Proof

The behemoth amidst the clouds never revealed its full form. With a single flap of its wings kicking up a gale in the sky, it turned its colossal body around and flew back the way it had come, leaving behind only the blood-robed figure standing beneath the clouds. Xu Yuan had arrived openly and honestly. In fact, he had even sent an advance calling card to the Sword Sect yesterday—not that they had bothered to reply. Yet looking at it now, that card had not been entirely useless. Although hostility still surrounded him on all sides, it had at least kept his mobile palace from coming under attack after crossing into the Tianyuan Mountain Range. Descending from the clouds to the summit of the main peak, he found a crowd already waiting for him below. Led by Luo Wei, a cohort of Sword Masters and elders stood in wait. Glancing around, he saw no one from the hidden sects—at least, none on the surface. It made sense upon reflection. Though the Sword Sect's influence within the Sect Alliance had gradually waned, the Tianyuan Mountain Range remained their territory through and through; the hidden sects naturally could not overstep and act in their place. Looking at the woman at their head—Ran Qingmo's master's wife—Xu Yuan spoke in a tone as leisurely and irreverent as ever: "For the Acting Sect Master herself to welcome me in person, this junior is truly overwhelmed with honor." "Given your status, Xu Changtian, it would be a true breach of etiquette if this master did not come to greet you personally." Dressed in plain white mourning robes amidst the inky curtain of rain, Luo Wei cut a cold and somber figure. Staring at the young man whose eyes smiled like pools of blood, she said in a chilly voice, "Yet this master truly never expected that you would actually dare to come." "Why wouldn't I dare?" Xu Yuan chuckled softly. The crimson Source Qi swirling around him seemed to taint the earth and the rain. Casting a glance over the surrounding Sword Masters and elders, he remarked, "None of you can kill me anyway." "Arrogant brat," the Seventh Elder sneered. "Think that relying on your life-death Dao charm means you truly cannot die?" Xu Yuan raised an eyebrow at that, then sighed softly. "Seems that old fossil Wen Xinyun really has been comparing notes with you. She even disclosed every last detail of my Dao charm to you." At this point, Xu Yuan let his gaze linger for a few breaths on the white mourning attire worn by the Sword Sect's Sword Masters. A mocking smile curled the corners of his lips. "You two are truly thick as thieves, aren't you?" "Xu Changtian!" They were all old foxes; how could they miss the mockery in the brat's words? "The debt of blood for our Sect Master belongs in part to your Prime Minister's Manor as well!" "Whoa now, every grievance has its perpetrator, and every debt has its debtor." Xu Yuan waved his hand in dismissal, strolling idly through the pouring rain. "Just because you're constrained by the framework of the Sect Alliance and can't take revenge yourselves, don't go dumping the chamber pot on my Prime Minister's Manor." The Second Elder, Liu Wenzhou, narrowed his eyes and spoke in a low voice: "Xu Changtian, spare us the nonsense. What is your actual intention in coming to our Sword Sect?" "The Sword Sect..." Xu Yuan murmured, grinning faintly. "Honestly, I don't think you in the Sword Sect need to be so hostile toward me. If you tally it up carefully, I, Xu Changtian, am actually a benefactor to you." As he spoke, Xu Yuan paced leisurely to the front of the Sword Sect group, leaning close to Liu Wenzhou's ear to whisper: "The key she brought back was given by me." Liu Wenzhou's pupils snapped shut. The secret realm soul key. A secret of this magnitude was known to only half of the six Sword Masters, even among the highest echelons of the Sword Sect. Glancing at the handsome elder's greying temples, Xu Yuan reached out and patted his shoulder, his voice quiet, measured, and solemn: "Seems you quite agree with my words. So cherish the choice I've created for you. Don't go seek—shh. I know what you want to ask, Elder Liu, but shut up for now. Someone is listening." With that, Xu Yuan shifted his gaze slightly toward the distant rear peak. There stood the guest hall of the hidden sects. And there, a golden-eyed girl stood aloof in midair holding a starry umbrella, endless trigram forms shifting around her in the torrential rain, the bronze bell dangling from the red cord around her ankle chiming crisply. Their gazes crossed the distance and met. Xu Yuan flashed a toothy grin at Tianyan, smiling just as he had back then. Tianyan's golden eyes remained impassive as she vanished in an instant. *Just as I thought...* Xu Yuan let out a slightly bored sigh, then stepped back a few paces to put some distance between himself and the Sword Sect crowd. Liu Wenzhou furrowed his brows, turning the words over in his mind. Luo Wei's beautiful eyes turned fierce. Glaring at the blood-robed young man, she said sternly, "So you've come as a lobbyist. If so, you can—" "I don't like the word 'lobbyist.'" Xu Yuan looked up at the inky, overcast sky and said faintly, "Nor do I like people giving answers without careful deliberation. So please, be prudent... Auntie Luo." Without waiting for the glamorous woman's reply, Xu Yuan swept his gaze around the surroundings. "I, Xu Changtian, have come to your Sword Sect bearing peace, not war. So could you retract the qi dynamics locked onto me?" As he spoke, he slowly raised his hand and looked at the blood qi continuously dispersing outward from his palm. "Maintaining this combat readiness non-stop is quite exhausting for this young master." "Luo Wei," Liu Wenzhou called out softly. Luo Wei remained silent for a long moment, then transmitted her voice with a cold snort: "Second Elder, Xu Changtian must leave." The calling card Xu Changtian had sent yesterday was not known to the Sword Sect alone. The hidden sects' decision not to send anyone today was indeed partly because this was the Sword Sect's mountain gate, but it was also meant to put them in a bind. With war imminent and the Sword Sect standing as the head of the Sect Alliance, a man of Xu Changtian's stature had to be expelled even if he wasn't killed. Liu Wenzhou fell silent. Luo Wei drew a deep breath and raised the formation sword in her hand, pointing it directly at Xu Yuan's throat. The sword cried out toward the heavens, dispersing the curtain of rain across the sky: "Leave, Xu Changtian. "Whatever you came carrying, the Sword Sect has no room for a towering deity like you right now." "..." Staring at the blade inches away, Xu Yuan showed no fear in his eyes. He grinned. "Acting Sect Master, I apologize, but I came entrusted by another. Until my purpose is fulfilled, leaving is out of the question. Besides, is this how you treat a guest? The Tianyuan Grand Tournament is a grand gathering for the youth of the world. I am a young man myself, and I have looked forward to this tournament for quite some time. What, is your Sword Sect afraid, so you dare not let me compete?" *Buzz—* A sky-piercing sword light carrying the mighty force of a military array slashed open a swath of ink-dark clouds and rain. A few strands of hair fell from his temples. Xu Yuan raised a thumb to wipe the bloodstain on his cheek, glancing at it before his eyes. The wound vanished without a trace in an instant. His gaze turned cold, bit by bit: "Seems the Sword Sect truly refuses a toast only to drink a forfeit..." Before his words had fully landed, Xu Yuan and Luo Wei—empowered by her military array—looked almost simultaneously toward the winding stone steps leading to the summit. A golden-eyed girl walked slowly out from the rain, wearing the intricate white gown that marked the Saintess of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion. Tianyan stepped across the void, her clear voice utterly devoid of emotion: "Acting Sect Master, let him enter the tournament." Xu Yuan glanced at her, curling his lip in an unconscious scoff. Luo Wei's blade did not budge, remaining aimed straight at Xu Yuan. Her voice turned slightly chilly: "Saintess, are you ordering the Sword Sect?" "It is not an order, but a request." Tianyan's dazzling golden eyes closed gently before fixing upon the blood-robed young man, her gaze holding none of its former warmth: "I need his death to prove something. Ran Qingmo does too, does she not?"