She explained gently, "The energy of a cultivator at the third mortal coil is insufficient to execute them even if you learn them. So I advise you to wait until you reach the fourth mortal coil to learn them."
He bowed to her in greeting and said, "Thank you, your excellency."
Sword Flash, who had been on edge all along, finally spoke. He said, "That should be all for now. You can leave. I wish you good luck."
"As a genius like myself, I'm sure that you don't need the good luck. But I give it to you anyway."
Arthur bowed to him too in appreciation. Then he was led away by another golem.
The golem had suddenly appeared beside the first golem. It had produced another silver sphere, which turned into a silver platform.
The golem took Arthur away with the circular platform. This left the three patriarchs in the temple to discuss.
Two more golems appeared around Sword Flash. The two of them left him and began examining the metal gateway.
These extra golems are also his avatars. They possess a little bit of his spirit, so they are extensions of his mind.
He is using these two to examine the metal gateway and satiate his curiosity about its structure and simultaneously have a chat with the other two patriarchs.
He said to Lady Evergreen with clear frustration, "I thought I told you not to mess around."
She replied, "I didn't compel him or influence him in any way. I didn't mess around."
Her answer didn't satisfy him. He said, "You and I both know what you were doing, and it was you messing around after I wanted you not to. You can't deny that."
She rolled her eyes and said, "Fine. I messed around. But it was just out of curiosity. Don't you want to know what this is all about?"
He raised his voice as he replied, "Of course I want to know. But I cherish my life even more than some curiosity."
"It is not our job to be curious, or we will die. We have already been paid to do our job. I don't think it is a good idea to mess with something that a rank 8 cultivator or higher is involved in. I don't see how it will end well for you if such a cultivator comes after you."
She tried to excuse herself. "But he might be dead. It has been more than ten thousand years since the founders were sent here to find someone to fuse the two elements. Anything could have happened in that time."
He shook his head in anger as he said, "That he might be dead is not a worthy excuse to warrant putting one's nose where it doesn't belong. He might be dead, or he might be alive. Nothing is certain."
"Even if he is dead, who is to say that he didn't task someone with continuing the mission? What about this handler? What if they come for you? What do you plan to do then?"
Before she could reply, he raised his hand to stop her and said, "You know what? I don't care what you plan for yourself. What I care about right now is that I have hopes and dreams."
He raised his voice as he said, "I want to achieve more than being trapped in this part of the world. And I am so close to having my freedom. I don't need to risk anything this close to success. If you dare to jeopardize my future again, I will end you."
He said that final statement with all seriousness. Even though sect members couldn't kill each other, she didn't call his bluff because Sword Flash was abnormal and couldn't be understood with common sense.
Even if he doesn't kill her, he can find ways to make life difficult for her. The two of them are nascent soul cultivators, but that doesn't make them the same.
So she nodded and said, "OK. I won't mess around anymore."
He snorted and said, "You better not. If you dare to endanger my life, then I won't have any reason to hold back from taking yours."
He had successfully vented his frustration and anger, so he finally began to relax.
He would be lying if he said that he wasn't curious about the trial that Arthur appeared to be a part of and the true reason the founders of the sect were sent to this part of the world to find a cultivator that could fuse wood and lightning.
He is really curious about it. But he can't be curious enough to risk his life, and he surely can't be greedy for whatever Arthur will gain from it.
He can't be greedy because he too had the chance to follow in Arthur's footsteps, but he chose another path for himself. He doesn't think his path was wrong, so he can't be greedy for what Arthur will gain.
There is also the fact that he and everyone in the sect, right from the day the founders were sent on their mission, had all been paid and compensated for their work.
The first compensation that comes to his mind is the powerful techniques that have made the Blood Skull sect stand out above their peers.
Those techniques helped the Blood Skull sect manage to carve out their part of the world and gain the resources they needed to make something of themselves.
He has made something of himself and is currently the strongest nascent soul cultivator in the entire Five Veins Region. So he has a lot now that he doesn't want to lose by being ungrateful and putting his nose where it doesn't belong.
It is not even about being ungrateful. He is as greedy as the next disciple in the Blood Skull sect, but he is not suicidal.
He knows who he can touch and who he can't touch at all. It is a necessary talent that is required to survive.
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