"There's no need to take action against a junior, don't you think?"
A familiar old man lounged leisurely in a place only one man had ever stepped into over the last several hundred years.
The garden where the two sat was quite odd. In fact, one would be hard pressed to truly call it a garden at all.
What should have been a calming stream of water was actually a trench filled with lava. The green lotuses one would expect to find had become odd flower-rock structures that glistened mostly of obsidian. At the same time, the creatures which should have been beautiful were instead sinister scaled creatures of the snake and salamander variety.
Ancestor Ember tried his best to hide his ugly expression behind a veil of calmness. But, it didn't take a genius to realize that his fists were clenched beneath his long and wide robe sleeves.
"I see. Maybe I should have known." Ancestor Ember finally said.
The old man tilted his head in confusion for a moment before bursting into a fit of laughter. He laughed so hard that he was eventually forced to wipe the tears from his eyes.
"It's no wonder you got out maneuvered by that little pup. For you, it would only be natural for someone so much weaker than yourself to lower their heads. The fact he didn't makes you believe that he must have had someone in the shadows protecting me.
"Not to be the bearer of bad news, but he doesn't know I'm here. In fact, we've never met or spoken a day in his life. I find your conclusions quite amusing."
Ancestor Ember's visage turned stiff.
"I was wondering why a Path Extinction Realm warrior bothered to stay in such a place. This Pedestal Plane can't produce Heaven Grade treasures, nor are there any Alchemists or Herbologists capable of providing you what you need. To make matters worse, the strongest beasts are only of the Seventh Order and aren't worthy of taking even a single strike from you.
"Anyone with any sort of backbone would have long since ascended to the Blossom Plane to seek a new challenge, yet you actually holed yourself up here, playing King in a sandbox. I almost feel bad for you."
The old man stood from his lounging area. He wasn't particularly worried about Ancestor Ember taking action now. Such a coward would never take risks knowing he was here.
With a flash, he disappeared.
Ancestor Ember sat with his entire body trembling in rage. Such a scene went on for hours before he finally slowly calmed himself, his fists unclenching.
"Come out." He suddenly said.
In that moment, a tall, slender beauty suddenly made herself known. She had a shapely, willowy waist. Her hips and buttocks stretched against the fabrics of her black dress, bouncing ever so slightly with her elegant gait. Her face was veiled, but she still revealed two delicate brows and shimmering violet irises as deep as the night sky. Even without seeing her face, one would be enraptured without a chance. Such a beauty shouldn't appear in the world of mortals.
She didn't say anything for a moment before she suddenly giggled lightly. It was a captivating sound that could slow a man's heartbeat to a crawl.
"The reason I'm in such a state is due to your Night Terror Sect, yet you dare come here to laugh?"
"There are few things I don't dare to do." The woman's light laughter suddenly shifted with an imposing tone. It was difficult to tell which was the real her.
"Of course." Ancestor Ember said shortly. "Coming from such an inferior world and daring to place your sights on my Martial God Realm. Your guts are quite large."
"Are you not the same, daring to make a deal with this devil?"
"And my reward for it is ridicule by an old man I can't see through and a youth with talent that shouldn't appear on even the Martial God Plane."
"Of course you cannot see through him. He's a member of the Armament Guild. He could destroy your little Ember Clan with the wave of a hand."
Ancestor Ember's expression stiffened. Clearly this was news to him. Thankfully he hadn't attempted to attack, or else the ending would have been quite tragic.
"As for the boy… He may be a variable even more difficult to handle…"
Ancestor Ember's brow furrowed. "Is it because he's favored by the Armament Guild?"
"This is only a small reason. The ring on his finger is that of a core disciple of the Mercenary Guild. This also doesn't conflict with his identity as the Throne of a Peak Eighth Order Sect either… Though that is ironically his weakest identity…"
"What aren't you telling me?"
The beauty's black veil shifted slightly. Considering the slight wrinkling at the corners of her eyes, it was obvious that she was smiling. Just how much would he be willing to give up to see this smile?
"I ran into a very interesting Clan a while ago. They went by the name Basteel. Their young heir had some good information, you might say."
Ancestor Ember's brows furrowed. The Basteel Clan? That Half-Step Sixth Order Clan of the Inner Ring? What information could they possibly have?
"It seems that the boy went by Ryu when he entered Loom City, even taking on the ridicule of being called a no-name. What a heavy burden for a youth." The beauty sighed. "What resiliency too. He must have learned his lesson after the first time. It's unfortunate that a released fragrance can't easily be recaptured."
"What are you trying to say? Stop being so mysterious."
"It's nothing much." The beauty said lightly. "Just that this young man isn't nameless. His family name is… Tatsuya."
BOOM.
Violent cracks spread beneath the meditation platform Ancestor Ember sat upon, crumbling much of his lava garden to dust.
"What did you just say?"
Just the name alone made him feel difficulty breathing. He felt for a moment that even if he called his flames to action, they wouldn't obey in respect of this very name. Just what was this Tatsuya Clan? How could their Faith be so strong to the point of suppressing him at their mere mention?
"These are things you do not need to know." The beauty said lightly. "I've already wiped that Basteel boy's memory, he won't be telling anyone else this little secret. There'll be a time when I reclaim this debt from our little Tatsuya too…"
"Stop! Stop saying that name…!" Ancestor Ember felt a crushing weight on his heart.
Just what kind of existence was this boy? Who had he offended?
A cold sweat matted his back as he suddenly had trouble breathing.
The beauty snorted with disdain. "You're in the Path Extinction Realm yet you can't handle the suppression of a Clan Name. You Dao is too weak."
Turning, the beauty slowly turned to leave. Before she disappeared, her steps paused for a moment.
"My Moon World is in endless turmoil right now, but so is this 'Martial God' Realm. Not everything is as peaceful as it seems on the surface. The Shrines… There's no use in telling you such things, you have no ability to understand my words.
"The short of it is that Order breeds Chaos and Chaos breeds Order. Within this turmoil, there'll eventually be a winner, and I plan it to be me. No one can stop me. Not the Martial Gods and not the dregs of the Tatsuya Clan.
"Play your role well and you'll be rewarded appropriately. Within the next century, I want this entire Plane under the control of the Ember Clan, or else of what use are you to me?"
With that, she vanished.
Hundreds of miles away, a bloody halberd fell for the last time, reaping the life of Peak Immortal Ring Realm expert. The young man who stood above his falling body only coldly looked on, not feeling a sense of accomplishment in the slightest.
In the end, he sent out his corpse puppet, devouring what was left of the Peak Immortal Ring expert to ash.