The next morning, Damian sat beneath the tree in the courtyard, lazily drinking tea while watching Vulkara practice swinging her short blade.

Her movements were rough, but they were full of aggression.

Every slash looked like she wanted to cut someone apart.

Damian watched for a while before suddenly asking, "Vulkara."

Vulkara stopped and turned her head toward him. "What?"

Damian placed his cup down and smiled. "Tell me about your past."

The moment he said that, Vulkara’s expression immediately changed.

Her red eyes narrowed, and she pointed the short blade toward him. "Why the hell do I need to tell you that?"

Damian leaned back calmly. "Because I’m your master."

Vulkara frowned even harder. "So what? Just because you’re my master, I need to tell you everything?"

Damian nodded seriously. "Of course."

Vulkara stared at him for a few seconds before snorting. "Dream on. I don’t want to tell you."

Damian looked at her stubborn face and sighed. "You’re really difficult."

Vulkara crossed her arms. "Then don’t ask."

Damian rubbed his chin for a moment before suddenly taking out a jade bottle from his storage ring.

The moment the jade bottle appeared, Vulkara’s eyes moved slightly.

Damian smiled faintly and shook the bottle in his hand. "If you tell me, I’ll give you this."

Vulkara frowned, pretending not to care. "What is it?"

Damian opened the bottle slightly, allowing a faint medicinal fragrance to drift out. "Top-Rank Mortal Grade Spirit Gathering Pills."

The moment she heard that, Vulkara’s expression froze.

Even though she had already seen Violetta receive Top-Rank Profound Grade pills yesterday, that didn’t mean Top-Rank Mortal Grade pills were useless to her.

She was only at the Qi Refining Realm, so this kind of pill was still extremely useful for her cultivation.

Vulkara stared at the bottle, then looked back at Damian. "Are you trying to bribe me?"

Damian nodded without shame. "Yes."

Vulkara’s mouth twitched. "You bastard... at least deny it."

Damian grinned. "Why should I? I am bribing you."

Vulkara clenched her teeth, clearly wanting to reject him out of pride, but her eyes kept drifting back toward the jade bottle.

Damian chuckled. "Come on. You don’t need to tell me everything. Just give me the important points."

Vulkara frowned. "Important points?"

Damian nodded. "Yeah. I don’t need your whole life story right now. I mainly want to know about your enemy."

Vulkara’s expression darkened slightly, and for a moment, she stayed silent.

Then she clicked her tongue and finally sat down across from him. "Fine. I’ll tell you what you need to know."

Damian smiled and pushed the jade bottle slightly forward. "Good girl."

Vulkara glared at him. "Say that again and I’ll bite you."

Damian raised both hands. "Alright, alright. Speak."

Vulkara looked away for a moment before slowly speaking. "I was an orphan. I grew up on the streets, stealing, fighting, and doing whatever I needed to survive."

Her fingers tightened slightly around her sleeve. "Later, I joined the Great Flame Sect because of my looks."

Damian nodded slowly, not interrupting.

Vulkara’s expression became ugly. "My life should have been smoother after that. Even if people hated me, I could still survive as long as I kept improving."

Then her red eyes burned with hatred. "But everything changed because of that bitch."

Damian raised an eyebrow. "That bitch?"

Vulkara clenched her fists. "Fionel."

Her voice was low, but the hatred inside it was obvious. "Fionel is an inner disciple of the Great Flame Sect. She has talent, beauty, backing, and a group of followers who treat her like some damn princess."

Damian rubbed his chin. "Sounds troublesome."

Vulkara sneered. "Troublesome? She’s worse than troublesome. She acts gentle in front of others, but behind their backs, she’s cruel as hell."

Her eyes became colder. "At first, she only looked down on me. But after I fought back against her people, she started targeting me directly."

Damian nodded. "And she framed you?"

Vulkara gritted her teeth. "Yes. She made everyone believe I stole a secret martial art. After that, those bastards chased me into the Black Mist Forest."

Damian leaned back slightly and smiled. "I see."

Vulkara looked at him sharply. "Why are you smiling?"

Damian casually tossed the jade bottle to her. "Because now I know who your enemy is."

Vulkara caught the bottle and frowned. "And?"

Damian’s smile became colder. "And since you’re my disciple now, your enemy is my enemy too."

Vulkara froze, and for a moment, she didn’t know what to say.

Then she looked away and clicked her tongue softly. "Annoying bastard..."

But this time, her grip on the jade bottle tightened slightly.

---

Inside the Great Flame Sect, Fionel sat in her courtyard with a faint frown on her face.

Several days had already passed since she had sent people to deal with Vulkara, yet until now, there had been no news at all.

This made her feel slightly uncomfortable.

She slowly tapped her finger against the stone table and looked toward the follower standing beside her. "Why is there still no news from those three?"

The follower lowered his head slightly. "Senior Sister Fionel, we also don’t know. They have not sent any message back yet."

Fionel’s frown deepened.

Those people were not weak. All of them were Foundation Establishment cultivators, so dealing with Vulkara should have been easy. But then why had they not returned?

Fionel narrowed her eyes slightly. "Could it be that they died?"

The moment she said that, the follower’s expression changed a little.

"That... is possible. After all, the Black Mist Forest has become very dangerous recently. Many Foundation Establishment cultivators have already died there because of the treasure disturbance."

Another follower quickly added, "Senior Sister, perhaps they encountered a powerful beast or got dragged into a battle between stronger cultivators." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Fionel slowly leaned back in her chair. "Then what about Vulkara?"

The first follower answered carefully, "She was already heavily injured when they chased her into the forest. Even if those three died, Vulkara should not have survived either."

The other follower nodded. "Yes. With her injuries and cultivation, it would already be a miracle if she managed to escape the deeper region alive."

Fionel stayed silent for a moment.

Although she still felt that something was strange, their words were not unreasonable, so she finally sighed. "Fine. Then leave it for now."

Her eyes turned cold again. "Whether those fools died or not doesn’t matter. As long as Vulkara is dead, that’s enough."

The followers quickly bowed. "Yes, Senior Sister."

Fionel lifted her teacup again and looked toward the distant forest with narrowed eyes. "Vulkara... you better be dead, or else."