It's been a few days since the incident with Elif, and ever since then, I haven't heard from him or Gel, and while I've been tempted to bother her, I did what I was told and refrained from doing so. Currently, I'm sitting on the porch, spending quality time with my wives, though, out of the blue, we saw Idonea suddenly appear right in front of me, and before I could do anything, the scenery around us changed. Now I am standing in the sects conference room.
"Your Highness, I've brought Comet." Said Idonea as she threw Comet just before Elif's throne.
"Good; now that you're here, you can fulfill your end of the deal and tell me your secret." Ordered Elif with a slight smirk.
Looking at his face, various emotions welled up inside me, such as jealousy, resentment, and fear; however, all those were overpowered by my immense wrath.
'This bastard! Smirking at me with that exquisite face! I swear to my name that one day our positions will be reversed, and I'll humiliate you just like you humiliated me!' Thought Comet cruelly while imagining different ways to humiliate Elif.
"Do not ignore, his Highness!" Said Idonea with venom in her voice as she pressured Comet onto his knees, snapping him out of his little daydream.
'Dammit! Don't think I forget about you too bitch; I'll have you on your knees begging for my c*ck! Gel, it's an emergency! Have you finished coming up with a believable lie yet!?' Exclaimed Comet in his mind before focusing on the more pressing matters.
'Yes, I've finished; I was just making sure the lie had no holes in it. Now, let me take control of your body for this.' Declared Gel as she appeared within the system window.
'Alright, you better not mess this up, Gel!' Said Comet's soul as he withdrew himself from his body, allowing Gel to take command.
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"You're really testing my patience Comet." Said Elif, tapping his throne while eyeing the kneeling Comet with a slight frown.
While waiting to get a reaction out of Comet, I had faintly sensed his persona change before returning to normal; it was so faint that I almost missed it, and if I hadn't been focusing on him, I would've overlooked it. Waving my hand for Idonea to back off, Comet finally stood back up, and when I looked at him in the eye, I saw nothing wrong or out of place. The anger and hate were still there; from what I sensed earlier, I knew something was different; I just couldn't pinpoint it.
'Maybe his soul houses two different personalities? That would explain why his soul was previously unstable; still, that is a far-fetched conclusion with the amount of evidence I have. Hmm, I'll make sure to focus completely on him while he explains his secret; hopefully, I'll spot something.' Thought Elif while looking down at Comet, who seemed to be the same as always.
"Are you finally ready to tell me your secret? I will not be asking again." Asked Elif in a tone full of annoyance.
"Yes, I'm ready, but the deal was only to tell you about my secret. So until she leaves, I'll be keeping my mouth shut." Declared Comet as he pointed to Idonea in the distance.
"Could you leave Idonea?" Ordered Elif with a grunt of annoyance as he eyed Comet.
"Your Highness, are you sure? This man has proven to be very suspicious, and although the chances are incredibly slim, it's possible he might have a Saint artifact in his arsenal." Asked Idonea, not even bothering to hide her killing intent as she eyed Comet.
"Yes, I'm sure. Besides, even if he did have a Saint artifact, with his cultivation base, he wouldn't be capable of unleashing its true power; he would, at most, be able to make me take him slightly seriously." Said Elif, to which Idonea no longer disobeyed his orders and disappeared from the room, leaving Comet and Elif alone.
"Now that we are alone. I should first start off by introducing myself along with explaining my origins. My name is Comet Astrouth-Othime, the firstborn son of Ajan Astrouth, the Patriarch of the Astrouth clan, and Hella Othime, the Matriarch of the Othime clan. I'm originally from the Heavenly Realm, but my parents sent me down to a random Spirit realm after a near-fatal soul injury. The Astrouth Clan and Othime Clan are enemy clans, so when the ancestors finally found out that the patriarch and matriarch of enemy Clans secretly fell in love and had a child, I'm sure you know how things played out." Said Comet while expressing sadness and anger at reminiscing his past.
"Though it seemed like both my parents had prepared for such a day, each of them handed me the most important artifact heirlooms of their respective clan before sending me away. Unfortunately, one of my ancestors managed to disrupt my trajectory in the void between Realms, causing me to get caught up in a dangerous and weird void phenomenon. Luckily, because of the artifact heirlooms, I managed to stay unharmed; however, because of the void phenomenon, my soul experienced time much faster than my body, resulting in my soul becoming out of balance with my body and if it weren't for the uniqueness of the artifact heirlooms I would've died shortly after escaping the void phenomenon." Explained Comet, his eyes conveying slight fear.
'Quite an unfortunate past, but he's only given a reason for why his soul was in turmoil. What about everything else?' Thought Elif while eyeing Comet with suspicion.
"While it seems you have a valid reason for your soul being in turmoil, however what about being able to harness pure Immortal Qi?" Asked Elif, curious at how such a thing could've happened.
"That is because of my Cultivation Manual. When my father was younger, he came across a hidden abode of a powerful deceased cultivator, and that is where he stumbled across the cultivation manual. Having spent years practicing it, I've learned that all the Qi I absorb gets filtered of any impurities; however, in exchange for pure Qi, I take much longer to cultivate, though the strength it provides makes up for the slow progress." Said Comet with a slightly prideful smile.
"If everything you said were true, then you wouldn't mind showing me the cultivation manual, would you?" Asked Elif with minimal curiosity.
"That'll be impossible; the cultivation manual has no physical form; it can only be viewed if you were to read parts of my soul; however, with the artifact active, it'll block any attempts at someone searching my soul. I also can't deactivate the artifact since my soul is still injured, and the artifact is keeping it in a stable condition, and while I could transfer the information to you, I would need direct access to your soul." Stated Comet with a slight smirk.
'Yeah, no. If that's the only way, I'm not interested enough to learn this cultivation manual. If I had brought some memory crystals, this wouldn't be such a problem.' Thought Elif, his suspicion of Comet slowly dwindling the more he listened.
"And I'm assuming the reason why you can summon objects from seemingly nowhere has to do with the artifacts as well?" Asked Elif, realizing everything seemed to be connected to said artifacts.
"Yes. That is everything I have to say. Is there anything else you want me to discuss before I leave?" Replied Comet as he crossed his arms.
"Hmm, no, you've satisfied my curiosity. You can leave now." Said Elif while tapping the armrest of the chair.
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"Hahaha, yes! It worked! That arrogant fool didn't even realize he was lied to! You're the best Gel!" Exclaimed Comet in happiness after having finally arrived at his home.
"While I appreciate the praise, Comet, we are not out of the clear yet; as long as he is still present in this realm, we are always in danger." Said Gel with a slight smile while sitting atop Comet's shoulder.
"Still, with his attention no longer constantly on us, I feel much more at peace." Said Comet with a smile as he lay in his bed.
"Although, unfortunately, the rate at which I acquire system points will dramatically slow down. Not like it's that big of a deal; with the current amount of system points I have, I should be able to reach the late Saint realm, possibly even the early Saint Lord realm! One more step closer to that brat's level." Added Comet, looking at the system with glee.
'Well then, best to start sooner than later.' Thought Comet as he got into a cultivation posture and began exchanging his system points for pure Immortal Qi.
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While thinking about everything Comet told me, I saw the doors open as Idonea walked into the room; however, I only paid her heed once she stopped a few meters before my throne.
"I'm eighty-percent sure." Commented Elif with a slight smirk while shifting his attention to the confused Idonea.
"If I may be so bold as to ask, your highness, eighty percent sure about what?" Asked Idonea, confused why Elif suddenly said something with no context.
"I'm eighty percent sure that Comet lied to me." Said Elif, causing Idonea's eyes to widen before her body erupted with much killing intent.
"I will go kill him and everyone he cares for right this instance, your highness." Said Idonea wrathfully as she quickly turned around and headed for the door, though a large purple palm blocked her way.
"Quell your wrath Idonea; I'm only eighty percent sure he lied; I will not act upon it unless I'm at least ninety percent sure he's lied. Until then, continue to observe him and inform me of anything out of the ordinary." Said Elif with a smirk, unable to tell whether he was angry or happy.
"I understand, your highness." Replied Idonea, though something else was circulating in her head.