Chapter 229 - Heir of the first gate Part2

John Augustin took a sip of the herbal tea and started explaining the secret behind this world and the Nine gates of hell.

"Son, since you already know the existence of the nine gates, you must also know that there were only eight gates until a few years ago and the ninth gate sprouted out of nowhere just recently."

"Your uncle is the leader of this ninth gate!"

"The eight gates of hell are eight ancient societies or organizations or clans or whatever you want to call us."

"Our sole purpose for existing on this planet is to prevent something evil and dark from getting out."

"We closely guard the eight seals binding this evil to the netherworld."

"But only clan leaders know this secret. Your uncle, the one who kidnapped and tortured you, doesn't know this."

"He rebelled against the family and chose a dark and evil path for cultivation by murdering innocent civilians."

"He did not leave us with many options and we finally ended up banishing him from the family."

"This in itself was an act of kindness from our side, which unfortunately ended up backfiring on the entire world."

"Even after his exile, the mad man still didn't stop killing and somehow attained enlightenment on the powerful necromancy technique which didn't require spiritual qi for cultivation."

"By the time we realized this, he was already too strong and our power was not enough to stop him."

"Your mother always blames herself for this disastrous oversight. She swore that she would never be lenient again."

"And that is why… tonight… She directly started attacking you. I am sorry son." John sighed.

He took another sip of the tea as he looked at Luther's face for any signs of forgiveness.

But unfortunately, there was none. John sighed loudly and continued.

"So we all came to an agreement that it would just be easier and safer for the world to have a ninth gate with your uncle as the leader rather than going through a long and bloody war."

"Even though he is a king for namesake, he still doesn't have any idea about the real power and responsibility of the eight gates."

"He will never really a part of the ancient groups. He is not protecting anything and he is not receiving any blessing."

"He is merely a power-hungry monster that we have temporarily subdued by feeding his power craving and kept at bay."

"In fact, your great grandfather is expecting a major breakthrough in the near future and will become much more powerful than anyone on this planet."

"When that happens, your uncle and the fake ninth gate will be completely demolished and erased from this planet once and for all."

"So you do not have to worry about any of this. Everything has already been arranged and your vicious uncle's fate is already sealed."

John then glanced at his son's eyes and affection met his scrutinizing gaze.

"But what we didn't know was that all those years ago, when your uncle left the island, he kidnapped you as well."

"Thinking back, we were fools not to suspect him."

Luther nodded. Things made so much more sense now.

But the one thing he couldn't understand was why his mother went ballistic on him.

"So… mother?" Luther hesitantly asked.

"Yes son, I am really sorry about that. She was just so worried and lost herself."

"She was afraid that you too, like your uncle, her brother committed vile crimes to cultivate spiritual qi."

Luther immediately refused. "No, we didn't do anything like that."

"When heaven's energy is freely available for everyone to use, then why should I bother committing such heinous acts?"

"Why did she directly jump to that conclusion?" Luther was extremely confused.

"Son, that's because heaven's energy, spiritual qi is not supposed to be available freely for anyone to cultivate."

"Not here. Not in this city. Not in this country. Not in this world."

"That's what all the eight gates of hell, the eight ancient families are constantly guarding, the eight seals that prevent spiritual qi from seeping into the rest of the planet."

"Once the spiritual qi is released into this world, the evil that lurks in the darkness would also be inevitably unleashed."

"It is our responsibility to prevent this from happening."

"Now do you get it?"

Luther's eyes narrowed as he looked at his father in confusion.

"That is not true, father. There is plenty of spiritual qi in the Himalayan mountain ranges, that's where we cultivated our strength."

John resolutely shook his head. "The third gate, or rather the third seal is located in a cave far below the gigantic Himalayan ranges. You must have absorbed that stray energy."

"The seal can only hold so much. Sometimes the energy does end up seeping outside, but the cultivators immediately clean it up."

"That's where we get our strength from. We absorb the leaked spiritual energy and make ourselves stronger, strong enough to defend against anything that could destroy this planet, our home."

"If you were able to absorb the energy, then that was pure coincidence. They must not have gotten to it fast enough."

"So you were able to access bits and pieces of it." John pondered. But since it was an anomaly, they didn't dwell on it for much longer.

"When your mother wakes up, I will talk to her and convince her. Please try to understand son and forgive her. She has just gone through too much suffering."

Luther nodded. He has said many things, but he also left out many things. He was still not sure about this new family of his.

He was afraid to be greedy and want it all, only to end up losing whatever he already had.

"Ok. Dad. Why don't you rest with mom for now? I will leave this house and check on my wife."

"We can meet somewhere else, once mom feels better."

"Thanks son. Thanks a lot for trusting us. I can't even begin to imagine the pain of losing you all over again. She will never be able to recover from that."