But right then, the white-haired Guardian Elder standing at Aurelius''s left suddenly let out a coldugh.


    He stepped forward and broke the stillness himself.


    "Godric, that all sounds real nice. Better than a song. Big promises, plenty of sincerity on the surface. But who knows if any of it is true? Who knows whether you''re trying to fool us?"


    "And what if you''re only nning to use the Celestial Basilica as a shelter? What if you''re swallowing it for now, waiting for the storm to pass, waiting for your wounds to heal and your strength to rise again, and then the moment you''re back on your feet, you turn on us? If that happens, wouldn''t we be opening the door to a wolf and raising a disaster inside our own house?"


    Another Elder with a dark face picked it up at once. His voice came out cold, not hiding a shred of distrust.


    "That''s right. The men of the Celestial Pce have always been slippery and scheming, with tricks buried deeper than anyone can see. Back when you were fighting over the seat of rightful rule among the celestials, who knows how many filthy methods you used in the dark? One plot after another, never ending."


    "And now you suddenlye running here to seek refuge, talking this low and humble. Who knows what you''re really after? Who knows if there''s some hidden plot underneath all this?"


    A third Elder, thin as a rail, joined in with a twisted little smile.


    "And another thing. You people from the Celestial Pce have always treated the Sacred Mountain as more important than your own lives. The secrets hidden in there, and the dirty business tied to them, probably aren''t that simple, are they?" "I''ve heard it for a long time now. Under the name of pilgrimage and blessings at the Sacred Mountain, your Celestial Pce has been secretly abducting countless wandering cultivators and members of smaller ns, draining their spirit and blood essence. Cruel methods. Rotten to the core. All of it just to revive some forbidden existence and do something that should never have been done."


    "If filth like that, if a stain like that, ever got out, it would be enough to damn your Celestial Pce forever. And if the Celestial Basilica took you in, wouldn''t that mean we''d be dragged down with you? We''d carry your me, get cursed by the world right alongside you, and end up as the target of everybody''s hatred."


    The instant those wordsnded,


    every person from the Celestial Pce went rigid.


    The color drained out of their faces until they looked like the dead.


    Draining cultivators of their spirit and blood essence.


    Trying to bring a forbidden existence back.


    That was the biggest secret the Celestial Pce had.


    The darkest thing tied to it, the one thing that could never be dragged into the open,


    the handle anyone could use to bring the entire Celestial Pce under siege by every race and wipe it out for good.


    It had been buried deep.


    Outside the upper ranks of the Celestial Pce, almost nobody knew.


    And yet the Celestial Basilica had known about it all along.


    Godric''s face turned stark white.


    He rushed to speak, trying to force an exnation out before the room closed in on him.


    "Elders, you''ve misunderstood. You absolutely can''t believe rumors like that. Those stories were spread on purpose by people with bad intentions, enemies who wanted


    to frame the Celestial Pce. They made all of it up out of malice."


    "Rumors?"


    The white-haired elder gave another coldugh.


    His gaze cut like a de as he broke straight across Godric''s words.


    "Lord Godric, do you take everyone sitting here for three-year-old children? Do you really think we''re that easy to fool? Did you think the Celestial Basilica never investigated those missing cultivators, those wandering cultivators who died for no reason and ended in utter soul-ruin, without even the chance to reincarnate?" "Did you really think the filth your Celestial Pce did could stay buried forever?" Godric opened his mouth, trying to argue again.


    But when the words reached his lips, there was nothing he could say.


    Those things had happened.


    Back then, the Celestial Pce had done them for power and for ambition.


    The proof was stacked like iron.


    He had no way to deny it.


    For a moment, all the color drained out of Godric''s face until it looked like paper.


    He stood there stiff and lost, not knowing what to do with his hands or his feet, trapped under the weight of it.


    Then, right at the point when the pressure in the hall had tightened as far as it could


    go,


    one of the Celestial Pce Elders standing behind Godric finally hit his limit.


    He had always been hard-tempered by nature.


    They had fled all the way here, and he had watched their Hall Master swallow one humiliation after another. He had watched his fellow disciples get mocked and trampled underfoot.


    That had been building inside him the whole way.


    And now the Basilica Elders had torn open the sore spot and ground them into it,


    one insult after another.


    What had been pressing inside him would not stay down any longer.


    "That''s enough!"


    The shout cracked through the hall.


    It came from a middle-aged Celestial Pce Elder.


    He was covered in blood, badly wounded, his aura so weak he could barely stay on


    his feet without swaying.


    But at that moment, he forced himself upright.


    His whole face had gone red, and his eyes were bloodshot, burning as he red at the Basilica side.


    "Our Celestial Pce did lose! We did fall this low! We were driven into a dead end! But we still came here with sincerity! We came here asking for help, asking for an alliance among celestials!"


    "If you don''t want to take us in, fine. But did you really have to sneer at us like this, humiliate us at every turn, and keep pressing harder and harder?"


    "The Celestial Pce and the


    Celestial Basilica came from the


    6th ne


    same root. We carry the same celestial blood. We should have been standing watch for each and fighting outside enemies together. If we''re the ones in trouble today and you won''t help us, fine. If you wont show even a shred of regard for your own kind, fine. But instead of stopping there, you kick us while we''re down and mock us without holding anything back!"


    "With hearts like yours, with faces like yours, you still think you''re fit to call yourselves the true line of the celestials? You''re fit to sit on Saintlight Peak? You''re


    fit to receive the reverence of cultivators everywhere?"


    The more he spoke, the harder he drove the words. His voice kept rising until it was nearly a raw shout.


    "Don''t forget this! The demon''s


    Demon Dragon Lineage is surging forward with nothing to stop it, and Skr is more terrifying than any of you seem to understand their next target could very well be your Celestial Basilica. It could very well be Saintlight Peak!"


    "You have no idea how horrifying Skr''s strength really is! You never faced it. You don''t even know what despair looks like! Today, youugh at us. You humiliate us. But when the dayes that the Demon Dragon ughters its way through you and Skr crushes yo underfoot, we''ll see whether any you can stillugh then!"


    "Insolence!"


    A sharp shout cut straight across his words.


    of


    One of the Celestial Basilica''s golden-robed elders flew into a rage.


    Holy radiance burst from his body in a violent swell. The crushing pressure of the True Immortal Realm swept through the great hall in an instant, heavy as a mountain as it mmed down on the Celestial Pce Elder.


    "You dare bellow inside the Basilica Hall and insult the Basilica Elders? You''re courting death!"


    The golden-robed elder''s eyes turned cial, and he moved to suppress him.


    But before he could make a move, on the throne, Aurelius-who had worn that


    same mild smile the whole time-slowly raised his right hand.


    It was a simple motion.


    He released no aura at all, and he made no sound.


    But the golden-robed elder, who had been throwing his weight around a moment


    ago, went rigid on the spot.


    The holy radiance surging off him snapped back at once. He didn''t dare say another


    word. He quietly stepped back, lowered his head, and stood there inplete respect.


    The whole great hall fell silent in an instant.


    Aurelius still sat on the throne.


    That mild smile was still on his face. But now there was nothing warm about it. It sent a chill straight up from the soles of the feet to the crown of the skull.


    His gaze rested calmly on the Celestial Pce Elder who had just been shouting


    himself raw.


    Then he spoke. His voice was gentle, but the weight behind it left no room for doubt


    and no room for defiance.


    "Finished?"