The next day, at the top of Maiden Mountain, Aelina called for a meeting between herself and the Elders. They were all puzzled as they were going about their business like usual; cultivating, training the disciples, pill refining/weapon forging/array or formation creation, etc. When suddenly, the Sect Master, who rarely calls for a meeting, told them:
"Come to the top of the mountain tomorrow. I have an important announcement to make."
Something the Sect Master deems "important" is something that could change the fate of the Sect. So, without hesitation, they finished their work and headed up the mountain the next day.
Now, all 50 Elders of the Sect sat in front of Aelina, who was on her throne, silently staring at them with her signature mysterious gaze. A few Elders squirmed under her gaze, as it was incredibly uncomfortable, but nobody said anything and waited for Aelina to say the "important news".
The atmosphere in the room was suffocating as they could almost feel the seriousness of the situation oozing out of Aelina's body.
Finally, Aelina opened her mouth, "I have picked out who our next Prime Disciple should be."
The faces of all the Elders, except for one, instantly changed as their heads shot in Aelina's direction. With narrowed eyes, they stared at her as if they were trying to dig holes through her skin!
After a moment of silence, one of the Elders spoke up, "Why so suddenly, Sect Master? You should be aware that the Central Continent Competition is only 20 years away. If you wanted to pick a new Prime Disciple, you should've done so 80 years ago!"
Although her tone was a bit disrespectful, Aelina just smiled and didn't mind it at all.
"What you said isn't wrong, Irene. I indeed should have picked a Prime Disciple before now to help our Sect better prepare for the upcoming Central Continent Competition, but none of them were up to my standards. It would've been a waste of time and resources to send them to their inevitable death at the competition."
Elder Irene's face turned red as she slammed her hand onto the table, "How can you say that, Sect Master?! My disciple, Nova, has a Mid Heaven-Grade Physique, the Heavenly Sunfire Physique, which grants her a unique flame and unprecedented control over the fire element! She's only 68 this year at the 3rd Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm. If you granted her the position of Prime Disciple, she might be able to break through the Mortal Shedding Realm within the next 20 years!"
None of the Elders bothered reprimanding Elder Irene for her actions and words, as they had similar thoughts.
Aelina raised an eyebrow in amusement but, instead of responding, asked a question, "At the last Central Continent Competition, how strong was our last Prime Disciple, Ariel?"
The entire room quieted down. Even Elder Irene recoiled from the question, and her red face turned slightly pale.
"She was at the 7th Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm," Aelina answered.
The Elder's heads dropped, and they didn't want to hear what Aelina was about to say next.
"What grade was her physique? How talented was she? How much work did she put in? How many resources did we spend on her?"
With her hand on her chin as if she were pondering something, Aelina stared at them. Suddenly, she clapped.
"Oh, right! She had the Late Heaven-Grade Physique, the Water Queen Physique! She also had a unique set of meridians that allowed her to absorb and utilize more Qi than her fellow disciples. She also formed a unique core that gave her more Qi storage, made her use of Qi more efficient, and even increased her water affinity. Do you remember what happened to her at the last Central Continent Competition?"
The Elders couldn't say anything as they firmly pressed their lips together, but a sliver of killing intent leaked out of their eyes.
Aelina slammed her fist on the table as a mountainous pressure enveloped the room!
*Bam!*
"She was brutally humiliated and killed by a kid in the Mortal Shedding Realm! She died without even being able to scratch one of those Central Continent bastards! Someone we trained and pumped resources into for decades died! And you want me to nominate Nova, who is objectively inferior to Ariel, as our Sect's Prime Disciple, only for her head to get chopped off in 20 years?!" Aelina said while glaring at Elder Irene, who lowered her head, not daring to look her in the eyes.
"....I understand, Sect Master. I apologize for my insolence. Please forgive me." Elder Irene muttered and the pressure enveloping the room disappeared.
Aelina's stern eyes softened, and she said in a neutral tone, "It's fine, Irene. I understand you just want the best for your disciple, but I will not keep sending talented disciples to their deaths every century," Then she turned and looked at the rest of the Elders, "That goes for you and your disciples as well. Although they are all plenty talented and hardworking, they are nothing in the face of overwhelming power."
The Elders nodded in understanding. However, this got everyone thinking:
'What kind of person did the Sect Master find to become the Prime Disciple?'
Aelina chuckled and answered as if she were reading their thoughts, "The disciple I chose is an Outer Court disciple."
"..."
The Elder's mouths opened wide and stared at Aelina in disbelief! They could hardly believe what they were hearing!
'You just spent the last few minutes lecturing us about not sending our disciples to their deaths, but what's this?! You chose someone in the Core Formation Realm to be our Sect's Prime Disciple! If you wanted to kill her so badly, why don't you just do it yourself and get it over with?!'
Similar thoughts passed through the minds of every Elder in the room.
"Don't look at me like that," Aelina said, "I truly believe she might have a chance at placing within the Top 3 at the next Competition! In fact, I just watched her kill someone at the Peak of the Nascent Soul Realm despite only being at the 5th Stage of the Core Formation Realm."
"..."
"What?!"
"Impossible!"
"Are you trying to prank us, Sect Master? Because it's not funny!"
Needless to say, the Elders were outraged by her comment, but there wasn't much Aelina could do. She knew just how ridiculous it sounded, but it was the truth. Her shoulders slumped as she watched the Elders go into a frenzy.
That is until Elder Sandra raised her hand and opened her mouth, "It's true. I was there with the Sect Master when it happened. Do you remember that Crimson Slayer Sect boy who was causing trouble in the Outer Court?" Some of the Elders nodded their heads, but a few looked confused as not all of them kept up with matters in the Outer Court, "Well, I took him and Mira, Sect Master's Prime Disciple candidate, away, and the girl ended up fighting and killing him."
The rest of the Elder gawked at both Elder Sandra and Aelina, unsure what to believe! Although the two of them are trustworthy, this news was still a shock to them.
After a moment of silence, another Elder spoke up, "For argument's sake, let's say what you said was true. The other disciples won't easily accept you randomly choosing a nameless Outer Court Disciple to be our Prime Disciple. You should know this more than anyone, Sect Master."
Aelina nodded, "Of course. That's why I plan on sending her on a mission to capture five Mid-Stage Spirit Stone Mines from the Unorthodox Faction within a month to build her reputation. I'll send a few disciples with her to "help" her out. If she succeeds, she can return and accept her position as Prime Disciple."
Everyone knew what Aelina meant by sending her "help". Besides assisting Mira with the mission, their main job is to witness her talent and strength firsthand.
Still, a few Elders felt that wasn't enough and decided to speak up.
"I know we're in a bit of a rush, but you know that won't work, Sect Master. Being the Prime Disciple of the Sect means you receive everything the Sect has to offer! What disciple wouldn't want that, even if they had to fight in the Central Continent Competition? They will definitely fight for that position with everything they've got, regardless of your position. You can shut them up with your status and power, but…"
Aelina sighed, understanding what she was trying to say, but there was only so much she could do. Whether the disciples liked it or not, Mira had to be the Prime Disciple! In order for the Sect to rise, it had to be her!
"Can't we use this to our advantage?"
Everyone glanced at the one who said this, who happened to be Elder Angella.
Aelina waved her hand, signaling her to continue.
Elder Angella smirked, "A little friendly competition never hurt anyone."
Everyone's eyes lit up hearing that!
"Hahaha! That's right! Youngsters need this kind of motivation!" The Elders chuckled and understood what Angella was trying to say. Aelina also smiled.
"By the way, Sect Master, how talented is this Mira girl? What's her physique? Does she have special meridians? What about her core? How strong is her physical body? What weapon does she use? Does she know any amazing techniques?" One Elder turned to Aelina and began shooting questions left and right, causing Aelina's smile to stiffen.
The room instantly quieted down as they, too, were curious.
"..."
She coughed and tried to change the subject, "Ahem! Anyways, back to what we were talking about. I think a resource-gathering competition would be excellent for the Prime Disciple competition…"
"..."
"Teehee~"
"..."
The Elder's eyebrows twitched, looking at Aelina with deadpan expressions.
"Dammit! Sect Master! Are you sure you're not pranking us?!"
"Don't tell me you don't know anything about this girl!"
.
.
.
In the end, it took Aelina several minutes to calm them down by promising she'll take them to see Mira in a few days after she's prepared a few things.
After the meeting ended, the Elders went back and immediately informed their disciples of the upcoming Prime Disciple competition and the Sect Master's candidate, Mira!
