As Sona looked at the Nascent Bead, an inner discussion appeared within her mind.
That bead could greatly increase her cultivation, and since she already understood the True Profound Realm, it would help her breakthrough into it. With that, her strength would increase by leaps and bounds.
On the other hand, that bead could be used to pull Issei into her group.
At the moment, she was truly conflicted. She truly couldn't figure out the best course of action...
Looking between the Bead and Issei, who was still waiting to know what he had missed, she finally came to a conclusion.
She then walked over to the bead and picked it up.
After that, she walked towards Issei and upon arriving close to him, she stopped and extended her hand.
"This is what you forgot," Sona said as she showed the Nascent Bead to Issei.
Sona was currently gambling. If Issei didn't try to steal the bead from her, than he passed the personality test. But, if he tried, then she would only be able to blame her bad judgment.
When Issei looked at the bead, his eyes widened greatly.
That bead... he could feel the power of eighty saint spirit grasses within it!
Coupling with his own twenty Saint Spirit grasses, that would equal one hundred Saint Spirit grasses.
Such an amount, that would probably be enough for him to breakthrough into the Sixth Level of the Nascent Profound Realm and even have a little remaining!
He then remembered her words and his eyes widened. He forgot it? So that meant that she was going to give it to him...? This... humans were greedy by nature, there's no way that she would willingly give out something as precious as that to a stranger, right? Furthermore, he had not noticed it, so she could have kept it to herself. All of that meant that... she was planning something!
"Hmm, Senior Sister, what's that?" Issei said questioningly. "I feel such a great amount of spiritual power coming from it..."
"You don't know?" Sona said in surprise. From her sources, Issei was Shinso's, the master of the Azure Tiger City, son. He should probably know about such things, right?
Issei shook his head, "No." This time, he wasn't lying. Although Shinso had showed him a high amount of spiritual medicines and cultivation resources, he had never mentioned those round things. In reality, Shinso had completely forgotten to tell Issei about them.
"This is a Nascent Bead. Beads are the ultimate type of cultivation resources, with the highest amount of spiritual power. They are extremely rare, and are found in nature.
"They are formed when there is a large amount of spiritual power in a single area, and because of some certain happenings, they come to existence.
"They are much more potent than medicines, worthy of the title of of the ultimate cultivation resource. Furthermore, there many type of beads. One bead for each realm of cultivation."
Issei nodded his head, "I see..." Inside, he was wondering why Shinso never told him about such a precious thing. After thinking for a bit, he simply thought that Shinso must have forgotten about it or something.
So far, Issei hadn't shown any indication of wanting to steal it, making Sona relieved. Now, she would take the last step. This would determine whether Issei could truly pass the personality test or not. This was the ultimate gamble, a gamble in which the Nascent Bead was in game.
She then placed it on his hand.
"Here, for you," She said calmly, although deep within her eyes, she felt a bit of pain of having to part with such an amazing cultivation resource.
Looking at the bead, Issei's eyes widened considerably before he begun to think that something was wrong. This situation... it seemed as if she was testing him...
The more he thought about it, the more it seemed that something fishy was going on. If it was any other person, they would definitely have accepted without even thinking, but Issei wasn't a normal person. He was a never-before-seen genius!
Issei then quickly realized the situation. Hiddenly smiling, Issei immediately placed the bead back on Sona's hand. On his face, an expression of embarrassment could be seen. Furthermore, there wasn't even the tiniest bit of reluctance when he parted with the precious bead.
As he placed it on her hand, he said, "How could I possibly keep it? You found it, you own it. I already took my Saint Spirit grasses, I'm satisfied." Issei said, and with his top-notch acting skills, it sounded completely believable.
I was right! Sona exclaimed in her heart. It seemed like Issei's personality really wasn't a bad one! That meant that he qualified to enter her group!
In reality, the poor girl was simply being toyed around by the little devious genius, but she would never find that out.
Bad personality? Issei didn't consider himself neither bad or wrong. To him, they were all subjective. In a war, a hero was seen as a monster by its enemies and a savior to his allies.
Issei was a person that didn't care how the world viewed him. Whether they viewed him as a devil or a god, he didn't care. All he cared was for his and Shinso's safety, nothing more, nothing less.
Looking at Issei, Sona lowered her hand that was holding the bead and said, "Junior Brother, your name is Issei, right?"
"Yes, how did Senior Sister know?" Once more, Issei lied. She knew Sa Ji, so it was expected that she knew him. Furthermore, who in the Heavenly Might School didn't know about the eleven years old who defeated a disciple from the Azure Lightning School in a tournament?
In the Heavenly Might School, was there any other eleven years old aside from Issei? As such, anyone could come to the logical conclusion that he could only be Issei!
"I know your Senior Brother Sa Ji. He told me about you," Sona swiftly lied. Although her acting skills weren't bad, they were simply rubbish in front of Issei's.
"I see..." Issei said, "So, what is Senior Sister's name?"
"Oh, my name is Sitri Sona." Sona said before changing the subject, "Either way, you haven't entered a group already, right?"
"A group?" Issei asked as he tilted his head to the side slightly.
"Yes, a group. Normally, inner disciples form groups so they can protect themselves. There are various groups, and the three top ones are the United World Group, the Sky Tearing Alliance and the Water Devil Alliance.
"Out of all of those, the United World Group has the most members, the Sky Tearing Alliance has the most resources and the Water Devil Alliance has the most powerful members while the least amount of members. The United World Group has over a hundred, the Sky Tearing Alliance around seventy and the Water Devil Alliance only ten."
Issei: "..."
Seeing that Issei had no comments to add, she continued,"If a war between these three groups were to break out, it would be hard to decide which group would win, but it's most likely the Water Devil Alliance. Although they possess they smallest amount of members, they are the most powerful."
"I see.. but why is Senior Sister Sona telling me that?" Issei asked, although he already had a hunch at the situation. She was making the Water Devil Group seem the most powerful, so that could only mean...
"I am the leader of the Water Devil Alliance, the Water Devil Empress, Sitri Sona. I would like to invite you to my group."
I knew it! Issei exclaimed in his heart. But, his expression on the outside showed surprise, "Senior Sister is the leader of the Water Devil Alliance? And you want me to join?"
"Yes, what do you say?" Sona asked expectantly. Even if he said no, she would still try to convince him. She wasn't about to let such a talent escape from her grasp. To her group, Issei would bring many benefits.
"But, I don't know," Issei pretended to be struggling over whether he should join or not. If he accepted right of the bat, it would definitely seem suspicious. Furthermore, he intended to force Sona to give him the Nascent Bead.
Sona then placed the Nascent Bead on his hand, "If you join, you'll receive this Nascent Bead."
Immediately, Issei's face changed. He then hurriedly said in a humble tone, "Junior Brother Issei is reporting in to Senior Sister Sona!"
That was what members of a group said when they were reporting in to their boss. Issei saying that meant that he had accepted Sona's invitation.
Looking at Issei exaggerated reaction, Sona didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. How could an eleven years old kid be so greedy to the point of immediately accepting at the prospect of receiving a Nascent Bead...
"I see, so I welcome you to the group," Sona said before looking him up and down, "Well, how about I bring you to meed the other members?"
"Sure!" Issei exclaimed excitedly. He wanted to see if this group was just as powerful as Sona claimed it was.
"Okay, I'll just grab my medicine," Sona said as she begun to collect her spoils. They then left the forest together, going back to the entrance. On the way, she handed him a token.
On it, there was engraved a drawing of many waves. On top of the drawing, Water Devil was written. Sona explained to him that that was the identification of the members of the Water Devil Alliance.
And, it was just like that, Issei became a member of the Water Devil Alliance and gained a Nascent Bead in the span of a couple of minutes.
Although it seemed like Issei's decision was rushed, he had thought it through carefully.
Since the start, he was aiming at her martial skill. He figured that if he joined her group, then the chances of him getting his hands on the Water Flower Annihilation martial skill would increase considerably.
As such, he accepted immediately after receiving the bead. Or else, he would have been a fool to decline it.
Joining what seemed to be the most powerful alliance for free and even getting a Nascent Bead on the process as a souvenir, Issei wasn't stupid to refuse it.
Furthermore, he had a hunch that Sa Ji was also a part of the alliance. In the split second that Sona mentioned that she was the leader of the alliance, all dots connected on Issei's head.
He had been trying to figure out why Sa Ji was being so nice to him for a long time, but he couldn't seem to figure it out. Now, he finally had an idea.
Sa Ji was probably a member of the Water Devil Alliance, and Sona had sent him to curry favor with Issei as well as determine his strength.
That would also explain why Sa Ji seemed to be so respectful towards her when they met at entrance of the Medicine Peak.
He was probably reporting something to her. It would also explain why he suddenly changed his mind on going together with Issei on the Medicine Hunt!
It all made sense now!
Issei also came to the conclusion that Sona was truly not simple. Simply from gazing at her eyes, one would be able to sense the deep schemes that were running through her read, but experiencing it first hand was different. Issei now had an idea of how Sona really was!
Although she wasn't nearly as smart as him, she wasn't stupid either. From his guesses, she was much above normal people in terms of intelligence.
Read and Review~!