The Rhodes Family Estate was massive.
The walls were made up of dark brownstones that appeared extremely sturdy. There was also a faint glow around these stones. Dull windows were scattered thinly around the walls in seemingly perfect symmetry.
A moderate gate with a heavy iron door could be seen, which appeared to be the only way to get inside the Estate.
The guards saw Azaroth coming towards them and bowed their heads. Azaroth acknowledged their bow and continued to walk ahead.
A guard spoke out loud, "Open the gate. It's Young Lord Edwin."
"Roger!"
The metal door creaked loudly as it slowly opened up. Azaroth walked inside without even saying a word.
After he was gone, the metallic door was closed, and the guards began to gossip amongst themselves.
"Didn't Young Lord Edwin go out with Porter and Orson? But he returned alone…"
"It's clear that they died. Maybe they remained behind so that Young Lord could safely escape."
"With those two servants gone, Young Lord's life will probably get more difficult in the mansion."
A guard sighed out after speaking that.
"Shhh… Let's not talk about such things. If someone snitches us, Lord Rhodes will deduct our salary. Also, as you know, I need some money to make sure my mother continues to receive treatment for that heart disease."
"Tch. Aren't you too much of a coward? Here are all our people. No one will snitch on us here."
Although one of the guards did say that, the other guards turned quiet, and this banter came to an end soon enough.
Meanwhile, as Azaroth had already entered the mansion. As he walked towards his room, he saw 4 individuals walking towards him in a straight line.
Azaroth knew all 4 of them. One of them was his half-brother Laurance, while the three women around him were his playmates.
Laurance's Ardor had reached a peak of 4 Stars Rank. As long as he spent a good time cultivating, his Ardor shouldn't take too long before breaking through to the 5 Stars Rank.
"Well-well, what do we have here? Oh, look, it's my useless little brother." A mocking voice was let out by Laurance as he gazed at Azaroth.
The girls around him giggled as they heard Laurance's words. One of them spoke with an enchanting voice, "Milord, you need to be gentler with Young Lord Edwin or else, his fragile heart would break."
"You are right, my dear." Laurance said with a laugh before asking, "So, what happened? You went to the White Swallow Forest, didn't you? And you even brought along those pieces of trash with you. Don't tell me they turned into beast food."
Azaroth remained entirely calm as he continued walking. It was as if he didn't even hear Laurance and was directly ignoring his words.
"Hey, you! Lord Laurance is talking to you! Answer him!" One of the girls next to Laurance shouted at Azaroth with a sharp tone.
Azaroth once again ignored their words as passing wind.
Laurance clenched his fists and suddenly grabbed Azaroth's collar, "Do you treat me as thin air?! Answer!"
Laurance wasn't actually interested in Azaroth's answer. He had just gotten outraged when he saw how Azaroth had ignored him. It was as if Azaroth didn't even consider him someone worth talking to.
It made him feel slightly inferior.
Azaroth looked into Laurance's eyes as his collar was grabbed by Laurance.
'Confusion, anger, pride, and fear… Why does he fear me? Is my aura leaking, or is he just psychologically weak?'
Suddenly, Laurance firmly punched Azaroth's face.
Some blood dripped out of Azaroth's mouth as he stared at Laurance with that same calm gaze. He didn't care about this punch.
If he was affected by a punch, he wouldn't be much of a Demonic God.
Azaroth knew when to endure and when not to. He adapted according to the circumstances. Since he had entered the Rhodes Family Mansion, he had naturally anticipated such a situation.
He hardly cared about a beating or two if it could conceal his identity as an imposter.
The current him held little to no chance of surviving if someone at the Demon King level wanted his life.
Suddenly, he thought 'Wait… What if my lack of emotions become the reason for someone to suspect me? It might be too suspicious if I suddenly don't show any emotions.'
'However, I also can't show off my aura or my true power. That will invite even more suspicion. I might need to reveal my Celestial lineage to go and take shelter under the church, but then my motive of infiltrating this Noble Family and taking control of it will go down the drain. I can't accept that.'
Azaroth wiped away the blood on his face and stared at Laurance with a melancholic expression, "They remained behind and allowed me to escape. I was just too lost in my grief. I apologize if I made brother angry."
Laurance paused for a moment once he heard his words. He looked into Azaroth's eyes for a couple of seconds before releasing his collar.
"A trash needed another two trashes to save himself. Touching you will get my hands dirty. Now, scram!" Laurance shouted at Azaroth loudly.
Azaroth turned his head and just walked off.
The three women once again latched onto Laurance and seemed to continue their talk from before.
Azaroth returned to his room soon enough. As soon as he returned, he jumped on the bed.
It was soft and fluffy, made up of the feathers of grey pigeons.
"I should temper the Ardor first."
Sitting in a lotus position, Azaroth began to mutter something underneath his breath. He was muttering the incarnations of a meditation technique created by himself.
Its name was Heavenly Demon Meditation Technique.
Although his skills seemed to work well with the Triquetra Ardor, he was slightly worried regarding the Meditation Technique.
After revolving the Ardor in his body ten times, Azaroth opened his eyes and let out a sigh.
"It appears as if this meditation technique won't work well with Triquetra Ardor. Its speed is nearly 9 times slower than in my previous life. The laws of the Heavens are fair. Since the Triquetra Ardor goes against the norm, it faces greater restrictions as well."
Although it was an unexpected setback, it was nothing much to Azaroth.
"The resources in the world are endless. Moreover, even those weak humans from before managed to break their limit and reach the peak. I can do the same as well.
A smile appeared on Azaroth's face as he added, "Fortunately, I never counted on this method. If quality doesn't work, then I will rely on quantity. There is no end to such unorthodox means in my head."
"Alright. Time to continue to train."
Although Azaroth realized that his cultivation speed through this meditation technique was incomparable to his previous life, he still decided to use it.
One reason was that he didn't have a better meditation technique than this one. Another reason was that even if he could raise his Ardor's strength through unorthodox means, he had to make sure the Ardor in his body was sturdy enough to endure and not just collapse at that time.
Azaroth cultivated his Ardor for the rest of the day.