A heavy, oppressive silence blanketed the clearing as the Elders of the Sacred Flame Palace and the Divine Mountain Sect stood behind Yao Shen, their expressions solemn as their gazes gathered upon the only two remaining cultivators that stood opposing Yao Shen.

The Patriarch of the Sacred Flame Palace. Lei Weiyuan.

The Patriarch of the Divine Mountain Sect, Kang Long.

Yao Shen’s human sight instinctively shifted to the two Patriarchs, no trace of surprise reflected upon his face when he found himself unable to detect any clouds of emotions surrounding them. Their sharp, intelligent gazes met his own, no longer containing arrogance befitting their position, yet exposing no hint of weakness or subservience either. As Patriarchs, their actions were directly tied to the wellbeing of their sects— making it only natural that they would spare no effort to ensure that their emotional state could not be pried upon.

But Yao Shen did not require his human sight to understand the two Patriarchs emotions. Instead, he need only ask himself what he would feel if the same thing happened to him. How he would feel if his foundation, the synthesis of his life’s pursuit was laid claim upon by another? The sect where his master, a mighty Elder, had taken a gamble upon a non-legacy family disciple with limited talent, now lost, owed loyalty to another.

Regret. Frustration. Anger. Shame.

But not hatred. His own pride would not allow himself to hate the victor of an honorable duel wherein the odds were weighed in his favor. The pride of a Patriarch, both a great strength and an exposed weakness.

Yao Shen’s gaze shifted to the elders behind him, the clouds of grey mists representing the emotion ‘uncertainity’ only grown denser as they watched with apprehension, and he could not help but think how apt the color ‘gray’ was to describe the relationship between the three hegemons of the Azlak Plains.

Immediately after his ascension, Yao Shen had immediately confronted the two Patriarchs for their sins, which had included the assassination of an elder. Undoubtedly a grave sin, if the truth had ever been so straightforward. The Elder in question, Elder Shirong, had climbed his way to the position with the aid of the Zhu family. While both Yao Shen and Elder Shirong were non-legacy family disciples, there had been no solidarity between them— while Yao Shen had attained great power while preserving his honor and dignity, Elder Shirong’s personality seemed to grow more belligerent and vengeful with every rank he climbed. After all, not all reacted to power equally— and as long as Elder Shirong’s ire was concentrated upon the rivals of the Heavenly Sky Sect, the Zhu family saw no reason to interfere.

Ultimately, Elder Shirong ended up violating one of the unwritten rules of the righteous path— in his grudge with Elder Yongnian of the Divine Mountain Sect, he had slain his nephew, Guardian Huiqing. The Divine Mountain Sect was naturally furious beyond reasoning, and the Sacred Flame Palace saw an opportunity to weaken the Heavenly Sky Sect. A few years later, he was assassinated by an encirclement of four elders from the two sects, and it was rumoured that Elder Yongnian himself landed the finishing blow— revenge had taken its time, but it had eventually caught up.

Who was in the right, and who was in the wrong?

From Yao Shen’s perspective as Patriarch, the life of a Nascent Soul expert had been traded for a core formation guardian. While there was no love lost between Elder Shirong and him, as Patriarch he was obligated to demand an answer. Was Elder Shirong the one in the wrong, then? Yao Shen, in the two hundred years he had lived in Eliria, had come to understand that in the world of cultivation, nothing was ever as simple as it seemed. Yao Shen had his suspicions, for whilst power had the ability to corrupt even the purest of hearts, it did not turn the competent incompetent.

There existed certain cultivation techniques that were not Demonic in nature, but still frowned upon within the Righteous Path— increasing the strain on the cultivator’s dantian that continuously allowed them to exhibit power beyond one’s threshold and advance through the stages faster at the cost of future potential. Such a technique would never be given to the Zhu family’s own, but Elder Shirong was merely an outsider, recruited up from a mortal village after his talent for cultivation was unearthed— much like Yao Shen himself. While these cultivation techniques could not change one’s personality entirely, the erosion of one’s dantian in the early stages of cultivation could easily affect a cultivator’s emotions, making him more irritable and angry. Over time, this effect would only amplify— while he could not say for certain, it was a plausible explanation.

Then, was Elder Yongnian’s decision to kill Elder Shirong in his quest for revenge the correct one? The answer to that lay in another question: was justice only the prerogative of the strong? Had it been any other Guardian that died at the hands of Elder Shirong, the Divine Mountain Sect would have settled the matter after receiving reparations from the Heavenly Sky Sect.

Who was in the right, and who was in the wrong?

As Patriarch of the Divine Mountain Sect stepped forward with a resolute expression etched upon his face, Yao Shen realized that despite his understanding of the Esoteric Human Dao, he had no answer to that question. Everything was simply… gray.

Yao Shen dwelled on such complex thoughts no longer as Kang Long approached, his every step sending a pang of regret coursing through the Divine Mountain Sect Elders— for in mere moments, their sect, their home, would exist no longer.

Kang Long stopped a few meters away from Yao Shen, his expression stony and his fist lightly clenched as his gaze fell upon the Elders of his sect, now standing at the command of another.

Yao Shen let a moment in silence pass, a sign of respect, to differentiate his oath from the rest of the elders, before he began reciting the words.

“Kang Long, do you, upon your honor, swear your loyalty to the newly established Modern Sect?”

His clenched fist tightened, but ultimately he did not dishonor the agreement.

“Yes.”

The remaining words of the oath of first betrayal were recited, and unsurprisingly, Kang Long once again agreed.

“Bow before your Patriarch,” Yao Shen’s voice boomed out with aplomb, and with it, the hearts of the Divine Mountain Sect shattered as their Patriarch bowed before another.

“Rise as the Earth Patriarch of the Modern Sect,” he declared, and Kang Long complied, before taking his place at his side, half a step behind him. `

The same terms of the oath were recited to Patriarch Lei Weiyuan, who betrayed no trace of his true emotions through his body language or expression.

Once again, hearts were shattered as the Patriarch of the Sacred Flame Palace bowed before another.

“Rise as the Flame Patriarch of the Modern Sect,” he proclaimed, the intoxicating, heady rush of power imbued within his declaration.

Lei Weiyuan moved to stand at his side, and finally the formation was complete— Yao Shen stood at the forefront of the congregation of elders, twenty two elders proficient in multiple Major Dao’s arrayed behind him. To his left, was his Earth Patriarch, Kang Long, a master of defense and entrapment. To his right, was the Flame Patriarch, Lei Weiyuan, a master of offense and destruction. This represented only two thirds of the power of the Modern Sect, a force that could no longer be ignored.

Yao Shen finally uttered the words, as the reserve elders along with Zhou Hui and his contingent watched from a distance, the words that the masters of the Azlak Plains believed that they would never hear in their lifespans:

“I, Yao Shen, with the heavens as my witness, hereby declare the Heavenly Sky Sect, Divine Mountain Sect and the Sacred Flame Palace's forces to be united as one under the banner of the Modern Sect, the now undisputed rulers of the Azlak Plains, with the power vested in me as the Grand Patriarch. ”