Generous Soul's eyes swept over the room, lingering on Elder Flower for a few moments.
The pressure of a peak Rank 5 Fae Master was unimaginable by most Fae Masters. The power contained behind a single gaze of theirs was enough to cause the origin essence seas of lower Ranked Fae Masters to tremble violently, causing them to cough up blood.
The quality of their own origin essence was extraordinarily pure as well. To the point where it almost didn't seem human.
It wasn't uncommon for a Rank 5 Fae Master to comprehend a Law either. The closer one was to immortality, or Rank 6, the closer one was to Laws. In fact, if a Rank 5 Fae Master hadn't comprehended a single law by the time they reached the peak of Rank 5, then there was definitely something wrong with them.
In his previous life, Arthur had met Generous Soul a couple decades into the future.
But back then, his cultivation had been much lower, and his comprehensions of Laws were not nearly as high as his current self.
That was a cause for concern that Arthur questioned but couldn't find an absolute answer to.
He understood that something must've happened between now and that time, that caused him to regress in his cultivation, and destroy his Law attainments.
If Arthur had to guess.... he would've purposefully failed Ascension....
"What was this about the Boundless Forest Yearning?".
Golden Flower froze slightly, and his bow deepened under the increased pressure from Generous Soul. Despite the fact that he wanted to send a message to some of his other fellow Elders, he restrained himself, knowing full well that Generous Soul would detect the origin essence fluctuations.
Clenching his fist, Golden Flower let out a shaky breath, opening his mouth to speak.
"Sect Leader! This generations Boundless Forest Yearning is blatantly antagonistic towards our White Dominion Sect! He has dismembered one of our disciples, and tried to pit one of our core disciples against the Nightime Demon Sects Formless Night Shadow! I understand that it is considered dishonourable for a senior to make a move against a junior, however, if we just stand by and watch this weed grow in our own front yard, eventually it will overtake the entirety of our-".
"Arthur Kovacs does not desire conflict with the White Dominion Sect. Of that you can be sure".
Generous Soul interrupted Golden Flower, causing the peak Rank 4 Fae Master to grit his teeth slightly.
"Sect Leader, I understand that your attainment in Thought Laws is extraordinarily high, but how can you be so sure about that!? Right now, this Boundless Forest Yearning is still young, not even a Rank 4 Fae Master. So long as Lady White can discern the relationship between them and the Formless Night Shadow, then-".
"Why are you so eager to kill, Elder Flower? If it is due to the wishes of your disciples, then I am even more fearful of the future White Dominion Sect that I already am....".
More than a few of the Elders raised an eyebrow.
They had all.... "heard" of the words spoken by both Purple Mist, Arthur Kovacs and Vladimir Lew at the Violet Clan's martial gathering.
They had already known that the Sect Leader had paid the Boundless Forest Yearning a visit, but the contents of their discussion weren't to be trusted considering that only mortals had heard it. It had spread too far and too wide, too quickly, for any truth of their conversation to be heard.
The Boundless Forest Yearning had said that Generous Soul was restraining his cultivation because he was fearful of the future of his White Dominion Sect. Purple Mist naturally denied such a thing.
But-.
"If the younger generation of the White Dominion Sect turn around with their tails tucked between their legs when faced with a truth that they do not desire to know, then the words that Boundless Forest Yearning spoke that night had already come true. To see that they asked the older generation to deal with the problems of the younger generation.... look how far we've fallen....".
Generous Soul shook his head.
Turning towards Golden Flower, and the rest of the Elders, the pressure of his cultivation base was removed, and the old man sat down in the head chair.
Normally Lady White, the Outer Elder would be seated there, however, Generous Soul did have the right to take her seat whenever she was busy.
"I have already discussed this with Lady White. But the Boundless Forest Yearning is off limits. I don't know how he has done it, nor does the Returning Galaxy Auction House know how. But "Arthur Kovacs", son of Niklos Kovacs, the former head of the Kovacs Clan which resided in the Winter Rain Mountains, is a fabrication. His background is a lie".
Violet Everglade narrowed his eyes, and Golden Flower leaned back in his seat.
"What.... what do you mean it is a fabrication, Sect Leader? All of them definitely came from the Winter Rain Mountains. Their Fae, and most of the Fae materials they have exchanged while in White Corpse City aren't anything outrageously unique as well....".
Generous Soul shook his head.
"No. The identities of those around him are not in question. Those nine others that he came with. In addition to his three children are all real. What isn't real, or what isn't known rather, is why the Boundless Forest Yearning is different from one another. For someone that has grown up in such a similar environment..... his killing intent, his posture, his knowledge, his thought process.... even combat style is much too refined".
"In other words, there is something, or something behind the Boundless Forest Yearning. Or perhaps it would be more prudent to say that there is someone behind Arthur Kovacs".
Violet Everglade turned towards the Sect Leader.
"Is that why the Nightime Demon Sect came here? In order to get in touch with this person?".
Generous Soul shook his head once more.
"I do not know. Lady White has yet to finish discussions with the Nightime Demon Sect Envoy. I inquired Elder Raincloud and Lord Blood Mist of the Returning Galaxy Auction House, but neither of them will give any details about their business dealings with Arthur Kovacs. Until the point where we can discern Arthur Kovacs' true background, we will not be making a single move against him".
One of the other Elders in the mortal born faction spoke up.
"Sect Leader, did you suspect that there was something wrong with the Boundless Forest Yearning when you interacted with him several days ago?".
Generous Soul glanced at this particular Elder, pausing for a moment.
Despite his silence, the lack of words spoke volumes about the young man they were talking about.
If it took a peak Rank 5 Fae Master more than a minute to think about how to describe a measly vapour topaz origin essence Fae Master then there was something definitely off about them.
Perhaps "off" wasn't the right word.... maybe something closer to-.
"When we interacted.... despite the fact that I wasn't hiding my cultivation base at all.... he knew that I was at a point in my cultivation were I could undergo Ascension at any moment if I so chose. That isn't something that just any Fae Master can know..... even our core disciples cannot tell such a thing. The only way that something like that is possible is if he had experienced such a pressure before....".
A few of the Elders eyebrows raised slightly.
A peak Rank 5 Fae Master on the verge of Ascension.... where they just a common existence within the Winter Rain Mountains?
Of course not! The strongest person currently in the Winter Rain Mountains would be the current Clan Leader of the Marina Clan. And that was assuming that the Azure Ocean Sect didn't send anyone to protect the Overflowing Ocean Depths relatives....
Generous Soul narrowed his eyes, causing his old skin to wrinkle slightly.
"Not only that.... but he knows the secret of what is buried beneath White Corpse City..... There aren't many individuals who know what it is, let alone how to get there. He knows the rules of such a place.... and that he shouldn't press too much, lest he gets annihilated by the existence who claims such a place....".
Out of everyone in the room, only Violet Everglade and Golden Flower felt their eyes widen. None of the other Elders knew what Generous Soul was talking about.
Violet Everglade was qualified to know it, due to being the de facto leader of the Clan Faction, as well as a peak Rank 4 Elder. He was currently trying to get his hands on a few origin essence expansion Fae in order to purchase the time for his daughter to perceive Laws in the Rootless Abyss.
.... Luckily for him, the Returning Galaxy Auction House was going to hold a special Auction in the coming days. And from what he had heard..... there would be plenty of origin essence expansion fae.
Hearing that the Boundless Forest Yearning possessed both the capital and knowledge to make use of the Rootless Abyss was like hearing someone had wings to a tiger.
With such a thing available to him, Arthur Kovacs' Wood Laws should be able to increase explosively, or at least until the third level of Laws.
After all, the fourth rank would require Rank 5 origin essence sea expansion fae. And they were near impossible to attain on the market.
While numerous other parties within White Corpse City were currently preparing their wealth and resources for the upcoming Auction, a certain green haired young man sat opposite two older gentleman, smiling at the piece of paper in front of him.
"So.... it was confirmed then?".