Behind Godric, the Celestial Pce disciples red all over again.


    Their eyes burned so hot it looked like fire might spill out at any second. Their bodies shook hard, and every one of them looked ready to rush forward and stake everything in one desperate charge.


    But when they looked at their Hall Master''s back, in the end, none of them dared move.


    As for Godric, he kept his head lowered, as if he hadn''t even heard the insult buried in those words.


    His voice came out steady and respectful, without the slightest ripple.


    "Thank you, my lord, for taking us in and leaving us a way to live.


    I... ept this order. I have not a single word ofint."


    As he spoke, he bent deeply again.


    He bowed all the way down and offered a full formal salute in thanks for the favor.


    "Good."


    Aurelius nodded, satisfied.


    Then he gave a light wave of his hand, his tone t and distant.


    "You may leave. I''ll have an Elder Enforcer make arrangements for where you''ll stay, your food and clothing, and your duties. From today on, keep to your ce, do what you''re supposed to do, and don''t cause trouble."


    "Thank you, Hall Master."


    Godric bowed once more in salute.


    Then he backed away slowly, one step at a time, and withdrew from the great hall with full respect.


    Behind him, the two hundred-plus Celestial Pce disciples all lowered their heads as well.


    They followed after Godric in silence, carrying the weight of that humiliation and grief, and stepped out of the hall one by one.


    They left behind the ce that had ground them down and marked itself into memory for the rest of their lives.


    The moment they walked out of the Basilica Hall,


    Godric slowly lifted his head and looked up at the sky.


    Above the Luminous Sanctuary, the sky was a clear, pure blue.


    Holy radiance drifted through it, bright and sacred, so beautiful it could make a man stop where he stood.


    But inside him, everything had sunk darker, colder, and heavier than ever.


    It was like a mountain had settled over his chest.


    Humiliation. Grief. Rage. Hatred...


    It all twisted together until it nearly swallowed him whole.


    He said nothing.


    He did not look back.


    He only kept walking in front, one step after another, heading toward the most remote and lowest part of Saintlight Peak, down at the mountain foot.


    Behind him, the Celestial Pce disciples followed step for step, just as silent. There was no sound from them.


    No crying. Noints.


    Only the heavy sound of footsteps kept rising along the mountain path.


    Atst, the group reached a quiet stretch of the mountain path where nobody else was around.


    One of the younger Celestial Pce disciples finally couldn''t hold it in anymore.


    He suddenly rushed forward and dropped to his knees in front of Godric with a thud.


    Tears burst out of his eyes on the spot, and when he spoke, his voice caught hard, raw with grief and rage.


    "Hall Master! Why?! Why do we have to suffer this kind of humiliation?! We of the Celestial Pce have never bowed to anyone, even in death! We''d rather die on the battlefield than be humiliated like this, than have our dignity trampled into the dirt!"


    The others crowded around too.


    Every face was tight, every pair of eyes red, every voice shaking as they pressed in.


    "That''s right, Hall Master! The Celestial Basilica never treated us like people at all! They killed Elder Shaw, mocked us every way they could, and now they want to send us to the mountain foot to do servant work and patrol duty! This isn''t taking us in. They''re treating us like ves!"


    "Hall Master, let''s rise up! Let''s fight them to the end! Instead of crawling on like this and living in disgrace, we''d be better off going all out in one real battle. Even if we die, at least we''ll die with our dignity intact!"


    "Hall Master! Just give the order! We''re willing to follow you and fight to the very end!"


    Godric stopped.


    Then he slowly turned around.


    He looked at the young faces in front of him.


    He looked at what burned in their eyes—the bitterness, the refusal, the grievance,


    the fury—and something inside him pulled so hard it almost seemed to cave in his chest.


    These disciples were the future of the Celestial Pce.


    They should have been standing tall.


    They should have been the ones others looked up to.


    They should have had wide-open futures ahead of them.


    Instead, because of one defeat-because of the failure of him, their Hall Master-


    they had been reduced to this.


    Godric said nothing for a long, long time.


    Only then did he finally speak.


    His voice came out rough and low, but the weight in it left no room for anyone to question him or push back.


    "You think I didn''t want to resist?"


    He slowly raised a hand and opened his palm.


    Blood stained the center of it.


    The wound hade from his own nails digging into the flesh earlier, and it still had not closed.


    "When that Elder died in front of me just now, what was burning in me was stronger than anything any of you are carrying. I wanted nothing more than to charge straight


    at Aurelius and fight him to the death, no matter the cost, and avenge him."


    "But I couldn''t."


    He lifted his head.


    His gaze moved across every face in front of him, one by one, and when he spoke again, each wordnded heavy as iron.


    "Because behind me, there was still all of you. More than two hundred of the Celestial Pce''sst me seeds. Itsst hope. If I lost control, if I acted on impulse, if I resisted, if I gave in and struck back... every one of you would die." "Not one of you would survive."


    l.ne


    "And if it came to that, the Celestial Pce would truly be finished. A foundation built over ten thousand years, the blood andbor of countless ancestors, all of it would be wiped awaypletely. There wouldn''t be even the slightest chance left to turn things around. Not even the slightest chance for revenge."


    "I can die. I don''t fear death. I''ve lived for ten thousand years already. That''s enough. But I cannot drag all of you to your deaths with me. I cannot bury the


    Celestial Pce''sst hope with my own hands."


    His voice kept rising.


    It grew heavier, stronger, steadier with every word.


    "Today''s humiliation is carved into me."


    "Aurelius''s mockery. The Celestial Basilica''s humiliation. Elder Shaw''s death. I am keeping everyst bit of it. One mark at a time. Etched in my heart. Etched into my


    soul."


    His hand clenched without warning.


    Fresh blood slid from his palm again, and something hard and freezing shed


    through his eyes.


    "But right now, we have to endure it."


    "When you''re under someone else''s roof, you have to bow your head. As long as the green hills remain, there''ll be firewoodter. Only if we stay alive, only if we endure, only if we preserve our strength, wildwe have any chance to rise again-any hope of revenge."


    "One day."


    "One day, I will lead you back to the Top Level."


    "I will make the Celestial Basilica, make Aurelius, make everyst person who humiliated us today and trampled on our dignity pay the most painful price for everything they did today."


    "A blood debt must be paid in blood!"


    "The Celestial Pce''s hatred must be washed clean with blood!"


    His voice rang out hard and clear, each word striking like iron on stone. It echoed


    over the silent mountain path for a long time.


    The Celestial Pce disciples listened, and the fire that had been twisting inside them slowly settled.


    In its ce came something harder. A resolve carved deep into the bone, held down for now, waiting for its moment.


    They looked at Godric, and something lit again in their eyes. Hope had returned. So


    had loyalty.


    Then all of them dropped to their knees together and mmed their foreheads to


    the ground before him. When they spoke, their voices came out in one line, steady and firm.


    "We swear to follow Hall Master Godric to the death! We''ll bear this humiliation and bide our time! When the day of revengees, blood debts will be paid in blood!" Godric gave a small nod and said nothing more.


    He turned back around, then slowly started walking again toward the mountain foot.


    With the holy radiance of Saintlight Peak spilling over him, Godric''s back looked especially lonely.


    Especially stripped down.


    But inside that lonely figure, there was also something else.


    A hard, stubborn force that refused to bend.


    Take today''s humiliation.


    Buy tomorrow''s chance.


    This hatred could not be shared under the same sky.


    At the same time...


    At the summit of Saintlight Peak, inside the Basilica Hall.


    Aurelius still sat on the throne.


    A faint smile rested on his face, the kind that came from holding everything in his


    hand.


    He had already seen the whole scene just now through his spirit sense.


    Nothing had escaped him.


    A Guardian Elder stepped forward and bent slightly at the waist. His voice dropped


    as he said, "Hall Master, this subordinate truly doesn''t understand.


    "Godric is sinister and slippery, with schemes buried deep and ambition to match. He may be down now, but


    he''s still a serious threat. If we leave him alive, sooner orter he''ll be trouble. Why not use this chance to wipe them all out at once?


    Kill everyst one of them and cut


    off all future trouble for good?"