Teacher by day, Farmer by passion
Chapter 287 - 287: Tharz Kingdom [7]

Disciples dashed back and forth, hauling lumber, setting up barrier wards, and rerouting spirit veins.

The air buzzed with activity, urgency, and the occasional controlled panic of cultivators struggling to manage actual civilians.

Courtyards were repurposed into makeshift shelters. Gardens were flattened for tents. Storerooms were emptied of blankets and food.

Kitchens ran nonstop, their smoke rising like banners of effort and exhaustion.

Amidst all of this, Elder Akha remained at the center, worn down, but still the one planning and giving orders to keep everything run smooth and well.

Nearby, her bald-headed sisters, Khani and Kathum, were hunched over pill furnaces, refining medicine with synchronized efficiency.

"Hah… why me…" Elder Akha muttered, wiping her brow.

As she surveyed the camp, a rising voice pulled her attention to the east courtyard.

A sect disciple stood bowed under a storm of complaints, while a red-faced man gestured wildly.

A sect disciple stood bowed, head lowered in apology while an irate villager berated her loudly.

Elder Akha sighed. "If Grand Elder Lily saw this, she'd probably kick that man over a mountain," she chuckled to herself, tired but still with a sense of humor.

She stretched, groaning softly, then stepped away from the pill station, leaving the twins to their work.

As she stepped outside, the sun struck her freshly shaved head, reflecting a gleam so bright it momentarily blinded the scolding villager.

The man flinched, rubbing his eyes.

Elder Akha approached with calm authority, her voice cool but edged with amusement.

"So… what seems to be the problem here, young man?"

The villager recoiled slightly. Her words dripped with irony.

"'Young man'? Is this the hospitality of—"

He paused.

Elder Akha raised a brow. "What? You don't even know the name of the sect that's going to be feeding and sheltering you? What a shameless brat you are."

"I don't care what it is! I'm the new lord here! You want to keep operating? Then show some proper respect!"

Elder Akha sighed and turned to the disciple.

"My child, go tend to the others. You don't need to waste time on the demented."

"What?! Demented?" The man snapped, then suddenly threw a punch.

His fist struck Elder Akha's forehead with a dull thud. She didn't even blink. At her level, initial Legend rank, a mortal's strike was like a breeze against stone.

But it was still a direct challenge to sect authority.

At the same time a crowd began to gather, drawn by the tension. They were curious, some were even eager.

It was just human nature. Like a moth to fire.

Elder Akha spoke again, her tone sharpening.

"This sect is called Sky High Sect. And I won't tolerate a young man like you, challenging our authority like this. If you don't want your family implicated, you'll apologize now and stay silent."

"Young man this, young man that! Look at you! You're bald! Ugly! And you have no respect for your elders!"

Then he spat.

Right on Elder Akha's face.

She closed her eyes.

"…Alright. That's it. You're getting ou—"

But before she could finish, the man was sliced clean in two.

A cold wind swept through the air as the crowd froze.

Ace stepped forward, sword drawn, expression unreadable.

"You're all just mortals," Ace said, his voice low—controlled, but simmering. "What exactly do you think you're trying to prove by disrespecting someone who could erase your entire village with a flick of the wrist?"

He stepped forward, eyes narrowing, the weight of his presence pressing down like a storm on the verge of breaking.

"You came to us, begging for help. And we gave it. No questions. No conditions. You asked for shelter, and our disciples, who have trained in sword and spears, not carpentry, are working themselves raw to build it for you."

His gaze swept the villagers, voice still even but laced with disbelief.

"And what did we ask in return? Tribute? Loyalty? Worship?"

He scoffed.

"No. Just manners. Basic decency. And yet here you are, throwing insults like children who don't understand the fire they're playing with."

He exhaled, sharply, almost disgusted.

"I truly don't understand it. Is it pride? Is it stupidity? Or do you just not comprehend the mercy being shown to you right now?"

He looked around at the villagers now trembling before him.

"Only manners. That's all I ask of you. If anyone here think we're asking for too much," his sword vanished back into its sheath with a single motion, "—you're free to leave. We won't stop you. But don't expect protection or aid ever again."

The silence that followed was absolute.

Elder Akha reached up and gently tugged on Ace's robe.

"Master… thank you for standing up for me," she whispered.

Ace leaned down slightly and whispered back, "I had to. If Lily had seen that… it would've been a massacre."

Elder Akha giggled quietly, the tension draining from her shoulders.

"Haha… that's true."

One child raised his hand.

The crowd collectively inhaled, sharp, horrified, a sound like a hundred gasps held hostage by fear.

The boy's mother turned white as snow. In a flash, she yanked his arm down like she was defusing a spirit bomb.

"Don't," she whispered frantically. "Don't you dare raise your arm again—ever."

But fate, as always, had a flair for timing.

Because Lily was already here, descending like judgment draped in silk, her presence brushing across the sky like a falling star.

"No, no… let the boy speak," Lily said softly, her feet barely touching the ground as she hovered down like a serene war goddess.

Ace and Akha exchanged a glance.

In perfect sync, they moved to stand on either side of her, not to support her. No, no.

To hold her back.

Just in case.

You know, for safety.

Their own.

Lily raised an eyebrow, already reading their thoughts.

"Hey! I'm not some maniac who kills everyone I see," she huffed, folding her arms with offended dignity. "I have standards, you know. I don't vaporize children."

Ace and Akha smiled stiffly.

Lily shot a side glance at Akha. She nodded back respectfully..

The mother, still on the ground, suddenly knelt and pressed her forehead into the dirt. Her voice trembled.

"Please… please spare my son. He's just a child. He doesn't understand what's happening, he didn't mean anything by it!"