The door shut softly behind Zhang Tianwen as he entered the room.
Inside, the air felt heavier than outside. The Second Elder, Zhang Wei sat behind a long dark wooden table, his white hair neatly tied, his expression calm and amicable trying to ease the tension in the room. Slightly behind him stood a middle-aged man in plain attire, posture straight, eyes sharp and observant. He did not speak, but his presence carried pressure. Looking at them, just a glance and Zhang tianwen could tell that they were playing good cop and bad cop game. One guy acting like a saint to command respect and other like bad guy to make others obedient.
Zhang Tianwen bowed. "This junior greets the Second Elder."
"Hmm, just answer casually. Name?" the elder said.
"Zhang Tianwen ,elder"
"What is your awakening result? Tell me the type of ka, name of ka and its uses and limitations??"
"Space-related Ka. Name is Space pause ka, with this ka I can freeze the space .As for the limitations I can only freeze space for 2 or 3 seconds at most " Tianwen replied shakily as if he is afraid of elders majesty and ashamed of his ability, thinking 'I should act as clumsily as possible to make sure that I don't appear any special.'
"Demonstrate."
Tianwen turned towards the empty space on the right side and used his ability. A faint ripple distorted the air beside Tianwen's palm where he was pointing. Space bent subtly before stabilizing.
"Range?"
"Should be around 10 meters approximately"
"Stability?"
"Stable."
"Side effects?"
"No side effects elder"
The elder tapped the table lightly, studying him. The man behind the elder watched even more closely, eyes narrowing ever so slightly.
"Did this ka have any other effects?" the elder asked.
"None that this junior is aware of right now."
"Did you try to awaken before the awakening ceremony?"
"No, elder"
"Did you have any hatred towards the clan?"
Although little confused tianwen answered honestly "No, elder"
A brief pause.
"Are you by any chance hiding any secret?"
The question came without warning.
Zhang Tianwen's heart tightened for a fraction of a second. His thoughts raced, but his face remained composed.
"No, Elder."
"That was a lie."
The voice came sharply from behind the elder.
Zhang Tianwen's blood ran cold. He finally understood, that guy should posses some ka which can sense the lies. His gaze flickered for an instant before he forced it steady. This time he is not faking it, he is genuinely feeling fear inside. He did have 2 secrets, firstly he is a reborn person, secondly about his ka. Both are not what could be said out. As Zhang tianwen was trying to think what methods could be used to force the elder back down, he suddenly felt a killing intent followed by a voice almost like a shout.
"Secrets are very dangerous for the family, although I don't want to take any extreme measures, if it is for the family I am ready to bear this infamy, if you cant answer right know I will consider you an enemy to the family and eliminate this future risk."
"I do have secrets which I cannot speak of," Zhang Tianwen said, this time allowing a faint tremor into his voice. "But they are just personal opportunities that could increase my value to the family. If I reveal them prematurely and fail, I will only bring shame." This is the only last ditch effort he could think of in this tense situation, I mean he is not given any time and these guys are also trying to force him to tell his secrets. By asking this question he trying to gain some time to think and also see if this elder is righteous by any chance, maybe if he is not greedy and thinks about family, he will really let go!!??
The elder's expression did not soften, not even slightly.
"Value to the family?" the elder repeated, each word heavy as a falling blade. "Unless I know and judge what your so-called secret is, I can only consider you a threat."
Zhang Tianwen's last thread of hope — that the elder might be a so-called righteous man who placed the clan above personal greed — snapped. Of course, he did not have much hope in the first place, but what choice did he have other than try this stupid method.
He also understood one thing, this was not a negotiation, this is an execution ground where he either tell the truth or die. Just when he was thinking about how to phrase a lie which should be truth to some extent, a terrifying pressure suddenly descended.
"You have three breaths," the elder said coldly. "Speak. Or Die."
Tianwen bowed slightly. "Sorry elder, this junior remembers fragments of a previous life memories." He told it. He really told it; he couldn't help but curse himself for not being smart enough to think of any lies at this point.
The man behind the elder fell silent again. Looking at him elder understood that everything he said is truth.
If there is a way, he really doesn't want to tell this to anyone, but now there really is no chance other than to tell. As for why he told this instead of other secret it's because, soul rewind ka is his trump card which could help him if things went wrong, such a thing should definitely not be revealed. The reason he answered at all is because he was not given any time to think as all these things happened in just the span of a minutes. He also felt a little afraid as he understood that this second elder might be a ruthless character from his previous probing.
Unknown to him, second elder also started feeling fear, he did not expect the casual question he asks everyone to actually help him find a real reborn person. Now he is really afraid that something might go wrong. Actually this is not him being paranoid, it is said that all the rank 6 cultivators or immortal cultivators can withstand physical death, if there are right ka or if certain conditions are met by preserving the soul they can be reborn. Infact Zhang Wie actually did not know any of this too detailed, but just from the small details he read and heard he know that the conditions for reborn are too harsh.
But seeing Zhang Tianwen almost shaken from fear he controlled his emotions and tried to soothe him. The reason is because firstly he is afraid for other party's background and secondly he wanted to see if he can obtain any benefits from him. He continued softly saying "Calm yourself. Rebirth is rare, but not uncommon. There is no need to conceal it. Past is past, in this life you are born in Zhang family. Wherever you are from, you will always be a member of Zhang family" Everything he said is a lie, but he told them with a straight face as if it's really true. "Origin?" the elder finally asked his true question.
"A place called Earth," Tianwen answered truthfully. "A mortal world. There is no cultivation there. No Ka. Not even any spiritual energy."
The elder's brows furrowed. "No cultivation at all?"
"Yes, Elder."
"No ranked practitioners? No spiritual energy? No awakening??"
"None."
Silence lingered in the room.
The man behind the elder gave no further objection.
After a long moment, the elder leaned back slightly relaxing but his tone still carried a slight edge "A world without cultivation huh? Rebirth itself is too rare and rebirth from other world that too from a mere mortal world with you still remembering is almost heaven defying. Personally, I completely believe you but as a second elder of the clan, although the chances are rare almost less than 1%, I should ensure that there are no dangers for the clan, so..."speaking elder suddenly released a hint of killing intent.
Tianwens heart beat quickened. In the heat of the moment, his thoughts are still processing about his secret revealed so easily, the next second he is facing a mortal death. He really doesn't want to face this situation but there is nothing he can do about it.
"But because you are still a child of Zhang family now, I will give you a chance. I have a rare ka called death sprout ka, with this ka I can plant a death sprout on you, as long as I find you danger to the family, I can kill you from anywhere with just a thought. Are you willing?"