Behind Godric, the Celestial Palace disciples flared all over again. Their eyes burned so hot it looked like fire might spill out at any second. Their bodies shook hard, and every one of them looked ready to rush forward and stake everything in one desperate charge. But when they looked at their Hall Master’s back, in the end, none of them dared move.
As for Godric, he kept his head lowered, as if he hadn’t even heard the insult buried in those words. His voice came out steady and respectful, without the slightest ripple.
“Thank you, my lord, for taking us in and leaving us a way to live… I… I accept this order. I have not a single word of complaint.”
As he spoke, he bent deeply again. He bowed all the way down and offered a full formal salute in thanks for the favor.
“Good…” Aurelius nodded, satisfied. Then he gave a light wave of his hand, his tone flat and distant. “You may leave. I’ll have an Elder Enforcer make arrangements… From today on, keep to your place, do what you’re supposed to do, and don’t cause trouble.”
“Thank you, Hall Master…” Godric bowed once more in salute. Then he backed away slowly, one step at a time, and withdrew from the great hall with full respect.
The moment they walked out of the Basilica Hall, Godric slowly lifted his head and looked up at the sky. Humiliation, grief, rage, and hatred twisted together until it nearly swallowed him whole. He said nothing. He only kept walking in front, heading toward the most remote and lowest part of Saintlight Peak, down at the mountain foot.
At last, the group reached a quiet stretch of the mountain path where nobody else was around. One of the younger Celestial Palace disciples finally couldn’t hold it in anymore. He suddenly rushed forward and dropped to his knees in front of Godric.
“Hall Master! Why?! Why do we have to suffer this kind of humiliation?! They’re treating us like slaves!”
Godric stopped. Then he slowly turned around. He looked at the young faces in front of him. He looked at what burned in their eyes, and something inside him pulled so hard it almost seemed to cave in his chest.
“You think I didn’t want to resist?” He slowly raised a hand and opened his palm. Blood stained the center of it.
“When that Elder died in front of me just now, what was burning in me was stronger than anything any of you are carrying. I wanted nothing more than to charge straight at Aurelius and fight him to the death… But I couldn’t…”
Each word landed heavy as iron.
“Because behind me, there was still all of you. The Celestial Palace’s last flame seeds. If I lost control, if I acted on impulse… every one of you would die. Not one of you would survive. And if it came to that, the Celestial Palace would truly be finished. A foundation built over ten thousand years… all of it would be wiped away completely.”
His voice grew heavier, stronger, steadier with every word.
“Today’s humiliation is carved into me… One mark at a time. Etched in my heart. Etched into my soul…” His hand clenched without warning. Fresh blood slid from his palm again.
“But right now, we have to endure it… As long as the green hills remain, there’ll be firewood later. Only if we stay alive do we have any hope of revenge… One day… One day, I will lead you back to the Top Level… I will make every last person who humiliated us today pay the most painful price. A blood debt must be paid in blood!”
The Celestial Palace disciples listened, and the fire that had been twisting inside them slowly settled. In its place came something harder: a resolve carved deep into the bone. They dropped to their knees together.
“We swear to follow Hall Master Godric to the death!”
“We’ll bear this humiliation and bide our time!”
“When the day of revenge comes, blood debts will be paid in blood!”
At the same time, at the summit of Saintlight Peak, inside the Basilica Hall, Aurelius still sat on the throne. He had already seen the whole scene just now through his spirit sense. Nothing had escaped him.
A Guardian Elder stepped forward and bent slightly at the waist. His voice dropped as he said, “Hall Master, this subordinate truly doesn’t understand… Godric is sinister and slippery, with schemes buried deep. If we leave him alive, sooner or later he’ll become trouble. Why not use this chance to wipe them all out at once?”
“Kill every last one of them and cut off all future trouble for good?” Aurelius glanced at him.
