level of cultivation, which he wasn't. If Laluri could truly read other's pol... He trailed off. "Can you feel my pol now? Can you put a number on it?"

"I can't feel the exact amount."

"But you can guess."

She was silent for a moment before she nodded. "Two hundred years."

Abdin was quiet. Two hundred was close enough to be considered accurate. The slave had known his actual cultivation, and now Juwaira was listening to them behind the wall. But the princess would find it difficult to believe anything other than what she had witnessed.

Abdin waved his hand dismissively. "There is room for you to improve. It will take time for you to fully understand how to read people's pols correctly. But you have the talent."

He said all this to the benefit of the princess. It was very important that the princess not know his exact cultivation. Moreover, as soon as people became aware of his true cultivation, they would be wondering how he was able to wield higher-rank skills. They would keep asking questions he couldn't answer.

That aside, if his guess was correct, then that masked figure was dangerous. He was either a powerful core formation expert or he had some secret or a potent seal that prevented others from detecting his cultivation.

"Return to your friends. I want you to keep an eye on him. Any change and you wave at me from where you sit. You mustn't leave your seat without my permission," Abdin instructed.

The young woman curtsied politely and returned to the wall. Juwaira appeared from her hiding spot and the slave curtsied to her before going up the stairs.

"Did she touch you?" The princess asked when she reached him.

"Why do you care?"

The young woman paused then released a long-suffering sigh. "You think this is a joke? You think the tattoo I showed you is not real?"

"Is it? I'm surprised you will eavesdrop on us. Or did you want to run for my rescue if I screamed?"

Juwaira's face became red with anger, and she turned quickly back and up the stairs to the top of the wall. Abdin didn't follow for about a minute.

He was sure the princess was hiding something from him. These three people right now - Silver Mask, Laluri, and now Juwaira - were actively trying to disrupt his plans.

Juwaira was less of a threat considering he knew all she had gone through in her life before the last three months. But he knew nothing about Laluri or Silver Mask.

When he first came to Biyakis, before he even purchased the farmland from Duna, he looked into every known cultivator, especially in and around Will of San and the surrounding villages. He even went to Will of San as a disciple and befriended some of the students.

Looking back at it now, no high-ranking cultivator he knew resembled this masked man in any way. This got him thinking that the man was a foreigner to this region. Perhaps from somewhere deep within Biyakis, or from another empire, or even an entirely different continent.