Ri's anger simmered, looking at the shameless expressions on the faces of the elders around her.
"I THINK THAT YOU SHOULD ALL ROT IN HELL!"
The face of the elders darkened when they heard this, while the Snow Clan elders almost stood to force Ri to apologize before hand. But, before anyone could react, Aki flashed forward.
At this time, it had only been a few weeks since Dyon entered his trials. Ri was only 20 years old. In addition to this, she had grown up in an energy poor environment. It wasn't until she met Dyon that she gained the cultivation resources necessary to make full use of her talent. Because of these factors, Ri was only at the 12th essence gathering stage. She stood no chance against a character like Aki who had entered the saint realm for decades already.
Ri could only watch a blur approach her, before a vicious slash cut across her eyes from ear to ear.
In that moment, her beautiful, clear blue-silver eyes were sliced in half, destroying her vision completely. As for her delicate features, they were completely mangled and overflowing with streams of blood.
Aki leisurely cut off a bottom portion of Ri's dress, revealing her ankles. With the torn cloth, he slowly wiped his sword's blade before grabbing Ri's hand and placing the bloodied fabric in her hand.
"The next time you believe you can speak as you wish in my presence, you'd do well to remember this what happened today.
"I expect you to keep that piece of fabric. If you can't produce it when next I ask to see it, I'll take another piece of you. For every time you defy me, I'll take another piece of you. For every time you raise your voice, I'll take another piece of you.
"From today, onward, you are my maidservant. You do not have the bearing of a wife nor are you deserving of being a concubine.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"I took pity on you and wanted to elevate your status, but it seems that you aren't very intelligent.
"You grew up in a pitiful Snow Clan and were gifted with dog shit luck to roll into my Void Clan's legacy, now you think you can flaunt yourself by wielding power that was never meant to be yours. Today you've learned a bit about how high the heavens are. Unless you become smarter, I'll force you to learn more about it.
"If in the end you still decide to be defiant, I'll directly kill you and take your faith seed away."
Aki's every word caused the elders surrounding him to feel uncomfortable in their hearts. It was as though he was talking to them. But, the Void Clan elders were feeling quite content. They hadn't even needed to lift a finger to put this girl in her place.
However, it was only after Aki had finished his slow walk to place him behind his elders once again, that everyone realized that from beginning to end, Ri hadn't said a word. Despite the saint energy seeping into her wounds, hindering her body from healing, she didn't cry out in pain, she didn't tremble, and although one couldn't truly tell with all of the blood, she didn't cry.
The elders and Aki didn't say anything, as though they were waiting for Ri to break down and lose it. But, she remained deathly calm as blood trickled down her face, dripping onto her dress and staining it in a bloody red color.
Suddenly, a light flashed from her spatial ring, causing a tower to erupt into existence. The roof of the palace room was blasted apart, making room for its towering peak.
"Supreme treasure!" One of the elder's eyes glistened with greed. "To think the Snow clan was hiding such a treasure!"
Although the trials provided supreme treasures as rewards, that privilege was only reserved for God level characters and Emperor level characters who performed exceedingly well.
In the entire Supreme Kitsune Clan, they might have two or three supreme treasures at the most. Even Aki, their current best genius, didn't do well enough in his Emperor trials to earn a supreme weapon.
"I knew that little clan was hiding something!" A Void Clan elder spoke out. "This is good. With such a dowry, you're definitely worthy of being a concubine. Little Aki's temper is quite bad, but you must forgive him as his wife, don't you think? Men should be like the earth, while women should be the rivers that fill the cracks, gently forming new paths."
"The Snow clan is quite lucky. First, they steal the River Clan's legacy with that little Kawa who ran away. Now they have another one. How odd, truly curious."
Out of all the words said, none were worried about Ri escaping. Although they didn't know the abilities of this tower, they knew it wasn't an attack type treasure. In addition, it was a mere 1st grade supreme treasure at that, even if it was able to attack, it wouldn't be too devastating. So, they didn't think anyone would be stupid enough to use this treasure for revenge. As such, they assumed Ri had brought this out to ask for forgiveness.
However, in the next instant, the bloodied cloth in Ri's hand iced over before she shattered it to pieces, causing the expressions of those surrounding her to freeze, similarly.
Aki frowned, "Did I not give you enough of a lesson the first time? It seems you have such little comprehension."
He flashed forward again, but this time, before he could make his way over, an elder stopped him. Although they as elders could ignore a supreme treasure, a mere saint couldn't do such a thing.
Ri leisurely floated into the air, entering the tower and looking down on all those in attendance.
Although Ri was effectively blind now, she person her head turned toward felt that she was scanning their faces and burning them memory of them into her mind.
By now, Ri had a Essence stage soul. So, although she couldn't see with her eyes, and hadn't manifested a divine sense, her soul could still fulfill the basic requirements of a 6th sense.
Her anger wasn't limited to Aki, nor did she even care about him. The people she blamed were the hypocritical, back stabbing elders in this room. She wanted nothing more than to shatter their whole existences. But, she simply didn't have the power to do so. How could she, as a mere essence gatherer, match up against dao experts? It was impossible.
So, she simply committed their faces to memory. She would remember each and every one of them.
Then she began to speak.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"There'll come a day when my husband and I return to this clan. That will be the day where your existences are eradicated and the Snow Clan becomes the supreme ruler."
Ri didn't say this because she cared about the Kitsune clan. Instead, she said it because this way, the Snow Clan was face heavier than normal suppression by the other clans, which was a punishment they deserved for being spineless cowards.
Her husband faced off against a dao expert who had fallen to the celestial level as a mere meridian formation boy. And these men and women, who had thousands of years of cultivation, couldn't muster enough courage to fight for their place in this world? She found herself completely disgusted with them.
Aki was stunned by these words before he began laughing. "Do you believe that you'll be leaving here today? How adorable. Wait until I get my hands on you, you'll learn what true pain it then!"
Of course Aki would be confident. Void Clan elders were spatial will experts. Even if Ri had some sort of underhanded scheme, absolute power trumped cleverness every time.
However, Ri didn't respond. Instead, even under the suppression of the Void Clan elders, the tower disappeared under their stunned eyes.
Even after charging after Ri, it was too late. She had long since entered Shruti territory, and thus had reached their Epistemic Tower protected within their main universe. Even if the Kitsune were a thousand times braver, they wouldn't stir conflict in the territory of their enemies.
Under Saru's protection, Ri's journey was as smooth as it could be.
~
By the end of the story, Dyon was seething with rage. He now understood why Ri decided to sit on top of him. Unless he was willing to hurt his wife and fling her away from himself, getting up was an impossibility. Since Ri knew that Dyon would never treat her roughly, no matter how angry he was, she knew that this was the best choice to stop him from rushing out and killing every Void clan member he came across.
"Don't worry," Ri said softly, leaning forward to rest her head on Dyon's chest. "I know you're angry, but my eyes have long since been healed.
"At the time, I was a mere essence gatherer, while that bastard was only a saint. Finding proper healing materials, with Clara's help, was very easy.
"This visor." Ri looked up, reaching for the sides of the visor with her hands before slowly taking it off.