When Noire arrived in front of the gathering group, his face was as expressionless as a doll carved out of jade. Many thoughts ran across his mind, but killing as a punishment wasn't one of them. Still, that didn't mean the people under his gaze felt at ease.
He swept his line of sight across them one by one, a glint of disappointment flashed through his eyes.
He looked at Lady Feng, she wore thick robes to avoid the cold sting of winter, she was a middle state mastery water elemental, and if she were to use her Qi essence in this ubiquitous cold, it'd only make matters worse.
He looked her in the eye in which she tried to divert and look down as her head hung in shame.
Next to her was Kirin, who had a similar expression and disposition. She didn't dare look Noire in the eyes.
She wore a light blue palace dress that matched her cyan strands of hair. Small torrents of electric essence would often fluctuate around her as she stood, emphasizing how nervous she was.
Arima... he was the one Noire didn't care about the most. After all, he was simply following the conduct of his life morals, nothing he did would be wrong in this jungle.
When his eyesight landed on Anastasia, everyone could notice how she was visibly trembling, why wouldn't she?
She was the one who killed not only her daughter but Noire's companions in a pitiful scheme.
Honestly speaking, Noire didn't fully understand why they were feeling bad or anxious in front of him, what they did was simply natural in the world of cultivation.
Yes, he wouldn't steep as low as to implicate innocent people to save his own, hence his minor talk with Kirin a while back. Still, that doesn't mean he's so pitiful that he'd complain about the injustice in this world.
After a moment of silence that seemed like an eternity, Noire gazed into the eyes of The Phoenix Queen and asked lightly, "Are they inside?"
The Queen was startled by his question at first, then she felt bitter in her heart, does this mean that she, and everyone else including her clan, aren't even worthy of his resentment? She quietly nodded.
Noire didn't bother with her anymore as he was eager to test this new spiritual sense.
It is said that the range of one's spiritual sense corresponds to the size of their knowledge sea. The more vast, deep, profound, and pure the crystalization of their spiritual essence, the wider the range of their perception.
Closing his eyes, Noire released the restrictions on his psychic, allowing his spiritual perception to gush out like a tide.
Vigorous, pristine spiritual essence spread forth like a curtain to envelop the entire Palace and its terrain. When everyone else felt the purity of Noire's spiritual crystallization of essence, compelling awe and reverence welled up inside them.
By now, they all also realized that Noire had no malicious intentions towards them in any way, his psychic fluctuations were tranquil and composed, such mental fortitude was frightening.
Meanwhile, Noire compared his bestial instinct with this spiritual sense. His bestial instinct relied on receiving vitality feedback from bloodlines, thus he can't use it to investigate the dead.
Spiritual sense allowed him to expand his five senses as if he was watching everything within a respective diameter from a projection, the information obtained is more detailed, but some areas that are equipped with inscriptions to block this type of probing remained obscure.
All in all, both methods have their pros and cons. What piqued Noire's interest is that the obscure room had faint vitality fluctuation as if the entity would waltz into the gates of death only to retreat, like a wisp of flame in a stormy climate.
"W-why?"
"Hm?" Noire opened his eyes when he heard a gentle yet hesitant voice.
The source was Kirin, she was still a little timid as she asked.
Truth be told, Noire's conduct confused everyone present. If what they heard from Lady Feng is true, Noire didn't hesitate to launch a cold-blooded massacre for the sake of his companions, it's hard to believe he has zero plans to claim some blood.
When Kirin saw Noire's genuine expression of confusion, she decided to elaborate...
"Why would you spare our lives? Except for Arima, we have all pretty much plotted against you in a way or another, eventually causing the event to escalate towards the death of Ning'er, Yue, and Tianshi..."
When Kirin's sentence reached its end, her voice gradually dimmed till it was as quiet as a mosquito.
Noire raised his eyebrows in surprise, he also knew that the Queen merely used Arima, and seeing him with them had surprised him to a degree. Although Arima adheres to the law of the jungle, his conduct left a profound expression within Noire's heart.
After a moment of silence, Noire answered in a clear voice, "Everyone aspires towards survival in a way or another. I also knew that Arima was merely used as a chess piece by the Queen and got inadvertently caught in the storm. Since he had no evil intentions other than following his conviction, I didn't feel like killing him."
"I intended on keeping his company until the breakthrough phenomenon is over before paying a visit to the Queen since I acknowledged her as a threat towards those under my protection. Alas, fate is unfair, one inconvenient action after another caused their death."
"The Queen did what she did to protect her weak people. I told you before, having relations is another form of invisible weaknesses. I don't advocate cowardly acts such as deception of the weak, but that doesn't mean it's a bad strategy."
"However, one day when another formidable foe appears and you have no outsiders to sacrifice, then what? Would your queen step down from her throne to offer her body in protection or will she offer the dispensable ones on the verge of death?"
Kirin and the Phoenix Queen didn't know if it was an illusion, but Noire's gaze wandered over the location of 'that' room for a brief moment as if to emphasize his last question.
Just the thought of that possibility caused them both to break in a cold sweat.
Noire continued, "I'm not seeking revenge because I already lost the battle, killing you won't bring back the dead. However..." At this point, Noire's eyes swept from Kirin towards the Queen.
"With a coward like you playing the role of a formidable Queen because you so happened to step into the Celestial Realm, your entire palace will decline one day, and you won't have any means of stopping it from happening."
Noire's words thunderstruck the Queen. Her body tensed up and her eyes went cold.
Slowly, anger built up inside her. As if he has any idea about the struggles she went through to keep her clan intact, ever since the ancestors fled from the Core Continent and managed to occupy the Northern Region of this fairly remote continent, every generation was a struggle.
Now he's telling her that after generations of struggles and declining it'll all end in her hands, how can she swallow it up?
Just when she was about to take a step forward and burst out her contempt and complaints, a calm breeze brushed past her shoulders.
Swoosh~
Everyone else felt the calm wind, then they realized that Noire has long disappeared from their view and the Flood Dragon broke down into fluorescent light.
Everyone abruptly turned their heads to notice the massive azure gates have been pushed open.
Just like that, without resistance or any sound, it was as if the palace took the initiative to welcome Noire in.
"It's not what you're thinking, I'm going to check the coffins and burn incense."
Noire's voice resounded in a disembodied manner, from afar and from up close.
Whilst everyone was confused about the meaning behind Noire's words, Kirin and the Queen abruptly eyed each other only to see the shock and horror in the eyes of each other.
Of course, they realized the context of his reassurance.
'He knows!'