The night passed by, and the next day arrived as the storm continued to rage without showing signs of weakening. Both Barden and Grayson made no attempt to leave the cave, as it was the only solace in the storm of misery.
Grayson gazed from the fire to his grandson, who appeared to be deep in thought.
"Thinking about her?" he asked Barden.
Barden looked at his grandfather, as a smile full of longing appeared on his face. He nodded his head at his grandfather's words.
"How could I not?" Barden replied. "I just got married to the love of my life several weeks ago, and I'm already leaving her behind. Am I truly doing the right thing here?" Barden asked, his tone full of confusion and doubt.
"You are doing this for your clan, and your family, are you not?" Grayson asked.
Barden nodded his head at his grandfather's question.
"Then you are not doing the wrong thing. You may be parting with your wife for now, but you are doing so to raise your strength, allowing you to better protect your family. Offers from a Holy Land power, especially one as powerful as the Supreme Battle Sect, are not given out lightly. You must seize this opportunity with all your power. You will return to our clan eventually, and your power will be able to ensure our survival. That alone makes it worthwhile," Grayson said while smiling at his grandson.
Barden remained silent as he stared into the ball of fire and listened to his grandfather's words. He only nodded his head to his grandfather's words, as he was unable to muster his voice at the moment.
The fire continued to burn as time slowly passed by within the cave. Before long, night once again descended, and Barden and Grayson both fell into another deep slumber.
In the middle of the night, Barden suddenly opened his eyes as he was roused from his deep slumber. His dreary eyes scanned the nearby area, but found nothing of note.
"I must have imagined it," Barden mused to himself as he fell back asleep. Just as he was about to fall back asleep, the same feeling that roused him from his slumber passed over him again.
He sat upright, and glanced over to his nearby grandfather, who was still deep asleep.
'Strange. If there truly is something deeper in this cave system, grandfather surely would have noticed it when he cleared out the cave.'
Barden continued to feel the slight lingering feeling within him, and he finally stood up from his makeshift bed. He peered deeper into the cave, as that was the direction he felt the feeling coming from.
Barden glanced back at his grandfather, unsure if he should rouse him or not, but decided against it. His grandfather had used an incredible amount of energy to shield them both through the storm, and was still weak.
'He needs all the rest he can get. I'll check it out, and if I notice anything, I'll alert grandfather.'
With his mind made up, Barden began to slowly walk deeper into the cave. A ball of fire appeared in his hand to illuminate the area, while his divine sense was pushed out to its maximum range as his caution was raised. Slowly but surely, Barden walked deeper into the cave, which stretched for over a mile down deep into the earth.
There were many side-caves that sprung up occasionally, but each led to a dead end. Barden ignored these routes, as he strode down the main channel.
'The strange feeling is getting stronger and stronger. Just what is down here?" Barden mused out loud.
After walking for a lengthy amount of time, he eventually came to the end of the cave. A dead end greeted him, causing him to frown as he put his hand against the wall of the cave.
'What is going on? The strange feeling seems to be coming from the other side of this wall, but it's clearly a dead end. Should I attack my way through this wall?'
Flash!
Barden's vision suddenly went bright as he felt his body wrapped up in a strange energy.
"What's going on?" Barden cried out as he struggled against it, but was unable to budge even slightly. His body was pulled through the wall of the cave as if it wasn't there, shocking him greatly.
Almost immediately after, he found himself in an incredibly large, open cavern. His gaze swept around in all directions, and his eyes quickly opened wide in shock as he took in the scene before him.
Hundreds of corpses, some clearly belonging to ancient cultivators far above his level in power, were scattered on the ground of the chamber. In the very center of the chamber, a bright glowing ball of Qi several feet across hovered in the air.
Just from a glance, Barden could tell that the ball of Qi was so powerful that he couldn't even comprehend it, but it was also shrouded by a mysterious power to make its aura undetectable, even at this close range.
"What is this thing?" Barden mused to himself as he stared warily from a distance, unwilling to approach any closer.
However, the strange power wrapped him up once more, dragging his body closer to the floating orb of Qi in the center of the chamber.
"Dammit. I need to escape! Grandfather!" Barden cried out, but his words were drowned out and his power was insignificant when compared to the power wrapping around him.
Barden quickly found himself floating directly in front of the orb, as a powerful divine sense far beyond his comprehension suddenly scanned over him, invading his soul. Barden was not even able to put up a slight resistance as the divine sense read each and every memory of his.
Barden grit his teeth against the pain invading his soul, and just when he thought his soul was about to shatter, the divine sense stopped its soul search.
Barden's heavy breathing echoed within the otherwise silent chamber for a few minutes, before a voice entered his mind.
"You are a good man. A man of love, care, and pride," the voice whispered softly within his mind. "I shall choose you."
"What? Choose me for what?" Barden cried out, his voice echoing within the chamber.
Barden's eyes suddenly locked on the orb of Qi before him, which began to slowly unravel, revealing the contents within. His eyes went wide, as he was unable to believe what he saw within.
…
John listened closely as his father explained everything that had happened in the Great Desert. He was surprised to hear that his father had somehow gotten an offer to join the Supreme Battle Sect, and had attempted to do so just after marrying his wife Rachel.
However, on his trip to the holy lands, the storm caused them to seek shelter, which eventually led to Barden discovering the mysterious chamber, and the orb within.
Barden paused for a long time after revealing this, while his wife gripped him tighter, her tears starting to flow once more.
John clenched his fists tightly as he broke the silence.
"What happened next. What was in the orb of Qi? Was it the mysterious sphere?" John asked. He could tell his father was struggling to find the right words to say next.
Barden sighed deeply once more. His firm and resolved eyes locked onto John's, as he decided to reveal the truth.
"When the orb of Qi faded, I found the mysterious sphere....as well as you, no more than a few days old, holding the sphere in your hands."