The Emerald Whirlwind who was all smiles a moment ago was really confused right now.
"What do you mean with "no", you broke all the records, and ourpatibility is as high as possible, with my help both of us will be stronger, in fact while I''ll be weaker after entering in a contract with you, myprehension in elements will help you take thatst step you need for your sword intent, so why?".
Aster chuckled as he said.
"I know, what''s more I''m pretty sure I''ll be able to jump at least one whole realm if I were to ept your offer, but that''s not what I came here for".
A sepulchral silence fell on the room for a couple of seconds before the Emerald Whirlwind said.
"Then are you telling me you put all that effort into finishing first, showed off that monstrous golden attribute whatever in the name of the heavens might be, for the sake of someone''s else?".
Aster nodded without a second of hesitation.
"Yeah, your elements perfectly align with Kana so I''m pretty sure you will be able to grow more with her than me, as "green" isn''t my path", said Aster as his golden spirit energy leaked out of his body.
The woman frowned as she evaluated Aster''s usual rxed expression, the time stopped for a moment as she changed her attention to some of the other participants, starting for the little girl who has surprised her quite a bit so far.
…
"Let me see if I understand correctly, you want me to help your big brother be stronger?", asked the Emerald Whirlwind.
Kana repeatedly nodded before her expression changed as if she remembered something.
Seeing the abrupt change in Kana''s expression, the Emerald Whirlwind inwardly nodded.
''Yeah, that''s right, think of it thoroughly, who will give away such an opportunity to be stronger…".
The Emerald Whirlwind''s train of thought was interrupted by Kana''s innocent voice saying.
"Right, sister Vivian also needs your help, so you can also be herpanion, I''m pretty sure big brother wouldn''t mind since she has be our friend~".
The Emerald Whirlwind was speechless right now, once again it seemed as it the time stopped as she changed to another of the participants, this time she decided to go to a "extreme" to see what the hell was happening here.
So, she appeared in the room where the rude red-haired girl which she had to expel from the trials thest time, in other words Natasha.
And after a simple exchange of words, she had to make sure her ears weren''t deceiving her.
"What the hell do you mean with "You''ll be a gift for my man", didn''t youe here to find something to give your family more survival chances in this chaotic era?", asked the Emerald Whirlwind with a slightly exasperated voice, while with Aster Natasha is really mellow though yful, with others she is pretty much brutally honest.
"Humph, what do you know, treasures might be rare, but there are a lot of them in all shapes and sizes spread through the universe, it''s only a matter of time before my family gets a word about another one, but where am I going to find such a good man like Aster ever again?".
Natasha then dumbly smiled, like a maiden in love.
"Besides, if I be his lover and you go with him, then the result is the same, my family gets a new ally with a limitless potential and I get what I want too, two birds one stone, now shush don''t make my future husband wait and go sign a contract with him", she said as she waved her hand like chasing the Emerald Whirlwind away.
The scene froze, not only because the Emerald Whirlwind still wanted to hear more opinions, but because she a spiritual being whose age is unknown, was at the brink of fighting with someone from the younger generation.
''The matriarch of the Sun Graceful Luan race must have incurred in the wrath of the heavens, to be punished like this'', she thought as she appeared in front of a tall blond-haired girl with a pretty much cold emotionless expression.
But then again, the answer she expected wasn''t the one her ears were hearing right now.
"If I''m the winner then go with Aster, the ck-haired boy who was in the same group with me", said Charlotte with her usual calm voice, but a slight tinge of red on her cheeks.
"Would you care to borate, why?", asked the Emerald Whirlwind.
Charlotte raised an eyebrow but she still took out a small book from her pocket and leafed through it until she reached about the middle page.
"Well, ording to my research a wife must support her husband, and Aster is the first and probably thest, I find worthy of bing my life partner, why wouldn''t I want to help my partner, specially when I''m sure he''ll do the same for me".
The Emerald Whirlwind had a strange expression as she saw Charlotte actually writing some other things in that book she had in her hands, before she left.
''Mm, let''s see, the people from the Ash Nether n are good business acquittances, but I have yet to see one who doesn''t have a second agenda, maybe I''ll be able to get an objective opinion from her'', thought the Emerald Whirlwind as she nodded to herself.
In a matter of seconds, she appeared in the room where Mylene was, simply waiting sitting cross legged.<novelnext></novelnext>
The Emerald Whirlwind frowned upon seeing Mylene''s unsurprised expression, until she spoke.
"I was wondering when where you going to truly appear, this formation is good but it wasn''t designed to trick someone with divine sense, so I was starting to get bored to see an elemental clone", said Mylene as she pointed at a small green particle which was floating above her palm.
The Emerald Whirlwind waved her hand and the green particle returned to her and integrated with her dress.
"I had my doubts due to your hair color, ultimately your low cultivation made me think you were just a lucky branch family member who inherited the unique trait of the main branch… but among the Karel family only their royal lineage has such sensibility towards soul techniques, despite them being energy/body cultivators a natural evolution given how longer you have been at war with the Lyselle family, and since your native Divine Firmament is really far from here, that would mean you are their supposedly deceased princess, Mylene Karel am I right?".
Mylene chuckled as she got up but then she shook her head in response.
"You are half right and half wrong, I''m indeed Mylene Karel, but I wouldn''t consider it "luck" to have been born within the Karel family nor any of its branches, at least not good luck, but enough with that, judging by your expression there is something that''s bothering you right Emerald Whirlwind?", asked Mylene with a cunning smile on her face.
The Emerald Whirlwind softly snorted.
"That''s why people don''t tend to associate with the Karel''s you know… whatever, you are travelling with a ck-haired guy, I want to know why as it is important for my decision".
Mylene chuckled before saying.
"Is that all, well, the answer is pretty simple, it''s because he is someone precious to me, my first friend who I''m sure would never try to manipte me, nor scheme against me the moment I show him my back".
"And just to be clearer with you, the result you saw after listening to whatever his answer might have been, thanks to this "Heart Scale" divine formation, was 100% true, specially if it involved anyone of… us", said Mylene including herself in Aster''s family for the first time to anyone.
"Aren''t you curious Emerald Whirlwind, as a being with a virtual unlimited lifespan, don''t you want to see how far someone with the strongest ability in the universe goes?".
The Emerald Whirlwind frowned, remembering that golden energy which was able to sent flying although iplete, a lightning sent by the heavenlyw… in other words that was a lightning with simr properties as the one used by the heavens to punish or put someone through a tribtion, an element which can''t be blocked with sheer strength as it bes stronger based on the cultivation of the target.
Mylene saw the contemtive expression of the Emerald Whirlwind and she softlyughed.
"I didn''t mean that golden energy though it is indeed scary, in case you haven''t noticed it, he has the ability to drag others to his side, and for someone like that, there is no such a thing as a limit", she said with a bright smile on her face.
"You… I guess rumors aren''t trustworthy, princess of the Ash Nether n, no matter how I look at you, there is no way you are that heartless woman who wouldn''t trust anyone, and had a way to deal with the possible betray of every single person you had shared a word with", said the Emerald Whirlwind as she disappeared, but this time the time didn''t "stop" as she had already gotten the answers she wanted from the girls.
''I wouldn''t say they aren''t trustworthy, but "outdated" instead'', thought Mylene as she waited for the trial to end.
…
The time "stopping" only applied to the Emerald Whirlwind, "she" talked with every single one of the participants at the same time, truth to be told all the ones talking with the participants were soul clones, created by abination of a silver of her soul and a condensation of her elements.
All of them were a part of her, but weren''t her at the same time, she could hear and see all what they could and she used that along with the "Heart Scale" divine formation mentioned by Mylene, to determine whether someone was being honest or not.
Everything was going like always, someone outstood un the trials and she gave that person a direct "yes", though it was all for the sake of the third trial, while she asked the others what they wanted her power for.
But then Aster''s answer was not what she expected, for the first time someone rejected her direct approval, so she couldn''t help but switch ces with her clone to directly ask him why.
And this is where she expected the formation to tell her, he was just feigning for the sake of leaving a good impression, or maybe because he somehow realized the Emerald Whirlwind previously talking to him was just a fake.
But no, in fact for the first time since she isted herself in this secret realm, she found someone whose heart didn''t have an ounce of doubt or falsehood, he 100% was willing to let go of an incredible opportunity for the sake of someone else.
So, then she went to hispanions, which in her experience always had the desire to get the treasure so themselves, for a variety of reasons, which sometimes are understandable but most of the time aren''t, in other words simple jealousy, hatred and the like, and that has included from sworn brothers, best friends, to lovers and close rtives, it was always the same, in front of benefits every single one of them showed the darkness in their hearts, and that''s the purpose of the Heart Scale.
Imagine her surprise when she saw another impossibility bing true in front of her, in the same day.
That''s right, all of thepanions she asked weren''t lying or hiding any ulterior intentions, from the bottom of their hearts they were willing to give away such a treasure to other person, it was mind opening for her, specially because she had a reference to consult, in other words Mylene.
For the Emerald Whirlwind gather all that information happened in the blink of an eye, and then the real one who stayed in front of Aster, looked at him with a rather curious expression.
"Why do they trust you so much, why do you trust they would do the same for you?", she asked in a low voice.
"Because they are my family, and they bing stronger is the same as me doing it, what''s the point of eternity if I can''t spend it with those, I cherish, that would mean being alone… and I don''t want to go through that again", said Aster, though he didn''t have divine sense like Mylene, he could feel the change in the "Emerald Whirlwind" in front on him, mostly because he has seen something simr with Rya''s iplete spiritual form, bing more and more simr to the dazzling goddess he saw that day when he met the twins.
And thanks to that he could also notice that after getting his answer the real Emerald Whirlwind left, and just left her clone who had a fixed number of answers.