"If you have nothing to say, you can leave, Little Reinhardt. Forget this matter and cultivate hard in seclusion so that you may reach the Martial Overlord Stage, managing to extend your lifespan to fifty thousand years. The fires of your already withered vitality can be reignited while you still have the chance, unlike me who have reached the peak of what I can achieve, so don’t ever give up."
"Yes..." Ancestor Reinhardt Weiss gritted his teeth and answered.
Inwardly, he couldn’t help but muse if only this magical beast knew the difficulty to cultivate the body. He couldn’t help but lament magical beasts had it so much easier, only needing to eat and sleep to grow, but he couldn’t deny that Ancestor Cornelia had her fair share of struggles because the onslaught of the bloodline thinning-out problem had begun a bit before her generation of Burning Phoenixes.
Ancestor Cornelia literally remains the last Burning Phoenix to have reached the Peak-Level Ninth Stage with her own travels and adventures in their Burning Phoenix Ridge.
"The matters of the sect would be overseen by Little Lea, who is the current Sect Master, while we Ancestors are not to interfere with the growth and well-being of the sect unless it required our true help, and not after the calamity has ended."
"..."
Ancestor Reinhardt Weiss fumblingly raised his head before he stood up, nodding his head.
"Yes..."
"Good, now return the spatial ring of Little Magnus to the Ancient Treasury. According to the rules of the sect, no family is allowed to hold the Legacy Treasures after the death of their Ancestor and applies the same even to another Ancestor of the same or a different family. Additionally, all High-Level Emperor Grade and above armaments, artifacts, and heavenly resources will be confiscated unless these treasures absolutely belonged to Little Magnus or the Rein Family themselves. Are we clear?"
"Yes, we are clear."
Ancestor Reinhardt Weiss could only find himself saying yes and yes, again and again. He felt his face burn, but he also felt that he couldn’t do much about it as he felt like a child being berated by his mother. Ancestor Cornelia’s voice was no longer cold but pleasant to hear as if she was just chiding him to not do bad things.
Even Sect Master Lea Weiss was flabbergasted at this scene playing out in front of her eyes. What she considered a knot in her heart, a kind of fear towards her Ancestor, was easily broken by just watching Ancestor Cornelia suppress him.
Ancestor Reinhardt Weiss then left, leaving the three of them in this hall with Ancestor Cornelia. He did not look back at all, looking like he was heading towards the Ancient Treasury.
"...!"
Only then did Sect Master Lea Weiss suddenly noticed that Shirley still stood without kneeling, making her heart almost leap out.
"Shirley, what are you doing!? Quickly kowtow...!"
She looked back at Shirley as her eyes trembled.
Kowtowing is attributed to displaying immense respect to the receiving party, while not kowtowing is attributed to showing disrespect. In the cultivator’s world, not kowtowing didn’t mean that that the person was neutral, but when they see a sign of a superior person or a person more powerful than them, they would at least have to clasp their hands or bow, giving the basic respect that the receiving party commanded.
Not giving respect is considered disrespect. There’s no in-between, especially in places like sects.
The last thing she wanted was for Shirley to offend Ancestor Cornelia, and Shirley did not seem to be sane as she even went far as to badmouth Ancestor Reinhardt Weiss, perhaps because she also didn’t know if her protector or her master that she claimed was still alive or dead.
Nevertheless, she knew that she couldn’t guarantee the protection that she promised if Shirley truly ended up offending Ancestor Cornelia!
"It’s fine, Little Lea..." Ancestor Cornelia suddenly spoke out.
Sect Master Lea Weiss turned to see that Ancestor Cornelia still had that pleasant smile on her face. It was as if she didn’t bother with the disrespect, making her doubt if there was something else to it.
People were demanding respect, and even magical beasts weren’t any stranger to it. In fact, magical beasts demanded more respect than humans because it satisfies their instinct as a race to dominate another race. It was the common truth of the world, so she couldn’t help but find it doubtful.
"Little Lea, we haven’t met before, but I already know your accomplishments, and I profoundly like your way of doing things as I have nothing to do other than watch over the sect. However, you allowed a stranger to run rampant in the sect who caused immense damage to the prowess of the sect. Do you have any excuses?"
Sect Master Lea Weiss’s crimson pupils trembled. She took a deep breath, seemingly making herself relaxed before her lips moved behind the crimson veil.
"I wanted to merely have revenge on Valerian because he poisoned and killed my Raka. However, that Chu Feng was different. I had no idea he could use Death Laws, and neither did I know that he possessed the ability to kill Ancestor Magnus Rein. However, he did warn that he could kill them, which I believed was nonsense because there’s no way a mere King Soul Stage or a Ninth Stage Powerhouse would be able to enter the sect and murder people left and right."
"It was simply a careless mistake on my part not to know about his Death Laws or his usage of that terrifying instakill arts. His killing speed was the fastest I had ever seen that I felt if I blinked, I might have died as well for all the insults I had hurled at him previously, thinking he was spouting nonsense before all this happened.."
She trembled as she thought back to the eerie scene of people simply dropping to the ground.
"However, I, Sect Master Lea Weiss, deserves to be punished...!"
Sect Master Lea Weiss’s eyes widened, looking determined.
No matter what, she had caused immense damage to her sect, and now, she merely felt that she had to own up to the consequences.
Ancestor Cornelia watched her with her brows furrowed. After what seemed to be a long while, she opened her dried-up lips.
"Normally, a death sentence would’ve been in store for you for working with an outsider to kill one of the sect’s Ancestors apart from your personal revenge. However, seeing that you confessed to this crime by yourself before Little Reinhardt or I asked, I believe that you only had the best intentions of the sect in your mind when deciding to kill Valerian, who wrongfully killed one of my children. Some scourges are destined and needed to be wiped out."
"Nevertheless, it is true that you caused immense loss while I also sat back and watched the destruction happen, mainly because I felt that Little Magnus would be able to take care of that rampaging Chu Feng. However, it turned out to be a miscalculation on my part, the same as you. Therefore, if your words are true, I really find it difficult to single-handedly blame you for the death of Little Magnus."
"Ancestor..."
Sect Master Lea Weiss blinked, unwittingly feeling moved.
Was she given forgiven just like that?
Looking at Ancestor Cornelia shake her head, her heart fell.
"You still deserve punishment even if I think otherwise. But, I want to strengthen the sect before I die in a few or so years so that there would at least be a Peak-Level Ninth Stage Powerhouse left behind to protect the sect as I did."
Sect Master Lea Weiss pursed her lips, looking moved again before she kowtowed once more.
"Ancestor Cornelia is wise and magnanimous."
"Hahaha..." Ancestor Cornelia let out a peal of wry laughter, her aged voice echoing with irony, "Magnanimous?"
She looked at Sect Master Lea Weiss with a complicated glint in her eyes.
"In truth, I would’ve really punished you if it weren’t for my ancestors’ flames that I could feel burning inside your dantian..."
"!!!"
Sect Master Lea Weiss’s crimson eyes widened as her expression froze. Shirley’s body also went stiff. She even tried to take a step back to leave subconsciously but found that she was unable to move just from the sheer tension that she felt at this moment.
"Judging by this characteristic, this flame must be from my ancestor, the Fire Phoenix."
Ancestor Cornelia then turned to look at Shirley, a wry smile once again becoming deeply apparent.
"The intensity is even more here despite the difference in stages. I think I now know why you two decided to work together, you protecting Little Shirley while that Chu Feng used you to kill those who might harm Little Shirley here."
Sect Master Lea Weiss and Shirley slightly relaxed as they saw that Ancestor Cornelia was still talking amicably, but they were still stunned, tongue-tied to even reply to this situation.
When exactly had Ancestor Cornelia probed them? They didn’t even see it coming!
"What? You two really thought you could hide it from me when I’m this close...?"
Ancestor Cornelia’s lips twitched.
Was her finding out that they had this peculiarity within them so unbelievable? Could it be that they underestimated her prowess, the prowess of a Peak-Level Emperor Beast Stage Magical Beast? Especially a one that had crossed its lifespan’s limits and was now teetering on the edge of death?
It was okay for Little Shirley to be like this but for Little Lea to be shocked along with her was a bit intriguing to her when she suddenly realized that Little Lea could’ve failed to see that the person she was dealing with a magical beast that possessed a fully developed control over its soul.
She smiled genially, feeling like she was talking with little chicks.
"Forgive me, Little Lea. I had to probe you with my soul to know that you are not being controlled by that Chu Feng, although I am not sure about little Shirley."
"Mhm...?"
Sect Master Lea Weiss blinked, her gaze falling on Shirley with confusion when she suddenly heard Ancestor Cornelia’s voice becoming filled with a sheer chill that permeated deep into the atmosphere.
"Elder Chu Feng, was it? Come out~"