No one had expected the Ancestor of the Nine Elements Sect to appear like this. Usually, the Ancestors only involved themselves when something significant happened to the beasts or if a Peak Sect was about to be eradicated. Of course, these situations happened very, very rarely.
Underworld couldn't have threatened the survival of the Nine Elements Sect. The Nine Elements Sect still had some Ascenders and their Ancestor. If Underworld decided to attack the headquarters of the Nine Elements Sect, they would only be digging their own grave.
So, why was the Ancestor here?
However, there was something even more surprising.
The bartender from Underworld noticed that the Sect Master of the Nine Elements Sect was not happy at all that her Ancestor had arrived. Normally, she should be ecstatic, but she wasn't.
'Things are not as simple as I've thought,' the bartender thought.
The Ancestor looked at the frozen battle and sighed heavily.
"Why must humanity fight amongst itself like this?" he said with regret. "In the face of the beast apocalypse, some humans still want to gain greater status and follow greed."
When the bartender heard that, his rage exploded.
"You say that after your Sect has declared war on Underworld unprovoked. I wonder, if this battle went according to the Nine Elements Sect's plan, would you still have lamented about the state of humanity?" he asked coldly.
The Ancestor slowly shook his head. "I had no idea that my niece would decide to attack Underworld," the Ancestor said. "If I had known, I would have never allowed it."
Then, something shocking happened.
The Ancestor bowed apologetically.
The bartender's eyebrows shot up in shock.
"This has been a severe error in judgment from my Sect. I hereby apologize, and I will take our losses as a deserved punishment," he said.
Everyone became shocked.
One had to know that basically no one had died from Underworld, but around a third of the Holy Guards had died. Usually, someone would see this and would want to ask for reparations.
Yet, the Ancestor was willing to accept the loss and say that everything was a mistake.
He didn't even attempt to get an explanation out of Underworld.
The remaining Holy Guards were shocked and horrified. Their friends had just died, and the Ancestor was doing nothing!?
"Everyone," the Ancestor said. "I think there has been a monumental misunderstanding."
At that time, three new people appeared near the frozen battlefield.
One was Herius, while the other two were Ascenders from the Nine Elements Sect.
When the Sect Master saw Herius, her anger exploded.
Sadly, the Ancestor was especially suppressing the Sect Master. Everyone else was able to communicate normally, but not the Sect Master.
The Sect Master had already done enough damage.
Herius and the two Ascenders stopped behind the Ancestor, but they still threw a cold and hateful look at the Sect Master.
The people from Underworld also noticed this.
They hadn't thought that the entire upper echelon of the Nine Elements Sect would be so against their Sect Master.
"Herius," the Ancestor said.
"Yes, Ancestor," Herius said with respect. Herius had always held deep respect towards the Ancestor.
"When dealing with such critical situations that threaten the unity of mankind, seeking one's own profits and advantages won't help," the Ancestor said. "Because of that, it is imperative that you recount the events that have led up to this situation with pure honesty. Even if the Nine Elements Sect will be implicated even more, it is important to resolve this issue as purely as possible."
"Yes, Ancestor," Herius said with respect.
"A couple of years after our current Sect Master took up her position, the Holy Maiden of the Nine Elements Sect started to be restricted more and more…"
The present people were a bit surprised that Herius started telling the story from such a distant spot in the past. Had the seeds of discord been sown that far back?
When Herius came to the part where Stella was fully suppressed and forced into marriage, the Ancestor's body quietly tensed in anger.
The personal disciple of his deceased teacher was treated like this!?
He had no idea!
How was he supposed to look his dead teacher in the eyes in the afterlife!?
"About ten years ago, the latest tournament took place, and someone peculiar joined the tournament…"
Now, Herius was focusing the story entirely on Gravis.
The bartender immediately recognized Gravis, and his anger exploded.
Gravis had said that whatever he was doing would only marginally involve Underworld!
Yet, his actions had obviously provoked an all-out war!
Gravis had lied!
Sadly, in truth, one could only say that Gravis had also been a victim of bad luck. Initially, he had only intended to flee with Stella with that emblem. It had never been his goal to put the Nine Elements Sect against Underworld.
Unfortunately, things often didn't go as planned.
As the bartender heard more, he became angrier and angrier.
What a fool the bartender had been!
He had seen that Gravis had a beast body, but he had still foolishly believed that Gravis was part of humanity.
But that was impossible!
After all, who would gain the most out of a conflict between the Nine Elements Sect and Underworld?
The beasts!
Gravis was an agent of the beasts that had been sent here to weaken humanity!
And even worse, he had succeeded!
"Excuse me, but I must interrupt with an imperative piece of information," the bartender said, stopping Herius.
"Yes?" the Ancestor asked.
"I know this person, and there is something you must know about him."
"He has a beast body," the bartender said with seriousness.
Everyone became shocked.
"Impossible!" Herius said. "Our Sect is filled with beast crystals. We would have noticed."
"No," the bartender said. "He has some kind of Law that manipulates his surroundings. From what I have seen, as long as you don't analyze him with incredible scrutiny, you won't notice his true body."
The bartender then proceeded to tell them all his interactions with Gravis.
After the bartender had seen the honesty that the Ancestor had put forward, the bartender reciprocated this honesty and even told everyone about the mission of killing the upper echelon of the Holy Judgment Sect.
Then, a discussion broke out.
How could some Immortal King hide his beast body from such powerful Immortal Emperors? That was impossible!
However, the bartender felt a foreboding feeling.
He had to finish this conversation as quickly as possible, and thus, he decided to do something very risky.
"I swear upon Heaven that I have not lied!" the bartender shouted.
Silence.
Everyone looked in shock at the bartender.
Swearing upon Heaven was not simple. If there was even the slightest inaccuracy, the bartender would die. Even if he just lightly misspoke or remembered something not clear enough, he would die.
Swearing upon Heaven was very dangerous because the oath had to be perfect. If the bartender didn't perfectly recount everything, he would die.
Seconds passed, and the bartender stayed alive.
Then, everyone narrowed their eyes.
This meant that the bartender had spoken the truth.
"Everyone!" the Ancestor said. "We must pause the conversation. We are all humans, and for now, we must put our differences aside for humanity. We must travel to the frontlines and check up on the beasts. After the beasts have been handled, we will resume our conversation."
The Ancestor looked at the soldiers from both sides. "The soldiers can scatter. This time, we can't put pride before our survival. This time, us older Cultivators must become active."
Then, the Ancestor turned to the three Mid Major Circulation Immortal Emperors from Underworld. "Friends, I would ask you to follow me to the frontlines."
The three of them nodded. "Humanity comes first," the bartender said.
"Well said," the Ancestor answered.
After that, the Ancestor pulled them with him as he rushed towards the frontlines, including the Sect Master.
The entire story had not been told yet, and her punishment could also not be decided yet.
After a couple of minutes, the five of them arrived at the frontlines.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
And they were greeted by several powerful beasts banging on the fortifications.
Two battlefields had been completely annihilated.
No humans had survived.
Everyone's heart sank.
The Ancestor quickly checked up on the fortification and saw that over 50,000 years of gathered resources had been used up to keep the Formation Array running.
This was not good!
"You three take the left battlefield," the Ancestor said.
The three nodded and shot away.
Meanwhile, the Ancestor's body was surrounded by the Frost Element as he charged into the battlefield before him.
These beasts must die!