A long while passed.
Liu Song slowly spoke, his voice aged and hoarse. "Xuan Ce... Ci Yuan... are still alive."
Liu Xuanji closed his eyes and drew a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil in his heart.
"My second brother was too reckless!"
His voice was low, heavy with restrained anger. "Guixu is about to open. This is a turning point unlike any our Dragon-Ruling Clan has faced in a thousand years. Yet at such a critical moment, he insisted on acting alone, venturing deep into the Central Plains without support..."
He opened his eyes and looked at the extinguished life lamps, enunciating every word. "The Central Plains may have declined, but they are where our Dragon-Ruling Clan's ancestors first rose to prominence. Gifted masters and extraordinary figures emerge there in an endless stream. How could he underestimate them?!"
Liu Song sighed. "What's done is done. There is no use saying any of this now. Fortunately, Xuan Ce and Ci Yuan are still alive... Their cultivation may be utterly ruined, but as long as they live, there is hope."
Liu Xuanji fell silent.
Liu Song continued, "But with Guixu about to open, we must remain here to hold the city. We truly have no strength to spare for a rescue. Yet leaving them imprisoned in the Central Plains will damage our Dragon-Ruling Clan's prestige..."
He looked at Liu Xuanji, his gaze profound. "Those beneath us were never one solid slab of iron to begin with. If word spreads and they see us standing idly by while our own clansmen remain imprisoned, I fear thoughts of rebellion will stir again."
Liu Xuanji's brows knitted tightly.
Of course he understood his father's concerns.
Although the Dragon-Ruling Clan reigned supreme in Dragon-Slaying City, there were other families within its walls-the Yanshi Clan, the Xu