Chapter 465: Enjoying the Company

"Within the Heavenly Elemental Body Sect, only Aella and I are Specialist Celestials," Barak said calmly. "Because of our status, each of us has to accept challenges from the other disciples, so we take turns every month. Last month, it was her turn to accept the challenges, and this month it’s my turn. It’ll be a tough battle, but I’m not going to go easy on them."

Priam and Suien nodded. Curious, they agreed to take a look and followed Barak.

The three soon arrived at the valley.

The place was covered in red-stained rocks. It was the color of blood.

The disciples’ blood made an excellent dye that wouldn’t fade for a long time—a permanent mark of everything that happened there.

Seeing those reddish rocks gave Suien a sense of déjà vu. They reminded her of the marks she’d left herself in the training hall.

The two had barely arrived when the countless disciples gathered there shouted in unison, "Attack! Defeat Barak!"

Thousands of elite disciples charged forward all at once.

"In your dreams!" Barak charged at them too, leaping straight into the crowd.

*BANG! BANG! BANG!*

"Argh!"

The sound of fists colliding with flesh echoed through the valley, accompanied by screams of agony and curses. The entire scene descended into utter chaos.

There were plenty of women among them, too. According to the sect’s rules, since they were the ones who’d volunteered to challenge Barak, he was allowed to fight at full strength.

What impressed Suien the most was just how ridiculously powerful Barak was. He hadn’t even activated his Elemental Physique, yet he defeated everyone with a single punch, sending wave after wave of opponents flying backward.

However, there were simply too many of them, and they were competing using nothing but the brute strength of their physical bodies. It was a barbaric battle, with no refined techniques whatsoever. Before long, Barak was swallowed up by the crowd. Soon, Priam and Suien watched him leave his own bloodstain on the land.

Then...

"Hey, wait a minute! I only came here to watch!"

Priam suddenly shouted when he noticed several people starting to stare at him.

One of them roared, "Attention! There’s another one here... Ah!"

*BANG!*

One of the disciples had barely begun shouting when Suien moved and knocked him out with a brutal ice-infused punch.

Priam was startled. Then he saw the manic smile and look in his little sister’s eyes. He immediately covered his face with his hand. It seemed she’d also been infected by the fighting bug that plagued the disciples of this sect.

That single punch managed to attract an enormous amount of attention. Suien’s fist had just made an enemy of the entire crowd.

Since the crowd was so dense and many couldn’t get close to Barak, several disciples spotted Priam after their attempts to reach Barak failed and charged toward him. As for the few women there, they completely ignored Barak and went straight for Suien.

In the end, those disciples didn’t actually want to defeat Barak. They just wanted to fight stronger opponents, no matter who they were.

Priam sighed and accepted his fate.

And then... the place turned into a full-blown slaughterhouse.

Priam and Suien were like two sharks swimming among a school of drunken fish.

Suien was definitely the more enthusiastic of the two. Since there were so few women, and all of them were at the Philosopher Rank, she beat every single one of them until they fell. Then she used them as punching bags, striking them until they were completely unconscious and their faces were horribly disfigured.

Priam, on the other hand, was more restrained. He took down his opponents with a single precise movement, breaking bones at strategic points so they couldn’t get back up.

...

After two hours, the battle finally ended with everyone lying unconscious on the ground, except for Barak and the two siblings.

Barak’s clothes were torn, and his face was covered in severe bruises and swelling. A considerable amount of blood coated his body, making him look utterly battered. It was fair to say that he’d won a painful victory.

Fortunately, thanks to the constant stimulation and the sect’s training techniques, all the disciples regenerated physically at an astonishing rate. Even the women who’d been brutally beaten would look as though nothing had happened after just a few hours.

Because of this, it wasn’t unusual to see people with purple or swollen faces walking around the sect. In fact, that was simply the norm. Seeing someone completely healthy was the real rarity.

"That was amazing! I’m starving! Let’s go eat and celebrate!" Barak said excitedly.

Seeing Suien’s radiant joy and Barak’s infectious enthusiasm, Priam could only sigh and nod.

The three of them set off.

Then, along the way...

They suddenly ran into Aella.

All three were startled. Aella was covered in blood, with several broken bones. She was lying on a stone bench, groaning in pain. She looked a thousand times more miserable than Barak.

"What?! Who did this to you?!" Suien exclaimed, rushing over to her.

"There’s no need to ask. Who else would be so overbearing besides those bastard Central Elders?" Barak sighed, clearly accustomed to the sight. He walked over and reached out to help Aella realign her bones and speed up her regeneration.

However, he was almost completely out of energy after that battle. He quickly withdrew his hand and shook his head helplessly.

"Please teach us how to do that!" Suien asked curiously.

Barak nodded, although he knew it would be practically impossible for them to apply the technique without extensive practice.

He explained the concept in just a few minutes, since the principle was simple: anyone who mastered the sect’s core technique could do it. All they had to do was channel a portion of the elemental energy from their Magic Runes to nourish the marks on someone else’s body.

After understanding the process, Suien turned to Priam.

He snorted and nodded in acceptance, stepping forward.

With the help of his system, Priam managed to master and apply the technique immediately.

He held his hand above Aella’s head, and a torrent of energy flowed from him into her.

"Ah-ah... be... gentle... hmm," Aella gritted her teeth, muttering and letting out some rather strange moans.

Priam could’ve simply used the energy of nature to heal her. However, he wanted to test that method out of sheer curiosity. It was indeed extremely efficient, although it only worked on practitioners of the sect’s core technique.

A few minutes later, Aella’s entire body was completely healed.

She sat up, breathing unevenly. "Thanks... that blonde bitch is gonna pay for this!"

Suien clenched her fists upon hearing that, feeling complete sympathy for her. She’d also been beaten up by that same Central Elder.

"Okay, since we’re all here, let’s eat together!" Barak said excitedly.

Hearing that, Aella was delighted. She turned to Priam and Suien and nodded eagerly. This was a great opportunity to build a friendship with them.

They all headed to a particular building. The interior resembled a colossal warehouse, with enormous quantities of food stored inside.

The sect didn’t employ cooks. They simply bought everything ready-made from outside and stored it there in spatial rings. The disciples could enter once a day and take as much as they wanted.

Nobody actually needed to eat to survive, but with a routine of training, beating people up, and getting beaten up endlessly, everyone felt the need to relax every now and then. So, they regularly took breaks to eat and get some sleep.

The four of them left the building carrying loads of food and set up camp in a secluded corner beneath the shade of a few leafy trees.

Priam took out two bottles of Goddess’s Essence and offered them to the other two. They were amazed as soon as they caught the heavenly aroma overflowing from the containers.

Seeing Suien’s pleading, hungry gaze, Priam gave a sideways smile and promptly poured a glass for his little sister as well.

It was the first time in Suien’s life that she’d ever tried anything like this. The effects were immediate: after just a few sips, her cheeks flushed bright red, her eyes took on a hazy gleam, and a wave of uninhibited boldness completely overtook her.

"That... that damn blonde old hag!" Suien yelled, slamming her glass onto the ground. "I swear, one day I’m gonna kick her ass!"

Aella, who’d already been fully healed but was still brooding over her beating, widened her eyes before bursting into loud laughter. She suddenly wrapped an arm around Suien’s neck.

"That’s right, girl! You get me!" Aella exclaimed, perfectly in tune with her frustration. "That bitch beat the crap out of me earlier without showing an ounce of mercy! We’ll team up and get even with that damn hag!"

Suien agreed, laughing in a thoroughly intoxicated manner and instantly sealing a friendship with Aella.

They ate, drank, and chatted for hours on end.

Barak, Aella, and Suien launched into a heated discussion, hurling all kinds of curses and colorful insults at the Central Elders. After all, those ancient figures had the nasty habit of wandering around the sect and beating up disciples purely for entertainment.

Years ago, they’d been disciples just like the young people of today. Now that they were in positions of power, they felt empty if they didn’t fight and beat someone up. They needed an outlet. And since most people couldn’t put up much of a fight, Aella—the number one disciple—was their primary target, while Barak expected the same terrible fate to befall him soon.

As time passed, Aella began to notice Priam’s behavior. Unlike all the brutish, obsessive, and loud men in the sect, he remained calm and approachable, giving off an incredibly refined aura.

Using Suien and their newly formed friendship as a bridge, Aella began directing all her attention toward Priam.

Aella smiled as she asked him about the Ironweald Sect, leaning slightly in his direction.

Priam smiled gently and answered with remarkable ease and friendliness, engaging in the conversation without any arrogance or shyness.

Aella was genuinely shocked on the inside. Talking to Priam was incredibly easy.

As the daughter of a Central Elder and a highly talented individual, Aella had visited practically all the major sects and participated in numerous internal events. She’d seen countless elite young men... and beaten up almost all of them. Their arrogance and conceit irritated her deeply.

But Priam didn’t have the slightest air of arrogance. Someone as intimidating as him should certainly have had some, to the point where even she would’ve considered it perfectly normal.

On top of that, he was nothing like the thickheaded brutes in this sect.

Things between the two seemed to be going quite promisingly... until Suien, her cheeks flushed and her eyes half-closed from the effects of the Goddess’s Essence, abruptly crushed the girl’s hopes.

She grabbed Priam’s arm firmly, without the slightest embarrassment.

"Don’t get any funny ideas... my brother is just friendly and polite to everyone," Suien murmured, her voice slightly slurred but her tone serious.

At that moment, Priam’s eyes widened. He genuinely hadn’t noticed anything wrong and had simply been acting naturally.

Suien calmly continued, "My brother is already taken. And Dandara... she can smell jealousy from miles away. If you don’t get rid of any thoughts like that right now... you’re not gonna live very long."

Priam gulped, feeling a little awkward, while Aella froze in place. She realized that the warning wasn’t some drunken joke but a very real threat.

’Damn, I need to be more careful about this. Otherwise, Dandara might get upset with me in the future.’ Priam made a mental note to remember that.

Aella swallowed hard and immediately put any romantic intentions out of her mind, laughing awkwardly.

From that point on, they kept the conversation more restrained, discussing the sect’s inner workings and mysteries in a casual, friendly manner.

Barak, who’d been the most enthusiastic and sociable member of the group up until then, tried to take advantage of the relaxed atmosphere to strike up a conversation with Suien.

"You know, your fighting style during the battle was truly impressive for someone your age..." Barak began, flashing a friendly smile as he tried to get closer.

However, Suien merely took a long sip from her glass, gave the most direct and straightforward answer possible, and shut the conversation down. Clearly, she had no intention of encouraging him in the slightest.

Watching the scene, Priam let out a heavy sigh. Suien and Meien had a serious social problem: the barrier they put up around themselves when it came to men was almost impossible to break through. Anyone who tried to win them over would have a monumental headache on their hands.

Even so, the group continued drinking and enjoying each other’s company beneath the trees as the night wore on.

A few minutes later...

Suddenly, a figure emerged from the shadows and snatched the bottle Priam had just opened.