Chapter 48 Calm Before the Storm
48 Calm Before the Storm
Many people gathered in front of the auction house as they hoped to see the presence of the legendary nine-tailed foxes. However, they could only see the nine-tailed foxes enter the auction house and never come out.
Even though there was some dissatisfaction, everyone was surprised after the auction house announced the new items to be auctioned in two days.
The ones waiting at the auction's peak were no longer three A Rank life-saving treasures but two S Rank super life-saving potions!
The description of those potions was exaggerated. That was what everyone thought at first, but it was identified by the experts and guaranteed by the 8th Rank overlord, the Grande Auction House's backer!
Therefore, the news was soon spread like wildfire. Everyone was excited to join the event even though they didn't have tickets. The hidden powerhouses and old monsters from distant lands even sent their envoys to win the Super-tier potion.
While everyone was busy with their respective affairs, Ely slipped away from the auction house. She and her little group had booked a cabana room at a reputable hotel in the downtown area.
It was a type of room of about fifty square meters with a private pool next to the bedroom, separated by a thick glass wall. Ely's other disciples already arrived there.
"Hehe~ Everything went according to master's plan." Jophiel peeked out the window as she eavesdropped on the people's conversations outside with her amplified sense of hearing.
"We will be idle for two days." Ely sipped her warm blue tea.
"Blue tea?" Remiel glanced down at the tea in her hand. It was like blue juice plus milk instead of tea.
"That is Lingnania Tropical Blue, an authentic tea. Originally, it was the wild herb that Elder Yuuki accidentally found in the Demon Realm. However, those herbs are part of our tea garden now." Ely was pleased to know her family owned one more type of tea.
"Hum." Yuuki replied with a subtle nod.
"..." Uriel was still somewhat wary of the new Elder.
Unlike her master's new identity, Elder Yuuki was a genuine legendary nine-tailed fox. To think her master would attract a legendary creature and appoint this 10th Rank expert as an elder...
She had faith in her master's judgment, but that differed from her trust in new people. To put it bluntly, she still couldn't trust this snow fox, even though Yuuki was her master's sworn sister and a long-lost friend.
The water spirit returned and reported the recent news to Ely. Those troublemakers would make their move soon because Ely and Yuuki's whereabouts were exposed.
"Understood. Thank you, water spirit." Ely patted the water bundle, and then the water spirit left happily.
"We will play a little hunting game soon. They will probably come for us tonight." Ely announced that casually and then sipped her tea again. The event was precarious, but there was no sense of urgency.
"Tonight, huh. Alright, I shall deal with them as planned. Jophiel will move with me." Yuuki closed her eyes, periodically scanning her surroundings.
"Eh? M-me? What are we going to do?" Jophiel pointed at her face.
"Just assist me. Your charms and illusions will come in handy!" Yuuki opened one eye to glance at Jophiel. She then heaved a subtle sigh and looked at Ely. "Ely, you are no longer using Miko, but Kitsune? How many stage names do you plan to use?"
"It's just to suit my new identity. Miko is a shrine priestess, and Kitsune means fox spirit, similar to Gumiho. It's about time for Sacred Sakura Holy Land to become known to the world."Author updates n0VelfuIlb0ok Ely had thought about it and felt she couldn't use the name Miko for her current identity. It was exclusive to the shrine priestess version of her.
"So it's like that." Yuuki understood Ely's thoughts.
She admired Ely's ability. Ely's transformation skill was beyond amazing, more fabulous than her innate talent to change form.
"Hmm-mm~" Jophiel was in a good mood and hummed melodiously. She went behind Remiel and touched that fluffy wolf tail.
As she thought, her master's fluffy fox tails were the best.
"What is it, sixth sister?" Remiel glanced back with a clueless expression.
"No, it's nothing. So, how about your treasure hunt? Did you get what you hoped for?" Jophiel glanced at Yuuki's fluffy snow-white tails. She wanted to touch them, but she didn't dare. Thus, she approached her master for more-move.
"Everything was good until the everlasting earthquake occurred. We were forced to escape that unexplored secret realm for safety reasons. Look, the fifth sister is still in a bad mood." Remiel pointed at the gloomy Uriel.
"Well, everything is good. We plundered the entire mine there. I'm confident of securing the top ten spot. Remi gets a share, and with the addition of her prey, she can also enter the top ten. How about you, Jophi?" Uriel waved her hand to reassure everyone, as she didn't want to look crummy.
"I'm good, but my gain may be far above yours. Also, my talent will rank up soon and rival first sister and second sister! The time for me to shine will come soon~" Jophiel was overjoyed by her hunch.
She was already in the 3 Stars talent's bottleneck, and it was so close to ranking up. As her master said, once she achieved SSR talent, she could control her bloodline power better!
"W-what?" Uriel was stunned.
The first person to receive a talent rank-up was Rafaela. However, Jophiel got that welfare too?
Uriel suspected the secret was always with her master. Her master gave some assistance to raise Jophiel's talent qualifications. There were already two disciples in SSR rank talent, which would soon be three or maybe more.
With that thought in mind, Uriel couldn't wait for her lucky encounter under her master's tutelage. She wished for her master's private pointer like what Jophiel got too!
Her master was always fair and kind. All the disciples would get their chance.
"Fufu~ You're feeling jealous. You can only reach four stars or above if you're a good girl. Blaming you for always bullying me~" Jophiel poked Uriel's cheek as she laughed with satisfaction. It was rare she could tease her fifth sister like this.
"Uh, we cultivate our path to immortality together. So, you won't ascend by yourself. It's only a matter of time. Go away. Your smug face pisses me off. I'm afraid I'll pull your veil and scratch your face accidentally." Uriel pushed Uriel away.
"Fufu, look what the fifth sister is doing. She just isn't being honest." Jophiel fled to her master's side with the joyous laughter of a cheerful little girl.
"Um, it's only a matter of time... Ely got a little cold feet.
She couldn't predict what would happen if her disciples ascended and became immortals, but she remained at Oth Rank. Her pretentious manner might be exposed, and they would ascend to the Divine World, leaving her behind.
Before that happened, she had to upgrade her stats as soon as possible and unseal her Goddess Master. After all, her disciples were unlikely to help her and be with her forever.
Even if her pretending as a powerful master was not exposed, it would also be a matter of time for a mother to see her children leave her. They would grow up and obviously pursue their careers and futures in the vast outside world.
Ely felt a little sad at that thought, but she buried it deep in her heart.
Yuuki noticed Ely's change in expression. She could guess a few things because she had carefully observed Ely.
There was something that made Ely feel sad, and that was related to Ely's disciples.
She was aware that Ely revived the Guardian of Dream so those disciples could help some of Ely's goals.
However, there also existed a noble cause where they wished to eliminate the Heavenly Demon's seeds from the mortal world and, perhaps, exterminate the Heavenly Demons.
"Ely, I'm already an elder, but I still don't know about your disciples. Can you elaborate more about your ten core disciples and the others?" Yuuki tried to divert Ely's attention to something else.
"Mm, there are ten core disciples, known as Apostles, and 144 disciples. They have been running the Guardian of Dream for the last three years, and I believe they already have thousands of employees in total." Ely then shared some details about the ten Apostles and her outstanding disciples.
As for the Guardian of Dream's affairs, she didn't know much about it because she left everything to Gabriella. Rafaela assisted the leadership, but they weren't around to help her explain.
They also have yet to share detailed information about the Guardian of Dream's scope of influences. However, their career and business were booming since their organization covered almost every city in the Human Realm.
It was fair to say the Guardian of Dream had become something like an international company with many subsidiaries.
"Hum~" Yuuki understood many things from Ely's point of view and wished to talk to all of Ely's core disciples too.
She already knew Jophiel was good for Ely's cause and future. However, two others were also present here. She would take the liberty of having a private chat with them soon.