NOVEL SIMPLE Ch-23-The Deal
(Lou Xia POV)
"Then what will happen to him?" This time, his voice was full of fear as he finally realized that he should not have spoken. But it was too late.
"Oh, don't worry about that. I think you will be joining him, although not to the same degree as he will be getting." The Sect Founder said with a playful tone before continuing, "A lot of people would also appreciate this and take it as a gift."
Not taking the hint yet, the idiot seems to want to say something again but is interrupted by the Elder instead. "Oh great, Sect Founder, might I ask what this punishment might be?"
The Sect Founder did not seem to be very happy about hearing that and snapped at him, "Keep that snarky attitude up, and it will be much worse. I can guarantee it."
It seemed that the idiot was not the only one determined to push her buttons.
The Sect Founder then seemed to acquiesce to the Elder's question slightly and continued, "That said, I do want to ask if you've ever heard anything about those in the origin realm being able to change someone's age?"
That question confused me for a second until a realization struck me.
However, before I could mention anything, the idiot duo struck again as the Elder seemed to have gotten stupid all of a sudden, saying, "I have indeed heard about those, but they are just rumors according to the origin realm experts of our allies."
The Sect Founder smiled at that and raised her hand while saying, "Oh, they very much aren't."
That simple motion of her hand caused a formation to appear out of thin air and flash to life. I felt something take hold of my body at that moment before sliding off of me like it did not find any purchase.
Looking over to the other two people on the back of the Windstrider, I saw that Elder Xie and Jiahao were lying down unconscious.
Turning back around to face the Sect Founder who caused all of this, I saw her staring at me with a smile on her face.
Fearing the worst, I shakily asked, "Y-Yes Sect Founder?"
The Sect Founder maintained her smile, though it felt far more friendly, and said, "No need to call me that child. I just wanted to talk to you is all, and you can call me Raina from now on."
After hearing that, I could not help but think, 'Then why did you have me call you Sect Founder?'
She then said while pointing at the Elder and Jiahao, "The only reason that I had you call me that is because I was only punishing those two."
Wait a minute. If only those two were getting punished, then why was I affected, and did she just read my thoughts?!
"Yes, I did. And to answer your question, the reason why you were affected is because I need you to do something. Now, before you ask, the reason why their's is a punishment is because not only am I reducing their age, but I also removed all their cultivation. So now they have to start all over again from the beginning as outer disciples."
I let out a sigh of relief at that as I was pretty thankful that the effect on me was only a decrease in age, but the last thing she said was somewhat shocking.
Going from an Elder or even an inner disciple to an outer one is a very harsh blow, even if it seems like they need to learn something from being in that stage. However, she also said that she would not lower the strength of the Sect, yet she just reduced an immortal level cultivator down to a mortal who had not even started their cultivation.
"Oh, don't worry about that. The strength of the Sect will not be affected that much by this, and even then, he could easily reach the nascent soul stage once again with a little practice. Anyways, now that this is over, would you mind landing and coming in for tea?" she explained before suddenly asking me.
I did not really see a reason to reject her, considering that she could easily make me suffer the same fate as the other two, so I nodded and commanded the Windstriker to land on the outside of the Sect Founder's house.
(Raina POV)
With all that done and over, I dissipated the clone and looked down to see that Vale has fallen asleep on my lap. There was nothing left for me to do with her but sit and let her rest.
It was so enjoyable to be here like this, but I also had to meet that disciple for tea, so I manipulated gravity, lifted the sleeping girl off my lap while trying not to disturb her as much as possible, and started walking toward the last part of the house that she has not been in.
Reaching the back of the courtyard, I entered the building back there, which was all my bedroom except for a small bathroom hidden in a corner.
Going over to the bed, I place Vale down on it and put a blanket over her while caressing her head. The cute little fox did not even react and slept soundly, not even moving an inch.
After leaving the room, I entered the main building and used my Qi to open the front door and the front gate.
Not long after, the disciple entered the hall.
Pulling a still-warm pot of tea out of my spatial storage, I pour two cups of tea, handing one over to the girl with telekinesis to which she then grabbed and took a sip of the tea before swiftly devouring the whole thing.
Curious about why she did that, I took a sip from my cup and found that I had accidentally given her some of my ten thousand-year Ying-yang order tea.
This stuff was a truly valuable treasure to almost everyone as it can not only slightly enhance one's understanding of laws permanently and give them temporary enlightenment on a few of them, but it can also allow those even at the Qi gathering stage to learn laws and give them a near guarantee to enter the origin realm.
Seeing the girl enter deep into enlightenment, I simply refilled her cup and waited. Hours went by as she unconsciously drank two more cups until I did not give her any refill and let her slowly come out of it after the third cup she drank.
Soon, the sun is cresting the horizon, bringing forth a new day as the enlightenment begins to end. Suddenly, the energy generated by the sun then begins to gather around the girl as the color of her hair shifts to look even more like fire than it already does.
Opening her eyes, the girl looks at me and stands only to bow deeply, saying, "Thank you for the opportunity, Ancestor."
I was able to immediately sense her immense gratitude as I still had that honestly despicable technique still running. So I stopped its circulation while waving away her gratitude, saying, "You are welcome, disciple. Now, if you could tell me your name, that would be great."
Seeming to realize her mistake, she hurriedly introduced herself, "My name is Lou Xia, Miss Raina."
"That's better. Now, what I wanted to tell you was that I had a job for you specifically." I said, finally getting to the business that I wanted to talk to her about yesterday.
Taking the bait that I had laid, she looked at me inquisitively, clearly wanting to know what I am offering, and asked, "What job would this be?"
With the hook sunk, I started giving an offer that few would ever resist. "I need you to look after someone in the Sect. For compensation, you will be promoted to a core disciple second only to an elder. When you reach nascent soul, there will also be an elder position waiting for you should you want it. I will also be returning to the Sect after a while, so if you take the job, I could also give you some guidance every now and then."
The reason why I was offering this much was partly because I could see the hidden bloodline that she had, but it was mostly because my daughter knew her, and I could tell she had a good head on her shoulders, unlike most other cultivators.
Watching the girl after giving my offer, I could almost see the gears turning in her head.
Tapping into some of my abilities, I was able to see roughly what she was thinking.
It started with wondering why I would offer this position to her after what I had done earlier. Then she was confused as to why I would suddenly return, followed by being tempted by the offer I presented and finally, fearful of what I could do.
With all the rattling around in her head, she arrived at a predictable conclusion. "I will graciously accept your offer."
I wanted to smile at that response, but I instead put on a straight face and said with a hint of authority in my voice, "Good. Now for your first lesson. I'm not too fond of flattery, groveling, or any flowery wording. Just tell me whatever it is straight unless if it is in casual conversation."
She instantly straightened and looked at me with wide eyes while shouting, "Yes, ma'am!"
I kept the straight face from earlier after hearing that and clarified, "As for the person you are supposed to look out for, they would be Vale. Do you understand?"
"Yes, ma'am!" She responded with a glint of understanding flashing in her eyes.
I finally let a ghost of a smile grace my lips as I said while holding out my hand, "Now give me your medallion,"
She did not seem to question that order very much and pulled out her Sect medallion, placing it in my hand.
Now, for dramatic flair, I made the medallion float in the air as the new one I was about to give her appeared in my hand where the other medallion was. The old one then started to disintegrate as I controlled the essence stored inside to enter the new one. In less than a few seconds, the new one shone brightly and then fell into my waiting hand.
With the medalions now transferred, I handed it back to her.
Once it was in her hands, she started to run her hands over it, looking at it in shock. It seemed she was having a hard time comprehending what had just happened.
At this point, I let my small smile grow a little wider.
This was so much fun and even made me miss the old days, but I had to break her from her stupor eventually. So I asked with a mischievous smile, "Now that you have part of your reward, aren't you forgetting some things?"
"W-what do you mean?" It seems my smile spooked her a little, the poor thing.
I did not let that get to me though, as I started speaking with my smile growing wider. "Aren't you supposed to be heading back to the Sect? You have already wasted a day here, after all,"
"Wait, what!?"
