After giving his mother a hug, Leo finally had left to start his shopping spree. Now that he was a cultivator, his mother had given him a few extra pieces of gold that he could use to purchase some items to train with such as a weapon and some basic armor. Luckily, basic armor could be used in a region like this and still be considered very good armor due to the average rank of cultivation the locals could achieve.

Therefore, if he was efficient and was able to bargain with the sect members in charge of their own small stalls, Leo could find both a suitable weapon and armor and even potentially some training resources on this trip using the extra gold his mother had handed over to him. There was no telling how much extra gold Laura had stashed away, but it was clear that since the passing of Leo's father, she budgeted her funds well enough to completely live off of the pension while having enough left over to stash away as well.

After roughly three hours, Leo was now wearing a full set of basic armor that was easy for him to move around in. There were many different styles and types of armor that cultivators chose to use, for example, a cultivator who specialized in speed would not want extremely heavy armor to wear even if the armor was of very high quality. In Leo's case, he did not mind armor with a little weight to it, but he was able to find some armor that he could still move around with very well and given his previous level of combat experience, he felt the armor he purchased was the absolute best that he could have hoped for.

On the other hand, Leo was also able to get himself a basic sword. It was somewhat lighter than what he was used to, but it was actually on sale and he felt that a lighter sword would be easier to train with initially and that in the future he could always buy a higher quality and more suitable sword. He was, after all, still in a twelve year old's body, so it was clear that once he reached adulthood, he would inevitably have to get a different weapon. Plus, when it came to basic weapons, they were so affordable that it was very easy to switch them out for a better one.

As he was about to walk inside of his home in a showing off type fashion for his mother since he was very proud of himself for finding exactly what he wanted and even had two gold pieces left over for his own future use, Leo felt that something seemed off. So instead of opening up the door, Leo quickly ran outside and peaked his head through a back window that no one would be able to see very well.

Inside, Leo saw that present was the Grand Elder as well as two other elders and they seemed to be in a verbal confrontation with his mother. "Laura, we appreciate you being so pleasant with us, but the reason we had come is because Elder Andrew made a report that your son Leo had a high elemental affinity but that it is with the fire element rather than the earth element. We do not want to make things difficult for you since your son can be groomed into being the next leader of our Iron Will Sect while having a great future but you must be honest with us."

Although he was outside, the window was close enough for Leo to hear everything that was being spoken about and he could clearly see on the face of his mother that she started to become both confused and very scared. "Grand Elder, please understand that my husband and I have been together for many years even since back when we were teenagers. If you are telling me that my son Leo's bloodline is a little suspicious, given the circumstances I would have to agree since I have only been romantic with his father, and as you all know, my now deceased husband."

Hearing her words but clearly seeing her body fully trembling, one of the elders immediately spit on the floor before slapping Laura across the face with the back of his hand. Since Laura was bedridden due to her injuries, the elder clearly held back his strength enough to only leave a small bruise on her face and not enough to cause blood to pour out of her mouth. The other elder present seemed to have wanted to do the same but was not quick enough to beat the other to it.

"Laura, as the Great Elder of this sect, I will ask you to drop your personal feelings about this matter and I can guarantee you that this discussion will not leave this room once finished. However, please no matter how embarrassing or hurtful the truth is, please speak it so that we can all understand. And please excuse Elder Greg for slapping you out of anger, he will be reprimanded by myself behind closed doors after this and you will be properly compensated for having suffered."

"I have nothing else to say to you three, just the fact that you are all assuming I have kept a secret from the sect and to put me in an awkward position if there even was such a secret is enough for me to need to calm down and rest. You have all disappointed me and do hope that Elder Greg will indeed be reprimanded by you Grand Elder and I will personally guarantee that you will not hear a peep from me about this conversation we have had here today."

Suddenly, Leo's mother seemed to have thought of something and scanned the room, looking as if she had become very hurt and was lashing out at everyone present, but she was trying to find something, and that something was Leo. The mother and son locked eyes with one another for a moment but none of the elders present picked up on what had just happened.

"Laura, please all we are asking for is an answer so that we are able to understand this situation in its entirety, your father-" before the Grand Elder was able to continue, Laura lifted up her hand in a way to cut him off as several tears began to appear on her face.

"My family has always done its best to support our Iron Will Sect, and I swear that I will come back from the grave and slaughter everyone within the village if a single hair on my son's head is touched!" Now shouting, Laura quickly withdrew a strange looking vial from her storage ring and immediately began drinking some of the liquid inside. The Grand Elder was the first to react by trying to slap the vial out of her hand to stop her, but he was not fast enough as Leo's mother began coughing up blood uncontrollably.

"It was full of poison, no matter what we must make sure that Leo does not know that we were present and were the cause of his mother doing this. We will console him through the loss of both of his parents and will immediately have Elder Andrew personally look after him to begin grooming him into a Patriarch for our Iron Will Sect. Only a cultivator who could become a mage has the qualifications to have such a position and our sect will enter a new golden age with him in the lead!"

Hearing the Grand Elder, Leo had no choice but to immediately run away and to run away as quickly as possible because he did not want to spend another moment in this village and the mental blow of seeing his mother poisoning herself in front of him, would soon seep in and he would be unable to control himself so until that occurs, he had to get himself to safety since there was no way for him to convince the elders about him no knowing about what had really happened!

Luckily it was in the middle of the afternoon so Leo running as fast as he was did not make anyone question it. Only once he exited the village was he able to let out loud cries but it was not until he was able to run for at least an hour away from the village that his body was able to stop and let loose. Memories with his mother filled his mind as if they were his own and technically, it was not his mother but due to these memories in his head, it felt like she was.