The sword travelled deeper into his body and as it was about to strike his heart, it was suddenly pulled back.
Blood splattered on the ground, but he continued to remain standing, staring ever stoically at Iris.
The shock of his action reverberated across those who watched including his master who couldn’t muster any words to say.
While everyone else was in shock, Iris was going crazy.
Dammit, what kind of twisted logic does he have. How could he so easily throw his life away just because I want to humiliate her a little?
She had a weird expression as she tried to make sense of what to do next. She had already crossed a line by hurting him before as there would be those who would say she was bullying weak a disciple, but it was a small price to pay. However, killing him was something she absolutely could not do.
If her disciple truly died, she would go into a frenzy and at that point she might even choose to fight me even if it meant ending her own life. I can’t let that happen or father will blame me!
She struggled to think of what to do next. She couldn’t just leave now after everything she did to draw out such a large spectacle. Relic had also cursed her out and it would be more than humiliating if she left without dishing out an appropriate punishment.
In every conflict between the two sisters, Pascal would always give an inch while Iris took a mile. This has been the same since they were young. But for the first time in her life, Relic would not give her this inch and due to her need to humiliate her sister to such a degree, she had set herself to be humiliated as well.
In the view of everyone else, she had taken back her word of killing Relic and withdrew her sword. All those watching wondered what she would do next.
Iris stared daggers and spoke coldly: “Killing you isn’t even worth a swing of my sword. Instead, as it is obvious my sister never taught you how to respect your elders, I will take it upon myself to teach you. Kowtow down to me!”
To give a kowtow was the ultimate form of respect, one of complete submission and worship. In life, one would kowtow at least three times in their life. The first was when one became of age and kowtowed to their parents as thanks for raising them before setting off to find their own path. The second was when the child found a partner in marriage and would once again, kowtow to their parents for bringing them into the world so that they may start their own family. For the third time, the last kowtow was reserved for the end of one’s parent’s life, thanking them for being there for your entire life and imparting on you their wisdom. Though not every parent deserved the amount of respect represented by a kowtow, it was usually reserved for parents.
However, for cultivators, this included their masters who they would kowtow before being accepted as disciples.
Within the Divine Continent, it was well established that one must not kowtow to anyone but their parents and master. To freely kowtow to others was the same as slapping the face of all those you had given one before. A kowtow was like giving a precious jewel to those you care deeply about. To freely give those same jewels away later meant those jewels were never precious in the first place and that the person handing those out never cared who received them.
Iris’ demand would not only humiliate Relic and her sister, but it would also cover up her initial blunder and continue to garner the respect of all the disciples watching.
Relic stared hatefully at Iris and responded: “I will never kowtow to you!”
Iris smirked: “Do you think you have a choice?”
Out of no where, an enormous pressure fell on him. Relic struggled but against such overwhelming pressure, his body continued to dip lower and lower until his arm was forced to lean against his knee.
“That’s enough!” Having rested somewhat, Pascal triggered her life essence once again to give herself another boost of power. She broke out of Iris’ cultivation and charged towards her with her broken blades. However, it was only a last-ditch attempt as she was already running on fumes.
Iris didn’t even need to dodge as she pointed her finger and sent out a bolt of lightning in the shape of a coiling snake. Pascal was struck by the lightning and propelled backward back to the ground. She coughed another mouthful of blood as she struggled to get back up.
Just then, Relic exasperated: “Stay back!”
A bit stunned, she yelled back: “What do you mean stay back? How dare you put yourself in danger when I told you to go away!” She turned back to her sister. “Let him go! It’s me you wanted to humiliate, right? If this is what you want, then I will do it myself!” She grabbed a hold of her last strap and just as she was about to rip it off, Relic pulled out a spear head seemingly out of nowhere and brandished it against his neck, a line of blood fell.
Pascal halted her movements as her hands shook.
“You… why can’t you just let me do this for you?” Tears began to fall down her face.
Anyone with eyes could see how deep their relationship went. The rumours which had once circulated through the sect now made no sense, as their relationship went beyond anything physical and nefarious. The love the two shared was as deep as those between a child and their parent and perhaps even more so. For some of the female disciples, tears had streaked down while for some of the male disciples, they began to feel shame for wanting to see the elder exposed. What if this was their own mother who was being bullied to this point, how would they react then?
A somber atmosphere developed around the mountain.
Under the intense pressure, Relic could barely hold his head up to even speak anymore. Yet, he was barely able to turn his head slightly and he gave her a soulful look.
Even without the use of qi or any technique, she could understand perfectly what he was saying which left her defeated.
In that one stare he asked only for her to trust in him. Though there were many words she felt like speaking out, many actions she wanted to do, in that moment, she couldn’t bring herself to do or say anything. It was as if her entire body calmed down and would not do anything to anything to jeopardize her trust in him. Even against all odds, she no longer had any plans to act and only began to pray he would be making it out alive.
What the hell is going on?
Iris’ eye twitched slightly as she knew she was looked upon unfavourably now. Even in the harsh world of cultivation, one’s sense of right and wrong never disappears no matter how long one cultivates.
I can’t give up now, I must see it through!
Backing away now was out of the question.
“Hmph, barely holding on! Let’s see how much you can handle!” She doubled the pressure on him which even foundation realm cultivators would fail to stand against.
Relic grit his teeth as his whole body churned in pain. His eyes were blood shot as he felt his vision black out from time to time. His bones creaked all over when his legs finally gave out.
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There was a terrifying snap and his knees buckled down, his lower half laying flat on the ground. His legs were broken but even then, his forehead never touched the ground, lifted by his arm which refused to give up.
His defiance was a slap to her face. Even in the face of death he would rather die than to kowtow to her. Her gaze fell upon his head, and she caught his gaze. Without realizing it, she took a step back.
W-what am I doing? Why did I take a step back?
She couldn’t register it but it was fear. It wasn’t fear for her life or that she thought he could do anything to her, but fear of his conviction which would never back down. It was there, for a split moment, she questioned her own conviction which in a real battle, would mean she would die.
In a moment of panic, she lost all rational and her cultivation spiked. She was going to hit him with the full force of her cultivation!
Pascal’s eyes dilated because she knew Iris was no longer restraining herself. She reached out her hand to save her disciple, to do anything!
“STOP!” A powerful shout suddenly sounded throughout the sect. It was so powerful it knocked the disciples off their feet and tumble to the ground.
Out of nowhere, an earthen hand shot out from the mountain and grasped towards Iris.
Snapping out of her senses, Iris suddenly jumped into the sky barely dodging the closing hand and stared back down.
She frowned and angrily shouted: “Heron, this does not involve you!”
“Anyone breaching the sect rules requires my involvement.” An earthen figure rose from the mountain and took the form of a man. The man had coarse black hair and an overall gentle appearance and demeanor. Yet, surrounding that gentle façade, was a ferocious aura ready to fight anyone. With the unmistakable black raiment he wore, many recognized him in an instant and garnered gasps all around.
“It’s elder Heron, the disciplinary hall master!”
“Who is elder Heron, how come I’ve never seen him before?” A recently joined disciple asked.
“Elder Heron is the disciplinary hall master, in charge of all disciplinary affairs. The disciplinary hall oversees that all bylaws set by the sect are followed and deal appropriate judgement to rule breakers. However, the disciplinary hall often runs without elder Heron’s involvement as he is always out of the sect doing sect missions. The last time he was seen was over a year ago which is why you haven’t seen him before,” One of the disciples explained.
“It’s not just that elder Heron is rarely seen that makes him famous, he is also a mysterious elder that is often said to be second only to the sect master. Some of the seniors have even said there was a possibility that the elder is stronger than the sect master and that there was no way to tell without them actually fighting.”
Aggressive whispers quickly circulated around the disciples while the elders all had strange expressions.
Next to elder Shin, the other elder asked: “Now that elder Heron is here, even if she is the daughter of the sect master, elder Iris won’t come out of this unscathed. What do you think?”
“Most of us know not to overstep ourselves in front of him. That guy isn’t someone you want to mess with,” The elder said as a single drop of cold sweat drip down his face.
…
“Relic!” Pascal hurried to his side. He was still in the same posture as before. His arm leaned against the ground while resisting the intense pressure befallen on him. Yet, the pressure was now gone but he continued to remain in the same position in a somewhat stiff manner.
As soon as she touched him her face drained of all color.
“N-no...no...no…”
Her cries quickly echoed out the mountain as she held him tight in her arms. He no longer had any breath.
Elaine stood motionless as she watched Pascal mourn over Relic’s dead body. The emotions and thoughts going through her mind made everything hazy and unable to process everything.
There were mixed emotions all around. When he first arrived, many of the inner court disciples did not like Relic for the simple fact that he was a mortal who had overstepped them and become a direct disciple of an elder. However, having seen everything which transpired today, they realized despite everything he lacked, he had something many of them didn’t. He had the overarching ability to stare death in the face and run headfirst into it to achieve his goals. This was a concept many of the disciples never really thought about.
As a cultivator, one’s life gradually detaches from that of a mortal. A cultivator can live many years longer than mortals and the mundane things which plagues mortal lives no longer held as much sway to them. Yet, seeing it today, many realized death made family of them all. When faced with death, how many of them would veer off the path to avoid it?
The once hostile attitude towards Relic turned to admiration as even in the face of death, he never backed down in what he believed in. While few continued to dislike him and thought nothing of his action, there were many more touched by his influence. There was a general sadness over his death and the mountain went quiet.
Heron approached Pascal who continued to hold Relic tightly.
“If only I came a little sooner… Please, let me have a look.” He took Relic from her arms and found no resistance. He placed a hand on Relic when he suddenly realized the strange scenario. Not only did she release without resistance, he also no longer heard anything from her.
He turned to her and was stunned as he felt an overarching aura of death surrounding Pascal.
“Wait, STOP!” Heron tried to call out, but it was too late.
Her cultivation began to drop and the aura of death surrounding her continued to grow. To the disciples, they wouldn’t be able to see anything but to the elders, their eyes grew wide as they saw black threads wrapped around her. The white ethereal threads drew from the Grand Flow and gave life to those connected to it. The black threads, however, were drawing life away from her but as her cultivation dropped, there was an undeniable presence of something else swelling.
Pascal wielded her sword and in a sullen voice, she muttered: “Don’t worry, you won’t have to go alone.”
“Pascal, stop! I can sav-” Heron’s voice fell on death’s ears.
She didn’t stay to listen and disappeared from her spot.
Iris, who was still floating in the air, bit her nails as she came to grips with what she had done.
Out of no where, Pascal appeared in front of her and without warning, she slashed down. Death aura surrounded her sword and shot out.
Feeling an aura of death, Iris quickly held her sword in front to block the attack. The moment the attack connected, her body was propelled away at astounding speed, flying through the sky and crash landing against another peak.
Iris coughed out blood as her body shook in disbelief and she mumbled to herself: “Co-complete, death stasis…”
Before she could even recover, Pascal appeared in front of her again.
…
Back at the summit, Heron watched on with a feeling of guilt.
“I should’ve been here sooner…” He turned back to the corpse in front of him and took out a white jade case. Inside, there were two orchids, one blue and one purple.
“I hope my instincts are not wrong.”
He retrieved one and placed it on top of Relic’s chest. The flower began to light up and soon entered his body. A small sprout made of light emerged and with it, a white thread could be seen descending from above before wrapping around the small sprout. From there, a second thread emerged and drifted in the wind towards a certain direction.
Heron rose and turned to that direction, the direction where Pascal and Iris were fighting.
As the thread continued to seek what it was looking for, the small sprout slowly began to wilt.
…
With the essence of lightning, birthed from creation, come forth, the strength of the Lightning Dao!"
Iris imbued herself with the Dao of lightning as she barely deflected Pascal’s attack. The two swords clashed and yet, she was still pushed back and on the defensive.
Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! How can she be so strong? Death stasis is one of equivalent exchange. In exchange for everything she has, it would give her equal strength for this one moment. With her being in the Origin realm, it should’ve only doubled her strength which should still be below me. How could she now be stronger than me?! How high was her potential in cultivation that it would propel her so much higher?!
Iris couldn’t think for long as Pascal continued to barrage her with sword swings. With every strike, she felt more of her strength disappearing while Pascal’s strike stayed the same. It was clear from her strikes there was only one thing she was after… death!
Iris turned to the crowd and yelled: “WHAT ARE YOU ALL DOING? SHE’S GONE CRAZY AND TRYING TO KILL ME! HELP ME!”
The elders were quick to act and four of them appeared and attacked Pascal, forcing her to disengage.
“Pascal, please hold your weapon!” An elderly woman with a cane stepped up in front and shouted. “You are making a grave mistake. Your disciple has died which is an unfortunate circumstance but right now you are trying to commit murder against another elder, your own sister. You have used the forbidden technique to enter death stasis. Your time is limited and without help you will also die. I ask you to reconsider and not put the memories of your disciple to shame. He would not want you to act like this and to ruin the sect your own father had built. If we are quick, I’m sure the sect master will find a way to save your life as well.”
The elderly woman waited patiently as a drop of cold sweat slid down her cheek.
There was a moment’s pause but they eventually saw Pascal lower her sword which they began to give out a sigh of relief.
However, before the others could act, Pascal appeared before the elderly woman.
“YOU DARE-” The elderly woman’s cultivation spiked but in a fraction of a second, it suddenly dissipated as her body began to fall and the two halves of her body detached.
Pascal turned to the rest and said chillingly: “You will all accompany him.”