Sign-In System: Starting With Invincible Physique-Chapter 25: Gathering of Elites
Chapter 25: Gathering of Elites
The walk up the mountain to the central peak was completely silent.
When they finally reached the massive wooden doors of the Sect Master’s Hall, Maren pushed them open and stepped aside.
Rhain walked in.
The hall was completely different than the last time he had seen.
Five days ago, it was dimly lit, with just a small tea table on the corner and sparse furniture.
Today, it was ablaze with light.
Dozens of thick wax candles and glowing essence lamps lined the stone walls, banishing every shadow from the room.
In the exact center of the hall, the empty space had been replaced by a massive, elongated wooden dining table.
Roughly thirty people were seated around it.
Rhain’s dark grey eyes swept the room, cataloguing the situation in the span of a single breath.
At the head of the table sat Harmon Vael.
To Harmon’s immediate right sat a tall, broad-shouldered man with a neatly trimmed circular beard.
Rhain didn’t recognize him, but the man’s aura was deep and heavy. Like a dormant volcano waiting to erupt.
Sitting directly beside the bearded man was a figure Rhain was very familiar with.
Roderick Graves.
Seeing Roderick sitting in a subordinate position, Rhain effortlessly deduced the bearded man’s identity.
He let his gaze drift down the lengths of the table.
The rest of the seated figures were older men and women, their auras dense, settled, and highly refined.
These were the inner sect elders.
These were the figures almost never seen by ordinary disciples.
"Sect Master," Maren spoke respectfully, her voice breaking the heavy silence. "I have brought Rhain."
Harmon gave a slow nod.
"You may leave, Maren," he said.
Maren bowed deeply and retreated, pulling the heavy wooden doors shut behind her.
Thirty pairs of eyes were instantly locked onto Rhain.
Most of them carried intense scrutiny, as if they wanted to see through his soul.
Harmon gestured to the solitary empty chair at the exact opposite end of the long table.
"Take a seat, Rhain."
Rhain didn’t hesitate. He pulled out the chair and sat down directly across from the Sect Master.
"My apologies for the delay," Rhain said. His voice was calm, flat, and completely devoid of actual remorse. "I let everyone wait."
Harmon shook his head slightly.
"You are not very late," Harmon said evenly.
The old man then turned his hand toward the tall, bearded man sitting to his right.
From the exact moment Rhain had stepped through the doors, the bearded man had been staring at him.
The gaze was piercing, heavy with the tyrannical weight of a Spirit Manifestation Realm cultivator.
Rhain met that gaze without a single ripple in his dark.
"Allow me to introduce our guest," Harmon said, as he placed a hand on the bearded man’s shoulder.
"This is Dorris Graves. The Head of the Graves family."
"It’s an honour to meet Family Head Dorris," Rhain said politely.
His tone was perfectly even. Neither arrogant nor submissive.
Dorris withdrew his probing aura, and smiled.
"I heard a lot about you. A prodigy of incomprehensible talent rising in the Azure Cloud Sect. I could not help but come to meet you in person." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎
Dorris raised a hand. A small, exquisitely carved wooden box rested on his palm.
"I came without much preparation," Dorris said with an explanatory tone. "Finding a suitable gift that matches your talent on such short notice was difficult. But I believe this will be of use to you."
With a subtle pulse of essence, the box glided smoothly across the length of the massive dining table, hovering just an inch above the polished wood.
It stopped exactly in front of Rhain.
Rhain reached out and caught it effortlessly.
He popped the latch.
A rich, overwhelming medicinal fragrance instantly washed over the hall.
A perfectly round, ivory-white pill rested inside on a bed of red silk.
"A Rare-Grade Marrow Cleansing Pill," Dorris said.
The words caused a ripple in the hearts of many esteemed figures in the hall.
"It is best taken when you prepare to break through to the Essence Condensation Realm," Dorris explained. "It will help you in purifying the hidden impurities you have accumulated during your Awakening cultivation, allowing you to forge a far stronger, flawless foundation."
The surrounding elders stared at the small wooden box with undisguised shock.
Rare-Grade.
In the Greymist Region, a Rare-Grade item was a priceless treasure.
The Graves family, despite their immense wealth and influence, wouldn’t have more than a handful of such pills in their vaults.
To give something so unimaginably precious to an outsider was completely unthinkable.
But to the elders sitting at the table, it was also entirely understandable.
Rhain’s talent was simply monstrous.
The Graves family didn’t just want to build a good relationship with him.
They desperately needed to ease the strain on their relationship.
A Rare-Grade pill was the price of erasing enmity.
Rhain stared at the pill.
Although the so-called effect of purifying the impurities was meaningless for him.
A rare grade pill was still of considerable benefit for him because of the huge amount of the essence it contained.
Rhain snapped the box shut.
"It is a heavy gift," Rhain said as he slipped the box into his inner robes. "Thank you, Family Head Dorris for your goodwill. I will gratefully accept it."
Dorris smiled. The tension around his eyes visibly relaxed seeing Rhain accept the gesture.
But immediately after, his expression became incredibly solemn.
"Furthermore, I must personally apologize for the disgraceful events that occurred at the sect gates a few days ago. My foolish younger brother Roderick acted with extreme recklessness and offended you. I hope you can forgive the offense."
The elders stared with wide, trembling eyes.
A Spirit Manifestation Realm Family Head. Apologizing to an Essence Awakening junior.
It felt like a dream.
Roderick, sitting immediately beside his brother, kept his head rigidly bowed, his fists clenched tight under the table, but he did not utter a single word of protest.
Rhain didn’t even blink.
He looked at Dorris, then briefly glanced at Roderick.
"It is in the past," Rhain said flatly. "I have long forgotten it."
He hadn’t, of course. But as long as they didn’t point a sword at him again, he couldn’t care less.
Dorris stared at Rhain’s completely indifferent expression for a moment.
Then, he threw his head back and laughed.
"Hahaha! Good! A broad mind to match a monstrous talent!"
With Dorris’s hearty laughter, the tense atmosphere in the room instantly dissipated into a harmonious warmth.
The elders exchanged relieved glances. The crisis had been averted.
Harmon Vael smiled faintly, taking control of the room once more.
"Now that the air is clear," Harmon said, gesturing down the long table. "Let me introduce our other guests."
Harmon pointed to the older men and women seated along the sides.
"These are the core elders of the Azure Cloud Sect. The Great Elder, Second Elder, Third Elder, and Fourth Elder."
Rhain swept his calm gaze over them.
A total of twenty elders were present.
The lowest cultivation among them was at the seventh level of the Essence Condensation Realm.
These were the people who could shake the entirety of Greymist Town with a stomp of their feet.
And right now, they were all sitting at this table, laughing and chatting.
Half an hour passed.
Then, the hearty smile on Dorris Graves’ face slowly faded.
He set his porcelain teacup down.
"Now that the pleasantries are out of the way," Dorris straightened his broad shoulders, "And everyone required is finally seated at this table."
He looked at Harmon Vael, "It is time we discuss the real matter we have all gathered for."
The polite warmth that had filled the room evaporated in the span of a single breath, replaced by an unprecedented solemnity.
Even Roderick, who had spent the last half hour staring bitterly at his lap, lifted his head, his expression turning entirely grim.
Dorris rested his large hands on the table.
"The Hollow Realm."
Author: Hello friends, could we please get 50 Power Stones this week. I will upload 10 Chapters next week. I know 10 Chapters is still not very much, but I have my college exams on May, and also another entrance exam, so I won’t be able to write much during that month. I am stacking Chapters for May.
Thanks everyone for supporting me. I would be happy if you tell me what you are liking and disliking about my story, so that I can improve my writing.
