Chapter 24


    In the ruined ne, where the Bai n''s headquarters once existed, two men sat down on praying mats peacefully drinking wine side by side. The alcoholic fragrance that seeped out of the beverage was so strong that it upied the entire area.


    "Addi?" Called Omis as he turned to look at hispanion.


    "Hmm? What is it?" Answered back Addi as he drank a mouthful of wine.


    "I-I am not sure I want to know the answer to these questions, but I have to ask." Solemnly said Omis.


    At that, Addi''s body shuddered as he straightened in his seat before replying. "Ask away brother."


    Taking a deep breath to steady his mind, Omis asked, his voice cracking towards the end. "What happened to our n?"


    Shaking his head in sorrow Addi replied. "*Sigh* All have passed away..."


    It was an answer Omis had expected, one he was prepared to hear, yet that did not make it one bit easier.


    "All of them?" he hoarsely asked, desperately hoping for the answer to change.


    "Yes, all of those present except for you, Savage Rain, Daimyo, and Autumn. I do not know what happened to them, but I never saw them nor felt their aura in the thousands of years I have been wandering across the Mortal and Hell nes."


    "Hell?"


    "Yes, for some reason the bloody bastards can''t feel my presence over there, here in the mortal realm as well their sphere of influence is also rather limited, but they could still track us down as you just saw. In Hell, however, it''s different they are unable to enter it at all. So that has been my safe space for all this time."


    "That''s strange, to say the least." Replied Omis as he rubbed his chin deep in thought.


    Addi continued speaking as he recalled what happened. "The boss had to join up with the rest of the God realm cultivators...that was thest I saw or heard of him. The rest of us were ordered to lead our disciples and sects to the front lines-"


    "Wait! What happened to my sect and disciples?!" Anxiously asked Omis, it may have just been a game before but this was nheless his own sect made out of blood sweat and tears, countless time and effort were dedicated to creating it and recruiting his disciples from all across the realms!


    "Once I knew that you were not there, I went over to your sect to pay a visit. Your head disciple, Lu Lu had everything already prepared, with you gone, she took over as the temporary leader and had ordered the fortification of the entire mountain and was prepared for defending it till youe back."


    "...." Hearing that Omis''s heart felt heavy as he thought of such a scene.


    A beam of light was soaring across the heavenly sky, Addi''s heart was heavy as he sped towards Omis''s sect mountain. He still held on to a faint string of hope that his friend was there, that maybe he was just teleportedter then they did.


    As he drew closer, the glorious structure of the celestial sect was made visible. Omis had always been the most traveled out of all of them, while his sect was not as ridiculously big as some of the others in the heavenly realm, it still exuded a feeling of majesty as one looked at it.


    The throne roomid in the middle of the mountain surrounded by the disciples quarters and the beast gardens, right at the front was the reception hall. It was a simple but elegant design.


    As he flew down towards the reception hall, it''s giant doors slowly opened, Addi''s heart beat with anticipation, would his friend be the one to greet him?


    As the door fully opened, however, he was bound to be disappointed, the ones to greet him were his friend''s direct disciples, leading them was Lu Lu the head disciple and the temporary leader in case of the absence of Omis.


    "Uncle!" She cheerfully called out as she cupped her fists and gave a graceful now, followed by the rest of the direct disciples.


    "We greet Senior Uncle!" They all shouted in a united voice.


    It took Addi a few seconds to recover from his shock. It was still hard to see all these ''people'' that we''re not long ago considered NPC''s so full of life and...real?


    "En" Addi nodded as he walked inside, stopping in front of Lu Lu he affectionately patted her head as one would do to a small child, causing her cheeks to turn to a shade of red.


    Looking at her, Addi suddenly found himself turning emotional. This cute ck short-haired girl that did not look a day past eighteen was the first disciple his friend recruited from the mortal realm. He still remembered how Omis hade running to him asking him for help with a quest that ended up with Omis''s first disciple.


    Looking at her, Addi felt like he was looking at his brother''s little child, he truly did feel like an uncle. Smiling gently he asked.


    "Where is Omis?"


    To that question, all the eyes of those present hardened as the blush on Lu Lu''s face disappeared, she straightened her back as she replied.


    "Master has yet to arrive, we his disciples will protect our and master''s home until he does."


    A long sigh escaped Addi''s mouth, his eyes wandered along with all those present as he replied. "You understand that there is a waring up yes?"


    "We do." Answered Lu Lu.


    "I can not protect you if you are all this far away, why don''t youe back with me until Omis arrives?"


    "We appreciate the sentiment uncle, but this is our and master''s home, we have all made up our minds to protect it until hees back!" Replied Lu Lu, as her eyes hardened with the resolution, the disciples behind her solemnly nodded.


    "I can''t change your mind can I?" Asked Addi with another sigh.


    To that Lu Lu brightly smiled and answered, "Nope! Please do not worry uncle, we will definitely protect our home until master arrives!"


    "That was thest time I saw them... Once the fight started, I did not even have time to go back and check on them...I''m sorry Omis..." Said Addi, his head hanging low in shame.


    SMAAAACK


    "Ouch! What the hell?!"


    "What are you apologizing for? You never saw them again, does not mean they are dead. They are my disciples they wouldn''t die that easily, especially not if even YOU had survived." Replied Omis, he knew that he was just trying to convince himself, he knew the odds of just one of his disciples surviving was almost nonexistent, especially after seeing the attack that split his mountain. Yet he had no choice, he wanted to believe no matter how slim the odds were.