A few hours later, Aelina left the Outer Court and appeared back on her throne. In front of her knelt 15 Elders of the Sect, each at the Mortal Shedding Realm or above.
"I'm sure most of you have an idea as to why I called you here. A few rats seemed to have been ordered to trespass onto our territory. According to our investigations, the ones who invaded us were part of the Unorthodox Faction. However, from my understanding of the evidence, I believe the Crimson Slayer Sect was the real perpetrator behind this. Your job is to appear outside their Branch Sects secretly. Once there, wait for further instructions." Aelina announced and waved her hand, signaling them to leave.
"By your will, Sect Master!" x15
With that said, the 15 Elders hurriedly flew out of the building and headed toward their destination.
"As for me… I suppose I'll pay a visit to that little pocket space they are hiding in. Hehehe~" A cold smile appeared on Aelina's face as she vanished.
***
To this era's younger generation, the Battle Maiden Sect is only known to be one of the best Sects on the Western Continent and possibly one of the best Sects in the entire world for women.
Their roots are deep. Their standards are high, and they are known for focusing more on hard work than talent.
They are greatly respected by the general public, which is part of the reason they are able to stand at the top of the Western Continent.
Around 50% of the human population is made up of women, and what woman would dislike a Sect created for the sole purpose of nurturing women? So, even if some women don't want to join the Battle Maiden Sect or are unable to, they still hold a deep respect for them.
However, contrary to popular belief, very little is actually known about the Battle Maiden Sect's Main Branch. Spies from opposing forces are only capable of making their way into the Outer Court, and that's if they're lucky. With how high the Battle Maiden's standards are, most spies are weeded out before they can even enter the Sect.
Even if they did make it into the Outer Court, the information, techniques, and resources available to those in the Outer Court are very basic.
Aside from that, spies have to work their assess off just to stay in the Sect! Therefore, most of the spies that make it into the Sect are kicked out without even exposing themselves!
The Battle Maiden Sect also rarely involves themselves in worldly matters. So, the chances of seeing a disciple from the Inner Court or above are extremely rare.
So, for the younger generation in other Sects and opposing forces, they can't help but look down on the Battle Maiden Sect a bit. Well, that is if they can even remember them in the first place.
However, it's also for these reasons that nobody dares to act recklessly around the Battle Maiden Sect regardless of their background.
Humanity has always feared the unknown, and the Battle Maiden Sect is a big question mark to most people. The only ones who know of their true nature are those part of the older generation. They've lived for generations and have seen firsthand the cruelty, strength, and ruthlessness the women from the Battle Maiden Sect are capable of.
There was once a rumor of a clan that was on the rise in the cultivation world thousands of years ago.
This clan, in just a few hundred years, was already approaching the power of the Top 7 Orthodox Faction Sects on the Continent.
However, one day, they got a bit too full of themselves and their own power and decided to invade the Battle Maiden Sect. On the official Sect rankings at the time, the Battle Maiden Sect was number 7, so this clan thought they would be the easiest target to increase their fame and prove their power.
They also had ideas of wanting to enslave the women, plunder all the treasures, and destroy the mountain that the Battle Maiden Sect resided on.
This clan planned for years until they felt like they were ready to take down the Battle Maiden Sect in one fell swoop.
One must know that battles in the Cultivation, including large-scale wars, don't actually take that long. With the right planning and preparations, a war that might've taken a year to win might only end up taking a few days.
These major powers and top cultivators could be equal to nukes Mira has seen in the mortal world. Just a single nuke can level cities and kill tens or even hundreds of thousands in minutes. A few nukes can even cripple a small country in under a day, and that's what the clan wanted to do.
They wanted to take down the Battle Maiden Sect in one fell swoop.
However, their arrogance got the better of them. Despite their efforts to gather information about the Battle Maiden Sect, they could not gather any useful information. Their strength, numbers, defensive measures, etc. None of that was known. Hell, they didn't even know who the Sect Master was!
But the higher-ups of this clan did not heed these warning signs and continued with the invasion.
The entire Western Continent was in a state of upheaval during this time as tension between the top powers grew. The general public disproved the clan's barbaric ways, but what could they do?
Some of the other Sects were excited to see what might happen and were ready to take advantage of the situation. Others were concerned as they felt it would be a loss to humanity as a whole should the Battle Maiden Sect fall, while the rest stayed neutral.
Many felt that the Battle Maiden Sect would surely fall because everyone knew how powerful the clan was, yet they had no idea the level of power the Sect held.
When the clan finally invaded the mountain, it was already too late.
The clan didn't even realize they had walked into a 'trap' before it was too late. No, it couldn't even be said to be a trap, but just the difference in power and intel.
While the Battle Maiden Sect had fewer disciples overall, each one of them was head and shoulders above the rest. They have gone to hell and back to reach their current stage, whereas the members of the clan were just pumped full of resources, severely lacking in combat ability.
In under a day, all the clan's members, Elders and Leader included, had their blood spilled on Battle Maiden Sect soil.
It couldn't even be considered a battle, as the Clan was slaughtered without even being given a chance to retaliate.
The world didn't even have time to be in shock as everything happened too quickly. Overnight, the clan was wiped out of existence. Not only that, but their headquarters and any other locations or people related to the Clan were destroyed, looted, and killed.
It all happened too quickly, and before anyone knew it, a major power was gone.
Nobody knew how to react!
What happened? How was the clan wiped out? Did the Battle Maiden Sect call in reinforcements? Were they waiting for this opportunity? Did a powerhouse from the Central Continent intervene?
These kinds of questions rang in the minds of everyone, including the other Sects and major powers.
Although everyone had taken a step back when the clan invaded the Battle Maiden Sect, they'd be lying if they said they weren't interested. The Battle Maiden Sect has always been mysterious, and this would be a good time to gauge their level of power and trump cards.
However, everything ended too quickly! To make matters worse, someone killed anyone who witnessed the battle, so there were absolutely no information leaks!
Surprisingly, after the 'war', nothing was heard from the Battle Maiden Sect. They just returned to what they were doing, making this situation even more mysterious. It was almost like nothing had even happened!
This wasn't the only time in history that something like this happened, but similar to this situation, no evidence was left behind.
Therefore, unless one was a fool, nobody dared to mess with the Battle Maiden Sect. They just treated them like a sleeping dragon that shouldn't be poked. Their strength and numbers were unknown. Their allies were unknown. Their techniques were unknown. And even many of their higher-up's faces were unknown.
All information about their major battles was lost, destroyed, or killed.
Of course, there are exceptions, but the Sect was able to handle that as well.
That leads us to the present, where the Crimson Slayer Sect decided to send a few disciples into their territory.
A lesson must be taught, and Aelina was more than happy to dish it out.
***
,m A few hundred kilometers away from the headquarters of the Crimson Slayer Sect, Aelina hovered in the air, concealing herself.
"Hehe~ I guess it's time to stretch my legs a bit." Aelina smiled coldly, reached out her hand, and released a tremendous amount of Qi.
Soon, in front of her appeared a genderless and faceless semi-transparent humanoid entity.