"Tian'er."
As Di Tian was feeling conflicted about his decision let the men live on his way back to the clan, his grandfather and another figure arrived next to him.
When Fen Juyue stood next to his grandson, he looked at him as if he was looking at a stranger.
As he stroked his beard and eyed him seriously, he said in a stern tone, "Tian'er, that strange profound art...where did you learn it? I thought that you couldn't learn them at all. Wait, could it be..."
A sudden realization dawned upon Fen Juyue as his mind went back to the mysterious energy that was found in Di Tian's body which prevented him from learning other arts in the first place.
It wasn't hard to figure out what Fen Juyue was thinking judging from his expression so Di Tian just calmly said, "It's just what you think, grandfather. I've finally learned to harness that energy, but unfortunately, I still can't learn the Burning Heaven-"
Fen Juyue strongly held Di Tian's shoulders, interrupting him. When Di Tian glanced at him, he could see that his face was completely red with excitement as the fire spirits around him went wild.
His voice quivered as he clenched his fists and said, "Good...good! Finally! I knew my grandson was not a cripple! Tian'er, we need to have a feast tonight! Hahaha!"
Di Tian forced a light smile and responded, "Grandfather, there's no need. I have some things to think about and I need to get back to training. We can save the feast for another time, maybe when I finally enter a sect that I like, we can celebrate."
Fen Juyue felt as if he had gotten younger by a few hundred years when he heard that Di Tian wasn't crippled. He was even more impressed by Di Tian's temperament and how much he valued hard work. It almost made him forget why he arrived there in the first place.
And that was when all happiness left his face.
He looked at the figure behind him, who was a hunched over old man. The man was shaking in fear as he knelt down, hoping that he wouldn't be killed on the spot.
"This is Xiao Cheng, an elder of the Xiao Clan. My son found him wandering around the scene suspiciously and when he wanted to search him, he resisted. When I searched him, I found a communication jade linked to the ones used by the robber."
Di Tian nodded his head and responded absentmindedly, "I see. So the Xiao Clan is responsible. We need to do something about them."
Fen Juyue raised an eyebrow as he said, "Is that so? Old Cheng, hm, I'll call you that from today. Stand behind me, we'll head to the Xiao Clan after I'm finished talking to Tian'er."
Elder Cheng trembled as he nodded furiously and stood behind Fen Juyue with his head down. He knew perfectly well about how ruthless Fen Juyue was.
"Tian'er, to tell you the truth, I've been watching you since you left the clan. Do you know why? My son told me that he found out about certain figures plotting against you for a while and he was worried about your safety. At first, I thought that these fools wouldn't dare plot against someone from my clan, but it seems that I was wrong. Do you know why I'm telling you this?"
A complicated expression appeared on Di Tian's face as he sighed.
"Of course I do grandfather. I know I can't stop you from attacking the Xiao Clan. And I don't plan to. After all, I've been acting willful and immature about this topic for the last decade. Hardening my heart is just too much. It's just a bit hard to accept."
Fen Juyue nodded his head in approval and said slowly, "There's no need for you to stray from your path of righteousness. But, just because your path is righteous, it doesn't mean that you can't kill someone who crosses your bottom line. You are not a God nor are you a representative of the heavens. You don't need to be perfect. You just need to be you, and we're all just flawed humans. So don't be so hard on yourself."
Di Tian's eyes started to mist over when he heard his grandfather's words. For the first time in months, his calm expression was broken. His heart felt much lighter after hearing those words.
Seeing Di Tian's happy expression, Fen Juyue smiled lightly.
"Now go back to the clan, get yourself cleaned up, and get to training! Let your grandfather take care of everything else today."
"Yes."
Di Tian slowly turned around and disappeared in a flash of flames in the same motion, leaving nothing but an afterimage behind.
As Fen Juyue looked at his disappearing figure, he couldn't help but sigh. Even though he thought he had stomped out Di Tian's gentle nature throughout the years, the boy still had that bit of hesitation within him.
'If he continues like this, his life will be filled with betrayal and calamity. How unfortunate. I hope the cruelty of this world doesn't whittle away at his pure heart.'
After that brief moment of solemnity, his gaze instantly turned sharp as he disappeared in a cluster of flames with Elder Cheng behind him, leaving the crowd dumbfounded. It was time for him to get answers.
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Back at the Di Clan, Di Tian had just arrived at his courtyard which was already repaired by the servants after the 'spar' earlier. He opened the door to his house and immediately ripped off his bloody robe as he threw it to the side in a heap of dirty clothing. He then threw himself onto his bed and let out a breath of relief.
"Ai, my mind is exhausted. But I still need to train."
He sat up straight on his bed while thinking about the power he had and how to train them.
Di Tian outstretched his hands and opened his palms, causing a plume of flame to float over it.
'Antares huh? What a strange name. The evil I felt from his power was incredible. If I don't control this power as I fight, i don't know how much destruction i'll cause. Regardless, these abilities are my only forms of power, so I should master them to their utmost potential. Sadly, there aren't any stages in either power so I need to figure out this power for myself...'
Di Tian put his hair back in a ponytail and rubbed his temples slowly as he thought about how he was going to train them.
'Hmm, it's best that I just keep training my body with antares' skills like before. This time, I'll try to experiment with it a bit more so that I can learn something new. There's only a few days before the meeting at New Moon Profound Palace so I don't have much time. Sigh, I guess cultivation can't be easy huh.'
Coming to this conclusion, Di Tian got up, cleaned off his body with profound energy, and got a fresh set of robes before setting off to his personal cultivation room.
'Hopefully, I make some progress this time.'
And just like that three days passed and it was time for the main event at the New Moon Profound Palace.