Yu Hui’s look of joy quickly turned sour when he saw the sardonic smile ng Jiayi had on.
He wasn’t the only one who had a change in their expression, as Fan Ha had a change in hers too.
"What is this oaf planning to do?!" she worriedly thought.
The look ng Jiayi had on was sothing she was increasingly familiar with. He always had that face on when he was about to do sothing crazy. Her attention quickly moved to Xie Yuan, and though she didn’t say anything, the look in her eyes relayed her intent.
"What is this fool planning to do?"
Xie Yuan’s reply was a helpless smile and an apologetic look which only made Fan Ha worry further as it seems the one person she depended on to be the voice of reason, or his leash at least, seed to have tacitly agreed with whatever ng Jiayi was planning to do.
"Well, Elder Yu Hui, considering our long-standing history together, despite recent events, we have been allies for hundreds of thousands of years, as such, I need to apologize for my sect’s lack of manners in keeping our senior from the Yu family waiting all these years.
As juniors, it was improper of us to drag things out for as long as we did. Please accept this toast of apology from ," ng Jiayi said as he humbly cupped the wine cup in his hands and bowed slightly before he raised his head and took a gulp of the wine, completing the rite of apology.
"Are you mocking our ancestor?" Yu Hui asked, his eyes flashing with a cold light.
"No, not in the least bit," ng Jiayi lightly said as he moved to fill up his wine cup, a carefree smile coloring his face as he did.
Anyone could tell he was being disingenuous and didn’t an anything he said and was teasing the elder from the Yu family. Luckily whoever he was dealing with was a seasoned elder and not a brash youth.
Despite his actions, Yu Hui didn’t act out, doing a good job of containing any negative emotions he had from the old sect master’s actions.
After he had refilled his cup, ng Jiayi looked up once more, his gaze shedding off the prior casualness.
"Even if you didn’t ask, I would still have not allowed her to die with us," ng Jiayi thought as Fan Ha’s visage appeared in the corner of his eyes which then moved to Fan Cai at her side, whose attention was fully locked on Yu Hui, waiting for his reply on his earlier proposal.
"Now I have even more reason to ensure it. I can’t believe she kept it a secret. Then again I can understand why, but still."
ng Jiayi’s murky eyes flickered slightly with emotion. Either by coincidence or not, Fan Ha whose attention never left him, seed to have noticed a change in him, which in turn affected her greatly as she turned from worried, to surprised before her emotions settled on guilt as she looked on apologetically toward ng Jiayi her attention flashing briefly toward Fan Cai before it went back to him.
Their little exchange took no more than four seconds, and if Yang Qing had not been watching the duo like a hawk, he had doubts if he would have been able to catch the little exchange between the two of them.
"So that’s what’s happening. I would have never guessed," he thought as his attention moved to Fan Cai and then to the two of them.
His attention was quickly pulled back by ng Jiayi, who seed like he had more to add.
"Our past and present grievances aside, or whatever bad blood that arose from it, despite it all, as the leader of a sect and in charge of countless lives, I am thankful for the rcy the senior showed.
His reasons on why he gave us 100 years of grace period to decide aside.."
Yu Hui’s eyes trembled slightly at the look ng Jiayi was giving him as it seed like he knew the real reason behind the window given to them.
"The reasons aside, I am still thankful for that ti..." ng Jiayi said as he solemnly cupped his fists, this ti looking more sincere about it and losing the frivolous air he had from before.
After offering his thanks, ng Jiayi’s gaze shifted from one of gratitude to one of soone prepared for combat.
"That being said, while I am thankful for that ti, our sect is not made of cowards who are afraid of death. We may have failed our ancestor in failing to live up to the expectations of a sect that had nurtured a domain expert and had the privilege of being nurtured by one.
Our results were poor, to say the least," ng Jiayi said, his tone lowered and his gaze slightly guilty and ashad, and he wasn’t the only one as Xie Yuan shared the sa look of conflict.
"But regardless of our showing in terms of talent and achievents, there was one thing we have never lost and that is the breadth of our spirit. No one from the Starlight Lake Sect is afraid of death.
We will not shirk from it if our choice is between death or shaming the dignity of our sect," ng Jiayi said, his voice soft yet carrying soul-stirring power.
Fan Ha’s face turned pallid as she finally realized what ng Jiayi planned to do.
"Surely he can’t be that reckless," she thought, which was more of a hopeful plea than anything.
She knew the person she was dealing with, and he was indeed that reckless, a trait he seed to share with his deceased junior brother, a trait she grew to admire and detest in both.
"What are you driving at?" asked Yu Hui.
Despite asking, just like Fan Ha, he already knew the direction ng Jiayi was bringing the conversation.
"I will be frank," said ng Jiayi.
"The entire Starlight Lake Sect, to the last mber regardless of rank will be committed to fighting your clan. We will not bear the infamy of handing out our ancestor’s sword, nor will we hide behind others just to delay the inevitable.
If destruction is all that awaits us in the end, then we will face it with our heads high, our hearts blazing, our voices unabated, our swords drawn, our wills unshaken and our conscience clear.
Whatever happens beyond that, we will not regret it. Pass this along to your senior, Elder Yu Hui, our Starlight Lake Sect will not be handing our ancestor’s sword, and from this mont forth, whether it is our ancestor’s sword or even a piece of rock tied to our sect, we will not be relenting anymore.
Every act you make that we judge as infringing upon what is ours will be t with fierce retaliation...
Like I said whether it’s for sothing precious like our ancestor’s sword, or so rock by the roadside, our reaction will be the sa, we will attack you with everything we have in our arsenal.
Nothing will be held back or reserved. Know this, when we act, for whatever reason it is that you give us, you will be facing the entirety of the sect from its cultivators to the resources we have accumulated since we were founded.
All of our legacy will be used against you,"
"That is your answer," Yu Hui asked with narrowed eyes. They may have a domain expert at the mont, but the legacy of a domain expert was nothing to scoff at.
If it was as ng Jiayi had threatened, with the Starlight Lake Sect throwing caution to the wind and attacking with everything it had without reservations, the Yu Clan may end up paying a steep price despite having the stronger cultivators, especially a domain expert to boot.
A lean cal was still bigger than a horse. The Starlight Lake Sect despite its present state, was still a sect that had produced a third-stage domain expert. Who knew what manner of trump cards he left for them and if the sect decided to use them all without care, those trump cards and other ans had the capability of hurting them, even with the presence of a domain expert, after all, their clan’s domain leader had only just broken through to the domain realm.
While a first-stage and a third-stage domain expert could still be considered early-stage domain experts, there was still a wide chasm between the two sides.
Every minor improvent in the domain realm brought enormous changes in strength and ability, to the point that one could easily think they had broken through a major realm despite taking a single step.
Barring special circumstances, cultivators fighting across their realms and defeating their opponents wasn’t sothing that easily happened in the domain realm, even forcing a draw was considered a long shot. Anyone who could make it to the domain realm was already considered a serious talent, with impressive foundations in the dao.
So those kinds of advantages lost their strength when it ca to the domain realm. At that stage, your cultivation base was your advantage.
A second stage could easily wallop a first-stage domain expert in a straight-on confrontation, and a third stage could do the sa to a second-stage domain expert and with greater ease at that, and when it ca to a confrontation between a third-stage domain expert and a first stage domain expert, that first stage domain expert only needs to wash their neck as preparation, anything else is useless.
Because of that clear gap, despite the domain-level ancestor of the Starlight Lake Sect not being alive, whatever ans he had left behind still had the capability of potentially harming the Yu clan’s domain expert, because of their gap in strength. While it was in huge doubt if said ans could kill him, it went to reason that they at the very least had the potential to harm him.
...
"Yes it is," answered sect master ng Jiayi, in response to the elder’s earlier question. His presence was now worthy of a seasoned sect master of a prestigious sect. It was deep, powerful and unwavering.
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