Gedan was ferociously looking around, ignoring the 'panicking' chauffeur. When he heard Cassandra's words, he frowned and looked at her.
"What do you mean? Didn't you send the distress call?"
"I did not, Grand Elder. What's happening?"
Cassandra let out a confused expression, which made Gedan confused as well.
"Wait, do you mean nothing happened?" Using another cultivation skill, Gedan scanned through Cassandra's body and confirmed that something was amiss.
"Why is your energy lower than it should be? Please, tell me if someone is forcing you. Why was the distress call sent?"
"Energy…" Cassandra thought for a while, "Uhh… maybe because I pushed myself too much from today's training session, I guess."
"Hmm, are you sure there's nothing wrong?" Gedan worriedly asked. He still couldn't take off the feeling that something was amiss, even when Cassandra was perfectly fine in front of him.
Seeing her great-grandfather not taking her words, she switched attitude.
"Tsk, I told you, there's nothing wrong!" Cassandra turned around with a pout away from Gedan, "Why are you troubling me? You even destroyed the car's door!"
Beads of sweat immediately formed on Gedan's forehead.
"Ah, no, it's not that I doubt our sweet little princess. This is great grandpop's mistake," he scratched his balding head and immediately thought to mend his mistake, "How about this? I'll double your allowance for this month, and I'll let you into my personal cultivation room for two weeks."
Cassandra's face lit up.
"Really? In your personal cultivation room?"
"Of course, I'll trust your words, so trust mine!"
Excited, she jumped at Gedan with a hug.
"Okay! Great grandpop's the best!"
"Hehehe…" Gedan couldn't hold back a wide smile. "Of course, everything for our dear little princess."
He then took the object behind Cassandra's ear.
"This must be broken or too sensitive for touch, causing trouble for both of us! I'll go meet someone responsible for this!"
Remembering the trouble he went through, Gedan fumed in anger. His face then mellowed as he placed his hand on Cassandra's head.
"I'll be taking this for a while, Cassie. I'll give you another Emergency Transmission Talisman in the meantime and an additional Great Body Barrier Charm. Activating this charm will coat you with a film of energy that will protect you even from a First Stage Nascent Martial Spirit Cultivator's attacks for up to a minute!"
"This is so valuable! Should I really have it?"
"Of course," Gedan looked at his great granddaughter with love before leaving the area, "I'll see you again, Cassie. As for the car… erhm, call someone else to fix it."
"Okay, Grand Elder. Thank you!"
When Gedan was finally out of sight, Jasper's expression turned calm, and scratched his head.
"He broke the car's door and went off just like that?"
His casual tone was met with Cassandra's maddened eyes, wide open and unblinking.
"You tricked me…"
Moments before Gedan arrived and right after Cassandra was enslaved, she asked for the antidote.
That was when Jasper responded with "You're just paralyzed. It'll disappear for another five or so seconds." To which it did.
Cassandra, the only heir of the Ivon Trading Center, felt so stupid falling for such a little trick. She couldn't believe that she threw her life away because of a bluff.
"Oh, don't worry. I would've killed you if you disagreed. You should already be aware that the snake is at the Golden Core Realm. You still made the right choice."
Jasper then went back to the car, leaving Cassandra with a darkened look.
The scene in road that night was immediately dismissed when there was no casualties other than some traffic. Furthermore, it was reported that the Grand Elder and the Protector of the Ivon Trading Center was the cause of the scene. Thus, everyone turned a blind eye.
.
.
…
A day later, Monday.
The break is already over, and it's the first day of school. Jasper woke up earlier, went into the bathroom, and checked his face.
Getting outside of the bathroom, he met Liam, whose face he imitated and whose identity he was about to steal.
Liam had a heavy expression. Although he already knew about this days ago, it never felt right. However, no matter how much he racked his brain, he never found a method to go against or escape Jasper. Hell, he couldn't even tell his parents about it!
"Well, see you later," Jasper grinned as he left Liam in his apartment.
In the past few days, Jasper also mastered Liam's behavior and way of speaking. He also learned much about his social life to get around.
Overall, Jasper wasn't that worried. Although Liam was the top dog before, at the Brukmere Public High, he's just above average. As long as he doesn't make a scene, nothing much will happen.
All Jasper wanted was to dip his toes to test the water using Liam's identity.
Soon, he met with his 'friends' at the train station.
"Liam!" Sophie waved her hand and ran up to Liam, all excited, "It's finally the first day of school. Oh god, I'm excited! We're finally high schoolers!"
"Hahaha, you're like a kid!" Katie then appeared, and their other friends appeared one after the other.
They have a tight circle, and they plan on going to school together.
Fortunately, Liam's personality is that he's mostly quiet - a man with few words. This made Jasper's job easier, and no one found anything strange about him. Furthermore, there's also the perk of the pretty blonde always hugging his arm, pushing her chest onto him.
'These melons are always welcome.'
Once they arrived, they easily found their classroom. The atmosphere was mixed with fun and nervousness as every freshman is excited for their first day of school at the Brukmere Public High.
Their group was a bit early, so there was a bit of time left before the students gathered at the school yard for the morning and welcome ceremony.
Jasper sat on the seat at the very back. With his group of friends at the second stage of the Body Tempering Realm and him showing a cultivation base of the Third Stage Body Tempering Realm, he took his seat uncontested.
Liam's friends didn't notice a difference. Except for Sophie, who would give him some curious glances before returning to her old self.
Everything was going smoothly… until the class became eerily quiet.
A woman with a pinkish bob cut entered the classroom. She didn't hide her aura - Second Stage Qi Refinement Realm.
As she walked by, students made a path like she was a queen.
Jasper frowned when this woman walked straight towards him. Even his 'friends' couldn't help but make way for her.
"Hi, you must be Liam."
The woman with the pinkish bob cut looked down on him with no sign of respect.
"Yes… I am. Is there anything I can help you with?"
Jasper said with a polite tone. Internally, he was panicking. He's immediately aware of this woman's identity.
This is surely the Qi Refinement Prodigy that the young male teacher told them about.
"I'm Erica Tondar from the United Ancestry."
The classroom exploded when they heard her origin. They felt like seeing a celebrity right in front of their eyes. It was wild.
Erica squinted her eyes and ignored the reactions of the student.
"May I ask if you know anyone with the name of Jasper Langford?"
'What…'
Why is she asking for the supposedly dead non-cultivator? Not just that, but she's directly asking the supposed killer!
This is too much for coincidence.
Jasper's thought of countless possibilities and only one made the most sense. These thoughts occured in a split second and in reality, Jasper replied without revealing any expression.
He trained himself to act like Liam, and so he did.
"You mean that non-cultivator trash? Yeah, he was a schoolmate of mine."
Murmurs exploded among the other students, wondering who this Qi Refinement Cultivator is and why they are talking about a non-cultivator.
"Do you know what happened to him?"
Erica didn't miss a beat and directly asked. Jasper replied with a shrug.
"I heard he has gone missing, Miss. I don't know much about that non-cultivator."
"Are you sure?"
Erica raised an eyebrow as an aura of a Qi Refinement Cultivator pressed upon the classroom. It was becoming uncomfortable for the other students as they unconsciously backed away.
Jasper also showed a discomforted expression.
"Miss… if you want to know more about this non-cultivator, please ask his friends, not me."
Does she know? Jasper thought of ways to deal with the situation. This is just the first day of school, and would he already reveal himself?
No, he shouldn't even if this bob-cut girl tries to harm him. If he revealed himself too recklessly, the Ancestor might get notified of his existence. At that point, the Ancestor will surely wipe him out of this world.
Jasper was more worried about his strength being known than about him being alive.
The most probable scenario why this girl was investigating Liam is probably because of the order from either the clone or the Ancestor.
'They are too wary…'
Although they saw him get eaten alive, they still went out of their way to have some eyes on his surroundings.
Jasper couldn't blame them as he would do the same. Someone threatened their position in this world, and they would need to be two hundred percent sure that this someone is gone.
"I think you're misunderstanding me," Erica shook her head and didn't restrain her disdain against him.
What she said in the next moment went against Jasper's expectations..
"I'm not asking you because you might be his friend. I'm asking you because you are the cause of his disappearance, aren't you?" Erica slammed her hand on his table.