A few hours later
I opened my eyes, wondering how she had done it. I looked next to me—Joseph was sleeping.
I looked around to see where we were. We weren't in the infirmary but in a bedroom. It must have been Arlen who brought us here to get answers to her questions.
We should leave now. I got up and tried to wake Joseph, who was starting to stir.
"Don't even think about it, Tony. You're not leaving without explaining," she said.
I couldn't do anything against her—I was too exhausted. I'd maybe slept for two hours. If only I'd had five more, I might've recovered a bit.
Joseph, now fully awake, looked at me and said,
"Tony, we have to talk now."
Sigh… "Alright, ma'am, are there any microphones here? And is it really just the three of us?" I asked.
"Yes, it's just us three," said Arlen.
"Before I start, Professor, know this: if you talk to even one person about what I'm going to say, I'll kill you without mercy. I might not be strong enough to do it now, but believe me, in just three years, that will change." I said.
Arlen looked straight into my eyes. It seemed like she was going to react to my threat.
"Professor Arlen, honestly—for your own good—you should listen to him," Joseph said.
"And why is that, Joseph?" Arlen asked.
"Because earlier, if you hadn't dodged Tony's last attack, you'd be dead by now."
"What are you talking about? I had no intention of killing her," I said.
"Believe me, you did. Why do you think she used her fastest technique? Because she sensed an imminent deadly threat. Isn't that right, ma'am?" Joseph said.
Arlen stayed silent. I think Joseph was right, but she wouldn't admit it.
"Alright, let's start and get this over with quickly," I said.
I told them about Canou Gérard's attempted murder.
"Not very surprising," said Arlen. "That guy kills people over the most meaningless reasons. But who's going to say anything? He's a rank six. Still, your story doesn't explain your strength."
"Actually, I'm rank four, and Joseph is rank two," I said.
"Joseph being rank two is rare, but possible. But you—barely a year in cultivation and already rank four—you haven't told me everything," Arlen said.
"Okay… okay, but you won't believe me."
A few minutes later
"Wait—you're saying there are multiple stages in cultivation? Which ones?"
"He told me only about two stages. First is the Human Stage, which goes from rank one to rank nine—and here on Earth, we're all within that. Then there's the Immortal Stage, from rank one to rank ten—but we can't reach that here," I explained.
"Why? I mean, why can't we reach the Immortal Stage?" Joseph asked.
"Do you remember when you absorbed ather for the first time? You must have spoken to something—that was the ather itself. To reach the Immortal Stage, the ather has to test us. But here on Earth, there isn't enough of it," I said.
Arlen asked what kind of attacks she couldn't see.
"There's nothing forcing me to talk about that—or about my fire," I said.
"That wasn't the deal," Arlen replied.
"What deal? Oh, by the way, I left out one small detail. In some time—could be months or years—cultivators from the Human Stage, rank eight or nine, will come to Earth looking for something. And if they find it, they'll unleash chaos across the entire planet," I said.
"Do you know why I didn't tell anyone? Because cultivation on Earth has become a joke. It's more about making money than becoming stronger. I know some cultivators lie about their real rank. But you don't, ma'am. I'm sure of it—someone weaker than me couldn't have dodged my Divine Dragon. If you were lying, you'd already be dead," I said.
"When will they come?" Joseph asked.
"I don't know. But either way, I only plan to stay here for two years. Then I'll remain on the fifteenth floor until they arrive," I said.
"You came here to build a team and to get revenge on Canou Gérard," said Arlen.
"Yes, exactly," I said.
"Okay, I want in," she said.
"What? You? And why would I accept you?" I asked.
"Because now I know a lot—and I could expose you," Arlen said.
Smiling, I asked her to say "yes" if she really wanted to join us.
"Yes, I'm in," she said.
"Joseph, training resumes in a week with our dear friend. As for you, Professor Arlen—make sure you're in bed by eleven. Now let's go, Joseph," I said.
"Professor Arlen, when the day comes, you'd better watch your back. That guy's a total maniac—and now that you've blackmailed him, he might do worse to you than what he did to me. The only good news is that I'm stronger now. But still… good luck," said Joseph.