"I am willing to serve Your Highness unto death!" Yu Mugao declared respectfully.
Chi Zhiyan waved dismissively and replied, "There is no need for that. It is just a small matter. A few clans cannot stir up much trouble! If it were not for the sect master not wanting to move against these Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators, I would not be here. We could order them, and both Li Tongya and Fei Wangbai would obediently go to Yi Mountain City... But now, we only need a few Qi Cultivators. They would not dare refuse, would they?"
Yu Mugao's eyes flickered briefly. "The Li Family has a sword immortal within the sect. I am afraid that you may need to approach with caution, Senior..." he advised humbly.
Chi Zhiyan paused, letting out a strange laugh from his throat. As a direct descendant of the Chi Family, he was well-informed about the matters at the southern border. It was just that Chi Wei had not acted honorably, avoiding mentioning it altogether.
Chi Zhiyan sneered, "Sword immortal..? The southern border is fraught with dangers; they may not even return. Such titles are useless here! Things will proceed as they must."
Yu Mugao was a shrewd man. Hearing these words, he felt reassured. He immediately put on a sorrowful expression and lamented, "My lord, you may not fear them, but the Li Family relies on the sword immortal's reputation to act arrogantly around the lake, oppressing us. One of my blood relatives has been captured by the Li Family, serving as a slave. We are terrified and dare not speak out."
Chi Zhiyan glanced at Yu Mugao and sneered, "My junior has already told me about this. There is no need to exaggerate. Your Yu Family, after all, is a clan and should not be so easily oppressed by the Li Family. Listen carefully."
Chi Zhiyan paused and continued, "Li Chejing will most likely not return. Muxian is renowned within the sect and has a solid background, even more than that sword immortal. There is no need to be afraid. The rivalries between clans are not something the sect interferes with. Li Tongya only has some rapport with Yuan Tuan; unless it is a matter of life and death for the entire family, Yuan Tuan will not intervene."
Yu Mugao repeatedly nodded, his heart filled with joy. He lowered himself even further, almost groveling at this point. Chi Zhiyan glanced at him with a smile as he said, "Remember this well, regardless of the chaos you create on the lake..."
Chi Zhiyan bent down close to Yu Mugao's face, and lightly patted his cheek with one hand while holding up two fingers with the other.
"There are two people who must not die... One is Li Tongya, whom you cannot kill anyway. The other, whom you may not know, is named Jiang Heqian."
Yu Mugao immediately broke out in a cold sweat, trembling as if he wished he could bury his head in the ground. Chi Zhiyan laughed and straightened up, adding, "If either of them dies, not even Muxian can save you. As for Fei Wangbai... his Patterned Brocade is useless, he is nothing but a corpse awaiting death."
Yu Mugao's eyes widened, with bloodshot veins beginning to appear as he quivered and stammered his compliance, his sweat now pooling on the ground. Chi Zhiyan, with a cocky demeanor, kicked Yu Mugao's shoulder and laughed heartily.
Several people flew down from the flying boat, all dressed in the gray robes of the Azure Pond Sect's Yuanwu Peak. One of them, a man with a sneaky appearance, rushed eagerly to Chi Zhiyan's side and said respectfully, "My lord, please give your orders..."
Chi Zhiyan simply snorted and stood with his hands behind his back.
"For the Fei Family, that so-called young master will do. For the minor Qi Cultivation Realm families, take their strongest cultivators. As for the Li Family... take Li Xuanfeng. He is of no use after the massacre at Lixia Prefecture."
"Yes, yes!" the sneaky-looking cultivator responded as he nodded repeatedly.
Chi Zhiyan glanced at the dazed Yu Mugao and smiled, "Cultivate well. Your Yu Family has the qualifications to dine at the table. As for the Li and Fei families, they are just dogs circling beneath it. If it were not for the ban on blood sacrifices at Moongaze Lake, they would have been eliminated long ago."
Yu Mugao forced a smile, though his heart was gripped with fear. His legs trembled uncontrollably. Chi Zhiyan, seeing his pitiful state, grew even more excited as he added, "As for your family's ancestor, Yu Yufeng..."
Yu Mugao had a premonition and quickly looked up. Chi Zhiyan laughed with a hint of mockery in his eyes.
"He has been dead for a long time."
Yu Mugao was stunned and whispered, "What...? I do not understand. Which force's Purple Mansion Realm cultivator took his life?"
"I guess there's no harm in telling you!" Chi Zhiyan chuckled. He took great pleasure in trampling on geniuses and strategists.
Seeing Yu Mugao so subservient, he felt immense satisfaction and replied, "Yu Mugao, Yu Yufeng was killed by our Azure Pond Sect in collaboration with Xiao Chuting! This was also agreed upon by your own younger brother!"
————
Meanwhile on Xianyou Peak in Lixia Prefecture...
Whoosh...
An old man struggled to reel in a gleaming jade stone from the lake. With a strong flick of his jade fishing rod, he freed the stone from the clutches of the lake water and pulled it ashore.
Xiao Chuting squinted his eyes as he remarked, "Hmm... Not bad."
"Chuting, the Dawn Cloudliner has headed to Moongaze Lake."
Xiao Chuchou, who was also sitting cross-legged nearby, muttered this quietly, casting a complex look toward Xiao Chuting.
Xiao Chuting, however, remained indifferent. He examined the jade stone and asked, "Xiao Chuchou, do you resent me?"
Xiao Chuchou's face, wrinkled with extreme age, twitched slightly as he replied, "There is nothing to resent. It was a matter of necessity. When I left the family back then, I suppose you must have hated me even more."
Xiao Chuting chuckled softly, his expression nostalgic as he responded warmly, "At first, I did. But when the Azure Pond Sect sent Yu Yuxie specifically to suppress Yu Yufeng, I suddenly realized that the decision you made back then may not have entirely been your own."
Xiao Chuting's white eyebrows and beard twitched as if reflected in rippling water. He spoke with a sense of loss in his voice. "The shadows in the great void were too thick. Since then, I have been both terrified and confused, questioning myself in countless painful nights... Xiao Chuting, are you really you today, or are you merely a puppet of some Purple Mansion Golden Core Daoists or the Mahas and Dharma Masters?"
"It might have been better not to know, to avoid this madness..." Xiao Chuting replied.
However, his voice seemed to emerge from the void rather than his mouth. He spoke softly, "Yu Yufeng did not believe in fate and resorted to blood sacrifices to heal his hands. He was indeed a genius, forcibly advancing a few more steps on his interrupted Dao, almost breaking through to the late-stage Foundation Establishment Realm after decades. Even so, he met his end. How could he have survived against two Purple Mansion Realm cultivators who had Heavy Murk and Man On Creek aiding them? The Jade True Unified Void Essence is an untrainable state, incapable of forming an immortal foundation. From the moment he practiced the Aged Courtly Path Scripture , he was already a dead man."
Xiao Chuchou was not surprised. Having journeyed extensively, he knew just as much as Xiao Chuting. His deeply wrinkled face twisted into a cold smile as he responded, "Yes... have you ever wondered why you, Xiao Chuting, cultivated Man On Creek , while I, Xiao Chuchou, cultivated Darkening Clouds ? A remarkable coincidence isn't it...? For them to be perfectly complementary Dao Partners..."
Xiao Chuting nodded and slowly stood up. A deadly aura emanated from him, causing snowflakes to rise and dance across Xianyou Peak. The sound of crashing sea waves rumbled overhead, with faint hisses of serpent dragons.
Xiao Chuchou's body grew increasingly frail, shrinking into a skeletal figure. He let out a few raspy laughs, and wisps of smoke drifted from his body, tiny eyes, mouth, and ears.
The old man murmured, "Xiao Xianyou... it was Xiao Xianyou all along. He had calculated everything from the beginning. He cultivated Boundless Ocean , also known as Jing Dragon King ! What a marvel!"
Standing amidst the swirling smoke in the sky, Xiao Chuting radiated a divine aura. His expression was sorrowful yet solemn, almost sacred.
"Brother, we have no path forward, no retreat."
Dong...!
The bell on Xianyou Peak tolled ethereally like thunder echoing through the mountains. The inexplicable, flying snowfall continued falling as though it was trying to cover up all impurities. The members of the Xiao Family fell to their knees, looking up in bewilderment.
"It is the aura of the Foundation Establishment Realm... An ancestor has passed away!"