"And it's not just his na I know," Adams continued with a calm, almost playful tone. "I know yours as well. Would you like to say it out loud, or would you rather skip the formalities and try whatever you're planning?"
His words hung in the air like a challenge, his gaze steady and unflinching as he looked at the older man. The confidence in his voice was unsettling, as if he was fully aware of the intentions hidden behind those cold, calculating eyes.
The elder's face darkened, his initial surprise quickly giving way to anger. His eyes narrowed, a dangerous glint flickering in them as he tried to decipher whether Adams was bluffing or truly knew more than he should. The younger man shifted uneasily beside him, the tension between them thickening with each passing second.
The elder's jaw tightened, the weight of Adams' words pressing down on him, forcing him to rethink his next move. "You insolent brat," he spat, his voice low and laced with barely contained fury. "You dare mock ?"
"What's with all the commotion?" a monkey-like man asked, riding a cloud as he lazily scratched his ear and let out a yawn. "So of us are trying to teach our disciples the path of cultivation, but it's impossible with all this noise."
"While so of us just wants our beauty sleep."
"Oh, shut up, lazy fool," Jack grumbled, glaring at the new arrival. As Jack finished speaking, the shadow beneath the younger man began to shift and ripple, like a dark pool disturbed by an unseen force. From this moving shadow, a figure slowly erged, rising up as though it were being pulled from the depths of a dark abyss.
Awar stepped out of the shadows, his face weary and his movents sluggish. His eyes, heavy with fatigue, glanced around before settling on Jack. The shadows seed to cling to him for a mont longer, reluctant to let him go, before finally retreating back to their natural state. Awar's tired expression matched his slow, almost languid movents as he adjusted to the light.
He looked as though he'd just woken from a deep sleep, yet there was a sharpness in his gaze that hinted at a power lying beneath the surface.
"You're one to talk," Awar muttered in a low, gravelly voice, his words tinged with exhaustion as he shot a tired look at Jack.
Alan's face drained of color as Awar erged from his shadow, his eyes wide with terror. He stumbled back, his breath coming in short, panicked gasps. "What the hell is this place?" he shrieked, his voice trembling with fear. "What kind of sect is this? And who are these people?"
His mind raced, unable to comprehend the bizarre, nightmarish reality unfolding before him. The idea that a man could step out of his own shadow was beyond anything he'd ever heard or imagined. Alan's fear turned to outright panic as he realized just how outmatched he was.
The elderly man, who had been fuming monts before, now looked at the two newly arrived individuals with a wary eye. His earlier arrogance wavered as he sensed the imnse power that both Jack and Awar radiated, despite their lazy, nonchalant appearances. A flicker of doubt crossed his mind—if these two were so strong, what kind of power did the Sect Master himself possess?
His thoughts spiraled as he considered the implications. "If these are rely the sect's followers," he thought, "then the master of this sect must be on an entirely different level."
The old man took a step back, his confidence eroding as he realized the gravity of the situation. Alan, still paralyzed with fear, glanced at his elder, hoping for so kind of reassurance. But the elder's silence spoke volus, filling Alan with a deepening dread.
"You seem lost for words," Adams said calmly, breaking the tense silence. His voice was cool, almost mocking, as he watched the growing fear in their eyes. "Shall we continue, or have you reconsidered your position?"
The elder grit his teeth, anger and fear warring within him, but he knew that one wrong move could spell disaster. And in that mont, he realized just how out of his depth they were.
Trying to regain control of the situation, the elderly man straightened up and fixed Adams with a stern gaze. "I demand to speak with the sect master of this sect," he said, his voice firm as he gestured dismissively toward Jack and Awar. "Not his underlings. I want a master-to-master conversation."
Jack couldn't hold back the burst of laughter that erupted from him, his booming voice echoing across the sect grounds. His shoulders shook as he doubled over, finding the elderly man's demand utterly ridiculous. "Master-to-master, you say?" Jack chortled, wiping a tear from his eye. "Oh, that's rich!"
The disciples present clenched their fists in unison, their knuckles whitening as they struggled to keep their composure. A collective tick mark appeared on their foreheads, a visible sign of their irritation at the old man's audacity. To them, he was either incredibly brave or incredibly foolish—or perhaps both—to dismiss their strength so casually.
Even Awar, who rarely displayed any emotion, let a small, almost imperceptible smile cross his lips. It was a fleeting expression, but it didn't escape Jack's keen eye. He noticed it and filed it away, planning to tease Awar about it later.
The elder's stern expression faltered for a mont as Jack's laughter filled the air, and he glanced nervously at the disciples, whose stares had turned from indifferent to murderous. The pressure of their collective gaze weighed on him, causing his confidence to waver even further.
"You still don't get it, do you, old man?" The cloaked woman, who had been silently standing behind the two n, finally spoke, her voice cutting through the tension like a blade. The sound of her words imdiately drew everyone's attention, causing even the disciples to shift their focus to her.
She stepped forward, her cloak billowing slightly as she moved, revealing a glint of sharpness in her gaze. "From the very beginning, you've been speaking to the Sect Master himself, and yet, you still haven't realized it." Her tone was laced with a mix of disdain and pity, as if she couldn't believe how oblivious the man was.
"I pity your entire existence, especially from the mont I saw you at the gates."
Her words hung in the air, the weight of them pressing down on the elder and his apprentice. The realization hit them like a cold wave, and the elder's face paled, the arrogance that had fueled him now replaced by a dawning horror.
"It is good to finally hear your voice, I thought you were going to keep quiet the whole ti, Enigma."
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