402 Seven Heavenly Virtues.
“...I have another task for you.” The king mentioned solemnly.
Ozul suppressed his sigh, letting him continue.
“The heavy winds leave the weak without a roof,” the king muttered as if he wasn’t the sole ruler of this whole kingdom.
In response, they could only smile wryly wondering if he was weak, what were they? What cringed them further was how that man in the shining armor nodded in an inexplicable ‘understanding’!
“You see, while this good man here in our presence is strong and capable on his own. He holds a responsibility that he previously shared with yet another man just as strong and capable as him. That man, however, must attend to another one of this kingdom’s errands.”
The king shook his head, stressing the inevitability of the situation.
“And now that he alone protects my frail daughter, the princess of this kingdom, I am deeply troubled by a father’s woes.”
Connecting the dots, it wouldn’t take an idiot to figure out their next task was to bodyguard the princess herself.
‘Isn’t this a little too easy?’ Ozul wondered, thinking for a moment that someone might be messing with him.
.....
But he quickly shook his head, there wasn’t anyone bored enough to do that. A mysterious old man did come to his mind, but it wasn’t that old man’s style.
‘Come to think of it, it has been a while since that Old Gu annoyed me...’
. . .
Meanwhile, on a plane far away, a council sat in the unveiling dark and silent.
The council consisted of merely 7 chairs placed in a round manner, with enough space in the middle.
Although there were 7 chairs, merely 3 people were present in this council. The rest of the chairs remained cold.
All three seemed old and frail but any one of the big shots from the Realm of Abezan would have been scared shitless in their presence.
For a few hours, no one spoke a word and for some reason, it didn’t seem to bother any of them.
The uncanny silence was broken by none other than a young man clad in bright orange robes. With his hands folded behind his back, he walked forward with unprecedented confidence.
His robes fluttered like weightless feathers behind him as he walked forward with a cold gaze, not holding even the existence of these three elders in his eyes.
“Where are the rest?” his cold voice reverberated in the ‘room’.
“As you can see, they aren’t here,” one of the old men replied as the other two shook their heads at him.
The young man glared at him, “You aren’t much older than me, Zihao. So don’t expect me to show you elderly respect that you surely don’t deserve.”
“Tanlan, Jidu, both of you aren’t any better than him! How many eons has it been since any of you came to serve your masters?!”
“Kehehe...”
“Hahaha...”
The two old men Tanlan and Jidu in question burst out in laughter upon hearing his words. Though the young man’s frown deepened with each passing second until his aura burst out, matching theirs.
“Do not mistake us for your servants, young master.”
“We have only one true master and though you may be his blood, our servitude does not extend to you.”
The old man named Zihao who had spoken first also snorted.
“Master has already let us go. Do you want to test if His Benevolence has also allowed us to kill his son?”
As Zihao threatened, Tanlan and Jidu also spiked their aura. When combined in such unity, it eclipsed the young man’s aura who snorted in annoyance before plopping on one of the seats.
The seats, already cracking under their combined pressure, were barely able to hold their weight.
Seeing him step down, the three old men also retracted their aura.
“Help me and in turn, I will help you.”
“Ho~? What kind of help would we need?” Zihao spoke for the three of them.
In response, the young man shot him a smirk, replying, “What kind of help could you not get from the Emperor of Heavens?”
Shocked by his remarks, the three old men straightened their backs as the air froze over.
“Do you not fear the burden of our master’s name?”
“Didn’t you just say that father has let you all go?”
The three old men exchanged glances, not knowing what to say to this young man.
Seeing them not daring to speak anything on the matter, the young man soothed them, “I’m not planning a rebellion. I just need the support of the famous 7 Heavenly Virtues to convince Father.
He himself has lost all interest in that position and seems to just be waiting for someone to replace him.”
Again the air remained still for a few minutes before Zihao finally broke the silence,
“Even if what you say is true, couldn’t one of us, the 7 Heavenly Virtues, also lay claim to that title?”
“Ah, Zihao, I knew the Virtue of Humility would be the one to utter such a... thing. To answer your question, you are right. The 7 Heavenly Virtues can easily contend against me, but here is the thing.
I am not stopping you. Join me, or be my enemy. The same goes for the 4 who dared not to show their faces. Let them know, you can join me and remain in my grace or vie for that title and stand against me!”
With his declaration, the young man stood up and walked out of the ‘room’ at a leisurely pace.
Before his presence disappeared in the dark, he left his last message, “I will wait for your response.”
Zihao the Virtue of Humility, Tanlan the Virtue of Charity, and Jidu the Virtue of Kindness stayed silent, contemplating the impacts this conversation would have all over the world.
. . .
As the conversation which would shake all the Realms took place in a plane far away, Ozul stood in the throne room, hoping the king would just get to the point and tell them what to do.
“I want you all to protect my dear daughter.”
With his incessant roundabout way of saying how much he loved his daughter and one of the Origin Cultivators had to be sent to attend to another matter, it didn’t come as a shock to those present here except for the man in silver armor.
“My lord-”
“Do not worry Sir Hemal, these are trusted people.”
“It is the princess we are talking about-”
“She is my daughter, Sir Hemal. I think I would worry more about her than anyone ever could,” the king glared at armor-laden Sir Hemal for not knowing when to shut up.
“Forgive me, my lord.”
The king nodded his head nonchalantly before moving his gaze toward Ozul who, in his eyes, was one of the most peculiar men he had ever come across.
He had lived for long enough to have met a few Dragon Hatchlings recently brought to the Realm of Abezan but never had he seen such a calm and composed young man.
If he didn’t know that it wouldn’t be possible, he might have even tried to marry his precious daughter to him. After all, who wouldn’t want the best for their children?
Ozul seized the opportunity immediately as he spoke, “Can I refuse beca-”
“You wish to say something?” The king interrupted him with a smile that wasn’t really a smile.
Ozul deemed it to be the best moment to release the tired sigh that he was holding back for so long.
If Raven, Blaze, and Zier didn’t know any better, even they would have thought that he didn’t want to take up this task.
“Do not fret, young man. It won’t be for long. And my daughter, though a princess, is quite mature for her age.”
‘Not only that Hemal’s but even your emotions betray how you really feel about maturity...’ Ozul thought, but as always, it didn’t show on his face.
“Anyway, you will all listen to one of my most trusted people, Sir Hemal here.”
Seeing as there was again no objection, the King continued, “But this group also needs a leader. I think you will be appropriate for that.”
He spoke while keenly staring at Ozul’s face.
But that is where Ozul really had an objection. “I cannot take responsibility for these two,” he said while pointing toward Kumao and Rose.
“Hey! I thought we were friends,” Kumao complained.
“These three are my people, I can take care of them alone,” ignoring Kumao, Ozul spoke firmly.
‘I don’t even know what that man’s even thinking...’
Ozul didn’t was a bit confused. The king seemed to be a smart man, so he didn’t understand why that man would allow a group of people with unknown backgrounds to be near the princess.
His group, he could understand. They were the Dragon Hatchlings and had absolutely no reason to make enemies out of anyone.
But what about Kumao and Rose? Maybe even Rose could be counted out, considering she isn’t strong enough to pose any real harm to the princess. However, Kumao was an Origin Cultivator!
‘Did they confirm his background and deem him harmless as well?’ There were many questions in his mind, but he decided to shrug them off.
If the king wanted to play that way, then so be it. He will play along until he finds an ample opportunity.
“I see, well that’s not much of a problem,” the king muttered in interest. He had assumed they had gotten close, but he had assumed wrong.
“Sir Hamel here will take you to the princess. Let it stay in your minds that under no circumstances are you to disobey this good sir here.”
.....
They nodded their heads in apparent understanding.
“Good, you can leave now. The guard outside will guide you. Each of you can receive one of the Spirit Grade cultivation manuals from the ones presented to you. Later, Sir Hamel shall assign you your task,” the king smiled in kindness, letting them go.
‘Finally...’ Ozul sighed in relief. It took the king a solid half an hour to tell them all of that.
If it wasn’t for the fact that the throne was devoid of any sparkling lighting, he wouldn’t have been able to bear it for so long.
While they were led outside, the king continued his talk with that man named Hamel.
‘At least we are one step closer to our goal,’ he thought before they were led to a room full that looked like a military inventory outside the palace.
While the king offered them Spirit Grade cultivation manuals, they were allowed to choose anything of equal or less value from that room. Everyone picked up something they liked as the man in charge there kept squinting his eyes at Ozul.
He was the only one who didn’t pick anything.
Seeing that it too would attract unnecessary attention, he picked out a random sword nearest to him, “Will this be okay?” he asked, holding out the blade that seemed to be a katana.
The man in charge nodded his head, “That’s a natureless Spirit Grade Weapon, you can take it.”
