Chapter 92 (1/2)

“Vremya!”

Grandpa Vremya furrowed his brow. Usually, when the sect leader needed him for something, she’d send a disciple to inform him ahead of time. It was very rare for the sect leader to appear in person. It was even rarer to see the sect leader covered in soot and wearing tattered robes.

“Was that exploding golem in the sky your invention?” Rachel asked, her eyes red. When she had entered the whale golem, seven miniature explosions happened. Judging by what she could see from inside, those explosions were caused by pods leaving the golem. Before she could do anything else, however, the whole golem exploded, nearly killing her. If she hadn’t reached the peak of soul-seed thanks to the perfected Moon Lotus Cultivation Technique, there was no way she would’ve survived.

Grandpa Vremya tilted his head. “I don’t program my golems for explosions,” he said. “So, it probably wasn’t me.”

“Is that so?” Rachel asked. She nodded and sat down off to the side. “I used up the last bits of my energy to come here to question you. If you want to kill me, now’s your chance.” She closed her eyes and proceeded to cultivate, ignoring Grandpa Vremya.

Grandpa Vremya shifted his gaze away from Rachel. Why in the world would he want to kill the sect leader? She was his umbrella, guarding him from the outside elements. When it rained, she would be hit first. When troubles came, they’d bother her first. He’d have to be a moron to give up convenience for the sake of some glory. However, he was a bit intrigued. Someone else was capable of building golems strong enough to heavily damage a soul-seed expert upon exploding? It seemed like a wave of enemies had come just in time for him to temper himself, how awfully convenient.

A moment later, Rachel’s eyes opened. “It really wasn’t you, huh?” she asked before standing up. With a wave of her hand, her messy appearance disappeared. Her clothes changed in the blink of an eye, and the smudges on her face were wiped away by spiritual energy. Earlier, she had lied to see if Grandpa Vremya really was the culprit. If he couldn’t help himself and tried to attack her in her weakened state, she would’ve killed him. “Come to the main hall. I’m assembling the elders.”

At the main hall, Grandpa Vremya took a seat beside Azalea. Since she had formed her nascent soul, she had also become an elder. Although the sect was filled with geniuses, forming a nascent soul was still a difficult task. Of the ten core disciples who had accompanied Grandpa Vremya on the trip to the pocket realm with the miniature titans, only four of them had formed their nascent soul. The rest had passed away, all traces of them to be forgotten through the passage of time. As for the four, naturally, Grandpa Vremya was included as one of them. Ruby and Michelle had formed their nascent souls as well. As for the fourth core disciple, Grandpa Vremya didn’t think she was important enough to remember her name. In fact, if Ruby and Michelle were to appear in front of him, he wouldn’t know their names either.

“We’ve been invaded,” Rachel said once she saw all the elders had arrived, skipping the pleasantries. “They’re people who come from beyond the sky. Maybe they’re demons; I didn’t get a close look at them. I had a feeling of being watched for the longest time, and I located the source way above me. There was a flying ship, much like Elder Vremya’s flying whale golems. I broke through a barrier and boarded it, but it exploded shortly after. Before it exploded, seven things escaped from the golem and flew towards the ground.”

“A standard hunting mission?” Michelle asked. “Locate the seven individuals and capture or kill them?”

“It’ll be trickier than that,” Rachel said. “There must’ve been a soul-seed cultivator onboard. The barrier generated by the golem was strong, even by my standards.”