The meeting ultimately came to a hasty end.
Although Ye Wujin had racked his brains to regain face in every matter and seize as much initiative as possible, Fang Qianyuan refused to play along. He merely emphasized that his force was an independent volunteer army providing outside support, retaining full autonomy and as much control as possible.
He even turned the tables and demanded, in the Heavenly Dao Alliance's name, that the Eastern Sea's various factions and the Flying Immortal Sect cooperate with him.
The people of the Eastern Sea found this rather hard to accept.
Thus, by the end, each side was essentially talking past the other, sticking to its own position.
Still, the meeting had not been entirely fruitless. At the very least, the people of the Eastern Sea had witnessed Fang Qianyuan's forcefulness. They would presumably give serious consideration to the possibility of his people forming their own army and acting independently, rather than making unrealistic attempts to control them.
A little under an hour later, Fang Qianyuan returned with his people, while the Eastern Sea's side got down to work, busying themselves with coordinating the various aspects of the mission.
In private, however, Fang Qianyuan told the Azure Cloud Sect's people, "This matter isn't over. Their request for our sect to send troops was ill-intentioned from the start. I'm afraid they won't rest until they drag us into the water."
"Grand Commander, you've always maintained that view and advocated striking first to teach them a lesson. Now that you've suppressed both the older and younger generations of the Flying Immortal Sect, would they still dare act that way?" Fang Ming asked, puzzled.
Fang Lian said, "I'm afraid you've got it backward. It's precisely because our young master is so forceful that the Eastern Sea's Righteous Path