Son shook his head and then said.
"Weren’t you the one who came into my room to ramble about the mysterious boy who fought against Byeong-Ho?"
Ha-Yoon blushed at that.
"Brother Sol might not be reachable in the future, but that’s only in the future. For now, I can call him a friend and a brother. Then, at least when he becomes a peerless existence that everyone can only look up to, I will be able to say that I was once his brother. But what kind of memory will he have of you if you let him leave now? The strange girl who tried to force him into marriage?"
Ha-Yoon at this point had her shoulders slumped a bit.
"But I taught him how to play the guqin."
"So? Brother Sol will be surrounded by women with heavenly beauty that could play him the guqin whenever he wants. Do you think he’ll remember you with just that?"
Ha-Yoon’s expression finally showed signs of a crack, while a slight worry appeared in her eyes.
"However, remember, that’s all in the future. Right now, Brother Sol is within reach. He’s probably never had a partner or has that much experience with women. But don’t you think you should hurry? He might have already left the mansion."
With that, Ha-Yoon suddenly jumped up from her seat and rushed out the door.
Son watched his sister leave and soon an amused expression appeared on his face.
At the entrance of the mansion, Sol was walking with Little Zeel on his head.
The guards opened the gate to let him leave, however, just as he set foot outside, a voice sounded from behind him.
Sol paused and turned around. He tilted his head when he saw Ha-Yoon.
"Is something wrong?"
Sol asked as Ha-Yoon got closer, but she didn’t answer him and instead grabbed his collar and kissed him on the lips.
The kiss was done in a rush with not much experience, and it only lasted a few seconds.
Ha-Yoon pulled away from Sol and then took a deep breath. She had been too tense while kissing Sol that she held her breath and ran out of air.
Sol recovered and stared at Ha-Yoon dazedly.
Sol was about to speak, but Ha-Yoon suddenly blushed intensely before she pushed him back and ran off.
A distance away she turned around and yelled with hands on her hips.
"If anyone asked who your first kiss was with, tell them it was me!"
After saying that, Sol watched as Ha-Yoon disappeared into the mansion. He then stood there for what felt like forever before saying.
"It’s not fair if it’s only my first time that gets taken away... but father was right."
Sol’s had father always told him that with his looks girls would be throwing themselves at him, but he shouldn’t be a player like his old man and only be with someone he loved.
However, Sol could still remember the smirk on his father’s face when he told him that though.
Maybe he was amused at the thought that his son would find that task too difficult.
"Ehem... Young Master Sol, the Young Miss has never been with someone else, so..."
As the guard’s words trailed off, Sol snapped out of his thoughts and gave him an awkward smile. He then shook his head before he turned and left through the gate.
The guards watch him go before one commented.
"Do you think the Young Miss has a chance?"
The other guard shook his head.
"The Young Miss is known as Bae City’s Number One Beauty but compared to the daughters of the Top Sects and Clans, she can’t catch his attention."
As the guards spoke, Sol headed towards the Teleportation Array in the city to leave.
"Are you ready to go home Little Zeel?"
Little Zeel lifted his head and made sound of confirmation before he plopped back down.
Sol scratched his head a bit before he went into his thoughts.
One could say he had another purpose to get stronger. He promised Son that he would get revenge for Song-Oh and Seon.
It’s only been just over a month since he entered the Martial Alliance Academy, but so much has happened.
"The Demonic Cult... Should I ask Master about it?"
Sol flipped over his palm and took the jade slip his Master had given him.
After looking at it and thinking for a moment, he sent a bit of Aether energy inside of it to activated it.
Sometime, later a yell came from the jade slip.
"You damn brat! How are you contacting me so quickly?! Don’t tell me you’ve ratted me out as your Master already. I knew you couldn’t keep that mouth of yours shut. How can I have a disciple who’s so careless?!"
Sol’s expression was strange as he listened to his Master’s insistent ramble.
After some time, he had to interrupt him.
"Master don’t worry, I made sure it would be harder to find out my identity."
Sol then told his Master about the conversation he had with Byeong-Ho’s Master.
"Ha! Brat you actually thought of using that bastard as a cover? I’m impressed you thought of doing something like that! See? You’ll be fine in the Academy even with the public’s attention focused on you. If I wasn’t sure, then I wouldn’t have allowed you to climb that Staircase."
Sol heard a few things he wanted to ask about, but he needed to focus on the matter at hand.
"Master, the reason I contact you is something else."
Sol paused for a second then asked.
"Should I be worried about the Demonic Cult?"
"What? The Demonic Cult?"
"Hm, I heard that they were targeting disciples with Irregular Innate Dharmas, should I be worried they’ll target me?"
Sol heard silence on the other end.
Sol called, but it was only after a few seconds that his Master responded.
"You don’t have to be wary of them. Aren’t you too high profile for them to go after you? That’s why they’re targeting Forgotten Geniuses abandoned by the Academy. You just have to avoid getting into conflict with them, understand?"
"Good, but next time don’t contact me unless it’s something urgent!"
After that, the connection was severed.
Sol looked at the jade slip and smile bitterly. After, he placed the jade slip into his storage bag and continue on his way.
’I never told Master they were targeting Forgotten Geniuses. But I guess he would know about something like that. Though it also means he’s keeping track of the Demonic Cult. If he really is Cheonma, why isn’t he stopping them from doing those things?’
Sol didn’t want his Master to know he knew his identity, but he had a feeling he already did.
Also, the fact that he specifically told not to get into conflict with them, it sounded as if he knew Sol might do just that.
However, he wasn’t foolish enough to just go around looking for the Demonic Cult. The Martial Alliance General Library must have something information about them even if the Six Holy Sects and Five Great Clans were hiding them from the public.
As Sol was in his thoughts, his Disciple Token suddenly received a message. He slapped his storage bag and took it out, however, just as he did, he got several more messages.
Sol was taken aback by the amount, and he looked inside to see what was going on. Immediately, his eyes narrowed.
The messages were notifications of challenges by participants in the Martial Hall Pagoda.
’It must be Geon-Soo’s doing. I was wondering why he was so silent until now. Well, I suppose this isn’t bad. With this, I’ll be able to move through the rankings faster. I’ll gladly accept his schemes if it’ll allow me to reach the Heaven Arena faster.’
However, Sol checked his Disciple Token again and saw a message from Yoon-Jae. It was about the Hundred Plants and Herbs Dimension.
It was opening four months from now, but the Alchemy Pavilion’s preparations to enter were happening now.
’I guess I’ll be really busy during these four months.’
With that, Sol hurried to reach the Teleportation Array so he could finally return to the Martial Alliance Academy.
Thus ends another volume! Remember to vote with Golden Tickets and Power Stones if you’ve been enjoying the story! Also, leave a review if you haven’t already, it helps the book a whole lot!
Ps: Made a slight mistake for the next three Chapters by posting them in this volume by accident. So, you don’t have to buy the next three Chapters after this. Sorry, I’m a dumb-dumb.