Chapter 465: Yet another Story of the past… again… again

Yet another Story of the past… again… again

Inside a vast hall, a woman with blue hair and pure white eyes sat on a throne that seemed to be entirely made out of ice. The throne was cushioned with materials that looked like they were woven out of snow, giving the throne a mysterious feeling.

Behind her stood a single maid. She would occasionally twitch while weird buzzing sounds were constantly radiating from her position. There were more people in the room, but neither of them paid any attention to her.

In front of the said woman and her maid were eleven people. Ten of them were standing with their backs straight, while one was kowtowing on the ground. After a few moments of silence, a mature man with blue hair, black cat ears and tail stepped forward. He glanced at the person kowtowing on the ground for a split second before his gaze returned to the person sitting on the throne.

"Mother, why did you summon us?"

A wide smile appeared on the woman's face when she saw the serious expression on her child's face. She looked at her eldest son with love-filled eyes and started speaking.

"Today, I have decided to initiate a plot I have been planning for quite a while. So, I have invited my ten most prominent children to help me with it."

The backs of the ten people straightened even further when they heard that their mother wanted to rely on them. So far, it was always the other way around, so they couldn't help but anticipate finally being able to help her. A woman with crimson, almost fire-like hair and a pair of dog ears stepped forward with an eager expression on her face.

"Mother Yuna, please tell us what to do. We will succeed no matter what you order us to do."

The woman on the throne, Yuna, nodded in satisfaction when she heard the words of her eldest daughter. Funnily enough, Yuna's eldest daughter didn't inherit Yuna's affinity for ice in the slightest and actually had an affinity for fire of all things. Naturally, Yuna didn't care and simply found it rather curious. She wouldn't discriminate against her children just because they had an unusual affinity.

"Well, as most of you had undoubtedly guessed already, this gathering has something to do with the single person in the room who is not of my bloodline."

As Yuna said that, eleven pairs of eyes landed on the still kneeling young man, causing him to shudder.

"You may get up and raise your head."

The kneeling person hesitated for a short moment before he got up and lifted his face, revealing the face of a relatively innocent-looking young man. That, paired with his overall meek look, made him look incredibly frail.

"Disciple greets the founder."

The moment the young man saw Yuna, he immediately bowed to her and spoke a respectful greeting.

Yuna couldn't help but chuckle at the young man, causing a chill to go down his spine.

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"Although your words sound rather respectful, isn't it rude to greet me while you are using a technique to change how your face looks like?"

Another chill went down the young man's back when his secret was revealed so casually as he instantly turned around and fled the room, resulting in another chuckle from Yuna.

"You don't actually believe you can run away from me, do you?"

Seemingly without any movement from Yuna, the young man's feet froze to the ground preventing him from running away. As soon as the young man was caught, he glared at Yuna with hatred, making her laugh in amusement.

"Now, now, no need to glare at me like that. How about you release that face-changing technique first so everyone can see your real face?"

The young man hesitated for a short moment before he simply did what he was told to do. After all, he was already captured, so he could only wait and see whether he would get an opportunity to flee.

Moments later, he touched his face, causing it to change quite a bit. A few of Yuna's ten children couldn't help but reel back in shock when they saw the innocent-looking man's real face.

It was a visage filled with nothing but hatred and vengeance. Now, he looked like someone who was willing to sacrifice everything he had just to get what he desired. Seeing the young man's real facial expression, Yuna couldn't help but smile. This was precisely the kind of person she was hoping to find.

"Good. Very good. Someone like you is exactly the person I need for my plan. But first, I will ask you a very important question. Obviously, you desire revenge. I don't know who your target is, so let me ask you this: Is the target connected to my sect in any shape, form, or fashion?"

The young man was taken aback for a short moment before realizing what was going on. Thanks for reading on ManaNovel!

'She wants to use me. Or rather, she wants to use my desire for revenge for something. However, if my target has something to do with her sect, she will eliminate me here and now. Luckily, that is not the case. Additionally, I don't mind being used as long as I can get my revenge.'

"No, my target has nothing to do with this sect. I joined with a fake identity to gain the strength necessary to get my revenge while staying anonymous. I hold no grudges against this sect."

Yuna and the young man locked eyes for a moment, and after Yuna confirmed that she could see no lies in the eyes of the young man, she nodded in approval as a broad smile appeared on her face.

"Very well. In that case, I have a rather interesting mission for you."

The young man straightened his back when he heard Yuna's words as his expression showed nothing but determination. He realized that this might be a chance to increase the pace at which he got stronger significantly.

"Please tell me what you want me to do, sect mistress."

A rather peculiar smile appeared on Yuna's face as she answered the young man's inquiry.

"Hehe, I want you to get bullied~"

-

"You want me to get bullied?"

Question marks popped up above the young man's head when she heard what kind of mission Yuna had for him.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand what you mean by that, sect mistress."

"A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. I want you to be my sect's weakest link."

The young man pondered on Yuna's words for a short moment before realizing what she wanted him to do.

"I see. You want me to continue using my face-changing technique, and the more I get bullied, the more I will change back to my original appearance, making people think that I resent this sect.

Then, there is a high chance that enemies of this sect will try to use me as a tool, making me somewhat of a double agent."

Yuna nodded in approval at the young man's conclusion. He seems to have a good head on his shoulders, greatly pleasing Yuna.

"However..."

Before the young man could continue his thoughts, Yuna interrupted him.

"However, why would someone approach you with your current status. After all, you have only recently joined my sect and have no connections worth mentioning."

He nodded in agreement as he patiently waited for Yuna to continue. Clearly, she had already planned everything. Yuna's gaze wandered from the young man to her ten children.

"That is where you ten come in. I want one of you to take him in as a follower, while I want the other nine to look down on him openly."

Before anyone could answer Yuna, her gaze returned to the young man.

"However, before we do anything else, I would like to know if you are willing to do it? Naturally, you will be compensated for your trouble."

The young man couldn't help but be surprised that he actually had a choice. He expected Yuna to simply order him to do what she wanted while ignoring his opinion. However, he didn't ponder Yuna's question for long.

'How can I not agree? My actions will help the sect discover spies, and I might even be able to sniff out some hidden plots. By making such considerable contributions, surely there will be a massive reward waiting for me.'

He was just about to agree when Yuna continued talking.

"Before you agree, I want you to think about this properly. If you decide to take this role, you will be frequently beaten and humiliated."

Yuna's words caused the young man to pause as he restarted thinking about his actions.

'She is right. Living in this sect will probably be like living in hell, if I agree. However, I don't care. There is nothing I'm not willing to do for my revenge. So what if I have to live through hell for a few years? As long as I reach my goal in the end, I don't mind.'

Yuna saw a ruthless glint pass through the young man's eyes, causing her to smile.

'As expected, revenge-crazed people are still the easiest to control. Dangle a chance to get their revenge in front of them, and they instantly become obedient.'

"Before I agree or disagree, may I know what kind of compensation I will receive?"

Yuna was even more impressed that the person in front of her had at least the ability to think somewhat rationally. Other people with his mindset would probably jump at the opportunity without giving it a second thought. This one is at least smart enough to ask what he will get.

"10000 medi... *cough* low-level spiritual stones per da... *cough*... we... *cough* month."

When Yuna was about to reveal what kind of compensation she would offer, one of her children quickly connected to her with telepathy and started scolding her for wanting to give the young man way too much wealth. Considering drool was almost coming out of his mouth, that was probably correct as he seemed to be overwhelmed by getting "just" 10000 small spirit stones per month.

Well, Yuna usually got her wealth from robbing gra... *cough* gaining the inheritance of some venerable ancestors, so she had ridiculous amounts of wealth and no idea what it was actually worth.

Although the young man was drooling a little due to how many spirit stones he could get, he still wasn't sure if it was worth it. Although having pretty much-unlimited spirit stones would definitely speed up his cultivation, there was a big problem with that.

Before he could think about it any further, Yuna resumed talking, instantly blowing away all his troubles.

"Additionally, you will be allowed to pick one cultivation technique from my sect's library. Except for the forbidden ones, you can choose freely."

Yes, that was the problem the young man had. Having a lot of spirit stones was definitely a good thing, but if he only had a mediocre cultivation technique, what would be their use? Not everyone could be a monster like Yuna, who created and evolved their cultivation technique by instinct.

The young man stepped forward and bowed to Yuna again.

"I'm willing to accept this mission."

Yuna nodded her head as her gaze landed on her ten children.

"Well, which one of you will take him in?"

Moments later, a woman with pure white skin and two small horns on her head stepped forward.

"I'm willing, mum. One of my followers has a nasty attitude, and I was about to send him away, but I think he might be helpful for this."

Yuna nodded in approval as she eyed her other children.

"You nine know your job. A few derisive comments should be more than enough to make your followers take action. However, and I can not stress this enough, if one of them goes too far and cripples or even kills our "bully-victim", there will be severe consequences. Is that understood?"

While asking her last question, intense pressure filled the room, causing Yuna's ten children to straighten their backs. They realized that that last question wasn't asked by Yuna in her role as their mother but by her role as the leader of this sect.

""""""""""Yes, sectmistress!""""""""""

Yuna nodded in approval when her children realized what her last question meant. Her gaze returned to the young man since she wanted to say a few more words, but her face stiffened as soon as her eyes landed on him.

The young man was lying passed out on the ground.

"That's definitely not my fault. He must have some hidden sickness."

All ten of her children rolled their eyes in tandem when they heard Yuna's shameless excuse.

-

A few days later, Yuna's eldest son, Omura, walked through the core area of Yuna's sect, the Heavenly Divine Ice Sect of Eternal Frost, followed by a large group of followers. He looked at the sign majestically showing that name and sighed deeply.

'*Sigh* I really wonder how mother came up with a name like that. She truly is a genius.'

"What are you sighing for, senor brother."

"Don't worry about it, Yanagi; I just couldn't help by sigh when I saw the majestic name my mother gave our sect."

Yanagi's face stiffened a little as a little bit of cold sweat started flowing down his back.

"Yesyesyes, a truly majestic name... *cough*"

"Indeed, such an incredible naming sense!"

"Yes, truly marvelous!"

"As expected of sect-mistress-sama!"

As soon as Yanagi finished giving a slightly awkward answer, a few more people enthusiastically started praising Yuna. While Omura considered Yanagi to be his friend, despite the respectful tone, the others were just bootlickers.

He considered sending them away, but he usually used them as errand boys, something he didn't want his friend to become, so he decided to keep them for now.

A few moments later, a tall woman with pure white skin and two horns on her head walked past Omura. Just like Omura, a small group of people followed her around. A smile appeared on Omura's face when he noticed his half-sister, causing him to give her a friendly nod, which she reciprocated.

Although there would occasionally be some conflict between Yuna's children, they usually got along rather well. Especially Omura, the eldest son, had a good relationship with most of his siblings.

While she was walking past him, Omura's eyes landed on one of the people following her, causing him to click his tongue in annoyance.

'Time to start mother's plan.'

"Do you dislike that kid, Omura-sama?"

As expected, one of his bootl... *cough* followers immediately picked up on his dissatisfaction and asked him what was wrong.

"Yeah, I dislike him. Apparently, my little sister made him one of her followers and even gave him some cultivation recourses."

"What!? I thought he was just a servant. Why is such a meek-looking boy allowed to follow your esteemed sister?"

Omura's face darkened even further when he heard his follower's question.

"I don't know. She claims that she saw his hidden potential, but I think he simply managed to sweet-talk my innocent little sister."

"This... would you like me to... deal with him?"

The other followers gasped in surprise when they heard that offer. Obviously, they weren't surprised by the proposal itself since none of them would hesitate to kill someone to get Omura's favor. What surprised them was that someone actually dared to propose something like that at all. After all, Omura was strictly against doing stuff like that.

They expected Omura to give the person who made the offer a heavy scolding, or maybe even a beating, but, to their surprise, he was genuinely thinking about what he had just heard.

"Fine, do it, but, whatever you do, you are not allowed to cripple or kill him."

"May I ask why?"

"If you do, my mother will find out about it."

The follower hastily nodded his head before a nasty expression appeared on his face.

"How about I do it in a way that will make it look like a natural death?"

Omura paused his steps when he heard those words. He looked at the person who just asked that question like he was this world's greatest idiot.

"Do you honestly think you could do it in a way my mother can't see through? That mother who grew up as an orphan in a lower world and somehow reached the peak of this realm's power? Do you have that kind of ability?"

A shiver of terror went through the follower's spine when he realized what he had just offered.

'Doing it in a way she wouldn't notice? Am I insane? That woman fought against the world and won... multiple times. She never joined any sect or organization and was always alone, yet, she came out on top.'

"I apologize for my careless words, Omura-sama."

Omura snorted in disdain and waved him away, causing him to leave with a wicked expression on his face. When Omura saw that expression, he could only sigh.

'This is what you wanted, young man. You could have rejected mother's request whenever you wanted, but you decided to go through it for the sake of your revenge. You really can't blame me for this.'

A year later, the previously mentioned young man entered his home in the core region of the sect. As the follower of one of the sect's strongest people, he naturally had the privilege to live here. However, unlike the other houses in the region, his was smeared with graffiti, and all the windows were broken.

The young man was currently sitting in the house's only room that wasn't damaged. The cultivation room. Obviously, the room wasn't intact because of the goodwill of the people, but because the last time someone destroyed it, he was heavily punished. After all, the formations in these rooms would increase someone's cultivation speed and were thus the sect's resources.

The young man sat crosslegged inside a complex formation. Bruises could be found all over his body, but he had a broad smile on his face despite that. He just had another breakthrough.

At first, he honestly wasn't sure if taking the deal was a good idea, but by now, he no longer had any doubts about it. His strength was soaring at a ridiculous rate as he had pretty much infinite resources.

Usually, if someone were to overuse spirit stones like he did, their foundation would become a mess. Fortunately, there were a lot of chances for him to battle superior opponents as more and more people came after him to beat him up for "daring to stand near the princess" or something equally ridiculous.

Yes, it was painful, and he would often be humiliated, but if someone asked him whether he regretted making this deal, he would decisively answer with a no. One year, maybe two, and he would have the strength necessary to get his revenge. What he expected to take 20, 30, or even 40 years was somehow achieved within two to three.

Moments later, someone opened the door. At first, he was frowning, but a small smile appeared on his face after seeing who it was.

"Greetings, senior sister."

"It's been a while. Congratulations on your breakthrough. Have you been roped into a few more plots I can tell mum about?"

The young man straightened his back when he heard the young woman's question.

"Yes, someone asked me whether I'm willing to participate in..."

And just like that, another plot targeting Yuna's sect was stopped before it could happen.

-

Just like that, a few more years passed, and the previously mentioned young man was currently standing alone in a vast courtyard surrounded by nothing but corpses.

"Hahaha, I did it. I finally did it, HAHAHA!!!"

Madness-filled laughter echoes over the courtyard as a sea of blood slowly started covering the ground.

"FINALLY, I GOT REVENGE FOR EVERYTHING YOU PUT ME THROUGH, HAHAHA!!!"

Maddened laughter echoed over the courtyard for a long time, scaring everyone who wanted to investigate it away. The creepy laughter faded away after multiple hours, allowing other people to discover the mountain of corpses the young man had left behind.

Instead of being terrified by the horrific scene in front of them...

"Hahaha, these damn monsters are finally dead."

"Today, their reign of terror finally ends.

... they were elated. The young man clearly wasn't the only one these people offended in the past.

The young man returned to Yuna's sect with empty eyes a few hours later. The fire that had kept him going for a long time was extinguished. He no longer cared about anything else. He briefly considered killing himself, but decided against it. He felt like he still owed Yuna a debt for making his revenge possible. Yes, "possible", not "accelerate it".

After finally attacking his enemies, he saw just how many hidden cards they had, making him realize that he would have never gained enough strength to fulfill his desire if he was by himself. Only through the ridiculous amounts of resources he got and the infinite opportunities to fight people stronger than him in a safe environment did he reach the level of power he needed to succeed.

'Now, my life no longer matters. Even if Yuna-sama asks me to die for her, I will do so without a single regret. I no longer have any purpose, so I will continue to be useful to her as long as possible and then simply fade away into nothingness.'

As soon as the two people guarding the gate, contempt filled their eyes, and one of them approached the young man.

"The sect mistress wants to see you, leech."

"Hehe, it seems like she finally had enough of you leeching resources from her daughter and has decided to deal with you."

The young man completely ignored the two guards and walked past them while only registering that Yuna wanted to talk with him.

If it were a few years ago, the two guards would have undoubtedly beaten him up, but they no longer dared to do so after the last beating they received from him.

' 'Damnit, that trash gets fed massive amounts of resources and managed to surpass our strength by now. Just imagine how powerful we would have been if all those cultivation resources were given to us!' '

Obviously, those two guards were delusional. Someone who was only qualified to guard the door was not someone who could endure what the young man went through all these years.

A few minutes later, the young man was back in the throne room, where he accepted Yuna's offer all those years ago. Without a second of hesitation, he got on his knees and kowtowed toward Yuna.

"Greetings, sectmistress-sama."

"Mah, there really is no need for all these formalities, is there? You may get up."

The young man got up when he heard Yuna's order, and a moment later, their gazes met.

"Oh? How was your revenge? Did you enjoy it?"

The young man couldn't help but be taken aback when he heard Yuna's words.

'How did she find out that I got my revenge with just a glance?'

After seeing the confusion in the young man's eyes, Yuna chuckled in amusement.

"Boy, I have been sitting on this throne ever since before your great grandparents were born. There is nothing you can hide from me."

The young man blushed a little at being seen through so easily and at being called "boy", but didn't comment any further on it. After all, he was fully aware that Yuna was right. What kind of secret could a youngster like him possibly have in front of a monster like Yuna?

"*Cough* May I ask why you summoned me here, sectmistress-sama?"

Yuna hummed in acknowledgment as a small smile appeared on her face.

"Naturally, it is to cash in on everything you have done so far. You probably expected me to use you as a disposable pawn, but there is no way I would use someone as useful as you like that."

The young man couldn't help but be confused by Yuna's words.

'Useful? How am I still useful? Less and less people are contacting me in my role as a spy, so my real status is probably more or less known to outside forces. I don't think I have much use left except for sacrificing my life for something.'

When Yuna saw the confusion in his eyes, she could only shake her head.

'Although revenged crazed idiots are easy to control, their singlemindedness can make them really annoying.'

"*Sigh* Just where do you think your current strength places you in my sect?"

More and more question marks popped up above the young man's head as he pondered on Yuna's question.

'My current strength? I'm honestly not too sure. I spent most of my time either fighting other people or cultivating, so I still have only a loose understanding of this sect. I regularly get beaten up, so it can't be that high, right?'

"Errr, I still get defeated rather regularly, so somewhere around the middle?"

"Urgh, you are more oblivious than I thought you would be. The reason you get beaten so often, is because multiple older people are ganging up on you. If I were to compare you to other people of your age, my children are the only ones in my sect who could fight and defeat you in a one-on-one. You have by far surpassed anyone else."

The young man immediately got dazed when he heard that. Was he really that strong? Frankly, he could hardly believe it. After all, he was just born in a remote region with pretty much no cultivators at all. How in the world did he manage to catch up to geniuses that received plenty of benefits from birth? However, Yuna wasn't done talking yet.

"Additionally, if I were to order you to die, what would you do?"

"I would die."

There was not a moment of hesitation in the young man's answer, making Yuna smile.

"That's right; you are worthy of me keeping you around. Good talent and high loyalty. I will probably assign you as a guard to one of my younger children soon."

The young man's eyes widened in surprise when he heard Yuna's words. Although it sounded like a relatively simple job, being assigned as a guard for one of Yuna's children was no joke. After all, that meant that Yuna trusted you to guard her child. A child, that would very likely be targeted by an outside force. It was a hazardous job, but the rewards were on another level as well.

The previously extinguished fire in the young man's eyes reignited as he swore on his very being that he would protect Yuna's lineage no matter what happened.

"I live to serve, Yuna-sama!"

"Hahaha, very good. I'm looking forward to what heights you will reach, Jeremy!"

The young man's face deadpanned when he heard Yuna's words.

"My name is Jeff."

"Hahaha, I was just kidding. Obviously, I know your name, Jerome."

"..."

Right now, some doubts appeared in Jeff's mind...

A few days later, a large group of disciples and elders gathered in the sect square. While the disciples were standing in front of a large podium, the elders were seated on it.

Most of the disciples were whispering to each other, discussing what might be the occasion for this gathering.

Moments later, Yuna appeared on the stage, immediately silencing all discussions, as the disciples looked at Yuna in awe. Although there were a lot of rumors that she was an insane pervert that constantly caused trouble, none of the disciples would ever believe such outragous rumors. To them, Yuna was a legendary character.

Despite Yuna's presence, the whispering returned when the people saw Jeff following Yuna on the podium.

"Oh, so we'll be seeing a public execution, not bad."

"Pah, this is too much glamor for that leech."

"True, but I will still enjoy the show."

One of the elders sent a sharp glare into the crowd, immediately silencing them just as Yuna sat down on her designated seat and Jeff kneeled on one knee a few meters away from her.

"Mah, no need to be so stern, Second Elder~"

The Second Elder rolled his eyes at Yuna but didn't comment any further. Even before this sect was founded, he and Yuna had been friends, so being called Second Elder instead of his real name annoyed him a little, so Yuna would call him that without fail.

"Well, as most of you have probably expected, today's gathering is about the young man kneeling in front of me."

Yuna's smile broadened when she saw everyone's eager looks, and it widened even further at the thought of breaking all those expectations they had.

"Today, Je... Ja... this young man will be awarded for his contributions to the sect. His rewards are a promotion to core disciple and the honor of guarding my youngest child. Additionally, he will be allowed to pick one cultivation technique from the library and one artifact from the treasury."

""""WHAT!?""""

Although most people managed to reign in their shock, a few couldn't help but exclaim loudly, causing Yuna to chuckle in amusement.

"Oh my~ seems like quite a few of you are rather surprised by that. Care to elaborate what the problem is."

As she said that, her eyes landed on one of the disciples who couldn't keep his mouth shut, causing a shiver to go down his spine.

"T-There n-naturally is n-no problem, sectmistress-sama. I-I was just surprised since I didn't know the lee *cough* senior brother made such great achievements."

Yuna nodded in agreement when she heard the disciple's words.

"Of course, you didn't. After all, he was working as a double spy for me for the last few years, selling information I tell him to sell to other sects, while simultaneously reporting the spies that contacted him for information. Over all, over 100 spies were caught due to his contributions, while a total of seven underhanded plots against me, my children, and my sect were prevented due to him. Does anyone dare to compare contributions with him?"

The sound of everyone's chins hitting the ground simultaneously echoed over the gathering. Even some of the elders couldn't believe what they had just heard.

No one could believe that the loser that supposedly was leeching resources from one of Yuna's children actually had such an important role. Although not everyone got it, after realizing that the dislike for Jeff initially stemmed from Yuna's children, while even the reason for everyone disliking him was due to Yuna's children a lot of people started seeing Jeff in a new light.

'To think he was such a noble person. He was willing to endure years of bullying to help this sect out. Rater than a leech, isn't he a hero?'

Meanwhile, Jeff was barely following what was going on around him, as he was currently regretting what he had done to his enemies.

'Damnit, I should have tortured that shithead patriarch longer! And why in the world did I instantly kill that bastard elder? I'm such an idiot.'

Yes, he was obviously a hero.