Given the Shangguan Clan's current situation, Shangguan Ling, as clan head, was deeply troubled as well.
Though he came from the Shangguan Clan of the Cold Heaven Domain, he truly had not favored his own side. Shangguan Ling had always treated both sides equally; otherwise, he would not have brought today's matter up for discussion at all. He could simply have cast Shangguan Lingyun aside as a discarded pawn.
But while Shangguan Ling saw things that way, others did not.
To those from the Shangguan Clan of the lower realm, so long as Shangguan Ling did not favor them, he was necessarily favoring the Shangguan Clan of the Cold Heaven Domain.
Yet if Shangguan Ling openly favored the lower realm's Shangguan Clan, the Shangguan Clan of the Cold Heaven Domain would likewise be dissatisfied.
Thus, no matter how he handled this matter, Shangguan Ling would end up offending both sides.
The Shangguan Clan had only so much foundation to begin with; it simply could not withstand further turmoil and internal strife.
In truth, Shangguan Ling had anticipated this from the moment he took over the Shangguan Clan. Though both sides had shared the same ancestor ten thousand years ago, after ten thousand years of change and evolution, their ties had already become incomparably fragile. A trivial matter could drive a wedge between them.
And Shangguan Lingyun's matter was no trivial matter. If not for him, the True Martial Realm clan head, holding the fort here, the two sides might already have come to blows.
Early the next morning, Shangguan Ling went alone to the Golden Light Temple.
The Golden Light Temple stood outside Runan Prefecture. Its entire structure was built from gold bricks covered in gold leaf, looking magnificent and resplendent, yet also somewhat gaudy. No matter how one looked