Way of the Knights

Chapter 745

"…so basically, that thing should never be a problem anymore. We just had to deal with the reforms since there will be no Devils from now on." Raven stated as he took a sip of his coffee. 

The meeting room was silent. All of them stared at Raven, trying to see if there are any traces of lies on his face but they've seen none. Though that didn't give any help on knowing what they should actually feel right now. 

"…so you mean to say that…the Devil Emperor is done for?" Henry asked, his voice was soft. It's as if he couldn't believe what he's saying himself right now. 

"Basically, yeah…" Raven nodded casually, as if what he just stated was something so casual. "I mean, that thing's never getting out of that one. It'll eventually die so there's no need to worry about it. We can just leave it alone it'll be fine."

"…this is…shouldn't we be celebrating about it?" Paolo asked, confused about the mood of everybody. "I mean, the big baddy is out! Young Lord just got rid of it, that means we're free and Divine Realm's safe. Why does everyone look so down?" 

"Beats me." Raven shrugged. 

"Well, it's just…" Levi chuckled wryly and continued: "I mean, it's all too underwhelming per se, that we're actually don't know what to feel." 

"Yeah, exactly." Charles nodded, "We're expecting something like a huge war to bring it down but you just went ahead and did it."

"Just like that it was sealed, there's no war cries, no blood, no shouting no triumph, nothing…it's yeah…really underwhelming." Logan mumbled, but he's heard by everyone. "I feel quite embarrassed now to call myself a War God."

"Same." Theo muttered, "Don't get us wrong, Young Lord. We're relieved. It's like a huge stone was lifted from our chests but…the thing that threatened us so long…dealt with just like that. It's really hard to believe." 

"I mean, you can always go check the 100th Floor you know? It's safe there now. You'll see it suffering there. You'll probably hear a lot of shouting and cursing from it but so long as you don't touch anything you'll be fine. That Devil Emperor won't be able to do anything to us now." 

"Plus, it's not like our battle is over." Raven shrugged, "The Exiles are still adamant on waging war against us. You've seen the reports and know what's coming. Focus on that instead of you want some action. I'll stay in backlines, just making sure that they can't damage our foundations." 

"Indeed." The Sect Master said, "Even though the Devil Emperor is no longer out problem, we're still not out of the woods just yet. We still have a batter going on. If we win this as well, then we can re-open the secret realm again."

"We can even function just like any other sect after that." Raven stated, "You know, interacting with the other sects, exploring secret realms, participating in Martial Meets, so on and so forth. If we won the upcoming war against the Exiles, then we don't have to live in seclusion anymore. So cheer up and look forward to it." 

Raven's words caused everyone's eyes lit up. 

"Hmm, yeah indeed." Levi muttered to himself, seemingly attracted with the idea of competing with other sects.

"If that happens, maybe I can finally beat the smug face of that Empyrean Black Sun." Henry muttered to himself as well.

"Oh that annoying guy? The one that repeatedly flaunted his achievements to your face? Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." Theo chuckled. 

"Indeed." Henry nodded. 

The participants of this meeting began discussing the prospect of change happening so long as they won the upcoming war. It seems that they are excited to finally end the traditions and interact with the rest of the world again. 

The Ancient Elysium Sect had always been reclusive sect. They did it in order to contain the potential danger of the devils from spreading. Now that the Devil Emperor has been subdued, maybe it is indeed time to open their doors and break the tradition. 

The discussions of the crowd got heated and more passionate. It seems that the long term seclusion really made things dull and repetitive for them. Which made the upcoming changes looked really promising. 

They started discussing about their active participation over the really popular events that spans throughout the Divine Realm as a whole. 

As they spoke passionately about the prospects of their future, Raven looked at the Sect Master and said: "Sect Master, here she is." 

Raven then brought something out. It was a woman who's wearing a dirty white silk, her body is covered with wilted flowers and she's wearing a crown made out of flowers as well. She was beautiful, but right now she seems to be in pain. 

"Gaia!!" The Sect Master and the Grand Elder exclaimed as they hurried over towards the woman. Alwina – the Sect Master's wife, and Lady Hera came over as well. 

"How is she?" The Sect Master asked?

"Not so great." Raven sighed, "She's been steeped under the Devil Emperor's Domain for at least a century. The corruption has penetrated deeply into her body as well as her consciousness."

"She is safe for now. I already administered aid when I got her. However, she'll be needing time to recuperate." Raven muttered, he then handed them a list and said: "These are the materials that can aid her recovery. Just let her soak into a medicinal bath. If we're lucky, she should regain consciousness within a year, if not, longer. But she will live – that I guarantee." 

The Sect Master and the Grand Elder looked relieved. 

"Thank you, Raven." The Sect Master stated, "We'll take care of her. After all, we owe her way too much for this."

Raven knows that there is a deeper story than that but he also knows that now isn't the right time ask about it, nor he's in any position to ask. He just waved his hand and said:

"It's fine. I owe her a favor after all. I just did what I could." 

The four of them looked grateful. The women suggested to initiate the treatment by procuring the material needed and get Gaia to a safe and secure place as soon as possible. 

After this, the meeting continued. They mostly talked about the upcoming reforms that Raven suggested.

Since the Devil Emperor has been dealt with, there will be no devils in the pagoda any longer. That basically severed source of income of the disciples. Something needs to be done for that, therefore the reforms are needed. 

The Devil Emperor's Pagoda has to have another purpose, something that can allow disciples to earn merit points again. The reforms will take some time to be applied since they are still preparing for war but eventually, they have to happen. 

Aside from that, Raven also announced that he'll be terraforming Asphodel just like he did to Tartarus. He's also going to do the same for Atlantis, the Styx River and so on. 

The terraforming won't take much time but adjusting to a new lifestyle would. Thankfully, they still have some time before the war actually breaks-out. 

Once they've discussed everything that needs to be done, the meeting ended. Raven went back to his estate and rested for a bit. 

He still has some things to do but nothing too hard. Raven's not overly concerned about the war against The Exiles since he already did his best, plus he'd be there supporting them from behind anyway. 

Raven won't play an active role since he didn't want the preparations made by his colleagues and the disciples to be wasted, after all they've been preparing for this in the past 30 years or so. 

Additionally, that would free-up his schedule a lot. He can use that time to cultivate some more.

Believe it or not, he's not actually an Empyrean yet. Even with his completed Heavenly Secret Origin, he's still shy of a step before he actually gets there. 

He needed more time to accumulate his momentum. He's not rushing it, he's going to let overflow on its own. He wants a perfect breakthrough so that his foundations are solid, which would help him reach the Divine Knight stage. 

As for the matters about his Senior Brothers and Sisters, he can free them but he doesn't have the materials to make them an actual body just yet. 

The materials he needed are quite rare. Even the sect doesn't have them yet, however they already posted a notice via his request, once the materials are ready, Raven would no longer hesitate and 'resurrect' them. 

It was for the very same reason that he's delaying the inheritance as well. He hadn't claim the throne as the 9th yet because he want to do it all in one go. 

As Raven lied down on his bed, staring at the ceiling, many things cam across his mind. He was like this for a good amount of time, thinking long and hard about what his next move shall be. In the end, he decided to something that can at least pacify his heart. 

"Home…"