Inside a guest room, Yang Kai sat in a circle with Chi Yue and the others, listening as they recounted everything that had happened over the past few months.
In truth, there wasn't much to say. Ever since the day Qiu Ze had led a group to cause trouble at Thousand Leaf Sect only to have his entire force wiped out, the shocking news had spread like wildfire. The sects that had suffered devastating losses — with all their elite cultivators killed — were gripped with terror. Within days, these sects sent envoys to sue for peace, shifting all blame onto the dead and claiming they had known nothing about the whole affair.
That was, of course, complete nonsense. Not even a fool would believe such excuses.
But these sects had brought generous supplies as compensation for Thousand Leaf Sect's losses in that battle, and they expressed a willingness to submit. Ye Hen chose not to drive them to total ruin.
Before, Thousand Leaf Sect would never have had the strength or the confidence to subjugate these sects. But now that the Heavenly Puppet had emerged, the sect effectively had multiple Emperor Realm powerhouses stationed there permanently. Who within a million li would dare provoke them?
Ye Hen made the decision to accept their pledges of allegiance and sent them back.
In other words, within the surrounding million li, Thousand Leaf Sect was now the sole overlord. It was easy to imagine that with such a vast territory under its control, the sect's development would flourish in the days ahead.
"So the Celestial Shine Palace sent someone too?" Yang Kai asked, a hint of suspicion in his voice.
Chi Yue nodded. "They did. The Third Elder of Celestial Shine Palace came in person, bringing a great many gifts. They were terrified that Sect Master Ye would uproot them entirely."
Yang Kai smiled faintly. "Would Qiu Yu be willing? Qiu Ze was his father, and he died at Thousand Leaf Sect. Qiu Yu surely won't take this lying down."
The Ghost Ancestor spoke up. "Willing or not, what choice does he have? To curry favor with Thousand Leaf Sect, Celestial Shine Palace has already expelled Qiu Yu from the sect and crippled his cultivation. He's no longer the young palace master — just a man waiting to die."
Yang Kai let out a cold laugh. "This Third Elder of Celestial Shine Palace is quite the ruthless one!"
He didn't know who this Third Elder was, but he figured the man was probably afraid that Qiu Yu would seek revenge against him in the future, so he had crippled the young man's cultivation and cast him out. It wasn't exactly unjustifiable. If he wanted to preserve Celestial Shine Palace, he had no choice but to show weakness toward Thousand Leaf Sect. Qiu Yu was Qiu Ze's only son, and with his father dead at Thousand Leaf Sect's hands, he would naturally want vengeance.
Yang Kai found himself sighing with quiet emotion. Just a few months ago, Qiu Yu had been riding high, full of pride and ambition. Yet now, after only a few months, he had become a stray dog with no home to return to. The path of Cultivation — one wrong step, and it was eternal ruin!
If Qiu Ze and the others hadn't been so overbearing and aggressive, would these sects have fallen to such a state?
"Kid Yang, there's something we'd like to discuss with you," Ao suddenly spoke.
"What is it?" Yang Kai looked at them, puzzled.
Chi Yue and the others exchanged glances. Gu Cangyun said, "You go ahead, big brother."
The Ghost Ancestor nodded and said, "It's like this. We've had a brief discussion among ourselves, and we'd like to join Thousand Leaf Sect. We'd like to know what Sect Master Ye thinks about that."
"You want to join Thousand Leaf Sect?" Yang Kai raised an eyebrow.
The Ghost Ancestor replied, "That's right. Sect Master Ye has actually mentioned this to us before, but since you were still in seclusion, we didn't give an answer. We wanted to ask your opinion first."
Yang Kai turned to look at them. "Are you genuinely willing to join?"
Chi Yue gave a wry smile. "Ever since we entered the Star Boundary, we've experienced every kind of hardship and cold shoulder there is. We've thought about joining a sect before, but we had neither strength nor connections, so we couldn't find a way in. Now that Sect Master Ye has personally invited us, we don't want to pass up the opportunity."
Gu Cangyun added, "Sect Master Yang, you yourself haven't joined any sect either. You should understand how difficult it is to cultivate on one's own."
"I understand." Yang Kai nodded. His journey had gone relatively smoothly, but he truly hadn't enjoyed any of the conveniences that sect disciples had access to. It was perfectly reasonable for Chi Yue and the others to want to join Thousand Leaf Sect. He pondered for a moment before speaking. "This is a good thing. Sect Master Ye invited you personally, which shows his sincerity. If you're all willing, then staying here would be fine."
He had actually been wondering how to settle Ghost Ancestor and the others in the future. He had considered bringing them to Green Sun Temple, but he wasn't anyone particularly important there himself, and it would feel inappropriate to ask Wen Zishan to take them in through personal connections. He knew that if he made the request, Wen Zishan would certainly agree, but joining Green Sun Temple through the back door would inevitably earn them contempt — the Green Sun Temple was no small sect, after all.
Ye Hen's invitation had surprised him. Thousand Leaf Sect was in a period of rebuilding and was in need of talent, with a bright future ahead. Chi Yue and the others staying here was not a bad arrangement at all. With everything Yang Kai had done — restoring the secret realm entrance and bringing back lost cultivation techniques and secret arts — Ye Hen would never mistreat these friends of his down the line.
"You agree?" Chi Yue asked.
Yang Kai smiled. "These are senior cultivators' personal decisions. What right would I have to object?"
"And what about you?" Ao looked at him. "Where will you go?"
Yang Kai thought for a moment. "I want to go look for Little Xiao."