After Ace explained everything to rain as they sat around the round table, he accepted the truth after seeing that his parents were safe.
"My name is Rain, nice to meet you." Rain greeted Lancer politely and initiated a handshake which was returned with a self introduction.
"Nice to meet you too, the name's Lancer."
The greeting was slightly too formal for this situation, but when the old couple and Ace saw the competition between the two young men, they laughed and heaved a sigh of relief.
"Lancer, thank you for prioritising my parents before yourself." In the end, Rain backed down and poured a cup of wine from the jar for Lancer.
Lancer gulped the bowl of wine down and explained, "I had no reason to leave the Tree of Souls, but since things have already come to this stage, it's about time I head to the Divine realm first."
Standing up from his seat, Lancer turned towards Ace. "Sect master Ace, please take care of Lancelot in the time I'm away. I hope that the next time my brother and I meet, he'll be a worthy rival with potential above me."
"Don't worry, as his sect master, that's one of the few obligations I owe each disciple." Ace replied with respect.
"Before I take my leave, there's something that you need to understand. A tree that grows taller than the forest must bear the brunt of the wind."
That was the line Lancer left Ace to comprehend by himself before departing for the Divine realm through his own means and methods.
After Lancer left, a token with the chinese character which symbolised lightning appeared in Ace's hand.
"Pass this to Lancelot if he makes it to the Divine realm one day."
Ace had a few guesses as to what the purpose behind this token was, but still kept it without further thoughts as he faced the old couple.
"Seniors, how should I address the two of you?"
"Hahahaha, what a modest young boy you are. You can just call me uncle Roy."
Ace nodded his hand as he turned towards Rain's mother who introduced herself, "You can just call me senior Ronie."
"Senior Roy, Senior Ronie, I'm sure the two of you understand the reason I went through that challenge just to save your lives."
"That's to be expected, but since you saved my life, it's only expected of you to have a request to ask of me. What is it?" Roy answered to Ace's expectations, but Ace's excitement was short-lived.
"But if your request is related to the Peacock Auction Hall, then I might need to consider it carefully depending on what you have to offer."
"Father." Rain called out, only to be shutted down by his mother's gaze.
Roy was about to continue speaking, but stopped when his wife's hand reached out to his waist. He was confident that if he continued to speak despite her warning, he would suffer in pain with just a twist of her fingers.
Ace tried to contain his laughter as he pretended to turn a blind eye to this and said what he had in mind, "I intend to have the Peacock Auction Hall serve the Nirvana Sect."
"Young boy, we may be thankful of you for saving our lives, but aren't you asking for too much by intending to consume the Peacock Auction Hall?"
"You've misunderstood me. What I meant was that in exchange of an annual tax from the Nirvana Sect, the Nirvana Sect will provide a roulette item worth auctioning every month and even step out to intervene when the Peacock Auction Hall gets in trouble."
"Of course, if the Peacock Auction Hall gets into trouble intentionally thinking that the Nirvana Sect would back them up, then you guys would have made the wrong decision."
Roy nodded his head and took this offer into consideration, but before he could consolidate his thoughts, his wife had already spoken up for him.
"Oh? A roulette item every month seems enticing enough if only the usual tax rate is charged, but what would the annual tax rate the Peacock Auction Hall has to offer monthly?"
Ronie asked as she played around with her fingers, showing the number '2' with a smile.
"How does two percent sound?"
When Ace heard this offer, he was the one who was greatly shocked, the most he had expected to get from this was 1.5%, but since they were willing to offer more, there was no reason for him to bargain any further.
"We should confirm a few more details first after taking a look at the statistics." Ace suggested as the two of them started a long conversation that seemed endless to the father and son who left the room to have some wine.
While Ace and Ronie were discussing and bargaining with each other for benefits, the father and son were sharing their thoughts with each idea for the first time ever since ten years ago.
Back then, Rain was still an ignorant youth at the age of 17, but he's already a grown up adult with the capability to take on responsibility right now.
"Rain, it was hard on you these few years when I was unconscious." Roy said towards his son as he looked at the white strands of hair his son had grown and the eye bags beneath his eyes.
Rain might not have spoken about his grievance and the hardships he had to endure in these ten years to anyone else, but he was also the one who understood his son better than others.
Rain was someone who is able to endure hardships to help his loved ones regardless of the troubles in his way, even if it was tiring and felt like a burden to him, he would still clench his teeth and find a way to succeed.
"It's okay father, what matters most right now is that both you and mother have returned alive. As for whatever request Ace has, trust me on this, don't turn him down. He's the only way for the Peacock Auction Hall to rise above the others and eliminate them from the limited market."
"Hahahaha, we shall see about this."
The next morning, when the morning rays once again shone onto the earth, everyone had already woken up except for Rain and his father who had been drinking until the wee hours.
Roine who had ended her conversation with Ace after both sides were satisfied with the terms and conditions, leaving to find her loved ones who have left the room to allow hold to hold the discussion with Ace.
"Ace, do you happen to know where they are?" Ronie asked when she stepped out of the room and saw no traces of them being nearby.
"I'm not sure either, none of them contacted me since yesterday." Ace replied as he suggested for Ronie to call one of the guards which was on duty yesterday.
"Lady Ronie, young master Rain and old master Roy ordered for wine to be delivered into the drinking room last night."
"Was that the last time they showed up in front of the others?"
"Yes." The guard replied honestly.
"You may take your leave."
"Thank you lady Ronie."
After the guard left, Ace chuckled and signalled for Ronie to lead the way towards the drinking room.