Early in the morning, Lily came by the Shining Residence to come with us to the main peak for my ceremony.

  She had been training this whole week so we hadn’t met, but I was happy to have her here now.

  “Big Sis!”

  “Anshe!”

  Ignoring everything, she jumped and pulled me in an embrace and swung me around.

  “I missed you so much!”

  ‘Oye, it's only been a week, why are you behaving like this?’

  I know we haven’t been separated as much, but isn’t this too much?

  Not like I hate it though.

  “Ahem!”

  She awkwardly let me go, as her attention was brought to the other person standing there. Blushing furiously, she spoke in a small voice.

  “M-m-master, n-n-nice to see you are doing well…”

  I looked at my mom and she had a mischievous smile on her face as she moved her gaze between me and her.

  “Oh, don’t mind me, you guys can continue…”

  “N-n-no master, t-this is a misunderstanding! I was just…”

  I looked at this blushing girl and my mom and felt a headache coming.

  “If you’re done teasing her, can we go now?”

  I heard her clicking her tongue in annoyance.

  “Shouldn’t you be blushing as well? You’re no fun, hmph!”

  “Well, sorry for ruining your fun. I’ll try to act embarrassed next time.”

  “Yeah, yeah, let’s go.”

  She snapped her fingers and a magic circle appeared beneath our feet and we were transported to the main peak’s enormous gates.

  It was made entirely of gold and reached tens of meters high.

  I almost sprained my neck looking to the top.

  Towering guards stood like statues, their armor polished to perfection. Their expressions were cold, more like machines than humans.

  There were armoured guards guarding the gate on both sides.

  As we walked through, they didn’t bother stopping us as the Shining Cauldron’s Peak master was with us.

  It didn’t take much longer to reach the location, it was a small building, built in traditional eastern style.

  We walked through the lush and majestic garden that surrounded this building and reached the entrance.

  The sliding doors opened with almost no resistance and we walked in.

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  There were already a few people waiting in there, looks like I’m not the only one getting awakened today.

  We still had to wait for a few more people to show up so while Lily and I waited at the side my mom went and talked with some people in the front.

  “Peak Master Eshreal! Good to see you!”

  A hulking man came smiling towards us.

  “I heard the good news! Your son is finally healed. I wanted to come and congratulate you myself, but as you know I had my niece with me and she wanted me to train her so I couldn’t get the time.”

  As he said this, he pointed at a girl similar to my age in the front.

  “It’s okay, Peak Master Rodan. Just the sentiment is enough. Nice to meet you too, young lady.”

  The little girl with snow white hair and light blue eyes, and with skin as pale as snow itself, didn’t speak, and like a doll, just bowed her head in respect.

  “Please don’t mind her, Peak Master, she is just shy.”

  My mother waved her hands to indicate she didn’t mind it. And Also gestured to me to introduce myself.

  I walked ahead and looked at the almost seven feet tall muscular man in front of me.

  He was the peak master of the Twirling Blade Peak, it was a peak dedicated to magic sword masters.

  It was also the peak with the most students. If he bothered to come out with this girl then she was a very good talent. Everyone knew that this man was the most cold hearted person in the entire sect. I knew because mom had warned me against him and told me to be careful and not fall for his good-guy act.

  For him to bother with this ceremony and even conduct it, then it meant that this girl had a lot of potential or was someone very special.

  But a good talent with a lot of potential was nothing more than a target in my eyes. My eyes lit up with greed, but I hid it quickly lest they misunderstand.

  I bowed a little to show respect but not too much and introduced myself.

  “Nice to meet you, Peak Master Rodan. I’m Anshe, I will be under your care today.”

  He crossed his arms and nodded towards me.

  “Good, I like your confidence, young man!”

  He said with a smile before he went back to talking with my mom about some business I couldn’t care less about.

  I moved my gaze to my target, time to get another work-horse.

  There was a reason I decided to target her, from the moment I noticed her, she has had a look of superiority. Even the bow she made to my mom was out of formality, she was looking down on everyone here, including her own uncle.

  But because this was a public place she was trying to keep up appearances.

  As long as she is pretending, I can find an opportunity, if she were to awaken before I made my move she would try to avoid everyone here.

  So while keeping my fake smile, I walked towards her and moved my hand for a handshake.

  “Hey there, nice to meet you, I’m Anshe. What’s your name?”

  God, I hate acting like a bubbly child. Even my mother knew I was acting weird as she looked at me with eyes that didn’t recognize her own child.

  But for everyone else, I was just a child trying to make a new friend.

  I didn’t look at Lily though, she was looking at me weirdly and I could feel my body tighten with her gaze so I ignored it.

  I kept my smile while I waited for her to shake my hand. Which she didn’t immediately do.

  Her eyes moved towards her uncle, who secretly gestured her to play along, which I caught since I was also paying attention to both of them.

  She hesitantly moved her hand and barely grabbed hold of it.

  [Suitable target for Soul Binding found - Sarah Scarletgrave. Establish connection? Yes/No]

  ‘Yes!’

  “I’m Sarah. Nice to meet you too.”

  She spoke in a barely audible voice.

  [Connection established with target.]

  Hearing her surname, my fake smile couldn’t help but turn into a genuine one as I nodded and moved back to Lily.

  I knew she was trouble. Pretending to be a niece to that mountain of a man over there.

  But knowing she was someone I had to be wary of but also someone who will also contribute to my growth, I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face, not knowing everyone around me was greatly misunderstanding everything.

  “Woah, looks like this little guy there has a crush.”

  “Couldn’t blame him though, she is adorable, almost like a doll.”

  “It’s good being so young!”

  As I heard the whispers around me, the grin on my face vanished but I did see the look on the girl’s face change a little.

  She suddenly looked away from me.

  ‘Aren’t you supposed to be arrogant, why are you shying away now!’