Self-preservation

"Song Huangting!"

Ye Xiuyun was wracked with anguish. "That is a Demon Sword! It harmed countless people a hundred years ago, and now, a century later, it has reappeared and destroyed our Ten Thousand Swords Manor outright. Is Chunyang going to follow in our footsteps?"

"Chunyang is Chunyang, and Ten Thousand Swords Manor is Ten Thousand Swords Manor! I believe that with our Chunyang heritage, we will surely find an effective way to subdue the Demon Sword and turn it to our own use!"

As Song Huangting spoke, he asked directly, "Did Ye Yingxiong send only you, an elder whose fourth-grade combat strength is in question, to stop me?"

"Hahaha! Ye Hui thought exactly as you do back then! I should have done as Yingxiong said and avoided your edge for now. Before long, Chunyang will meet the same fate as us!"

Ye Xiuyun ignored his question entirely and merely laughed. "Ten Thousand Swords Manor has been destroyed. If Chunyang insists on going its own way, I cannot stop you. But Song Huangting, now that you have rashly entangled yourselves in our manor's karma, are you prepared to face our retaliation?"

Seeing that Ye Xiuyun seemed somewhat deranged, Song Huangting paid her no further attention. He leaped forward and headed straight into the main hall.

But...

Ye Yingxiong was a living, breathing person, not an NPC. Knowing he was outmatched, why would he stay at his headquarters waiting for them to come farm him?

Thus, Ye Xiuyun did not stop him. Instead, she turned to Ye Wuji in exasperation. "You would rather drag Chunyang into this than give up the manor lord's seat. But do you think you can sit securely in that seat just because you want it?"

"And would it be secure in the hands of someone who murdered his brother and his master?"

"Murdered his master and brother... They had already succumbed to demonic influence. If Yingxiong had not killed them then, they would have destroyed all of Ten Thousand Swords Manor..."

"Shut up!"

Ye Wuji growled, "Don't you dare slander my father! Ye Yingxiong took advantage of a problem with my father's cultivation to launch a sudden sneak attack and brutally murder him, all to claim the manor lord's seat he had coveted for years!"

"Ye Wuji!"

Ye Xiuyun trembled with rage. "I finally understand why your father never dared let you take over the manor's affairs! With that foolish brain of yours, if Ten Thousand Swords Manor really fell into your hands, it would never survive the storms of the coming years..."

"Shut your mouth, you old hag! Don't think I wouldn't dare kill you!"

Ye Wuji strode up to her. "You're already eighty-six, with only a few years left to live. Go to your retirement home!"

"Hahahaha! Send me to the retirement home? You aren't manor lord yet! Are you already so impatient to lead the entire manor to its destruction?"

As Ye Xiuyun spoke, her gaze turned back to Mu Xingchui and Song Huangting, who had emerged from the main hall empty-handed. "Stop searching! Our manor has people gathering intelligence in Chunyang, too. We received word shortly after you left Shouyang Mountain!"

"Where is Ye Yingxiong?"

Song Huangting asked gravely.

"Heh. The bearing of a first-grade expert. What an imposing display."

Ye Xiuyun looked at Song Huangting. "I told you, if Chunyang interferes in our manor's karma, you will inevitably pay a price. We fear a first-grade grandmaster like you, and we can do nothing to you. But apart from you, who in all of Chunyang can stop our Yingxiong from coming and going as he pleases?"

Her expression was icy. "Today, you can kill all of us old folk who stayed behind. We have little time left to live anyway. But are you prepared for Chunyang to suffer retaliation from a peak second-grade master of Ten Thousand Swords Manor? We might be unable to touch the others hiding on Shouyang Mountain, but what about your people who have invaded the six prefectures of our Sword Province?"

At these words, both Song Huangting and Mu Xingchui, who had accompanied him, frowned.

"The dignified third manor lord of Ten Thousand Swords Manor is resorting to such despicable tricks?"

Mu Xingchui spoke.

"Even Chunyang's first-grade grandmaster has no qualms about bullying the weak. Forced to act in self-preservation, what means can our manor not employ?"

Ye Xiuyun looked at Song Huangting. "Master Song, you may not know how Yingxiong operates, but Sect Master Li certainly does. If he retaliates, he will have no qualms about using any means necessary!"

As the Merit Hall master who assisted Li Wangxu in managing the sect, Mu Xingchui did not doubt Ye Xiuyun's words at all.

Ye Yingxiong...

He was the sharpest blade of Ten Thousand Swords Manor, with duties equivalent to those of the Sword-Wielding Hall master and Enforcement Hall master combined. He killed without blinking.

For a moment, Mu Xingchui could not help turning his gaze toward Song Huangting.

He waited for the supreme elder's decision.

After a brief silence, Song Huangting sighed with feeling. "The third manor lord certainly has resolve, to be willing to abandon even the foundations of Ten Thousand Swords Manor!"

This was the predicament two factions faced when there was a gap between them, but not enough for one to crush the other.

Even if the other side could not win, they could still bite a chunk of flesh out of them.

If Ye Yingxiong truly cast aside all concern for his reputation and ambushed Chunyang's experts...

Even if he was eventually caught and killed by Song Huangting, a first-grade expert, the Pure Yang Sword Sect would inevitably pay a devastating price in the process.

"We simply have no other choice but to let jade and stone burn together."

Ye Xiuyun regained her composure. "I know that what tempts you most is not Sword Province's six prefectures, but the Heavenly Extreme Demon Sword! And this sword... you are determined to have it... You have probably staked heavily on it, too..."

She looked at Song Huangting. "I will say nothing of the dangers hidden behind this sword, or the schemes behind its reappearance. Mountain rain is coming; without change, there is only death. This is an overt scheme with no solution!"

The old woman paused. "I will ask only one thing. If we give you the sword, will Chunyang withdraw?"

"Hmm?"

Surprise appeared on Song Huangting's face.

"Master Song, the Heavenly Extreme Sword is in my hands. You must not listen to his nonsense!"

Ye Wuji spoke hastily.

"Fool!"

Ye Xiuyun stared at Ye Wuji. "Did you truly think you hid so well that Yingxiong couldn't find you? He merely knew there was something wrong with the Demon Sword, and that people from the Heavenly Martial Bureau were even stirring the waves behind the scenes. He let a fool like you hold on to the sword for now because he did not want to kill you!"

At these words, Ye Wuji's expression changed drastically. "Impossible! I... I..."

"When you left Sword Province for Shouyang Mountain, those people around you were already captured!"

"Impossible! Uncle Jiang and the others would never betray me!"

"Jiang Heng? Do you think their loyalty was to you personally? What qualifies you to command their loyalty?"

Ye Xiuyun said sharply, "Their loyalty is to Ten Thousand Swords Manor! Even when they were captured, they could not believe you would do something so harmful to the manor's interests! But now, the moment you offered Sword Province's six prefectures in exchange for Chunyang's intervention and led them into our Ten Thousand Swords Hall, they saw clearly who could represent the manor's future!"

"Impossible..."

Ye Wuji swayed, his face deathly pale.

He...

He had endured countless dangers to escape Ye Yingxiong's pursuit and finally managed to bring reinforcements from Chunyang, only for it all...

To end like this?!

"Song Huangting, what do you say?"

Ye Xiuyun paid him no further attention and turned directly to the person present who could make the decision.

After a brief silence, Song Huangting said, "Where is the Heavenly Extreme Sword?"

"Withdraw from Sword Province, and the Heavenly Extreme Sword will assuredly be delivered to you!"

Ye Xiuyun spoke emphatically.

"I want the sword!"

Song Huangting issued the command in a tone that brooked no argument.

After some internal struggle, Ye Xiuyun finally said, "We dared not keep the Heavenly Extreme Sword at Ten Thousand Swords Manor. However, Chunyang will receive it within three days!"

"Then I will give you three days!"

Song Huangting said indifferently.

What happened at Ten Thousand Swords Manor did not affect Qin Lian on Heavenly Splendor Mountain.

Several days later, the first batch of four Heavenly Splendor Fruits ripened. Qin Lian immediately picked them and ate one.

The instant he swallowed the Heavenly Splendor Fruit, an unprecedented sense of clarity washed over him, and his thoughts became extraordinarily active.

After giving the Liuhe Duzun Sword Art and the Chasing the Wind and Pursuing the Sun movement technique a little thought, he immediately found himself brimming with inspiration.

He promptly drew his sword and rose, practicing his sword art and movement technique simultaneously. Even dividing his attention between the two proved effortless.

As he practiced, insights also welled up in his mind one after another, driving his progress in both techniques ever upward.

"At last, I've entered that state of advancing by leaps and bounds again, just like with the Enlightenment Tea."

At that very moment, a figure shrouded entirely in black robes set foot on Heavenly Splendor Mountain, carrying a sharp sword wrapped in layer upon layer of cloth.