Damien squinted his eyes, "What do you mean?"
"You were the personal servant of the Celestial Princess, Lily Rong, and a cripple before, right?" Triton asked as he narrowed his gaze.
Damien's expression didn't change much except a faint smile emerged as he said, "You are right that I was her servant for a while and also that my ethereal core points were miraculously restored by someone who is beyond my reach."
Damien already expected people to dig up his background. But he didn't mind as it was not much of an issue for him.
He continued, "But I don't see how you came to the conclusion that my intentions in coming here are something else."
Triton didn't give up and said, "Do you seriously think that Lily Rong would pick a young boy as her personal servant? Unless something was going on between you two? Perhaps an affair? Maybe you came here to save her from her fate."
Damien smiled, but inwardly he was a bit surprised Triton thought that far ahead.
He calmly replied, "She just took pity on me and did me a favor because I was crippled. I was not fit to work anywhere else in the palace. Besides, I wouldn't even dare to look at her sacred face. She is my benefactor; I wouldn't remotely think of anything like that. And do you really think that even if I wanted to, I could stop her marriage within two years? You can't be joking."
Damien's expressions seemed firm and completely upright that even Triton almost believed that he was telling the truth.
"Then why doesn't anyone know any family named 'Godwin'?" Triton pressed on.
"Oh, I didn't feel like sticking to my family name as they didn't want me there anyway. I simply came up with a name and decided to use that. Why, can't I create a family name of my own?" Damien asked as he shrugged his shoulders.
Triton squinted his eyes. Even though it seemed like Damien was telling the truth, in his heart somewhere, he felt that it was all nonsense. But he had nothing to refute and felt tongue-tied.
Damien continued, "Now that I have satisfied your curiosity, just get me back to the city. I have to see Valentina and make sure she is alright."
Triton gritted his teeth and said, "Then will you join us if we give you the resources you need? Be it for your cultivation or anything?"
Damien inwardly smiled as he was waiting for Triton to offer something like this. He didn't mind if he joined the Forsaken as things might be easier for him. He could also use them to throw down the Xeton Empire and even disrupt other empires.
But he didn't want to join them without any benefits and simply act as a volunteer. If he was the younger version of his past life, he would have butt in and helped them even without them asking.
This time he wanted to consider it only because their goals were the same and because there wasn't much time. There was only so much he could do until he became powerful enough to cause some changes on his own.
Damien smiled, "You had my curiosity, but now you have my attention."
Triton rolled his eyes in exasperation, seeing that Damien was probably waiting for him to offer something like that.
Damien continued, "But tell me what else I can get from you people other than the things I am already getting from the Xeton Ethereal Foundation. After all, they not only give me lots of Spirit Stones monthly but even top-notch pills according to my cultivation. Besides, I would be risking my life here by going against the powerful Xeton Empire."
Triton sighed and finally said after a moment of hesitation, "What if I told you about the most protected secret of the Xeton Empire?"
Damien asked plainly, "What is it?" But inwardly, he was intrigued. He was curious what the big secret was about and if it was related to the same thing he was thinking about. Right now, more than resources, he needed information and wanted to learn all the secrets that the Xeton Empire was hiding.
He was already rich by having enough Spirit Stones, high-quality herbs, and the ability to concoct Supreme Tier pills on his own; unless they were high-ranked pills, he didn't expect to get interested in any other resources.
Even if they offered cultivation manuals and ethereal arts, he would refuse them obviously. After all, mortal ethereal arts and cultivation manuals couldn't compare to divine ones.
Triton said calmly, "Do you believe in gods, Damien?"
'I knew it!' Damien felt like the Forsaken did really know something about the god residing in the Xeton Empire.
"What if I say yes?"
Triton raised one of his brows and said, "Then what if I tell you that this land had been the home of a fallen god for time immemorial?"
Damien had a baffled expression, "What are you talking about?"
Triton said with a faint smile, "I will tell you about those things, but only if you join us. After we make sure that you are sincere in being with us, we will tell you about the Xeton Empire's weaknesses and the secrets they are hiding. There's so much you don't know, Damien."
Damien wondered why the God didn't support the natives or on whose side the God truly was. It seemed to him as if the God simply stood still while the Xetonians took over the Zirian Empire.
Triton continued seeing that Damien wasn't much convinced, "We will also give you one Rank 7 Pill if you join us. This is the best we can do. So, are you in?"
'Wow…a Rank 7 Pill! They must be really desperate.' Damien was inwardly astonished to see that they were even ready to offer him a Rank 7 Pill just to pull him to their side.
He knew that Rank 7 Pills required Saint Grade herbs which were extremely rare and expensive. He speculated that either they were extraordinarily rich to buy such pills or had their own alchemist to concoct such pills. But if they had such an alchemist, Damien realized that they at least had someone in their group who was at the Profound Ethereal Realm!
Triton knew he had to offer something irresistible to Damien so that he would have a hard time trying to refuse him.
Damien sighed with a helpless expression, "You really know how to entice someone, Triton. Fine, I will join you. But what do I need to do? And what kind of precautionary measures are you people going to take to make sure I don't babble to the wrong people?"
Damien speculated that the Forsaken must have some measure to make sure there aren't any traitors amongst them, or even if they had, they must have some measures to make sure they don't leak crucial information.
Triton calmly said, "Nothing much. We only need you to be with us whenever we need you and help our people here for some time after your class ends. I am sure some of the kids here could use your knowledge, and I have to admit that the things they teach at the Xeton Ethereal Foundation are top-notch and that knowledge is not something people can learn at any other place."
'So they want to teach the kids and help them whenever they need me…well, not bad.'
"Alright. Fair enough. But you still didn't tell how you're going to make sure I keep my mouth shut."
Triton said plainly, "It's not much of a hassle. We will use a soul seal on you to make sure that you don't talk about what we do here to anyone who isn't part of the Forsaken on purpose. If you do, then only the memories concerning the Forsaken would be wiped, and we would also know that you betrayed us."
Damien narrowed his eyes when he heard about the soul seal. But when he thought that Luna would warn him if anything is fishy, he thought it would be fine.
Triton noticed the slight hesitant expression on Damien's face and said, "Don't worry. The seal would be placed by experts, and we won't do anything deplorable."
"Okay, I agree. But can we do all the initiation process later? Because I have to get back to the city now." Damien still was thinking about Valentina and hoped that she doesn't do anything reckless on her own.
Triton softly smiled, "Seems like the pink-haired girl is very important to you. I never expected that a girl like her would be so close to you."
Damien smiled meaningfully, "Appearances can be deceptive. You can't judge a book by its cover."
Damien's tone became hard as he continued, "But next time you knock her out like that, I won't be this polite."
Triton sighed, "I already apologized for that. I just can't have her go invisible and waste our time. Don't worry. I won't do anything like that again. Come, let's go. I will send you back to the city."
Comments