Chapter 58 The Best Lie is Hidden Within the Truth. Part One.  

"Of course, master." Rand responded in a calm voice, with a barely noticeable delay, and began slowly removing the ring from his index finger. In those few moments, a flurry of thoughts raced through his mind:

"Why did Byron hurry here so urgently, even using a full transformation? Hmm, he was heading straight for Irbis village; there's nothing else nearby. And I doubt anything in that small village could interest him besides me.

Balron and Fara shouldn't have reached the sect yet, so they couldn't have reported the situation in the village and requested help. Even if they somehow reached the sect ahead of time, I doubt Byron would respond to their request — it's not an elder's level concern.

Therefore, the old man wasn't flying here to save me. Alas, the most favorable theory for his arrival is likely ruled out. Especially since his first order after arriving was to show the ring's contents. That's not a question you ask if you intend to help or rescue.

But then what?

Maybe I made a serious mistake, and old Byron uncovered my true identity? No, that's also highly unlikely. If that were the case, he wouldn't be asking for my ring; he'd try to capture and immobilize me immediately, without any words, while still in transformation.

No, there's clearly something else, and I need to figure out what.

Could there be confidentiality issues with my recent purchases? Quite possible. Yes, that would explain Byron's current reaction.

It seems I underestimated the number and quality of sect informants in Fire City. One of them must have linked my shop visits to Zark's subsequent purchases. Although that alone wouldn't be enough for suspicion... Maybe someone also saw me visiting Zarq's shop twice and, from this, linked those expensive purchases to me, then reported it to high-ranking sect members, after which the information reached Byron.

I considered such a scenario since my trip to the city was prepared somewhat hastily and, consequently, was far from perfect.

Given that Byron is still relatively restrained and only demanding the ring for verification, not something more, he's not fully confident in his information about me, or his data is very fragmentary. Unfortunately, it's unlikely I'll learn during our conversation exactly what he knows. Byron is too old and experienced to reveal such things accidentally.

It's best to explain things to him right away to dispel any suspicions. Only this way can I minimize the problem. What should I reveal and what can I reveal to him? It's hard to assess without knowing what he knows. Therefore, I'll need to tell a story as truthful as possible.

The best lie is hidden within the truth...

Maybe I can pin part of the problem on Weed? The ring's contents can help me with that. Risky. Byron can't sense my lies, thanks to Oberin's disguise, but if there's a significant discrepancy between my words and what he learned from informants in the city, the situation will only worsen, and his suspicions about me will greatly increase, leading to unpredictable consequences. However, the chance of such a future is small — I don't think the sect spies could have learned much...

And if Byron believes me, the subsequent hunt for Weed will be at a whole different level, and his future pursuers might even manage to kill him. Such a chance to get rid of him should not be missed; it's worth a small risk. So, it's decided. Better start the story from afar."

As soon as Rand removed the ring from his index finger, it soared through the air towards Byron, landing in the elder's right hand within a second. Byron glanced at the spatial artifact, frowned, and then, pulling out the puppet figures from the ring, asked his disciple in an authoritative tone:

"What is this and where did you get it from? Explain yourself."

Upon hearing this demand, Rand lowered his eyes, seemingly afraid to even look at Byron, and quietly said, "Please forgive me, master Byron."

The elder's gaze hardened at this statement, but he still spoke in a calm, slightly benevolent tone, "Before I can forgive you, I need to know exactly what you are asking forgiveness for, don't you think?"

"Yes, master, you are right. My apology directly relates to the items you just pulled out of my ring. I want to apologize for noticing something strange about one of my groupmates but deciding not to tell you about it because I wanted to deal with it myself. I overestimated my abilities, thinking I was strong enough to handle anything, and because of that, I almost died. Becoming a cultivator and my newfound power truly went to my head. Forgive me..." Rand faltered at the last words, and his voice even began to tremble slightly.

"Tell me what happened. Clearly, concisely, and in detail. But you don't need to rush."

"Of course, I'll try. It all started some time ago when I discovered that novice Weed had an extraordinary gift of persuasion. So powerful that any of our groupmates who spoke to him felt a subconscious desire to agree with his every word and follow any of his commands. And almost no one noticed this, even our deacon saw nothing unusual in this ability of Weed's. At first, I also thought Weed was just an exceptionally charismatic boy.

But then a competition occurred, during which Weed tried to make me surrender in our fight. At his command that day, my knees almost buckled on their own, and the word 'surrender' nearly escaped my mouth. Only through incredible willpower was I able to resist the urge to submit to his will.

At that moment, I finally realized that it wasn't just Weed's charisma but some incomprehensible supernatural power that the boy could wield without possessing even a drop of Qi. At least, that's what I thought at the time. And the fact that no one — neither the deacon overseeing the arena nor even you, master — noticed him using this power frightened me. But almost immediately, this fear was swallowed by the rage that came from realizing that because of this bastard, I was one step away from a disgraceful defeat and from failing to carry out your will, master.

And after that, my entire being desired revenge for this humiliation. At any cost."

Greetings to all the remaining readers of my book, "Way of the Cultivator." As you may have noticed, no new chapters have been released recently, and of course, there were reasons for that. I was going through a rather challenging period in my life, during which I had no time to focus on my "hobby." Moreover, the book's numbers were mediocre at best and brought almost no financial benefit.

But that's all in the past; now let's talk about the future of the book.

The difficult period in my life is now partially behind me, so I will gradually return to publishing chapters, though without any set schedule for now.