Suddenly, the atmosphere was cut through by a wave of sharp power, slicing through space like an invisible blade. Everyone turned to the horizon, where a man and his spear emerged, radiating an unmatched fighting aura.
"Lord Almin!" several female disciples who had narrowly escaped shouted, ecstatic.
In an instant, Almin was just a few meters from his target. Raoni, however, merely snorted, staring at him coldly. His lips moved, and dry words echoed in the air:
"Looks like I’ll have to discipline this pet again."
Those words reached the ears of the High Elders clearly, whose cultivation was at its peak. However, to them, it sounded like just an insignificant provocation.
Almin, upon hearing this, froze. His eyes reflected a sudden fear, and his attack power destabilized. Then...
*BANG!*
Everyone suddenly watched as Raoni spun and delivered a vicious punch, hitting Almin in the face. But he wasn’t sent flying; with impressive speed, Raoni grabbed him by the collar of his robes.
*BANG! BANG!*
In the blink of an eye, Raoni delivered a headbutt followed by a knee strike. Soon after, the fiery runes on his body exploded directly against Almin, sending him crashing a great distance away, colliding with a building.
All of this happened in three seconds. Almin, using the runic seal of his spear, pierced through space and, with a terrifying speed, arrived before his allies.
By the time thousands of his allies from the Phoenix Feather and Elders arrived, he was already among the rubble.
"Almin!"
The disciples from his group roared, shocked and furious. How could Almin, who had been seen as an invincible god among the alchemists since his arrival at the sect, be defeated so easily?
"ATTACK!"
One of the Elders shouted. Without hesitation, the disciples brandished their weapons and charged toward Raoni in the air. They were thousands strong, wielding throwing spears, flying swords, and bows; all their weapons adorned with multiple runic seals, clearly created by Alm and Bruno.
Raoni snorted again, watching them. They indeed looked like well-trained warriors. They trusted that Almin would recover, focusing only on blocking Raoni to buy him some time.
Just as they were about to attack, a message invaded their minds, coming directly from the array.
The array was connected to the body of the whale, and neither Alm nor Bruno could use it; the message came from Almin. In an instant, everyone was surprised and deactivated the power of their weapons.
Their internal runes were activated, and a vast power of fire laws was channeled by all the disciples simultaneously.
The sky turned a deep red. Those watching weren’t surprised by the movement; no one knew about the runic seals on the disciples’ weapons, so after Almin’s quick defeat, it made sense that they would use their maximum power, attacking from a distance.
Alm and Bruno laughed, their eyes shining. The tattoos in their eyes pulsed again. The devastating attack, a true sea of flames, hit them directly. But immediately, the laws were interrupted, as if time had frozen.
Alm and Bruno easily dominated all the fire laws. With a single thought, they concentrated the flames into one point. The spectators watched in disbelief as the sea of fire condensed, forming a single flaming dragon.
"Get lost," Raoni roared, and the heavens inverted.
*CRASH!*
The fire dragon collided with the arriving disciples and Elders. They were all sent flying like meteors, spitting blood and disappearing into the distance.
Zemuo and the others watched, pale. Had he killed everyone?
The entire confrontation lasted less than ten seconds. Raoni then turned to the High Elders, as if he had just brushed off some irrelevant flies. Gripping his spear, he watched them tremble, but he didn’t attack. Instead, he smiled coldly.
Suddenly, the space around Raoni distorted.
Hundreds of figures emerged, surrounding him from all directions. Zemuo and several others recognized them immediately; they were the most powerful figures of the Phoenix Cry sect.
Those cultivators were true warriors, hired by the sect to train and protect the disciples of the Phoenix Feather. While they didn’t hold official status within the sect, they were undeniably its greatest combat power. All were loyal only to the sect leader, answering to him alone.
High above, a figure with a long white beard and a stern gaze appeared.
"Sect Leader," everyone murmured in unison. He simply nodded, and the power of the bestial runes that had imprisoned the High Elders was dissipated.
Raoni glared coldly at the powerful cultivators surrounding him. Alm and Bruno knew they only had a few seconds to act, so they tried to be as quick and brutal as possible; now, time was up.
’That bastard made us lose the few seconds we had. Who taught him to play the protector of justice?’ Alm spat dryly.
Bruno didn’t respond, focused on quickly reading all the memories he could. Alm understood that he needed to buy time; that was their only way out.
Zemuo and the others from the radical faction had dark expressions, but fearing the leader’s wrath, they didn’t dare make a sound.
The leader shot a stern look at Raoni. "Your temper is out of control. You broke the rules, and now…"
"Fuck that," Raoni interrupted, showing no manners or fear.
The expressions of the surrounding cultivators darkened. They nodded and activated their powers, trying to seal Raoni.
Alm grinned wickedly, making the cultivators squint. "I’d rather die today than accept living in a rotten sect that frames a disciple and unjustly condemns him."
His spear spun, and everyone was shocked to see he wasn’t being sealed at all. The cultivators huffed and got ready to attack, but a voice rang out:
"Wait." Everyone turned to the sect leader who was speaking. "My sect may not be perfect, and I can’t guarantee there are no mistakes. But your accusation is serious."
Suddenly, one of the conservative High Elders, who had been saved, roared angrily: "He’s just bluffing. This young man is an out-of-control lunatic! He killed dozens of High Elders, I demand justice!"
"Really? Great, let’s sort this out," Alm said seriously, waving his hand, calling him over. "Come on, we have some scores to settle. Or are you scared?"
"You…"
The High Elder spat with a twisted face but didn’t dare to move; everyone saw he was genuinely scared.
"Young man, I heard that a disciple close to you committed suicide and did something very serious before. I know he had a sister who also made serious mistakes in the past." The leader said, staring at Raoni. "Did you decide to take justice into your own hands without any proof? Do you think everyone can do what they want based on strength? The world would be an unlivable chaos if everyone acted that way. That’s why there are rules."
Alm stared deeply at the sect leader, the two locking eyes in silence. At that moment, Bruno gave up—there was no complete and indisputable proof in the memories. However, looking into the leader’s eyes, he sensed genuine seriousness and undeniable honesty.
Alm and Bruno sighed and then said: "Want proof? Then see for yourself. It’s what we managed to get."
Raoni waved, and a rune appeared, floating toward the leader. Everyone watched in surprise. No one was foolish; they all realized that it wasn’t exactly Raoni who killed the High Elders. Their souls exploded directly—something someone with Raoni’s cultivation couldn’t have done; only a memory block in them could cause that.
Trying to read someone’s memories was simple, but due to the block, doing so was risky. At most, someone might access fragments of memories just seconds before an explosion.
It was random; for a cultivator who lives thousands of years, what were the chances of getting something useful in a few seconds? Practically none.
That’s why many thought Raoni was smart for using this method to kill the cultivators. The surprising part was the control needed to pull it off, not the method itself.
Of course, that’s what they thought. With their divine souls, Alm and Bruno could obtain memories spanning several days of a person’s life, even directing their search. If it were something recent, it was practically guaranteed they could get it.
Still, it wasn’t guaranteed. Even after killing several High Elders, they still didn’t have concrete proof. But...
When the leader received the rune and read its contents, his eyes widened. "This…"
"I know there are many parts missing. But if you’re not an idiot, it’s clear what happened. The leaders of the conservative faction did something and betrayed the sect, but they made a mistake and left traces. They noticed, and to cover everything up, they plotted to use Kanci as the scapegoat."
Raoni spoke coldly, staring at the sect leader. If this leader were corrupt, it would be easy to say the memories weren’t sufficient. In fact, all they had were snippets of conversations between the High Elders, which could be interpreted as unrelated. But there were multiple elders, saying similar things at different times. The content was subliminal, but no one was innocent enough not to notice.
Bruno wanted concrete proof. If he had managed to get it, even if the leader were corrupt, Zemuo and his faction could use it to save themselves and still cause a huge uproar.
With the leader’s reaction, all the conservative High Elders felt their souls tremble with terror. How was this possible? He only killed a few dozen, and only half of them were related to the events. With random fragments from a few seconds, he managed to get this?
"Celestial justice was on my side, you bastards." Seeing the fear in the High Elders, Raoni spat sarcastically. "I admit it was practically impossible, but I had to do it to avenge my brother and save his sister. The heavenly laws blessed me with their luck."
"What nonsense! He must have gotten random fragments and made a logical leap. Leader, we can refute and prove the opposite, no matter what he delivered. We would never betray the sect; we owe everything to it!"
One High Elder exclaimed seriously, and the others nodded, showing indignation to hide their fear. But the leader just snorted heavily.
"Capture them all." His words were harsh and filled with bloody fury.
The cultivators surrounding Raoni were taken aback, but they immediately advanced toward the High Elders.
The leader took out a red crystal and shattered it. At that moment, an alarm blared throughout the sect, and his voice echoed everywhere: "All exits are blocked. No one is allowed to leave. Anyone who tries will be killed immediately. All Elders of the conservative faction, step forward. I will personally review each of your memories."
"Leader! This is absurd!" One of them roared in desperation.
"Silence!" The leader roared back, furious. "No one could act against you because there were no indications or concrete proof. But now, although these memories aren’t definitive proof, it’s very clear what happened. The truth will soon emerge. Take them to the central prison!"
"Yes!" the cultivators responded as they completely sealed the conservative High Elders and dragged them into the depths of the sect.
As soon as they left, the leader turned to Raoni and the radical High Elders. "I will personally investigate and ensure the truth is uncovered. For now, I will delay the entry into the World of the Nine Red Lotuses again."
"Leader... If we delay further, the formation’s energy will weaken when the disciples enter, making it very dangerous," Zemuo immediately warned.
"Don’t worry. Now, it won’t just be alchemists entering. In this generation, there will be warriors capable of surviving. We’ve already delayed for a few days; a little more won’t make much difference." He replied calmly and looked directly at Raoni.
"I will temporarily forgive you for breaking the rules, and I will investigate everything. However, you will be punished, whether you like it or not. Even if you’re right, going around killing isn’t justifiable; the ends don’t justify the means."
Alm huffed, indifferent, while Bruno nodded in agreement. This leader seemed like a reasonable person.
When Alm and Bruno received the mission description, the system said it would take a month for the World of the Nine Red Lotuses to open; but that month was ending in a few days, and the opening was scheduled for later. Now they discovered that the sect had changed the plans at the last minute for some unknown reason.
With those words, the leader turned and left. Raoni then turned to Zemuo and the other elders. "Master, we’ve bought time to prepare better."
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His eyes shone with determination. Zemuo and the others took a deep breath; Raoni’s loyalty, which had previously caused concern, was now clear.
"Yeah, let’s go. Good job," Zemuo replied, nodding, and went on, taking Raoni with him.