novelraw Chapter 401 - 400 - Upstart
Chapter 401 - 400 - Upstart
The large meeting hall seemed empty with all the powers once gathered now gone. Only 1 remained and the Babylon Guild caravan.
The sect master of the Lily Sect was not directly involved but happy to continue hosting Lind Frey. His elixir masters had practically beat his door down demanding it! He had ignored their suggestions of offering up young female disciples as the ravings of madmen.
Still, the Heavenly Maiden Sect was not as kind as legends held. The women were short, cold, and demanded to be left alone. He was unsure what happened but as they did not disrespect the sect as a whole, he let it go.
There was little he could do if they had disrespected them but he simply acquiesced to their needs.
Lind Frey, on the other hand, was quite warm and grateful to find a new room for him and his companion. The poor girl was a tier 4 but had clearly suffered from Qi deviation. The sect master could also see the familial closeness between them.
They shared no features but cultivators had a wider definition of family as they advanced. Blood relatives may sadly be left behind but true brothers and sisters could be forged in the journey to cultivate.
Lind was her protective older brother from what he had observed, even though she was far above him in cultivation.
Talent was not the same but bonds could transcend the norms.
Lind apologized for being a nuisance but the sect master assured him it was fine. He simply reminded Lind to do something to get the elixir masters off his back! The man smiled warmly and tossed him a jade slip.
"Give that to them but stand well back when you do." He smiled but wondered if it would be that bad.
It was worse!
The 3 grade 4 masters had practically come to blows trying to claim the slip for themselves! They were supposed to be composed examples for the younger generation and they were acting like children!
The sect master simply sighed and offered to have it copied for each of them with the original kept safe in the vault for the future. They actually cried at him!
The old man sat in his chair as they waited and remembered the tumultuous last day.
Lind looked sympathetically at him while the young girl sat very close to him. He would not be surprised if she was holding his hand tightly.
Stories about heart demons were common but actually seeing the after effects scared the old man more than anything. He made a point to have the elders keep a sharp eye on the disciples for any signs.
The earlier the better in the case of heart demons clearly.
Finally, the envoy of the Heavenly Maiden Sect arrived. She looked much calmer compared to before and more confident but one glance at the twins made her blanch. She quickly bowed in respect but ignored Lind Frey.
His very public break with them was widespread long ago but the reason was not known to the Lily Sect. Still, it was sad to see such animosity from just an envoy, how bad were the elders and sect master?
"As we are all now present, we can begin." Huo bade them all sit and then waved to the Lily Sect's sect master. He bowed and stood up.
"I am glad to host this event and hope accommodations were acceptable." His words seemed to make the envoy blush. "I am Graham, a mere Tier 5 Sky Realm, but I welcome both the Heavenly Maidens and Master Frey."
Huo smiled and he sat down.
Huo then looked at the envoy. She put a delicate hand through her sapphire hair before standing. If not for the blushing before, he would have sworn she was the epitome of grace.
"I am Shui of the Heavenly Maiden Sect. I am a tier 6 Sky Realm core disciple." Both the twins and Graham were surprised. A core disciple was not a small thing to come on a mission. It was just shy of an elder coming!
Graham glanced at the girl by Lind and noticed something odd. Terror, stark terror was in her eyes.
"We have come to retrieve our wounded Sister and to have an account of what happened." She then bowed to Graham and the twins but again ignored Lind. She did, however, look harshly at the girl by him.
Lind seemed to have no reaction and simply waited until Huo turned to him. It was then that Graham noticed an emblem on his right breast. It had not been there yesterday.
"I am the Sect Master of Moebius Sect. I am mid-Heaven grade 5 elixir master and low Heaven grade 5 Forger Lind Frey. I have asked for the Babylon Guild to mediate our conversation due to several concerning things, not the least of which is abuse of a disciple." Lind was the weakest by far yet at that moment all in the room felt a flare of terrifying strength.
It was all too familiar to Graham. He would never forget the image of the ethereal dragon roaring in the sky above his sect.
He was surprised at the first sentence too but no one else was. Moebius Sect? He had never heard of it.
"We have acknowledged your status. Your accolades in your profession are evident to all as well. However, you will clarify, what abuse and whose disciple?" Lind then gently patted the head of the woman next to him who clung to him as she trembled.
"I had never had a disciple and never planned to, but a little girl found me on a journey and opened my eyes to what I could teach others. She went farther and did far more than I ever dreamed possible. She was a bright light and I am so proud of her. Even now, I am proud of her." The soft look on his face passed as he turned to Shui.
"What you did to my disciple I will have an accounting for and a reason given! The moment you looked at her, you looked like she was nothing but she carried a heart demon for over 10 years and reached the peak of the Sky Realm while still at tier 5!" His words thundered but Shui seemed hardly bothered.
"Your disciple? She was a member of the Heavenly Maiden Sect and thus not your concern. You will explain who a strong Sister has been crippled by an ant of no importance?" Graham was stunned.
A mid-Heaven grade 5 elixir master was unimportant? A low Heaven grade Forger was unimportant? A man that could do both even more so?
If Lind Frey was not important, then most cultivators were little better than bottom feeders.
"By the rules of cultivation she never took another master but me. Even when she thought I was dead, she held true to that. I never asked her to but I honored her choice. Her combat skills outstripped me massively in such a short time and she still was able to concoct pills of the highest purity as well!" A jade slip was tossed onto the dark table. Ayzlea looked it over and was surprised as she passed it on to Shui.
The woman's eyes bulged as she seemed to have held something on fire when she jumped up from the table.
"HOW DID SHE ALLOW THAT?!" Lind smirked as he sat back down to comfort the clearly whimpering young girl. Why was she afraid of the envoy?
"Vice-Sect Master Lydia saw the results I produced and had no issue officially acknowledging us. What happened between me and Valkyrie has nothing to do with the rules of master and disciple. She is my disciple and you allowed a heart demon to nearly claim her! Worse, you shunned her for no reason and allowed her to nearly wither away! I demand answers!" Shui was clearly incensed but bit her tongue before speaking with anger.
"It would seem the lower world branches need some discipline. I thank you for showing the error of my lower Sisters. We will correct that at least." Graham felt things falling apart but similar to how they acted in the previous meeting, the twins merely sat.
He now knew they were collecting facts and data. Once they had all they needed, a mediation would be enforced, but not until then.
Graham felt they should act a bit or things could get dangerous.
"Discipline! If anyone needs some discipline, it is your branch! How many?! How many wonderful women have been turned into nothing because you disdain ascenders? Tell me, did you even notice what you did?" Lind was angry but he kept his questions firing.
Shui never seemed bothered by any.
"Who has time for little girls that can't cope with the real cultivation world?" There was some truth in her words. Cultivators of the Sky Realm were not children. They knew the brutality of the world and it was not only with weapons but words and attitude. A weak will would not last.
"There is a difference between pushing someone to the edge to grow and breaking them because you choose to!" A chord was finally struck but Lind was not done. "I would like to know why you are so happy she has become like this when you created the heart demon by betraying her!"
Shui suddenly blanched. She had suddenly looked at the girl and Graham knew in that moment there was truth in Lind's words. Her actions betrayed her better than anything.
"That little girl was treated so well just because of you! Those other dirty little ascenders too! They, at least, had skills to bring, but her! She just went on and on about you! Everyday it was Big Brother this or Big Brother that! She even defended you when the Sect Master gave the order to abandon you! She never understood what a pathetic thing she was without all you gave her!" There it was! There was what Lind was looking for.
"Fey, who taught you pills?" The girl jumped and whimpered but he looked patiently at her before she answered.
"Um, no one exactly. Elder Yi confirmed I had the gift but she left it up to me what to do." Lind nodded.
"Who taught you to fight?" She scrunched up her face at his question.
"Um, it was Elea and Frenella at first then Big Sister Shoti had me figure out what weapon I was good at. She made sure I knew the danger too but then left me to face the blade masters." Lind smiled and nodded.
"And who taught you to cultivate?' She smiled wide suddenly and pointed at him.
"BIG BROTHER DID!" He patted her head and then looked right at Shui.
"So, we all made sure to watch over every step and correct you, right? You never made a single choice?" Now she seemed to become confused but then a light went off in her pale amber eyes.
"No. You gave me lots of things to study but left it up to me how far I could go. I had to do missions for resources in my first sect and then the Heavenly Maidens Sect. I had a lot of bad pills before I got the first one to work! I had to replace the cauldrons! They were expensive!" As she spoke, her beauty suddenly shone through so brightly that Graham felt his anger rise.
What had the Heavenly Maiden Sect done to this girl?
"Then Big Sister Shoti only trained me a bit before I had to take years to learn under th blade masters. I nearly lost my arm to a night wolf! They use the shadows of a forest so well and…" The words stopped as she finally got it.
It was a first step but the shaking and whimpering stopped. She slowly turned to Shui who seemed to to wilt under the suddenly fierce amber eyes. There was only coldness there before Fey slowly pulled out her emblem of the Maidens. It was bright gold which spoke of an elite!
Shui did not have such an emblem. Her envy was clear as day.
"I see. I was so trusting after being so close to my Sisters. In my heart, I will always be a sister to them, but from this day forth, I am a member of Moebius Sect!" Shui blanched as the golden emblem was snapped in two.
Her arms shook but a weight was clearly lifted from her shoulders. Fey looked up at Lind and actually wept as she hugged him tight.
"You walked the path, I just opened the door. Never forget that. I am done here." Lind looked at the twins on the last moment before they began to pack up. Graham was caught off guard. Then he understood.
Lind wanted the confrontation, he wanted it all out in the open, and he wanted Fey to realize the source of her heart demon was false. It was all false words that she had come to believe. A truly good master does not carry their disciple. They do indeed simply open the door and then the disciple has to walk the path.
Graham realized if Moebius Sect could get established, it would be a terrifying place with Lind Frey as Sect Master.