"Ugh…" Rhys grunted as he woke up, noticing he was now on his bed, not on the couch he fell asleep.
'Did they put me here once they left?.." Rhys thought inside his head, but what Ina said left him stunt.
"You are lucky aren't you! A few minutes after you fell asleep they woke up and moved you with them on your bed. Sleeping surrounded by beauties. Very lucky." Ina said sarcastically in his mind.
'They did what?!' Rhys was shocked, but it was then he notices a pleasant and sweet smell all over him and on his bed.
The scent was certainly calming, 'I guess that did happen.'
Rhys sat up on his bed, his robes loose as he slept with them on.
"I have to prepare for my cultivation journey…" Rhys muttered in a low voice, standing up and going towards the bathroom in his room, where he spent around 10 minutes taking a nice and long warm bath.
"About time, cultivating the Eternal Paragon Void Body will take some time. The faster you do it the better." Ina said inside of his head, making Rhys's handsome face scrunch.
"Ina is there a way for me to check my bloodline purity?..." Rhys asked as he changed, putting on a white tight-fitting long-sleeved t-shirt with golden symmetrical patterns, with black plants. Over his long-sleeved shirt, he put on a white coat, that flowed down to his ankles.
"Affirmative, let me show you in terms that you can understand." Ina replied instantly, alongside this a transparent screen appeared in his retina, where he could see the following:
[
Name: Rhys Zuldroan
Race: Onniano
Cultivation: True King Mid-Stage
Bloodline/s Purity:
Golden True Dragon - 0.6%
Royal Scarlett Phoenix - 0.5% (Close to being Inactive)
High Royal Elf - 0.7%
Incandescent Light Spirit - 0.3% (Inactive)
]
"As you can see your bloodline purity is very low." Ina commented after Rhys looked at his 'status.' Although Rhys had spent most of his time inside a lab being tortured, he had played games with 'systems.' Of course, those games were very old and almost didn't work.
"Hey… This does not make sense, altogether they add up to 2.1%. So what about the remaining 97.9% left?" Rhys asked Ina, confused.
"The way you see it is wrong in itself. It does not have to add to 100%. Each bloodline has to reach 100% respectively, they do not add as they do not mix! Even if they seem low on their own, in reality, the amount of blood in your body is normal. The numbers just show how pure your blood is, it does not translate to the amount you have." Ina replied, making Rhys understand.
"I see, so how long until the blood essence in my dantian begins to be refined?" Ina replied shortly, "The moment you step into the High True King realm it will begin."
Rhys only nodded, as he packed his clothes inside the Jade ring, which seem to hold so much space even Ina could not see the end.
——
Rhys had finished the minor preparations, he now had to talk with Edea and Ailin before leaving. So he went to take care of that right away.
As he left his room, many of the servants outside cleaning open up a path for him. The moment he left the main building and went outside, he was looked at by many of the clan members.
Rhys ignored them, couldn't care less about them. While Rhys walked he felt many different gazes with different emotions. Hate, Greed, Annoyance, and Killing Intent.
'It seems I really am not liked… It is only natural when I have such an amazing woman as a mother and an amazing twin sister…' Rhys said in his mind with a bittersweet smile.
Rhys took a few minutes to reach a training arena, where he found both Edea and Ailin training against each other. Since Edea's cultivation was very high she restricted her strength to the peak of the True Emperor realm, where Ailin was at. At the age of 20, her cultivation was very high, a testament to her talent. Edea was 40 years old and was a High Celestial Saint cultivator, this made her a powerhouse within this High-ranked world. As there were only a few people stronger than her, and they could be counted on one hand.
Although this was considered a High-ranked world and the name sounded grand, it was only ranked 4th from the lowest. World ranks were as follow:
Mortal, Inferior, Mid, High, Grand, Great, and Supreme.
These were the ranks of worlds from lowest to highest. So the world of Zolorix wasn't all that high either.
Mortal worlds, like their name stated, had no cosmic energy whatsoever, while from Inferior on they had some cosmic energy and the quantity and quality increased with the rank of the world.
The limit on a high-ranked world was Peak Supreme Saints, after that one had to ascend to a grand world to continue. In other words, Edea was close to the peak of the world they were located.
Clash!
Clang!
Edea using her double swords exchanged blows with Ailin who used a spear. Edea was more flexible even with her enchanting body, while Ailin had a lot of raw strength.
Rhys stop next to a few others to appreciate their beauty as well as their power. He really was surprised by how fluid their movements were. The bodies were covered in sweat, as the training clothes they used were sticking to their skin like a second skin, showing their enchanting figures.
'So this is the strength one can gain by absorbing cosmic energy… I will one day become like them!' Rhys vowed deep in his heart.
——
It took a few more minutes for the mother-daughter duo to stop sparring. The moment they did they noticed Rhys in the crowd looking at them with a smile. Ailin ran towards him while Edea simply smiled kindly to everyone present.
That was her signal to tell them to 'fuck off.' They all did as their instincts told them to and ran away.
"What brings you here brother? You rarely come to the training grounds and prefer to train by killing beasts." Ailin muttered as her spear disappeared into her spatial ring and she looked at Rhys.
"I want to ask mother something." Rhys still felt uncomfortable calling Edea 'mother' as he really wasn't. He had taken over the body of her deceased son.
"Oh?" Edea's mature figure approached him as she looked at him curiously. Since Rhys would rarely talk to her about things due to how busy she was, instead he'd talk with Ailin, who in turn would tell her.
"Privately." Rhys muttered, he would tell them only inside a secluded place where no prying eyes or ears could be.
Edea's eyes flashed before she understood it must be something serious.
"Follow me." Edea spoke as she walked towards her private room, with Ailin following behind them.
——
When they entered Edea's room, which was well furnished and had a bed covered with a veil all around it. Edea sat on the edge of her bed while Rhys remained standing while looking at her. Ailin was also inside but was laying down on Edea's bed. Their sweat now gone from their use of cosmic energy to invigorate their bodies and clean them.
"So what do you want to talk about?" Edea went straight to the point.
"I want to leave the clan for some time to broaden my horizons." Rhys lied and added some truth to it. He did want to leave the clan but not to broaden his horizons, but to cultivate.
Edea's gaze became sharp as her High Celestial Saint cultivation soared and focused on Rhys who found it hard to breathe in.
"Is that the truth?" Edea spoke once more, but this time each of her words was filled with power and authority.
"Yes!" Rhys spoke once more, all the while Ailin watched with furious eyes. Her mother had gone too far to suppress Rhys like this.
The suppression quickly vanished as Edea returned to her noble look as if everything that had happened before was nothing but a lie.
"You are old, you can make your own choices without informing me." Edea said, making Rhys wonder why she even acted like before if she didn't care.
"Right… but I still want to let you know. Else I'd be a bad son." Rhys replied, he felt disgusting calling himself her son.
"Mhm, I guess so. Go then, I will not stop you." Edea said with a neutral look, but deep down she felt saddened that Rhys was leaving her. After all Ailin and he were the two things that kept her happy from the boring politics.
Yet she acted cold to make sure Rhys could go properly.
Ailin on the other hand was certainly not happy.
"Brother I am going with you!" The way Ailin spoke left no room for denial, but Rhys would not let her go that easily.
"No, I will go on my own." Edea watched this time with an amused look.
"No! You are weak, I can protect you." Ailin patted her ample breasts as if to say 'rely on me.'
"Sorry, but my decision is final." With those words, Rhys walked out of Edea's room and left towards his. Ailin was about to follow when Edea stopped her.
"Why?.." Ailin muttered as she looked at Edea who shook her head.
"Understand Rhys better. He has worst talent than you, some might look at his age and cultivation and think his talent is above average, but we both know it is mediocre. The only reason he reached where he is now is because of the pills we give him.
"So he wants to leave to feel better and cultivate all on his own in this harsh world. Yet there you go and call him weak, he knows that dear. How do you think Rhys feels? He is useless before his sister. You, who are the woman he protected as a child. Now he has to be protected.
"He feels terrible and useless, so let him go on his own. I know Rhys, he will be fine. So let him go on his own and don't shatter his pride as a man and older brother." With those words, Edea finished speaking and looked at Ailins eyes, who were clouded and veiled with tears threatening to leave her face.
"I know… but what if something happens to him? When he was found unconscious in the forest I feared the worst. He was the only male figure in my life mother. I care for him too much." Ailin said as she walked closer to Edea and buried her face in her chest.
"I know dear, but Rhys is old enough to do what he wants. Will you follow him everywhere? When he marries will you still be there? You know we can never be with him. We all have our own responsibilities." Edea spoke as she caressed Ailin who shook.
"But I can always be with him! He wouldn't mind. We were together since we were born. We ate, slept, bathed, and played together as little kids! Back then everything was perfect." Ailin muttered, her voice being muted by Edea's breasts.
"Although Illicit relationships are allowed within the clan, we both know Rhys does not see you that way. You might love him but he only has eyes for strength. You have grown too attached to him, but so have I. After all, he is like our star, he always made us happy with the way he acted and was nice to us." Edea muttered, reminiscing about the past. She could remember a few years back Rhys would cook for them when they came from training or dealing with political affairs. He would give them a massage, make them laugh, and overall brighten their dull days.
"He might not feel anything but brotherly love towards me, but I can make that change. When he returns I will…!" Ailin spoke with conviction.
Edea on the other hand sighed, she was never a fan of this type of relations, but she knew it was something that happened a lot in the clan and world. The Patriarch married his first daughter once she was 16, by then he was 200 years old.
'This clan is ruined… but as long as my children can be happy I will smile.' Edea muttered, unaware of how fate can play games she can not even begin to fathom.
After all, feelings can always develop, especially in a world where the strong rule.
——
Rhys walked back to his room, as he talked with Ina in his mind.
'So which is the artifact within the Jade ring that can destabilize space?' Ina replied shortly after Rhys's question.
"It is a glaive prepared for you called the Void Caller. Lord Swarshlen knew in the future you would use glaives, that you would pick the Supreme Eternal Paragon Void Body Cultivation Technique. He knew a lot, so he prepared accordingly, he went as far as to make this weapon for you by throwing it into the void for it to absorb its properties. Now, the glaive can call upon the void. But you cannot use its full prowess with your powers." Ina's long explanation made Rhys frown.
'That handsome man really foresaw a lot, I guess I should thank him in the afterlife.' Rhys thought in his head, his thoughts not being heard by Ina who would reprimand him.
'I see, he is quite generous.' Ina immediately replied, "Of course he is…"
She kept on talking on and on about how generous and good Swarshlen was, making Rhys wish he could mute her some way.