Duncan frowned as he sat in his cave abode and thought about the events that happened to him recently. No, he wasn't thinking about his experience in the Grotto Heaven or the ones that occurred before he entered the Grotto Heaven,
On the contrary, his mind was currently mulling over the events that occurred in regard to him from the moment he exited the Grotto Heaven. There were several things that happened to him in succession that left Duncan a little bit disquieted after he came out of the Grotto Heaven.
It had been a week since he came out of the Grotto Heaven. And this feeling has only grown more as of late. Something within him was urging him to move out of the sect as soon as possible.
The moment the Grotto Heaven started collapsing, Duncan was also sent out from the cave he had secluded himself in just like everyone else. It was then these events started occurring causing Duncan to be a little disturbed.
The first thing that happened to him that shocked Duncan was that there was now a token that was residing inside his soul. It was a small token made out of an unknown metal with the word "Huo" engraved upon it.
There was a mysterious formation carved on the backside of the token. Just looking at it was enough to drain Duncan's soul power and give him a heavy headache. Duncan didn't know when it appeared inside his soul but only knew that it wasn't there before he came out of the Grotto Heaven.
Remembering the words written on the steele he had seen at the top of the hill, Duncan knew what exactly this token was and who was responsible for it to appear in his soul.
This was the handiwork of that bastard Huo Teng, the so-called Heavenly Teacher of the Radiant Empire. This token was the result of the forced transaction that he had entered into after succeeding the steele trial on the hill.
Now Duncan was sure that the karmic flames that the bastard had threatened him with were not some idle threat. The possibility of being inflicted with them was now real and it was now a major cause of concern for Duncan.
Even though Duncan had accepted his fate after what happened on the hill, he hadn't thought about it. Apart from his anger towards the bastard Huo Teng, he hadn't spared much attention to the situation.
But now, his priority has shifted.
It was not that he wasn't angry with that bastard Huo Teng or wouldn't strip his bones if he saw him. Duncan's rage and anger were still present. But now, his attention has shifted towards these so-called karmic flames.
From what Huo Teng had said, Duncan knew that this wasn't something that he could escape from easily. This was a headache-inducing thing. And the most important thing was that he didn't know when this supposed Aghori Path will descend.
This was like a huge sword hanging above his head. There was no escaping it. Duncan wasn't naïve enough to think that he could somehow weasel himself out of this predicament. Even what little he knew of karma binding was enough to tell him that there was no escape.
Initially, Duncan wanted to consult his master after seeing this token suddenly appear inside his soul. His distrust towards his master wasn't strong enough yet for him to hide such a thing from his master.
He even fantasized for a few minutes that his master would be able to solve this issue easily. However, those fantasies flew away the moment Duncan met his master after exiting the Grotto Heaven.
When he had come out of the Grotto Heaven, the sudden appearance of the token had stunned him for a minute causing him to enter into a stupor. By the time he figured out the cause and effect and his subsequent actions in regard to that, the drama between Shen Wulong and his fiancé had come to an end and he had escaped.
After that, Duncan saw the disciples of the Heavenly Demon Sect being herded together and went along. When his master had called out to know his whereabouts, he had been elated initially.
For a moment he had even thought about coming clean with him about both the steele and that missing soul thread. However, his master's reaction to his appearance made him go cold.
His master had fallen into a small stupor upon seeing him. It was as if he was seeing something he hadn't expected to see. That was incredibly bizarre. During his master's unguarded moment, Duncan glimpsed something like rage flash past his master's features before he controlled himself.
This immediately caused him to be wary of his master.
His master had no reason to have such a reaction. From Foodie Chen he had been able to glean a little that it was on his master's instruction that Foodie Chen helped him enter the Grotto Heaven.
Even though Foodie Chen didn't outright say it, he was able to match Foodie Chen's actions with that thought easily. If not for that why would someone like Foodie Chen make a specific trip to see him?
If Foodie Chen had real concern for him, he wouldn't have left him in the forest region right when things were becoming hectic. He could have taken Duncan along with him. But, Foodie Chen didn't do that. His actions were akin to checking up on him. Unless someone instructed, Foodie Chen wouldn't do such a thing.
No one from the Heavenly Demon Sect was a benevolent person. So, someone showing concern made him think of other motives immediately. Since his master was the one who arranged for Duncan to enter the Grotto Heaven, he had no reason to react in such a manner seeing him.
Unless his master had some other reason for arranging him to enter the Grotto Heaven.
Until he knew the reason for his master's actions, Duncan didn't think it was prudent to reveal what happened to him to his master. Duncan wasn't being alarmist here. He had heard tales about demonic cultivators plotting against each other and everyone else a lot during his stay in Starmist City.
So, Duncan decided that the best approach was to be cautious.
And it paid off as well.
His master then proceeded to subtly interrogate him about his near-death experiences. When he told that he had only one such experience, a small gleam passed through his master's eyes.
If Duncan wasn't looking for it, he would have missed it. But, Duncan could clearly see that his master was interested in his near-death experience. When he recounted the entire encounter, the frown on his master's face only furthered. It was as if he couldn't make sense of something.
Duncan didn't know why his master was acting like this, but it made him a little bit wary of his master. Unless he knew the reasons, he wasn't going to confide in his master.
That currently left him in a bind.
Without going to his master, there wasn't much Duncan could do about the appearance of the token or that bastard Huo Teng. He even scoured the scripture pavilion after he returned. But, the information on karmic flames was pitifully little in the scripture pavilion.
The only thing every scroll mentioning karmic flames agreed upon was that it was incredibly dangerous for demonic cultivators to be afflicted with them. This only made him feel more uneasy.
Speaking of uneasiness, there was also this strange uneasy sentiment that had been brewing in Duncan's heart ever since he returned to the sect. It was as if his intuition was telling him that something major was going to happen and he needed to increase his strength as much as possible in a short time.
Duncan didn't know why he felt like this. But, his careful observation of people in the sect for the past week had only furthered his suspicions. There was an undercurrent of violence that was now present in the sect that not many were aware of.
Something had spooked several of the elders in the sect. When they were returning from the Grotto Heaven, Duncan had chanced upon the sight of an elder eyeing his master warily. He hadn't thought about it much at that time. But now, with the atmosphere present among the elders in the sect, Duncan was a little worried that his master was involved in something that would cause him a lot of trouble.
If he wasn't his master's disciple, Duncan wouldn't have worried much. But, being the disciple of his master, his sensitivity towards this undercurrent was increasing as days passed by.
There were even people who were secretly monitoring him. Duncan had felt their eyes upon him on several occasions. But, he never showed them that he was aware of their existence.
Right now, he was hurriedly cultivating the two martial arts he had picked up after returning to the sect. Something told him that he would need them pretty soon in the future.
Every disciple who was able to advance in his cultivation was eligible to choose a new martial art. As a direct disciple, he had the privilege of choosing two martial arts.
Duncan didn't waste such an opportunity. He had chosen the next set of sword techniques called <Absolute Slash Sword Art>, which was a related sword technique to the one he originally chose, along with a <Blood Escape Technique>.
Right now, he had two sword arts, one movement technique, and one escape technique in his possession. As for the cultivation technique, even though Duncan didn't need it, he still maintained the façade and asked his master to provide the technique for the next two levels.
His master had graciously provided him with that and asked him to come to meet him after a week of consolidating his gains. He had informed Duncan that he had a mission for him.
Duncan didn't know how to feel about this mission. On one hand, the undercurrent in the sect made him a little worried. On the other hand, he would be glad to escape from this stressful environment.
Regardless, Duncan knew that there wasn't much he could do about the situation. He was just a small ant. If there was really some incident involving the elders and his master, he could only hope that he wouldn't be implicated by it…
