Zhao Xintong was led to a pavilion. Unlike the autumn scenery of the Dao Academy, where red leaves filled the sky, this garden was full of drifting yellow leaves, looking rather desolate.
Ever since the hornbill had taken her away, she had offered no resistance at all, because she knew resistance was meaningless. Faced with a gap in cultivation realms, using her head mattered more than using her hands.
In the pavilion, a middle-aged man stood with his hands behind his back, gazing up at the white clouds like a statue.
He was Yu Wuwei, the current head of the Yu Clan, a Natural Realm cultivator-already among the very best within the Three Heavens Realms.
The Yu Clan had four Heaven-Connecting Realm cultivators, which was already remarkable for a lineage; above them was a Golden Core ancestor. It was precisely this strength that allowed them, to a certain extent, to establish cooperative ties with a major sect like the Taihao Sect.
They were only one Infant Transformation cultivator short of becoming a top-tier cultivation lineage.
Only after a long while did Yu Wuwei speak mildly. "Having you brought here may not be a good thing for you, but for our Yu household, it was something we had no choice but to do. This is the cultivation world: strength reigns supreme. So you should not harbor any complaints."
Zhao Xintong said softly, "You mean I should be grateful rather than resentful?"
Yu Wuwei smiled faintly. "I can understand your resentment. But if you hear the full story and realize that what awaits you may not necessarily be a hopeless predicament, and might even, in a certain sense, be an opportunity, will your resentment still reach the heavens like this?"
Zhao Xintong was very calm, as she had been since the upheaval