Thinking of Leaving?

These days, quite a few sects and clans wanted to merge into the Great Xia Sword Sect. The reason was simple. Those sects had suffered catastrophic casualties, their mountain gates completely ruined by the Abyss Demons. Many things could no longer be solved merely by rebuilding; the very foundations of their ancestral grounds were destroyed, their vitality gutted. Rather than dragging out a precarious existence on their own, it was far better to seek shelter under the great canopy of the Great Xia Sword Sect. Yet Li Guanqi shared the exact same stance as Lu Kangnian regarding their requests: reject them all without exception! Qin Xian exclaimed anxiously in bewilderment, "Sect Master! This is a tremendous opportunity! If cultivators from so many clans and sects merge into our fold, the sect's strength is bound to soar. Not to mention that all of them would offer up piles of priceless resources!" Elder Gong Ze, who had been sitting quietly listening to the meeting, could not resist giving Qin Xian a smack on the back of the head. "Did you cultivate away the last of your brains?" Seeing Qin Xian's bewildered expression, the old man sighed, then patiently explained. Pointing toward Li Guanqi and the others, he said, "Do you think the Great Xia Sword Sect today really needs cultivators from those battered sects to come in? To say nothing of whether the sect even has enough resources to support so many mouths, most of those people are only coming with the mindset that when the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up. And what about them? All they have to pay is a trivial, painless price to obtain shelter. Why wouldn't they jump at such a bargain?" Listening to the elder's breakdown, sudden understanding finally dawned on Qin Xian. Lu Kangnian chuckled. "Elder Qin truly isn't cut out for scheming and strategizing." Qin Xian laughed heartily without taking offense. His duty was to uphold impartiality and justice; when it came to matters of grand sect strategy, his thoughts were indeed rather shallow. "Let us proceed as Guanqi and I decided," Lu Kangnian said. "Have all of those people escorted out in three days. Where they choose to rebuild their sects is none of our concern, but they must keep clear of the Great Xia Sword Sect by a thousand li!" The crowd nodded in agreement. Cao Yan and Xiao Chen were present as well. Cao Yan did not take it too seriously, whereas Xiao Chen, attending a high-level sect conference for the first time, felt a thrill of excitement. Ye Feng's condition was completely stable, and his aura had even surged dramatically. All that remained was for him to finish refining; there was no longer any need to fret over him. As the Master of Guanyun Peak, Ji Yuchuan was naturally entitled to a seat here. Lu Kangnian looked toward this prominent figure without the slightest awkwardness or constraint. Gesturing toward him, he said with a warm smile, "Fellow Daoist Ji, have you picked up any news recently? Feel free to share it with everyone." Ji Yuchuan cast a solemn glance at Li Guanqi, then stood up, pondered for a moment, and began speaking. "Most of you are likely already aware of the recent situation across the Six Domains, but allow me to summarize briefly. The number of Ancient Clans hidden within the Six Domains is far vaster than we imagined—numbering in the tens of thousands! With their intervention, the rampaging Abyss Demons across the Six Domains have largely been quelled, and the crisis is drawing to a close. Working together with the Ancient Clans, the Lords of the Six Domains have reinforced the seals, so there shouldn't be any issues in the short term. Word has it... the origin of this upheaval was the Purgatory Abyss in the Taiqing Domain!" Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes. As expected, the trouble had indeed started from that place. *Could it be... that the Purgatory Abyss serves as a passageway connecting all the various Abyss Sealing Grounds? That possibility cannot be ruled out! Too bad Second Brother isn't here, or I could ask him what's really down at the bottom of the Purgatory Abyss...* Li Guanqi's speculation did not come from nowhere. Back then, that bizarre dharma artifact had been tied to the Purgatory Abyss. Ji Yuchuan continued, "However, according to the Guanyun Pavilion's investigations, the Ancient Clans seem to be secretly preparing for something! The closer the suppression of the Abyss Demons gets to its conclusion, the more pronounced their movements become. Furthermore, I have discovered that these Ancient Clans seem to be dispatching scouts everywhere, and their targets... are all those sects and clans that managed to suppress the demonic outbreak entirely on their own!" Ji Yuchuan swept his sharp gaze over the room and said in a heavy voice, "My guess is that the Ancient Clans... may very well be preparing to move against the powerful sects and clans of the outside world! And that, naturally, includes us!" The moment his words fell, the atmosphere in the study turned suffocatingly grim. Everyone had a general sense of how terrifying the cultivators of the Ancient Clans were. After all, their accumulated foundations and heritage were beyond comparison. If a conflict truly erupted, the cultivators of the outside world would inevitably be at a severe disadvantage! Lu Kangnian's eyes flickered. No matter what, he would never allow the Great Xia Sword Sect to fall into the hands of an Ancient Clan! The Great Xia Sword Sect guarded far too many secrets. Lu Kangnian opened his mouth, just about to speak— Suddenly! *Rumble!* A terrifying pressure crashed down upon the entire Great Xia Sword Sect! Sensing this aura, Li Guanqi and Ji Yuchuan exchanged a swift glance. An instant later, everyone vanished from the room and reappeared in the sky above the Great Xia Sword Sect! Clad in an understated robe of purple and gold, Lu Tao stood with one hand behind his back, resting his weight atop the defensive barrier of the Great Xia Sword Sect. Seeing Li Guanqi and the others appear, the corners of his lips curled into a faint smirk. Suddenly, he exerted force through his foot! *Boom! Crack!* The defensive formation of the Great Xia Sword Sect shattered with a deafening roar! Countless Great Xia Sword Sect disciples soared into the air, glaring furiously at the intruder. Just as they were about to shout curses at this uninvited guest, they saw Li Guanqi raise a hand. Instantly, the thousands of cultivators densely arrayed across the sky fell dead silent. Such absolute authority forced even Lu Tao to look at him with newfound respect. "Tsk, my apologies. I had no idea your formation was such garbage. It broke the second I stepped on it." Lu Kangnian stepped forward slowly. As the Sect Master of the Great Xia Sword Sect, his dignity would not permit him to let Li Guanqi shield him at a time like this. The crushing pressure of the Void Refining Realm burst forth. Though it was a struggle to hold it against the force blanketing the sect, he did not lose face. Lu Tao had not expected that Lu Kangnian, a cultivator merely at the early Void Refining Realm, could unleash an aura of such profound weight. "The Great Xia Sword Sect... truly never ceases to surprise..." Lu Kangnian demanded with a darkened face, "Who are you, and what is your purpose here?" Curiously, Ling Daoyan had not shown himself. Lu Tao smiled faintly. With a flick of his hand, he hurled an azure scroll of correspondence, shooting it straight toward Lu Kangnian! Lu Kangnian's pupils contracted. This strike— *Swish!* Just as Lu Kangnian surged with his primal energy to intercept it with all his might, Li Guanqi stepped up beside him, calmly extending two fingers to catch the azure formal visit card between his fingertips. He then bowed and handed it to Lu Kangnian with both hands. Lu Tao's pupils contracted almost imperceptibly. He turned around, preparing to depart. "Since the formal visit card has been delivered, we shall meet again in seven days. I hope... by that time, your Great Xia Sword Sect will be prepared to hand everything over with both hands. Hahahaha!" Lu Kangnian did not open the card. Instead, he said in an icy tone, "Coming as you please, leaving as you please—just what kind of place do you take my Great Xia Sword Sect for?" Li Guanqi suddenly whipped his head around toward the rear mountain of the Great Xia Sword Sect... Swallowing hard, he muttered under his breath, "The Demon-Slaying Ballista?"