Chapter 84 Missing Something

It was hard to figure out who someone was based on just a little spiritual power. Mateo relied on Iris’s completely unrestrained behavior to identify her.

“Don’t stop her.”

Since he was talking while eating, his voice sounded a little rude. Seeing someone behave like that while listening to such aristocratic, elegant music made King a little curious.

They had only known each other for a few days, but judging by Iris’s current attitude, King guessed that the man inside was an elder or someone with a similar status.

If he didn’t have an important position and a close relationship with Iris, she would definitely act even more outrageously.

Hearing Mateo speak up, the four bodyguards finally breathed a sigh of relief. Since there was no conflict between these people, they had no reason to be reprimanded either.

The door opened, and King was immediately drawn to Mateo’s appearance. The most eye-catching feature was the large, dazzling golden sun pendant he wore.

The pendant didn’t seem to be made of gold, but its color was beautiful. It was probably some kind of special, highly durable alloy.

If it were made of ordinary materials, it would hardly withstand a cultivator’s accidental use of slightly excessive force.

His brown skin looked so beautiful that it seemed painted rather than natural. His hair was cut extremely short, almost to the scalp, with a few elaborate details that were hardly noticeable.

His bright golden eyes were another highlight. Their golden color was very similar to that of his pendant. Perhaps the pendant’s color was inspired by his eyes.

His face looked incredibly youthful, even a little childish because of how much he smiled. Perhaps he had become a cultivator at a very young age, maybe around twenty.

He wore a black T-shirt underneath that revealed muscles that weren’t overly bulky but were as solid as blocks of steel. Over it was an extremely eye-catching, bright red long-sleeved leather jacket.

His tight black pants had deliberately designed rips that looked very stylish. Hanging at his waist were two blades, which stood out tremendously.

Based on King’s observations, if the two blades were excluded, this man looked more like some kind of singer than a cultivator.

“Iris! I’ve reached rank VI too. I’m only a tiny bit slower than Valentina.”

As soon as the door closed, Mateo waved in greeting. He was still holding a huge roasted lamb leg that he hadn’t finished eating, but he waved anyway.

This gesture was incredibly crude, and combined with his carefree smile, it created a stark contrast with the music playing in the room.

The musicians here were truly professional. No matter what happened, they kept playing without stopping for even a moment.

Of course, they couldn’t hide the surprised looks on their faces. After all, meeting the Third Elder and the strongest human being one after another was indeed a lot of pressure.

Now there was another unfamiliar face, seemingly some kind of secret member.

These musicians were also considered long-standing, respected members of the academy, which was why both Iris and Mateo were so comfortable with their presence.

“I knew it was you. Just now, I was even planning to kick the unlucky guy who’d taken the room I wanted out of here.”

Speaking with a smile, Iris strolled past the dining table. Just like that, a piece of premium steak immediately ‘vanished’.

Despite eating at such a terrifying speed, there wasn’t even any grease on the corners of her mouth. The control of a top-level cultivator wasn’t something ordinary people could compare to.

The same went for Mateo. He looked vulgar and completely lacking in manners while eating, but only his hands and mouth got dirty.

Despite scattering food everywhere, his long-sleeved jacket didn’t have even a single speck of seasoning or a bit of grease on it.

“Hey, you’re King, right? A while back, when I had some free time and returned to my hometown in Mexico, I even went looking for you. You… Hmm… You’re strange. Why do I feel like you’re missing something?”

Mateo’s golden pupils widened as he stared intently at King. It wasn’t any fancy technique. He just suddenly felt that something was off.

“What the hell am I missing? You might be missing something, but I definitely am not.”

Thinking Mateo was trying to show off in front of him, King snorted in disdain. This attitude also left Mateo dumbfounded.

“Hey, what are you thinking? I really do feel like there’s something strange about you.”

Even without the ability to read minds, Mateo could guess roughly what King was thinking just by looking at his expression.

Being misunderstood like this was really strange, since he’d been friendly the whole time.

“Then what’s strange about me?”

Although Mateo was definitely much stronger than King was right now, King didn’t care at all. He could even look down on Iris, so everyone else was nothing to him.

“Um… I really don’t know. I just suddenly feel like you’re missing something compared to other people. It’s hard to explain this kind of intuition. Or you can just think I’m being paranoid.”

Mateo had no proof, and he didn’t fully understand it himself either. Trusting his intuition was like believing in fate. You just believed in it without needing to understand too much.

But just because Mateo didn’t understand didn’t mean Iris was the same. She was a little surprised that he’d noticed that abnormality.

King had told her his story in considerable detail, so she knew that his rank had once dropped because he’d removed the dark qi from his body.

Combined with King’s absurd immunity to dark qi, he was the ‘cleanest’ human being of all.

“He’s not being paranoid. I’ll explain it when we have time.”

Iris suddenly spoke up, making both of them frown as they looked at her. Although they had different thoughts, both of them were confused.

“Let’s drop this nonsense. By the way, who are you? Why haven’t you introduced yourself yet?”

“I’m Mateo Alvarez, the academy’s third elder. I’m thirty-one this year. I like listening to classical music, eating, betting, watching sports… Um, there are lots of other things I like too. Wait a second…”

He stopped midway through his introduction and put down the piece of meat.

Golden flames the same color as his pupils flared up, burning away every trace of dirt on his hands. Then he held out his hand.

“Nice to meet you.”