(MC POV)
We finally reached the site of the ruins where the Royale was taking place the next day.
I was quite surprised that the brat from yesterday didn't come back to make trouble, perhaps I underestimated his guards' ability to dig their young master out? Or maybe he gave up?
Either way, I'm just glad I didn't need to deal with him any more.
We arrived at the ruins ahead of schedule at midday so we still had a day and a half of waiting before the portal opened.
The ruins looked like a town that was hit by an earthquake before being crushed by something and then hit by a tornado, the only things that were still intact were the various portals that were littered in various corners of the ruins. Some of them were already functional and had people coming in and out of them, but the biggest one was the size of a building located at the back of the ruins.
Several Sects were already camped in front of it with the top five Sects occupying the space closest to the portal.
Naturally, we drew a lot of attention when we stepped into the clearing. Or rather, my disciples drew a lot of attention since even by this Plane's standards, they were breathtakingly attractive.
The bunch of female practitioners whom I assumed to be part of the Moonlight Sisterhood Sect were eyeing my girls with obvious interest while looking at Brendan and I with clear hostility.
The opposite was true of a bunch of male Practitioners in the other corner who I assume to be from the Eternal Brotherhood Sect.
My disciples and I found ourselves an empty spot a distance away from everyone else to set up our camp for the night. We picked a place that had a wall blocking our view of the portal, just to give them less of a reason to come look for us even though I know we've already been marked.
The only question is who would be the ones to approach us first?
We didn't even manage to finish setting up camp before a group of Practitioners from the Moonlight Sisterhood Sect approached us.
All of them wore azure robes with a sheer cloth covering the bottom half of their faces, the one leading the group was the only one without the face cloth.
Even though they had the appearance and figures of being young ladies, I know for a fact that they may very well be more than a few centuries old.
Naturally, they completely ignored Brendan and me and went straight to the girls.
"Fellow sisters, I am Elder--"
"Not interested," Lian Li interrupted her before she could even finish introducing herself. "We are perfectly happy where we are."
The rest of my girls also paid them no attention, opting to continue setting up our camp instead.
One of the Elder's followers wanted to step forward but was stopped by the Elder herself. Instead, her eyes landed on me and she tried to storm her way towards me.
She must have realised I was in charge here considering I was the only one that was not helping the set up of the camp aside from Cai Hong, Akari and Shiori who were all curled up on my lap. Even Iris was helping out by helping me set up my bed, surprisingly.
She only managed to take ten steps before a sword was thrusted in front of her, prompting the rest of the Elder's followers to draw their own weapons as well.
"Who do you think you are to approach our Master so casually?" Eris asked, not even batting an eye at the multitude of weapons aimed at her.
The Elder ignored her question and glared at me, "Release the girls from your control right now!"
I raised an eyebrow at her, she actually thinks I mind controlled them to be like this.
"I assure you, I do not have them under any sort of mental control nor am I making them do anything against their wills," I told her simply before going back to patting Cai Hong's head.
She scowled at me, "Your lies don't work on us, it's obvious you have them under some sort of compulsion or they would not be like this!"
Eris pushed her blade towards her neck, "Ya talkin' big words within killin' distance ya old hag. I'd watch my next words if aye were you."
"How dare you talk that way to our Elder?!" One of the Elder's followers protested, her sword positioned to thrust at Eris's neck.
My swordswoman gave her the side eye, "No, how dare you come to our camp uninvited and start spouting nonsense in front of our Master. Who do you think you are?"
The Elder waved her followers away and took a step back to speak to the girls again, "It seems you people must be foreigners. I am Elder Ying from the Moonlight Sisterhood Sect. We have come to ask these talented young women to join our Sect for the sake of a better future for them."
Lian Li appeared in front of her, "And I already told you we're not interested. What my sister meant when she asked who you were was not a question about your identity, we're pointing out the fact that you are far too inferior to even address our Master in the first place."
Ouch… Lian Li does have a pretty sharp tongue huh? But don't you think you're being a bit harsh?
In case you were wondering why the girls are acting out like this, I gave them express permission to be as brazen as they wanted precisely because I knew the people from those Sects would be really stubborn and full of themselves.
Like I had mentioned, power and connections are king here and since we lack the latter, we have in excess of the former.
They were a little surprised that I told them to do that but I assured them that I could handle anything anyone on this Plane decided to throw our way.
This was a much better alternative than those Sects coming to disturb my disciples. If they were to feel offended and bare their fangs at me, then I'll simply rip their fangs out.
Also because they didn't get to act arrogant on our trip to the country of Sun in this timeline since we were treated like VIPs.
The same follower stepped forward with furrowed brows, "You must have been living under a rock! Our Moonlight Sisterhood Sect is the top five Sects of the continent! Who is this man compared to our Elder?!"
Lian Li crossed her arms, "You don't seem to understand. We know exactly who you are and even if your Sect Mistress were to appear in front of our Master, she would have to lower her head too."
Oh damn, Lian Li learnt that from my previous interaction didn't she?
As extreme as her claim was, I can't even refute her since I could actually make their Sect Mistress do that if I wanted to.
"How dare--"
"Stop!" The Elder called out before the follower could say anything more.
She then turned to me with a gaze of contempt, "I would suggest that you leave this place before you get hurt. The place past the portal is a dangerous place and only the strongest can survive."
That threat is so transparent, she really is pissed huh?
I did not even look in her direction when I answered, "I could say the same to you and your Sect."
She did not dignify me with a response and simply turned and left.
Well that's one of the five dealt with… Perhaps we should have come here right as the portal was opening up instead…
