"The Sacred Elder?"
Upon seeing the Sacred Elder, forget about the members of the Three Saints Monster Clan — even Chu Feng was taken aback.
He had considered many possibilities, but he had not expected this person to be the Sacred Elder.
"Sacred Elder, please don't hurt Chu Feng."
"A father's sins should not be visited upon his children. Even if Chu Xuanyuan committed a grave wrong, it should not implicate his son."
"Besides, that matter may not have had anything to do with Chu Xuanyuan," the Clan Leader of the Three Saints Monster Clan hastily shouted, his face filled with anxiety and tension.
But the moment those words left his mouth, even the Sacred Elder was stunned.
"Clan Leader, what are you saying?" the Sacred Elder asked.
"Sacred Elder, I know you and my father had an extremely close relationship — a bond forged through life and death. You would stop at nothing for my father."
"But Chu Xuanyuan truly did not do it on purpose all those years ago."
"His contributions to our clan — you cannot ignore them," the Clan Leader continued.
"You..."
"Does the Clan Leader think that this old man cares about what happened back then?" the Sacred Elder asked.
"Don't you?" the Clan Leader countered.
"I understand now. All these years, the Clan Leader has been pretending to harbor resentment toward Chu Xuanyuan."
"You believed that this old man would blame Chu Xuanyuan for his failure to break the formation, which led to the loss of the sacred treasure and, indirectly, to your father falling gravely ill."
"Even though this old man has made it abundantly clear that the blame does not lie with Chu Xuanyuan..."
"But because of this old man's friendship with your father, you still feared that this old man would cause trouble for Chu Xuanyuan."
"That is why, after Chu Xuanyuan left, you pretended to hold a grudge against him, so as to avoid any rift between yourself and this old man."
"In truth, you were protecting Chu Xuanyuan?"
"This old man should have known — your relationship with Chu Xuanyuan was so good. How could you suddenly turn cold and unforgiving, dwelling so bitterly on that matter?"
"So it was all an act." After voicing this, the Sacred Elder broke into a smile.
This outcome was precisely what he had hoped for.
The Clan Leader, upon hearing all of this, was somewhat dazed. "So, Sacred Elder, you truly do not wish to pursue what happened back then?"
"This old man's relationship with your father was indeed very close."
"But I am not someone who cannot tell right from wrong. That matter had very little to do with Chu Xuanyuan."
"How could I possibly lay the blame on him?" the Sacred Elder countered.
"If it's not because of Chu Xuanyuan, then Sacred Elder — what exactly are you doing here?" the Clan Leader asked.
"This old man has a matter to discuss with the Clan Leader," the Sacred Elder said.
"What is it? Please, just say it directly. There was no need for all of this," the Clan Leader said.
"This matter is no small thing."
"It concerns whether our clan should leave this place," the Sacred Elder said.
Hearing these words, the Clan Leader understood the Sacred Elder's intentions, and his expression turned exceptionally grave.
"Sacred Elder, you are well aware."
"Setting aside the martial cultivators of the present age, the ancient clans have already departed from the lands they once guarded."
"Only our Three Saints Monster Clan remains trapped here."
"Our clan was indeed incomparably glorious in the ancient era, but that was an empire and a reputation built by our predecessors. It has nothing to do with our generation."
"If we wish to restore the Three Saints Monster Clan to its former glory, we can only go out and seize it — fight for it."
"Otherwise, in this current age, there will be no place for the Three Saints Monster Clan to stand. Our clan will inevitably be forgotten by the world."
"Sacred Elder — is that what you wish to see?" the Clan Leader asked.
The Sacred Elder did not answer immediately. Instead, he turned his head to look at Chu Feng.