Death… And Me

Chapter 4534: Well...

The Sect Master entered the room a moment later, and everyone immediately bowed in respect. However, before he could even reach his seat, various experts in the meeting hall began to move, including Kabriu.

”Kentucky, Kachia, come.”

The duo followed Kabriu, and within a minute, they were already outside the meeting hall. Kabriu turned toward them and pointed to the other cultivators who had also been removed. ”You two stay here with the others. I’m going back in to see what is happening.”

Only then did Kentucky and Kachia notice that everyone being brought out was a cultivator like themselves, someone who had no business participating in the monthly report gathering and had only been there for other reasons. They weren’t even supposed to still be inside by the time the Sect Master arrived, but the Sect Master had truly appeared when no one expected him to.

There were still other elders and related personnel arriving, and Kentucky and Kachia could see that they were all moving in a hurry. Obviously, that was because of the Sect Master’s unexpectedly early arrival. Whatever was happening, it seemed important enough that even the people responsible for the monthly gathering had been caught off guard.

The atmosphere outside the meeting hall had also changed. A moment ago, everything had been proceeding normally, with the elders and disciples moving about without much concern. Now, everyone seemed to be trying to figure out what had caused the Sect Master to appear early, while at the same time making sure they didn’t accidentally interfere with whatever was happening inside.

”What do you think is happening in there?” Kachia couldn’t help but ask Kentucky.

Kentucky shook his head in response. ”I’m as curious as you are.”

However, he found the timing far too convenient to be a coincidence. Celis had just been analyzing the energy flow connected to the Navy-Blue Threads, while Roan was still making his way back toward Dlaval City. The sudden movement inside the meeting hall couldn’t have come at a more suspicious moment.

Obviously, Kentucky immediately contacted Rean, Roan, and Celis about it. ’Do you think it has something to do with Celis’s intervention or Roan’s run?’

Rean had his eyes fixed on the meeting hall, but there was no way for him to see what was happening inside. ’Celis, would it be possible for you to be detected?’

’I don’t think so,’ Celis answered with confidence. ’I’m still analyzing the energy flow, and I’m being very discreet. Above all, I haven’t disrupted anything yet. I intended to only act once I was certain I could scramble the energy for Roan to disappear with his new friends.’

Roan’s mouth twitched.

From what he could see, the last thing Mario and Revana thought about him was as a friend.

Kentucky took the opportunity to ask. ’Celis, this is the best opportunity to scramble the energy, then. They sent me out with the others, so I can use this time to bring you and Rean out. Can’t you speed things up on your side?’

Celis thought for a moment. ’I can give it a try. I think I know which energy flow to scramble. The problem is if something goes wrong and I end up being detected.’

Roan also thought for a moment before answering. ’Give it another five minutes before trying. I highly doubt I will meet anyone during that time. Also, you are still seeing several elders arriving in a hurry because of the early arrival of the Sect Master, so the discussion in there shouldn’t start before everyone is present.’

’Five minutes will help a lot,’ Celis accepted the idea.

Kentucky turned to look at the meeting hall entrance. The guards there weren’t allowing anyone who wasn’t supposed to be there to enter anymore either. They were standing much more rigidly than before, clearly taking their orders seriously now that the Sect Master had appeared.

From the looks of it, they also understood that something must have happened. ’Fine. Another five minutes.’

Inside the meeting hall, the Sect Master did not go to his seat. Instead, he walked to the center of the hall, standing just beside the enormous pillar.

The pillar looked pretty much like all the other pillars Roan had touched around the city. The difference was that the other pillars were usually only three meters or so high. This one in the center of the meeting hall, however, was at least thirty meters tall, which showed just how enormous the hall itself was.

The pillar towered over the surrounding elders, reaching all the way to the ceiling, seemingly holding it. Its enormous size made it impossible to overlook, even though most of the people in the meeting hall had long since become accustomed to its presence.

There was another important difference, though.

This pillar didn’t have the same traits as the ones Roan had touched. You could touch it without fear. Your soul wouldn’t be dragged out of your body. It was perfectly normal for a few of the elders or other related personnel to lean against it during the intervals as they talked to each other.

For all intents and purposes, this pillar was nothing more than an enormous ornamental structure supporting the hall.

Kabriu wasn’t too far away, standing by his mother’s side. ”What is the Sect Master doing? Is there something important about the pillar? I always thought it was truly just a pillar to hold the ceiling.”

His mother, Kangrie, shook her head in response. ”I’m as confused as you are. In any case, make sure not to cause trouble. The Sect Master doesn’t seem to be in a very good mood.”

”Understood,” Kabriu agreed.

Kabriu glanced toward the other elders as he spoke. None of them seemed to understand the situation either, although the older and more experienced cultivators were doing a much better job of concealing their curiosity.

The Sect Master eventually turned around and walked toward his seat. Well, the seat was more like a symbolic location in the hall, as he wasn’t part of the humanoid races. He couldn’t truly sit like a person.

His name was Zandal-Roi, a Starforge Metal Spirit. As one could expect, he was also a Peak Stage Law God.

To those looking at him, he seemed to be made entirely of metallic liquid, his body moving like a blob of water whenever he floated in any direction. His metallic form reflected the lights of the meeting hall, making it difficult to tell whether his body had any fixed shape beneath the constantly shifting surface.

Despite his strange appearance, no one in the hall found it unusual. Zandal-Roi had been the Sect Master for a very long time, and everyone present had long since become accustomed to his unique appearance.

Zandal saw more of the elders and personnel arriving, but he seemed increasingly impatient. He glanced toward the entrance several times, clearly waiting for someone or something.

In the end, he decided not to wait anymore.

”Everyone, silence, please.”

The hall went completely quiet.

”This news will be shared throughout the entire Dlaval soon after we are done here,” he continued. ”We seem to have detected the presence of outsiders.”

Ninety-nine percent of the meeting hall heard that and simply remained silent. They had absolutely no idea what their Sect Master was even talking about.

The word ”outsiders” had several possible meanings, after all. It could mean another sect, a spy, a group of rogue cultivators, or perhaps even someone attempting to infiltrate Rosvelt. None of those possibilities explained why Zandal-Roi looked so serious, though.

”Are you talking about someone invading our sect?” someone couldn’t help but ask.

Zandal looked at him and then at a few of the Law God Elders who were closer to him. One of them immediately understood the message and came forward to explain.

”As you know, no one can leave our region. All of those who attempted to do so died, without exception. We still have some who try it anyway when they are at the very end of their lifespan or have been stuck at the limit of cultivation for too long. Regardless, all of them failed.”

”High Elder Falasliu...”

Everyone recognized that High Elder. He was even older than the Sect Master and held one of the highest positions of authority within the sect. Naturally, he was privy to many of the Sect’s secrets.

Falasliu continued. ”The outsiders we are talking about are cultivators who truly came from outside. They were not born here in Dlaval City, nor anywhere else we know of within our region.”

Immediately, an uproar spread through the room.

”A real outsider?!”

”Is that even possible?!”

”So there was truly a world beyond our region?!”

”Wait, High Elder Falasliu, how do you know about that?!”

Several elders began speaking at once, their previous composure completely disappearing. Even those who had spent countless years accepting the isolation of Woster as an absolute fact couldn’t immediately process what they had just heard.

The concept that someone could actually come from outside was almost incomprehensible to them.

Zandal took it from there. ”Guards, bring him in.”

—

Outside, Rean, Kentucky, and Celis noticed the commotion, but that didn’t bother them too much. They were far more concerned with what Celis was doing and the situation surrounding Roan.

The voices from inside the meeting hall became increasingly loud, making it obvious that whatever the Sect Master had announced was causing a massive disturbance.

However, when Kentucky looked out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly saw someone he absolutely wasn’t expecting to see. At first, he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. There, being brought inside the meeting hall, locked behind bars, was Coyui!

The same cultivator they had theoretically sent out of Woster!

Kentucky’s eyes widened.

”Well... fuck!”