The Demoness immediately shifted her demeanor and no longer cared about the disturbance she had felt. She turned to the Fey leader and spoke directly:
"My two targets are on this planet; I must kill them and avenge my husband."
The small Fey’s face changed, surprised. In the next moment, as if making an incredible effort to refrain from rushing off to find them, the Demoness nodded, and a pulsating black rune floated towards the Fey.
She understood and recognized it, picking up the rune and examining its contents with extreme curiosity. She clearly had information about what had happened and knew who this woman’s targets number one and two were.
The rune was a karmic rune, formed with the connection of celestial laws, personally crafted by a demonic hero. Within it lay the imprint of the karmic fluctuations generated by someone’s death, obviously the Demoness’s husband, and the entire branch of the Shadow God sect, which had been decimated overnight.
These fluctuations were the mark of each cultivator, emanating from their core and meridians; it was like a fingerprint. It couldn’t be forged or changed unless all cultivation was destroyed, which would render them mortals forever—better to be hunted down than to do that.
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The moment she felt the fluctuations, the Fey leader jumped in shock... she knew exactly who the two individuals were, having seen them personally just hours ago and remembered their auras.
"It seems you know where they are," the Demoness spoke coldly, a smile creeping onto her face.
The Fey sighed, realizing these two were much bigger players than she had imagined. What kind of trouble had they caused out there? How on earth had they destroyed an entire branch?
Thinking quickly, the Fey snorted. If these two were captured, the sect would lose a lot.
"Yes, they are members of my sect. And as members of the sect, I will protect them; unless you have evidence they have touched something forbidden," the Fey leader spoke calmly, a gleam pulsing in her eyes.
The moment her words left her, half the planet was covered in a scarlet aura. But the Fey smiled faintly, and the entire sect was mobilized.
Far away, in the dark forest.
Alm and Bruno clearly sensed the arrival of the visitors and already foresaw the problems that would ensue from it.
They trusted that the sect would not bow to a branch and hand them over like that. It wasn’t luck or random chance that they had burned through all their Qi and used all the primordial power they could in such a flashy way. Since Ruri had caused a stir after gaining terrifying power, they deliberately showed the sect that both of them were valuable.
These two were experienced and had seen all sorts of disputes among cultivators. The Yinblood sect was powerful, but it was only third in the galaxy. They lacked major Empyreans, which put them at a disadvantage, and they must crave power to compete with other sects. The whale and Ruri had immediately become the pillar for their future.
That Fey leader seemed reasonable, and despite the invaders having a powerful umbrella, if they were to directly attack the sect, not even the main Shadow God sect would be able to defend and protect them afterward. There was a moral image that powerful beings had to maintain; if they broke that, they would lose their prestige.
But, obviously, the two were not innocent; the sect couldn’t fully protect them. Their protection was only on the surface from direct attacks. They instinctively felt imminent danger and trusted their senses.
Bruno reflected softly, ’Like in every powerful sect that cultivates competition where everyone kills each other for resources, there must be traitors infiltrated in the upper echelons.’
’We’re trapped in the sect, and in the dark forest; we can’t stay within the sect according to the rules... the most obvious way is to send assassins who can move freely to hunt us down. The traitors will find a way to make them invade the planet,’ Alm finished coldly.
Bruno sighed, ’That Fey leader seems to have a controlling personality and likes to have everything under her control without randomness. She probably ordered us to be monitored. It’ll be easy for that traitor to take over or place someone trustworthy. Everything happened so fast, now we have no escape route even if we wanted to flee this planet.’
The two snorted simultaneously; they had barely arrived and were already surrounded with no escape routes. They were still too weak, and their greatest defense was their value to the sect.
They knew the demons; they were direct and would take the obvious route first. Their response needed to be swift and decisive before the situation escalated and schemes began. The problem was, the two of them didn’t have the power to retaliate, and things would escalate whether they liked it or not.
The whale turned in the cave to his group waiting in silence. They were their salvation; the only way forward was to resist and crush, making the enemies fear them and increasing their value to the sect.
If they were alone, they would have to defend themselves in a very flashy manner. If they investigated their home planet, they wouldn’t take long to be labeled Heaven-Defiers and hunted down by heroes. But with their allies, they could manage everything by dividing attention. A Heaven-Defier was always alone and way above everyone else; if a powerful group emerged with everyone being terrifying, things would be camouflaged.
’We have about three months until the sealed world opens. We can only resist and use that place to turn the tables,’ Alm concluded, then took charge and turned to the three Feys in the middle of their group.
"Idris, Kisala, and Ambry, return near your people in the forest. Things have changed and become very dangerous. I can’t guarantee your safety."
The boy was stunned, while the girls’ eyes welled up. "I want to stay," Ambry said quickly.
"You’re too young, don’t let your emotions dominate you," the whale responded curtly. "Remember the recruitment test? All those cultivators from the Shadow God branch were focusing on Ruri and then on me. That happened because the two of us are their targets, number one and two. Now... that whole sect has found us and wants us dead."
"But... we can help. The sect won’t bow to them, even the leader saw your power and wouldn’t hand you over," Kisala said quickly, distressed.
"Foolish child... do you think they don’t have powerful allies infiltrated in the sect? They will act and send assassins," the whale replied emotionlessly. "They will try and fail. Shortly after, they’ll send more and stronger ones. You’re very inexperienced and haven’t gone through great trials. And because you’re with me, your clan and your people in the forest could be implicated."
The two swallowed hard; they hadn’t even considered that traitors could exist in the sect. Then their minds spun... if they existed in the sect... in their clan as well? It was the young man next to them who interrupted their thoughts.
"Sir, the number one rule of my clan is: each chooses their own path, and the clan will never interfere," said Idris, looking seriously at the whale. "The good side is that I’m free to do as I wish; the bad side is they won’t protect me no matter what happens; I have to bear the consequences alone. I will follow you, I am free to choose."
The whale nodded; they already knew that after reading his memories earlier. But they wanted to test the will and loyalty of this young man.
"I... no matter what my clan says! If the members are implicated, it’s because they weren’t strong enough. We are warriors and fight for what we want and feel. I won’t change my decision."
Encouraged by Idris, Ambry spoke seriously with words completely driven by her feelings and not rationality. She was honest and did what she wanted without hesitation, someone reliable... but this could cause many problems due to the consequences of her actions. Neither Alm nor Bruno cared about that; she had a pure and harmless mind, and they valued trustworthy people above all else. If something happened, they would deal with the consequences.
Kisala was the only one to hesitate and became thoughtful; no one judged her, and everyone waited for her to reflect calmly. People were different from each other; she wasn’t less trustworthy because she thought deeply about things. Alm also preferred to act this way; it was better to observe the situation around to make a rational decision. Her will was clear as day, but acting impulsively sometimes meant risking everything. If they only kept people driven by emotions close, things would be chaotic all the time; it was good to have someone like her around.
She took a few minutes and then looked at the whale. Her eyes moved to Ruri, who was deeply asleep, embraced by the whale. The peace on her face, as if nothing in the world was a problem if she could stay there forever. Kisala made her decision and spoke calmly.
"Sir, I have never been treated so well as I have been in these few months together. You had no reason to do that, so I want to repay it. I would like to stay by your side, and I also want to protect my clan if I have enough strength for it."
Alm nodded approvingly. Ruri taught her the harsh reality; she was weak, immature, and couldn’t do anything alone. But with them, even if her clan suffered, she could grow beyond her wildest dreams. In the future, she could repay her clan, and the gains would be much greater. It was indeed a logical decision.
The whale spoke slowly. "Great; if you wish to stay, I will give you a chance. But in exchange for this opportunity, your lives will turn into hell, and you could die every second. Nothing is achieved without blood and sweat, are you sure about this?"
"Yes," the three replied quickly. In that same moment, they felt directly in their souls that this decision completely changed their destiny forever.
At the same time, far away, within the sect and in various other locations scattered across the planet, several Feys of various statuses and powers received secret messages simultaneously. Something big had been ordered, and the gears began to turn.