Chapter 468: Precious Guests (2)

Priam was surprised by the message, but he soon took a deep breath and silently nodded.

He shot Suien a stern look, tacitly ordering her to stay where she was. Then, he calmly took flight, positioning himself beside the Elder.

The moment the visitors spotted him, they immediately recognized that familiar glint of arrogance and conceit in his eyes...

Hovering in the air, Priam looked the middle-aged man up and down with obvious disdain before speaking.

"Precious guests? Where? All I see are clowns who’ve escaped from some cheap circus. Get lost. We’re not in the best of moods today."

"You’re courting death, brat! You don’t even have the standing to breathe in the presence of a Central Elder! Get lost!" one of the disciples immediately roared.

Priam merely curled his lips into a mocking smile.

"I take back what I said. Real clowns at least have a shred of intelligence. You come rushing to our doorstep, strutting around like fighting cocks and acting all high and mighty, and I’m the one who doesn’t have the standing to speak? Did you forget to take your crazy pills today? Guests should act like guests. What’s with this ridiculous act of pretending you’re untouchable? I’m sorry, but my sect has no patience for dealing with idiots. I’ll say it again: go back to whatever hole you crawled out of."

Priam lazily waved his hand, wearing an expression of pure disgust, as if shooing away an annoying fly.

Considering that the old woman herself had contacted him directly, the message was clear. The All-Magic Apex Sect and the Heavenly Elemental Body Sect had a deep, long-standing feud. And judging by the tyrannical attitude of these invaders, Priam could already guess exactly what was going on.

"Young man, watch your words. Is this how your Heavenly Elemental Body Sect usually treats outsiders?" The middle-aged man’s expression crumbled, though he still struggled to maintain his composure.

Losing control would destroy his reputation. Given his lofty status, lowering himself to the level of a mere disciple like Priam would be an unforgivable humiliation. After all, the difference in their positions was like heaven and earth.

His voice rang out without any overt display of force, yet it carried such dense power that the entire planet trembled. He was deliberately putting pressure on the sect’s upper echelons.

"My sect overflows with respect and etiquette when dealing with genuine guests, but our reception varies according to the visitor’s standing. A humble gentleman receives courtesy. As for impostors with anything but friendly intentions, our golden rule is simple: beat them until they break their bad habits," Priam declared, speaking slowly and sharply.

On the ground, the sect’s disciples clenched their fists, silently cheering him on.

No one there was allowed to act arrogantly, or they’d receive a corrective beating. Outsiders thinking they could throw their weight around? What a sick joke.

The middle-aged man’s face burned with rage. No matter how many times he told himself that this was nothing more than cheap provocation, his fury began to overflow. Behind him, the disciples’ eyes burned with palpable murderous intent.

"Arrogant brat, thank your lucky stars that the Central Elder is a magnanimous soul! Otherwise, you’d already be a rotting corpse on the ground!" one of the female disciples spat through gritted teeth.

"Bragging is easy, isn’t it? You should be thanking your lucky stars that our old woman is so magnanimous. If the sect’s grand killing formation were activated right now, all of you—already standing with one foot inside the lion’s den—would be swept away and reduced to dust in the blink of an eye," Priam mocked.

The air froze.

Those words made even the sect’s ordinary Elders break out in a cold sweat. One of them had already rushed off to report the situation to the higher-ups, but the leaders still hadn’t issued any direct orders.

"You..." The girl was practically foaming at the mouth with rage as she pointed a finger at his face.

"My what? Lower that finger. I’m not in the best of moods, so don’t tempt me to teach you a lesson right here and now!" Priam cut in, his gaze icy cold.

"Sect Leader Arla! What is the meaning of this farce?!"

The middle-aged man finally exploded. His deafening roar made the layers of the sky tremble, causing a painful ringing in the ears of every disciple on the planet.

"Central Elder Saoro, your temper is as dreadful as ever. Haven’t you learned that it’s terribly rude to disturb others while they’re in seclusion?" Old Arla’s voice finally rang out. There was neither submissiveness nor arrogance in her tone. Instead, she sounded incredibly calm, graceful, and imposing, completely at odds with her usual image.

"Let them in. Treat these precious guests from the All-Magic Apex Sect with the proper courtesy," the old woman ordered.

The term precious guests was formal, but after Priam’s earlier sarcasm, the phrase sounded like an insult.

The middle-aged man named Saoro snorted contemptuously before signaling with his hand. Then, all the disciples from his sect floated toward the planet’s surface, where the Elders hurriedly escorted them toward the sect’s most restricted area.

Priam and the Elder simply stepped aside to make way for the procession.

Saoro didn’t even bother to glance at Priam, but the young female disciple who had argued with him made a point of glaring at him with venom in her eyes. As she passed, she provocatively pointed a finger at his nose.

"Brat... you’ll get what’s coming to you soon enough!"

"You really never learn, do you?" Priam murmured.

And before the girl could even begin to react...

*POW!*

Priam blurred through space like a specter and swung the black branch with brutal force, smashing it squarely into her face.

The girl had never imagined he’d have the audacity to attack in the middle of their escort. Caught completely off guard, she didn’t even have time to think—and even if she’d been on guard, she would never have been able to keep up with his overwhelming speed.

The disciple let out a bloodcurdling scream of agony as she was violently sent flying through the air. The impact completely mangled her face, leaving a charred black mark stretching from one end of her face to the other.

"So weak..." Priam murmured in surprise. These people were terribly fragile when it came to physical strength. They seemed to be the exact opposite of the disciples from the Heavenly Elemental Body Sect.

"You bastard! You dare attack us?! Die!"

The other nine disciples erupted in fury in the very same instant. They swung their staffs in unison, and Priam felt dozens of icy, bloodthirsty auras lock directly onto him.

"Oh? If you guys want to fight, then let’s fight!"

Seeing the entire group assume combat stances, Priam activated his elemental physique without hesitation.

At that moment, everyone’s eyes widened. It was as if a freezing mantle had suddenly descended upon their backs. The sensation of death was palpable and suffocating!

"Priam, don’t be rude! How dare you attack someone here?!" The old woman’s cold, reprimanding shout suddenly echoed throughout the entire sky.

Before Priam could react, the space around him twisted into a vortex, and he disappeared from the spot.

...

In the blink of an eye, Priam found himself inside the old woman’s quarters.

"Well done," she said calmly, giving his shoulder a light pat to show her genuine approval. Clearly, leaving that reception in Priam’s hands had been the best possible decision.

"Old woman, why the hell are those guys so ridiculously arrogant?" Priam asked curiously.

The old woman sighed softly and gazed toward the horizon before murmuring, "Those bastards are our sworn enemies... because they compete with us for practically the same territory. The All-Magic Apex Sect actually belongs to the western region of the Divine Plane."

Priam was astonished.

The old woman nodded. "Don’t be fooled. Among all the sects outside the northern region, the All-Magic Apex Sect is the largest and most fearsome of them all. In fact, they have enough foundations and power to go toe-to-toe with the most powerful sects in the universe. Their only problem is that they don’t possess territories as prosperous as ours."

After a pause, she continued seriously, "They live right along the border between the western and northern regions, making them our southernmost neighbors. Over the past ten million years, that sect has risen to prominence at a terrifying pace. That’s when they started trying to steal our territories, hoping to infiltrate the northern region and eventually establish themselves here for good."

"Why don’t we just wipe them out?" Priam asked, furrowing his brows.

"That’s because... the core power wielded by every member of that sect is practically the absolute nemesis of our Heavenly Elemental Body Sect..." The old woman let out a frustrated snort.

"Basically, the staffs they carry are special artifacts that, when combined with their Paragon Arts, grant them terrifying control over all the natural elements. Whenever anyone from our sect tries to fight them, they lose practically 90% of their elemental physique’s strength and potential, leaving them at a colossal disadvantage. I hate admitting this... but even I would have an enormous chance of dying if I fought that sect’s leader outside my own sect’s territory."

The old woman shook her head. "Our perfectly developed physiques and the benefits of the Celestial Pool are the only advantages we still have over them. For millions of years, those bastards have been provoking us more and more. And even though my sect is one of the greatest in the entire universe, there’s nothing we can do against them except passively defend ourselves."

After hearing the whole explanation, Priam could only sigh.

The world was simply too vast, filled with anomalies and strange possibilities. Who would’ve thought that one of the greatest sects in the universe, like theirs, was being forced into a defensive position by a sect that didn’t even belong to the northern region?

At that moment, Priam remembered something very important he’d discovered in the past. His eyes gleamed mischievously.

"All right. Since the old woman asked me to deal with them, I’ll make those bastards bitterly regret ever setting foot here," Priam declared calmly, his words filled with unshakable confidence.

Ever since arriving there, he and his sister had been exceptionally well cared for by the old woman. Naturally, it was time to repay her kindness in full.

"Excellent. Wait here for a bit. I’ll go see what that bastard Saoro is up to."

After saying that, the old woman stepped into the void right before Priam’s eyes.

Priam pulled up a chair and sat down in front of the table. Suddenly, the wall in front of him glowed with mystical colors, revealing a crystalline projection. It showed the old woman facing the middle-aged man in the sect’s grand palace.

The old woman offered a faint smile and said, "Sorry for the delay. I was in seclusion. Please, have a seat."

"Oh? Sect Leader Arla is quite refined and courteous today! Haha... However, it seems your disciples are merely mediocre, to put it mildly. I won’t even bother commenting on how rude and vile they’ve proven themselves to be," Saoro sneered as he settled into his seat.

"It’s perfectly normal for children to be ignorant. After all, they’re still so young. Now, if someone lives for several centuries and doesn’t improve at all, I’ll personally make sure to give them a good beating. If a person has grown this old and still hasn’t learned the basics of good manners, wouldn’t their entire life have been wasted being a fool? Don’t you agree?" the old woman retorted with an indifferent smile.

Saoro’s expression immediately tightened. That old woman was cursing him to his face! After all, what sense was there in a high-level expert arguing with a mere boy?

Since the old woman hadn’t said it directly, Saoro could only swallow his anger and pretend he hadn’t understood the insult.

He quickly changed the subject. "Sect Leader Arla, the people standing beside me are the greatest talents of the new generation of my All-Magic Apex Sect. What do you think of them?"

His words practically dripped with barely concealed disdain and provocation. The old woman immediately understood his intentions.

Deep down, both she and Priam—who was watching everything through the projection—felt their blood boil with excitement.

Had they come here to show off? Perfect!