In the Yan family's great hall, nearly every senior member of the clan had already gathered. Even the younger generation geniuses of the Yan family were all present, each taking their seats.
Yan Qingsang found his designated area and settled into his seat. Jiang Chen's standing within the Yan family was no longer insignificant, so he naturally had a seat of his own.
Jiang Chen glanced casually at the Yan family patriarch and noticed a trace of worry between the man's brows. The patriarch looked as though he were facing a tremendous problem.
Jiang Chen's mind stirred slightly. He couldn't care less about whatever other matters had arisen within the Yan family. The only thing he truly worried about was Xiahou Zong emerging from seclusion.
If Xiahou Zong came out and tried to take Qinghuang away, that was the one scenario Jiang Chen absolutely could not accept.
As long as it wasn't that, the sky could fall for all he cared — he would find a way.
"Everyone's here, so I won't beat around the bush. I've called this meeting because there are some urgent matters that need to be communicated."
"The first matter concerns the area around Yuntuo Mountain. Along the border where the Feng family borders our territory, numerous celestial anomalies have appeared recently. In response, the Feng family has dispatched large numbers of elite troops to station along the frontier, clearly harboring intentions of encroaching upon our Yuntuo Mountain border. Since the passing of our Supreme Founding Ancestor, our Yan family's strength has declined — there's no use denying that. Our difficult circumstances need not be denied either. But in all these years, the Yan family has never suffered the humiliation of having our territory seized. Now the Feng family massing heavy forces on the border with clear hostile intent, what our Yan family faces is the question of defending our home and guarding our land. Every man among us is made of hot blood — we may lose our heads, but we will not lose our homeland. Otherwise, when we die, we will have no face to meet our ancestors!"
"The situation at Yuntuo Mountain is urgent and cannot wait — that is the first matter."
"The second matter concerns the Yaochi Sect. These past days, the Yaochi Sect has been constantly provoking our Yan family. Because they failed to win the championship in the alchemy competition, they've harbored a grudge. They've been stirring up trouble in the Divine Capital, trying to use the alchemy competition as leverage. Recently, they've even rallied a group of alchemy powerhouses to try and overturn the conclusions of the last competition — particularly the verdict regarding the Water Moon Heart-Contemplating Pill. That is the second matter."
"The third matter concerns the Xiahou family. The Xiahou family has recently come to us with new demands. According to them, Xiahou Zong will emerge from seclusion within three years at most. During these three years, our Yan family must guarantee that nothing happens to Yan Qinghuang. And now they've made an additional demand — that we hand over Shao Yuan to the Xiahou family. Apparently, their people are quite taken with Shao Yuan…"
The first two matters left Jiang Chen completely unmoved.
But the third matter — it concerned Qinghuang, and it concerned him, Jiang Chen. That made his brow crease slightly.
"The Xiahou family wants me?" Jiang Chen felt a flash of confusion. "Could it be that my performance at the birthday banquet caught their attention?"
It was almost laughable. He had come to the Eternal God Realm with two purposes — first, to rescue Qinghuang from her plight, and second, with the intent of destroying the Xiahou family entirely.
Now the Xiahou family was specifically requesting him by name. If that wasn't absurd, he didn't know what was.
"Alright. None of these three matters are small. Let's hear everyone's thoughts."
The Yan family patriarch spread his hands, signaling that all were free to speak.
"Patriarch, there's nothing to discuss about Yuntuo Mountain. They've deployed heavy forces, so we must deploy heavy forces to meet them eye for eye. Even a fallen donkey keeps its frame — the Yan family can be defeated, but we cannot be intimidated."
"Exactly. Since when does the Feng family dare bare their teeth at us? When the Supreme Founding Ancestor was still alive, the Feng family crawled beneath our feet."
"Patriarch, give the order. We are willing to march to Yuntuo Mountain and face the Feng family head-on."
"That's right, Patriarch. We absolutely cannot back down. Perhaps we can use this conflict with the Feng family to restore our prestige. The Yan family hasn't fallen that far!"
On the matter of Yuntuo Mountain, virtually every member of the Yan family held an unwavering stance. The world of martial cultivation was, after all, a world of ferocity and combat.
If you chose to retreat in the face of someone baring their fangs rather than meeting them head-on, you would inevitably be mocked by the world — and looked upon with even greater contempt.
Besides, the Feng family wasn't even the most powerful faction. If it had been the Xiahou family, the Yan family might have acknowledged their inability to resist and perhaps made some concessions, swallowing their pride.
But the Feng family — a family whose strength had originally been inferior to the Yan family's — if even they were to be tolerated with silent endurance, then the Yan family would truly have reached the point where everyone felt free to kick them.
Looking back on this period, the Yan family's situation had been one of a wall crumbling with everyone rushing to push it over.
When returning from the Blue Smoke Island Domain, the Yan family's airship had been intercepted by the Zhōuguāng Sect.
And now the Feng family was making trouble at Yuntuo Mountain.
The Yaochi Sect, embittered by the alchemy competition, had been constantly finding fault with the Yan family. They were the ones who lost, yet they refused to accept it gracefully. The reason was simple — they were bullying the Yan family for being weak. If the Yan family were as powerful as the Xiahou family, would the Yaochi Sect dare be so brazen? Unlikely.
And aside from these three factions, the Yan family's greatest and most pressing threat — the Xiahou family — had never stopped creating trouble.
Now they were even demanding people. Not just Yan Qinghuang, but also the family's newly favored talent, Shao Yuan.
"Patriarch, the Yaochi Sect has gone too far. They clearly lost, yet they insist on pulling all these stunts. If you can't afford to lose, just say so — why stir up all this trouble?"
"Ultimately, it comes down to them bullying us."
"Well, it's not quite that simple. In the alchemy competition, our Yan family humiliated them. It's only natural for the Yaochi Sect to bear a grudge."
"What nonsense is that? In any contest, you fight to win. Are you saying that when our Yan family's disciples have a chance to win, they should deliberately throw the match? What kind of logic is that?"