bookpub Chapter 643: The Integrity of the Branch
Chapter 643: The Integrity of the Branch
The Branch Leader nodded slowly, his cold eyes softening as he ran a hand over his thick silver beard. "It appears this young man is far more impressive than I originally anticipated. A survivor of the Brightsword lineage, and the sole chosen heir of Master Green Leaf..."
Even a powerhouse of his towering stature, isolated deep within this border command, had heard whispered legends of the old eccentric known as Green Leaf. In the Branch Leader’s personal estimation, that old reclusive physician had been a truly bizarre but deeply admirable anomaly—a man who spent his long life treating the broken and the poor without ever demanding a single copper coin, fiercely believing until his dying breath that health was a universal right rather than a tool for commercial exploitation. He had been a free, wild soul who answered to no empire.
"Very well," said the Branch Leader, his deep voice carrying an ironclad, unyielding resonance as he looked directly into Ethan’s purple eyes. "I will not interfere with your personal growth on this mountain. What you earn through your medical labor shall be entirely yours to keep, and whatever losses you incur will be your own cross to bear. I only wish to state this clearly: my branch is perfectly just in all its dealings. If you choose to aid our forces, we will treat you with the absolute highest of martial honors. But we will never force your hand, nor will we ever lock you away inside a cage to treat you like a simple, living pill-manufacturing slave."
This was the exact administrative reaction the Fourth Princess had gambler her entire strategy on. She had deliberately ordered her agents to orchestrate Ethan’s infiltration through this specific Northern Frontier rather than the Southern command precisely because of the Branch Leader’s legendary, immovable personality. He was a righteous, unyielding swordsman—as straight and unbending as a flawless divine blade that refused to warp for cheap political greed.
Elder Ash’s lips curled into a subtle, entirely satisfied smile. He knew that the danger had completely passed. By executing the Princess’s and the Admiral’s strict directives flawlessly, the legal cover story was now permanently locked into the sect’s core records. Nobody on this mountain would ever dare to question Ethan’s presence or motives from this moment forward. His entry into the higher echelons was total, and all Ash had to do now was cooperate with the youth and enjoy the massive wave of residual benefits that would inevitably follow.
"Since I have already caught wind of your request to secure a permanent commercial plot at the junction," the Branch Leader continued, looking between Ethan and the newly rejuvenated Great Elder Hestia. "I shall not only grant you the exclusive deeds to that terrain immediately, but I will also personally command the sect’s engineering corps to construct a fully furnished, state-of-the-art Medical Pavilion on that site within the next forty-eight hours. If you require any logistics, Elder Ash and Great Elder Hestia will provide you with absolute, unconditional assistance. Once again, congratulations on your magnificent ascension, Hestia. Your breakthrough is a divine blessing for our border security—and the arrival of this young physician is a massive blessing as well."
With those final, booming words, the overwhelming pressure in the courtyard completely receded. The Branch Leader turned and vanished into the mountain mist as quickly as he had arrived, followed immediately by the dozens of hidden shadow enforcers who leaped off the surrounding rooftops, leaving the pavilion completely quiet once more.
Great Elder Hestia gave Ethan one last look of deep, submissive gratitude before stepping back into her private chambers to fully stabilize her Golden Core, while the sweating Elder Driz hurriedly excused himself to execute the paperwork.
Left alone in the courtyard beneath the black bamboo, Elder Ash took a slow step toward Ethan, his eyes scanning the quiet perimeter before he leaned in close. His face carried a strangely tense, cryptic expression as he prepared to utter a highly specific, encoded imperial passphrase.
"I am a wanderer, and my path reaches the heavens," whispered Ash, his voice barely audible against the rustling leaves.
Ethan’s amethyst eyes flashed with a dark, deeply amused glint. The irony of the situation was absolute. According to the original infiltration files, that specific phrase was supposed to be spoken by Ethan himself to identify his arrival to the hidden network—but because his chaotic, explosive actions had violently shattered the status quo, the hidden infiltrators of the Soaring Dragon Kingdom were now frantically approaching him to report for duty.
"Walk with me, Ash," said Ethan, his voice dropping into a low, commanding tone that brooked no argument. He turned and strolled casually out of the courtyard, not even waiting to see if the older man would follow.
Despite Ash holding the official rank of a Senior Elder within the Heavenly Sword Pavilion, the power dynamic beneath the surface was absolute. Ethan had been granted the supreme authority by the Admiral of the Soaring Dragon Kingdom to command every single hidden asset and spy embedded within this entire border branch. Within the ruthless hierarchy of the kingdom’s intelligence network, no one could afford to ignore his words for even a single millisecond. There was simply no necessity for false courtesies or diplomatic theater between them.
Ash quickly fell into step half a pace behind Ethan’s massive frame, his eyes scanning the winding, mist-covered mountain paths to ensure they were completely isolated from any stray spiritual senses.
"I must formally apologize for our lack of communication during your first month here," said Ash, his tone dropping its previously jovial front, replaced by the grim, calculated seriousness of a career spy. "We deliberately maintained our distance from you since your arrival to avoid drawing the sect’s internal security toward your position. You must know that there are dangerous, turbulent subterranean currents shifting within this place. Although we all serve the interests of the Soaring Dragon Kingdom, our internal factions are not exactly harmonious."
The veteran elder slipped his hand deep inside the inner lining of his heavy robes. When he withdrew it, his palm cracked open just enough to reveal a heavy, gleaming medallion forged from a pristine, supernatural metal. Engraved upon its surface was a striking white horn flanked by a pair of beautifully detailed, spreading wings.
It was the unmistakable, elite crest of the White Unicorn Corps.
These were the direct, fiercely loyal shadow operatives of Princess Isabella—the very same ruthless, unrelenting instructors who had dragged Ethan through a hellish, systematic training regime in the kingdom until he had genuinely desired the sweet release of death.
"My true name within the network is Ash Legrave," the elder whispered, his eyes locked onto Ethan’s unreadable profile. "I am a man of the Fourth Princess. From this moment forward, my cell is entirely at your disposal."