The debate boiled down to a single question: how to fight!
Should they divide and conquer, or strike straight at the heart of the enemy? The people inside the hall split into two camps, each championing their own view, arguing back and forth for a long time without reaching any conclusion.
Then, without warning, Ye Xiyun — who had been sitting perfectly still — raised her head. Her deep, fathomless gaze cut outward, as though it could pierce the very barrier of space itself.
The clamor of debate inside the great hall cut off abruptly. Everyone looked up at her in unison.
Chu Lingxiao asked, "What's happened?"
"Someone has broken into the Lingxiao Sect." Ye Xiyun replied. As the acting Sect Master, the controlling plate of the sect's mountain-guarding grand formation was in her hands — anyone who trespassed would never escape her notice.
"What?" Everyone gasped in disbelief. The Lingxiao Sect of today was nothing like the fledgling organization it had once been. Within the Star Domain, it was a colossus. Who would dare be so audacious as to break in? And who would even have the ability to do so?
In an instant, every face in the hall had turned grave.
"That aura..." Ye Xiyun's expression shifted again. On her perpetually calm and beautiful face, a look of sheer disbelief appeared — then it melted into excitement. Her slender figure blurred, and she was out of the hall before anyone could react.
Everyone exchanged bewildered glances, utterly unable to fathom what could have shaken Ye Xiyun so. They knew her temperament better than anyone — the sky could collapse and she wouldn't so much as furrow a brow. Yet her behavior now was beyond all expectation.
They rose one after another and filed out of the great hall, gathering on the steps and gazing toward the distance.
There, two figures were making their way along the path — strolling at an unhurried pace, perfectly at ease. A hundred pairs of eyes locked onto those two silhouettes, and every last one of them went wide in shock, as though they were dreaming.
Yang Kai walked forward, cheerfully greeting every Lingxiao Sect disciple he passed. His easy warmth left many of the disciples standing slack-jawed, staring at him and Su Yan like they had gone brain-dead.
Most of the Lingxiao Sect's current disciples had come with him from the Tongxuan Continent and the Central Capital, so nearly all of them recognized him. And even those who didn't know him surely knew Su Yan. To see these two — who had vanished for decades — appear together was something no one could bring themselves to believe.
Wherever they passed, every disciple stood rooted to the spot, eyes glued to their retreating backs, unable to snap out of it for a long time afterward.
The entire Lingxiao Sect seemed to have been struck by some great power's immobilization spell. Everything had frozen into stillness — everything except Yang Kai's voice as he called out greeting after greeting.
"Yang Kai — it's Yang Kai!" Dong Qinghan suddenly shouted. He rubbed his eyes furiously, afraid he was seeing things, and grabbed Lan Chudie by the arm. "Did you see that? Is Yang Kai really back?"
Lan Chudie nodded in a daze. "You're not imagining it — he's back."
Dong Qinghan slammed his palms together in delight.
The two had married back in the Central Capital and had weathered decades of hardship together. They treated each other with constant respect and affection — a truly blessed union.
A dozen or so figures of their generation showed similar excitement. Even Ye Xiyun and Chu Lingxiao, whose mental fortitude far surpassed most, found it difficult to keep their emotions in check.
Before long, Yang Kai stood before the assembled crowd. He swept his gaze over them and broke into a grin. "I'm back!"
The enthusiastic welcome he had imagined did not materialize. The entire group simply stared at him, dumbstruck, which made his own enthusiasm feel faintly awkward. He scratched his nose and ventured carefully, "I'm back..."
The words had barely left his mouth when Dong Qinghan charged forward and engulfed him in a bear hug, his large hands thwacking Yang Kai's back with a series of resounding thuds.
Yang Kai didn't know whether to laugh or cry — of all the people, it was this chubby cousin who reached him first. He endured the pats for a moment before saying, "Cousin, you really ought to lose some weight."
"Is it really you?" Dong Qinghan finally released him, stepped back, and studied Yang Kai's face with deadly seriousness.
"It's really me!"
Dong Qinghan turned around and pointed at Yang Kai, shouting to the crowd, "Yang Kai is back!"
As if he had been the one to discover it first.
Every face in the crowd turned solemn, and as one they bowed in salute. "Greetings to the Sect Master!" Their voices trembled slightly, betraying the turmoil within.
Yang Kai raised a hand, and an invisible force gently prevented every bow from completing. Strangely enough, not a single person detected any trace of Yang Kai channeling power — a feat that defied their imagination and left them with the unsettling impression that his strength had become truly unfathomable.
Yang Kai's expression turned solemn. He cupped his fists and bowed deeply. "Greetings, Grand Master. Greetings, Grandteacher!"
Chu Lingxiao was the founding ancestor of the Lingxiao Pavilion, and Ling Taixu had been the master who passed down the legacy to Yang Kai's own father — both were true elders in every sense of the word. No matter how lofty his cultivation had grown, Yang Kai had never once placed himself above them, let alone allowed them to bow to him.
If he did, his father — Fourth Master Yang — would break both his legs without hesitation.
Chu Lingxiao smiled. "You are the Sect Master of the Lingxiao Sect now. There's no need to be so formal."
Ling Taixu added, "Indeed. It is under your protection that we've achieved what we have today. A Sect Master should carry himself with the bearing of one."
Yang Kai replied, "A Sect Master still does not forgo respect for his elders. You two are my seniors — this is only proper."
Chu Lingxiao and Ling Taixu exchanged a glance, and each saw the look of gratification in the other's eyes.