Not far from the Mo Family Fishery stood a small city.
Its walls were not high, but its defensive array was fully activated. Squads of Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators patrolled the ramparts, blades and spears in hand, their ranks sternly ordered.
At their head stood a gaunt old man.
He stood quietly atop the wall, worry on his face and, now and then, stark fear in his eyes.
A cultivator approached cautiously from behind.
"Old Patriarch, are we really not going to help?"
The Mo Family Old Patriarch did not turn around. "Help? How could I help? A battle at that level is beyond anything I can interfere in."
The clansman said anxiously, "But the Wu Family and our Mo Family have been bound by marriage for three generations. That rogue cultivator Luo Hai killed three of their Golden Core Cultivators. He's their sworn enemy, and now he's fled to the Mo Family Fishery. If we stand by and do nothing..."
"Then what?"
The Mo Family Old Patriarch spun around and fixed the middle-aged man with a hard stare.
Under that gaze, the man fell silent.
The Mo Family Old Patriarch snorted. "Lao San, I know you married a Wu Family woman. But you must remember that our families are connected by marriage. The Mo Family has not sunk so low as to become their vassal."
Cold sweat poured down the middle-aged man's back.
Without realizing it, his wife had led him to think of the Mo Family as a Wu Family vassal.
Now the Old Patriarch's words struck his Divine Sense like the toll of a great bell, jolting him awake.
"You must understand that whether I join this battle or not will make no difference."
"I'm only an Early Stage Golden Core Cultivator. Even if I