The Wheel Of Samsara - 54 Sword Abyss II

“I want Amon Skoller to be allowed into the Hellblaze Secret World.” Lya asked while staring at Nemeus without blinking.

“How do you know of it?” Nemeus asked, raising a brow.

“I saw the Ashen Heart Tree.” Lya answered simply.

That was enough. The Ashen Heart Tree was no common tree, after all. Its purpose was to serve as an anchor and a gateway. The Ashen Heart Tree was the bridge that connect this world with the Hellblaze Secret World. Without it, finding the spatial coordinates of the Hellblaze Secret World would be nigh impossible.

“There are rules I must follow, Lya.” Nemeus sent her a sharp glance as his scarlet eyes started burning with a ferocious light. “Some of them regard the Hellblaze Secret World. Others are even more important and have no relations to it at all.”

“One of such rules is not allowing Soul Cultivation.” Nemeus said in a clearly threatening tone as he bared his fangs.

“Are you going to ruin that child because of something that happened four hundred years ago?” Lya asked as her face turned cold. The air around her seemed to freeze as she faced Nemeus.

“I will ruin Amon Kressler because of the threat he is to the peace we achieved!” Nemeus roared, baring his fangs as his hair stood on end, looking like a flaming mane.

“You said so yourself, he is not Alexei!” Lya retorted coldly. Her blue eyes glowed with a dangerous light as she looked at Nemeus.

“Yes, and I’ll be sure that he never even comes close to resembling him!” Nemeus didn’t back down, roaring again and making the dark room quake violently. Lya was unfazed at his display, her aura turning even colder.

“That is my responsibility to take, not yours!” She shouted back, her cold face distorting into a mask of rage.

“How can I trust you?” Nemeus asked, almost growling at her. The room quaked even more, and the walls started making faint cracking sounds.

“How can you not trust me?” Lya asked indignant.

She had betrayed Alexei when she thought he had been wrong. She clearly never denied that he had been wrong in the conflict and she was raising Amon Kressler into a Sword Cultivator with care. It was obvious that, more than anyone else, Lya wanted Amon to be different from Alexei.

Nemeus stood in silence for a long time as he looked at Lya carefully. Like a predator sizing up an invader in his territory, he gazed at her. More than anything, however, Nemeus seemed conflicted. He closed his scarlet eyes and his beastly expression eased somewhat. He pondered for a long time, before eventually looking at Lya again.

“This will even out our debt.” He said in his deep voice.

For him, the trouble he would be going through to overlook Amon Kressler’s cultivation was a price equal to what Lya had paid four hundred years ago. Naturally, Lya disagreed.

“A life can only be paid with a life. This has no relations to the debt.” She said with an emotionless voice.

Nemeus owed her because she had saved Arthur’s life. Overlooking Amon Kressler’s cultivation had no relation to it. That was a matter of the clash of the past and the present. That was a matter of Arthur Royce’s arrogance. Furthermore, Lya herself would deal with her mistake if Amon ever walked the same path Alexei Vine did.

“About the rules, I’ll make sure he meets the requirements.” She continued, not giving Nemeus time to think too deeply. “I am not asking you to give everything inside it to him, just to let him in.”

“Even if I allowed it, there is a grave problem.” Nemeus shook his head, his expression turning grave.

“The moment I open it, his father will know.” He said as he raised his eyes to look at Lya. “The only reason he wasn’t able to enter the Hellblaze Secret World yet and steal whatever he wanted from it was because I completely sealed it from our dimension.”

“If I open that world for the Hellblaze Trials, I cannot guarantee that Amon Kressler will leave the place safely.”

“I will be with him.” Lya answered bluntly. She would take responsibility for Amon Kressler.

Nemeus pondered on how to act. Lloyd had stolen a Hellblaze Gateway. It was a tool that could create a secondary passage to the Hellblaze Secret World. It was made for emergencies only, and it was intimately connect to the Ashen Heart Tree.

The moment Nemeus found out what Lloyd had stolen, he sealed the Secret World from this dimension. He sealed the object that acted as the dimensional anchor and the primary gateway, the Ashen Heart Tree. That way, only when the seal was lifted would the Hellblaze Gateway be able to function properly again.

Lifting the seal would mean Lloyd Kressler would act. This would both be a risk and an opportunity. Doing so, Nemeus would have a chance to find out exactly what Lloyd wanted from the relics Arthur had left behind, and possibly deduce his intentions from that.

Adding to that, the timing was in his own hands. Nemeus would have enough time to make the proper preparations.

Having reached a conclusion, he looked at Lya again.

“I’ll give Amon Kressler six months.” He said as his eyes blazed. “He must reach the late stages of Body Tempering by then.”

“I will make it happen.” Lya slowly nodded

“Also… there will be a total of fifty cultivators entering the Hellblaze Secret World, ten from each one of the Five Sacred Sects.” Nemeus’ look was intense as he sent Lya a meaningful glance. “Those were the rules that Master set.”

“Even if Amon Kressler goes inside, I don’t know if he can get anything.” He said

“We both know that the Trials are not decided by strength.” Lya argued.

Arthur Royce had envisioned the Hellblaze Trials long ago. It would be a series of challenges directed at young cultivators, trying to measure their willpower, intelligence and heart. Appropriate rewards would be given according to the results.

That is, if the results were in line with what Arthur Royce considered ideal in cultivators. Especially in the Trial of the Heart, that was an in-depth analysis of one’s psyche and mindset.

“That is exactly why I am saying this.” Nemeus shook his head, making his mane-like hair seem even messier. “I don’t know if he has the right mindset to partake the Trials.”

“I can’t deny that.” Lya looked down with an unfocused look, in deep thought. “In that case, I’ll need another favor.”

Nemeus furrowed his brows, but did not deny her.

“Allow him to leave the Outer Sect for a few months.” She asked to Nemeus.

His brows furrowed even more as he heard those words. There was only one reason he could think of as to why Lya would want to take Amon Kressler outside.

“Are you sure about this?” His gaze could pierce through stone as he confronted Lya.

“I am.” Lya nodded without hesitation.

Nemeus could only sigh as he looked at her with a weary gaze.

“So be it.” He said as his figure started fading. “Remember, Lya. Six months.”

—

“Haaa!” Amon shouted as he swung Windhowler. A bright layer of light covered its blade, condensed in the form of an incredibly sharp edge. It glowed with a pale light that reflect in his golden eyes and made his ashen hair look like silver.

The sword almost noiselessly cut through the air at each movement Amon made, a stark contrast to the first time he properly wielded. As he performed the stances and moves of the Fundamentals of the Sword, Windhowler left a trail of light in its wake, surrounding Amon in its pale glow.

Seeing this, Lya couldn’t help but remember her talk with Nemeus. The way she looked at Amon now was different. In less than a month, he was already managing to control Sword Qi to this level. It was still an embryonic form of Sword Qi, and the control in itself was also incredibly rustic, but Amon was able to do it at will.

“His is starting to learn faster and faster.” She mumbled to herself.

This shouldn’t be surprising, given that Amon was a Soul Cultivator, but even the rate at which his soul was growing was unexpected.

“He has talent for it.” Lya finally managed to see it. She saw beyond the shroud of his tender age and initially unstable emotions, beyond his tormented past and his passiveness. Amon Skoller had true talent for Soul Cultivation.

“You are ready, Amon.” She managed to say, even if still somewhat absent-minded.

His Sword Qi was in the embryonic stage. His will to kill was not deep, and his resolve was shallow. He needed something to strive for. He needed to see the wonders and dangers of what True Sword Qi could bring.

It was time to take him to the Sword Abyss.