Aksai stood still for a moment, his neutral expression unchanged as he lowered the meteor sword, blood dripping from its edge.
He glanced briefly at the lifeless body that now lay crumpled on the ground, then turned his gaze back to Haitin.
There was no satisfaction or regret in his eyes—just calm, as if what he had done was nothing more than a necessary task.
Indecisiveness was a curse, especially for cultivators in life-and-death situations. Aksai felt nothing when he killed Rong Zhi. How could he feel anything for a man swayed by his emotions, who chose to ignore his advice?
Aksai had warned Lin Mei, also known as Siya Solaris, that she shouldn’t blame him if things didn’t go her way. He had said it to make sure everyone took responsibility for their actions.
Rong Zhi’s former teammates, bound and helpless, watched in horror. Their expressions shifted from shock to despair as the reality of their situation set in. They had underestimated Aksai’s resolve—something they hadn’t anticipated.
Even Jian, who had followed Aksai, felt a chill run down his spine as he witnessed the cold efficiency with which his companion acted.
Haitin, on the other hand, seemed thoroughly pleased. He smiled at Aksai, an almost approving look on his face. “Good,” he said simply, his tone carrying a note of satisfaction.
***
Haitin had initially thought Aksai would hesitate in killing his opponents. However, he was surprised to find that a non-demonic cultivator had more conviction than even the most steadfast demonic cultivator.
‘Is he really a drifting cultivator as the reports suggested? He… he has the demeanor of being a demonic cultivator.’ Haitin wondered, studying Aksai more closely.
Of course, Haitin had ordered his subordinates to gather all the information they could on Aksai during the last three days.
With the resources and mystical techniques of a major demonic sect at his disposal, it wasn’t difficult to uncover all the public information about Aksai. He even knew a few things that weren’t public yet—such as the fact that Aksai had inherited the Heretic Talismanic Dao.
Haitin’s plan was simple: he wanted to officially invite Aksai into the demonic faction and offer him all the benefits his sect would give to a newly ascended Foundation Building expert, by hiring him as a junior sect elder. In return, Haitin only wanted the Heretic Talismanic inheritance Aksai carried.
Of course, Haitin wasn’t petty. He wouldn’t prevent Aksai from practicing the Heretic Talismanic Dao. He simply wanted to study the inheritance Aksai had obtained by chance to strengthen his own demonic path.
However, Haitin wasn’t going to casually extend an invitation to Aksai. It wasn’t how he did things. He wanted to know everything about someone he wanted to work with. Only then he wouldn’t be caught off guard.
It could be said that Haitin was a more talented version of Aksai. He also had similar paranoia about people and situations in general. However, unlike Aksai, his cultivation talent was top-notch. Plus, he had a major demonic sect backing him.
Aksai and Haitin had two different starting points. Both had different visions and future goals.
Aksai wanted to live his life to the fullest while in the pursuit of Immortality. He wanted to keep on breaking through the cultivation realms and achieve the peak of personal freedom.
He didn’t want to be a peerless expert of his generation. He didn’t want to stand out. He didn’t care about popularity and name.
Aksai was content with saying no to opportunities he found too risky to accept. Once he made up his mind, Aksai wouldn’t delve into the could-have-beens and would-have-beens.
Haitin had the same end goal– that was to achieve the peak of personal freedom by becoming a very powerful cultivator. However, unlike Aksai, he was willing to take the risks– he was willing to gamble with his possessions, people, and even his life, if the potential rewards were worth it.
Thus, a man like Haitin would not think three steps ahead of current position but 20 steps ahead of his actions. He would his subordinates and allies to the best of his and their abilities, enabling him to derive maximum benefits out of them.
Haitin was a young sect leader in making. He had all the qualities of becoming a dazzling sect leader of his sect. All of his actions were also being monitored by the grand elders of the sect. As such, He didn’t want to make slightest mistakes when it came to striking deals with someone like Aksai.
Haitin wanted to test Aksai and learn what kind of man he truly was. Although Haitin was angry at Aksai’s teammates for not following the plan he and Aksai had laid out for them, his real intention was to use the incident as a way to get to know Aksai better.
Haitin had to admit that Aksai was more than the reports suggested. Aksai was far less talented than him—he didn’t have a top-tier Spirit Root, and his aptitude in Elemental Laws seemed weak. Haitin could tell at a glance that Aksai was only slightly better than an average cultivator.
But Aksai’s mediocrity wasn’t what surprised Haitin. What surprised him was the fact that Aksai had managed to break through into the Foundation Building Realm despite his lack of aptitude and background. What did he rely on to achieve his current cultivation base?
Aksai, for his part, could also guess that Haitin must have been aware of his cultivation base and accomplishments. So there was no reason for him to overly conceal anything. In fact, hiding his cultivation base or other advantages might backfire on him.
Aksai knew how to adapt to situations. There were only two good reasons for a cultivator to conceal their strength: one was to hide their identity, and the other was to catch their enemies by surprise.
It was foolish to keep hiding trump cards when one’s identity was already known, and the element of surprise was no longer useful.
As such, Aksai faced Haitin with his true identity as the owner of Emerald Cove. Even though Emerald Cove wasn’t worth much to Haitin, the fact that Aksai was capable of seizing a 2nd-Order Spirit Vein and maintaining ownership spoke volumes about his abilities.
At the very least, Haitin wouldn’t think Aksai was just an ant that he could crush without expecting a bite in return.