“Father, did I really choose wrong?”
Jasmine asked her father with a regretful voice as she watched Aksai’s figure dissolve into the sea of the city’s crowd from afar.
If she had known that Aksai was capable of producing a discipleship invitation token of the Purple River Sect, she wouldn’t have opposed her marriage with him.
One could say that, by Aksai’s former world’s standards, she was the proverbial “gold digger.” However, in the cultivation world, she was simply following its norms. Even her father did not find fault in her thinking.
Both father and daughter duo had assumed that if Aksai had been married to Jasmine, he might not have given the token to Ruan.
Instead, he would have used it on himself and kept Jasmine as his partner, bringing her to the Purple River Sect. After all, a man has to prioritize his family.
The cultivation resources accessible to the inner disciples of the sect were far more potent than those given to the outer disciples. Even the living arrangements offered to inner disciples were vastly superior to their outer disciple counterparts, causing much envy among the latter.
Jasmine was deeply committed to her cultivation journey. She aimed to establish her foundation and become a Foundation Building Expert in her life. Being together with Kaamen was a means for her to access more resources from him as his wife.
With the potential of becoming an inner disciple of the Purple River Sect, Aksai had outclassed Kaamen by a long shot. It was only natural that the father and daughter pair would feel some regret in their hearts.
“What’s done is already done,” Reman shook his head and sighed deeply before continuing. “Let’s hope that we haven’t offended that boy Aksai with our futile attempt to get that talisman from him.”
Jasmine and Reman watched the Purple River Sect’s ship leave in silence. They then waited quietly for Kaamen to return to them. The trio had decided to stick together and settle somewhere in the Purple River Gate.
They didn’t have the luxury to leave Wuyum County safely like Aunt Reta and her son. They could only bide their time in the city and wait for the chaos to die down a bit.
Living in the Purple River Gate wasn’t easy. The monthly citizen tax for each individual was going to burn holes through their savings. As such, they needed to find a stable source of income. In short, they had many tasks to tackle.
However, Kaamen had decided to go after Aksai to have a word with him regarding their previous encounter. He wanted to apologize to Aksai for his rude behavior right after arriving at the Purple River Gate.
Kaamen had tried to bully Aksai using his identity as an outer disciple of the sect. However, it turned out that Aksai had an even bigger identity than him.
While others might not understand the status and prestige of an inner disciple, being from the same sect, Kaamen knew better. Even if Aksai wasn’t the sect’s inner disciple himself, the fact that he was associated with one already made him a bigger deal than Kaamen.
Therefore, Kaamen wanted to ensure there was no tension between him and Aksai now that they had separated. After Aunt Reta and Ruan had boarded the sect’s ship, Kaamen tried to approach Aksai. However, the latter disappeared right after bidding adieu to the mother-son pair, prompting Kaamen to run outside the city in an attempt to find him.
After some time, Kaamen returned and met Reman and Jasmine. The two seemed to have many questions for him. However, he shook his head before speaking to them in a grave tone.
“I thought I had caught Aksai’s trail. But the guy just seemingly vanished into thin air. I couldn’t find him. Moreover, I heard some interesting news just now,” Kaamen spoke, his expression darkening.
“Boy, don’t keep us waiting. What is it?” Reman asked impatiently.
“They say that Lian Lakir, the most talented scion of the Lakir family, died in the Wilben family’s territory,” Kaamen said as he looked around and continued in a hushed voice. “The Lakir family’s remnant forces are furious. They have started stirring up quite a bit of trouble in the Wilben family.”
“Well, this only proves our initial decision to stay away from Ragui County was right,” Jasmine chimed in as she looked at her future husband. “What the Wilben and Lakir families do in Ragui County has nothing to do with us anymore.”
“That’s not my point,” Kaamen spoke as he met Jasmine’s eyes.
“The thing is, the Lakir family’s remnant forces are saying that Lian Lakir was killed for possessing the Purple River Sect’s discipleship invitation token. This token was claimed by the Lakir family in an auction event in one of the sect’s territories.
Even in their precarious condition, they are not willing to let go of that token easily. In fact, they are more determined than ever to get it back now that their Foundation Building ancestor is either dead or in hiding.”
“What does the Wilben family have to say about this?” Reman asked, starting to understand the gravity of the news.
“The Wilben family claims it has nothing to do with Lian Lakir’s death or the theft of the sect’s token,” Kaamen replied promptly.
“Both sides are unwilling to involve the Purple River Sect in their matters. Tokens are frequently sold at auction events, so the sect doesn’t want to diminish the allure of the token by intervening. They will let the families resolve this matter themselves. It’s just how you would expect the sect to behave.
In short, the tension between the two counties isn’t going to die down anytime soon. Although our decision to come to Purple River Gate was correct, we haven’t prepared ourselves for a long stay.
Furthermore, we can’t stay in the city anymore because the guards saw us enter with Aksai. We have to leave if we want to avoid future troubles heading our way,” Kaamen spoke in a grave tone, looking at both Reman and Jasmine, hoping they would understand his hints.
“I don’t understand,” Jasmine said with a puzzled expression. “What does accompanying Aksai to enter the Purple River Gate have to do with our ability to stay in the city?”
“So that’s how it is! I… I get it now,” Reman said, understanding Kaamen’s words. He glanced around to ensure nobody was listening before adding in a hushed voice.
“Someone like Aksai possessing the discipleship invitation token is indeed unimaginable. Kaamen, are you suspecting Aksai of killing Lian in the Wilben family’s territory?”