“The apprentices patrolling the outermost parts of the school were attacked. Elder Cheng came as a part of the reinforcements, but…he was ambushed on the way and was hurt!” Bu Jiadi explained, “The others…we don’t know if the apprentices are alive or dead!”

“What?! For an ambush to do this much damage to elder Cheng…was a Soul King there?!”

“It’s possible, but we don’t know the specifics,” Bu Jiadi replied. “We’ll have to wait for elder Cheng to wake up first. How is he?”

Elder Yu held his fingers to elder Yu’s wrist for a moment. “The soulmending pill is working on him, but his wounds have yet to stabilize. It’ll probably be a few days before…”

His voice trailed off as he sensed an anomaly in the other person’s body. “This corrosive energy…if the records are correct, then…the Soul Refining Palm?! The Soul Refining School?!”

“Clang!”

Several objects clattered onto a hard surface, catching the attention of everyone in the room. The heads of everyone turned to look at the tumble of files and slips on the ground and table.

It was Bai Yunfei who had dropped those items.

“Tang Long? What is it?” Bu Jiadi asked.

“It’s…it’s nothing.” Shaking his head, Bai Yunfei bent down to pick up the things he dropped.

Luckily, his antics were perceived by the people within the room to simply be a result of nerves from hearing about their enemy and so they ignored him.

And so no one seemed to notice the shockingly red gleam of light that was in Bai Yunfei’s eyes… 

It was only for a moment. Even Bai Yunfei himself was surprised by his own reaction. 

For some reason, just hearing those three words; Soul Refining School, made him feel like his heart was tightening. Like a strand of rope was wrapping around it and causing him to stagger a little bit. The files that had been in his hands fell, and that was the reason why everyone turned to look at him. 

In that moment, Bai Yunfei felt an unprecedented amount of rage flow through his body.

“Soul Refining School…” He muttered underneath his breath. His hand clenched tightly enough that several knuckles popped ominously. A few of the files he grabbed at were even starting to distort under the pressure.

Hearing the name of that school for some reason made him want to kill.

“Elder Yu, the clan elder has ordered for elder Cheng to be brought back to the hall. Please come with us!” A figure in purple suddenly dropped into the room with a missive for the elder to hear.

The elder nodded his head. Waving his right hand, he had a layer of energy envelop and bring the elder up, “We’re going!”

“Stay here in the meanwhile, no pills are to be dispensed until my return!” Spoke elder Yu’s voice into Bai Yunfei’s ear.

Bai Yunfei said nothing and waited for everyone to leave before he let out a sigh. Shelving the files, Bai Yunfei sat back down at his table. “Seems like there’s trouble afoot. Something big’s happening…elder Cheng’s a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt, what kind of foe could’ve harmed him this much…?”

Two of his fingers massaged the temples on his head. “Soul Refining School…” He grunted, “One of the Ten Great Schools and filled with all sorts of villainous people. But…why is their name alone enough to cause so much hatred in me?”

He only had a few memories of the Soul Refining School to think of. As hated as the Soul Refining School was, Bai Yunfei couldn’t think of a reason why he himself hated the school so much. The hatred he had was unnaturally deep. It had to be if just the name alone was able to elicit such a response despite not knowing the reason why!

“They were only near the village a month ago. Have they really managed to get this far?” Bai Yunfei wondered aloud.

“The magical pills of the Yao clan…really does seem to be the treasure everyone wants. But with how long the Yao clan has been gone…shouldn’t everyone have given up already? There has to be a reason why they’re looking now…”

No answer came to him.

He shook his head with a sigh. A ‘mere Soul Warrior’ like him shouldn’t be thinking so hard about this. “Sigh…I hope the Yao clan will return to the peace they’re used to after all this is over….”

Within a large building at the center of the city.

Plenty of people were gathered here today. Over a hundred people from an initial scan.

The elder of the clan, Yao Wuchen, sat at the head of the hall. To his immediate right sat a middle-aged man in his fifties. He looked similar in appearance to Yao Wuchen.

That was because this man was Yao Wuchen’s predecessor and father, Yao Tianji.

Two rows sat on the left and right of these two seats. Rather than Wang Tong and the others, multiple elders sat on their chairs and waited to be called upon. They looked to be in their seventies or eighties and looked so withered that a single gust of wind might’ve been enough to blow them over.

These people were the entirety of the previous generations of the Yao clan.

Wang Tong, Kai Wen, and Bu Jiadi were also in attendance, but they were relegated to a corner. With them stood several other equal-aged men. They were fellow geniuses of their generation.

Only the strongest were gathered here. The weakest member here today was an Early-stage Soul Exalt. The people within these halls represented the core strength of the Yao clan.

It was just a moment ago the reawakened elder Cheng told the story of what happened.

Everyone had a grim expression on their faces. The story elder Cheng told had left a stifling atmosphere on the hall.

No one spoke for the longest of time. The news of what they heard was simply too hard to stomach.

“F*ck!” Roared a middle-aged man.

“I can’t bear this any longer, clan elder, please give the order! The enemy is already at our gates and has already killed several of our clansmen, there’s no chance of negotiations anymore! We should simply gather all our people and kill our enemies! Kill them all before they kill us! Let them know they have stepped on the tiger’s tail they shouldn’t have!”

His words were the spark to set the entire room into furious fervor. Multiple people began to speak out at once, furious for revenge over the deaths of their clansmen.

The most outspoken of the people here were those of the younger generation. Many of the older generations had yet to say anything.

“Silence!”

Yao Wuchen roared, he had had enough of the noise, and the entire hall went silent as he wanted.

Yao Wuchen turned to his father. “What are your thoughts, father?”

Yao Tianji didn’t look quite happy with how things were turning out. “You are the elder, you should be the one making the decisions. It is up to you to decide!”

Yao Wuchen sighed. “The enemies are quickly approaching,” He spoke to the people gathered in the hall. “This is the greatest danger to our clan since two thousand years ago. We are up against no beasts this time, but powerful soul cultivators from the outside world. Their goals are obvious; they wish to take our strength for themselves!”

He paused once here to take in a deep breath. “What Yao Kui said is correct. The enemies won’t hesitate to kill our clansmen, and there is no chance of any negotiations. If they are to treat us with malice, then we won’t sit and wait for our death!

“However! We are still unclear about the situation. We know little if they are all gathered here yet or if they are simply waiting for us to walk into their trap. Therefore…none of you shall take action without my command!

“Our patrolmen shall pull back to half their radius. None of our members shall walk even a step beyond the illusionary barriers. We will double our defenses at the edge of these barriers and have our familiars at the ready for battle!

“Elder Bu, awaken all the slumbering familiars we have!

“Second uncle, speed up the taming of the soulbeasts from last month’s trip. Tame the class six ones first. The class seven snake-tailed serpent will…be up to you and third uncle to tame!

“Elder Yu, distribute all the power-boosting pills to the familiars. Do the same for the treatment pills. Have all apprentices Soul Ancestors and up prepared for battle!

“Elder Wang, strengthen the sentinels at all points around the barriers near the city. I don’t want the enemy being able to sneak even a rat in…”

Orders streamed out from Yao Wuchen’s mouth one after another, but no one complained. A grim future was awaiting them, and everyone could tell that a great danger was coming down onto their clan… 

Trouble was surely brewing!!

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