As soon as Krune arrived, someone opened the courtyard and came out.
"Hey, Krune! I saw you outside with my Divine Sense. Come in, come in!"
It was none other than Tulike, the guy who had joined the Sky Shifting Sect with him and Iem.
Krune nodded and entered the courtyard. Tulike then brought him to a living room where both could talk. When he arrived there, he noticed that the room was connected to the kitchen. Although he couldn't see inside, he could tell by the noise that someone was cooking something.
Tulike didn't mind it and began to talk.
"It's the first time you came to visit me. Usually, it's always me who goes to your restaurant to eat. Hahaha! Anyway, do you need anything?"
Krune returned his attention to Tulike and went straight to the point.
"It was you who sent the City Guards to check Nina and Lino, wasn't it?"
Tulike showed a puzzled expression.
"What you mean?"
Krune sighed and continued.
"Those two siblings have the bloodline of the Earth Dragon Sect Master of the Three Peaks. However, it is way too diluted. Even if the Sky Shifting Sect has a way to find his descendants through their bloodlines, it is not like they can do a long-range search. Nina and Lino's bloodline is diluted to the point that they don't show any characteristics of the Earth Dragon Bloodline. Because of that, a test would need to be made very close to them. Simply put, unless the Sky Shifting Sect knew where to look, they shouldn't have noticed those two presences."
"Ever since I opened my restaurant, I received a lot of customers. I also got quite a few disciples of the Sky Shifting Sect. No doubt, Lino and Nina had been seen a few times by them. Still, no one noticed anything strange about the two. To be honest, even I didn't know that they had an Earth-Dragon bloodline."
"Between the disciples, you were the one who appeared most of the time. You even came into the kitchen a few times to talk, and I didn't mind since we were friends. However, that also leads to the fact that the only one who could have told the Sect about her Earth Dragon Bloodline was you."
Tulike showed a shocked expression.
"That doesn't make sense. Let alone that I didn't know that Nina and Lino were descendants of the Earth Dragon Sect Master. I wasn't the only one who saw them. You said it yourself. How come you are so sure that I was the one who did it? Maybe it even wasn't a member of the Sky Shifting Sect, but some of the other customers instead."
Krune smiled before saying.
"Simple. Between everyone I know in the Sky Shifting Sect, you were the only one close enough to me to vouch for my innocence. Other than you, absolutely no one else would have risked covering someone involved with a descendant of the Earth Dragon Sect Master."
"Tulike... You are not just a simple disciple of the Sect. Who are you?"
Tulike kept showing a shocked expression for a few more seconds. It was as if he didn't know what to say about that accusation. However, Krune's expression was firm. He was absolutely sure that it all led to Tulike. At the very least, Tulike was connected to someone who would have such authority.
In the end, Tulike's shocked expression disappeared, and he sighed.
"Well, I didn't expect that you would notice this easy. Still, you know I could simply have denied everything and left you in the dark, right?"
Krune nodded.
"Yes. But this was my only clue. Everything pointed to you. If you still denied in the end, I would really be without choices anymore. By the way, how did you find out their Earth Dragon bloodline? As I said, it is way too diluted, no one noticed it at all. Even I, who had stayed with them for the longest, didn't know."
Tulike kept looking at Krune. But just as he was about to reply, a man came out of the kitchen with a few simple dishes. He served Krune and Tulike before returning to the kitchen once more.
Krune looked at that and was quite impressed. Although the food was made with ordinary ingredients, they were really well prepared. Even he didn't know if he could have done better.
"You have quite a good chef serving you. I'm impressed."
Tulike heard his words and couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"I know, right? He really is excellent."
Tulike then went back to the previous topic.
"Anyway, you asked me how I found out about the siblings' bloodline. It was during one of the times I came into the kitchen. At that moment, you were teaching Nina directly. You told me to wait since it was a delicate moment, so I didn't say anything while looking at her work. At some point, she cut herself, which drew some blood. Of course, that was barely enough to make a drop. However, it was at that moment that I noticed the Earth Dragon Bloodline in her."
"The guys in the City Guards Headquarters told you about the Godly Equipment that we have to detect the bloodline, right?"
Krune nodded once more.
"Well, it just so happens that I have one of those."
Tulike took out a small transparent bead. Inside, there was a droplet of blood. It was so small that it was hard to see at all. Still, Krune could guess that it was probably Agaran's Blood in there. The guard who talked with Krune told him that the Sky Shifting Sect Master had acquired the Three Peak Sect's Master blood in the past during their battles. That was obviously some of it.
"The moment her blood came out, I felt a faint ripple from this bead. It only happens when a descendant of Agaran appears. At that moment, I knew who she really was. Since she had a brother, I didn't need to overthink to understand that he was also the same."
Krune couldn't help but sigh.
"So she was just unlucky to have bumped into you. Alright, that pretty much explains how she was found out. However, it doesn't explain why you vouched for my innocence. Also, even if you did, a new disciple of the Sect shouldn't have the authority to stop the Sect from capturing me. That brings the second question. Who are you?"
Tulike laughed before saying.
"I don't have all that authority you talked about. I'm far from that. The one who has it is my mother."
"Your mother?"
Tulike nodded.
"Yes. Her name is Franlia Katuas."
This time, Krune was really shocked by what he heard.
"The God Core Realm Sect Master?!"
Tulike looked at Krune's expression and laughed even more.
"Hahaha! I knew you would be like that. It was worth waiting for so long."
Krune came back to himself.
"No, wait! I checked the information available on the network. It is said that Franlia has never had a child before, nor does she have a husband. How come you became her son out of nowhere?"
Tulike shrugged his shoulders.
"That's what the outside world believes. However, my mother is the Sect Master and a God Core Realm cultivator. Do you think there are many cultivators and demon beasts out there that can spy on her affairs? I strongly doubt so. Hahaha!"
Krune couldn't help but ask.
"Why did you tell me that? Wasn't it supposed to be a secret? What if you become a target of the other sects?"
This time, Tulike looked at Krune as if he was an idiot.
"And who would believe you?"
"Ah!"
Krune had to admit that Tulike is right. He is just a puny Divine View Realm 'cultivator.' He is someone who had just joined the Sect and without any background to speak of. Even if he goes outside announcing to everyone what he found out, no one will buy it. At most, others would think he is trying to trick them for their money or something like that.
After all, the other sects like the Flower River and Three Peaks definitely have spies inside the Sky Shifting Sect. Until now, no one found out that the Sect Master has a child. Then why would Krune, a nobody, find about it that easily? Ha! What a joke!
Tulike smiled before asking.
"By the way, you wouldn't tell anyone to start with, right?"
Krune answered with another question.
"Why do you think that?"
Tulike shrugged his shoulders.
"Because we are friends? You are not the type who would ever put your friends at risk. That much, I'm sure. At the very least, that's the impression you gave me during this time we had interacted with each other."
Krune's eyes narrowed.
"Indeed. I would rather take the hard path other than putting my friends at risk. However, are you a friend?"
Krune continued.
"I used a blood contract on Nina in the past before she reached the Divine Soul Realm. I can guarantee that she had no idea about her bloodline before. Since that is the case, would you release her? She is completely innocent in this situation. If you are my friend, you should at least help me with it."
Tulike shook his head after hearing that.
"I told you, I don't have the authority to make that decision. As for Nina and her Brother, I had no choice but to report them. It was nothing personal. It was my duty as a Sky Shifting Sect Member."
Krune knew that it was true. There is a war at the moment. If he was in Tulike's place, he probably would have done the same.
At this moment, the man who was in the kitchen came out once more. He began to clean the table where Krune and Tulike just ate. Krune smiled and then returned his attention to Tulike.
"Would you mind talking with your mother once more? You already asked her to let me out of this. Could you do the same thing again? At least, let me see her and talk."
Tulike nodded as he looked at the man cleaning the table.
"Dad, do you think mon will come out for dinner today?"
The man looked at Tulike.
"She should be. Today we have Myriad Life Herbs Soup for dinner. You know how much she likes that, so she would come unless she had something important to do."
Krune was shocked by what he heard. The servant was, in fact, Tulike's father! If that's the case, he is also the Sect Master's hidden husband! Krune quickly spread his Divine Sense and promptly confirmed. He couldn't see the man's cultivation at all!