106 Chapter 106. Aurora's life at Iudex Sect

Silent... Senere...

In the most Northern part of the kingdom, stood the great Iudex sect. Countless buildings could be seen from the northern shore and on one of the seaside cliffs was the property of Judge Ophelia. A small estate of around twelve small chalet style houses and a large bungalow house that was, of course, Ophelia's. It was also provided with a large courtyard for self training for all her disciples.

The wind silently blew as the cold winds of winter slowly set in. The end of the year was slowly arriving but the temperature had not dropped to the point where it could snow yet.

In one of the chalets, was Aurora who was sitting in her living room silently cultivating. She had made incredible progress in her cultivation as she charged through from refinement stage one to refinement stage four in the short months that she had spent here.

Her incredible talent and beauty had made her incredibly famous among Ophelia's disciples. Along with her and Eupheme, there were six other disciples, four male and two female, who were also sheltered under Ophelia's care. Although she did not interact much with her fellow seniors, she made sure to show them as much respect as she could whenever possible. The only person that she interacted much with was Eupheme who she grew extremely familiar with.

Tonight, her mind was unusually erratic and distracted as her mind constantly drifted off from cultivation. News about Ophelia taking in a new disciple had spread across the sect like fire in a wheat field and Aurora was to make her official appearance in the sect's new year celebration and this had somehow brought unnecessary pressure on her due to her seniors saying that she would probably be sought after by many of the young cultivators in the sect due to her beauty. And judging from her past experiences, she had a vague expectation of everything going wrong which had made her heart worry.

Another reason why her mind was unable to remain calm was due to Leo's promise of meeting her twice a year promise. According to what he had stated, he would meet her once at the start of the new year and once again towards spring. Since the time was drawing near, her mind became conflicted with countless thought.

What if he gets lost? Will be allowed into the sect?

Unable to concentrate, Aurora finally gave up cultivating and decided to take a walk around the courtyard and as she subconsciously walked around the courtyard she made her way towards the cliff edges, staring off into the moonlit horizon as the light shone off the waves. She and Eupheme had spent about a month travelling and they went straight from the Lapis Kingdom to the Iudex sect with a pair of special horses that the Iudex selectively bred. If Leo was to make his journey towards here then would it not take about three months? Maybe he's already left by now.

While Aurora was busy wondering, a hand suddenly tapped on her shoulder and one of her senior sisters who were about the same age as Laura appeared behind her.

"Hey senior sister Anara," Aurora greeted as she did not even bother turning around. Anara was one of the younger seniors and was the closest in age difference to Aurora so she had tried to interact with Aurora multiple times but Aurora often left to train after a few minutes of talking.

"Can't sleep?" Anara asked with a smile as she looked where Aurora was looking.

"Yes. My head's a mess, all the things that the senior brothers said..." Aurora replied with a tense expression.

"Oh! Haha," Anara broke into a short chuckle and she consoled her, "They like to joke a lot. You shouldn't take their words to heart. With your speed of progress, there is no one who would possibly be worthy of you. Given a few years time, you will be stronger than me and you would already have the power to take on the Crystal empire if you wanted to."

"Hm..." Aurora responded with a vague sigh as she looked up and a look of longing appeared in her eyes.

"What's wrong? Do you already have a man that you like?" Anara suddenly asked as she could tell from the emotion in her eyes.

Hearing this, a slight blush appeared on Aurora's face as she nodded shyly.

"Woah! I did not expect that, who is it? Is it the sect leader's youngest son? Is it Judge Gregg's son?" Anara asked anxiously as she began to barrage Aurora with a bunch of questions.

"No one in this sect could compare to him. I'll always be a step behind him but all I want to do is to be beside him," Aurora softly spoke as she smiled at the night sky.

Hearing her response, Anara's expression became even more curious. Who could it possibly be? It would be extremely hard to find someone who could outshine the men in the Iudex sect. Could it be someone from the Jade Empire?

"Where is he from then?" Anara asked curiously as carefully observed Aurora's face to make sure she was not lying causing her to deeply blush like a cherry.

"He's from the Lapis kingdom just like me," Aurora replied shyly in a quiet voice.

But her reply sounded like trumpets and drums in Anara's ears as she could not believe what she had heard. From the same kingdom as her? Could there be someone who was more talented than all the men in the Iudex sect?

No. It couldn't be. If there was then surely he would have been taken into the sect by their master.

Filled with a brain exploding with questions, Anara opened her mouth to ask another question but before their conversation could continue, Eupheme's footsteps suddenly sounded from behind them and he called out to Aurora, "Aurora, master wants to see you."

"What is it about?" Aurora asked curiously as she immediately turned towards Eupheme.

"It's about the Lapis Kingdom," Eupheme simply answered and at that exact moment, Aurora's footsteps seemed to have a sudden sense of urgency as she quickly followed Eupheme into Ophelia's house.

"Can I come too?" Anara asked as she seemed to be intrigued by Aurora's reaction.

"I don't think so," Eupheme replied with a smile as he and Aurora soon disappeared.

Eupheme then led Aurora into Ophelia's bungalow which was extremely quiet and a soft warm fire was burning in the living room's fireplace as Ophelia sat there next to it on a chair calmly looking into the fire with two chairs on the other side of hers. While she was calm on the surface, her eyes were hiding a hidden layer of shock and surprise.

Knock knock!

"Come in," Ophelia spoke and the door soon opened and Eupheme and Aurora appeared walking in from the small hallway as they took off their shoes and walked into the living room.

"Master," they both bowed and she immediately signalled for them to sit down.

"I'm sure you must both be curious about news regarding the Lapis kingdom," she spoke.

"Yes, master. What news is there?" Aurora immediately asked, failing to hide her anticipation.

"The war in the Lapis kingdom has escalated," Ophelia stated.

"What?" Aurora and Eupheme spoke in shock. They were definitely not expecting news like this. The war had been going on for six years. Why did it suddenly escalate now?

"What happened?" Aurora asked with a more concerned face.

"I only got news of this today about a certain someone but I did not want to tell you until the war was over..." Ophelia sighed.

"Who?" Aurora asked as her voice grew even more worried.

"There is a disciple here in the Iudex sect who is the son of the Ruby king. I only found out today that he had somehow convinced his master Judge Francis to give him a relic weapon. He has apparently given this to the Ruby army and they have used this against the Lapis army," Ophelia explained.

"A relic!?" Eupheme asked with a shocked expression. A relic weapon was not something that was easily given to sect disciples so it was a wonder how the man had managed to obtain it.

"So what happened at the war?" Aurora asked as her tone turned to a voice of panic.

"The Lapis kingdom has won," Ophelia spoke simply.

"WHAT?" Eupheme asked in shock. A relic weapon was used and yet they still won?

"What relic did the disciple obtain?" Eupheme asked anxiously.

"The Nightkiss," Ophelia responded.

"What is that?" Aurora asked cluelessly.

"The Nightkiss is a sceptre that was used by the Frost king many years ago. He used this sceptre to take over a territory about the size of two empires but he was eventually stopped and put down by our grand elder but he himself spoke that this weapon if used to its full potential, would be able to easily out power him," Ophelia explained again.

"How did they still manage to win?" Eupheme asked in disbelief. He did not believe that the Lapis kingdom could have a counter for such a legendary weapon. The Nightkiss's reputation was not to be taken lightly. Judging from the strengths of the rulers of the kingdom, there was no way that they would be strong enough to take care of it.

"I do not know," Ophelia simply stated.

"I can't believe how stupid I am," Aurora suddenly spoke as she smiled and her mood immediately seemed to light up.

"What do you mean?" Ophelia asked curiously as she could not understand why Aurora's mood would suddenly take a drastic turn.

"He did it. If they won then it would be because of him," Aurora spoke, a warm happy smile unable to leave her face.

"How would that be possible?" Ophelia spoke as she could not agree with Aurora. There was no possible way that it could possibly be him. Eupheme said that he was a refinement stage two when he last saw them. There is no way... right?

"It just happens. He has the ability to break the boundaries of normality. You saw the case with the Weaver clan," Aurora spoke with an extremely calm expression.

Hearing this, Ophelia's mind suddenly grew even more chaotic as she desperately tried to keep her composure.

"Well then, we should move to our next topic of discussion. Letting you meet Leo," Ophelia spoke, switching up the topic.

Aurora's mind immediately grew excited as her eyes suddenly seemed to be full of life as she looked at Ophelia keenly.

"Eupheme will go to the Lapis kingdom and he will bring Leo here," Ophelia stated, "he will leave tomorrow morning. You may leave now Aurora."

Hearing this, Eupheme also seemed to be excited as he would get to travel once again.

"Thank you so much master," Aurora thanked as she bowed down deeply and left the house happily trodding to her lodging.

"Master, wh-"

Eupheme was about to ask a question but as he was about to do so, Ophelia suddenly raised her hand, instructing him to wait and she spoke out with a cold smile, "Did you think you could hide forever? Come out, Anara."

Immediately, one of the balcony doors that were on the opposite side of the fireplace opened and Anara walked in with an extremely guilty expression on her face.

"Forgive me, master! I was talking to junior sister and when I heard that she had a man that she was interested in, I could not help but want to know more," Anara immediately bowed and apologized.

"How much of the conversation did you hear?" Ophelia asked expressionlessly.

"I heard the whole thing," Anara replied with a sheepish expression as she looked down in embarrassment.

"I see..." Ophelia spoke before going quiet.

"Master, who is this Leo that you guys spoke about?" Anara asked as her curiosity got the better of her.

"He's a boy about the same age as Aurora but slightly older. He was the one that convinced Aurora to become my disciple," Ophelia spoked with a complicated expression.

"Is he talented?" Anara asked.

"Extremely talented. You'll soon see for yourself if you are lucky," Ophelia spoke.

"What abo-"

"No more questions. You can ask your junior sister yourself. Go home now. I want to sleep soon," Ophelia immediately cut in, not letting Anara ask her question.

"Ok then. Farewell, master!" Anara spoke with a disappointed expression as she gave up and left.

"Master, I will also leave you be then," Eupheme spoke after seeing Anara leave but as he got to the door, he asked, "Do you think it was Leo that did it?"

"All surviving soldiers of the war all say that they were saved by an extremely young man with brown hair that turned red so I had my speculations. But I can't be sure. That's why I'm sending you there," Ophelia spoke with as she fell into deep thought and Eupheme left.