Inside the workshop of the Artifact Department, every door was shut, and crimson fmes were dancing in a reinforced melting pot, lighting up the dark room. It was painting a hellish scene before their eyes, coloring everything in red and orange. Next to the fmes stood Isha, wearing only the most necessary clothing, a skin-tight top and a simir pair of shorts, as her body was drenched in sweat thanks to the heat. Her red hair danced behind her wildly while she controlled the raging fmes swirling around a round object that was exactly 10 centimeters in diameter.

  Opposite her stood Ren, wearing only training shorts as she also sweated heavily, controlling the still-forming artifact, gently rotating it inside Isha's fire. It was glowing hot, softened up enough so Ren could draw small runes on it with a straight, stable line of electricity extending out from her fingers.

  "I'm almost done!" Ren exhaled, licking off sweat from her lips because of the fmes that were burning at over 1500 degrees Celsius. The temperature inside was unbearable for even some in the Harmony Realm.

  If a mortal had stepped inside now, he wouldn't have lived long, dying from oxygen deprivation or simply burning out his own lungs with one breath. Even others at a lower stage of Body Refinement would feel sick, staying for too long and risking injuries, yet for the two girls, it was only uncomfortable and annoying, because they were sweating so much.

  "Good, I'm getting tired of maintaining it for so long!" Isha moaned, wanting to be done with it.

  "Thanks, really!" Ren chuckled, "I wanted to make it as perfect as possible... For other crafts, I'm going to use the formation inside the workshop; don't worry."

  "I hope so! If you call me up to forge everything, I'm going to be dead by the end of the day," she smiled, shaking her head.

  By Ren's instructions, she slowly decreased the intensity of the fmes, drawing them back to her body. As the artifact cooled, it revealed itself to be a medallion inscribed with the runes, spelling: 'Lightning Order.' When it cooled and nded in Ren's palm, it took on a silvery, metallic luster with a faint violet hue.

  "What does it do?" Isha asked, coming closer, holding a cold fsk of water, gulping its contents down, and presenting another to Ren.

  "Two things," she said as she took it, taking a big gulp. "The one who wants to use it has to drop blood onto it to bind it to their aura. If the owner's life force weakens to a certain degree, it will activate automatically. It will form a protective shield around them, my powers imbued into it. My estimation is that it could block an attack by someone in the Outer Harmony realm and give him a chance to escape, but it only sts for a minute before disintegrating with the medallion itself. Also, it weakens significantly after every attack that nds on it. The second function is that if the user activates it, this thing can dish out an attack with... Hm, about 80% of my full powers. Once again, it can be activated only once. So, it is either for attack or defense. Depends on the user."

  "Neat! Are you going to make more?"

  "No. It would decrease its value..." Ren shook her head. "This is a one-time item, and I will give it to Ink, the one who brought the news to us, sacrificing much of his own life force to do so. This is my gratitude for saving my mother's life," she smiled gently, putting it away. "Plus, I can do the same to my disciples without an item if I send them somewhere dangerous."

  Isha wanted to speak up when the door opened, letting in cold air and making the two scantily dressed girls shiver. The one who walked in was Boursat, looking at them with surprise.

  "At least put on some clothes…" he murmured, shaking his head, coming up to Ren and presenting a rolled-up parchment to her. "The names you asked for! They made contact with the two and joined up with them."

  "Good, it is best to keep an eye on those women without their knowledge."

  "Oh?" Isha looked at her. "Are we talking about the two prisoners you let go?"

  "Yes." Boursat answered for Ren, "I picked out trustworthy people from our old gang. They reached a high enough level with Ren's cultivation technique to be useful for the two. They are loyal and experienced, with a believable background, so they joined up with them."

  "Nice!" Isha chuckled, elbowing Ren.

  "Thanks, but it is only possible because of Elder Boursat's help," she smiled, thanking him.

  "No problem." Bourset nodded. "Anyway, I just came to deliver this; I need to be off!" He turned around, but Isha grabbed his arm.

  "Why not have lunch together? Hm?"

  "Sorry, but I have some things to do," he said, patting her head with a smile. "Why not ask Zern, hm?"

  "..."

  "Haah… you should talk it out!" Boursat shook his head, stroking Isha's hair like a worried father, before leaving.

  "What is this about?" Ren asked as Isha found her standing before her, only a few millimeters away, when she turned around. "Are you two arguing or something?" she asked, raising her eyebrows and keeping her hands on her waist, tiptoing to see her face even better.

  "Long story…" Isha groaned, her head in her hands.

  "I have time. Come, let's go take a bath at my pce, and you can tell me everything while I rub your back." She grabbed onto her hand, dragging Isha along, almost forgetting to dress up before they left the Artifact Hall. It certainly would have made for a juicy topic for the disciples to chew on in the coming months.

  .............

  By the time noon came, they were at Ren's home, enjoying the bath in her pretty, big, oval-shaped bathtub that could easily accommodate up to three people.

  "Come on, girl, tell me!" Ren urged her, rubbing her back and massaging Isha's shoulders.

  "Damn… you are good at this…!" she moaned with closed eyes, almost going limp.

  "I'm good at interrogating people."

  "I meant the message."

  "At that too! So?"

  "We are having a… break!" Isha sighed softly, shaking her head.

  "So you broke up."

  "No, just a break... for now," she protested.

  "Yeah, sure!" Ren rolled her eyes. "And here I was, thinking you were going to marry... Tsk. What happened?"

  "..."

  "Isha?" Ren leaned closer, speaking softly. "You can tell me I won't judge either you or him."

  "I'm just not sure if it's him or me. It's… he is too stiff." Isha said, opening up in the end.

  "Even when he shouldn't be, huh?" Ren joked a little, shrugging her shoulders.

  "Heh…" Isha chuckled, and it was an honest one, which was a good sign. "Yeah… You could say that… and I get it; it is how he was raised. I knew that, going into this retionship. I knew that he was a little more by-the-book than I am. Still, I thought we could work things out. I shape up a little, he loosens a little, you know, and we meet in the middle."

  "I can guess this did not work out, huh?" Ren shook her head while asking.

  "At first, it did, but… for the past two years, I feel like he expects me to be more… robotic? I don't know how to describe it."

  "Two years… since he got those three as disciples?"

  "Yes. I never butted into his methods of teaching them!" she moaned, clearly frustrated. "They are his disciples, and they are, as far as I can tell, in sync with his methods. It works for them."

  "But?" Ren asked, hugging her from the back, subconsciously massaging her breasts with a spark of jealousy in her eyes.

  "But he always criticizes me for how I teach the outer disciples!" Isha groaned with clear, pent-up frustration that was not leaving her body, no matter the kind of massage Ren was using. "He tries to tell me how to do it and be more strict and keep up the distinct protocols between Elders and Disciples. Ugh... This is not how I do things!"

  "I saw your lectures and how you do it." Ren nodded, approving of her methods. "No wonder the Outer Disciples adore you; you're doing great!" she said, hugging her tighter. It looked a little bit funny as Ren was smaller than her, yet now she held her like a big sister would while they were submerged in the water.

  "Thanks… I'm not hung up on honorifics and etiquette. I enjoy being personal with them, and my lectures are grounded in reality." Isha smiled, enjoying herself. "If no backgrounds matter here, why should I treat them differently? Anyway, we argued a ton because of it, and finally, I had enough."

  "It was you who proposed having a break?" Ren questioned, patting her head now.

  "Yes," she nodded, and her voice carried tangible guilt in it.

  "I see. Should I talk with him?"

  "No!" Isha flinched, "This is our problem; we should deal with it."

  "Okay. But you can talk to me anytime, you know!" Ren pinched her nose pyfully.

  "Heh, okay, okay, but you have it good, eh?" Isha said, meaning Leinor.

  "Of course! I have been raising him since childhood," she answered proudly, making Isha ugh out loud.

  "I knew it, that little boytoy of yours! I am a bit envious of you two... It seems like I have no luck with these things. If this falls through again, I may give up for now and focus only on cultivating... Honestly, I am starting to feel burned out from… love. Pleasure is enough."

  "That is also a good option if you feel like that," Ren said calmly, not judging her. "We have many long years ahead of us; nothing needs to be forced; it will py out by itself. Trust me!"

  "I thought you would take his side," she said, feeling a bit guilty now.

  "I'm not taking sides." Ren shook her head. "I want you and him to be happy! If you poison one another's lives, I would also step in to suggest you two break up. You can stay friends or at least remain civil, but if it goes down the shitter… every time you see each other, it is going to be a battlefield. And that can spiral out of hand, even attach itself to your disciples! A fracture like that is not something that I want to see in the Sect, especially not this early in its inception. Not to mention… You both are my friends."

  "Heh, you already took the reins over from Sect Head?" she giggled pyfully.

  "Sometimes I feel like I am..." She groaned, taking over Isha's position in compining, "He is either out, training privately with my junior brother, or visiting Lady Rumira... It is rare for me to find him here. Hell! He never took me on a training trip, ever! Yet he makes me call him Master!"

  "Because maybe you don't need him to oversee you constantly, so you don't make a mistake?" Isha offered, "And whenever someone presents you with a new spell they came up with, you leave a dozen remarks about it? Why would he bother teaching you if you can handle it yourself? Half of the disciples are praying that when they submit a new spell, it won't be graded by you. The other half comes to me to ask when you are NOT IN so you wouldn't grade their work!" Isha smirked with a gleeful expression.

  "Fuck... Am I that harsh?"

  "Yeah! You don't want to be, but when you see something new, you can't help but run your mouth without thinking... Destroying the little self-esteem they have!" she ughed, teasing Ren.

  "Damn… Nobody told me that!"

  "They don't dare to. You are the Junior Sect Head; why would they?"

  "Huh…" Ren sat up, thinking, scratching her chin.

  "What are you thinking about?" Isha turned around, facing her.

  "Organizing a competition."

  "No," she protested.

  "A competition where the top 3 get an artifact from me."

  "No," she repeated again, louder.

  "Yeah, I think that is a good idea… and it would be about new spells, focusing on B-Tier spells!"

  "Hey! Listen to me, No! I won't help you out with that!" Isha grabbed her shoulders, shaking her.

  "Huh?" Ren blinked her eyes, tilting her head, returning to reality.

  "I know you, it is going to include me! You want to work me to death! Forget that the previous medallion... That was okay, you asked nicely, and I agreed to help, but don't py me like this! I say it now, NO, I won't help you out with this; I have enough work as it is!" she said, putting down her foot.

  "Come on, it is going to be fun! You can help me grade them. I would be the all-serious, evil little bitch who always looks for mistakes, and you can py the holy saint, always looking out for them, protecting their fragile egos!" Ren said, grinning.

  "Why does it sound so sarcastic, coming from your mouth?"

  "Because you refuse to have some fun," she said, sticking her tongue out.

  "Haah… I'll think about it... But! Don't get your hopes up!" Isha said in the end, giving in a little as it truly sounded… fun.

  "Ahaha, okay, okay~! But do not think for long."

  …….…..

  Not long after Isha left, Ren was about to speak with Leinor about her new idea for a competition when Lulu came to visit her.

  "Come in!" She invited her inside and served up some tea.

  "I have something important to report, Master." She spoke up after a moment's thought.

  "Go on." Ren nodded calmly, sitting down beside her.

  "I took a trip home, and my father told me something… important. He said it was a slip of the tongue, but I know him... He did that intentionally, so I brought the news back." Lulu said as she took a sip from the tea before continuing. "You need to tell the Sect Head this! The Naulins' Forefathers have come forward, and they are going to establish a sect! The news is still only known to rulers of the 9 kingdoms, but it is clear as day; They are going to challenge us soon enough!"

  "That is truly interesting news..." Ren leaned back, closing her eyes, thinking a little as a smile formed on her lips. "Master expected something like this, but not so soon. I'll notify him; thank you for letting me know."

  "Of course, you are my Master," she smiled.

  "Ahaha, I can see it in your eyes. Rex; I'll reward you with something nice!" Ren chuckled, knowing her well enough.

  "Oh, no, I did not do this for a reward, Master~!"

  "Don't be sassy with me, Lulu; I already read you like a book," her Master ughed, standing up and stretching. "Good deeds need to be rewarded! Hmmm… If they start competing with us, it ought to bring conflicts to the surface, too. I hope you are ready." Ren looked at her with a grin.

  "No worries, Master, I am looking forward to it! As to how that affects my father, it is not my problem," she rolled her eyes at the thought. "Let them deal with it!"

  "Good~ Here!" Ren tossed a letter to her.

  "This is?" Lulu asked, catching it surprisingly.

  "The location of Yanda. Go fetch him, tell him to come back, as soon as possible."

  "Will do~!" she stood up hurriedly, her eyes shining. "Excuse me then, Master~!" Lulu bowed, quickly leaving, while Ren just looked after her as she simply ran away.

  "Still a weird girl… heh! Anyway, let's go and find LeiLei. I need another pair of hands to help me out." Ren hummed happily as she also went on her way, her thoughts already back to the new competition she was pnning.