He said, each word distinct, "Not-a-chance!"
Zhou Yong burst out laughing. "Who do you think you are, spouting such shameless boasts?"
Ouyang Lie stared coldly at Zhou Yong, a threatening gleam in his eyes. "I, Ouyang Lie, am telling you now: if you refuse to join our alliance, Alliance Leader Feng will personally pay you a visit, Sect Master Zhou. By then, I'm afraid it will be too late for you to turn back!"
He paused, then continued, "Don't imagine that you, Zhou Yong, are anything special, or that your Righteous Qi Sect has any real ability. Before absolute strength, your so-called reserves and means of self-preservation are nothing but a joke! I'd like to see how you intend to stand against our Dao Alliance!"
Zhou Yong answered with a cold smile of his own. "Protector Ouyang, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. Neither I nor the Righteous Qi Sect fears any threat!"
He rose and looked Ouyang Lie straight in the eye. "I've always believed in one saying: 'If others do not offend me, I will not offend them. If others offend me, I will surely strike back!' I will never allow anyone to threaten my sect. If you want war, then war it is!"
The surrounding Dao Alliance disciples were all startled. They had never expected Zhou Yong to respond so forcefully to Ouyang Lie's threat. Ouyang Lie's face, meanwhile, turned livid as he stared at Zhou Yong. He had never imagined that Zhou Yong would dismiss his threat with such contempt.
"Very well, Righteous Qi Sect! We shall wait and see!" Ouyang Lie slammed the table and sprang to his feet, roaring, "Sect Master Zhou, you'd best look out for yourself! Farewell!"
"Go on, then. I won't see you out," Zhou Yong replied coldly.
Ouyang Lie led the Dao Alliance contingent out of the Righteous Qi Hall with an arrogant air.
"Sect Master, should we keep them here?" Liu Zhenshan, the hot-tempered new hall master of the Artifact Refining Hall, asked Zhou Yong through a voice transmission.
"No need. Now isn't the time to take direct action. Let them leave," Zhou Yong replied calmly.
"Yes, Sect Master!" Liu Zhenshan answered reluctantly.
The other elders in the hall glared furiously as they watched the Dao Alliance's people depart.
Once the Dao Alliance contingent had left, Zhou Yong waved the elders away.
After everyone had left the Righteous Qi Hall, Zhou Yong remained seated on the sect master's throne, lost in thought.
If I agreed to the Dao Alliance's proposal, the Righteous Qi Sect would soon be swallowed up, and its legacy would be severed. That is absolutely out of the question.
Senior Brother is the strongest person in the Righteous Qi Sect now. I don't know exactly what realm he's reached, but even with my out-of-body cultivation, I still can't see through him. Feng Jinglei, the Dao Alliance's leader, is a spirit transformation expert. Several years ago, Senior Brother could already kill demon sages at the late out-of-body stage with ease. His strength should be no less than Feng Jinglei's.
As for our disciples' strength, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth has revived over the past few years, and we've also had disciples specially nurtured with the Spirit-Gathering Array Senior Brother set up. The sect now has no fewer than fifty elders with out-of-body cultivation, eleven of whom have already reached the late out-of-body stage. We have more than two hundred people in the nascent soul realm.
The Dao Alliance may be strong, but its people aren't united. Each has their own little calculations. As long as Senior Brother can hold off Feng Jinglei, we only need to deal cautiously with the other forces.
Ah! I'd better discuss this with Senior Brother and ask his opinion. Zhou Yong made a brief comparison of the current situation, the sect's strength, and the Dao Alliance's strength in his mind. Then he prepared to consult his senior brother, Li Dalong.
Zhou Yong did not delay. As soon as he decided to see his senior brother, he rose and headed for the Forbidden Grounds of the Rear Mountain. Upon arriving, he called out to Li Dalong, who was teaching Zhou Xue to cultivate, "Senior Brother, I've come to see you again."
"You're here!" Li Dalong nodded to Zhou Yong. "Xue'er, go cultivate on your own for now. Your martial uncle needs to talk with your father."
"Yes, Martial Uncle!"
"Father, I'll take my leave." Zhou Xue bowed to Li Dalong and Zhou Yong.
"Sit down and tell me. You're looking so troubled," Li Dalong said to Zhou Yong.
"Senior Brother, the Dao Alliance's influence is expanding rapidly. Its leader, Feng Jinglei, is an extremely ambitious man. He's already drawn more than half the small and medium-sized forces in the Cultivation World under his banner. Today, he sent people to our sect, demanding that the Righteous Qi Sect join the Dao Alliance. I refused."
"Senior Brother, if the Righteous Qi Sect joins the Dao Alliance, the foundation laid by our ancestors will be destroyed in a single stroke. There will be no Righteous Qi Sect anymore, only the Dao Alliance."
"But the Dao Alliance is now following the creed of 'those who obey me prosper; those who defy me perish.' The Left Protector leading their delegation has already brazenly declared that Feng Jinglei will come to the Righteous Qi Sect in person. Feng Jinglei has already reached the spirit transformation realm. When that happens, we can only rely on the sect's grand array to hold him off."
"Senior Brother, when the time comes, we'll need you to act and help the sect survive this calamity."
Zhou Yong spoke to Li Dalong in a heavy tone.
"You needn't worry about this. Since Feng Jinglei is so arrogant, there's no need for him to come to the Righteous Qi Sect. I'll make a trip to Kunlun Mountain shortly. It's about time I went out for a walk anyway. We can't keep letting these capering clowns attack our gates." After a moment's consideration, Li Dalong said this to Li Dalong. At the same time, a powerful aura flashed from Li Dalong's body and vanished.
The best defense was offense. Since the man intended to come, why not simply kill him first? Although Li Dalong had always wanted to keep his head down and quietly grow stronger, the Righteous Qi Sect was the ideal place for him to do so. If someone sought to destroy the sect and deny him peace, it would be like severing his roots. He would never allow that.
"It would be even better if you could act, Senior Brother. But Feng Jinglei has already reached the early spirit transformation realm. You should still put caution first," Zhou Yong said worriedly.
"Nothing but chickens of clay and dogs of pottery. There's no need to worry, Junior Brother!"
"I'll be back in no time," Li Dalong told Zhou Yong carelessly.
Although they were both in the spirit transformation realm, Li Dalong felt no pressure whatsoever. He did not even have a clear understanding of his own strength now. If he had not also wanted to go out and gain a firsthand understanding of the situation in the Cultivation World, he would only have needed to bestow a spirit sword upon Zhou Yong for him to slay an ordinary spirit transformation cultivator.
"Then I wish you victory the moment your banner unfurls, Senior Brother!" Zhou Yong bowed to Li Dalong. With his senior brother personally taking action again, Feng Jinglei would not escape his doom.
Li Dalong did not reply. The supreme-grade spirit sword, the Azure Cloud Sword, instantly appeared before him. He stepped onto it, turned into a streak of light, and vanished from Zhou Yong's sight.
The Dao Alliance's headquarters was located at the True Martial Sect's base on Kunlun Mountain, more than twenty thousand li west of the Righteous Qi Sect. With Li Dalong's cultivation, covering that distance took little effort. As he flew on his sword and caught sight of Kunlun Mountain in the distance, the scene before him drew his admiration. The Kunlun Mountain range was towering and magnificent, its slopes steep and treacherous. Lush greenery stretched from the mountainsides down to their feet, while pristine snow crowned the peaks, wrapping them in silver. Bitter winds howled, sweeping up flurries of snow as though they would freeze a person's very soul. Many rumors in the cultivation world claimed that Kunlun Mountain could connect to the Immortal Realm, but thus far, no person or faction had obtained any definite information.
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