Unparalleled Existence

Chapter 9: News of the Breakthrough

Next morning…

Scarlet Estate_ _ _

The lord’s mansion_ _ _

The atmosphere was joyous and cheerful as bouts of laughter filled the air. The Scarlet lord and his family sat in their spacious and beautifully decorated sitting room, as everyone wore pleasant smiles on their faces, this was especially so for Ethan who was grinning from ear to ear.

“Very good little Adi, this old man is extremely pleased, you have indeed made my day.” Ethan spoke with a smile all over his face.

It so happened that as the sun rose to a certain altitude from the East, casting its resplendent glow on the horizon, the birds chirped in different melodies,the cool and refreshing breeze carried the intoxicating fragrance of the flowers in the Scarlet lord’s garden as it wafted through the air in the mansion, bringing with it a refreshing feeling and calmness of mind to all who perceived it, it seemed like nature was also celebrating.

And it was in this ethereal atmosphere that news of Adrian’s official step onto the path of cultivation came to the Scarlet lord’s family, leading to the current situation in the living room.

“Thank you for the compliment grandpa.” Adrian replied in a humble tone and with a smile.

“Good boy, grandma is so proud of you.” Margaret joined from the side as she flashed a smile at the kid she took as her own few years back. Stepping onto the path of cultivation at this age was a show of potential and she was happy that her decision back them was right and she didn’t give in to the persuasion of that husband of hers or her son.

"Nicely done Adrian,you are almost catching up to your elder sister,who knows you may even surpass her.” Arias spoke with a smile as he glanced at Tina who was seated beside her mother only to receive a stuck out tongue and a funny face as a reply from her.

“At least he will no longer suffer much under Tina’s clutch,sweetheart, you better be prepared.” Nathaniel joined in from the side as she looked at her daughter with a smile.

“Hmph! Who cares what rank or realm he is,he will still be my little bro and playmate and if tries anything funny, then I will make sure I deal with him." Tina finally spoke with puffed cheeks as a slightly annoyed expression appeared on her face,crossing her hands over her chest she turned her head away after giving Adrian a stern glare leaving a dumbfounded Adrian to ponder over his non-existing crime.

‘Shouldn’t this young lady be happy with my progress? Sigh! Forget it,I will just keep working hard so as not to suffer under her hand.’ Adrian pondered silently but he could only shrug things off. Now that he was in the first rank of the Body Refinement realm he stood a higher chance of escaping from Tina’s hands in situations like yesterday’s crazy ride.

“Haha_ _ _” The people in the room laughed out as the looked at Adrian’s dumbfounded expression and Tina’s puffed up cheeks, the usual drama between the two kids always brought boundless joy to the family.

“Congratulations little bro,we expect more from you.” The young lord of the Scarlet house,Stains,spoke with a smile as he went up and patted Adrian on the shoulder. Though ten years old, Stains already possessed a mature air and mindset above his age. His broad mindedness made the members of the Scarlet house, including the house Elders,have a satisfied attitude towards him. The young generation respected him while the elders loved his behavior and mindset.

“Yea we are really happy for you,after months of suffering under younger sis, the heavens finally rewarded you.” Mark spoke with enthusiasm as he flung his arm over Adrian’s shoulder not noticing the change in Tina’s facial expression. Mark, the second young lord of the Scarlet house,was jovial and friendly in nature,he speaks his mind freely without a care in the world and he was fun to be with, but it seems his mouth has angered someone.

“Thank you very much elder brothers, I earnestly appreciate.” Adrian flashed a smile as he replied to the kind words and gestures of the two guys.

“How is he suffering in my hands?” Tina snapped at Mark’s statement as tears formed in her furious eyes.

“I only played with him, how is that punishing him or him suffering?” Tina’s aggrieved voice sounded once more.

Her current state left everyone surprised, but common let’s be honest here, dragging an ordinary person at high speed as you ran, wasn’t that punishment? But saying that to her face may lead to another thing, probably a slap from someone, but basically they all knew that she didn’t have any bad intentions toward Adrian, seriously speaking she was the one that was the closest to Adrian and cared more for him than anyone in the house.

“Errhm!_ _” Mark had a confused and conflicted expression as he saw his sister’s expression.

“It’s not like that sis.I..I am just happy for Adrian.” Mark stuttered as he tried to explain to this little ancestor.Provoking her didn’t end well, his father’s misfortune yesterday was still fresh in his memory and for once in his life he didn’t want to follow his father’s footsteps. He stole a glance at his grandpa and saw that he didn’t react much only looking at them, he sighed in relief, although the old man wouldn’t go physical on him, his training routine may increase in both difficulty and time which may lead to exhaustion.

“Come on sweetheart, your brother never meant bad, he was just happy for little Adi.” Nathaniel spoke in a tender tone as she tried to calm her daughter who was beside her.

“Yes,yes_ _ _mum is right.” Mark hurriedly spoke as he cast a grateful look towards his mother for on-time rescue.

“Cheer up little princess your brother meant no bad.” Arias joined his voice with his wifetrying to pacifying the little girl.

“Hmph! I will forgive you this time,though little Adi’s progress is a good thing, I will also not slack off and will make sure he doesn’t surpass me.” The last sentence was filled with a confident and a determined tone as it reverberated in the room.

A strong determination and dominant air was released from Tina as she stared at Adrian, the tears in her eyes had already disappeared. Adrian’s face twitched slightly as she heard Tina call him “little Adi” for heaven’s sake she was only a year older than him and here she was treating him like someone who was years younger than her. The other members of the family found it extremely funny, the only smiled wryly.

“Who will dare bully my beautiful granddaughter? Come here Tina come sit with grandpa.” Ethan who has been watching the drama silently, suddenly spoke in a loud voice jolting all the people in the room and almost scaring the s**t out of them.

“Quiet down old man.” Margaret’s voice sharply rang out as she gave Ethan a cold glare shutting the roaring tiger up. What was wrong with this man!

“Do you really wanna comfort Tina or scare the kids,hmph! One more unnecessary noise from you and you are done for.” Margaret’s reprimanding voice came bearing down on Ethan as he quickly shut his mouth and shrank down into his chair not daring to make a peep.

“Hehe_ _ _” Tina giggled at her grandfather’s reaction. She was probably the only one in the entire Scarlet house_ _ _no_ _the entire Legacy city that will dare laugh at the old man’s misfortune. Seeing her laugh without a care in the world, the other members of the family sweated buckets as they held the laughter that was threatening to burst out from their mouths. The kids stood straight as cold sweat ran down their spine, all except Tina, she was that daring.

But how could Ethan not see the laughter they were holding back, he directed a threatening glare to them all which seemed to say: “You better not let that laugh loose or else..” The other members of the family felt wronged. They didn’t laugh but received glares while Tina received nothing, where was the justice here?

If anyone else was to do what Tina did, then even the heavens will not save the person from the old man’s wrath.

“Come my girl, come sit with grandma.” Margaret called Tina as she opened her arms,with a doting smile on her face. Tina giggled happily as she leapt into her grandmother’s arms and sat on her laps. Her grandparents loved her a lot and will not allow anything harm her.

“Good girl,good girl.” Margaret spoke with Tina in her embrace as she caressed her jet-black hair.

With the case of the old man solved, the kids sighed in relief as the felt their sweat-drenched backs.

“Smith.” Ethan called out as he regained his usual calm and mighty demeanor.

“Yes my lord.” The butler answered.

“Have the servants prepare a feast in the banquet hall and send send messages to the elders and vice-elders of the house inviting them for a celebration in honor of little Adi’s achievement.” Ethan ordered in a flat tone.

“At once my lord.” The butler left to execute the orders.

Since it was weekend the entire family were free from office work, most of them let their secretary handle some of the important stuffs while the slightly less important ones like signing contracts were sent to their offices at home. As night drew near, the banquet hall had people walking in for the feast,some of them were elderly figures while the others were middle-aged, there were also some of the younger generation who came with their seniors or parents who were either Elders or Vice-elders. The Scarlet house had ten Elder-class existences and many Vice-elders. To be recognized as an Elder in the Scarlet house, one must have the cultivation of at least the Core Manifestation realm while Vice-elders are usually at the half-step Core Manifestation realm. With the astonishingly vast space of the hall, it can comfortably fit a thousand people and above and the number of persons that came for the feast were only around one hundred and fifty. The banquet hall had marble floor, standing statues at the corner and extremes of the hall,high windows which almost reached the ceilings, it had gem-like objects fitted into the walls across the hall as the released resplendent lights,illuminating the hall, it had round tables arranged across the hall with five seats around each table, at one extreme of the hall was a raised platform which had three or four steps for ascension, this stage had only one long table on it with approximately thirty chairs arranged properly on one side of the table facing the hall.

When the time was right Arias called on Adrian as he broke the news of his breakthrough to all and sundry. Some of the members of the younger generation present were envious of Adrian as he was made the character of the night. Most of them were envious as they hadn’t even stepped into the door of cultivation although they were of the same age with him. Although kids, they still had that zeal and wish in them to be given such honor, but unfortunately…

After releasing the news of Adrain’s breakthrough to the people present and giving a toast by Arias, congratulatory messages came from all sides,after which food and drinks of different varieties and kind were served, of course the kids were not permitted to take alcohol but were only given juice. The feast began by five o’clock in the evening and lasted through ten in the night. The moon was already high up in the sky when the last batch of people left the banquet hall.