Silence permeated the surroundings of the barren land as Jun Moxie murderously stared at Patrick with widened eyes; he gnawed his jaw as his body began shivering from anger. The next second, blue energy began radiating from his body as it caused the nearby space to tremble. He stared at Patrick as he slowly and angrily uttered.
"If you were, I wouldn't be alive, you say? Very well, why don't we test that theory."
BOOM! TREMBLE!
Extremely powerful, thick, and overbearing blue Qi erupted from Jun Moxie's body, causing a loud boom; the exploding Qi caused the hut to disintegrate to specs of dust as the debris scattered into the swirling wind caused by the distorted Qi. Patrick remained seated while still staring at Jun Moxie, unreactive to the destruction happening; Raleigh stood behind his master, hands behind him as he stared at Jun Moxie with an expressionless face; he didn't flinch or move a finger despite the destructive and exploding Qi from Jun Moxie.
"Your daughter seems fond of you; I wouldn't want to make her fatherless. So why don't you stop your little charade and restart this conversation again, but in a civilized manner this time."
Patrick spoke while looking at Jun Moxie with a bored expression; he casually leaned back on his seat as he stared at Jun Moxie. The system interface was already in Patrick's view, with Grace displaying Jun Moxie's information.
[Name: Jun Moxie]
[Age: 1 Million]
[Power: Star Celestial eight-stage]
[Ability: Dao of Portals; The ability to create a portal to anywhere the user knows, once mastered at 100%, the user can create portals to anywhere in the multiverse and can manipulate the spacial reality of worlds lower than the user in power]
[History: Born as the two hundredth child of the ancient Jun family, Jun Moxie has strived and proven himself to be the most competent son to replace the previous ancient family leader; although one of the most powerful families in the central continent, the ancient Jun family chose to abstain from worldly affairs due to the destruction and suffering caused from conflicts between ancient families, as that was the last wish of the great grand lady of the ancient Jun family, since then, it has been three thousand years since the ancient Jun family mysteriously disappeared from worldly competitions and power struggle, therefore placing them ninth in power rankings among the ancient families, he has a daughter...]
'What?! How are they not reacting to my power? I am an eighth-stage Star Celestial, only two stages from becoming a Saint; not even the Dao children can withstand my power. If these two didn't even react to my power, then it only means their strength is above mine, but that should also be impossible; even if they were ninth-stages of the Star Celestial realm, I should be able to sense their cultivation bases at least. Nevertheless, he's right; why would the other ancient families use such a genius to hunt our pathetic Jun family hiding at a backwater region like the Sun Alchemy City?. Let's calm down first; I must know his motive.'
The ancient Jun family head, Jun Moxie, thought as he stared at Patrick; he could see the two's uninterested, calm, and unreactive countenances. He closed his eyes and inhaled, calming the destructive blue energy erupting from his body after; the previously erupting blue Qi retracted into Jun Moxie's body as the distorted and swirling Qi in the surroundings calmed, the nearby space also stopped vibrating as everything returned to calm. Jun Moxie lost his murderous and serious attitude and assumed a calm and casual expression.
"It seems my paranoia got the better of me; please excuse my irrationality; a father can only do so much while also being a leader."
"No offense taken."
'Hmm! What a rational lad, he remains this calm even after I intentionally expressed to kill him, just who are you kiddo?'
"Then, since there aren't any more misunderstandings, how about we leave this barren dimension? It creates a poor impression of the ancient Jun family."
Patrick spoke with his unimpressed face; he remained leaning on his seat while resting his right hand on the table. Jun Moxie smiled; he understood what Patrick meant. He snapped his fingers as the scenery reverted from the widespread barren land to how they were in the courtyard; he then spoke.
"With such power and mental fortitude, I know my daughter is incapable of helping you, which means you wanted to come while knowing our identity. So how about you tell me why you would waste your time coming to my weak Jun family."
"You are not entirely wrong; it is indeed a waste of time coming here. But sometimes, for a man to enjoy his adventure, he needs to see it from a second-person perspective, and you, Jun Moxie, will be my second-person perspective."
"....., So you want my family to serve you?" Ju Moxie asked with a serious attitude.
"No, not me, but yourself. I want your family to serve itself." Patrick spoke while Raleigh poured him wine in the cup on the table.
"Ha! So you want us to be ambitious and seek power, is that it?" Ju Moxie smirked.
"Yes."
"..., Power, reputation, and wealth, all of these are worthless; they only incur more chaos and suffering, so what makes you think my ancient Jun family is after that?" Jun Moxie asked.
"Those who think these three things are worthless are nothing but stupid, one-dimensional nitwits. Chaos and destruction have existed since the beginning of time; what difference does it make if you participate in it? Do you think there would be no more chaos or suffering if you stopped chasing power? These factors existed before you were born and will continue to exist after you die.
Power provides you with options. If you are strong, you can choose to conquer or not interfere at all. But a weak person doesn't have that option; they can only succumb to the reality of their states, which is to either remain conquered or resist being conquered. Power is important; your state and status in life dictate whether it's worthless or not; power to someone in the pinnacle of strength is meaningless, but that's different to the enslaved person being chained by the neck ready to be sold."
Ju Moxie listened to Patrick's mind awakening words as he fell into a state of contemplation.
'Options. That's right; power does indeed provide options; we chose to come into hiding because we had the option; we chose not to seize power because we had the option, but what if we were weak? Would we have had the option to remain oblivious? No one bothers us because they know we have the power to resist them, but it would have been the opposite if we were weak. I finally understand; not interfering in mundane matters didn't change a thing; on the contrary, it opened a gateway of opportunities to many below us. Sigh~'
"It seems my mind has been awakened today, all my years of existence, I had only seen things from a one-dimensional view, but today, I finally understand. I want to thank fellow young brother for your kind words of wisdom; I now have an awakened perspective of reality."
Jun Moxie cupped his hands and held them over his head, displaying his gratitude towards Patrick.
'Wisdom? That's something people from my Earth think of as average realization; nevertheless, that should reawaken his ambition.'
Patrick thought as he calmly sipped from the wine cup; he still maintained his bored expression as he nodded to Jun Moxie's cupped hands. Setting the cup on the table, he asked.
"So, is the ancient Jun family going to reclaim their lost glory?"
"..., Yes, I don't see any other reason not," 'Forgive me, grand lady, but no matter how long we hide from it, we will have to face the evitable truth and reality of things.'
"Ha, hahaha. Of course, very well then, we, the ancient Jun family, we rise and return to our previous glory." Jun Moxie spoke with an enthusiastic attitude. (That's weird to be convinced so easily.)
"Well then, it's time I say farewell."
"Is young brother Patrick leaving already? We were having quite the chat."
"There are things to be taken care of."
"Very well, in return of young brother Patrick's words of wisdom, you can have this."
Jun Moxie spoke, the next second, a tiny round blue portal appeared from beside him; he inserted his right hand into the portal and pulled out a round yellow medallion, engraved on the medallion was a tiger with a circle above it, below the engraved tiger was the ancient character 'Jun.' The medallion slowly floated from Jun Moxie's hand and floated before Patrick, he then spoke.
"This is a symbol of my ancient Jun family; it has two properties, it can defend against a ninth-stage Star Celestial, and the other, for communication. Of course, the first one is useless to you, so it's for the second reason; with this, we can communicate anywhere within the central continent. You can also use to bypass many troubling authorities in high-level regions."
Patrick stared at the floating medallion.
[Item: Ancient Jun family medallion; A round-shaped medal made by a Saint representing the Ancient Jun family powerhouse; can protect the wielder from a ninth-stage attack, can also be used for communications,...]
"I will be awaiting news about the ancient Jun family; you are welcome to surprise me."
Patrick spoke with a slight smile, the next instant, he and Raleigh weren't at the scene anymore.
"...!?" (Means widened eyes, reality shattering, and shocking silence)
'What unbelievable speed, no, that must be a space movement technique. Now I understand why he didn't want to fight me; with such speed, it will only be a matter of seconds before he destroys my body; even though he wouldn't be able to kill me, it would have still affected my cultivation greatly. It looks like those arrogant Dao brats will finally meet their match.'
"Huh? Father, where is Patrick?"
Jun Moxie was thinking when suddenly, Jun Mulan emerged from a portal holding a basket of newly prepared food; she saw the empty seat and shattered roof of the hut as she asked her father. Jun Moxie looked at Jun Mulan as he spoke.
"Daughter, it was a fortune meeting that guest of yours, with his words, I now have reawakened my sleeping desire for power- wait, did you prepare food for him in such a short time?."
"...N-No, of course not; I only wanted to bring father food; it would have been pure coincidence if he ate it, here you can enjoy it by yourself."
Jun Mulan sat the food basket on the table; she looked up and stared into the vast sky, slowly muttering after.
"Wherever you are, I will find you, and I shall be your woman."
Two hundred miles away from the Sun Alchemy City, Patrick stood on a large tree branch as he stared into the distance opposite the Sun Alchemy City; Raleigh stood next to Patrick with a calm expression while maintaining his normal pose, hands behind him.
"What do you think, Osborn?"
"..., The man, Jun Moxie, is conflicted between his family's promise to remain hidden and the duty to bring his family glory and reputation. As for the girl, Jun Mulan, she expressed bodily motions which indicated she fancies you. And for you..."
Patrick noticed Raleigh's hesitation as he permitted him.
"You are free to express yourself, Osborn."
"Very well, your decision in not fighting Jun Moxie created a boring atmosphere; I'm sure many would have preferred a battle where you showed your dominance and prowess. But your decision was the most logical; even if you fought, your existence alone debunks the idea of you losing, so no matter how long and fun the fight might be, you would have won regardless. And that conversation also depicted your level of Wisdom and perspective towards a realistic factor, 'Power." (Damn, Raleigh has no chill)
Raleigh spoke without the slightest change in expression.
'How did he do, Grace?'
"He expressed honestly, but there was a flaw."
'I know, he didn't account for the fact that my existence itself is the story; I decide how and when I do things. Nevertheless, I am impressed.'
Raleigh stood next to his master as his system interface popped up the next moment.
[Congratulations! God Ancestor was impressed by your opinion]
[Reward: Master's favorability towards you increased by 10]
The 'First Eternity System' read the message to Raleigh; he smiled as he slightly bowed to Patrick, speaking after.
"Your existence itself is my reward, High Primordial."
"Hmm. Let's go; there are some insects and parasites to eliminate from this region."
Patrick spoke, then he and Raleigh weren't at the scene anymore.
Note: Raleigh's Power is 'Master's servant,' which means his powers stop where Patrick wants it. And since there aren't any restrictions on how much power he can use, Raleigh is as powerful as he can and wants to be. He exists in a different scaling system where he is the most powerful.. His other power is the 'Known' title, which means he can draw power from anything known.