Chapter 828: A Stunning Truth

"Laia?" John asked, to which Zeras' vigorously nodded again!.

"Yes! Laia!" Zeras boomed boisterously, as if he were truly having fun at the moment. He studied Lilian's face as John mentioned Laia, but found only confusion on her face. A bewildered expression appeared on Zeras' face as he turned his attention back to John.

"Have you not told your master about Laia?" Zeras asked questioningly.

His father, the Astral Emperor, had seen John and Laia together many months ago in Alliance City. They had been seated next to the picturesque lake together when he arrived, and he had immediately noticed that Laia had given John her soul seed, connecting the two of them and their fates permanently.

She had done so for them to survive the hellish tribulation John had gone through, and had warned him that accepting the soul seed would bring perilous danger in the future. John accepted the danger, and from that moment on, the two had become linked.

The Astral Emperor was beyond furious when he discovered this fact, and tried to forcibly remove it from John at the time. The only way to do this was to kill John, and his actions were only stopped because the Alliance Head and Thunderfist had arrived to thwart the Astral Emperors actions.

After a brief standoff, the Astral Emperor left, but his knowledge of John's existence was then known. He had spread that information to his closest confidants, which naturally included his most talented son. After that, the Astral Empire had gathered much information on John, and Zeras knew John and his feats quite well by now.

While Laia refused to elaborate further regarding anything related to John, Zeras was able to tell much from her words and expressions when he had discussed John with her. He knew John and Laia were close, and due to her connection with Lilian, had naturally expected John to have brought the subject up with her already, hence his surprise at Lilians continued confusion.

"I just now reunited with my master," John said to Zeras. "It has quite some time since I saw her last."

"So that's how it is," Zeras said with realization. His bewilderment faded away as the usual smirk appeared on his face, and he looked back at Lilian with that amused smirk on his face.

"Then allow me to tell you a story, dear little sister, to clear your confusion," Zeras said to Lilian, who remained silent. Based on John's reaction, she could tell that there was quite a bit to this story that she was yet to understand.

"Let's see. I guess I'll begin when your disciple entered the Jade Dragon Empire trial realm," Zeras said as he began to pace back and forth, like a teacher pacing before students while teaching them.

Lilian glanced at John as he was mentioned to be the subject of the story, and then glanced back to Zeras.

"When he entered that realm, someone of our Astral Empire also entered."

"Laia," Lilian said, realizing the name that she did not recognize was the subject of the story as well. She knew 'Laia' was of the Astral Empire, but it had been over a decade since she left the empire. She kept her distance, and thus received no news of the empire in this time either.

"Yes...Laia," Zeras said amusingly, and then glanced at John.

"You see. At some point during the trial, your disciple ran into Laia, and the two seemed to have become quite close. In fact, she even gave John her soul-seed, which I'm sure you know the value of," Zeras said, to which Lilian widened her eyes slightly, as if an idea had popped into her head.

"Father was naturally incensed when he discovered his precious daughter did something so drastic, and tried to take it back from your disciple," Zeras continued, his pacing back and forth constant.

"He was thwarted, as your disciple would naturally not be alive had he succeeded, but because Laia's soul-seed remains within your disciple, they are now permanently linked," Zeras said, shifting his gaze to John. "And it seems that link, at least for Laia, is more than just the soul-seed."

"In fact," Zeras continued. "She has agreed to fathers demands so long as she gets to marry you in the future. You truly managed to capture my little sister's heart it seems."

John's eyebrows raised slightly as he heard this, as he had not expected to hear these words. While he knew both him and Laia felt things for one another, it appeared that Laia's feelings were much stronger for him than he had expected.

"Where are you going with this?" Lilian spoke up, her voice still icy. "Are you here to waste my time telling me about my disciples' love interests?"

"Not quite," Zeras replied, his smirk ever present. "I just wanted to give you a little backstory on the past, and your disciples relationship with...Laia," Zeras said before turning his attention back to John.

John had remained silent, as this subject being brought up was one he was truly curious about as well. In fact, he was going to ask Lilian about her relationship with Laia due to their near identical faces, but Zeras had done so instead. John wanted to know the truth, and so he entertained this rambling of Zeras for the moment.

"If you were to describe Laia, how would you describe her? Her appearance. The aura she gives off," Zeras said to John, who frowned but decided to play along with Zeras' game, as he would have asked Lilian about these things regardless.

John's gaze shifted to his master to his side, who stared back with slightly wide eyes. Her breathing was also slightly heavier than normal, as if she were bracing herself for a truth that she did not want to hear. He had never seen such a look on his master's face before.

"She looks just like you," John said, his words causing her lips to quiver slightly. "In fact, the resemblance is nearly identical, to the point of you being twins. There are a few differences, like hair color and demeanor, but one would not be faulted for saying you two are twins" John continued.

"And the aura! Get to the aura," Zeras interrupted, causing John to frown, but he ignored him and continued his detailing of Laia.

"However, while you two are nearly identical in appearance, you differ greatly in aura," John said. "In fact, you two are complete opposites," John said, to which Lilian's breathing got heavier, as if the truth she did not want to hear was about to be heard.

"You control the Dao of Death, while she controls the Dao of Life," John said, and his words seemed to hit Lilian like a mountain falling on her, nearly taking the wind from her lungs. John was beyond shocked to see such a strong reaction from his normally stoic master, and could tell that she had realized something that he was yet to understand fully.

"That's right!" Zeras boomed, his voice full of excited amusement as if their game had finally gotten to the big reveal. "I'm sure you've realized it by now, little sister," he said as he slowly walked towards Lilian, smiling at her with smug amusement, stopping a few feet away.

"Laia is your Dao of Life half! The half of yourself and your soul that you shed all those years ago when you disappeared!" Zeras said as he reached out and tapped his index finger against Lilians chest three times, each tap lining up with a singular word.

"Laia...is...you!"