50 Chapter 50. Day before departure

The next day, Lex went out to the marketplace and went to buy some resources. The journey required a lot of resources as Leo had to find plans to live whereas Aurora and Lex had it easy as they could just rely on the Iudex sect.

He quickly passed by countless shops, going into some of them, and eventually, he walked into a large blacksmith shop to buy some armor.

"Hello there, sir. Welcome to my little shop," a warm old voice welcomed them as an old-wise looking man walked out from the shop.

"Hello," greeted Leo.

"I'm here to buy some of your best light armor and best swords, two of each would be best. Oh, and make sure one of the armor is for a female," he said as he did not want Lex and Aurora to be at the sect empty-handed and weaponless. Even he himself knew the significance of good armor.

"Certainly, please give me a minute to scour my messy shop" replied the man as he walked from one end of the shop to another. As he came back, he brought out two heavy boxes and laid them on the counter.

"Young sir, these are my best works," the old man spoke as he began to describe all of them.

He opened the first box and revealed a beautiful fluorescent white light sword and a sturdy firm looking brown leather armor set.

"This sword's name is Winter. Its handle was made from the leather of a white snow fox that is only found in the western mountains. Its body is made from hardened white opal that was mined from the western hills," he informed.

"As for the armor, it is made from the bearskin of a mountain bear that was found in the beast forest in the north. It is practically unbreakable by all cultivators under emission realm," the man proudly spoke.

He then brought out the next box and opened it to reveal a beautiful slender sword along with a. The first one had a simple bold silver body with a beautiful blue handle that was decorated by a tulip. And next to it was a beautiful light silver metal armor that immediately caught Leo's interest.

"This is the female one, sir. This sword is crafted by a blacksmith who loved flowers and he dedicated this to the flower 'tulip' as you can see. And as for the armor, this is imported from the Quartz kingdom. I somehow managed to obtain it," he began talking about the two objects to Leo.

Hearing this, Leo suddenly displayed a disappointed expression as he asked, " do you know where we could find any better ones? We need one that is at least stage four."

"Umm… Sorry young sir but what you are looking for can only be found at the capital. Equipment like that is extremely valuable and can cost about five hundred thousand gold coins each," the shopkeeper replied with a downcast expression.

"I see. Sigh. Give me what you have right now. I'll take all of these," replied Leo in a slightly disappointed expression as he handed over a few thousand gold coins.

After buying the equipment, Leo saw no need to buy anything else so he made his way back to the clan.

As he made his way back, a clansman was sent to Leo, telling him that Aron wanted to meet him. So Leo diverted his route and made his way to the clan head's house first.

*knock* *knock*

A slight creak sounded as the door was slowly opened by Aron.

"Hey Leo, I've been expecting you. Come in, I have something to give you," Aron spoke as he welcome Leo in a brought him to the living room.

"So, what do you have for me?" asked Leo impatiently as they arrived at the room.

"Come in first. Take a seat and I'll tell you about it over a cup of tea," said Aron as he brought Leo a comfortable cushioned chair while his wife came in and brought some tea for them.

After taking a sip of the tea, Aron reached inside his pocket and brought out a large envelop and placed it in Leo's hands.

"Here, read it first," he said.

Leo curiously took the letter, opened it and he began to read:

Dear Leo, Lex, and Aurora,

I'm sorry to leave on such short notice, every day since you guys arrived, my desire for revenge on your mom's sect only grew stronger and stronger. I couldn't leave at the time because of Lex and he still needed care but now I am confident enough to leave you guys alone. Another reason why I didn't leave earlier was that I couldn't do it alone. I also needed to wait for my friends to prepare. I couldn't bear to say goodbye to you guys in real life so I decided to leave it in a note. I don't know how long it will take so I hope that you guys will have a safe journey. I hope that you will forgive me for being able to say goodbye to you physically. You kids are the most talented kids that I have ever met in my life. Please take care of yourselves in your journeys to the Iudex sect. I'll come and visit as often as I can.

With love,

Your grandfather

After reading this, Leo's mind began to fill with stress as he felt that he owed Alfred a lot.

How could he just leave... Questions began to fill his head.

After taking a few sips while letting the message sink in, Aron started speaking slowly, "You guys managed to join the Iudex sect?"

"No. Only Lex and Aurora. Not me," Leo replied emotionlessly.

"How? I'm sure you have the same talent as Aurora and Lex," Aron confusedly questioned.

"It's complicated... Uncle, what was the name of my mom's sect?" Leo suddenly asked as he did not answer fully.

"Sigh... I saw this coming. The sect that your mom belonged to is called the Nisaa sect. Back then, its strength was no less than the Decan clan, it's possibly even stronger now. Your mom had great talent and became a disciple of that sect. Sigh, I hope that he succeeds. The role of the grand elder is not a simple one. If he was to get injured, then the Decan clan's situation would be tough. Our strength would weaken and control over Sapphire city would have a higher chance of falling onto another clan. I hope that he only goes after your mother's master. If he goes for more people, then I am certain that he would not survive," Aron replied worriedly as he displayed a tense and foreboding expression.

"Interesting… What was the cultivation of the sect leader at that time?" asked Leo with a curious expression.

"Hmmm… If I remember correctly… I think he was at refinement realm stage five. He should've improved by now. I think he should be at Origin stage one by now," answered Aron with a serious expression.

"That's not much of a problem for grandfather. Why are you so worried? If it's just a stage three then there shouldn't be much of a problem."

"The sect leader isn't the main problem. The main problem is the grand elders. They all have origin realm cultivation. Although your grandfather is also an origin realm expert, it would be a one versus four. The odds aren't in his favor," spoke Aron as he spoke in an extremely sage-like tone.

"Where is the sect located and when do you think he will get there?" asked Leo in an extremely serious tone.

"Are you thinking of going after him?" asked Aron as he sighed.

Leo gave a simple obvious nod.

"It's located in the Ruby kingdom. It should take your grandfather about six months to get there," replied Aron as he deeply sighed, knowing that he could not possibly stop Leo.

"I see. Thanks for telling me. I should go now, Aurora and Lex are still at home waiting for me. Thanks for the information uncle Aron," said Leo as he stood up and bowed towards Aron and headed towards the exit.

"No problem," replied Aron as he happily waved goodbye to Leo.

"Oh yeah! Uncle Aron! I think we will leave the clan tomorrow. With grandfather gone, there is nothing to do. I also think that the clan members would prefer it this way," spoke out Leo as he turned back to tell him.

Hearing this, Aron's body suddenly shook in surprise. These six years, he had grown to really like the three.

Leo was a really smart, mature child. Aurora was a beautiful, kind girl and Lex was a playful, lovable child.

Hearing Leo say that they were going to leave shocked him quite a lot. Although he really wanted them to stay in this clan and make them a part of it, his role as clan head was too important and if they stayed here, it would really affect the arrogant clan members who did not want to be linked to a peasant. How surprised they would be if they found out that two of them were going to join the Iudex sect.

"I see, then I presume you will be leaving tomorrow without telling anyone?"

Leo nodded as he explained, "I'd like to keep it on the down-low."

"I see. Safe travels, Leo. I hope you and your group survive and live well. I'm really sorry about the clan. If you ever come to Sapphire city again then please let me know," apologized Aron as he felt like he had failed his role as an uncle.

"It's fine. I don't blame you. Please prevent everyone in the clan from being too arrogant, if they end up messing with my group from now on then I can only apologize for the consequences now," replied Leo in a cold tone as he faded off into the distance.