“After being accepted by the great family head as a discple, he publically claimed that I displayed talents that had never been seen before. He said that my affinity for the blade was incredible and I was born to be a swordsman.”

“From then on he taught me personally for an entire year and helped me to develop even further, to an extreme level of swordsmanship. Throughout that year I had done nothing but train, and he had done nothing but train me and try to find a way to sort out the problems with my body.”

“He even went as far to break the political marriage for me and was the first person to treat me with such kindness and respect. Even if he did it only because of my talents, I owed him and without him, I wouldn’t have the power and skill that I currently have, but as I am sure you know, things are never good.”

“After a year, he came to a similar conclusion that you had. He said that my Internal Cultivation was destroying my frail body despite how much I tried to reinforce and strengthen my body, and saw me as a lost cause.”

“He was compassionate enough to leave me with the position of his disciple, but it was by name alone and he left me to train and fend for myself. No longer personally tending to me.”

“I was saddened, but returned to this region that I had grew up in and I wanted to get the last laugh. I had left the main headquarters of our family and most didn’t know the reason, but rumours spread and people had all sorts of bad ideas in their heads. But I didn’t care about those things, and upon returning, I raised hell in the region.”

“My position gave me more influence and power than my father, and upon returning to the branch I grew up in, I repaid all those that tormented me from young tenfold. The manager you see at this branch of the Great Su Hotel, one of my family’s businesses, is my cousin. She abused me a lot as a child, so now I forced her to cripple her cultivation and work her days in the business, unable to ever cultivate again. And I did the same thing to many others.”

“I felt as though the only way to truly follow the path of the sword was to clear all grudges, regrets and guilt from my mind. And within a matter of a week, I became a new person and was even more obsessed with the sword. A blade that I would wield and allow me to focus and forget about the world around me.”

“Since then, I trained alone in a small manor that my master had given me to live in and eating, sleeping and training were the only things that I did until this tournament.”

“Now, I am making it to the national tournament, am no longer restricted by my physique, and can also return to the capital and train under my master again, but I still feel lost.”

“Ever since I lost against you and seeing your incredible capabilities despite you seeming you be younger than me, I felt as though I am a frog in a well. I feel empty and as though there is a void in my heart. I don’t have friends or family that I truly care about or love. And the only thing I have cherished my entire life is the sword.”

“Su Lan your story is sad, but I don’t really care about your past and it is irrelevant. It made you who you are, but you shouldn’t dwell on it and I can tell most things about you just by looking deep into your eyes,” Adam stated.

“Most have a tough life and something that they want no matter what. And you must find what that is for you. Your drive behind growing stronger.”

Su Lan took a moment to think about it, then answered honestly, “At first my purpose for growing stronger was to grow stronger was to get revenge and overshadow those that abused me, while I have always been obsessed with the sword. But now, I don’t even know what I want anymore.”

“You’ve made it so that I can reach my full potential and miraculously improved my body, but I only feel even more lost now.”

“You were destined to wield the sword, but that isn’t your purpose. Your talent in the blade will only help you achieve your purpose. But what that purpose is cannot be stated by me and is something you will find on your own,” Adam said to her.

“However, from what I have seen, your purpose was never to get revenge. You are too kind-hearted to that and I am sure it didn’t go about as you said. And you don’t always need a purpose for growing stronger. What if your purpose for growing stronger, is to find your purpose?”

“As long as you keep moving forward and looking towards the future, while always maintaining a clear conscious like you have done, you have nothing to worry about Su Lan. And I think it was for the best that your life played out as it did. It has helped you mature, become independent and experience both the highs and lows of life.”

She couldn’t argue with everything that Adam said and felt enlightened as she sat in silence for a few moments, contemplating everything that he had just said to her.

He was right about everything and after everything he had done for her and displayed; he was even more trustworthy in her eyes than the great family head.

Her mind felt clearer and the uneasiness, worry and paranoia that she felt in her heart as she thought about the future had all subsided, with her feeling much better about herself and more confident.

But after being helped by Adam for a second time, how could she not be even more curious about who he was and everything about him.

And just how on earth was she supposed to repay him?