Chapter 376 - Not Again...
(MC POV)
"You two head back first, there's something I need to check up on for a bit," I told Sophia and Sect Master Qing once we were out of Heaven's Sect's branch Sect.
The talk went as smooth as it can be, the other side wanted the merger quite desperately while I just wanted to get this done and over with.
Well, now they are formally and officially a branch Sect of Heaven Sect and will be known as such until we come up with a better name to call them.
"Is something wrong, Master Lin?" Sect Master Qing asked, a little concerned.
"No, just thought of something worth checking out, it might give a clue about the assassination."
Sophia tilted her head at me, "Should I follow along, Master Lin?"
"It's alright. I can handle this alone. Just let my disciples know that I might be a little late in going back."
She bowed, "As you command, Master Lin."
I waited for both of them to leave before moving to a secluded area and taking out the Sealing Orb.
Focusing my senses on the orb, I connected it to the white fox telepathically.
"Divine One?" She greeted me, a little surprised at my call.
"Yeah, hi. It's me. You guys available for me to pay a visit?"
"Oh, I do believe everyone would feel honoured to receive your divine presence at any time, Divine One. This place belongs to you, Divine One. You have no need to request for permission to come here."
I chuckled, "Well, it doesn't hurt to be polite."
"If anything, Divine One, we should be asking for your permission to stay here. Everyone here is indebted to you. Please do not be reserved with us."
"If you say so… I'll be there in a bit."
"It is an honour, Divine One."
I stored the Sealing Orb away in my storage ring and teleported myself to the peak of a mountain in the distance. I leapt off from it and let myself fall for a short distance before teleporting again to a random clearing in the forest somewhere below.
Moving a distance away from that clearing, I finally teleported myself to the Dark Sect turned monster haven base that I left for them to use as their home. That should throw off the people who had been following me since I left Phoenix Sect.
If they couldn't fly, they would have tried to trace my teleportation technique to the mountain and fell to their deaths.
Was that necessary? Maybe not. But if they were following me since my departure at Heaven Sect to Phoenix Sect, it can't be for any good reason.
On the off chance they did manage to trace it back here, well… I don't think they would be prepared to deal with the monsters that live here.
"Divine One, we bid you welcome," The squid face guy greeted me at the platform.
"Benjamin," I greeted back. "Didn't think they would put you on door guard duty."
"Nay, the white fox had told me of your intention to visit, thus I waited here for your arrival."
I raised an eyebrow, "You knew I would teleport myself here?"
"A mere guess, Divine One. If you will allow it, I shall be your escort."
"Very well, I'm curious what you guys did with this place and there are two foxes long overdue of a name."
He bowed and gestured towards one end of the room, prompting me to head towards that direction first.
The first thing I noticed was that the whole place was more brightly lit than before and every single entrance and hall were enlarged to accommodate giant beings moving through them.
I was on my way down the stairs when the sight in front of me caused me to pause.
Since I had been standing on an elevated platform I wasn't able to see it at first, but now I had a clear sight of hundreds, if tens of hundreds, of various monsters all gathered in the chamber and bowing their heads to me.
Aside from the ones I recognised to have participated in my battle with Lilith, there were several new groups of monsters scattered within the ranks. I see spiders, golems, trolls, treants, other fox youkais and even a pair of young dragons sitting at the back.
"You guys… Have been quite busy, I see…" I commented.
Benjamin bowed his head, "It was all thanks to you, Divine One. We had broadcasted your fight with the demon invader to the rest of the monster community within our area. They easily submitted to us after they saw your power."
What the hell? I never consented to being recorded! I demand that footage be erased!
Of course I couldn't say that out loud to him, so instead I just coughed into my fist, "Ahem… I… I see… Just curious, how many of you are there?"
He tilted his head, "Me, as in my race or every one of us that has sworn allegiance to Divine One?"
"All of you."
He thought for a moment, "About two thousand and six hundred, give or take. Though we should be getting another few hundred in the coming days due to our discovery of a coven of vampires and their thralls."
I didn't even know there were vampires on this Plane… How well were they even hiding to escape detection for so long?
"Umu… Good work."
"It is an honour to receive your praise, Divine One."
I walked through the crowd a little apprehensively, glancing at the gathered throng through the corner of my eyes. All of them had their heads bowed and their eyes locked to the ground, as though deathly afraid to even see me.
Considering how chaotic the fight with Lilith was, I don't blame them for that fear. If I had to, I could probably wipe them out if I was in my Star Power form.
"No issues with discipline?" I asked, my voice low enough for Benjamin to hear but not the others.
"Regrettably… There were a few prideful ones in the bunch that still needed a bit more convincing for them to get in line... But it's nothing we can't handle, it's just a matter of time."
That isn't very reassuring… We're talking about an entire army of monsters here you know? Each of them requiring an experienced party to take down in the best case scenario? Sure I could handle all of them but that's beside the point.
Somehow I felt like they were expecting me to do something instead of just walking down the aisle normally, so I let a bit of my killing intent mixed with Pure Elemental Quarks leak out.
Hey, don't look at me like that, I learnt my lesson ok? I made sure to put it as low as I possibly could. Look, all of them only shivered slightly and no one passed out on me, I have already perfected the--
The dragons at the very end of the hall keeled over sideways, foaming at the mouths.
A moment later, a little more than half the hall also collapsed in an unconscious state, a few of them spasming on the ground.
…
Shut up.