Chapter 266 - Rachel's Tears
In the garden behind the Lancaster mansion, a young lady was seen sitting directly in front of a bucket of red blood. The bucket of blood was a mixture from various beasts that could easily be bought with the Lancaster's prestige and network.
Although it was not human blood, it did not matter as the intended result was still the same. The trauma in Rachel's childhood memory was invoked. This could easily be determined from the pale complexion and slight trembles of the delicate figure.
At the side, two servants patiently waited to serve the delicate figure.
The servants immediately spotted Leon upon his entry into the back garden and wanted to offer their greetings, but before they could, he shushed them with a simple gesture of pressing a finger against his lips.
Leon quietly observed the delicate figure that was akin to a single stalk of grass swaying in a violent storm, fighting a battle against her helpless past with determination.
If this were in the past, Rachel would have been completely rooted at the sight of blood and faced with violent flashbacks that replayed like a loop until she passed out. However, she was now holding her ground as she stared daggers at the bucket of blood like she was staring at her worse nemesis.
Perspiration could be seen, and her lips cracked with dryness. It was apparent that she had been going at it for some time.
Leon was moved by Rachel's determination to overcome her weakness with her own efforts rather than relying on the effects of pills. If she succeeds, he could see the prospect of her forging herself a strong heart.
If a cultivator wants to walk far on the road of cultivation, a strong heart was imperative. There would always be ups and downs in life, wins and losses are to be expected. If they cannot accept defeat with grace and move forward from life's setback, they would not be able to achieve great things.
Leon did not have any ill feelings towards the fact that his efforts to help had not been appreciated. He was not so narrow-minded. As a man, he should have a bigger heart and not be so petty, especially when it considers one's future.
Nevertheless, he still could not help but shake his head as he took out the two pills and glanced at them in his palm.
Everyone had inner demons and he was no exception. The helplessness, injustice, grievance, despair he experienced during his father's moments of death was his own inner demon.
Despite the collected way he usually behaves, only he knew that he was like a ticking time bomb that could explode at any given moment.
If he could not find tranquility and settle the blazing fury of in his heart, the inner demon would fester and consume him during the Soul Tribulation that practitioners must undergo to advance their stages during the Divine Transformation realm.
That being said, his divine cultivation had reset back to ground zero. He was a long way away from reaching the Divine State.
In his past life, he had only reached the Divine Origin realm, not even the Divine Star realm, let alone reaching the Divine Transformation realm.
However, if he took that as an excuse for himself to delay ridding his inner demon until he was more advanced in his cultivation, that would be irresponsible of him.
The presence of an inner demon represents the imperfection in one's state of mind and a weak heart. Only by ridding the inner demon would he have a strong heart, and a strong heart will be universally useful throughout his journey to the apex of life.
The world is unforgiving and dangerous. Trials, challenges, and tribulations exist at every turning point in one's life. Sometimes, they would be nigh impossible to overcome, felling even the best of men and making one feel nothing but utter despair.
It is especially during these times that a strong heart would show its true worth. Only by not giving up, would it be possible to subvert the odds and turn the impossibility into a possibility.
The wise sages of old once said, "When there's a will, there would be a way. The world is unforgiving, but never shuts off all doors to life, and helps those who help themselves."
Nothing is possible if you give up when the odds are against you but anything is still possible when you do not give up.
In any case, he was practicing myriads of thing and he also could not be sure that there will not be a similar tribulation like the Soul Tribulation in the path of awakening cultivation.
Leon had to be prepared for anything. He decided that he would delegate some efforts to get rid of his existing inner demon.
Knowing there is a problem is not a problem. Knowing there is a problem and not being proactive to resolve the problem, however, is a problem.
It is fortunate that he was quite self-aware and knew his flaws. At least, that was what he believes. It would be quite frightening if one does not even know there was a problem when there is one, and only realize that fact when it is too late.
At this point, Rachel seemed to have exhausted herself and fell weakly sideways. Leon's thoughts were interrupted by the change. His feet were quick, but light. In an instant, he arrived by her side and caught her leaning figure with one arm before the servants could do so.
"Thank you, Garnet." Rachel said weakly, but then she felt something was not right about the servant's arm that caught her. Turning her head, she froze. It was not her female servant that caught her as the female servant, Garnet went to carry the bucket of blood away.
"Why are you so silly?" Leon asked.
"Why are you here?" Rachel said coldly.
"I came to visit you." Leon scratched cheek at the cold treatment before he smiled lightly. "Also, I needed to thank you. I just realized something while watching you."
"You realized something while watching me?" Rachel's heart skipped a beat, but she remained cold. "I know we are engaged, but so long as you haven't left those two women, it's not possible between us. I will not accept it."
"Hm? You have misunderstood me but never mind that. It is impossible for me to abandon Aria and Lynne just for you. It is not my principle. If I am that type of person, what makes you think I would not abandon you when I find someone better? Anyway, we were at least friends before we learned about the engagement, is there a need to treat me so coldly?" Leon shook his head and said helplessly.
Rachel freed herself from Leon's arm support and bit her lips with her head lowered. Is it possible to have a pure friendship between girls and boys? Perhaps, it could be. But she knew it was not the case for her. She was already crushing on Leon from an earlier time, although she kept it hidden.
"I don't want to see you." She said.
"I'll come to visit you again sometime." Leon took out an interspatial ring with an enchanted sword inside it and slipped it into Rachel's hand as he said wryly.
There were some things that were out of his control. Some women did not mind sharing their men with other women, but others also abhorred it. Rachel belonged to the latter.
After Leon left, Rachel's eyes welled with redness at his disappearing figure.
Feeling something in her hand, she glanced down and saw the item. What is the meaning of this? Because they were engaged, he decided to gift her an ugly ring? There was no sincerity at all. Is this to spite her for what she said?
A wave of indignance and grief welled up inside as Rachel threw the ring away and cried to herself. The ring drew an arc in the air and disappeared into the big garden.
The female servants were not sure how they should deal with this and went to inform the Duchess. A few minutes later, Amelia arrived and was stunned.
"What is wrong, my baby girl? Who bullied you? Mother will take revenge for you." Amelia tried to console her daughter.
Rachel shook her head and hugged her mother with tears. She was unwilling to say. Instead, she asked, "Why are boys so fickle and promiscuous?"
Amelia took a moment to process, before she asked, "Are you talking about Leon?"
"I… I… was not." Rachel denied.
Amelia shook her head at her daughter's obvious lie. She had more or less figured out why her daughter was crying as she had met Leon on the way home. She understood her daughter's bias against men with multiple wives.
"Leon is a bit fickle in relationships, but do you think he is only capable of loving physically and not spirituality?"
Rachel thought and nodded.
"It's true that there are many men who only love women for their looks, and women who share a man are usually not happy, but there are also a select few who are. Take Baron Sterling for example. Despite having 4 wives, his wives are happy and harmonious. Baron Sterling treats them all very well. The key is sincerity. Do you think Leon is an insincere person?" Amelia said.
Recalling the ugly ring, Rachel's eyes reddened and nodded.
Amelia was stunned as she did not expect this answer. She pulled her daughter away and looked her in the face seriously. "How can that be? I feel Leon is a very sincere person who treats his relationships very seriously.
Rachel felt something off about her mother's grip on her shoulders. Seeing a similar black ring on her mother, she froze. Didn't she already throw this ring away? Why does her mother have it?
"Mom, why do you have this ring?"
"Interest? Probably, not. You must have also gotten one, that's why you are asking, right? It's a bit crude in design since the boy forged it himself, but it's still a priceless treasure."
Rachel's heart trembled slightly with regret. The ring was forged by Leon, himself?
"Why is it a priceless treasure?" She asked doubtfully.
"The ring is an artifact with an interspatial storage. Why wouldn't it be a priceless treasure? Look." Amelia thought it was strange that her daughter didn't know yet, but she still explained and demonstrated for her daughter to see.
Rachel saw a piece of clothing appeared and disappeared back into her mother's interspatial ring. She suddenly paled and her heart trembled furiously. A look realization dawned on her. She had misunderstood him!
She wiped her tears and convinced her mother she was fine before sending her away.
After Amelia left doubtfully, Rachel immediately dive into the garden and searched for the ring desperately.
'Where is it? Why can't I find it?'
Rachel was desperately anxious. She did not know how an artifact was created, but it must have taken a lot of effort! If she knew the ring was forged by Leon, she would not have thrown it away!
She did not mind that her clothes were soon dirtied by the soil and continued to search for the ring. When she found it a pot plant after half an hour, she hugged the ring close to her heart like it was very dear to her.
There was a big difference between receiving a crude ring forged by the person and receiving a crude ring bought cheaply by the person.