Confrontation

Situ Xuan pulled his mouth into a grin. He might have lived like a bastard in this life, but having a group of people like this around him was pretty damn good!

"Greet him!"

Mu Ye stood atop the wall and shouted at the Body Sect disciples below the tower.

The burly men all snapped straight in unison, clenched their right fists, and hammered them against their chests, producing one neat, muffled thud.

"Greetings, Young Sect Master!"

More than a hundred voices gathered as one, exploding like thunder, shaking even the loose stones on the city wall.

The Body Sect had flourished. It was no longer the handful of strays it had once been.

Every one of these disciples was a carefully chosen seedling, every one of them tempered through harsh training and selection. Fanatical light flashed in their eyes—faith in the body itself, worship of power, loyalty to the sect.

Situ Xuan looked at them and nodded.

Mu Ye walked down from the wall and came to stand before Situ Xuan. His expression suddenly turned solemn, the smile in his eyes vanishing, replaced by a deep gravity. He looked into Situ Xuan's eyes and lowered his voice.

"How is it? How certain are you?"

Zhen Hua also put away his smile. Both of them had risked death to come support Situ Xuan.

If they lost, then even if they did not die, the price they would pay would be no different from death. Their clans, their sects, everything they had accumulated over so many years, would all go up in smoke.

Situ Xuan still wore that confident smile.

"Absolutely! Easily!"

Mu Ye stared at him for three seconds, then laughed. He raised his fist again, much more gently this time, and only thumped Situ Xuan on the shoulder.

"Fine!