Elder Aika stood amidst dozens of Sky Gods, her countenance cold and unmoved. She didn't seem to be injured in the slightest despite the fact she had been facing off against so many enemies. In fact, despite the fact the fight had only been going on for a few seconds at most, several more of her enemies had died.
She stood over the floating island of the Radiant Star Sect protectively, her gaze slowly shifting toward the two newcomers.
At that moment, Jenneless quickly began to send mental messages to her elder, explaining everything from start to finish.
Although the gap between World Sea Realm and Sky God was enormous, the fact Jenneless was a Heaven Class genius of the former meant that her standing amongst her Sect was actually quite high. As such, she could get away with a more informal tone when speaking to certain elders.
Depending on the demeanor of the Sky God, sending them private messages like this when you weren't a Sky God yourself might earn you their disdain and rage. However, Jenneless didn't need to worry about such a thing and directly informed her elder in the quickest way possible.
With the speed of thought of such experts, it only took a second for the wrinkled old woman to be caught up with everything that had happened here, and the same went for the old man by her side. Now that they were, both of their gazes moved over to Elder Aika at once.
Varnon sighed inwardly. This matter could get complicated.
Recruiting Ryu was one matter, but the actions of his elder was a different matter entirely. How this situation would be handled was still up in the air.
The prestige of the Second Heaven was too important, and if this was allowed to pass casually for the sake of an Immortal Ring Realm expert, who knew what would happen later? What if this emboldened these First Heaven Sky Gods to attack the geniuses they sent during the next selection?
The likes of Jenneless and Varnon all had great talent and treasures on them. They were a great temptation to Sky Gods that had reached the end of their robe. If the next time they sent such Heaven Class geniuses down caused them to be slaughtered and plundered, it would already be too late to regret even if they sought revenge later.
"You disrupted the selection process of my Second Heaven?" The old woman spoke first.
"Your Second Heaven?" Elder AIka was stunned for a moment before she erupted into a fit of laughter. "A mere True Two Star Sect wants to claim the Second Heaven for themselves? It's been a while since I've heard such a good joke."
The gaze of the old women turned frosty. To think the elder of a First Heaven Sect would dare to say such words to her face.
It was true that while the strongest sent here were True Two Star Sects, they weren't the strongest of the Second Heaven. The true strongest wouldn't be looking on the First Heaven for talents, they had already set their sights toward the Third Heaven, hoping to raise disciples that would be able to make it through Heaven's Path.
While all of this was true, it wasn't for the likes of Elder Aika to say. It seemed that they had truly been too casual in the past.
The old woman immediately swept down with a palm, no longer saying anything else. Her fury rose like a tempest, forming an ice infused palm that caused the clouds above to tremble as though they might start a rainfall of snow any moment now.
Elder Aika snorted, her cane piercing out once more.
BANG!
An enormous hole was shredded through the center of the palm, causing it to lose its structure and rupture from the inside out.
A surging energy tunneled forth, appearing before the wide-eyed old woman in the blink of an eye.
The elder of the Carving Ice Sect quickly sent forward a cascade of palms, layering one after another. In the blink of an eye, she had already sent out several hundred palms.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Elder Aika's seemingly casual strike shot through them all one by one, forcing the old woman to retreat time and time again.
By the time the booming cacophonies came to a stop, the old woman had retreated dozens of killometers and a sliver of blood flowed from the corner of her lips. Her expression was unsightly to behold, but her heart was trembling as she looked toward Elder Aika with an incredulous gaze.
How had this happened? How was this possible?
"Are you done now?" Elder Aika asked. "Put away that slimy attitude of yours, it's disgusting. The only reason I haven't slaughtered you all yet is because it will only make things more troublesome for me in the future. I still need time to consolidate my new cultivation Realm and I don't have the time to waste on small fry. Plus, I wasn't expecting a breakthrough on the First Heaven so I haven't even gathered up enough energy yet.
"I'll make this very simple. My Radiant Star Sect will be climbing to the Second Heaven and we'll be co opting your passageway since I can't be bothered to waste the resources necessary to build my own.
"You can forget about taking away my Little Ryu too, he'll be remaining one of us.
"Now hand over the control center. If you make me come over there, you'll end up with a fate worse than just a little bleeding."
Shock and silence.
None had expected that the reason Elder Aika was so casual with her actions was because she was waiting for these two to descend. The geniuses they had sent wouldn't have what she needed, only they would.
The old woman's unsightly expression only became worse, but the power behind Elder Aika's casual strike was practically branded into her mind. If she really tried to fight it out, she would lose her life in this pitiful First Heaven.
But that was precisely what she couldn't understand. How the hell had such an existence appeared here?
"Hm? Are you going to make me wait? My patience is thin."
Ryu, who was watching all of this from below, raised a brow. The Radiant Star Sect was planning on climbing to the Second Heaven? This Sect was truly mysterious.
Could it be because of Elder Aika's breakthrough? Is that what they were waiting for? But that didn't make much sense either because Elder Aika was at the end of her lifespan. The likelihood of a breakthrough should have been near zero.
It was more likely that the Radiant Star Sect hadn't had such intentions, but now that Elder Aika held such strength, she unilaterally made the decision on her own. Ryu couldn't help but wonder exactly what this meant and how this might be related to Old Man Wan.
Old Wan seemed like more a pacifist while Elder Aika was more fiery. Could it be that they followed Old Wan's leads in how to do things because Elder Aika was weaker, but now with her breakthrough, Elder Aika could steer the Sect how she pleased?
That was potentially the case, but that didn't explain what else could be going on. What was the history of the Radiant Star Sect? Did they have the foundation necessary to ascend to the Second Heaven? And why did it seem like Elder Aika didn't even take the Second Heaven seriously to begin with? Could it be that the goal isn't the Second Heaven at all, but rather much higher?
Ryu thought about these things as he slowly came out of the raging waters, dry from head to toe. It didn't look as though he had just been submerged at all and the raging waters didn't provide him any sort of difficulty in standing on its surface.
At that moment, a snow owl swooped down and Selheira appeared with a smile.
"I'm sorry, I should have helped sooner, but Elder Aika is very stubborn. When she acts, she tends to forget about all the details."
Ryu's gaze flickered when he heard this. They seemed to have a double meaning behind their intent. It seemed that Elder Aika's impulsiveness might come back to bite them.
Still, Ryu chuckled, feeling his blood boiling. He had never joined a Sect before, none were worthy of him. If not for Sarriel's warning about becoming a Throne in this world and the kind of trouble it came with, he wouldn't have joined the Radiant Star Sect either.
But the more he thought about it, the more a reckless Sect like this one suited his tastes.
Looking up at Elder Aika, he had a feeling that she had felt more stifled than he had since he stepped into the True Martial World. Not only that, but she had experienced that feeling for much longer as well.
She finally couldn't hold back any longer and burst forth with all her pent up frustration and rage all at once.
Ryu found that he quite liked it. Things were only interesting if they were like this.
Would the Sects and Clans of the Second Heaven just sit idly by as a new power rose up? Of course not. Every ascension of a new power often came with the fall of at least one if not many. There were only so many resources to go around.
Elder Aika's strength was one thing, but she couldn't hold up the sky alone. Without deep enough foundations, the Sect would be crushed.
And yet, the disciples of the Radiant Star Sect were pitifully weak.
That meant only one thing, and it was the very reason why Elder Aika made it clear that she wasn't giving Ryu up.
She would deal with the old fogies, and she expected Ryu to deal with the rest.
Ryu laughed, his bloodlines thrumming through his veins and his Dragon Soul threatening to roar to the skies.
Interesting. Interesting, indeed.
