Chapter 1160 - 1160 – Crossroads
This was a huge issue.
The Eternal Fire Sect had a zero-tolerance policy when it came to breaking their rules. If one of the Myriad Sect's Ancestral Gods decided to attack an Ancestral God of another subsidiary Sect of the Eternal Fire Sect, the entire integrity of this competition would vanish.
This was a place for creating more powerful Sect Masters and Star Gods. The Ancestral Gods would help in creating and administrating these Sects, but the fighting had to be done by the Star Gods and Peak Immortal Emperors.
However, since the Ancestral Gods had also been the ones that created the Sect, they had the right to destroy their own Sects. The Sects belonged to them, and they could do with them whatever they wanted.
Sure, Manuel could try to quickly gather all the Star Gods of the other Sect, but the other Star Gods had come with their Ancestor, which was a bad thing.
Why?
Because her Star Gods were in the range of her Spirit Sense.
If she suddenly saw many Star Gods charge into the Myriad Sect, she would immediately kill all of them.
She was essentially using the rules to threaten Manuel with the lives of thousands of Star Gods.
If Manuel ordered one of his Ancestral Gods to kill her, the Myriad Sect wouldn't only lose their status as a subsidiary Sect. They would maybe even become enemies with the Eternal Fire Sect.
The Eternal Fire Sect had an incredible amount of Ancestral Gods, and they even had a new Ancestor at the peak of the Ancestral God Realm. Orpheus was still on the fifth level of the Ancestral God Realm. Sure, Orpheus was incredibly powerful when it came to his Battle-Strength, but he couldn't fight a level nine Ancestral God.
By killing this Ancestral God, Manuel wouldn't put the Myriad Sect into danger but doom it entirely.
Gravis was in a different room with Stella, and he was watching what was happening. A powerful Formation Array isolated the room where the two sides were negotiating, but that didn't stop Gravis.
Gravis saw Manuel hesitate, and he knew exactly what was happening.
Manuel was at a crossroads.
Gravis waited for a while and noticed that Manuel's emotions were slowly leaning towards acceptance.
"What do you want to do?" Gravis asked Manuel.
"I can't risk it," Manuel answered. "I'm not living only for myself. I also have a responsibility to all the disciples of the Myriad Sect. I can't doom them for a momentary bout of emotions."
"I understand that, but are you truly fine with giving up?" Gravis asked.
"Of course I'm not fine with it," Manuel transmitted back with a frown, "but I don't have any other choice."
"Don't you?" Gravis asked.
"Gravis," Manuel transmitted back. "As a Sect Master, I have to protect the Sect and my disciples. I have a responsibility, and I can't put them at risk for something I don't need but only want."
Gravis remained silent.
"It's what I have to do," Manuel transmitted. "It's for the good of the Sect."
Gravis only sighed.
'You were so close,' Gravis thought. 'If you simply went with what you wanted, you could have comprehended the Law of Freedom. Sadly, I can't make the decision for you, Manuel. Otherwise, it wouldn't work.'
Manuel had been so close to comprehending the Law of Freedom.
Sadly, Manuel's mind and personality were too aligned with the Law of Control, which made it incredibly difficult to comprehend the Law of Freedom. The more one knew about control, the harder it was to comprehend the Law of Freedom.
After all, comprehending the Law of Freedom meant giving up control. The Law of Freedom could only be comprehended when someone went with a stupid decision that they wanted instead of with a smart decision they didn't want.
In a sense, Manuel was too smart and too calm to comprehend the Law of Freedom at this moment.
Manuel was a great Sect Master, and to comprehend the Law of Freedom, he had to be a bad Sect Master.
Manuel had decided to accept the offer.
BANG!
And the Ancestor of the other Sect exploded.
Everyone looked with shock at the place the other Ancestor had just been.
No one had expected her to die!
Manuel exploded with anger. "Orpheus!" he shouted aggressively.
Manuel rarely lost control over his anger, but this time, he thoroughly lost it.
He had just decided to sacrifice what he wanted for the good of the Sect. It had taken a lot out of him to come to that decision, but Orpheus made all of that worthless!
Even more, Orpheus had said that Manuel was the one leading the Sect! Orpheus had broken his promise by acting on his own!
The other Ancestral Gods looked with panic and fear at Orpheus.
What did he just do!?
Meanwhile, Orpheus only smiled while looking at Manuel.
"Explain yourself!" Manuel said with a cold voice.
Orpheus' smile transformed into a smirk.
"I wanted to kill her," he said.
Silence.
"That's it!?" Manuel shouted in anger. "That's why you killed her!? Do you realize that you made the Eternal Fire Sect our enemy!?"
"Yes," Orpheus answered. "I know that."
"But I really wanted to kill her."
Silence.
"Orpheus! You have a responsibility to the Sect! You can't just act on your own and doom everyone in the Sect!" Manuel shouted.
"Well, I just did," Orpheus said with a smirk.
Manuel was filled with stress and anger at Orpheus' words.
Orpheus was unreasonable!
However, Manuel took a deep breath to calm down.
The deed had already been done, and there was no changing it.
Now, Manuel needed to plan for what was about to come.
"Don't do that again," Manuel said with suppressed anger.
"Or what?" Orpheus asked.
Manuel's anger exploded again.
However, he realized that there was nothing he could do.
Orpheus had all the power.
Manuel could dismiss Orpheus from his position as an Ancestor, but that would doom the Myriad Sect even more. With no one suppressing them, the Ancestral Gods would become the leaders of the Myriad Sect.
Even more, they needed Orpheus now more than ever. They had to deal with the Eternal Fire Sect, and they needed someone as powerful as Orpheus to resist them.
'Is he stupid?' Manuel thought with frustration. 'He knows that he can't fight the Ancestor of the Eternal Fire Sect. His life is in just as much danger as our lives.'
'So, why did he do it? What was his reason?'
Manuel thought about Orpheus' motivation for several seconds, but he couldn't come up with the answer.
Sure, Orpheus had said that he had only done it because he wanted to, but that was unreasonable.
That couldn't be the reason.
Sadly, Manuel wasn't able to discern that this truly was the entire reason.
Orpheus knew the Law of Freedom, and he did what he wanted.
When Orpheus saw Manuel suppressing himself again, he sighed.
"I tried, Gravis," Orpheus transmitted to Gravis.
Orpheus had given Manuel another chance at comprehending the Law of Freedom. Manuel simply had to dismiss him as the Ancestor.
It was a stupid decision, but that was what Manuel wanted.
Manuel was very outstanding, but that was the exact reason why he had such issues in comprehending the Law of Freedom.
He was too perfect.
He didn't make mistakes, and comprehending the Law of Freedom meant committing a mistake.
SHING!
Someone appeared in front of the Myriad Sect. The person was a middle-aged man with red hair, wearing the robes of the Eternal Fire Sect.
When the man saw Orpheus, his eyes narrowed, and he crushed an emblem.
SHING!
The man had realized that Orpheus was too powerful for him, which was why he had called his superior.
A woman with red hair appeared beside the Elder. She was a level five Ancestral God, just like Orpheus.
Yet, when she felt Orpheus' Battle-Strength, her eyes widened, and she also crushed an emblem.
SHING!
An older woman with long orange hair appeared.
She was the new Sect Master of the Eternal Fire Sect since the old Sect Master had become their Ancestor.
She was a level seven Ancestral God, and she also felt Orpheus' Battle-Strength.
Orpheus felt incredibly dangerous to her.
However, she could attempt to fight him. Her chances of winning were not zero.
Manuel took a deep breath.
The leaders of the Eternal Fire Sect and Orpheus only looked at each other as the atmosphere became intense.