While that was happening, Minos's soul naturally also underwent an evolution, a new split soul breaking off from his original soul, joining his other three.
With four split souls, plus his original soul, Minos now had five souls to think with simultaneously, and his soul had also strengthened even more from the process.
Letting out a deep breath, the Embryonic Rune once again hid itself on his forehead, vanishing into his flesh.
Minos opened his shut eyes after getting used to this new additional soul. Looking around the room, he could get help but feel everything had become slightly more vibrant.
Smiling gently, Minos got up from the couch. With this new breakthrough, his somewhat down mood had improved, and he decided he'd use this time to further strengthen his foundation.
…
The next few months passed by in a flash, and Minos spent this time pushing his skills to new levels.
He would still take missions, not only to earn contribution points to buy more materials to build puppets, but also so he could leave the sect and find good spots to train.
With his new split soul, Minos's puppet skills quickly evolved to a new level, and the tenth string he struggled with in the past now came easily.
He also spent some time training the three sword techniques he got, which was also made easier with this additional split soul.
Time moved like a flash of light when each day was filled, and without even realizing it, the competition for the title of young patriarch had finally arrived.
Heading back into the sect from another mission, Minos noticed the densely filled streets, and boiling crowds.
Everyone was talking about the competition, whether it was mortals or cultivators, it seemed everyone was incredibly excited for this event.
After all, this decided the next master of the Thousand Split Sword Sect, so it went without saying that it was important, and would directly affect the fates of everyone connected with the Thousand Split Sword Sect.
News of Trell's disappearance had also long since spread, but despite searching all over, they failed to find anything.
Trell had kept his entire operation under tight control, making sure not a peep of his action slipped out, but it was also this that made his disappearance impossible to track.
For those who had invested in Trell, this news was akin to the sky dropping, but for others, they could barely control their joy.
The sect was by no means unified, and each Son of the Sword represented his own bundle of interests and connections.
Trell had the support of quite a few outside families, as well as some elders, and even the grand elder supported him.
With his death, it meant these figures lost the chance to further stretch their figures into the pie that was the Thousand Split Sword Sect.
Not to mention if they were unlucky and one of their enemies won, in that case they would be lucky to only have to give up an arm and a leg before they could get away.
With all this, it was no wonder why such news was so devastating, but in the same vain, it was akin to angels singing for those who stood opposed to Trell.
Minos naturally wasn't concerned about all the undercurrents behind this competition, after all he wasn't planning on getting involved anyways.
While 'Merth's' reputation had skyrocketed this past year, Minos had purposely made it seem as if he wasn't relying on pure strength to complete his missions, but rather a treasure.
With this competition, such a treasure would naturally not be allowed, so it made sense that 'Merth' wouldn't get involved, since with cultivation alone, he stood no chance.
Minos pushed through the dense crowd, finally making his way back home. As he opened the door, he noticed someone was already sitting on his couch.
"Hey 'Merth,' finally back?" Venix said as he hopped off the couch, giving Minos a big hug as the two finally reunited after a year of not seeing each other.
"You came back right on time, huh?" Minos said, as he took a seat on the couch.
"My timing is impeccable, isn't it?" Venix said with a laugh.
"Anyways, we can catch up some other time, now's the time to talk about business." Venix said, his face becoming serious.
"Emilia, go out and treat yourself. Me and Ikki have to talk privately." Minos said, as tossed Emilia some money.
"Ahh, thank you master, I'll be on my way then!" Emilia said with a bow, before quickly running out in joy, thinking over what she was going to buy.
"The competition will begin tomorrow, and the title is pretty much secured with my current strength, but to be honest, I'm not sure where to go after that." Venix said truthfully.
"Do you know how strong the patriarch is?" Minos asked.
"First Layer Inner Heaven, and he should be the only Inner Heaven Realm in the sect, which will make things a lot easier." Venix said.
"You shouldn't be too comfortable, the heavens only knows if the Thousand Split Sword Sect is secretly hiding some powerhouses." Minos said, not wanting Venix to become complacent.
"You're right, that's why I plan to get the patriarch alone. Once he's dead, the rest will be much easier to handle." Venix said.
"Get him alone, huh?" Minos said, as he began brainstorming.
"Doesn't the young patriarch usually join the old patriarch in the mausoleum to send blessings to the ancestors, can't you do it there?" Minos said.
The blessing ceremony was something all patriarchs did, where they would pray to the former patriarchs and burn incense, hoping for good luck in the future.
Only the patriarch and future patriarch were allowed in the mausoleum, so it was a perfect opportunity for Venix.
"I've already thought about that, but it's way too close to the sect, and once he gets back up, my chance of killing him will pretty much drop to zero." Venix replied.
"But what if you could do it silently?" Minos said with a mysterious smile.
"You have a way?" Venix asked, knowing Minos wouldn't say something without being certain.
"Have you heard of the Silencing Talisman? All you need to do is paste a couple hundred around the mausoleum to completely seal the sound inside." Minos answered.
"That's fine for the noise, but what about the vibration? They'd definitely be able to feel it given the mausoleum's proximity." Venix said, still not feeling certain.
"Easy, I'll just give them something else to feel. With my distraction in place, you should have enough time to finish the job." Minos answered again, having thought it all through.
"Perfect! You really are a lifesaver. Looks like we aren't destined to stay here much longer then." Venix said with a laugh.
"Guess not, but I've grown bored of this place, so it'd be nice to leave." Minos said, joining in on the laughter.
"Good, then let's pull off this last job and leave this awful place once and for all!" Venix said, reaching out for a shake.
"Sounds like a plan." Minos said, the two shaking on it.
…
The rest of the night passed peacefully, but the next morning was a hectic one. Before the sun could even rise fully, the streets were already filled to the brim with mortals and cultivators alike.
A large arena had been built the previous night in the very center of the sect, created for the sole purpose of holding this event.
The arena was completely crowded, the huge amount of people forming a dense ring around the stage.
Minos couldn't help but have a headache as he noticed the massive and loud crowd, fortunately, disciples of the sect naturally had much better treatment than regular people.
Compared to having to stand, the core disciples had reserved seating's, letting them not only have a much better view of the fight, but also allowing them to avoid the chaos.
After shoving through the crowd, Minos reached the seats. Walking up the stairs, he arrived at the top, having a perfect view of the entire stage.
He had already forfeited his chance to compete in the competition, and word had long since spread, so seeing him sitting there, no one asked any questions.
Of course this also confirmed to most people that 'Merth's' recent strength was completely borrowed, otherwise why wouldn't he partake in such an important competition?
Minos ignored the curious eyes, instead just getting comfortable as he watched the stage, waiting for the event to begin.
His wait didn't take long, and soon enough an elder walked up onto the stage holding a strange device in his hand.
He fiddled with the strange device for a while before seemingly getting a hand on things, afterwards he proceeded to speak into the device, causing his volume to multiple dozens of times over.
"Silence!"
The entire crowd went mute as the elders' loud voice completely overpowered their discussions, Minos also looked on with curiosity, wondering how such a device worked.
"Welcome all to the Young Patriarch Selection Competition. Today is a historic day, a day where the future patriarch of the Thousand Split Sword Sect will be selected. I hope you're all as excited as I am." The elder said, causing the crowd to explode in cheers.