Chapter 612: What was that?
Orin’s steps were calm, a light smile hanging from his face as he looked toward the Grand Elder. He met the latter’s gaze without the slightest sign of taking a step back.
For a moment, the Grand Elder didn’t say anything, as though waiting to see if Orin would fold. But after a moment, he revealed a toothy and crooked grin.
"I was under the impression that the Matriarch wouldn’t appear, and it seems like I was correct. What I was wrong about was that the pride of our Sect would also come to participate in such a small event. I’ll have to apologize for my oversight, then."
"It’s not a big deal," Orin said with a wave of the hand. "This year’s gathering has gained Master’s attention for a few reasons, not the least of which is news of some trouble brewing near the greeting region this year. I heard that there were some issues with the Nightingale Sect, is it?"
Orin swept a gaze over the Elders as though a superior asking his subordinates for an accounting. The other Elders of the Sect wouldn’t be here currently—they were with the other smaller Sects. It was instead the job of these powerhouses to deal with the opening of the Forest of Ice.
As such, it could be said that other than the Matriarch, the strongest warriors of the Hall of Ice and Heart were all here. And yet here was a disciple casually questioning them as though something had been done wrong.
"I think for this matter you should be questioning Third Elder."
A sweet voice with a hint of biting cold replied to Orin. Seemingly not wanting her father to have to answer a question to a junior, Rose took it upon herself to do the answering, forcefully placing herself on the same level as Orin.
"Is that so? And why’s that?" Orin asked, looking at her as though he didn’t feel the shift and power play.
"The disciple that caused the chaos claimed to be one of her own, and a youth who was the little brother to the Eleventh Elder’s first disciple was severely harmed by him. He escaped punishment because of the Third Elder’s name."
"Oh?" Orin looked toward Lyrah, but the latter didn’t even look at Orin, her gaze almost lazy. In fact, it looked as though she wasn’t paying attention to the conversation at all.
Orin’s eyes narrowed.
Lyrah had always been hard to control, and maybe that was why she got into so much trouble with so very many people. However, she was the closest existence to the Quasi Dome of Heaven Realm in the whole of the Sect.
While Orin could often play politics and use his Master’s existence to pressure smaller Elders, against a powerhouse like Lyrah, there was very little he could do. If Lyrah wanted to ignore him, what could he do?
Rose’s lip curled. It was just the slightest smile, so subtle that only those who knew her well would have been able to point it out at all.
Orin had never been as smart as he thought he was. His greatest asset was his ridiculous talent. But unfortunately, that didn’t come with brains for anything other than Mana.
Rose could have easily told him to question the Eleventh Elder about all of this instead—a person Orin could certainly pressure with his status.
But Lyrah had always been so unmoved by all of this. If she hadn’t been, she would have married Second Elder Ilzan long ago.
"I asked you a question, Third Elder," Orin said calmly, his smile still very much there.
Lyrah finally looked over. And then, at that moment, rolling waves of Mana surged over the forest.
The trees swayed wildly from direction to direction, some cracking right down the middle.
The earth shook, the skies changing color, Lyrah’s steely blue eyes glowing so bright they almost looked like hot flashes of white.
All at once, whether it was the Grand Elder, First Elder, or Second Elder, every one of them felt a shaking tremor in their heart.
Chi.
A final barrier shattered before Lyrah, and the gates to the Quasi Dome of Heaven Realm cracked open.
Cyclones of Ice Mana formed, so chilly that Orin—being the only youth here without his Master—had to hurriedly retreat lest he turn into an icicle.
The youth’s expression became incredibly ugly as he patted his robes down, hurriedly stopping himself from icing over.
Slowly, Lyrah’s hair fell to her shoulders, coming to rest. Some of the wrinkles on her fair expression smoothed out.
It could be said that the first substantial increase in lifespan was the Dome of Heaven Realm. Though she hadn’t stepped into the true Dome of Heaven Realm just yet, just this step alone was easily worth another two or three centuries of life.
At that moment, the gap between Lyrah’s talent and that of the others became all too obvious.
The Grand Elder had a foot in the grave. The First Elder looked to be in his late fifties. And Ilzan, the Second Elder, had long reached the Dome of Heaven Realm and was quite handsome—but he was still a man who looked to be in his middle age.
And all of a sudden, the Third Elder—a woman who already had stunning beauty to her—had returned to her mid-thirties, many of her imperfections smoothing out. It was almost as though she had returned to her prime in a single bound.
She had just taken a step that many of the near-forty Elders of the Hall of Ice and Heart had never been able to take—many of them forever being stuck at the final Resonance of Treading Cloud.
Lilac and Violet both looked toward one another, bitter expressions on their faces. They could have had the second most powerful woman of their Sect as a master, but instead they had ended up like this...
"What was it that you were saying? Apologies, I was in the middle of comprehending something," Lyrah said softly.