68. Scheme
"So what should I do now?"
William shook his head and showed a complex smile.
"The news of your dantian and element will astonish many inside the inner circle. You are, after all, a cultivator younger than fourteen and have one of the rarest elements. I won't be surprised if people will call you a prodigy."
Noah nodded at his Master's words.
"And this is a bad thing right?"
William answered.
"Yes, they had already tried to send you in a trap with the escort mission and I'm afraid that they will use more direct methods to hurt you from now on. Well, maybe the family will be divided when choosing which role you will have but it's better to be careful anyway. As always, don't spend too much time inside the mansion and take only missions about magical beasts. I will probe the situation in the meantime."
Noah stood up and bowed and then he exited the room.
William stood in the room for some time before he sighed.
'I'm sorry, your Master is really useless some times.'
.
.
.
Noah went to see his mother and explained the situation to her.
She didn't understand much about cultivation but when he said that he was possibly in danger because of his talent, she didn't hesitate in sending him away.
"If the mansion is not safe then just go away, don't care about me!"
These were the words she said and Noah could not help but steeling his determination as he exited the mansion.
He took the first mission he could find and went to the appointed place where the report said that the magical beasts were gathering.
The beasts were all rank 2, it took him less than five minutes to annihilate their pack.
'Rank 2 beasts can't really do anything now that my body advanced and the "Breath" in it is on the same level as the one in my dantian. It seems that the hardest part in cultivating the dantian is the "Breath" necessary to enlarge it, while only refilling it doesn't take that much time.'
He was experimenting with his new strength and was completely satisfied.
His dantian was still small but he could feel that its maximum capacity was way higher than the one of his body, and this without considering the stage he was
'There is really a great difference, if I didn't practice in the Forging of Seven Hells I'm afraid that I couldn't have lasted for more than five clashes against a real cultivator. Now my weakness is gone, I only have to cultivate and I will be able to fight for a long time.'
The advantages of having a dantian didn't stop at that, but Noah's body was too strong for him to feel any other positive change yet.
Noah decided to spend some nights outside the mansion to focus on his new organ, the missions were the perfect excuse for his absence.
Meanwhile, William was kneeling on the floor of a luxurious hall.
The hall was big, as large as an entire floor of the guards' building, and many paintings and colorful items were exposed on its walls.
In front of him, many spacious chairs were placed on top of short marble steps, making those that sat on them look down to whoever asked for their presence.
Thomas Balvan was seated on the central chair, carefully inspecting a black stone.
After some time, he lowered the stone and looked at the kneeling vice-captain.
"Are you saying that Rhys's bastard not only developed a dantian before the age of fourteen but that is also of the darkness element?"
William's answer was immediate and loud.
"Yes, Lord Patriarch, I was there myself when he did the test with the Pharos stone."
Thomas thought for a bit and then he nodded.
"I've decided, no one is allowed to do anything to that kid, let's see how he develops. Do you understand me, Rhys? I don't want to see another scheme done behind my back."
Rhys was seated in one of the chairs on Thomas's side and at his words, he stood up and bowed.
"I understand Father."
Thomas then waved casually his hand.
"The meeting is over, you can go."
At his words everyone stood up and bowed, returning to their tasks.
William was relieved at the Patriarch's words as he went back to the outer circle.
However, not everyone in the Balvan family was happy with the disposition.
In another room inside the inner circle.
CRASH!
A big and seemingly expensive table was crashed by Rhys' blow.
'Fuck, he is my son, I can do anything I want with him.'
He looked at the broken desk and focused his gaze on it.
The table burned and was reduced to ashes.
A bit of sweat appeared on Rhys' face which made him even angrier.
'Fuck, who does he thinks he is growing so fast. The son of that whore has to always, ALWAYS be weaker than the son and daughter that Rebecca gave me.'
He sat on a pillow on the floor to calm down.
Rhys Balvan was the weakest inside his family.
Since he had everything he wanted he never cared about training.
However, the descendants he made with his dead wife Rebecca had taken his carefree attitude and were unwilling to spend too much time cultivating.
Rhys had already given up on the idea of succeeding his Father since his two older brothers were way better candidates, yet he couldn't accept that his bastard son could become someone important in the family when his other ones couldn't.
He thought for a while before his eyes began to emit a cold light.
'I can't hurt you but I can make sure that you'll never be loyal to the family and then I'll just wait patiently for your mistake. I can't wait to see your sorry figure being chased by our personal guards.'
He stood up and yelled seemingly to no one.
"Wayne, I'm going to the outer circle, take care of my children."
A guard appeared from nowhere and half-kneeled on the flow.
"Yes, my Lord."