Inside the great hall, the air turned even heavier in an instant.


    Godric''s face locked for a beat.


    The color in it kept shifting, green to white, while the fire in his chest surged higher


    and higher.


    Even so, he forced it back down.


    He bent slightly again, lowering himself even further.


    When he spoke, his tone came out more humble than before, with open remorse and admission of fault.


    "Back then... I was arrogant and full of myself. I spoke without restraint and lost my head for a moment. That was the only reason I said such disgraceful things. My lord, please be generous enough not to lower yourself to my level. I ask that you forgive the offense born of my ignorance back then."


    "Forgive you?"


    Aurelius repeated it softly.


    Then he let out a light chuckle.


    It wasn''t loud, but it carried cleanly through the entire great hall.


    "Lord Godric, you give my words too much weight. What you said back then wasn''t entirely without reason. You could even call it the truth.


    The Celestial Basilica has always kept to one corner and held fast to Saintlight Peak. We were never like your Celestial Pce,manding the winds and clouds across the Fourteenth Firmament, sweeping through every direction, glorious and untouchable, full of style and force."


    He paused there.


    Then his gaze slowly dropped from Godric''s face to the battered, ragged Celestial Pce disciples standing behind him.


    That gaze passed over them one by one.


    Every Celestial Pce disciple itnded on lowered their head at once, not daring to meet his eyes.


    Aurelius still sounded warm.


    Under that warmth, though, something sharp enough to cut and cold enough to freeze had settled in.


    "It''s just... there''s something I''m curious about."


    "Your Celestial Pce was so mighty, so imposing, calling the winds and


    summoning the clouds across the Fourteenth Firmament.


    So how did all that calling and shouting leave you looking like this instead?"


    "Back then, you had thousands of elites. Now you''re down to two hundred broken survivors.


    Back then, the Celestial Pce stood tall. Now you don''t even have a home.


    Back then, the Hall Master who lorded over everyone had to be begged with caution. Now you''vee all the way to the Celestial Basilica to ask for shelter." "That''s a hell of a fall before and after all this. I truly can''t make sense of it."


    The moment those words left his mouth,


    the Basilica''s Guardian Elders at Aurelius''s sides finally couldn''t hold it in anymore and burst outughing.


    "Hahahaha!"


    "Hall Master, you nailed it. I was wondering the same thing. The Celestial Pce was supposed to be so mighty, so how''d it end up this miserable?"


    "When I came in just now, I thought my eyes were ying tricks on me. The Hall Master of the Celestial Pce, a figure who used to shake an entire region, and he only brought a little over two hundred beaten stragglers with him? What Hall Master? This looks like a pack of refugees running for their lives."


    "Tsk, tsk. Look at that. Back then you had all the swagger in the world, pointing at the Celestial Basilica and cursing us like we were worthless. And now? Now you came here on your own to beg us to take you in. Things really do turn. The Heavenly Law really doese back around."


    "Where''d all that pride go? Where''d all that arrogance go? Why aren''t you acting so wild anymore?"


    Theughter was harsh, loud, andpletely unchecked.


    The mockery came sharp, mean, and without a shred of restraint.


    Line after line, it hit like the sharpest des, driving straight into Godric''s chest and into the chest of every disciple behind him.


    Godric''s face kept changing color, green to white, red to ck. It looked awful.


    His hands locked into fists so tight the knuckles turned white.


    His nails bit deep into his palms. Pain shed through him, and threads of blood slid slowly through his fingers and dripped onto the bright holy jade floor, ring against the light.


    The fury inside him swelled so hard it nearly tore out of his chest.


    But Godric still held it in.


    He could not snap. He could not erupt. He could not afford one reckless move.


    If he lost control now, everyone who hade with him would die in this hall today.


    Godric drew in a deep breath and forced down the surging blood in his chest and the ze pressing against his ribs.


    Then he bowed again. His voice came out low and rough, but the respect in it did not slip in the slightest.


    "The Hall Master is right. Back then, I was arrogant and ignorant. I brought this end on myself."


    "I came here today to apologize to the Celestial Basilica, and also to ask the Celestial Basilica for aid."


    He slowly raised his head and looked at Aurelius.


    There was nothing hard left in that gaze now. Only sincerity, and a trace of pleading that he no longer bothered to hide.


    "Recently, the demons have risen without warning. The Demon Dragon Lineage has been ravaging every corner, cruel and merciless. Wherever they pass, lives are wiped out and nothing is left growing.


    "Especially within the Demon Dragon Lineage, there is a young man named Skr. His strength is terrifying beyond belief, far beyond anything anyone expected. He is not someone ordinary cultivators can stand against."


    "I could not bear to watch the celestials be ughtered by the demons, so I led all of the Celestial Pce''s elites into battle.


    "I had meant to remove this disaster for the celestials and protect peace in one region, but I did not expect the gap between us and the enemy to be so great. In the end, we were crushed. Thousands of disciples were killed or matmed: The foundation of the Celestial Pce was destroyed, and I myself was badly wounded. Even my cultivation fell sharply."


    By the time he reached that point, his voice had dropped even lower.


    Each word seemed to drag under the weight of what was left unsaid.


    "Now the Celestial Pce is ruined. Our home is gone. Forces all across the


    Fourteenth Firmament are staring at us.


    "Some want to kick us while we''re down. Some want to swallow us whole while they have the chance. My surviving disciples and I no longer have a ce to stay, nowhere to go, and no road left to take."


    "With no other choice, I could onlye here and seek refuge with the Celestial Basilica. I beg the Hall Master, for the sake of our shared blood as celestials, for the sake that


    we came from the same root) to take us in and leave us a way to live." Cóntent


    "I am willing to hand over all remaining forces of the Celestial Pce, all resources


    in the secret realm, all treasured relics, and every secret, defense arrangement, and hidden matter tied to the Sacred Mountain.


    "I will offer all of it to the Celestial Basilica as proof of our sincerity. There is not the slightest falsehood in this."


    When he finished, he did not hesitate again.


    He bent down deeply once more, lowering himself all the way in a full ute, humble to the very end.


    Behind him, the two hundred-odd Celestial Pce disciples watched their Hall Master lower himself that far, and the sight hit like a de.


    One after another, they dropped to their knees as well and pressed their heads to


    the floor, not daring to lift them.


    The great hall fell into silence again.


    Theughter and the mockery from a moment ago vanished without a trace.


    Aurelius looked quietly at Godric, who was still kneeling on the floor.


    His gaze ran deep. Something hard to read flickered through his eyes. He was weighing him, toying with him, keeping his distance, and somewhere underneath it, making his own calctions.


    A momentter, he finally spoke.


    His voice was still mild, but there was a faint curl in it. "Lord Godric, are you saying you''re willing to hand over all of the Celestial Pce''s secret realm resources and


    all the secrets of the Sacred Mountain?"


    Godric lifted his head at once.


    He didn''t dare hide a thing. He nodded quickly, and his answer came out firm. "Yes!


    I am not speaking falsely. Every word I said is true!


    "The Celestial Pce may have been destroyed, but the secret realm still has a huge amount of cultivation resources sealed inside it, along with diving crystals immortal herbs, and relle shards. That''s the foundation the Celestial Pce built up over tens of thousands of years.


    "And deeper inside the Sacred Mountain, there''s also the physical body of a Ghost n Venerable, sealed away by my Celestial Pce''s ancestors after generations


    of effort. That is a supreme treasure. Its value can''t be measured.


    "As long as Hall Master is willing to take us in and let the past go, every bit of it will belong to the Celestial Basilica. I will not keep anything back!"


    Aurelius gave a slight nod.


    A trace of satisfaction showed on his face. Godric''s offer had inly moved him.


    The Celestial Pce''s foundation, built over tens of thousands of years. The


    resources in the secret realm. The secrets of the Sacred Mountain. And the physical body of that Ghost n Venerable...


    Those were exactly the things the Celestial Basilica had wanted for a very long time, and had never found a way to get its hands on.