Aria

Aria looked languidly down into her tea. It tasted bitter despite being the finest tea on the continent. She felt irritated mostly at herself. But the fool had been so annoying, but perhaps forcing him to kill his guard had been a bit much. After all, she wasn't Rea, who probably would have been proud of her by now. Eos would likely have scolded her. It made her mouth go dry.

In front of her, Rexri and the elder knelt and offered her the head of the guard, and all around sat staring at the spectacle with horror and admiration.

"Throw away the body and the head. Clean up the blood and I'd like another cup of tea." Her plump red sensual lips moved and the air trembled with her cold and hard tone.

The Yinpai was a sect of few people but powerful. But they would need more servants and soldiers. Eos had made his way to the Dragon Sky sect and would try to get them to serve them one way or another. Perhaps she could get manpower from the Gold Feather sect to do the same.

"I expect you to be able to compensate me more elder..." Aria was unsure how much she could demand. Fighting the entire Golden Feather Sect was not feasible, at least not alone.

"I am Aram of the Black Snow clan. The 3rd grand elder of the Golden Feather Sect. Rexri is…is my son." The man continued after clearing his throat. "What compensation do you wish?"

"Yinpai needs people in Aremholt, who can work for us. Soldiers and Cultivators... ...that we can trust. We don't have time to be teachers for Cultivators, so I want Cultivators sworn to Yinpai with soul contracts."

If it hadn't been silent in the pavilion before, it was now. The Saint had more or less wanted slaves, bound by soul contracts. This was more or less unthinkable as only criminals were forced into slave contracts with their souls at stake. And no sect would sacrifice fellow members and hand them over as slaves to another sect.

Aria stood up. The tight semi-transparent dress tightened around her body in a way that made the men dream sinfully of her. She was deadly forbidden fruit and you would be lucky to survive the encounter if you tried something.

"I can take criminals if you have any."

"We... we... have some.. but only three at the moment if it is immortal cultivators you desire. In our branch sects, we have mortal cultivators… "

"I have no interest in mortal men from the Golden Feather sect. But the idea of creating a branch sect of mortal cultivators is not a bad one." Didn't Ria mention that she was working on something similar...? A gust of wind from the sea grabbed Aria's long hair and made it dance in the air.

"I'll take your three criminals. What are their crimes and what is their cultivation?"

"There are two men and one woman. Their cultivation was to be destroyed as punishment but… they will become slaves to Yinpai instead..." The elder tried to make it sound like it was his decision.

It was not possible to destroy a person's cultivation without destroying a piece of one's soul. A cruel punishment. Becoming a slave was more humane than having one's cultivation destroyed.

"Bring Zuru, Dizo and Mira. Called the elder.

"They are... were outer disciples and the boys are in the advanced Qi realm. Mira is in the Primary Golden core Realm. They conspired against their fellow disciples and refused to obey orders from their... senior... disciples. This resulted in people dying..."

Aria didn't believe a word he said. But it didn't matter as long as she got her slaves or labor force. They had probably offended the wrong person.

After a while, the three people with chains around their necks and scruffy clothes arrived together with some guards. They walked with their heads down and it looked like they were going to their execution.

"Here they are," Aram said to Aria and then continued.

"You have been spared, and instead of having your cultivation destroyed, you will become soul-contracted slaves of the Yinpais."

All three prisoners expressed surprise and confusion. And when they saw Aria standing watching them, they gasped.

Aria's eyes roamed over the three prisoners, taking in their features and assessing their worth. Zuru and Dizo were both young men, with unruly hair and a rough look about them. Mira, on the other hand, was a woman with long black hair and a sharp gaze that Aria found intriguing.

"You will be working for Yinpai from now on," Aria stated coldly. "Your lives are no longer your own. You belong to us now."

Zuru and Dizo seemed resigned to their fate, but Mira looked up at Aria with a flicker of defiance in her eyes.

"Why should we work for you?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly. "We will be slaves forever."

Aria's lip curled in a cruel smile. "You will work for us because you have no other choice. And as for being slaves forever, that is up to you. Your fate is in your own hands. If you serve us well, you may earn your freedom one day."

Mira's eyes widened in disbelief. "Earn our freedom? How is that possible?" she asked, still skeptical.

Aria's smile turned even more twisted. "By proving your worth and loyalty to Yinpai," she said. "And by showing that you can be valuable assets to our sect."

Zuru and Dizo looked at each other nervously, but Mira stepped forward with determination in her eyes.

"We'll do whatever it takes to earn our freedom," she said firmly.

Aria nodded in approval. "Good. I expect nothing less. Now, follow me. We have much work to do."

Aria was not going to let this opportunity pass by. As long as they were compliant, she would squeeze out as much of their compliance as possible. "Elder, do you think that's enough? I want you to give me five more slave cultivators before this month is over."

"What! You can't be serious..." He shouted without thinking.

Aria just stared back at him. The coldness in her eyes was enough to silence him.

As he spoke, his face became frozen with shock and his words trailed off into silence. The only movement came from his hair, which stood on end as if caught in a sudden gust of wind. He had a sense of being in a cold, desolate place, perhaps near an arctic sea. The sound of the sea was deafening and he imagined a ship colliding with an iceberg at the south pole of his mind. The impact reverberated through his body, as if a glacier in his chest had been shattered.

Aria could see the fear in the elder's eyes and knew that he understood the gravity of her demand. "You have one month," she stated firmly before turning to leave.

As she walked away with her new slaves in tow, Aria couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction. Yinpai was growing stronger with each passing day, and she was determined to make it the most powerful sect in all the land.

She led the group of slaves through the winding paths of the Golden Feather Sect's territory, earning curious glances from those they passed. Aria knew that her reputation as the Saint of Yinpai preceded her and that many were wary of crossing her.