NOVPUB
Chapter 172: Their Blooming Feelings
Aldrian looked at Sylphia’s beautiful face and without saying anything he canceled his disguise technique. His long red hair, like fiery flames, draped across her thighs, and his blue eyes became clearer, like the surface of the sea, reflecting her face. She was stunned as she finally saw the true appearance of this young man.
What Sylphia saw was a strikingly handsome man. Although his disguised form was already attractive, this true appearance was even more captivating and attention-grabbing due to his vibrant red hair, which would surely draw people’s eyes. She gazed at him intently, engraving his face into her memory as she began to speak.
"You’re better this way. Why do you have to hide this face of yours? Is there something that makes you keep such a handsome face hidden?" she asked, touching his face unconsciously.
"Well, there are many things that are easier to do in disguise. It’s still not the right time for me to reveal my face to the world—it would bring countless problems that could be detrimental to my future plans," he replied.
"You’re right. I just think it’s a shame that this face has to be hidden from the world." She smiled, feeling her cheeks burn with shyness at how bluntly she’d said it to him.
Aldrian wondered what had come over Sylphia today—she seemed much braver than usual. Although he liked this side of her, he was curious about what was on her mind.
"Would you mind telling me, Sylphia? What is it that you want to say? What’s weighing on your mind?" Aldrian asked, his voice gentle and reassuring. She was silent for a moment, but after taking a deep breath, she looked at him and spoke.
"To tell you the truth, after what happened today and hearing from the Sword Saint about what you did, I realized something. You never seem to take a moment to let go of the burden on your shoulders, to just stop—without anything weighing on your mind. Your thoughts seem different from others, you always keep them to yourself. You wander off on your own, without me or any of us, your friends knowing. You’re like a lonely warrior, even in the midst of comrades. I worry about you, Aldrian. Can you just stop for a moment and enjoy your surroundings? To see that you have friends you can count on? To trust them—or at least, to trust me?" she said.
"Isn’t it better to have many hands helping you, rather than relying on just your own? You’re not a god, after all." She looked into his clear blue eyes, worry reflected on her face.
As Aldrian listened to Sylphia’s words, he found himself reflecting. "Not a god, huh? Even I’m not sure about that," he thought.
He didn’t fully know who he was in the past, but from all the signs he’d encountered, he seemed to be something akin to a godlike figure, someone connected not only to the Heavenly Demon but perhaps even to the Heavens themselves.
But her words about him making Aldrian to truly reflect on everything. She saw things in him that he couldn’t see in himself. The way he acted all this time had felt natural to him, as if it was simply how things were meant to be done. Yet now, he began to realize that his approach might be too rigid—that he’d been forcing himself to shoulder every burden alone because of his abilities, especially his domain power.
He never thought to ask his friends for help, his mindset firmly set on doing it all alone. To him, there was nothing wrong with this approach because he was confident he could handle everything, ensuring success and achieving it swiftly. However, he also recognized his own limitations. He wasn’t yet at the point where he could do whatever he wanted. Much of his strength depended on his domain ability, which couldn’t cover every place. Outside his domain, his choices would be limited, and in those moments, he might need help from others.
He might have been a god in the past, but now he was just a cultivator at the peak Earl Stage, possessing an abnormal domain ability. He was not omnipotent, omnipresent, or omniscient. Nevertheless, he sighed as he looked at Sylphia.
"I’m truly grateful to you, Sylphia. You are always looking out for me and caring for me. But the thing is, I feel that with the power I have, there is a thing that I need to do. It’s like I have this power, and with it comes a responsibility. Everything happening around me is pushing me to act on my own. It’s not that I want to keep things from you, but the challenges I face are always at a high level, and it would be dangerous to tell you or others about them. I don’t want to worry and endanger you all. I’m sorry," Aldrian said.
As she listened to his explanation, her hands continued to stroke his head. She smiled and replied to him.
"If you think that what you face is beyond the ability of me or others, then please explain it to us, or at least to me, so that I can understand what you think and what you plan to do. You are not alone in this journey. Although you are strong, I don’t want you to feel burdened by keeping it to yourself. You have me and others to support you."
Aldrian smiled and nodded. At that moment, Aldrian and Sylphia’s feelings grew much stronger, a connection ready to bloom, woven together by a strong thread. Unbeknownst to him, the karma thread linking him to Sylphia began to change to a red, slowly painting it with warmth. Inside Aldrian’s heart, a feeling he had first experienced in this life started to blossom as he savored the sweetness of the moment.
Aldrian closed his eyes, enjoying this time with Sylphia, forgetting all his problems and leaving them for tomorrow.
---------------------------------
The next morning, as people began their daily activities, Aldrian stepped out of his room. For the first time, despite not being overly tired, he felt that he could have fallen asleep, thanks to the comfortable feeling he had around Sylphia. Behind him, Sylphia followed with a shy expression, unable to believe that she had also fallen asleep. She tried to cover her flushed face with her hands.
Xin Haotian emerged from his room and noticed Aldrian already outside, but his brows raised in surprise when he saw Sylphia standing behind him.
"Well, our young man has certainly grown up, hasn’t he?" Xin Haotian said with a teasing smile.
Aldrian ignored Xin Haotian, but Sylphia’s face turned much redder as she instantly shouted at him, "Sir Xin Haotian, it’s not what you think!"
"Yes, yes, what a beautiful moment for the youth. I must admit, I’m envious," Xin Haotian replied, waving his hand dismissively.
"Don’t you still consider yourself young at your age as an emperor-stage cultivator? Don’t act like you have the wisdom of someone who’s lived for tens of thousands of years, your words apply to you as well," Aldrian said.
"I’m a sword cultivator who pursues the path of the sword. I don’t have time for other entertainments."
"Is that so? That’s a relief, then. I thought your taste had ’bent’ from the natural course," Aldrian replied.
Xin Haotian’s veins bulged on his forehead, he really wanted to battle this young man, but he knew he would undoubtedly lose, which would only add to his embarrassment. They walked together in silence, but everyone could see that Aldrian had come out on top in this ’jab’ competition.
They then walked to the front of the inn, where they met Eleine and Baek Ji-Min. They had already rented a carriage to take them to the royal palace. Aldrian only needed to take care of one last thing before they could continue their journey to their next destination, the territory of the Buddhist sect. 𝓃𝓸𝓋𝓅𝓾𝒷.𝒸ℴ𝓂
--------------------------
In the middle of their journey to the royal palace, they noticed a larger crowd than usual, buzzing with discussions about something they had heard from the palace. The king announced that Duke Badin was guilty of colluding with devils to endanger the security of the Forgeheart Kingdom. He would be executed in front of the masses at noon, and the Badin family would be stripped of their noble title and reduced to commoners.
Many people were in an uproar after the announcement, beginning to speculate whether Duke Badin was truly guilty of colluding with the devils. However, since the royal family did not seem to hold a grudge against the Badin family, they wondered if there might be some truth to the accusations, unaware of the kind of life Duke Badin led behind the scenes.
It came as a surprise to them that a long-standing noble family would be reduced to commoners because of the duke’s betrayal of the cultivators on the continent. However, since they were talking about devils, there was no room for traitors who aided such evil entities, and they understood why the punishment was so harsh.
Aldrian ignored all of this, as he knew he was already close to the royal palace to fulfill his last purpose here: to finish the Divine Sword!
