Chapter 721: The King’s Crown (IV)
--
"What a fucking joke!"
Crash!
In some corner of the Heavenly Star Chaos Realm, an old man furiously spat as he threw a mug on the nearby wall. His expression was cloudy, and a terrible pressure enveloped the entire room with him at its center.
Not far from him, young disciples wearing the same uniform clenched their jaws as they endured the pressure and fury of the master; none of them dared to emit a sound because the last thing they wanted was to anger the master even further.
"Calm down, Brother." Another Elder soothed the fury of the master. He also showed mercy to his pitiful disciples by isolating them from the pressure.
"How can I calm down!? That kid embarrassed me, us! How am I to face the Sect Master or the public after that shameful display of his! I even endorsed that kid and boasted that he will perform well, yet look at this! He’s the first one to be eliminated! What happens to my credibility now?"
The Elder’s fury was understandable. Heaven knows just how hard he vouched for this disciple of his. He uttered such confident words, implying that even if his disciple couldn’t compete for 1st place, the top 10 was possible at the very least.
And many people chose to believe him. How can they not be? The kid has an incredible gift! He could wield the power of Heavenly Tribulation at his fingertips! He was a chosen one! And the sect pulled out all stops to ensure that his potential was fully excavated.
They poured every resource available to him. Their bias even caused some disciples to be dissatisfied, yet they all stuck to it because they all hoped that it was going to be worth it.
And yet despite all of this, they watched as their best disciple turned into a joke. And by a commoner, no less!
How was he supposed to calm down?
The kind-looking elder sighed and said, "I told you to humble that kid. His personality has always been nasty."
"Tch." The furious elder clicked his tongue.
Was he unaware of his disciple’s nasty personality? Of course, he was. He was his master. Everything that kid knew came from him, minus the personality.
What the kind elder said was true; he did tell him to humble that kid because his arrogance will one day bite him in the ass. But the furious elder didn’t listen. In his mind, this disciple had every right to be arrogant, and he wasn’t exactly wrong. Alas...
"What do we do now!? That’s our funding, all gone in a snap, just like that! And we can’t make this brat cough up every resource we fed him to cut our losses!"
The Ancient Sects need funding. Just because they’ve been around for quite some time and are mostly disconnected from the mundane world, they couldn’t completely cut off some of their connections simply because they’re their lifeline.
Most of the resources that kept the ancient sects and organizations running came from areas of the Chaos Realm that were difficult to get to or territories of others. There were only a handful of resources they could produce by themselves, and it’s certainly far from enough to satisfy everybody.
It’s to the point that the ancient sects and organizations have to compete with each other to secure these resources for themselves, because that’s the only way they could get an abundance of them.
It was a furious elder who convinced his fellow elders and even the sect master to bet on his disciple. They tilted the resources to his favor and pinned their hopes on him.
It’s also for this reason that the furious elder bragged about his disciples to others. He wanted to secure funding and sponsorship not only for the kid but also for the sect.
If the brat secured a respectable rank in this round, or even better if he got into the top 10, everything would’ve been worth it. The sect wouldn’t have to worry about their resources for the next decade or so; they could even splurge if they wanted to.
But all of their hopes were dashed. All because of the commoner who triumphed against the best they could offer.
Nobody, not even the kind elder, could think of a solution to this. This brat didn’t just lose face for their sect; he also brought them shame, dissatisfaction, and a potential crisis that would make everybody’s lives a little more difficult than before.
The worst part? This could’ve easily been avoided. If only that brat was smart enough to choose a different target. If he only avoided that unlucky star. Had he chosen another person to take the crown from, he could’ve stayed longer in the competition.
All they needed him to do was to aim for a respectable ranking. Even just the top 50 would’ve been fine; it would even out everything! Anything beyond that was gain.
Yet because of this kid’s personality, all has been lost. Moreover, this has got to be the nastiest scandal the sect would have to face, because despite his overwhelming talent, the brat was the first one to be eliminated.
"Elder Joseph."
The furious elder, as well as his fellow elders and the disciples, stiffened at the sudden call. That was the voice of their sect master, and they could hear the barely restrained fury in his tone.
"Here, Sect Master."
"That kid...bring him to me once he returns. Immediately."
Everyone shivered. They could all feel the domineering presence of their sect master. His orders were absolute, and he won’t accept any refusal nor show any mercy at this point.
"By your command, Sect Master."
And just like that, the presence of the sect master disappeared.
’Heavens, brat! Now, you’ve done it. I, your master, can’t help you with this. I wish you good luck.’
The furious elder’s anger has mostly dissipated after that. It was replaced by pity and lament for what his disciple was about to go through.
He had no idea what the Sect Master would do, and even if he knew, he’d be powerless to stop it. All he could do was pray that his disciple makes it out of it alive. And if he couldn’t, then it’s not meant to be.
Pssh!
As if on cue, the doors opened, revealing the defeated figure of his disciple. Everybody looked at him; some showed barely concealed disdain and dissatisfaction, others jeers and mockery.
The furious elder marched towards him, grabbed him by the neck, and said,
"It’s my fault. I should’ve reinforced my disciplinary actions for you. Had I done so, maybe all of this could’ve been prevented," he muttered as he dragged his disciple towards the Sect Master’s quarters.
"You’re not dumb. In fact, you’re way smarter and more clever than you actually look and act most of the time. At least that’s what I believed, because what I saw back there was not smart, nor clever. Maybe it’s my biased point of view that’s caused this oversight, and it will not happen again."
"Still, you know that we’re relying on you. Our sect only has two seeded participants this time. The other one had been neglected severely because we were biased to you. If he goes rogue, not even the Sect Master could blame him."
"But you! You know what this means for us! I’ve explained it to you. I’ve done all but beg you to at least remember that we are relying on your performance to secure more funding for the sect!"
"All you had to do was to secure a decent rank. That’s all! We never asked much of you. We supported you all the way for nothing but the bare minimum from you."
"I personally staked my reputation for you. I’ve called in the favors I’m owed, drained my stash, and even sacrificed my own future just for the sake of yours! I’ve done everything I can just to expect nothing but the absolute minimum from you!"
The Elder paused in his steps, then he raised his disciple and glared at him with a face filled with endless disappointment and vexation.
"So why? Why couldn’t you just reel in your temper? Why weren’t you smart enough to retreat? Why insist on putting a commoner in his place when it has nothing to do with you?"
"And why? Fucking why were you eliminated first!? Huh!? Did all of our love and care for you amount to nothing in your eyes?"
This wasn’t the first time that he had seen his master angry. But it was the first time he saw how heartbroken he was, and worse, the reason for this heartbreak was him.
The feeling was unbearable.
He initially wanted to explain himself. He wanted to make excuses, hoping that he’d get away with it again. But faced with the anger and despair of his master, everything evaporated like smoke.
All he could do was to bow his head low and feel endlessly guilty.
Sighing, the furious elder continued his march.
"The Sect Master asked me to hand you over to him. Your fate is no longer in my hands from here on out."
"I can only hope that you’re lucky enough to survive what he’s about to put you through."