Chapter 272 A Flicker of Mercy

• “Well? From that look, did I just spark your curiosity?” Ronan Crest smiled at her, all easy charm. Han Feifei glared hard at him. Ronan said, “Relax. I’m not telling you what vital energy is. And I’m not telling you how to become a cultivator.” With that, he turned and walked away, leaving Han Feifei standing there, fuming like a storm about to break. “I’m not telling you because I heard you cursing me just now…” Ronan’s voice drifted back. He’d told Han Feifei all that just to teach her a lesson, make it stick. Han Feifei was burning up with anger, but hearing that froze her in place. “I was whispering, and he still heard me?” Her eyes went wide in shock. She stared for two seconds, and when she lifted her head, Ronan was already gone. “That Crest boy, just you wait. I’ll find you, and you will tell me what a cultivator is.” Han Feifei ground out the words through clenched teeth. After leaving, Ronan took the contract to Vivienne Hart’s office. A keen light flashed in his eyes. “Didn’t expect it—an innate body, right under my nose.” “Too bad, though. She’s a bit too old. Basically a wasted chance. Otherwise… Celestine would have one more emperor level powerhouse.” Ronan murmured to himself. If Han Feifei heard him call her old, she’d blow up on the spot. Of course, when Ronan said “old,” he didn’t mean she was aged—just that at twenty-four, she no longer had the edge a four- or five-year-old has. In this world, some people come different. The innate body is one of them. At birth, a hidden well of vital energy sits inside them. If it lingers for years without dissipating, that’s an innate body. As long as an innate body starts training early, becoming emperor level is basically guaranteed. Take Han Feifei. She’s already twenty-four—prime age for a woman, or for any adult. But for an innate body? If you’ve hit your twenties and that well of vital energy still hasn’t been absorbed, hasn’t been fully used—then even if you absorb it later, your future ceiling shrinks. The odds of reaching emperor level drop to almost nothing. “Ah.” Ronan sighed, a little rueful. It’s a pity Han Feifei, an innate body, wasn’t found by a cultivator when she was little. If someone had discovered her back then, taught her well, emperor level would have been a matter of time. “Even at this age an innate body’s basically a bust,” he said, “but if she can absorb that well of vital energy and start training, push hard after that, she could still hit king level within ten years.” Ronan muttered under his breath. He hadn’t told Han Feifei what a cultivator is today. But seeing someone with an innate body still unopened stirred a flicker of mercy in him. He wanted to find a chance to give her a hand. After a few murmurs, he left the new Hart Group and headed for Ning’s Private Kitchen. He spent the whole afternoon there, sitting beside the backyard lake with Erebus and Qin Wuzheng, trading insights. Lately he’d gotten a solid feel for the half-step imperial level realm. He had deeper takes on cultivation now. He laid it all out for the two of them, hoping Dragon Sanctum could add another half-step imperial level fighter if possible. Night fell. Ronan stayed until ten, then left Ning’s Private Kitchen and went home. “Zoe still not back?” When he got in, Hope Crest and Grace Crest were already asleep. He sensed only Vivienne and her two little ones in the house. Zoe hadn’t returned. He asked without thinking. “Not yet. That girl played herself silly this afternoon. When I came back… she’d set up with two girlfriends to go get their nails done,” Vivienne said. She checked the time. “It’s almost eleven. I’ll call her. Tell her to get back soon.” She picked up her phone and dialed Zoe’s number. But the result was… Vivienne’s phone told her the line was off. “Zoe’s phone is off. Can’t get through!” “She didn’t get into trouble, did she?” Vivienne frowned, whispering the worry that had started to gnaw at her.