Vin watched them as they left, then he turned to his subordinates and addressed them.
"Alright then, you guys would have to remain in this mountain as this place would be our new base from now on. Zidane, you would be in charge of the resources. For now you guys just need to cultivate the technique of your specialty.
"You should pick up some weapons of your choice and familiarize yourself with them. I want you all to breakthrough to the first stage of the body refining realm within the next few days, I'll come back for you after I'm done with the competition I'm having at the sect.
"I hope you would all have broken through to the first stage of the Body refining realm by then, then we can go for some combat training at the periphery of the outer layer of the dark wind forest."
"Yes Lord Zero"
They all replied as they genuflected to him in subservience. Vin gave a few more instructions to them before he left to join the others outside.
"We have a little over two days and a couple hours to get back to the sect, and we only have that much time to return by then, if we're late by even a while, you'll probably miss the Mortal lords ranking" Raya stated when he saw Vin walk out.
"Yes, so we need to leave immediately, besides we're carrying a few extra people, so that might slow us down a little, so we have to put a little more efforts in taking them along" Vin replied.
He walked towards the others as he thought about all that had transpired over that past almost two days, and he really almost couldn't believe, that it had actually felt like a really long time.
'It seems I've been getting into a lot of life and death battles lately, and I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing' he thought to himself.
He didn't know why, but he didn't hate the situation he always found himself in, maybe it was because he always got stronger after that or because he really didn't have any control over what happens.
But he was sure of one thing, he'd always loved the thrill of battles, and he loved the excitement that death battles especially gave him.
'I really do hope I don't turn into a killer machine, that lives only to kill, that wouldn't be too good.'
**********
It only took them two days to get back the sect, and they went straight to the outer court Desciplinary Hall to report to Elder Ling.
They had left the kids in an Inn, at the Flaming sun city that was just a few kilometers away from the sect, they didn't just want to bring them into the sect as that might cause chaos.
Come to think of it, that was also the first time Vin had passed through the main city, he had lived in rural areas all first ten years of his life, before he'd had his first encounter in the dark wind forest.
"You lads really did good out there, I really wasn't expecting that, frankly when I heard your reports over the transmission talisman, I almost couldn't believe it." Elder Ling said the moment they entered his office.
It turns out they had already used a transmission talisman to contact Elder Ling before they came back, and they had given him a brief rundown about what had happened during the mission.
"But I have feeling that's not all there is to tell right?" Elder Ling asked as he stared at all of them "Well...?"
"We weren't planning to hide this from you anyways, this is what really happened..." Vin took a step forward and started explaining.
He told Elder Ling about all that had really happened leaving nothing out, including how he had formed his Order, the people involved in it, their purpose and also how he had taken the enemy's hideout as their new base.
Elder Ling was already really surprised about what they had told him over the transmission, but just when he thought he couldn't get more shocked, Vin dropped a huge bombshell on him.
Forming his Order in other to eradicate a terrorist organization that even the entire continent couldn't track at all, talk more of eradicating them, and he was only in the ninth stage of the Body refining realm.
He even used the enemy's hideout as the base for his own organization, how insane was that, Elder Ling was really stumped by this news, he had to take a few deep breaths before he could calm himself down.
But he still didn't know how to address the issue, the only thing he thought he could do right now was to inform some certain trustworthy and important people in the higher-ups.
"Alright, I've heard your report, what about the files you found in the enemy's base?" Elder Ling asked after a while.
"Marco!" Raya called out. "Right, here it is." Marco said as he stepped forward a presented the files to Elder Ling, he was the one who had found them and had shown it to the others.
But when they'd read what was in it, they beyond shocked by the guts of the Tenebrous Taskforce.
The experiment the were conducting, was to create artificial geniuses that could serve as the perfect killing weapons by embedding affinity stones on them.
Those affinity stones were then used to contain a certain power from the higher-ups in their organization. But they had no idea what this power was.
All they know was that once this was successful, then the entire continent was doomed.
"Sigh*, just as we had suspected, it seems we have stumbled upon something big this time" Elder Ling exhaled deeply.
"Elder Ling, did the sect already know about this?" Raya asked stepping forward.
"We knew they were planning something big, we just didn't know what it was exactly, you guys have really contributed greatly to the continent, the sect would definitely reward you for your hardwork." Elder Ling said.
"It's our duty to protect the continent from these vile terrorists!" Vin stated.
"Alright kids, your mission is considered a huge success, I'll inform the sect about our findings, so you can rest assured for now. As for you Vin, I'll inform the sect leader about your new development, but I'm sure he wouldn't be against it, that mountain would most likely belong to you now.
"There's still a couple hours before the competition start so you can go ahead and rest as you really need it. You lads don't have worry about those children you've rescued, the sect will some people to take them back to their families.
"You guys can return now. And congratulations on completing this mission" Elder Ling concluded with a smile.
"Yes!"
They all replied with a slight bow, the three inner disciples turned and left, leaving only Vin remaining there.
"Is there something you need Vin?" Elder Ling asked when he saw it was only Vin remaining.
"Elder Ling, I need to request something from you" Vin said.
"What is it?" Elder Ling asked.
"Is there a way for you to make sure that news never spread about my Exodus Order, at most only the sect master and old Bai should be aware." Vin requested.
"It seems you want to your Exodus Order to be a secret organization, one that works in the shadows?!" Elder Ling asked.
"Not necessarily so, but it isn't time for us to make an appearance yet, at least not anytime soon, we're still too weak afterall" Vin stated his worries.
"You don't have to worry about that, I never planned to broadcast it anyways, so you can rest assured that you and your Exodus Order are safe" Elder Ling assured him.
"I guess I'll be taking my leave then, thank you for this mission Elder Ling, I really profited a lot" Vin said with a slight bow.
"Hmm. It's seems you've gotten more stronger than before I see" Elder Ling said.
"Indeed I have, there's only a couple more hours till the competition, I better go prepare. See you later" Vin said as he walked out.
"I look forward to seeing your progress Young lad" Elder Ling muttered with a smile.
As Vin stepped through the doors, the familiar sights and sounds of his residence enveloped him, a warm welcome after the long and arduous mission.
He had just enough time to catch his breath before the real challenge began. In a couple of hours, the annual Mortal lords Tournament would commence, and he was determined to emerge victorious.
He made his way to the bathroom, his mind racing with strategies and techniques. A quick shower and change of clothes later, he stood before the mirror, his eyes burning with determination.
He took a deep breath, feeling the weight of his gear and the fire in his soul. It was time to put everything on the line. The tournament awaited, and he was ready to shine.
In this competition he was determined to push past his limit, he just hoped there would be enough thrill and they would be as strong as he'd imagined.
"Mortal lords, don't disappoint me"
***********