A chilly silence enveloped the hall as Zhou Hui gazed at the young disciple lying upon the floor with trembling hands. Elder of the Enforcement Hall, he was supposed to be the Elder of the Enforcement Hall…. yet such deep corruption and rot had infested one of the eight pillars of the sect right under his nose. He had known that the legacy families took certain liberties with their positions, but from the very beginning of the education he had received, he was taught not to take any actions that would negatively impact the harmony and cooperation between the legacy families.

Where was the honor? Where was the dignity of the legacy families?

The hall was silent, except Yao Shen, who continued to tap upon the Eocava wood table with his index finger, the time between each tap uniform. His expression was inscrutable, but when Zhou Hui gazed upon him a vague feeling of crisis enveloped his entire body that sent chills up his spine.

Tap, Tap, Tap, the sound continued to echo out, in the backdrop of a lightly sobbing Yanyue.

“Yao Shen! You bring this disciple before the Council of Elders and fill this sacred hall with her slanderous lies! Your actions bring shame to your late master’s honor!” Wenyan Ren angrily roared as the chair he was seated upon flew backwards, his earthen robes discarded to reveal the dark obsidian armor- The Earthflame Guardian, beneath. A large obsidian warhammer was withdrawn from his spatial ring, the two handed weapon held with a single, gauntleted arm without any struggle.

The room instantly divided into two sides— on the right were the seven legacy family heads, each with their Pseudo Soul Emperor level artifact in hand or worn upon their bodies, while on the left were the three elders unaffiliated with any family. Elder Han remained seated, as if he wished for all parties involved to forget that he existed, while Zhou Hui’s expression seemed as pale as a ghost as he remained sitting there in a state of shock.

Yao Shen had not moved from his original spot on the table, as if the actions of the parties involved held no meaning to him.

Tap, Tap, Tap, the sound echoed out again, far too repetitive to have no meaning at all.

Finally, Yao Shen spoke.

“You seem to have misunderstood,” Yao Shen spoke, his voice distant and detached, as if the events that had transpired had no relation to him.

“Misunderstood what?” Dongmei Xue sharply countered. “You tarnish the image of my Xue family within these sacred halls and use a recording stone to record your slander so that you can steal my Xue family’s resources. What is there to misunderstand?” She asked in the form of a wronged scream, her theatrics so impressive that perhaps even she herself was convinced that the real victim here was her.

“My Human Dao has no offensive means, so you do not believe it to be a threat. You are correct. I may have achieved mastery in three Major Daos, but I have had no time to consolidate my gains. Your understanding of the Major Daos are natural, earned, whereas mine are imparted by the heavens. You believe there is an irrefutable difference between the natural and the imparted, that with your Pseudo Soul Emperor artifacts you can contest my control over the elements. Once again, you are correct. But what you underestimate is not I, Yao Shen, but the very resolve of the Heavens— to extinguish my soul, scatter my ashes and erase all traces of my cultivation,” His piece said, Yao Shen relaxed his control over his facial expressions, the trembling rage he felt smoldering deep within his irises no longer concealed.

He did not shift from his position, and neither did he unleash his domain. All Yao Shen did was tap his finger lightly upon the table, and his divine sense— the external manifestation of his soul, engulfed the seven elders that had attracted his fury.

Instantly, a seven layered shield manifested around each of the legacy family heads, the ancient rings they wore upon their hands glowing with power. The outer six layers were formed out of a translucent grayish energy, while the innermost layer glowed with a radiant golden energy that spoke of its superiority.

His divine sense bore down upon each of the elders, leaving light cracks upon the exterior of the outermost shield that were quickly repairing itself.

“Yao Shen, you underestimate the foundation of our legacy families! Did you really think that we would not be prepared for the soul suppression of a Soul Emperor?” Wenyan Ren mocked with a gleeful expression on his face, not surprised that the shields had held against Yao Shen’s Soul attack.

“If that is all the strength you possess then it is truly a little disappointing,” Dongmei Xue coldly snorted, before adding, “Don’t waste your divine sense any further, it is a waste of both our time and yours. Have that girl recant her statement, hand over the recording stone and make sure she never appears in front of me again, and this matter can be considered forgotten,” She added, not truly wanting to have irreconcilable enmity with a cultivator as extreme as Yao Shen. If he wanted the girl he could have her, her Water- Light Dual Spiritual roots were only at a meager thirty four percent purity, after all.

“These are a set of artifacts forged by true soul emperors at the pinnacle of their power, Yao Shen. No matter how possibly strong your soul is, it cannot match the potency of these rings, created through the combined efforts of our ancestors. Agree to Dongmei’s demands, and this matter can be considered forgotten. You are not someone we wish to make an enemy out of,” Meili Zhu’s sweet voice tried to mediate between the two parties, but she too held supreme confidence in her ancestors, as was the nature of legacy families.

“That was a tenth,” Yao Shen replied simply, his voice cold and unamused.

Wenyan Ren stood there in incomprehension as Yao Shen’s statement echoed in his mind, as he tried to decipher if there was a hidden meaning, or even a cipher hidden within those words. But no matter which approach he took, the only logical answer kept slapping him back in his face. His eyes widened in disbelief as his hands started trembling lightly, for he did not consider Yao Shen to be a cultivator who bluffed about his abilities.

Yao Shen tapped his finger against the Eocava Wood table, and the strength of his divine sense immediately doubled— from ten times that of a Peak Nascent Soul Cultivators, to twenty times.

The seventh layer of the shields protecting the legacy family heads exploded at once, countless ephemeral shards falling upon the ground and sinking within, not leaving a trace behind.

“Yao Shen, stop!” Zhou Hui’s imploring voice echoed in the background, but Yao Shen paid him no heed.

He tapped a third time, and the sixth layer exploded.

Fourth time, fifth layer.

Fifth time, the fourth, third and second layers all exploded at the same time.

Finally, Yao Shen tapped a sixth time, and cracks started appearing on the golden shields, the aghast Patriarchs and Matriarchs watching as the rings on their hands shatter one after the other with horror reflecting in their eyes.

He was surprised that the golden shield managed to bear sixty times the pressure of a peak nascent soul cultivator, but ultimately it did not matter.

Yao Shen tapped a seventh time, and the golden shields exploded in all directions like the shattering of a sun, golden sparks flying like small meteors in all directions. The seven legacy family heads crumpled to the ground at the same time, a pressure equivalent to seventy times that of a peak nascent soul cultivator weighing down upon them like an elephant’s leg holding a mortal in place— an immutable, irresistible force that the limitations of their physical existence could not defy.

Their eyes were wide with terror as they did not dare to move a single inch, fearing that the force would come crashing down upon them and not even their a trace of their souls would be left behind.

“Do not be so agitated, Brother Hui,” Yao Shen replied to his rival, who held a generic nascent soul blade against his throat but did not complete the strike, only holding it as an empty defiance, a symbolic gesture that was powerful in its own right. “I am not here to kill anyone today,” he said, as he moved the tip of the blade away from his neck with his index finger, and walked past Zhou Hui, who did not stop him.

“But there will be consequences,” he added, almost as an afterthought, as his soul’s pressure continued to bear upon the legacy family heads’ Nascent Souls. As long as they did not try to move or escape, they would be unharmed. Yao Shen, however, did not care about them, as he walked toward the poor, trembling girl who had lost a sister due to the corruption that ran deep within the sect. The Healing Hall was a place to train and raise healers, a crucial resource for any sect that faced multiple external threats. To cripple or hobble the growth of a promising healer for personal gain was one of the most gross transgressions one could commit, and had killing Dongmei Xue not been the one of the triggers for a civil war he would have likely gone through with it.

But that was alright, for his new disciple had enough motivation and resolve when it came to dealing with that particular matter.

He walked over to his new disciple, who was curled up in a ball as she sobbed lightly, her head digging into her knees as she hid her face from the world.

He offered his hand to the young disciple, who, perhaps out of deference to his authority, promptly accepted it. He raised her back onto her feet, but to his surprise she wrapped her arms around his back and started loudly crying into his chest. Her entire time in the Heavenly Sky Sect had been one long cycle of running from one nightmare to the next, and she had grown increasingly isolated after the one person who made suffering through the injustice bearable had perished right in front of her eyes.

After so long, someone had finally noticed her pain. Someone was willing to show kindness to her, and even going as far as to offer her protection. A solitary man who was willing to bear the wrath of the legacy families alone, even when he himself claimed that he was not infallible.

Such kindness….was almost too heavy to bear.

Yao Shen was stunned for a solid moment, not used to such displays of emotion considering his first disciple was, of all people, Shadow. Recalling his memories from Earth, he accepted the hug, his hands moving awkwardly as he wrapped them around her back, and softly spoke “It’s going to be alright.”

“Everything is going to be alright.”