The conversation in the hall stalled after Shadow’s departure, but it was well evident to Yao Shen that the legacy family heads covertly communicated with their divine sense— their queries most likely directed to Meili Zhu and Zhiquang Yi, the two most aged and experienced among them. Wenyan Ren, Patriarch of the Ren Family, continuously clenched and unclenched his left fist underneath the Eocava wood table in an attempt to control his burgeoning fury— the forgemaster infamous for his vicious outbursts and fits of rage.

The preparations the Ren Patriarch had made to isolate his emotions were beginning to fail him, as a small, roiling cloud of ‘anger’ formed around him, expanding and contracting in size as the Ren Patriarch attempted to rein it in . Perhaps Wenyan Ren himself was not certain about the cause of his outburst, the trigger for his ‘anger management issues’ as psychologists from Earth would likely describe it, but to Yao Shen it was clear as crystal.

His entire life Wenyan Ren had been taught about the superiority of the legacy families, their inherited right to rule derived from their noble bloodline, powerful inheritance techniques, and their mighty ancestors who had navigated the Heavenly Sky Sect through the Era of Turmoil— for they were one of the three survivors of the ancient conflict that resulted in the destruction of dozens upon dozens of glorious Azlak Plain sects, the death toll of such an epic battle too fearsome to even imagine.

Now, thousands of years later, the ‘so-called’ legacy families, despite all the advantages vested in them from birth, could not even produce a single Soul Emperor. Yet, an outsider, a talentless vagrant, that came from an unremarkable mortal village, born to unassuming mortal parents that had long since perished, managed to reach the fabled stage and achieved ascension. Wenyan Ren could perhaps accept that, if Yao Shen was a talented son of the heavens but….. he as an Elder of the Heavenly Sky Sect knew, more than anyone, that the thought of calling Yao Shen talented was simply laughable.

The heavens had made their disfavor for Yao Shen evident, and no one in the sect, not even his own master, had expected him to reach the Nascent Soul stage. Yet, he did. The legacy families were surprised by his achievement, but had never been truly alarmed— they had considered him to be an insignificant elder that they could control, much like the present Elder Han. Yet, he challenged Zhou Hui for the position of Patriarch and won. Defiance was ingrained into his nature, into his very bloodline— Yao Shen was a cultivator who rose from rabble to become the Patriarch of the Heavenly Sky Sect, not because he was a talented scion of the heavens or a legacy family patriarch, no, the truth was far simpler…. Yao Shen was a cultivator that was not content with the future the heavens had ordained for him, and sought to defy fate’s bindings with every fiber of his existence, even if it came at the price of his life.

He was the very antithesis of everything the legacy families represented, his very existence a living, breathing reminder of their failure, their continuing decline and an even deeper possibility that Wenyan Ren would never acknowledge— the terrifying possibility that their insistence to rely upon the traditions inherited from ancient times was the real reason for their decline.

And Wenyan Ren hated him for it.

“Shadow, First Disciple of Patriarch Yao Shen, has returned in furtherance of the Council’s command,” The garbled voice of the faceless echoed out across the hall, as Shadow stepped into the hall, followed by ten inner disciples that obediently trailed behind her in single file, their sight obscured by thick shadows as they relied only upon their natural sense of balance and hearing to conform to her instructions—which, for a cultivator, was enough.

Shadow’s gaze turned to the faceless, and she nodded once towards him. The faceless nodded back, as their Darkness Qi flared and enveloped the entirety of his body— allowing them to vanish in plain sight, at least in the eyes of the Inner disciples. The existence of the faceless was not acknowledged, and not revealed unless absolutely necessary— thus making such precautions standard procedure.

Her gaze shifted to Yao Shen, who nodded in affirmative. The Shadows that were pooling around the disciple’s eyes began to fade, retreating back to form a cloak upon their master’s back. Yao Shen focused his human sight with absolute concentration as the disciples' sight was restored.

The young disciples found themselves in the hallowed hall of the Council of Elders, facing twelve of the mightiest beings that existed in the Azlak Plains— a force that would be well respected, even revered, wherever they ventured upon the continent of Ionea.

Their emotions flared with far greater intensity than the core disciples, but Yao Shen stretched his soul’s perception to the very limits as he kept track of each and every single hue, each one representing a different fragmented emotion that sometimes combined together to form a complete whole.

‘Awe’ radiated from a majority of disciples, with such radiance that it almost obscured his senses, followed by a strong cloud of silvery white hues that combined together to form a sincere, deep ‘Respect’ as they realized who they were in the presence of.

The Inner disciples, who were at varying stages of foundation establishment, bowed deeply and would continue to bow, with their lowered heads, for Yao Shen felt a burst of ‘confusion’ — they were unsure why they were summoned, seeming almost at a loss.

“At ease,” Yao Shen muttered, and ‘relief’ bubbled up in their hearts as they straightened themselves and awaited the council’s commands.

“You have been summoned before the Council of Elders. Understand that you are to answer any question the council poses to you truthfully and to the best of your knowledge,” Yao Shen had an intention to explain the rules to the inner disciples, but he was well aware that anything he said would be interpreted as a command by the disciples.

“Yes, Patriarch,” They replied in near-perfect unison, a dense cloud of ‘reverence’ forming around them indicating that they had heard news of his ascension.

“Good,” Yao Shen nodded, and then continued, “Do any of you know why you have been summoned to the council of elders?”

A cloud of anxiety formed among some of the disciples, but it lacked any real density. That indicated that they had nothing to fear, or at least felt like they had done nothing that would incur the council’s wrath.

A minute later, all of the disciples had replied in the negative. This question was only for the benefit of the council, to show them that the selection process was truly random.

“Very well. Shadow, please announce the names of all Elders present for the benefit of these children,” Yao Shen commanded, at the same time using his divine sense to send a message to Shadow, which was only one word: ‘Slowly’.

Yao Shen’s earlier observation had not received the results he had hoped, but layering and masking emotions was not impossible— if his fears were true, which he was convinced they were, the truth would soon reveal itself— either with this batch of the disciples, or the next.

The elders, even those who were not affiliated with the legacy families, gave him odd looks. After all, what need was there to introduce them to a bunch of juniors? What gave them a right to such a treatment?

But they would not interfere with the process, otherwise Yao Shen could simply claim that he had tried to give them an answer but failed due to their interruption.

Yao Shen, however, did not care what the Elders thought. His attention was fully focused on the disciples, examining each of them carefully. Six names along with their titles were announced, and there was no reaction.

“Dongmei Xue, Matriarch of the Xue Family and Elder of the Healing Hall,” Shadow impassively announced, and the truth finally revealed itself.

The reaction came from a young girl, a mid-stage foundation establishment cultivator roughly around thirty two years of age with sky blue irises, light, golden blonde hair with pale, white skin, who averted her gaze as soon as that name was mentioned. Her round, bright eyes brimmed with innocence, however, the emotions that coursed through her mind were anything but.

Fragments of emotions swirled together in a chaotic cloud that had half submerged her in an instant: ‘self-loathing’, ‘indignance’, ‘remorse’ , ‘regret’. ‘frustration’, ‘grief’, ‘trauma’, all fused together to form a complete emotion that was far more powerful than the sum of its parts— hatred, in its most pure, unadulterated form, hatred that threatened to consume her whole. Hatred, that undoubtedly concealed a story behind it---- one that would never otherwise reach his ears, due to the difference in their positions.

“Stop,” Yao Shen’s voice echoed out, and the attention in the room focused on him. “You,” he pointed at the blonde-haired girl, “Step forward.”

“Yes, Patriarch,” The girl managed to croak out in time, shocked out of her inner thoughts— had she done something wrong?

“Shadow, direct the other disciples to the lower floor and have them wait there until they are needed,” Yao Shen commanded, and Shadow proceeded to lead them out of the room. Soon, there was only the council, Yao Shen and the blonde-haired girl who was lightly trembling from the uncertainty.

Yao Shen withdrew an object from his storage ring, his actions immediately attracting the attention of the other elders.

A rectangular token was held in his right hand, carved from golden jadeite with the words “Shen” inscribed upon its surface on both sides.

“Do you know what this is?” Yao Shen asked her politely. The Elders had been perplexed by Yao Shen’s actions earlier, but now they were absolutely flabbergasted.

“N-n-no Patriarch. Am I in trouble?” The mid-foundation establishment cultivator was no different from a child in the eyes of anyone present, and she felt so out of her depth that she did not know how to react.

“I am Soul Emperor Yao Shen, Master of the Esoteric Human Dao, Master of three Major Elemental Daos, Patriarch of the Heavenly Sky Sect and the strongest cultivator in the entire Azlak Plains. This is a token of honorary discipleship, if you accept it then you will be free to use the sect’s resources in my name and request me for guidance, your mortal family’s security will be ensured until their natural death, and in the event of an unnatural death befalls you, I, Yao Shen, will personally investigate the matter until the killer is found, and then I will avenge your death. I offer this to you, upon one condition,” Yao Shen’s voice was solemn, as he pulled out another item from his inventory. A recording stone, of the highest grade available in the sect.

The disciples' hands started trembling from shock, her eyes widening as she breathed heavily— the golden token in Yao Shen’s hands was something that core disciples would kill for, let alone an insignificant inner disciple like her. No one, not even in the middle of a battlefield would be willing to attack her, for the fear of a soul emperor’s retaliation. To be able to receive the patriarch’s guidance…..

“P-Patriarch, m-may I know the condition?” The young girl asked hesitantly, feeling guilty about not immediately accepting the offer.

“You must answer a question. A question that will forever mark you as an enemy of the legacy families, and in case of my untimely death, mark you as a target for retribution. If you are not willing, leave now and no one in this room shall speak of this matter again. That much, I assure you,” Drawing upon his reserves of Human Dao, he envisioned moments in his life when he was pitted against unfair odds but still managed to prevail because he remained calm and rational, rational and objective, before projecting the “emotion” of calmness in his words.

His Human Dao projection was not meant to influence the girl’s decision, but instead give her clarity of thought to not let his authority influence her decision. For better or worse, it would permanently alter the course of her own life.

A minute passed in silence, before the girl nodded calmly, a glint of intelligence shining in her eye. “I accept. Please ask the question, Patriarch.”

Yao Shen nodded, channeling his Qi into the recording stone before locking eyes with her. She gazed back at him fearlessly, and Yao Shen stealthily enveloped her in a cocoon of his divine sense— this way if any of the other Elders tried to whisper into her ears, they would be met with an unpleasant surprise.

“Very well. Then tell me, Yanyue Meng. Why do you hate that woman?” Yao Shen asked, as he pointed his finger directly at Dongmei Xue, Matriarch of the Xue Family, who somehow managed to look both furious and wronged at the same time.