(POV of Rei Ling)
The pure hatred and anger I was feeling at this moment was momentously huge. All because of my son, my Tzun Rei Sect was both forced into huge danger at the hands of monstrous rogue cultivator and then into a civil war.
All because my of stupendous son. The little fool has weakened my sect to a ridiculous degree.
Even if the rogue cultivator forgave us out of pity at this point, our enemies would never let such an opportunity go.
Today we would die at the hands of a monster, or in the coming few days, towards a gradual slaughter at the hands of our enemies.
My son had ruined my sect.
The bitter feeling of hatred was heart braking.
If only my son had shut up after the girl had blamed him, I could have maybe diffused the situation and found a peaceful resolution.
Instead, the civil war that should have happened in a few more decades, once my Rei Faction had gained more strength, happened at an unsavoury time.
If things had happened as they should have, we could have still continued to exist as a local power even after dealing with the Goan Faction.
It was all too late now though.
I turned towards my sect members. Our factions had already split apart. Goan's side was disheartened as the loss of their head, while my side was grinning stupidly.
As if now was the time to be happy.
I quickly glanced at the little girl who was the cause of my sects downfall.
The little girl who had made my sons lust lose control of himself.
I should have harshly rebuked my son sooner. Instead I spoiled him for being my only child.
The girl was half naked, a mere bed sheet covering her, but her expression was one of pure shock.
She was staring right at me, a huge disgust visible in her eyes and expression.
She was barely holding back from puking.
Her master on the hand, was expressionless. He had most likely seen worst than this. No one reached his level of power by never fighting.
I immediately deposited Goan Tou's body into my High Ring along with his heart, before cleaning my bloody body with low water and fire techniques.
Once I had made myself presentable, I slowly walked towards the little girls monster of a master.
Even though I held immense hatred inside of my heart for both this little girl and her master, I had no thoughts of revenge at all.
Who had the gall to think of revenge on this monster.
Maybe the Monster King or the Emperor of our country could probably rival his might, but the rest of us? No chance at all.
Not even one of the four great elders of the Heavenly Sword Sect, Lord Elder Heanev would be the match of this monster.
I know this because I could feel Lord Elder Heanev, even though it was only a very minuscule amount, I could feel him.
I reached this monster and stood in front of him for a mere moment.
It was terrifying. He gave out no aura at all. Nothing at all.
He gave out nothing, but the feeling I got off of him, was terrifying.
(Author Note: He isn't feeling any Aura or anything, it's just his mind is fucking him over via fear)
It was more terrifying then anything I had ever felt. Nothing ever came close to what I was currently feeling.
How could there be such a being in this world.
Each step that brought me closer to him made me feel more and more insignificant.
Even though from afar you could tell he was strong, the closer you got to him, the more you realised he was far above what you thought.
He probably wasn't even a being from this continent.
Did he stop here after discovering this mere child and thought she had potential?
I can't believe I even for one moment thought of revenge.
Let me leave the revenge till he pisses off those people at the very top.
Only they have a chance of crushing him.
A mere moment in front of him and I immediately dropped to my knees and kowtowed before him.
Not once in my life had I ever kowtowed. Not once.
Not to the Province Lord Han Hhun, not to the Monster Lord Gill Ghan, not even to the Heavenly Sword Sect Fourth Lord Elder Heanev.
I didn't kowtow in front of a single of these figures, but to this being, I would throw away my face, my pride, my honour.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
At least then I had a chance of fighting off my other enemies.
Those bastards who would wipe out my sect now that it was weak. Even in this dark time, I still had a chance to survive against them.
I kowtowed seven times in total.
Once in Apology.
Once in Grief.
Once in Pain.
Once in Acceptance.
Once in Respect.
Once in Reverence.
Once in Fear.
Seven kowtows.
I don't know what order he knew them in, but this is what seven kowtows meant.
I got up and sat on my knees and awaited the judgement this monster would bestow upon us.
Whatever his choice may be, I had made my peace.
At least he wouldn't use any soul harming techniques now.
Even if I die, I'll be back one day.
Like that, a minute passed, and then another.
Slowly, just like that, I counted the seconds, which turned into minutes.
It was all I could do.
After what was 13 minutes and 22 seconds he suddenly spoke.
He took 13 minutes and 22 seconds to determine my fate.
I only hope it was a good one.
Zev: “You are forgiven for your actions” he said and like that, a huge burden was removed from my shoulder. He had forgiven us. We would live “But” suddenly my feelings of elation were gone, shattered. 'But'. That word meant we would still be punished. If the gods do take pity on my poor soul, please be light on this one.
The word hung in the air and I waited for 34 seconds before the being suddenly spoke once more.
Zev: “You really did not need to kill or fight one another, I never planned on punishing any of you in the first place” and like that, absolute silence reigned in the air.
No one breathed at all. Even the hearts of all were silent.
We... had killed each other... over nothing?
Oh dear god. What have we done.
If only we had been patient.
If only my foolish son had shut his fucking mouth.
Oh dear lord.
I felt the tears slide down my cheek.
The pain, the humiliation, the anger. All of it combined to make me shed tears for the first time in almost half a century.
Yet I did not blame this being or his little disciple.
I blamed myself.
Pride, Ignorance and Selfishness. These 3 lead to the events of today.
I should have humbled myself and my family. I should have made both myself and my child knowledgeable and I should not have become greedy and selfish. I should have opened my heart and united my sect instead of creating this rift inside of it.
I looked up at the being and he simply smiled sadly at me.
He knew what I had just gone through.
I kowtowed once more. This time in no emotion or thought aside from my pure gratitude.
Even from such a painful event, this being had allowed me to grow, to finally pass the bottleneck that held back my cultivation.
Two decades at this bottleneck was shattered by the enlightenment bestowed upon me.
And just like that, I finally broke through to become the peak of my Rank.
Two decades of frustration, was finally undone. Now no one at the Immortal Practitioner Rank would be able to harm.
I was at the Peak of my Rank. I was finally Rank 9. I was now a power to be reckoned with.
----
Old Man here,
Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, because I enjoyed writing it. I may make an interlude every 5, 10 or 15 chapters from now on. They are quite enjoyable to write.
That aside, I've decided on a time table for Chapter releases from now on.
No matter what, I will release 1 chapter every Friday. 1 chapter is guaranteed every week. So that is 52 guaranteed chapters a year.
But being honest with myself, I'll probably write more than that. I estimate at roughly 100 to 150 chapters a year minimum.
So give or take, 2 to 3 chapters a week. Anyway, I hope I can live up to my estimate because I've already planned up to 800 chapters deep, and some of the story arcs are really epic, so I hope I can write faster so you guys can someday soon read those epic arcs.
Love and Peace,
-Old Man.
P.S I also changed the name! Maybe I'll change it again in the future, but for now, I think this will do.