Sifeng couldn't believe what he had just seen. The sect leader had used the same golden energy as him. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't imagining it. The energy continued to swell around the man's finger as he drew symbols midair.
'Oh no, does that mean his life force and mine are the same? How can it be? Is that the reason he wanted me as his personal disciple?'
Sifeng thought. If the sect leader's life force was the same as his own, did that mean he had also faced the same problem in controlling his wild energy in the past? If that was the case, it would make sense why the sect leader wanted to train him personally. He must have known how dangerous the energy was and how wild it was to handle. Maybe he wanted to help him.
"Sifeng!!!"
The sect leader called his name for the third time, but there was no response from him. The boy just sat in front of him with his head down, deep in thought. It wasn't until a flicker of golden energy moved past his sight that he finally raised his head, startled.
"Huh, sir," he said, trying to compose himself.
He had been so consumed by his thoughts that he didn't even know the sect leader had completed what he was doing. Looking at his crossed legs, a small golden cylindrical object could be seen on them. The object was a bit larger than a pill, but the golden sparks swelling around it seemed wild.
The man himself stared at him, surprised.
"Sir?" the sect leader asked, confused.
"Hm, sorry, master… I mean, sect leader," Sifeng replied, a bit embarrassed.
"What's wrong with you?" the palace chief asked, finally moving his gaze away from him. But he didn't give him a chance to reply before he continued.
"Don't call me sect leader, palace chief, or master. You can call me father because we share the same origin."
He said this nonchalantly, making Sifeng look around the room in confusion, trying to see if there was someone else in the room with them. But after confirming the chief was really talking to him, he moved his gaze back to him and asked, still with a confused expression on his face.
"Father?"
'And what does he mean we share the same origin? Is it because we have the same strange energy?' That could be the only reason the man said they shared the same origin.
"Yes, you have officially become my adopted son from now on, and I'm your father. No one can hurt you from now on. And about sharing the same origin, it's something you'll learn only in the future."
The sect leader's words confused Sifeng even more.
"Hmm, sir, is it something related to the same life force we awakened?" Sifeng asked, still confused, while the sect leader had a satisfied smile on his scary face.
"Yes, it's related, but it's not something you can learn now. For you to survive, it will only be revealed when you've grown stronger."
'Not something I can learn now because I'm still weak, and it's related to the life force we both awakened. What does that mean? This man should tell me already; don't overgrow my curiosity.'
Sifeng wanted to yell at him to reveal whatever he was hiding, but before he could even open his mouth, the man was already speaking.
"Don't ask any questions again. I'll make an announcement to everyone later that you're now my son. But first, let's get to training. We don't have much time, and you need to absorb a large amount of knowledge before the end of this week."
Sifeng felt like this was the second time he was hearing the words, 'before the end of this week.'
"I'm sure you can perform a few basic spells by now," the sect leader asked, making Sifeng slip into the embrace of his thoughts. There were a few minutes of silence before his answer came.
'What should I say now?'
Kim had told him not to reveal the fact that he could use basic spells in the Academy until he had proper control over his elemental life energy. And now the said elemental life energy had revealed itself on the battlefield in the presence of everyone. So he wondered if it was still necessary to keep that fact a secret, especially from the sect leader who happened to have the same life energy. He surely knew more about it than Sifeng did.
But the problem was, could he trust the man?
Well, he had no choice, and he didn't think the man would harm him after adopting him as his son.
'But he's keeping a secret from me, something related to my life force.'
"Sifeng?"
The chief's voice brought him back again.
"Huh, yes… I can perform the storage spell and the life whisperer spell," Sifeng replied.
"Well, that means you can control your inner energy." The sect leader brought the golden pill forward. "This is a pill I created with the essence life core of a Defiled Demon I killed by luck. It's a battle I can't forget. Unlike you, I was unable to use an elemental attack with my life force when I was young. I only managed to do it when I reached the Archon rank, just like everybody else. They get to perform an elemental attack with their life force at the rank of an Archon."
"But I had a little problem in controlling my elemental attack. I could use it at will, but I couldn't control the amount of damage it could deal. I couldn't measure the power, and I was always incredibly weak whenever I used it. Realizing that it was a weakness people could explore and use against me, I embarked on a journey to gather life cores of different Imp Demons so I could produce imp-ranked energy pills to regain my energy whenever I used the attack."
"That's when I encountered a very cunning Defiled Demon. I tried to run, but the idiot wouldn't let me go, so I had no choice but to fight. It's a battle I don't wish to remember and can't forget. I only killed the demon by mere luck, thanks to my life energy. That makes me the only cultivator in this world to have killed a Defiled Demon."
Sifeng listened with keen interest.
Kim had told him about the creatures in this world and their powers. She had also explained the comparison of their power with that of the cultivators, and he learned that a person whose power could match that of a Defiled Demon was someone at the Overlord rank. But they had none of those in this world.
At least, none that the people knew about, so it would make sense if the sect leader claimed he was the first and only person to have killed a Defiled Demon.
Looking at the pill, he could feel the oppressive aura radiating from it. It felt familiar but alien at the same time. He wondered how the chief had managed to slay that demon. Demons were very cunning beings ranked above the mindless and ferocious beasts but below the intelligent devils. Unlike beasts and devils, demons weren't mindless, and they weren't intelligent; they were somewhere in between the two.
The sect leader continued,
"After killing the demon, I created two of these pills with its core, then I used one. I only wanted to use it to replenish my lost energy, but upon absorbing the pill, I felt an unimaginable rush of energy in my body. Not just that, the energy moved all around my body. All my senses were clearer and sharper, like a newborn baby. I didn't feel pain; I felt re-energized, and since then, I was able to control my elemental attack perfectly, just like everyone else."
"Watching you on the battlefield, I noticed that you also have a similar problem I had, and that's the main reason I chose you as my disciple, so I can help."