640 Right of Strength
Alex was a little surprised, but it didn't last long. He instead thought to himself about what he had just learned.
"So these runes do something even when carved on rocks, but no one knows how it works now, huh? I assume so since I haven't seen it being used anywhere in this place," Alex said.
"Yeah… well, over time things change a lot. Some information disappears, while others get adopted," Shen Jing said.
"The demons forget how to use the runes on anything other than talisman after mixing together with the humans, while humans forget their own language," Shen Jing said with a sigh.
"Their own language?" Alex narrowed his eyes. "The language we use currently is demon language?"
"Yes," Shen Jing said. "Although I can not read, I am told that the language used currently is the demon language, while the human language is now very hard to find."
Alex felt shocked to his core. 'Those two languages,' he thought, referring to the language he could read, and the one he simply understood. 'Those languages are the Demon language and the Human language?'
Alex couldn't believe that he had learned a language belonging to the demons this entire time. Although, that didn't matter much anymore after learning that he was in some part a demon himself.
Everyone in this world was.
'I guess humans with no demon influence must live in the heavens then,' he thought. 'They must be the immortals.'
Shen Jing said nothing further as he stared forward towards the old man in the white robe with burnt-up sleeves.
By now, the majority of the people here had already gathered around the old man, so he started speaking.
"Thank you for coming here to listen to me," he started. "As many of you might have learned, 2 years ago, our empire suffered an incomparable damage in the form of losing almost all of our disciples and young talents inside the secret realm to the north."
"So, we currently need to find ways of major improvements for the young generations. Thus, along with brother Song and sister Wei here, we have planned to put a limit on the number of people that can enter," the bald man said.
Immediately, people started whispering amongst themselves. Many saint realm folks looked around themselves, saying nothing. But from what Alex could see, it looked like they were communicating amongst each other but only using their spiritual sense.
"What do you propose exactly, Zhou RenKong?" one of the Crimson-robed elders from next to Fu Tao spoke.
"It is simple, Fu Shun. Those from the big Clans and Sects get to send in 3 disciples each. Those from the small ones get to send 1 disciple each."
"And unfortunately, those without any affiliations, we will have to stop you from entering this time around. Please wait until the demon realm opens in 10 years for your next chance," the bald man finished speaking.
Not a moment passed, and chaos erupted on the island.
"What do you mean we only get to send one?"
"I have waited 15 years for this event."
"I need to find a rare ingredient inside to save my sister. You cannot stop me.'
As expected, people immediately protested. The only ones who didn't protest were those of the big clans and sects that were happy with getting 3 spots each.
"I for one think that is an excellent idea," one of the female saints experts in golden robes with a sword hovering next to her spoke.
"I think that's a brilliant idea too," Another man in green robes with stitches that looked like leaves spoke as well.
People once again erupted into voices of anger and unfairness. They claimed that neither the Jin clan nor the Lu clan suffered from these rules, which was why they were accepting it in the first place.
In the people's protest, Alex heard the names of all of the 8 great clans in the Luminance empire, as well as some big sects.
He heard names such as Broken Ravine sect, Heaven's Peak school, Falling Lotus sect, and Glory's Edge sect amongst many other names of sects and schools.
Alex tried to look around to recognize who was who, but with how little information he had about the status of the Luminance empire, it became hard to tell.
Still, he looked at the faces of those who approved this and saw no sign of surprise or amazement. 'They must have planned it all from the start, even before coming here,' he thought.
Alex counted the number of people that looked satisfied and it was easy to tell how many of them would get to send 3 disciples inside.
From Alex's count, it was about 15 of them. Meaning 45 spots for entry was already set.
If 1 from the remaining sects and clans were to enter, and even if that number happened to be a massive 50, that would still be less than half of the True realm cultivators that had come here today.
A man wearing dirty brown robes walked forward. From what Alex could sense, the man's cultivation base was weak. He realized that it must have been a rogue cultivator that reached this current realm on his own.
"I beg your pardon, Elder, but what gives your the right to block me and my fellow peers from entering the realm? We might be rogue cultivators, but we are still hardworking people. Do we not deserve the chance to enter?" he asked.
The bald man's face twitched a little when he heard the young man speak.
"It was a collective decision between us three and since so many have already agreed today, it only makes this rule even stronger," the bald man said.
"I have eyes, elder," the man said. "We all do. You don't have to lie and say that you just happened to come up with the idea and others happened to agree."
"We can all see that this was your idea from before you even came to this place. It can't be that you all happened to bring only 3 disciples each, right?" the man asked.
"So, I still ask you. What gives you the right to—"
Before the rogue cultivator could finish speaking, a tremendous aura appeared around him that made him kneel to the ground, with his knees buckling.
The man strained to speak, but he couldn't even breathe at the moment.
"What right you say?" the bald man's furious eyes looked at the rogue cultivator.
"Strength! My strength is what gives me the right to do whatever I want to," he said.
"You, a mere rogue cultivator, dares to talk back to me? The only reason you are even alive at this point is that killing you is beneath me," the bald man said.
The other Saint realm cultivators from the big sects and clans simply shook their heads, not in disdain towards the bald elder, but in pity towards the rogue cultivator.
The saint realm experts, who were likely patriarchs and sect leaders of other smaller sects and clans were frowning and protecting their disciples from the bald man's aura.
As for the rogue cultivators, while they weren't the direct targets of the bald man's aura, they were still struggling to keep themselves up.
Alex too was feeling the aura of the old man press on him, but mere aura no longer worked to stop him in his place.
He stared at the old man with hidden disapproval. However, he couldn't do anything about it at all. If the saint realm cultivator wanted to do something, what could he, a mere True realm cultivator do?
"Do any of you have any more complaints?" the bald man asked with heavy disdain in his voice.
None of the crowd moved as they didn't want the full fury of a saint realm elder from a massive clan. They were all too scared to even think o—
Suddenly, a hand went up. Everyone looked around in shock as if they were looking at a dead man.
The young man who raised his hands walked a little forward so everyone could see him.
The young man had blonde hair that ended in black and came down to his shoulders. He wore a white robe with no other colors and held a brilliant smile on his face.
Alex sighed as the young man who had walked forward was obviously Shen Jing.
"Dear brother, do you think it is fair to stop all of these young men from gaining a chance to improve themselves?" Shen Jing asked.
The bald man gave a strange look at Shen Jing as if surprised that he was able to stand his aura.
"Of course It is fair. If I decide that is fair, then it is," the old man said.
"I see, you did say that your strength gives you such right," Shen Jing said.
"Of cour—" the old man was about to say when Shen Jing continued.
"Then, I say it is only fair that none of your disciples get to enter as well," Shen Jing said.
"What did you say?" the old man was about to walk forward when a cut appeared on his cheeks out of nowhere.
Then, he buckled onto the floor, his right leg twisting towards the side, clearly broken.
At the same time, massive pressure landed on the whole island, targeting only the Saint realm cultivators.
Even amongst them, only those from the big clans and sects felt the real, horrifying pressure.
Their eyes opened wide in horror at sensing a pressure that only their sect leaders and patriarch could likely summon.
Shen Jing smiled looking at the crumpled Saint realms and said, "Since I hold the strength now, I suppose it's only right and fair that I make a new rule."
