Venerable Young Master, Why Is The World Ending?

Scurrying along a huge corridor, the well-dressed housekeeper was the definition of frantic.

Sweat dripped from his face as his arms flailed in the air. He panted desperately like a dog being chased by ta demon.

"My Lord! My Lord!" his shouting echoed throughout the castle. "My Lord it's terrible!"

At the end of the hall was a towering door, imposing and grand. A material unlike anything the mortal world could conceive of and glimmering with a deep green lustre.

Behind this door was the housekeepers' Lord. The mighty and venerated head of the illustrious Emerald Tree family, the Emerald Tree Lord. A surprisingly modest man, he was rather reclusive and did not like to be disturbed.

This room was his private study. A small, cosy, modest room. A bookshelf sat innocuously against the wall filled with a myriad of old tomes and books. A single large window connected the balcony that overlooked the rest of the castle. Such a pleasant yet underwhelming study left the magnificent door rather extreme, but not by the Tree Lords standards.

In front of the window was a desk where the Tree Lord sat, currently entertained with writing god knows what. He rubbed his hand into his head, praying he had imagined the yelling outside.

"It was such a good day..." the Tree Lord said to his desk. "I could focus on my work in peace like the old days. You remember those days, right Frederick?"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"My Lord!" the housekeeper forgone all sense of respect as he desperately tried to alert the Tree Lord of their world ending disaster.

However, the Tree Lord paid him no heed.

"Mmmm..." gently rubbing the desk as he laid his head upon his arm, the Tree Lord sighed with sadness. "Fredrick my loyal desk. My perfect comfortable Fredrick, why must I suffer so..."

Wishing for an answer that never came, the Tree Lord was pulled away from his thoughts as the desperate housekeeper started to use kicks against the door.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"My Lord!"

"Ugh..." begrudgingly raising his head and flicking his fingers, the Tree Lord relented to the inevitable. "What is it?"

Click.

By some magical contraption the door's green lustre vanished, followed by the sound of locks turning.

Bang! Bang!

"Lord! My Lor..." the housekeeper yelled before tumbling clumsily through the doorway. "My Lord you must intervene at once, the young master..."

'Of course' the Tree Lord thought. 'As if there could be any other reason.'

"Alright" the Tree Lord interrupted, not wanting to hear the rest.

"Thank you my Lord, please forgive my intrusion." and just like that the housekeeper bowed and walked back into the hall, the large door closing behind him.

'By the gods, how did this even happen?' the housekeeper thought to himself, 'doesn't young master Vernard realise how dangerous this is? Even worse, what of appearances? I truly wish that the Lord talks some sense into him, it's hard enough keeping track of the treasury as it is.'

While the housekeepers' thoughts diverged, back inside the study the Tree Lord prepared to leave.

The only time someone came with news regarding his great grandson was when he had done something that brought chaos to the family, and every time someone else had to fix it.

Worse still, the brat knew exactly how to get away with just enough mischief. The young master of the Emerald Tree was not a simple title to acquire. One had to be born under just the right circumstances and it was entirely based upon luck making each one that appeared utterly irreplaceable.

The young master knew this, and he exploited his worth completely.

"Oh Frederick..." the lord said with a parting stroke of his magnificent desk, "You're always so reliable, so strong and sturdy. If only you were my descendant, I would be so proud. Alas, you are but a desk."

How the lord wished he could stay here and continue writing, it was a serene escape for him to just forget the world. Unfortunately, he didn't have much choice, and his beloved Frederick would have to wait.

A deep scowl crept onto the lord's face as he sighed.

"Vernard, I swear upon our ancestral tree. If you cause me one more headache, I'll rearrange your face with your ass!"

…

Approximately 1 hour ago.

Somewhere far into the mortal wilderness within view of several small villages and bordering between kingdoms, a gathering of important cultivators took place in the sky.

Among them was none other than the man himself, the young master Vernard and his highly capable guardian and servant, Gregory.

"Gregory, if you please…"

Vernard was somewhat nervous about his little demonstration today. To say that he was underprepared was an understatement. However, he had a hidden ace up his sleeve that while risky, should be impressive enough to maintain expectations among the allies.

"Young master please be careful" Gregory was a kind soul. He devoted his life to Vernard out of sheer loyalty and never once went against an order. "I'm undoing the seal now."

In Gregory's hand was a box of unusual design. Looking closely, one would notice that it emitted a similar green glow to the grand door at the Tree Lords study.

"How unexpected."

Around them were elders from Emerald Tree family and ambassadors from various influential families, all of them subservient and important to maintaining control over the family's territories. They were here to watch the venerated young master display his prowess in the knowledge of sacred treasures, a custom like many others that the heir to the family must uphold.

"Hm, I wonder which treasure the young master has chosen? I don't recognise it at all. Surely given the Emerald Tree family's wealth a treasure of at least peak earth grade would be appropriate."

"I agree, given that the young master has long reached the internal core stage, its only appropriate to provide something of fitting difficulty. Perhaps the young master even chose a sky grade treasure."

The ambassadors were quite knowledgeable. Having all long reached a far higher realm, their ability to judge a weaker person's capability was extremely acute.

Of the grades of treasures, sky grade was rather impressive. Even they only used treasures of such a grade.

Internal core stage was still among the lower realms of cultivation, and normally any earth grade treasure would be more than sufficient. It must be stated that even mortal grade treasures were out of reach for many lower stage cultivators.

A sky grade treasure in the hands of an internal core stage cultivator could only display even a fraction of its power with great effort, study, and talent.

"Elder, which treasure did the young master choose?" Among the Emerald Tree representatives one of the weaker members couldn't help but ask their more experienced elder. "I can't feel any significant aura coming from it."

"Hard to say, the young master has bound it in our family's strongest sealing binds. Even after its unravelled we probably won't be able to sense it till he uses it."

"How mysterious."

Using a sacred treasure was a complex procedure. First one had to learn all the inscriptions imbedded on the surface, and then fill it with one's own energy. This would at least be enough to activate the treasure.

Form there one must study the inscriptions within to gain further mastery and depending on how much a person had learned their ability could be marked in different stages. From basic mastery to lesser mastery, then greater mastery and at last final mastery.

In Vernard's hand was a box of unusual design. Looking closely, one would notice that it emitted a similar green glow to the grand door of the Tree Lord's study. Given the prestige of Vernards' background it was only fitting that he demonstrated a practical display of a more powerful treasure.

And a more powerful treasure it was.

Energy poured out from the box and seeped into the surrounding area. The eyes of the Emerald Tree representatives opened wide in shock.

"This is…"

"Young master Vernard, are you quite certain of this?"

They tried their best to stay calm.

This treasure was the Indulgence Cosmos, one of the most famous treasures in the entire world.

More importantly, this was no sky grade treasure. The Indulgence Cosmos practically spat on the face of such treasures. Even heaven treasures were incomparable.

"Are we actually safe here?"

"Don't embarrass yourself. No cultivator of the 3rd realm could even activate such a treasure, right? I'm sure the young master only wishes to show us his progress in understanding its superficial concepts. Something like an introduction before the actual performance."

"We will have to give the young master a moment to explain. Still, I can't believe that the Emerald Tree family allowed this, they must place a great deal of faith in the young masters abilities."

As the ambassadors discussed with one another in amusement, the atmosphere among the Emerald Tree elders were the opposite.

"Fuck, we're all going to die."