Inside the Sect Master's Hall of the Flame Sovereign Sect, the atmosphere was heavy with spiritual heat, the very air shimmering faintly under the influence of the Sect's formation responsible for condensing Fire Qi to a point where the air itself carried a burning force that would instantly incinerate a mortal.
Upon a wide obsidian dais sat the Sect Master, his eyes half-closed as if in meditation. Opposite him, kneeling with his head slightly lowered, was Young Master Qin, the pride of the Sect and the Sect Master's only son, who had recently returned from the ill-fated expedition into the Savagefang Mountain Range.
After a moment of silence, the Sect Master finally opened his crimson red eyes, in which a fire seemed to burn, and then he spoke, his voice calm, yet carrying the weight of a smoldering fury.
"Tell me everything."
Gulp.
Young Master Qin gulped nervously, a trail of sweat sliding down his brow, making his already disheveled appearance, which was a stark contrast to what Mikael had seen in the Savagefang Mountain Range, even worse.
Still, even as he felt nervous, he knew better than to make his father wait. "L-Lord Father, I take full responsibility for what happened in the Savagefang Mountain Range."
The Sect Master coldly glanced at him before slowly opening his mouth, and what came out was a voice seemingly devoid of emotion. "I know you will. But…" he took a small pause before continuing, "I didn't ask for this, did I?"
"S-sorry, Lord Father! I misspoke—please punish me!" he cried, pressing his forehead against the burning floor.
The Sect Master of the Flame Sovereign Sect coldly waved his hand, indicating that it was nothing and that he should continue to speak, which is exactly what Young Master Qin did.
"I had the idea to enter the Savagefang Mountain Range to temper myself against demonic beasts, but more especially to take advantage of the period after the demonic beast tide, during which the Mountain Range would be relatively empty, to gather a lot of high-quality Spiritual Herbs and similar treasures."
"Which is why I organized an expeditionary group to delve into the Mountain Range. This group was composed of me, some of my Junior Brothers and Sisters from both the Inner Court and the Core Court, and accompanying us was a Core Elder at the 3rd layer of the Core Formation Realm. In this fashion, I could be assured of my safety, and our gains would be high."
The crimson-eyed Sect Master nodded, indicating that he knew of this matter, which was only natural; after all, if he wasn't aware of a large movement like that in his Sect, it would have been truly abnormal.
Young Master Qin's head slightly rose, his eyes meeting his father's as he continued, "Following which, we entered the Savagefang Mountain Range and everything proceeded as I had planned, with me gaining experience and growing stronger by battling demonic beasts. And most importantly, we effectively obtained a great number of High-Quality Spiritual Foundation Realm Spiritual Herbs and similar treasures."
"Everything was proceeding as planned, and with Elder Feng at the 3rd layer of the Core Formation Realm leading us, we were able to easily overcome the lone demonic beasts left, but then—"
Young Master Qin gritted his teeth as he lowered himself even further into his kneeling position. "We came upon a 6th layer Core Formation Realm Crimson Pyrogryph…"
"Ohh?" A sound of surprise came from the Sect Master's mouth as he continued to listen to his son's 'story'.
"...Initially, I wanted us to retreat, as we weren't strong enough to deal with a demonic beast of that level. And even if we were, the gain wouldn't have justified the danger nor the casualties we would've undoubtedly suffered from the fight. But at that moment, my Junior Sister Mingyu'er sensed a small pool of the Heavenly Wonder, Thunder Vein Dew!"
"Thunder Vein Dew!? Are you sure of what you're saying?" The Sect Master rose from his obsidian dais, and with that, the pressure in the room seemed to multiply, the heat surging to an unimaginable degree as an illusion of fire enveloped the kneeling Young Master Qin, who was now sweating heavily, feeling as if he were about to be burnt alive.
Gritting his teeth through the pressure, he forced the words out, "L-Lord Fa-Father, I-I am sure, please!"
The burning pressure lingered for a moment longer before the Sect Master returned to his seat on the obsidian dais, and with that motion, the suffocating weight that had been 'crushing' Young Master Qin suddenly vanished.
GAH!
As the pressure faded, Young Master Qin collapsed to his knees with a choked gasp, greedily sucking in deep lungfuls of air as if he'd been drowning. Each breath came loud, ragged, and desperate, his chest rising and falling uncontrollably now that the invisible weight had finally lifted.
And then, ignoring the burn in his throat and the phantom sensation of fire still clinging to his skin, Young Master Qin forced out, "A-and then I chose to risk it and try to obtain this Heavenly Wonder, as it is far too valuable to be abandoned without even trying, no matter the danger."
The small nod from his Lord Father reassured him that the terrifying man shared his judgment, so he continued more confidently,
"Then we all pooled our Qi together into a single powerful Qi barrier originating from Elder Feng. With this, we planned to engage in a tug of war with the Crimson Pyrogryph and try to exhaust its Qi, because with our Qi Recovery Pills and superior numbers, we believed we had a good chance to outlast it, which would have allowed us to obtain the Heavenly Wonder. But…"
A flicker of fear passed through the eyes of the disheveled Young Master. "That's when it appeared!"
"It?" The Sect Master inquisitively raised an eyebrow.
The Young Master took a deep breath to gather his spirit before launching into a detailed explanation.
"…"
"...afterward, seeing how overwhelmed we were and that there was no possibility of victory, or even of escaping alive, I used the Thousand Mile Talisman that Lord Father granted me to escape and deliver this report."
The Sect Master thoughtfully rubbed his chin. "I see…"
Tap, tap, tap.
The rhythmic tapping of his fingers against the armrest of the obsidian dais echoed through the hall before the Sect Master spoke again, this time addressing the 'emptiness'.
"Old Xi, spread the message throughout the Flame Sovereign Sect and make sure it quickly reaches the Cultivation World that we organized an expedition into the depths of the Savagefang Mountain Range and suffered near-total annihilation, with little Lei as the only survivor."
Swish.
An old man in black clothes suddenly materialized before the Sect Master in a kneeling position, head lowered. "It will be done, Sect Master." Once his words were finished, he 'dematerialized,' leaving only Young Master Qin and his Lord Father in the Sect Master's Hall.
"What?" An exclamation of shock escaped Young Master Qin's mouth as he heard his father's shocking order, his eyes bulging in disbelief.
Hearing his son's reaction and seeing the disbelief in his gaze, a glint of disdain passed through the Sect Master's eyes. 'I need to prepare him to one day take my place as the Sect Master, and this can be a good opportunity to temper him and make him wiser'
"Son, are you confused by my orders?"
Young Master Qin bowed deeply. "I wouldn't dare."
"I'm not asking if you dare—I'm asking if you are confused!" the thunderous voice of the Sect Master resounded.
"Yes, I am, Lord Father!" He slightly raised his head to look at him. "Why give this order to make the expedition known to the rest of the Cultivation World?"
"If we hadn't, nobody would have known about the expedition or the heavy loss we suffered. But now… all of the Cultivation World will know, and we'll lose a tremendous amount of face! So why do it? I am confused."
'He isn't entirely hopeless. At least he can ask the right questions and has a certain understanding of the world,' the Sect Master thought to himself before beginning to speak.
"What you said, son, is true, but you're not seeing the whole picture, which is why you're confused. Son, you must understand that in this world, everything operates on the principle of gains and losses. In this case, by revealing our loss, we will undoubtedly lose face, but at the same time… there's a reason I chose to do so, and it outweighs the loss of face. So, what is that reason?"
"Nothing! Nothing outweighs face, it's the most important—without it, nobody, whether individual, faction, or Sect, will respect us!" proudly declared Young Master Qin with a confident smile, believing he had seen through and evaded the 'trap' hidden in his father's words.
The Sect Master's expression darkened at this display, and in the same instant, the temperature in the room sharply rose as a heavy spiritual pressure spread outward; the next moment, the Sect Master waved his hand, and then—
"AHHHHHH!!"
The agonized scream of Qin Lei resounded as he began to writhe in pain, "I am burning, I am burning!" he screamed, his tortured voice echoing across the burning hall.
Even though no physical fire touched him, not even the faintest ember, he felt as if he had been cast into the deepest pit of hell, his entire being tormented by an infernal flame.
This chilling scene unfolded under the Sect Master's indifferent gaze as he coldly watched his son writhe in agony, and he continued to do so for several minutes, during which Qin Lei's screams echoed without pause, though gradually, they weakened, each cry losing strength as he neared his limit.
Only then did the Sect Master wave his hand again, and in that instant, Qin Lei's writhing ceased as the invisible flame burning through his mind abruptly vanished.
"Haaaa… haaaa… haaaa…"
Qin Lei's heavy, ragged breathing echoed as he lay motionless on the cold ground.
Seconds passed in the thick, oppressive silence, the Sect Master saying nothing, until he saw that his son had somewhat recovered.
"Foolish."
The single word cracked through the hall like a thunderclap, sharp and scornful. With great effort, Qin Lei looked up, only to meet his father's disdainful gaze.
"Remember my words well, or you'll get another round of mental tempering: Face isn't the center of the world. It's nothing more than a resource, just like many others. Its purpose is to gain us respect, to help us intimidate enemies or open certain doors. It's useful, yes… but at the end of the day, it's still just a tool."
Hearing his father's words—especially the mention of 'mental tempering', Qin Lei instinctively straightened his spine and listened with full attention.
"It should be used when helpful, but sacrificed without hesitation when the benefits are high enough. And in this case… the benefits far outweigh the problems caused by this small loss of face."
"It's not shameful to lose face if doing so brings greater gain. For example: submitting before a stronger cultivator in order to survive isn't shameful, it's strategy."
The crimson eyes of the Sect Master landed on his son with an intensity that sent a shiver down his spine.
"Wanting to preserve face at all costs when it's obviously a foolish choice is the epitome of stupidity. And if I ever catch you becoming one of those far-too-common cultivators who prioritize face above all else, I guarantee the mental tempering you just experienced will seem like nothing compared to what you'll receive."
A chill swept through Qin Lei's entire body. 'Worse than today… never!' he thought, terrified, before shakily nodding his head. "U-und..erstood… I w-will not p-prioritize… face a-above all… else," he stammered, his voice trembling from the fear of another 'mental tempering session.'
Author Note:
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This chapter was kinda enjoyable to read, writing the terrifying emotionless father who is actually wise is certainly… weird in a way but at the same it's enjoyable and it's different from the other characters.
At the same time, it's a nice change compared to the slice-of-life chapters we've had in the last few chapters.
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— End of Chapter —