Death... and me

Laun looked at Xiria with surprise as he instantly rejected the idea.

"What?! No can do! You might not have the necessary talent like Dilan or Tuc, but you're my only daughter. Besides, even though you're just a little worse off than those ones, you're still a very talented member of our clan. There's no way that your mother or I would let that happen! Who knows what that guy will try to do to you? Forget it!"

It turns out that Laun had always been a very protective father. If the Soul Stone wasn't extremely important to the clan and Frandin wasn't a Celestial Land Disciple, he would never allow Xiria to try that. Well... that was regarding his daughter. As for his two sons, he was very strict with the two of them. Dilan just so happened to be Xiria's older brother.

However, Xiria quickly explained.

"Father, he had me right on his palm and could do anything he wanted. For the sake of knowing how to use the Soul Stone, I wouldn't have resisted at all. Also, he understood that we wouldn't do anything to him even if he didn't know the method. However, he still didn't touch me and stopped everyone from continuing. You have to give him this much credit at least."

Laun's dark expression didn't disappear as he said.

"Still..."

However, Sumeri intervened right after.

"What I want to know is whether you think you can trust him or not. Xiria, from what you've seen so far, what can you say about him?"

Xiria pondered over the question a bit and then explained.

"He always acts high and aloof. However, I haven't heard about him doing anything bad in the city. The only thing I can tell is that he got into an argument against Valia from the Portin Clan."

"An argument? Why? Didn't he go to the Portin Clan earlier?"

Laun then explained what they found, which left Sumeri quite surprised.

"I see... he got into an argument for the sake of his humans. That's really unexpected. We don't bring our humans into Zasfin establishments to avoid these kinds of problems, but he didn't care about that. He totally defended his own. Why do I feel like he treats his humans even better than us?"

Xiria and Laun couldn't answer that, deciding to ask.

"What does Ancestor mean by that?"

Sumeri shook her head as she replied.

"Oh, nothing. It's just that these humans accompanying him seem more important to him than what we initially thought. Of course, that's a good thing. At least, our beliefs match each other. I'm especially satisfied that he did say it would be very dangerous to whoever wants to follow him. On top of that, he also gave us the option to refuse if we wanted to."

Laun snorted as he said.

"Ha! That's just because he can recruit anyone in the other clans even if we don't choose anyone."

Sure enough, he still didn't like the idea.

However, Xiria shook her head as she refuted her father's words.

"That's not it. What Gian wants is someone who won't mistreat his humans. How many clans do you know that have Zasfins like us?"

"This..."

He could definitely find some poor families who treated their human slaves well. They were rare, but considering the size of the city, they existed. However, finding a clan with as much authority as theirs with the same thoughts was another story. He wouldn't be surprised if they were the only big power in the city that didn't think about humans as nothing but slaves.

Sumeri smiled at Xiria before commenting.

"You seem to trust him quite a lot. Why is that? Could it be that you really took a liking for the man? Don't forget, he's from the Celestial Lands, so you probably wouldn't even have a chance since he has so many better options."

Xiria immediately shook her head. What was it? Love at first sight? Those things only happened in books.

"That's not it!"

Laun was even more displeased now, saying.

"That's right! Anyway, you can't go with him."

Sumeri shrugged her shoulders as she changed the topic.

"Well, if you say so. Then, who would you send in Xiria's stead? Even though it's dangerous, it's also an enormous opportunity. If it allows the selected clan member to join a Celestial Land, that would be even better."

Xiria immediately raised her hand as she said.

"Ancestor's right. I want to go myself!"

Laun was taken aback as he instantly shouted.

"What?! Didn't you hear what I said?!"

Xiria didn't seem to care, though.

"You said it yourself, father. I'm not at the level of Zasfins like Tuc and my older brother. If we put other clans in the mix, I can only be considered good at best, but far from the top. I don't want to let this chance slip from my fingertips! He's someone who passed the Rank Five Bloodline Trial on his own. As long as I survive, I can definitely benefit from accompanying him. Even if you refuse, I won't let it go. My only doubt was whether ancestor would accept it or not."

Laun immediately looked at Sumeri and said.

"Ancestor, you said it yourself. It is indeed a great opportunity. In that case, isn't it better to have one of our top geniuses go? He did say that gender doesn't matter, right? Then, my son, Dilan, would definitely accept it."

Xiria was enraged as she couldn't help but say.

"Father, you're too shameless. You just said that my talent was too high to be wasted, but now you're offering Big Brother Dilan? You're contradicting yourself!"

Laun threw caution to the wind.

"So what? I don't want to give my daughter to the wolves. If I have to be shameless, I will do so with open arms."

Sumeri massaged her forehead. She couldn't say she understood Laun since she had never married. She became the ancestor of the Asume Clan due to her putting all of her time into Soul and Spiritual Energy cultivation. That being said, she didn't have a son or a daughter to lose like him.

"Alright, that's enough, you two. There's an easy way to resolve this."

Luan and Xiria looked at Sumeri, waiting for her idea.

"Have Gian Torio decide. Give him a list of members from our clan who would want to go and have him meet them. Whoever he chooses to take in the end shall be the clan's choice. Understood?"

Laun and Xiria nodded, agreeing with the idea. It's just as Sumeri mentioned. The final decision would still be Gian's. From the looks of it, he didn't care who it was as long as he or she had the Bloodline Soul Mark.

---

Author's note: I released a new project called The Ascension Age, check it out if you like this type of work.