The new Sect Master of the Eternal Fire Sect looked at Orpheus with a serious expression.
"Who are you?" she asked with a careful but domineering voice.
"I'm the Minstrel, the current Ancestor of the Myriad Sect," Orpheus said with a calm and warm smile.
The people of the Eternal Fire Sect narrowed their eyes.
The Minstrel.
They had all heard of him in the past. He hadn't been covert on his journey through the ranks. He had won one tournament after the other, pocketing all the prizes.
These tournaments had been held by Sects on the level of the Eternal Fire Sect to find powerful and talented disciples in the Star God Realm. Valuable prizes would be offered, but since the winner would just join the Sects directly, the treasures would remain in the Sects.
That was how it was normally, but Orpheus had always taken the prizes without accepting the invitation of any Sect, which was quite shocking. Why wouldn't a powerful Star God want to join a powerful Sect? They would gain access to so many different resources, and they wouldn't even really need to work until they became Ancestral Gods.
Yet, Orpheus had always rejected them.
It was almost like Orpheus didn't want to interact with anyone else.
Due to this strange behavior, a rumor that everyone had dismissed had suddenly gained more credibility.
Rumor had it that the Minstrel was the Opposer's son.
That was why the Minstrel wasn't allowed to get close to anyone. Heaven saw the Minstrel as an enemy, and it bestowed bad luck to him. Rumor had it that everyone who came close to the Minstrel would be killed in a tragic accident.
And then, the Minstrel had suddenly vanished.
Everyone had believed that the Minstrel had died.
But now, the Minstrel stood in front of the three people of the Eternal Fire Sect, and he had finally joined a Sect.
And he had killed an Ancestral God in the Eternal Fire Sect's territory just now.
If Orpheus were just another Ancestral God, they would have directly killed him.
However, Orpheus was a level five Ancestral God that could fight level seven Ancestral Gods.
That was a jump of three levels due to the two-level jump between the sixth and seventh levels.
This put Orpheus on the same level as the most powerful Ancestral Gods of the Peak Sects.
Orpheus was essentially a Chosen of a Peak Sect without the backing of a Peak Sect.
"Are you aware of what you have done?" the Sect Master asked with narrowed eyes.
"Yes, I killed an Ancestor of a different Sect," Orpheus answered with a charismatic smile.
"Why?" the Sect Master asked.
"Because I wanted to," Orpheus said nonchalantly.
Silence.
The people of the Eternal Fire Sect had thought that Orpheus would say more, but he didn't. Apparently, that was his entire reason.
"That's it?" the Sect Master asked.
"That's it," Orpheus answered.
"Are you aware that it's against the rules of the competition?" she asked.
"Yes," Orpheus answered.
Silence.
The Sect Master became frustrated and angry deep inside, but she kept it hidden.
Why was she so frustrated?
Because she was trying to bury the issue, but Orpheus wasn't complying.
If Orpheus had simply said that he didn't kill the Ancestor, the Sect Master would have found a way to simply stop the investigation and let it vanish into nothingness.
If Orpheus had said that he didn't know about that rule, the Sect Master would have given him only a formal punishment without any actual weight behind it.
Why was she trying to rescue Orpheus?
Two reasons.
First of all, Orpheus was part of the Myriad Sect, and the Myriad Sect would soon join the Eternal Fire Sect. That meant that Orpheus would also join the Eternal Fire Sect.
Second, Orpheus was just too powerful. Even if the Sect Master and Vice-Sect Masters fought together, Orpheus still had a good chance of winning.
Were they supposed to call their Ancestor?
Not only would that embarrass the new Sect Master, but the Ancestor was also far too powerful for a mere level five Ancestral God. Orpheus had zero chance of victory.
This meant that the Ancestor would lose Karmic Luck if he killed Orpheus.
And Orpheus had a ridiculous amount of Karmic Luck, thanks to being Gravis' brother.
Manuel was watching with gritted teeth. He knew that the Eternal Fire Sect was far too powerful for them and that the Eternal Fire Sect could even kill Orpheus.
Manuel had no idea how he could rescue the Sect under that threat.
Sadly, after being a Sect Master for such a long time while being inside an organized competition with rules, Manuel had overlooked something very fundamental.
"Why were you willing to offend the Eternal Fire Sect, a Sect that can kill you, just because you wanted to kill someone?" the Sect Master asked.
Orpheus only smiled.
"Because I'm powerful enough to do so."
"You won't kill me."
Silence.
Ten seconds of silence passed as Orpheus' words entered the ears of every present being.
It was so simple and direct.
Manuel's eyes widened in realization.
Then, a bitter smile appeared on Manuel's face. 'How have I forgotten that truth?' he asked himself.
Manuel looked at Orpheus, and his resentment slowly vanished.
'I forgot that all of this is only a competition. The Eternal Fire Sect has intimidated me to the point that I didn't even dare to evaluate their true power.'
'Orpheus always has my back. I could have simply ordered the death of the Ancestor without any repercussions.'
'No wonder Gravis asked me several times if that's what I wanted. He knows that there wouldn't have been any repercussions. And yet, I explained to him what responsibilities a Sect Master has.'
'There is much more to learn,' Manuel thought with a smile.
Manuel looked over to Gravis, who only winked at him.
"Thanks, you two," Manuel transmitted to Gravis and Orpheus.
Orpheus didn't answer, but his smile widened.
After the Sect Master had heard Orpheus' words, her eyes narrowed.
This was bad!
Orpheus had unveiled the hidden truth and made it public. If she didn't handle this situation correctly, the Eternal Fire Sect would become the laughingstock amongst all the other Sects.
"What? Your entire Sect got humiliated by a level five Ancestral God, and you didn't kill them?"
This was what the people would say.
In a sense, Orpheus was forcing them into a conflict. The Sect Master had tried to give Orpheus a way out of the situation, but Orpheus wasn't reciprocating. Orpheus was essentially telling them to attack him.
It was almost like he wanted to die.
After some seconds, the Sect Master made her decision.
She called her Ancestor.
The Sect Master quickly explained everything to the Ancestor via a communication ring, and the Ancestor quickly answered.
"You want me to waste my Karmic Luck just so that your image in other people's eyes doesn't get damaged?" he asked coldly.
After hearing her Ancestor's words, the Sect Master felt incredibly embarrassed.
"He's right. He has the power to break these unimportant rules. We held this competition to find powerful and smart future Elders. He successfully recognized his own power and our power, and he came to a correct conclusion. The Minstrel sounds like a brilliant future Sect Master," the Ancestor said.
"Instead, just because of your fragile ego, you want me to sacrifice my Karmic Luck. Maybe it was a mistake to choose you as the Sect Master."
"Allow the Myriad Sect to join the Eternal Fire Sect."
"As soon as the Minstrel becomes a level seven Ancestral God, he will become the new Sect Master of the Eternal Fire Sect."
"You know how we choose our leaders. It's against the rules to kill fellow Sect Members, but as long as you don't get caught, it's fine. It's not wrong to break the rules, but you can't get caught doing so."
"Kill him before he becomes the Sect Master with strength or prove to me that your planning and scheming is superior by uniting the Sect against him."
"You won the earlier clash and became the Sect Master, but you obviously aren't ready yet for that position."
"Either overcome this new opponent or get pushed into mediocrity."
"I don't care if you win or lose. I only want the best of you two to win," the Ancestor said. After that, he told her how he wanted their clash to be held and cut off the connection.
The Sect Master's face had long since gotten white in terror.
'I just made a grave mistake!' the Sect Master thought in deep regret.