When Sasha and Lucas returned to Charles' office, the pair closed the doors behind them before standing in place and waiting. The two of them wanted to immediately ask what was wrong with Eris, but seeing the other occupant of the room remain silent, they held their tongues for now.
Celestina was currently facing away from them, looking out a small wooden-slat window which was facing west, seemingly observing the smoke still rising off in the horizon.
The initial mushroom cloud had long-since dispersed, but the enormous fire which the explosion had sparked was now burning so intensely that light from it could be seen all the way from Redwood Town.
It was only after a long silence that the Balfour Matriarch finally spoke, "According to the Family Law, I am duty bound to execute all of you."
"It was my decision alone to…" Sasha began to speak up, but before she could finish, she was cut off.
"Who is responsible is irrelevant. The Flowing Flame Art is the foundation upon which the Balfour Family exists, anyone outside the family who learns it must die," Celestina declared unequivocally.
Silence fell over the room again.
Sasha was clearly nervous, which was understandable seeing how she grew up practically worshipping the woman standing with her back to her.
Lucas, on the other hand, thought differently about the matter, but he wisely kept his head down and kept silent.
"My Disciple," Celestina was again the one to break the silence, turning around and directing her sharp eyes towards the young boy, "What do you suggest I do in this situation."
Lifting his head to meet his Master's gaze, Lucas said in a straightforward manner, "The answer is simple."
Raising her brow, Celestina appeared intrigued and motioned for him to continue.
Without delay, Lucas declared, "If only members of the Balfour Family are allowed to know the Flowing Flame Art, we all just need to officially become part of the Balfour Family."
Turning to his side, Lucas continued, "Aunty Sasha and Big Sister Eris can already be considered part of the Balfour Family, so there should be no problem with that, while we can say Uncle Charles married into the Balfour Family. As for me and my parents…"
Here, Lucas paused for a moment, a deep blush filling his cheeks as he stuttered, "We… we can say I am en… enga…. engaged to…"
"As my Disciple, naturally you can be considered part of the Balfour Family, so there is no issue with you knowing the Flowing Flame Art," Celestina cut in again, "As for your parents… well, the family of my Disciple can still be considered family. Unless you have something else in mind?"
Although Celestina's expression was completely solemn and serious, Lucas could swear he saw an amused light flashing across the depths of his Master's eyes.
This kind of teasing was something he was quite accustomed to receiving from his Aunt Sasha, so now he was seriously contemplating if it was a common trait that all the Balfour Family's women shared.
While worrying about what kind of menace his innocent big sister might one day transform into, Lucas pursed his lips and whispered, "Of course not, Master."
"Good," Celestina nodded. From the start, she hadn't intended to punish her granddaughter or anyone else for this transgression.
As for the Family Law… she was the Matriarch, with the final say in all matters regarding Family Law, so there was never a problem to begin with.
While Lucas had figured this might be the case to begin with, Sasha was now breathing a deep sigh of relief.
Even if she could somewhat tell that all of this was just a farce put on for the sake of appearances, that didn't mean it was easy being accused of a crime that came with a punishment of death, especially when the accuser was someone more than capable of carrying out the sentence.
"Now that the simple matter has been taken care of, why don't we discuss just what kind of extraordinary and unbelievable opportunity you encountered?" Celestina casually brushed aside what would normally be considered a very serious issue and moved the conversation along to what she was truly interested in.
Immediately after the question was asked, Sasha took the initiative to answer, "Last year, around mid-spring, I discovered…"
Before she could get any further, though, Lucas reached up and grabbed his Aunt Sasha's hand.
Turning a frown to the young boy, Sasha seemed to be silently asking him what he was doing, but in response, Lucas simply said, "Thank you for trying to protect me, Aunty Sasha, but that story won't work. Master already knows something is… different about me."
"Are you certain, Lucas?" Sasha couldn't help worrying.
Last year, after first discovering Lucas' unique situation, she, together with Charles, Anna, and Drake, had all agreed to never reveal the details about the young boy's condition, especially his inherited memories.
Later, when Farah found out about this secret, she had also warned them to never disclose it to anyone and had even been helping train Lucas to conceal the peculiarity of his condition.
Every one of them feared that the more people who knew about Lucas, the greater the danger he would be in.
Lucas also saw the logic in this and had agreed to keep things a secret, so him now offering to share this information with someone he had only met a few hours ago was quite risky from Sasha's perspective, even if the individual in question was her grandmother.
"I'm sure, Aunty Sasha," Lucas nodded, "In fact, this might be an opportunity to learn more about just what happened to me that day."
Turning to face his Master, Lucas proceeded to say, "Before that, can I ask what happened to Big Sister Eris just now?"
Nodding, Celestina briefly explained, "Whatever method she used to rapidly break through just now has severely strained her body, especially her blood vessels and meridians. She'll need some time to recover before she can cultivate again, but don't worry, the damage doesn't appear to be permanent."
Both Sasha and Lucas breathed a sigh of relief hearing this before Lucas said, "Thank you. As for my condition… I'm curious about how you noticed there was something off about me, Master."
"It's simple, really," Celestina walked over and brought her index finger to Lucas' forehead, injecting a small stream of her Soul Qi to definitively confirm her suspicions.
Receiving the feedback she was expecting, Celestina raised her brow and muttered, "You really have opened your Soul Sea. You've even somehow reached the Second Step Sea Establishment Realm."
Although there was an obvious tone of surprise in Celestina's voice, it was far less than Lucas had anticipated, prompting him to ask, "What gave me away?"
"You have concealed your Soul Qi extremely well, Lucas. It's obvious that you have a talent in this regard and that Farah, that disobedient student of mine, trained you well," Celestina explained patiently, her eyes narrowing slightly as she continued, "But when I extended my Soul Sense to target that Vile Coyote, I naturally felt the fluctuations of your Soul Sense as you were actively using it to scan your surroundings at the time."
Flashing a wry grin, Lucas muttered under his breath, "Just as I thought."
When Celestina had first spoken to him, Lucas noticed that she was examining him closely, as if there was something odd about him. It was then that he remembered that Farah had warned him that while he could hide his Soul Qi from most people as long as they weren't paying much attention to him, powerful Cultivators would be able to sense it if they looked carefully enough or if he actively used it around them.
Afterwards, from the way his Master had spoken to and treated him, Lucas could tell she knew something was off, and the conversation just now proved he was right.
"Do you know how this is possible, Matriarch?" Sasha asked from the side.
While they had their theories, they had never been able to understand exactly how Lucas opened his Soul Sea. Now that the secret was out and someone far more knowledgeable was before her, Sasha figured it wouldn't hurt to get some more answers.
Frowning slightly, Celestina gathered her thoughts for a moment before replying, "We're all born with Souls, but opening the Soul Sea normally requires both fully cleared meridians and a Dantian Core in order to deliver a sufficiently strong impulse of Spirit Qi to the Soul to 'open' it, and then more Spirit Qi to continue nurturing it. However, I have heard that in extremely rare cases, where one suffers a powerful shock to their Soul, there is a chance their Soul Sea will open prematurely."
"So, my situation isn't unique?" Lucas asked with a hint of urgency.
From what Farah had told him, he would need to remain hidden and out of the public eye as long as he didn't break through the peak of the Core Formation Realm, but if there were others out there like him, that would no longer be a constraint on his movements and actions.
Unfortunately for him, Celestina shook her head and replied, "Technically, no; but in all my life, I have never come across anyone like you, Lucas. Most people who suffer impacts to their Soul before fortifying it with Soul Qi in the Soul Initiate Realm instantly die. The Soul is extremely fragile in its nascent state, so even the slightest of disturbances tends to be deadly."
Shivering, Lucas again realized just how close he came to death back then.
Not missing this reaction, Celestina was further intrigued as she asked, "Just what did you experience that lead to this situation?"
Organizing his thoughts, Lucas began telling his story, "It all started last year on my ninth birthday…"