WHUMPH–WHUMPH–WHUMPH!
Quickly enough the colossal Chitinous Leviathan reached the gathering, its immense insectoid wings seeming to blanket the sun with their titanesque size as they flapped with immense power.
This flapping would have normally created terrifyingly strong winds, but fortunately this 'Flying Artifact' didn't follow the physical laws by virtue of it being cultivator-related, and except for the loud sound of its wings flapping, nothing else was created by its movements.
Then, as the Chitinous Leviathan's shadow blanketed the sun, it began its descent, its scales glinting like dark metal beneath the sunlight.
Just as the massive Flying Artifact came to hover a few meters above the ground and at a safe distance from the gathering of human cultivators, it stopped—it simply stopped and didn't move for several seconds under the countless cultivators' intense gazes until—
Thrrrmmm!
With a sound that resounded in everyone's ears, the heavy plating of the Chitinous Leviathan at the 'abdomen' part of its body began to shift and open, forming what resembled a massive door, the opening rapidly growing larger and larger and larger.
Within a couple of seconds, the gap in the Chitinous Leviathan's armored defense was wide enough for multiple people to stand side by side and above one another and still have room to pass, and then—
Clang, clang, clang.
They appeared!
From the door emerged a large group of humanoid-looking 'people' walking in an ordered, almost militaristic fashion, each one jumping down from the Flying Artifact before landing firmly on the ground and beginning to advance toward the human cultivators.
These humanoids, and yes, calling them humanoid is far more accurate than calling them human, because human they clearly are not!
Each of these humanoids, who were unmistakably Varnari, had an ashen-grey skin tone upon which faint ethereal markings or sigils glowed, forming intricate 'runic markings' across their skin.
These runic markings, etched upon their beautiful ashen skin, pulsed intermittently with the Qi flowing through their bodies, a Qi uniquely colored in the same hue as their eyes.
These eyes in particular were special and varied from one Varnari to another, but they all shared a common characteristic—the fact that they had vertical pupils that glowed with power!
But not only that, as their eye color schemes were unique too, with their beautiful irises being only red, gold, or amethyst, or variants of those three hues, with no possibility of others—a Varnari with, for example, black eyes simply didn't exist.
Of course, while the Varnari's skin and eyes were unique, the rest of them wasn't any less so; their hair, for instance, was either white, silver, dark red, or obsidian black, and usually long and flowing.
Another thing of note was that all these Varnari were taller than humans, not ridiculously so but certainly noticeably, as they all stood around 2 meters or higher.
And the 'most important' for last was the fact that the Varnari were a beautiful race, every one of their members was beautiful—the men were handsome while the women were breathtaking fairy—and this remained true even among cultivators.
Cultivators whose beauty already surpassed that of mortals by virtue of transcending their mortal limits, yet the Varnari were a step beyond even that, and among these cultivators they shone all the more brightly, which was what made them so strikingly attractive.
After all, if they had all been ugly, no matter how unique or exotic their characteristics might have been, they would 'just' have been an ugly race, but with their beauty, their distinct traits shone among humans and gave them an exotic charm that drew every gaze!
And when all those characteristics came together, they gave rise to a truly mystical and ethereal aura, one that blended seamlessly with an exotic allure only intensified by the warrior-like composure inherent to their bearing.
Step, step, step.
The footsteps of the approaching Varnari echoed as they moved in an orderly fashion, with nobody breaking ranks, all walking with that organized, battle-ready disposition that made it seem like they could enter combat at any moment!
"..."
A silence fell on the gathering of human cultivators as they watched the Varnari approach, all their gazes trailing on them, but whether it was because they were 'enthralled' by their beauty and charm or were tense because of what their presence signified—it depended on the person…
"So this is a Varnari… never saw them in person."
"So beautiful…" murmured a cultivator as he eyed a female Varnari with an enthralled gaze, it was obvious that he was 'captured' by the exotic, warrior charm she released.
"Hope a conflict won't erupt here." murmured a female disciple as she eyed them approach with a tense expression.
Of course the silence didn't last indefinitely as quickly enough whispers began, whispers which quickly transformed into louder chatters, but it didn't affect the situation as the Varnari continued to approach, and soon enough amidst the chatter—
The leading Varnari, who was a 2 meters 30 tall man with an extremely muscled body, with arms larger than some people's legs and from whom a no-nonsense, warrior aura was being released in full, took a step forward.
Boom! Crack!
The man didn't say a single word nor outwardly released his aura or power, but the simple action of taking a step forced people to focus their attention on him, their instincts screaming at them that this was a terrifying predator and that to leave him outside of their sight for even a single instant was the same as forfeiting their lives!
Gulp.
Many disciples nervously swallowed, their bodies trembling and their knees shaking in instinctive fear under the invisible pressure this burly Varnari was releasing.
Smile.
Slowly his lips curled upward, forming a terrifying, bloodthirsty grin as he smiled before speaking, his voice booming outward, "Today I, Varathen Kael, Sect Master of the Eidolon Path Sect, am informing the Sects of the Suncrest Region that my Eidolon Path Sect from the Eclipsion Region will participate in the Realm of Broken Skies that is to open!"
The moment he finished speaking, his aura exploded outward, revealing a cultivation at the 3rd layer of the Core Perfection Realm!
Gasp, grr!!
Gasps and grunts escaped from cultivators whose Sect Flying Artifacts were too weak to protect them from this aura eruption—or rather, it wasn't that these Flying Artifacts were too weak, but that they had chosen not to protect them.
Because for these weaker Flying Artifacts, protecting their Sect members against this casual show of force would have signified their end and their destruction!
And with these Flying Artifacts being 'semi-sentient', they were able to 'analyze' the situation in a way that made them understand there wasn't any true danger, and because of that they didn't protect the members of their Sect from the powerhouse's aura.
Of course, the above situation was only the case when there wasn't any true threat and when it wouldn't be lethal to the cultivators, or else, no matter the futility, these Flying Artifacts' defensive measures would have been activated—even if it led to their destruction!
But in this situation doing so would have been stupid and counterproductive, so these Flying Artifacts who were 'semi-sentient' did nothing and simply let things proceed.
Because of that, a lot of cultivators were left alone to face the brunt of this pressure, which made them breathless and nearly brought them to their knees, their bodies immobilized and entirely unable to move under the absolute suppression of cultivation realm!
The only Sects which were exceptions to that were the three Overlord Sects, their Flying Artifacts being Core Perfection ones, they didn't have to 'choose' between protecting their members and being destroyed or doing nothing, as with their power they were able to effortlessly endure the aura burst!
Of course this wasn't only because of the Artifact's power but also because Varathen's outburst wasn't a real attack but rather a display of strength and another reason—
'Sect Master!'
It was the three powerful figures standing at the forefront of their respective Sect Flying Artifacts, the three Core Perfection powerhouses whose own auras protected their Sects from the overwhelming display of strength of the Varnari.
Gaze, gaze, gaze.
No words were exchanged, but in a second all three Sect Masters shared a glance, silently communicating before—
Flash.
The three powerhouses vanished from their positions before reappearing near the mighty Varnari, their voices echoing in rebuke.
"Sect Master Varathen," Qin Yanlong's deep voice resounded first in a fiery and commanding tone, "your words are the height of arrogance, the Realm of Broken Skies belongs to the Suncrest Region, you don't seriously think you can barge here and enter it at your whim!?"
Beside him, Rong Xueyin's cold and nearly emotionless voice followed, cutting through the air like a blade of ice, "I fear that won't be possible, does the Eidolon Path Sect intend to force their way inside our Suncrest Region Secret Realm?"
She raised a beautiful eyebrow, her tone remaining utterly calm, "Because if that's the case, I would recommend thinking about it once more, it would be highly irrational to begin a regional conflict because of that…" her detached voice resounded.
And finally, the lazy beauty that was Qiu Yuelan was the next to speak, her usually lazy voice now carrying a rare seriousness, "Shameless! Your actions are truly shameless! You don't seriously think that you can barge into someone else's territory and enter their Secret Realm like that!?"
At that moment the air thickened as the aura of the three Sect Masters erupted outward, fire, ice, and formation merging together in a display of unimaginable power, creating a seemingly unstoppable wave that crashed directly against the terrifying, potent aura of Varathen!
BOOOMMM!
It was as if the heavens themselves exploded as, for a brief instant, the world fell silent, the air creaking and groaning under the strain of the two sides locked in this not-so-invisible confrontation.
Shhhk.
The invisible clash of auras lingered for several more seconds before, realizing that neither side could gain an advantage, both finally retracted their power.
Yet even after this 'probing' of the other's strength was done, silence reigned; on one side, the massive Varathen stood alone, and on the other, the three Sect Masters remained side by side, having decisively chosen to stand together.
Even with the hatred between the Flame Sovereign Sect and the Frozen Serenity Sect reaching its peak after their earlier confrontation, neither hesitated to 'ally' with the other—and with the Wandering Sword Sect, with whom they shared a neutral relationship.
This was the decision they had taken during their silent exchange, for after all, there were only so many resources within the Secret Realm, and having an outsider intrude benefited no one while certainly harming them all!
Understanding that, and unwilling to face a situation where the Secret Realm became more dangerous for fewer rewards, they decisively stood together against the outsiders, leading to the current standoff.
"Protect our Secret Realm!"
"Don't let these Varnari shamelessly intrude into our Suncrest Region to steal our resources!"
"Heaven is on our side, righteousness is on our side!"
Similar cries resounded as the silent stalemate above happened, powerful Elders and Sect Masters of various Sects of the Suncrest Region letting out these cries as they took flight.
Flight, flash, rustle, phew.
Quickly enough, powerful cultivators from the Suncrest Region at the Core Formation Realm flew behind the Sect Masters of the three Overlord Sects, showing their Sect's stance as they sided with the three Overlord Sects!
Normally they would never dare to offend an extremely powerful Sect like the Eidolon Path Sect, but with the Overlord Sects acting as their backbone, and not wanting to lose benefits, these clever old foxes all shouted with voices full of 'righteousness' as they positioned themselves behind the three powerhouses.
Within moments, there were dozens of Elders and Sect Masters joining behind the Overlord Sects, placing an invisible pressure on Varathen and the Varnari who both seemed unaffected.
"Follow the Sect Master!" shouted a hot-blooded Core Disciple from a first-rate Sect before taking flight and also joining the stalemate.
This Core Disciple's action began a chain reaction as the members of his Sect followed him, and when the disciples of another Sect saw this, they let out, "Don't let ourselves be overshadowed by the Verdant Forest Palace!"
And with that another Sect launched themselves in the sky and another and another, in a way that within moments the sky was darkened by all the cultivators who were there!
Author Note:
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Varnari, the Varnari, it's the first time we see them and honestly I thought about them a long while ago, like 100-200 chapters(maybe a little less) and did a little teasing(not much as it was more an idea in the corner of my mind that something clear on how they would appear)
Actually initially there was a minor spoiler warning for below because in my mind I was presenting the Varnari after this chapter but actually it was the one before so…
No spoiler! You can read without fear:
The main reason why I had the Varnari idea is because there is something that… I could say…bugged me, but at the same time it isn't really that, it would be more something that I noticed as illogical.
Like in a lot of novels, human and humanity at a large is a race and often is strong/the main one or even in the case where it's relatively weak.
We would still be weak but with great adaptability to grow stronger and things like that(often it's one of these two) and honestly I found it kinda illogical like in an infinite multiverse why would humans be special?
Like what we have above other races to make us special?
There isn't much so I wanted to make something where humans aren't a strong race but are a weak one, like if we compare with Varnari they are objectively a better and superior race.
Still, while the Varnari are just a better race they aren't the strongest, not even close as both human and Varnari are low on the 'race pyramid', like in comparison to something like a True Phoenix or something… yeah nothing much need to be said.
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— End of Chapter —