Chapter 452: Exemplary Punishment

"This is ridiculous!" the patriarch of the Ceruleren Sacred Family retorted.

"Exactly! Are you accusing my Aciestor Family of having a hand in something like this? But where’s the evidence?!" the other patriarch roared.

Certainly, the Aciestor and Ceruleren Sacred Families had contributed to the whole affair and would be held accountable. After all, they had agreed to whatever that old woman intended to do and promised her a huge final reward.

They didn’t know exactly what Zenipha would do, but they had received word that Priam and his faction had departed for the Battlefield ahead of time. Thus, they could imagine countless ways to eliminate them in the process.

They had witnessed firsthand just how terrifying and unbelievable that Priam was. He had even managed to land a direct hit on the Grand Elder’s face. However, he was only one person. Even if he was strong enough to save his own people, the troops belonging to those factions were still expected to have perished in the horde.

They assumed that Priam had somehow, through a miracle, captured someone on the verge of death and quickly read their memories. However, extracted memories could easily be corrupted or altered, meaning they couldn’t be used as concrete evidence.

The only way to validate memories as irrefutable evidence was to have a living witness in stable condition, allowing for a controlled memory reading.

At that very moment, Priam shifted his gaze northward, fixing it on a mountain some distance away.

His sisters were there.

A brief visual signal was all it took for the two of them to move swiftly.

Everyone noticed their approach, and the murmuring ceased. Both landed before the crowd and then tossed two bodies onto the ground.

They were the leaders of those groups. Both had their cores and powers destroyed, but they were still in decent enough condition, as healthy as ordinary mortals who had never embarked on the path of magic.

Priam openly sneered. "I had to get rid of the rest, but I spared these two. I read one of their memories, but both are entirely available for an official investigation. Everything I’ve reported can be verified. The only missing piece is that old woman, but she can’t have gotten very far."

The Sect Master wore an exceedingly grim expression at that moment.

Absolute silence descended upon the scene.

After several tense seconds, the authoritative figure turned toward the Grand Elder.

She, who had been keeping her head lowered, raised her gaze toward him and slowly nodded.

"I admit my guilt in this betrayal. I truly didn’t know the sordid details of what she had plotted, but that certainly doesn’t absolve me of responsibility."

Priam let out a soft snort. At least the woman wasn’t a complete idiot. She had acknowledged her negligence and accepted the weight of the accusation without making pathetic excuses.

The Sect Master turned toward Priam. "Boy, I will investigate every word—"

"Wait," Priam cut him off curtly, turning to face the four Sacred Family patriarchs.

"All of this happened because I became the sect’s Chief Disciple without earning your legitimate respect. None of you knew me beforehand, so I don’t blame you for having trouble accepting it. I imagine all four Sacred Families have spent centuries and enormous resources forging their own candidates for the position. So..." He shifted his gaze back to the Sect Master.

"You used the treasure I obtained during the mission to elevate the best candidates to the status of Acquired Celestials, correct?"

The Sect Master solemnly nodded. "Yes. Thirteen Acquired Celestials were produced. At the time, I conducted a rigorous selection process among the brightest talents in the entire sect. Ten of them came from the Sacred Families and were isolated for special training, far removed from the ordinary factions."

Priam nodded, understanding the situation. This explained why he hadn’t crossed paths with those thirteen Acquired Celestials yet. They represented the sect’s absolute pinnacle of elite talent, secretly groomed to assume leadership in the future. But Priam had completely bypassed the entire hierarchy.

"Good. Then let’s settle this once and for all," Priam said calmly, staring at the patriarchs.

"In our world, brute force and absolute power dictate the rules. So, you can summon all ten—or all thirteen—Acquired Celestials to fight me. I’ll face them openly to dispel any lingering doubts about my abilities. You can even have them form groups and attack together. That way, there’ll be no room for cheap excuses about ’luck’ or external factors."

His voice, filled with unshakable, domineering arrogance, echoed among the thousands of elite figures gathered within the sect, all of whom remained deathly silent.

Every eye was fixed on him. At that moment, you could have heard a pin drop.

Meien and Suien felt their hearts pounding in their chests as they stared at that imposing figure, who openly challenged the sect’s entire supreme elite as though they were nothing but dust.

But...

The four Sacred Family patriarchs swallowed hard in unison.

Under different circumstances, they would have mocked him and accepted the challenge without a second thought.

But now?

Who would be crazy enough to accept that?

They had just witnessed with their own eyes a mere Philosopher Sage stand up to and directly challenge the Grand Elder. Not even all four patriarchs working together could land a direct hit on her.

Priam let out a dry sigh.

Normally, he didn’t like acting so aggressively as he had just done. However, he had been genuinely furious at the thought that his sisters might have been put in danger because of him. As such, he needed to respond in the most brutal and imposing way possible to send a clear message.

When the Grand Elder appeared, he saw the perfect opportunity to demonstrate a fraction of his true power to everyone, nipping in the bud the enormous waste of time it would have taken to duel every elite disciple individually just to put the whole matter to rest.

"Well?" Priam asked curtly.

At that moment, the other two patriarchs, who had no involvement in the scheme whatsoever, shook their heads.

"There’s no need. You’re more than worthy of your position. Sending my sons to fight you would be nothing more than asking for them to be humiliated," one of them said calmly.

The other snorted in agreement. "Indeed."

Priam stared at the two remaining patriarchs, but they kept their mouths shut, their faces pale and solemn. At that moment, absolute silence was tantamount to tacit surrender.

Considering the matter settled, Priam turned to the Sect Master. "I think everything’s been resolved now."

The sect’s highest authority sighed softly before turning to the Central Elders.

"Immediately seal and apprehend the two patriarchs, and send a team to bring back this Zenipha woman. The Grand Elder will also be placed under my custody. I’ll thoroughly investigate every statement made here. All past cases and suspicions connected to them will be reopened and scrutinized. I guarantee that anyone involved will face exemplary punishment."

Priam nodded in approval. Meanwhile, the members and subordinates of those two Sacred Families turned deathly pale with absolute terror.

They knew perfectly well that if Zenipha’s long history of shady dealings were thoroughly investigated, their factions’ situation would become irreversible.

Over the years, with the Grand Elder’s protective mantle shielding them, they had masterfully exploited this advantage alongside the old woman. Their network of favors had grown so extensive that those two families now possessed tremendous power and resources, making them vastly superior to the other two.

This was directly reflected in the fact that Nise and Safira were several levels above the young members of their generation in the other families. And the disparity extended to the older generations as well.

To put things into perspective, eight of the ten candidates selected to ascend as Acquired Celestials belonged to those two families.

But now, their empire built on corruption would finally come crashing down. And the impact of that collapse would undoubtedly echo through generations, burying them in endless despair.

Without hesitation, the Central Elders and ordinary Elders advanced, surrounding the patriarchs and sealing them inside impenetrable runic barriers.

On the ground, Priam maintained an indifferent expression.

Those idiots were reaping what they had sown, though they had forgotten one crucial detail: Nise and Safira had been accepted into his faction. Eventually, those two would become the living pillars capable of purifying and properly rebuilding those Sacred Families. In the end, this was an opportunity for purification that would prove far more beneficial in the long run.

As for the Grand Elder... Priam knew she harbored no malicious intentions and wasn’t exactly a bad person. Her sin had been trusting that old woman too much and protecting her, while also deliberately turning a blind eye to the suspicions surrounding her.

In short, she deserved exemplary punishment, without the slightest mercy.

As for the disciples Priam had killed, nothing would come back to haunt him after the investigation. Anyone in his position would have wiped out both factions on the Battlefield. As for what happened inside the sect, he had only taken out the two leaders directly responsible for everything.