The Strongest Businessman

"That would explain your knowledge regarding a lot of things..." Dylan commented. Indeed, hailing from a clan of a higher stature, he would be exposed to things that would not be known to the public domain. Dylan also speculated that Barry's former status in his clan was quite high since he would be entrusted the sacred scroll of the Vernon Clan!

"But if that's​ true, then how are you still alive when the destruction of your clan and the fall of your patriarch was 500 years ago? Are you hiding your true strength?" Dylan inquired.

Typically, an Awakened Spirit Realm expert would only typically live for 150 years at most and if he were at the peak of this realm, he would utmost have a lifespan of 200 years. Even if he were to use Earth Rank longevity medicines, he would only be able to push himself to 250 years. It was strange for an Awakened Spirit Realm expert to have lived the length of 5 centuries!

"No, I am not. My strength is just how it appears. I am a bonafide 11th Awakened Spirit Realm Expert. Something happened when I was still a youth that halted my progress that's why I still am this weak. The reason for me being able to live this long is another inherent characteristic of our clan . Aside from innate affinity with nature, we also have an abundant life force 10 times that of a normal person. Thus, making our lifespans longer than ordinary cultivators of the same realm. The truth is, I'm actually 517 years old now." Barry disclosed openly.

"What?! So why are you still so young looking? Is this some kind of facial changing technique?!" Dylan could not believe that there was such a wonderous thing! Others would be envious to have such lengthy lives and only dream of such a blessing from the heavens but this clan actually possesses it! Even Dylan himself was envious of having such bountiful longevity.

"I am the third son of Brandon Vernon who was the current head of the clan that time and Joanna Vernon, the daughter of True King Vernon. The main bloodline enjoys the one with the greatest benefit within the clan because it possess twice the amount of life force that the other clan members have. For normal members of the clan, having this type of age would be equal to them being 50 years old but for us in the main bloodline, this would only be equal to us being 25 years of age. You could also say that our bloodline ages 20 times slower than a human being." Barry shared.

{Vernon means full of life}

"This..." Dylan was doing his best to maintain his calm disposition but after hearing Barry's astounding family background and inherited abilities, he could barely maintain his balance. Even though he had read countless of novels and prepared himself for the mystical, clans like this are too death defying. That's why he had the urge to shout out: "This is a cheat!"

It would not just be him because if other's were to hear of Barry's strange abilities, they would act hysterically and would not be able to maintain their composure and kill Barry on the spot!

"But the heavens is not so lenient that it would leave us without weakness. By giving my clan heavenly affinity towards all plants, it also has stripped us any type of opportunity of cultivating any other element. It also gave our clan an extreme weakness towards any type of fire-type energy. No matter what type of cultivation technique we practice, the energy we cultivate would always have an innate disadvantage to flames and get incinerated at the moment of impact regardless of the strength of the flames. It was a great secret within our clan and must never be known to others." Barry sighed when he received this to Dylan.

"Luckily, we were able to hide this weakness due to my grandfather's invincibility and genius. He gathered powerful generals who cultivates water and earth energies in order to confront experts who cultivates flame type techniques because aside from flame users, he is would trample anyone on his path." Barry retold the tales of his grandfather with reverence evident in his eyes.

Because True King Vernon had an innate advantage on the weakness of fire experts which​ are water and earth experts, he used this to his advantage and purposefully defeated experts who cultivates these two elements, then recruiting him to join his royal legion.

The king was known to be the meticulous type and always thinks before he would act. He would investigate the enemy and formulate a plan before performing a direct assault. He would assign his generals to ambush the fire experts and other enemy generals, thereby sweeping his other enemies with his unparalleled might.

"So, if your​ clan was able to isolate the weakness from ever being known, why did it still fall? How was True King Vernon still killed What happened to your clan?" Dylan wanted to know the truth behind the murder of True King Vernon. He admired his ingenuity that he was able to create a counter plan for his great weakness.

"It has been a full 50 years ever since grandfather became the True King. The clan has prospered so much that it produced 4 Saints in this period. The six kings of that period felt that grandfather's reign would only end either by acension or natural death. They want to get away from this cycle of becoming subjects thus they searched for a way to end my grandfather. However, they were unable to find such records. Because of this, the six kings kidnapped my second brother while he was still on a mission on Mystic Violet State and was killed by Soul Search!" Barry's voice became icy cold when he reached that point.

"How did you know that he was killed via Soul Search?" Dylan inquired earnestly.

" Our clan has an underground Life Crystal Vault where we store the Life Crystals of our kin. The Life Crystal is a special mineral which can be used to monitor the status of a person when he leaves behind his life imprint and stored to the vault. After the owner's death, it will send his location and a 10-second vision of what happened before the owner died. Similarly, when my brother was killed, it sent the vision of how the experts before him used the ruthless and inhumane method of Soul Search. We could see blood marks and vicious scars on his body when he looked at his body, signs of torture and abuse!" He still remembered the last vision that his second brother showed them when his Life Crystal broke. It was not just him, his parents, grandparents and also his eldest brother had livid expressions as they watched​ the vision his Life Crystal sent.

"Driven by rage, grandfather furiously went to the Mystic Violet State without a moment's delay after the video ended. Little did he know that this would be the cause of his death. When he reached the location of my brother, he was trapped by a Saint-level​ Formation which was created and sustained by 11 Saint-level Formation Masters. The formation was not only meant for trapping grandfather, it was also meant to drain his energy by absorbing his Saint energy. My father and his royal legion tried to get there as soon as they can but Mystic Green State and Mystic Violet State was too far apart."

" Grandfather was already at the pinnacle​ of Immortal Saint Realm that time so he was able​ to travel such a distance in just an hour's time. Despite having this strength, he was still unable to break out of the formation. The Formation Master let in 7 Saint-level fire-type beasts which​h were nurtured and trained by 7 Saint-level Beast Tamers. He was unable to hold on when he faced the seven beasts because the formation constantly drained his energy to the point of emptying his reserves and his great weakness against the flames of the beasts."

"With no other choice, he used his immense life force in order to use a Forbidden Battle Technique, the Heavenly Tree Sacrifice! A Technique where the user sacrifices his life to become the seed of a Heavenly Tree and use any surrounding organism as a supplement for growth. It comcluded with everything in a radius of 10 kilometers to become fertilizer for the growth of the Heavenly Tree. By the time, my father and the royal legion arrived, all hope was already lost because they​ were too late. It did not end there because the six kings sent there forces to massacre our clan..." Barry's voice became even colder. It did not even seem that he was talking with Dylan anymore. He knew that it was all planned right from the start! An evil plan that continued to haunt Barry until this very day!

" With the main force gone, your clan was easily massacred... When your father and the legion came back immediately after being notified, but they were too late as well... Despite knowing everything was lost, they still wanted to get revenge for their loved ones but ultimately, died because they were outnumbered and their energy reserves was nearly depleted from the round trip..." Dylan could predict what happened next. It was truly a sad tale that made Dylan hate the six kings of that era even more.

"..." Barry could only remain silent because Dylan was absolutely on point and it happened exactly as he speculated it to have.

"How were you able to survive the massacre? Judging from the year it happened and your current age, it would be 503 years already and hat would mean you were only a 14 year old when the war happened. Is the complication from your youth related to the war? Something must have happened on the war that caused your cultivation to halt right? " Dylan inquired again.

"Yes, it is due to the poison that Poison Masters set off during their assault. I discovered it was called Tri-fire Corrosive Poison Fog, an odorless red-violet fog capable of burning the body in an instant when inhaled totally. Just a whiff from it could infect the body and burn it from the inside. My mother and first brother risked their lives just to teleport me away with the clan's emergency Spatial Gate. During​ the transport, it was also the time the poison was set off. I inhaled a significant amount of the poison and experienced unbelievable pain inside my body as I was being transported. By the time I came to, my bloodline was suppressing the poison but the poison had already invaded my Spirit Veins. Thus, causing me to be stuck with the 11th level regardless of how hard I cultivate."

"After that, the True King Clans and the Royal Clans tried to search for our founding scroll of our clan but it was with me, making their efforts futile. I hid myself and tried to find various ways to heal my affliction while surviving the cruelty of the world. I wanted to avenge my whole clan by slaughtering those old scums! But, I couldn't find a way to cultivate​ no matter how hard I tried!" Barton punched the ground because he felt how weak he weak he was.

He was supposed to be the hope of his clan but he couldn't cultivate. He cursed his fate of being weak with a helpless thought, 'If only I was stronger...'

"..." An awkward silence followed after. The two did not know what to say to each other at first but Dylan saw Barry's actions, he saw a reflection of himself and his desire to become stronger!

"They died an honorable death, Barton. The six kings were scum for plotting against your clan for the sake of freedom. Your clan was a righteous clan till it's death." Dylan comforted.

"Thank you, Dylan Ford..." Barry had tears on his face when he heard what Dylan said. Those were the words he wanted to hear for his clan.

"I will help you kill those old bastards and heal you so that you can cultivate and kill them yourself. However, you need to swear a heavenly oath with me to be my sworn brother!" Dylan offered with a confident smile.

He felt that Barry was someone he could trust because they were similar to each other. Both their parents have died but Dylan was someone condemned buy the entire country and disowned by his father's clan while Barry was someone who the world thought was dead and whose clan has been killed. But most of all, it was because he saw himself in him.

"But that's... impossible! I have tried every means possible already! The Tri-fire Corrosive Poison Fog are poisons concocted by Poison Tyrants! Only Alchemy Saints can remove the poison and cure me. But if I go to one of the three Alchemy Saints, my bloodline would be recognized and the scroll would be lost! I cannot let that happen!" Barry could not understand how Dylan was so confident.

No matter what method he tried, he was still unable to find a way to cure himself unless he goes to one of the three Alchemy Saints.

"You don't have to necessarily go to one of the Alchemy Saints. I have a method but it's more theoretical. However, if it works, you can become someone who has the potential to surpass your grandfather, True King Vernon, himself!" Dylan smiled.

"?!" Barton had his eyes bulging from shock! A method that will allow him to heal himself and make him even stronger?! He never thought that it could exist even if it was theoretical!