Cassandra POV

Julius was safe with Malric. The old man was nothing if not fair and just. Once he realized that Julius was a good boy and a boon to the sect, he would come around. In fact, she wouldn’t be surprised if they were already becoming friendly with one another.

She would like that very much. Anything that might bring Julius closer to the sect was a good thing. She still couldn’t believe he had only high affinities. Well, one was excellent now, but he only had high affinities during the entire tournament. An absurd piece of information, considering his talent.

Affinities weren’t the end-all, be-all, but they were a massive advantage if you had a good one. She had only managed to get a perfect affinity after a challenge rift she entered a while back.

Affinities allowed one to gain levels faster. It made an exceptionally large difference once you started to reach the end of epic rank and beyond. If he had an excellent affinity, it was possible he would already have legendary skill. That was terrifying to imagine.

He was already so young and had many powerful abilities.

They needed to bring him into the sect as soon as possible. Especially before someone like the Nine Peaks Sect or one of the other Ten Great Sects recognized his talents. They would stop at nothing to recruit him.

Thankfully, they seemed to get along well. Their personalities worked well together, and, to be fair, he was easy to understand. He had simple goals and simple wants. He was a lot like she had been as a teen. Only a lot stronger and a little crazier.

However, she wanted to solidify their relationship as swiftly as she could. That was why she was going to grab that fire affinity treasure for him. She knew there were a lot in the sect. But the best ones were under tight lock and key.

Being able to upgrade one’s affinity wasn’t that uncommon, but finding a treasure that didn’t have any side effects while also being strong enough to push an affinity to excellent was much rarer. Rewards from rifts were typically the safest and most potent ways, but given the long history of the Burning Sun Sect, there were many treasures gathered over the years. The only issue was that these types of treasures didn’t last long. They were frequently used as rewards or investments in promising members who demonstrated loyalty and talent.

Hopefully, there was at least one she could grab from the sect’s treasury. It might involve a few headaches, but Julius was more than worth it.

She had already dropped Shin off at his parents’. Her daughter didn’t look very pleased with her when she saw Shin's condition. Noelle had always been softhearted. But Cassandra had seen how Adrian came out and wanted to avoid the same mistake her husband made with her son.

She didn’t want the same to happen to Shin. Better to nip it in the bud now before he becomes an adult. Luckily, he was a pretty good kid most of the time. A little arrogant and prideful, but ultimately kind. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

She also managed to discuss some of her other family and connections. There was a lot that needed to change. She had a feeling that times were becoming more dangerous, and despite how frustrating family could be, she wanted to make sure that everyone was safe and on the same page.

She was thinking about this as she approached the treasury door. She pressed her palm to the door, allowing the enchantments to feel her aura. Only once they confirmed her identity, the door to the vault opened.

The door itself was quite thin. Nothing like some of the other vaults she had seen before. But make no mistake, the entire treasury was made of some of the strongest materials she had ever come across. In fact, the treasury was made of a special metal found deep beneath the mountains.

Upon entering the treasury, she spotted its custodian. A crimson transparent figure floated over to her; its form radiated strength. It was a fire spirit that the sect’s ancestor and founder had created a long time ago alongside the vault.

It wasn’t as intelligent as some of the other spirits she had come across. Definitely not as clever as Julius’s own little life spirit. Drasil was a very unique case, and one she suspected was due to his partner.

But it was extremely strong, and its sole duty was to monitor the treasury's interior. Nobody took anything out without the appropriate permissions. The spirit gave her a once-over before it offered her its hand.

She took hold of it, and suddenly she had access to the information about all the objects inside the vault. She needed to filter out what she wanted, but she was here for one thing and one thing only.

She quickly found it and headed off to it. She opened the overly extravagant box it was stored in and held the small gemstone to her eyes. The red stone looked rugged, with many swirling lines inside, but it was beautiful. Fortunately, it was exactly what she had been looking for.

It was called a Cinderheart Gem. They were exceptionally rare, and ones of this quality were even more rare. But they were really good at improving one’s fire affinity. They only grew in places like the Scorched Wastelands, where fire mana was so prevalent.

There weren’t any serious side effects either. Some treasures had the unfortunate consequence of damaging one’s foundation. But the only side effect this one had was that it was incredibly painful to consume. Although she seriously doubted that it would be much of an issue for Julius.

If all of his abilities and information regarding his affinities weren’t astonishing enough, she also learned that he had gotten his hands on Tezuko Willow’s personal manual. Not a fake one or a replica either. This was the genuine article; she examined it for herself.

When she learned he was practicing Tezuko Willow’s personal technique for using life mana, it was a terrifying realization.

The Undying Revenant was well known for good reason. He was mostly known for being responsible for killing hundreds of thousands, if not millions. But he was also known to be an unkillable force. The only thing that finally did him in was his own power and madness.

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Hence, hearing that Julius was actively learning from Tezuko’s personal manual made her feel uneasy. The only reason she didn’t try to convince him not to try it was his impressive willpower and solid moral compass. If there was anyone who could make it work, then he might be that one.

On another note, she wondered what the Verdant Willow Sect would think of it if they ever learned about Julius’s plans. They had been trying to copy some of Tezuko Willow’s skills for many years, but they hadn’t found anyone capable or crazy enough to do so. If they learned about Julius, she suspected they would be crawling to the gates of the Burning Sun Sect just to catch a glimpse of him.

She could only shake her head as she left the treasury. Hopefully, Julius would stay relatively quiet, and none of the other sects would be any wiser.

The Cinderheart Gem was warm in her palm. It was just nice to hold on to it. The mana coming from it felt warm and comforting.

“I heard you were back. Though I am surprised that the first place you stop by isn’t by the sect leader’s office, but the sect’s treasury,” a voice called out to her from down the hall.

She turned around and saw Grand Elder Koenn walking towards her. In a sect as large as the Burning Sun Sect, there were several branches of authority. The first and foremost was the sect's founder and ancestor. Though he hadn’t been publicly seen in almost a century.

But after that, the leadership role fell to Sect Leader Kaelor and herself. Then it branched out to the four Grand Elders. One of those four Grand Elders stood in front of her now.

Elder Koenn wasn’t the worst. He was actually a very capable and intelligent man. Unfortunately, he could also be extremely annoying. He liked to challenge her on everything and seemed to take pleasure in it.

There were two main factions in the sect. One that supported the sect leader, and the one who supported her. Both she and Kaelor thought this was a stupid thing, but there was nothing they could do about it. Groups inevitably formed when there were contrasting ideologies, and the respectful elders found support from their chosen side.

Grand Elder Koenn was a part of the sect leaders' faction. He was more of a traditionalist, and Kaelor fit those viewpoints quite well. Unfortunately, that meant Koenn always ended up being a pain in her backside.

“Grand Elder Koenn. It is good to see you are looking as young and spry as ever,” she said with a respectful tone, but she saw how his eye twitched upon hearing that and hid a smile.

She knew that he was feeling a bit self-conscious about his age. The man still looked very young, despite his age. Appearance-wise, he looked around his early thirties. The fact that he was one of the sect’s Tier 6s helped a lot. But a few wispy gray hairs started to appear on the man’s sideburns, and she knew it bothered him. However, he was too proud to color his hair, and so he had to deal with it.

“What did you take from the treasury?” Koenn asked her, ignoring her remark.

“I took out a Cinderheart Gem.” She told him the truth. There was no point in lying; he could easily go in there and check the logs himself.

His face twisted. “Which one?”

She grinned. “The large one, of course.”

The man pinched his nose. “Please don’t tell me it's for that boy you brought back with you.”

“You’re awfully well informed. I only just got back. Who told you?” She noted.

He walked over and looked out the window overlooking the courtyard. “I got a report the second you got back from the teleportation station down in the city. I was also told that you were accompanied by a young boy not from the sect.”

“I was.”

“Why?”

“Why what? Why did I bring him?”

He sighed. “Yes, and why are you planning to give him something that valuable without even bothering to discuss things with us?”

“Because I asked him to come back to the sect with me. I also promised to give him an affinity improvement treasure.”

“Yes, but why?”

“I think that is something you should see for yourself.”

“I don’t have time for these games, Cassandra. What are your reasons? You can’t just expect to take one of the sect’s valuable treasures without any consultation or permission and give it to an outsider. That is preposterous, even to your standards. Do you know how many disciples we have been debating about who gets it?”

“Trust me, it’ll be worth it.”

He looked from the window and stared directly at her eyes. “I do trust you. But I also know you make mistakes. Remember that incident last year with that joint sect expedition?”

“That wasn’t entirely my fault,” she said with a frown.

“No, it wasn’t. But it was your decision to kill that prick that gave the Heavenly Crane Sect the push needed to attack our disciples. Even now, they are still harassing our outer disciples.”

“What did you want me to do? Let him rape that young girl and do nothing?”

“Of course not,” Koenn said, the suggestion of that clearly disgusted him. “But you could have easily subdued him and punished him another way. Not burn him to ash in front of the rest of his sect.”

She frowned. “Yeah, I know. I was a little hotheaded.”

“My point. How do I know this isn’t one of your impulsive decisions? You are the vice sect leader. By using that treasure on an outsider, you take it away from one of our own. A disciple who has been working hard for a long time to prove themselves. It's not fair to them. We owe them that much.”

Her shoulders sagged. He actually made a good point. Giving this treasure would only send a bad message to the rest of the disciples. It basically said that as long as there was someone stronger and more talented, they would get all of the treasures and rewards, even if they were an outsider.

“Has it already been decided who will get the Cinderheart Gem?” She asked.

“No, we just had a meeting the other week discussing it. There are five disciples who are at the top of the list. All of whom show great promise and attitudes. One of them even has a strong enough affinity that the gem might even raise it to perfect.”

She flattened her lips in a frown.

“I still think he’s worth it.”

Her tone or the fact that she clearly understood the dilemma, yet still insisted that Julius received the gemstone, might have given him reason to pause. He looked over at her intensely.

“You really are that convinced, huh?”

“Absolutely.”

“What has he done to grab your attention?”

She smirked. “Why don’t you see for yourself?”

“You’re making me want to.”

“How about this then? Meet him, talk with him, and then you can decide if he can have the treasure. If not, then I will just head out and grab one myself. I was going to do that either way to replace the gem.”

Grand Elder Koenn, a man known for his seriousness, curled up his lips and gave her a tiny grin. “He better be worth my time.”

She responded with a chuckle. “Oh, trust me. He is.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.”