Minutes passed.
Byron would mumble at times when he reached a particularly wounded part of Sarah's body and he lingered a lot when he arrived at her low-waist.
Bruce's gaze never left Sarah, his concern could be seen from his anxious expression.
Seth and Noah stood motionless, Seth had his eyes on Byron, he inspected his movements as if trying to learn something while Noah would often take a peek to the expressions of those in the cave.
Then, Byron stored the lens in his space-ring and heaved a sigh as he lifted his head toward Bruce.
"How bad is she?"
Bruce's worry immediately increased when he saw that gesture, his words carried all the pressure that his mental sphere was capable of, he had completely forgotten to contain himself in that situation.
Luckily for Sarah, Seth was ready to act.
Layers of mental energy were condensed around her body, Seth managed to protect her from Bruce's involuntary attack.
"Calm down, she will survive."
Byron snorted before saying those words, it seemed that Bruce's incapability of controlling himself irritated him.
"Her body can be easily healed now that she is in the sect, the only problem is her dantian."
Byron continued with his diagnosis, he looked again at her low-waist before speaking again.
"She has stressed her center of power too much and she was probably already injured when she did so. There isn't much that I can do about that, only time will tell us if the injury is permanent."
Noah listened to his words and understood, Sarah's cultivation journey was probably over!
Cultivators had a long life but the injuries on the centers of power took a long time to heal.
Also, the older someone was, the harder it was to improve.
An elderly man would find it hard to even reach the second rank of the dantian, Noah didn't know Sarah's actual age but he guessed that if her injury was severe, it might even take decades for it to heal.
"I understand, thanks, Byron. Leave the dantian part to me, just focus on stabilizing her condition."
Bruce remembered to hold back that time.
"I need to undress her to apply the potion."
Byron spoke and Bruce turned his gaze toward Seth and Noah, the meaning behind that gesture was quite obvious.
Seth and Noah bowed before turning to leave, the entrance of the cave opened and closed in a few seconds.
Seth heaved a sigh when they were outside, he started to massage his temples as he fell deep in thought.
Noah, on the other hand, was interested in what had happened to Sarah.
'What did they find under the Great whirlpool? Sarah is a rank 3 cultivator, normal magical beasts wouldn't be able to hurt her that badly.'
The Great whirlpool was a location drawn on his map of the Coral archipelago but Noah had never taken interest in it.
The whirlpool was a danger zone where many magical beasts were gathered but that wasn't its most dangerous feature.
The sea in that zone was rough, there were marine currents so strong that even cultivators with a rank 4 body would have trouble to oppose, only marine magical beasts with their innate swimming ability could inhabit that place.
'Yet, she must have been prepared for the exploration, it's hard to believe that she wasn't ready for the marine currents.'
Sarah was a captain, she had a team.
Noah didn't mention it because, seeing the situation in which she ended up, he was already guessing the worst possible outcome.
'If it wasn't the magical beasts nor the naturally dangerous environment, then what caused her injuries?'
The rumor she was sent to investigate spoke of an Inheritance ground but Noah was still doubtful about that.
Too many experts had lived in the archipelago through the years, the Great whirlpool had already been explored long ago and had been labeled as a simple danger zone.
'Was it a trap? Rumors must come from somewhere after all, maybe some enemy of the sect was aware of Bruce's personality and decided to leak a false rumor on purpose.'
Noah reached that conclusion in his mind, that seemed the most plausible explanation.
"Is it that bad?"
A familiar voice reached Noah's ears, he raised his head only to see that Roy had arrived at the end of the training area.
Noah didn't answer but Seth nodded, he briefly explained the situation to him, without omitting the part about the contents of the rumor.
"So it was like this…"
Roy sighed when Seth finished explaining.
"Holly said that her sources knew nothing about a trap, this matter is unrelated to the legal factions."
Seth continued to explain, his statement denied Noah's hypothesis, only one option remained in his mind.
"Was it really an Inheritance ground? How is that possible?"
Noah expressed his amazement, he really couldn't understand how something like that had remained hidden for so long.
"We don't know for sure, it's better to wait for Sarah to wake up and listen to her report."
Seth's words were on point, it was useless to make conjectures when they had a living witness with them.
Noah nodded and sat on the ground, he didn't know how long it would take for Sarah to wake up but he wanted to hear her report.
After all, a possible Inheritance ground was an amazing chance!
Noah had been in two of them but he had never been able to obtain the complete inheritance of those separate dimensions.
Eccentric Thunder wanted an heir with a thunder aptitude, even if Noah had gained a lot from him, that still couldn't compare to the complete inheritance!
As for the Royal Inheritance, his power had been too low back then and most of his gains would have gone to the Elbas family anyway.
'I bet that June is extremely rich now… Damn, I'm so envious.'
Just when he was about to fall deep in his memories, the entrance of the cave opened.
Inside, Bruce could be seen laid on the bed next to Sarah.
She smiled bitterly as she allowed the big man to keep her in his embrace.
Byron stood up, he was sweating a was a bit pale but he still gestured to those outside to near him.
"Come in, I bet that you want to listen to her story."