"Xiao Man, what are you doing? Stand down at once!"
Gu Xing spoke in a low voice.
"The one facing the calamity in there is my sworn elder brother! If you want to hurt him, you'll have to step over my corpse first!"
Xiao Man shouted.
Standing nearby, Xing Tong's expression shifted. "Elder Gu Xing, Xing Xuan and Xiao Man have joined forces to protect an outsider, letting him trample our clan's rules as he pleases. If we spare them today just because one is a Chaos Envoy and the other is the Guardian War Dragon, what authority will our rules have left?"
Xing Tong had never expected Xiao Man to protect Lu Ren too. If Lu Ren survived, things would become troublesome.
Xiao Man turned to Xing Tong. "Did you deliberately lead my brother here?"
Calamity Cave was far too remote. An ordinary person could never have found it.
Xing Tong's expression changed. "Xiao Man, what are you implying? Calamity Cave is forbidden ground to our clan. Why would I let an outsider enter?"
Xing Xuan cupped her hands toward Gu Xing. "Elder Gu Xing, I alone am responsible for what I did. Once Lu Ren finishes cultivating, whether he succeeds or fails, I'm willing to accept the Chaos Clan's punishment!"
"You alone are responsible?"
The Heavenly Punishment elder swept his sleeve, and the entire Chaos Cave shook violently. "If everyone could break the rules and simply accept punishment afterward, wouldn't our forbidden ground become a marketplace for anyone to trample?"
Gu Xing fixed Xing Xuan with an icy stare, his voice cold as a wind from the nine underworlds. "Spare Lu Ren today, and tomorrow more foreign ants will rely on their backers to run wild in our sacred ground!"
His withered hand clenched. He spoke one word