Listening to Tausi, Zilan’s anger gradually calmed down. Do not be mistaken though, this did not mean he forgave her. No, Zilan could relate to her current predicament and that is why his rage had subsided.
He had been in a situation similar to hers where a powerful foreign party used and manipulated him just so that they could get the ‘treasure’ that was his eyes.
What caught Zilan off guard though was that he did not recognise the name [Skylock Seed]. From what she said, the item she was born with ought to be extremely powerful however, as someone who had researched and read a lot, Zilan did not know what it was.
‘The side effect alone is capable of charming the vast majority of people. What about the actual item then? What power does it hold?’
Tausi carefully examined Zilan’s expressions after telling him about her unique body. From her observation she was able to gather that he was no longer as annoyed as before causing her to heave a sigh of relief. The relief only lasted but a moment though before she suddenly started to panic.
‘Why did I tell him all of that?’ It hadn’t even crossed her mind that he would want to obtain the seed for himself now that he had knowledge of it. ‘Why was I so careless?’
She was unable to comprehend why after being so cautious and calculative in her actions over the years, now would be the time that she messed up. She painfully understood what greed, especially to the ambitious, represented, and yet she still slipped up.
She turned to look at Zilan, observing his every move. At the slightest hint of danger, she would instantly take action.
Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately Zilan had almost no such reaction. He simply furrowed his brows and slightly frowned as he thought on her words.
‘Skylock Seed? What exactly is that?’
Unable to come up with an answer, he slowly raised his head to look at Tausi.
“Give me your hand.” His arm stretched out as he spoke.
Tausi was initially shocked as well as reluctant but she could feel that he had no malicious intent thus acquiescing and giving her hand.
The moment her fingers came in contact with his though, a strange sensation enveloped her. Just as she was growing uncomfortable the sensation suddenly vanished.
She then pulled her eyes away from his hand and onto his face. What she saw though startled her enough that she immediately withdrew her hand from his grasp.
“Is everything alright?”
Zilan did not respond. Not because he was ignoring her but rather he just didn’t hear her.
His face drained of colour and his heart beat quickened. Even after Tausi withdrew her hand, his eyes still remained focused on that spot.
Before his eyes was a report compiled by the Book of Path.
“Tausi Evenheart.
18 years old.
Low level (Late phase) Soul compression stage equivalent.
Bloodline: Traces of the Transcendent Peacock in her bloodline but its quantity is quite low. The rest of her blood stems from a mixture of different species. The Tien Mine crane, Languine rake……
She possesses a hidden item of immense power deep inside her. An Ancient creature resides within it but it is still a long way away from awakening. It is both her good fortune as well as unfortunate luck that her body was the one picked as the vessel for the Ancient creature.
It is called the Ancient Reincarnation Seed: Exclusive to the True Phoenix Race. In time, when the Phoenix is ready to be reborn, she will be destroyed.
Warning: Only she can bear the power of the seed. Trying to extract it will lead to [Chaos] in the Universe.”
Zilan read the analysis over and over again. He needed to be certain that he was not imagining it.
‘A phoenix, an actual f**king phoenix.’
In the Universe there were a few things that remained a mystery to all. One of them was the life cycle of the Phoenix and other species like it.
No one understood the process of how the Phoenixes were able to essentially, reincarnate over and over again. It was a mystery of the Universe and also a mystery of [Life]. However, right now in front of Zilan was a seed carrying a yet to be reborn Phoenix. He was tempted to try and extract a few clues from Tausi but fear of something going wrong forced him to quell his curiosity.
His complexion quickly recovered to its former hue and his temperament also reverted back to how it was.
“Everything is fine.” Replied Zilan.
As soon as he said that, a thought quickly suddenly ran through his mind.
‘Does Kring know that she holds a Phoenix within her or does he really believe that she’s housing this so called Skylock Seed?’
‘Either way, I cannot let him have his way. Sigh~ it looks like fate is leaving me no choice but to intervene, not that I planned to stand aside in the first place.’
He was right. As of now, allowing Kring to dig out the seed would result in a catastrophe so great that not only would he without a doubt lose his life but the Herald Plane as a whole would also seize to exist. Galaxies would be turned to dust, just like that. Such was the power contained within a seed that essentially was created to facilitate reincarnation.
Another reason as to why Zilan would definitely intervene was that he was not sure if Kring had a method to harvest the Seed. This was almost impossible but even if the chances were low, he would not take the risk of having something as priceless as the seed fall into the hands of someone like Kring.
Now, this did not necessarily imply that he had his eyes on the seed. In truth, the thought had not even crossed his mind. Why was this the case? Well, if he had devices on the seed, then what exactly made him different from the Order who wanted his eyes. Not to mention, Tausi’s life was already sad enough, she was destined to perish once the Phoenix was ready to be reborn and for a significant portion of her life she had been living in fear of Kring.
This combined to form a special cocktail known simply as despair. A drink Zilan and his kin had tasted more often than they’d liked.
“I’ll help you.” Said Zilan.
These words came as a complete surprise to Tausi. She had not and would not allow herself to accept that such an outcome was possible. Why would a stranger willingly help her when everyone and everything she knew abandoned her? Her family had actually already accepted benefits in exchange for her betrothal.
Zilan naturally knew none of this but he could empathise. “I have but one condition.”
Hearing that there was a condition involved, the warmth in her heart was quickly snuffed out.
“What is it?”
“Simple. I’d like you to stay away from me.”
Tausi raised her eyebrows in wonder. She could not help but ask, “Why?”
“No reason, just stay away from me.”
It didn’t take a genius to realise that he was lying but for what purpose did he want her to stay away?
The truth was Zilan did not trust himself. Yes, he could control his emotions but some things one simply could not control and the fact that they shared so much in common was a red flag for him. He could not afford the distraction nor the risk. Not to mention his heart already had someone else in it. All be it that person had long forgotten him.
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