Lute returned to the shelter, the first thing he saw, Seren staring at him. She appeared to have a look of resolution as if she’d made up her mind about something, and the way she was looking at him, it unmistakably was a resolution that had to do with him!

‘Great… just what could she have come to terms with where she found the resolve to look at me like that, it’s disgusting.’

Lute walked over to the fire and added more logs and twigs to it. Then he sat down to finish carving those cups and the cask that he needed if storing water was ever going to be achieved. He sat in silence, because Seren clearly wanted to talk so why not? He couldn’t evade her forever.

Seren had to work up her courage to talk to Lute, attempting to choose her words carefully now that she realized he could kill her even if she was at full strength. But she couldn’t let someone like him go, so perhaps she would be able to convince him upon knowing whether or not he was willing to leave.

“Are you going to stay secluded in the Crimson Tide Mountain Range forever, or do you plan on leaving?” Seren asked, her tone showing a slight hint of respect due to knowing the violent portion of Lutes personality.

Lute continued his work, after hearing Seren start this conversation off with that question, he felt slightly relieved. This would obviously lead to answers about the world as long as he worded his own questions properly.

“I don’t know about that, I guess I will eventually, but I know nothing of this world. Not the geography, nor the powers that govern the continent. All I know is this mountain range. Perhaps if I learn more, I’d contemplate leaving someday.”

As he expected, the moment he phrased his wording in such a way, Lute saw Seren’s eyes seem to flash, her face looking relieved. There was no doubt about it, whatever she wanted, it hinged upon Lute leaving the Crimson Tide Mountain, more than likely not alone but with her.

“Then… why don’t we make a deal, if I can provide you information about this world, the country we are currently in now, and anything applicable that you wish to know, then you will leave this place with me and return to the Fallen Tide Hall.”

“Why would I do that? There is no reason that I should go to that festering cesspool. The moment I set foot there, people would start plotting to kill me.”

Upon his words, Lute’s Slaughter Aura began to leak out. Just that small amount made the atmosphere feel as if it was suffocating. He didn’t like causing unnecessary problems that would impede his life moving forward, and joining the Fallen Tide Hall would most assuredly cause problems that would give him a headache.

Seren clamped her mouth shut; Lute’s reaction was within her expectations, but not this much. Who would’ve thought that just one threat from a disciple who had no real power in the sect would cause him to hate them to such a degree?

But she couldn’t back out now, there was no way that she could lose Lute to another competing sect if he ever decided to leave the mountains. It was unheard of to directly clash with a Vicious Beast with no arts or techniques and only your physical body. If he ever advanced further, there would be no doubt that Lute could be an influential power in a few decades.

“If you are worried about Glen, or anyone that would cause you problems in the sect, I can guarantee your safety. I am a part of the Windcross House, a group of nobles in the Fallen Tide City, if you are affiliated with me, for the most part you will be safe.”

‘Does she think I am an idiot, no one is going to protect someone that is unknown, the only way they would is if I showed off my ability to jump even more than just the first level of the Nascent Qi Realm.’

Lute scoffed inwardly at her remark because of this. He wasn’t willing to show off the true scope of his strength as that was suicide and frankly speaking, Seren’s words were full of holes.

She could guarantee his safety? Then why say not even a few words later “for the most part you will be safe.” There wasn’t any doubt in his mind that even if he got some protection, there were some things that she couldn’t save him from.

But even more so, she was only at the first level of the Nascent Qi Realm, she probably didn’t have much influence in her family or sect. And to top it all off, there were people even willing to attempt assassination of her life, if her family held so much power then why would mere Nascent Cultivators attempt to kill her?

Lute narrowed his eyes in anger at Seren, his voice ice cold and malignant as he refuted her very words, “End this bullshit sweet talk, do you think I am an idiot? There is no way you can guarantee my safety when you can’t even keep your own life secure. Being a noble doesn’t matter; you have no influential power if your sect members are willing to attempt assassination without a thought of the consequences.”

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

It felt as if water was poured down on Seren, her very pride was just stomped upon. Lute didn’t even hold any respect for her family claiming they had no power if she couldn’t even protect her own life. They were the second most influential family in Fallen Tide City next to the actual Fallen Tide Royal Family.

But what hurt the most was not the fact that her pride as a Windcross was trampled upon, it was that Lute was right. How could she guarantee his safety when she couldn’t even protect herself? What was the use flaunting her family name if she didn’t have the results to back it up, even more, Lute probably didn’t know what it meant to be a part of nobility and the power it represented, so she couldn’t even threaten him if he didn’t understand the meaning behind the threat.

‘I took the completely wrong route, he’s a commoner, and has lived in the wild all his life, there is no way he will understand the power of sects and nobilities.’

Seren sighed, “I guess I can’t expect you to understand what a family name truly means. You are right; I can’t give complete asylum under my family since you are a commoner with nothing to give credence to the thought of even protecting you.”

But then, right at this moment, Seren let her pent up anger erupt, she still couldn’t let her pride be injured like this and not have a retort. “However, don’t you ever assume that nobility has no power, the likes of you… a commoner… has no understanding of the power that I can use at my disposal being my father’s only daughter and child.”

Lute’s violence that he typically kept suppressed when he wasn’t fighting began to leak out slightly. This girl was beginning to get on his nerves, in the end she was just another typical human, thinking that they had power because they had someone to back them. There was a difference between yourself having power, and thinking you have power when it was in actuality someone else’s.

With himself as an example, the first thought that came to mind was the Path of New Beginnings. In the end it was power that wasn’t his, it was the Spiritual Gods, and if he thought that he himself owned that power, he wouldn’t get away with serious wounds again, he’d die a horrible death of spontaneous combustion. He’d have to wait until the day that he could use the Path of New Beginnings freely, and master control of it. Only then could the strength it held be considered as his strength.

This was the same concept with Seren. She didn’t hold any individual power with her cultivation, and now she was basically threatening him with her family. The power of her family was not her own, not until she became someone capable of leading it with her own strength. This was one of the most disgusting parts of human nature, assuming you were free to say or do things without any regard to the rules or your life because you thought you could get away with it. And Lute was going to teach Seren this lesson right now.

Lute didn’t respond, instead in less than a second he went from carving in a seated position to releasing every single shred of Slaughter Aura he contained. With movement fast enough that Seren lost track of him, he slammed her against the wall with his one usable arm clenched against her throat. With the slightest amount of strength he could crush her neck and there wasn’t a thing she could do about it.

Under Lute’s Slaughter Aura, and the raw physical strength that she could feel from Lutes arm, Seren stayed silent, the angry yet smug look from a moment ago left her and was replaced by terror. Seren couldn’t even use her Qi to ease the pressure on her neck, it was actually moving sluggishly due to the Slaughter Aura that enveloped her.

Lute leaned in until he was almost brushing the right side of her face as he whispered threateningly, “There are people above people, heavens above heavens and hells beneath hells. You would do well to realize this. Your families power is not your own. The proof, they can do nothing about me slaughtering you right here and right now, they wouldn’t even find your body as I’d feed you to the Vicious Beasts.”

After reciting his lecture, Lute increased the pressure on Seren’s throat, thoroughly terrifying her before letting go, causing blood to rush in to her head making her dizzy and fall to the ground. Lute then returned to his carving and suppressed his violent thoughts once again.

It took nearly fifteen minutes before Seren returned to clarity. She had brushed sides with the incarnation of death. Had she said anything worse, there was no doubt that Lute would’ve killed her. But she couldn’t even leave. There was no doubt if she left without his help, the Vicious Beasts would kill her.

‘To think he was so quick to anger. But people above people, heavens above heavens? Does he really think one person can take on an infinite number of people by themselves? That is impossible; there isn’t anyone that is capable of such a feat.’

Of course, Seren was ignorant, the Spiritual God had done it, he slaughtered from all three factions and the result… they refused to interact with him and he single handedly put an end to the war for many years while all three factions recuperated. The devils, divine beasts and gods had all suffered a great number of losses.

Lute was also the same, from the Nascent Qi first level and below, he could be considered invincible, no one could kill him in a fight, no matter how many there were. Traps, high quality equipment, cultivators above the threshold he was invincible, poison. It didn’t matter what it was, it would take careful planning to kill Lute if you were around his cultivation level, in a head on clash, he was invincible, at least in the Mortal Realm.

Lute never let this get to his head just because the Spiritual God never lost a fight and he hadn’t lost one yet. He knew he was too weak, there were too many variables and the future was unknown, it was best to remain cautious as although he wouldn’t die in a head on clash, there were many other ways of fighting that didn’t rely on brute strength like his.

As Seren was beginning to find another way to convince Lute without giving him a reason to kill her, Isla’s voice resounded within Lute, with a commanding tone.

“Join the Fallen Tide Hall, there is no reason not to. You may want to avoid conflict, while that is smart, as long as you don’t stir up trouble, then you should be safe. If that moronic idiot of a cultivator tries to send people to kill you again or stir up trouble, I’m sure you could kill him in secret, much like how assassins went after this little girl who thinks her father is invincible.”

Lutes face darkened, but as his back was turned to Seren she didn’t notice. No matter what his Master said, many problems were bound to arise the moment he joined such a disgusting place. But he also caught her underlying meaning even if she didn’t say it. The hidden message was simple, he was her disciple so he should fear no one, and as long as he was smart the problems that arise would be easily handled.

‘… I guess as long as I don’t expose my true strength, I can crush anyone that tries to aggravate me. From Seren’s account of what happened, they all think I am in the Nascent Qi Realm due to that pricks swindling lie, but I’m not so disciples in the Nascent Qi Realm and above shouldn’t bother me. If I remain low key, no one should find me very interesting.’

With a tired sigh, Lute turned to Seren, just as she was about to spew more nonsense, this time about how it was duty to pursue strength because of his talent. He didn’t even give her a chance to speak.

“I’ll agree to your request, but I have more conditions than just your knowledge about various things.” Lute said in a tired voice, women were truly going to be the death of him, either his Master with a stupid order or someone like Seren who was full of problems that gave him a headache.

If all people were like this, forget about leaving the mountains, he’d enter deeper into seclusion and forget about the world until deal with anyone that caused him problems by either suppressing them until they felt terror or killing them.