Chapter 47: Meeting Lady Saori

The Gula Consortium had suspended the tournament due to the sudden appearance of the Altar Cloth, and outside, the crowds buzzed with speculation as rumors flew in every direction.

Inside the luxurious and sprawling villa owned by the Gula Consortium, Lady Saori sat regally at the center, a crimson carpet stretching out before her, leading to the entrance. Surrounding her were her personal guards—the renowned Four Braves and the Five Lessers—nine Bronze Saints in total. This was the greatest legacy left to her by Mitsumasa Kido, once the world's richest man, and the very foundation of her standing in this world.

Feng Zhe entered, adorned in the Altar Cloth, the long cloak draped around his tall and proud figure, accentuating his distinct arrogance. Coupled with his striking appearance, it was clear that, were he to enter any competition, he would undoubtedly emerge victorious.

As if wishing to exert pressure on him, Lady Saori maintained a solemn expression, holding the scepter of the Goddess of Victory in her hand. Clad in pure white, she radiated an aura of divinity.

With a flick of his cloak, Feng Zhe strode boldly into the hall. He was fully aware that Lady Saori wished to see him yield, but she had yet to awaken—or, to put it another way, she was still an ordinary mortal. Only through repeated brushes with death and the merging of her own Cosmo with Athena’s would she truly awaken.

“Feng Zhe has returned from his training and pays respect to the current Head of the Gula Consortium!”

He did not call himself a Saint, merely announcing his name, which immediately provoked the ire of Jabu, the Unicorn Saint.

“Feng Zhe, you are being utterly disrespectful! Before the Goddess, do you not even observe the most basic manners?!” Jabu shouted.

Misty, the Hydra Saint, added, “Exactly! Are you even worthy of being Athena’s Saint?!”

Feng Zhe chuckled lightly. “Years ago, Mitsumasa Kido sent a hundred children across the world to train. Having completed my journey, I have naturally returned to report. What’s this? Have you all forgotten so soon?”

Officially, the story was that Mitsumasa Kido adopted a hundred orphans and sent them across the globe to train. But upon their return, they would learn the truth: they all shared the same father—Mitsumasa Kido—and were half-siblings. The purpose was to tie the returning Saints together by blood, forging a special bond, and to ensure their loyalty to the Gula Consortium, binding them with exploitative contracts and smoothing the path for Lady Saori.

Feng Zhe had always despised such things, and so wasted no time in mocking it upon his return.

Saori, unwilling to dwell on such matters, assumed a pitiful expression and said, “Grandfather had no other choice. But now that you have returned, Feng Zhe, I finally have someone I can rely on.”

Her demeanor immediately won the sympathy of the Five Lessers, and even Seiya and Shiryu found themselves moved by her words.

But Feng Zhe felt a chill within; Lady Saori was far more cunning than she appeared. He could hardly believe Mitsumasa Kido would produce a pure-hearted ingenue.

As she spoke, Saori had someone bring forth a box.

“Grandfather once said you were the most special child. If you ever returned, I was to give you this box.”

Feng Zhe smirked inwardly—so now she was trying to play on his emotions.

He replied coldly, “What is in this box?”

“These are your mother’s keepsakes…” Saori replied. Hyoga’s eyes lit up at these words; he dearly wished Mitsumasa Kido had left him a memento from his mother as well.

But Feng Zhe was amused; as a transmigrant, even if this world did grant him a mother, to him she was a stranger. To think they could buy his loyalty with this was pure fantasy.

Without hesitation, he opened the box.

“A paper airplane?”

Inside was a yellowed letter, folded into the shape of a paper airplane. Feng Zhe unfolded it and read it carefully.

It was a heartfelt letter from a loving mother to her son, full of warmth and affection. Even Feng Zhe had to admit that the writer must have been highly educated.

A hint of anticipation appeared on Saori’s otherwise impassive face.

However, there were no tears, no sorrow—Feng Zhe’s expression remained unchanged throughout.

The moment he finished reading, he simply pointed at the letter, and flames consumed it until nothing but ash remained.

“Are you a cold-blooded animal?!” Hyoga, seeing Feng Zhe’s reaction, lost his temper in an instant.

“If she truly loved me, she wouldn’t have accepted Mitsumasa Kido’s money to bear me, nor would she have abandoned me to a life worse than death for profit!” Feng Zhe’s words seemed to cast a frosty pall over the entire villa.

Hyoga was truly enraged; the constellation of Cygnus flickered behind him, and a surge of freezing air caused the temperature to plummet by over ten degrees.

“Apologize for your words right now, or I’ll never forgive you!”

“You?” Feng Zhe looked at Hyoga as if he were a fool, which only made Hyoga angrier.

It seemed Saori had no intention of intervening, and even the others stepped back a few paces. Everyone wanted to see Feng Zhe’s true strength; only Seiya and Shiryu sincerely worried for Hyoga.

Diamond Dust!

As the signature technique of the Cygnus Cloth, Diamond Dust was unmatched in its mastery of cold. It fell like snow, as beautiful as the stars, but behind its beauty lay the power to freeze anything.

Among Saints, whose powers were mostly physical, such a mystical technique was truly unique.

But this cold was incapable of so much as freezing Feng Zhe’s Altar Cloth.

Not only was the Altar Cloth a Silver Cloth, its defense far outstripping Bronze, but the sacred fire within him meant that even Aquarius Camus, master of Absolute Zero, could not hope to freeze him.

Feng Zhe regarded the frozen-stunned Hyoga with cold indifference and pointed a finger.

Corpse Gas!

A dark green Cosmo shot forth, and Hyoga’s eyes widened blankly, as if lost. His soul seemed to drift uncontrollably upward, toward a black-hole-like world filled with deathly silence and overwhelming terror.

“That’s enough!” Lady Saori struck the floor with the scepter of the Goddess of Victory, and a divine light flashed through the hall.

Hyoga’s soul, drawn from his body, was instantly restored.

As he regained his senses, cold sweat beaded Hyoga’s brow—he had never experienced anything so terrifying.

Having his spell abruptly interrupted left Feng Zhe displeased. He looked over at Lady Saori.

“Leave us. I wish to speak with him alone…” Lady Saori’s command was met with protest, especially from Jabu.

“Miss, this man is dangerous!”

“Leave. The Altar Cloth can only be worn by a born High Priest, one who serves the gods. Such a person would never betray the divine…”

At last, Lady Saori spoke with clarity to her nine loyal guards, and they had no choice but to obey.

As they departed, Jabu couldn’t resist threatening Feng Zhe, “You’d best behave yourself, or I won’t let you off.”

Feng Zhe answered with a scornful smile, making Jabu grit his teeth in frustration.