Chapter 405: High Priest Ryun
An old voice unhurriedly drawled from within that red building, “Come on in. I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”
With that, a warm wave of heat enveloped Uti’s body, constantly swimming around him, which rapidly took away the cold he was feeling all over his body, and then a pleasant warmth took its place as if he were basking in the sun while lying on a beach.
Unfortunately, this warmth left him very quickly. Uti shrugged his shoulders, seemingly having not enjoyed it yet fully.
The blizzard around could not invade this building, appearing to have its own greenery and sunlight built within. Uti was of course very astonished by such magical scenery around him. He smoothed his clothes and composed himself before walking toward the red building not too far away from him.
He climbed up the thirteen granite steps, and the cinnabar red door automatically opened. The s.p.a.cious hall inside was quiet save for the creaking sound made by the large wooden door which echoed in the broad s.p.a.ce.
There was a single aged individual right in the middle, with a pair of a young boy and girl by his side. The young boy was on the left, and the young girl on the right.
Uti smiled, bowing to the elder a distance away. “Uti is here to see the esteemed high priest.”
Ryun slowly nodded. “Come on in. It’s rare for you to brave the harsh blizzard here. You’re the master of the Golden Tent, so logically speaking, I should be the one bowing to you, instead.”
Uti hurriedly interjected, “High priest, you’re a G.o.dlike existence; how could I be considered on par with you?”
The moment Uti mentioned the word ‘G.o.d’, Ryun’s wrinkled and old face twitched ever so slightly as a grimace formed.
“I’m no G.o.d. If I were a G.o.d, I wouldn’t be here still,” he said, somewhat bitterly.
“How do you feel, making your way out here?”
Uti mulled over this for a bit. “To make the trip out here and pay my respect to you, an esteemed elder, is similar to life; it is always bitter before the sweet. If I were overcome by fear to travel through the heavy snow and gale outside, how would I come to know this magical place?”
Ryun nodded, seemingly satisfied with Uti’s answer. He turned his head and spoke to the young boy beside him. “Give the emperor of the Golden Tent a seat and serve tea.”
The young boy carried over a chair and placed it below. This was the first time Uti was not sitting at the head, but he did not mind. After all, the status High Priest Ryun held was recognized, and there was no way anyone else would have done something like that.
Uti used this opportunity to observe this G.o.dlike existence before him carefully. From Ryun’s face, he could tell that he was already an elder who had lived upward to a thousand years. He had a portly figure and plump cheeks, a greasy complexion, which made him look like the Chinese Maitreya buddha from human legends.
However, Ryun was only physically alike the Maitreya; the expression on his face was not one of a broadly smiling buddha but rather of a stern, killer buddha. His eyes would occasionally glint cold , making Uti feel somewhat nervous as he sat there.
“I’ve already heard that the current master of the Golden Tent is the smartest among all insectoids, and today I can tell that that’s no exaggeration. Looks like it was the right idea for me to return to the capital this time,” Ryun said.
Uti answered, “Thank you for the high priest’s kind words. I am merely doing my part for our race.”
Ryun laughed uproariously. “By those words, then are you blaming me for not lifting a finger in the last three hundred or so years for the race?”
Uti quickly corrected himself. “You’re mistaken, high priest. That’s not what I meant.”
He quietly took a sip of tea in an attempt to suppress the embarra.s.sment he was feeling inside. He was rather capable when it came to tormenting others, and now it was Uti’s turn to feel uncomfortable because of High Priest Ryun’s actions. It was evident that the elder was not a simple and amiable expert removed from the mortal plane. The fact that High Priest Ryun managed to grasp onto that small mistake Uti had made showed just how extremely petty he was.
Even though that was what he thought, Uti would not dare to utter such things aloud even if someone were to beat him to death. Who was High Priest Ryun? He was the number-one expert in the entire insectoid race. Even any one of the Seven Sacred Champions would only last a single round against this elder, so it was far more important to establish a good relations.h.i.+p with this mysterious individual.
Ryun sighed. “The reason why I’ve secluded myself all these years is that I have my own difficulties. You mortals will never ever be able to understand the pain and pursuit that we experts possess. Don’t think that you’re powerful just because you’ve managed to conquer half of the Pan-human Alliance. In the eyes of true powerhouses, territory, authority, and other such things are practically not worth mentioning. We have a much higher calling.”
Uti nodded his head repeatedly. “The high priest’s teaching here is that you’re in a realm far higher than us, mortals, and that we will most likely never be able to catch up to you, esteemed elder.”
Ryun coldly harrumphed internally, the pride he was feeling very evident to anyone looking.
“Since I’m of a higher realm than you are, I of course don’t share your view. Tell me whatever troubles you. When my leaving finally comes, I won’t ever be coming back.”
Uti was inwardly denigrating the old man on the sly. ‘You also said that you’ll be heading to a higher realm seven years ago, yet you haven’t transcended even to this day; perhaps you’re simply unable to make it across? Which is why you’re now back, constantly showing off. Otherwise, you would’ve left us all long ago.’
Uti was in no hurry to make his request. First, he handed over a spatial ring that he had brought along. A person of Ryun’s rank would not be interested in gold or such things, so everything inside the ring was food and items that had been recorded as things High Priest Ryun liked, with even some Purple Hearts of Spirit included.
He had no idea why High Priest Ryun would get the race to prepare a set amount of Hearts of Spirit every year, and it had been the same for over the last thousand years. It was as if he needed such ores for something, though no one other than the old man himself had any idea what they were being used for.
Ryun did not even spare a glance at the ring and its content as he handed it over to the little girl to his right, saying, “You’ve been very successful in your war with the Pan-human Alliance. If nothing goes awry, you’ll be able to conquer completely all of the humans in two years. Though their main forces have yet to take a beating, they’re lacking in morale. Those warriors who are still causing trouble will only be a temporary nuisance, nothing to be worried about. I believe that you didn’t come to me for the war, did you?”
Uti nodded. He was shocked that Ryun had a.n.a.lyzed and had had such a thorough understanding of the war situation. He did not expect that the high priest would have such a detailed deduction of the war at the frontlines despite not setting a foot outside his abode all this time.
“Indeed, I’m not here because of the war situation. At the moment, though the battles breaking out in the frontlines are intense, I’m not too worried about how they will turn out, but the same can’t be said about the insectoids’ inner regions. Recently, there’s a human warrior who’s been killing our Sacred Warriors, and in fact he’s killed sixteen of them in this one month alone, causing the insectoids everywhere to complain.
“Though a mere human warrior is nothing to be afraid of, the impact he created has been far-reaching. I figured that it will be best if he’s taken out sooner rather than later so as to better a.s.suage the citizens’ worry; otherwise, it would be bad if ill-intentioned beings were to attempt publicizing it for their own benefits.”
Ryun was evidently very curious. He simply could not understand why Uti would personally come over and find him over an insignificant human warrior. Could that person really possess such great power?
“Tell me everything about this. Just what exactly is going on with that human warrior?”
Thus, Uti related what Xia Fei had done since he infiltrated the insectoid territory, all the way until he struck and murdered Arendaz, the insectoid who had set up a platform and challenged him.
Ryun kept nodding his head as he listened, occasionally revealing a measure of surprise, and when Uti was finished, he spoke. “It sounds like that human is a high-ranking speed ability user, with quite a decent cultivation, and what’s even more commendable is how he immediately changed tactics the moment he discovered that you’ve found a way to track him down, such that you’re no longer able to get on his trail, which can be considered rather clever.”
Uti answered, “That’ s right. When I first realized that his s.h.i.+p is capable of stealth, it would still leave a fairly unique energy signature, so we were able to locate him as long as we searched for that particular trace, but he later became impossible to track, or perhaps he changed the system on the fly. In any case, beside this human’s decent cultivation, he ought to be quite well-versed in machinery and such. At the very least, my scientists are unable to achieve the creation of invisible wormholes, not to mention change the energy system completely in such a short time.”
High Priest Ryun mused. “There are plenty of talented individuals in this universe, and your inability to do something does not mean others will be unable to do it.
“Just now, you mentioned how he killed Arendaz despite three separate fleets monitoring that insectoid and how he managed to depart after. That’s really important; don’t forget that he has a weapon in his hand capable of destroying half a galaxy. In the event that he managed to sneak into the capital and use such a weapon, I’m afraid that your life would be in grave danger.”
Chuckling, High Priest Ryun continued. “I was wondering why the distinguished master of the Golden Tent would come out and look for me just because of a mere human warrior, but it turns out that he has already impinged upon your safety, which is why you’ve become impatient.”
Uti gritted his teeth and did not say a word. The truth was exactly as Ryun said. If Xia Fei was merely killing a few insectoids, there would be no reason for Uti to be this panicky. The key was that everything the human had done could very well threaten his safety, which was what Uti was most worried about.
Actually, Uti could also choose to hide far away from the capital, avoid the danger altogether, but doing so would surely elicit the ridicule of everyone, and while Uti was afraid of dying, he was not about to do something like that, unless it was a last resort. Right now, the safest solution to the problem was beseech High Priest Ryun for his help in taking care of the trouble in one fell swoop. Besides, Uti was still thinking of reacquiring the Blood Demon Claw that Xia Fei had gotten his hands on.
High Priest Ryun’s words essentially gave no face to Uti, directly exposing his innermost thought, criticizing his fear of death. Uti was of course deeply infuriated by Ryun, but he was also helpless. After all, he was the one pleading for this old demon’s help!
Ryun mockingly laughed at Uti before saying, “If I wasn’t mistaken, that person should’ve managed to infiltrate the insectoid network, so he’s able to learn lots of information he ought not to be privy of, such as the famous warriors in the insectoid race and which targets would cause the greatest damage to the insectoids.
“The reason why he’s willing to kill Arendaz, aside from terrorizing the citizens, is probably to test his own hypothesis. How he managed to do that without being discovered isn’t important. What’s crucial is where his target is.
“Perhaps he isn’t just threatening the Golden Tent. First, he shall take out all the important strategic targets, a.s.sailing the insectoids’ morale is the most urgent task. After all, it’s fine if the Golden Tent is without a master, since another can just step in your place, but eliminating the important strategic targets will be far more valuable.”
Ryun’s words were like an insult to Uti, saying that it was fine for the master of the Golden Tent to die and for someone else to replace him. How could he have said something like that?
There were plenty of insectoids holding high and important posts who hated being ridiculed, and this applied even more so to Uti. How could the emperor of the Golden Tent take such a level of humiliation? It was a direct slap in his face! Again and again!
Uti’s expression was uncertain, sitting there as he mulled over countermeasures. Why had Uti not considered that the legendary super being closest to G.o.dhood would actually be so sinister and overbearing?