1127 A petty Riona?
"..."
Silence fell over the room.
Strange expressions appeared on the women's faces, especially Thyra and Ember, after all, they were the ones who had lost almost all of their subordinates.
The subordinates they trained on their own.
"Are you alright...?" Nux questioned with a worried look on his face.
He wasn't planning on sugarcoating it. He did expect that this would happen and somewhere in their hearts, the women knew this was true as well.
Cultivation was a lonely path.
Separating from people you are close to is a natural phenomenon people have to get used to.
After all, no one is strong enough to escape the claws of time, not even the 'mighty'
Divine Stage Cultivators.
"Yes, I am."
Suddenly, Ember nodded with an
expressionless look on her face.
"Mhm, they lived their life and now they are gone. It is as simple as that. It's not like it is the first time I have lost a subordinate anyway."
Thyra shrugged as well.
She tried to act as nonchalant as she could, however, the people she was currently surrounded by were the people who knew her probably more than she knew herself, she couldn't hide the unusual heaviness in her tone from them.
"You are thinking too much."
Suddenly, another woman spoke up.
It was Astaria.
Someone who had experienced these separations much more than anyone in this room.
"Our goal is to reach the top. It is obvious that not many are going to follow us there.
150 years is not a long time and this definitely won't be the first time you will experience something like this.
So get used to it.
And the faster you do it, the better."
Astaria spoke with a serious look on her face.
"As I said, it doesn't matter, they died and that is all there is to it. Don't act like I am in a vulnerable position."
Thyra replied, not wanting to act weak in this situation.
Ember nodded her head as well.
Astaria stared at the two women, obviously, the two of them were lying and everyone in this room knew that.
However, in this situation, there was nothing they could do and they had to accept that fact.
Astaria was right, they needed to get used to it, and Thyra and Ember acting like they already were, was probably the best method to follow in this situation.
"I understand. It is good that you are strong enough to back your unnecessary arrogance." Astaria shrugged.
"I don't want to hear about arrogance from someone like you." Thyra retorted.
"So what is the current situation of the Clan? How many active members do we have and... what should we do next?"
Decided that it would be the best if they changed the topic, Evane questioned.
Riona glanced at Evane, silently nodding her head at her as if she was acknowledging her actions, then, she replied.
"There are only 32 active members in the clan, all of them stayed because of the Slave Seal. As for the members without the Slave Seal, they all left without any exception. The other presence you sense are all the people who are sent from the Lust State and are not members of our Clan.
Our clan is currently closed, we are not recruiting anyone, and neither is anyone allowed to leave the Clan ground unless it is absolutely necessary, I did this so none of our members are targeted outside, all the members stay in our base and cultivate.
As for our future actions..." Riona then stared at Nux and with a small smile on her face, she continued,
"Now that you are here, I believe it is time for ExceedoGenesis to return."
"Heh."
A smile appeared on Nux's face as well.
Indeed.
It was time for a return.
"Of course, I would still advise you to wait for a year or two, analyze and understand the current situation by yourself, and then act accordingly.
As I said, the current Yrniel is not as safe as it used to be."
"Oh you don't have about that, Mother in law."
Nux shook his head, then, with a confident smile on his face, "The current me is not as weak as I used to be either.
And I have been waiting long enough now, It is about time I complete what's due."
Nux then glanced at all his women, his smile widened, and,
"Let's accept the first Challenge we get from here.
It is time we announce our return."
Smiles appeared on the women's faces as they all nodded as well.
Clearly, Nux wasn't the only one dying to fight. After training for more than 100 years, the women desperately wanted to see how much they had improved as well.
They wanted to see how strong these Complete Cultivators of these new clans were.
Seeing the confident smiles on the women's faces, Riona was slightly taken aback, she glanced at Evane for a while, wanting some support, Evane, however, simply nodded her head,
"Trust us."
Riona glanced at all the people in the room one more time and then, she nodded.
"Then let's not wait for the next challenge, there is a certain clan I want to take some of my frustration on, let's crush them to announce our return."
Saying those words, Riona took out a Scroll from her storage ring.
It was the challenge letter sent by the Clan Riona was talking about.
Yes, Riona had stored their Challenge letter in her own Storage ring, waiting for this exact moment.
Nux narrowed his eyes when he noticed that. For his usually calm mother-in-law to do something like...
"Someone dared to annoy my dear
mother-in-law?
Now this is fun.
Didn't you say Deaths are pretty common in Clan Battles now,
Guess I do not have to hold back."
Nux spoke with a gentle, but at the same time, a terrifying smile on his face.
"Wait, I am curious, I don't know you that closely, but let's say your daughter takes after you, what did this clan do for you to go as far as storing their Challenge Scroll in your own storage ring?"
Aisha questioned with a curious look on her face.
