As soon as Mo Chen spoke, Yan Dangmo’s eyes narrowed.
He was visibly stunned, having completely failed to expect such an absurd explanation.
Tai Lingxuan, suspended in mid-air, also stiffened slightly.
Beneath her cloak, her brows furrowed tightly.
Even Chen Yuyang, standing on the square below, could not help but feel a sense of bewilderment.
Then, he let out a sudden burst of laughter.
He truly could not hold it back.
He laughed at how a person could be shameless to such an extent — that their skin could be so thick.
“Oh, it is truly a massive misunderstanding!”
Mo Chen continued his performance, his face contorted into an expression of terror and annoyance.
He cupped his hands toward Yan Dangmo in the sky and said, “Senior Yan, please be the judge! My disciples truly misled me! A few days ago, my sect’s investigators claimed this was the location of a demonic cult! In a moment of oversight, I believed them to be telling the truth.”
“That is why I brought my people here with such fanfare to crusade against them, wishing to act on behalf of Heaven. I never imagined this was actually the territory of the Hehuan Sect!”
Mo Chen spoke with heartbreaking sincerity.
Tai Lingxuan, however, gritted her teeth as she listened.
Her chest heaved with boiling rage, and she could not help but sneer.
“Sect Master Mo, then how do you explain Long Zhizheng attacking me earlier?”
“That must have also been because he received incorrect intelligence. He must have mistaken the airship the Sect Master was riding for a demonic cult vessel before he struck.”
“Do you think I will believe your—”
Before Tai Lingxuan could finish her sentence, a palm gently rested on her shoulder.
Chen Yuyang’s voice sounded in the woman’s ear, low and calm.
“The days ahead are long.”
Tai Lingxuan’s body trembled, and she quickly turned to look at Chen Yuyang.
Meeting her gaze, his eyes were deep and tranquil, and he gave a slight shake of his head.
Tai Lingxuan was stunned for a moment, and then, as if struck by a bolt of lightning, she realized what he meant.
‘If I were to expose Mo Chen’s clumsy lies right now and question him sternly, it would certainly be satisfying. It would vent my anger. But what then? How would this end?’
‘Yan Dangmo is certainly powerful, but he is not a member of the Hehuan Sect after all. He has his own interests. It is impossible for him to fight to the bitter end for the sake of the Hehuan Sect.’
‘As for the Hehuan Sect, we simply do not have the capital to fight a life-and-death struggle against the Qiankun Sect, which has a legacy of ten thousand years and deep foundations. As the Sect Master, I cannot gamble, and I cannot afford to.’
At the same time, Tai Lingxuan did not wish to cause unnecessary casualties among her disciples.
However, if she took a step back here and tentatively accepted Mo Chen’s rhetoric… at least a superficial peace could be maintained.
At the very least, after the Qiankun Sect’s failure today, they would not dare to act rashly again for a short period of time.
The Hehuan Sect would gain a precious opportunity to breathe and develop.
‘Is it stifling?’
‘It is!’
But as the leader of a sect, these were the considerations she needed to make.
She could not simply let her blood boil and jump into a fight to the death.
Just as Chen Yuyang said… the days ahead were long.
Matters had not yet reached a truly irreparable state.
Thus, while their strength was inferior to the other party’s, she should not take the initiative to stoke the fire.
Moreover, she had just entered the Mahayana Realm.
Although she did not dare to claim she could act without restraint, she was already one of the top experts standing in this Realm of Cultivation.
For now, she might still need to be wary of the Qiankun Sect’s foundations.
But if she gave herself some time to continue cultivating, once she reached Level 5 or Level 6 of the Mahayana Realm… perhaps one day, she could even reach the Level 9 Mahayana Realm like Yan Dangmo.
By then, the situation would be completely different!
By then, it would not be difficult to repay today’s humiliation a hundredfold or a thousandfold.
Since the advantage of time was on her side, letting today’s matter go for the moment was nothing short of wisdom.
Once she understood this point, Tai Lingxuan took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the churning anger and killing intent in her heart.
The pressure surrounding her body slowly retracted, and the anger on her face gradually transformed into a cold, proud calm.
Yan Dangmo’s gaze fell upon Tai Lingxuan, observing her every reaction.
When he saw her forcibly suppress her anger and her aura gradually level out, a flicker of approval flashed in his eyes.
‘This girl is also quite a talent.’
Her natural gift went without saying.
To be able to break through to the Mahayana Realm at such an age was a rarity in the entire North Domain’s Realm of Cultivation.
And this temperament — this endurance and decisiveness to bear what ordinary people could not — was even more rare.
It was destined that she was no ordinary person.
Looking at it this way, even if he could not ultimately convince Chen Yuyang to marry into the Yan Family, this Hehuan Sect was worth befriending.
Yan Dangmo pondered secretly.
After a brief adjustment, Tai Lingxuan raised her head again and looked directly at Mo Chen in the sky.
“Sect Master Mo,” her icy voice carried little emotion.
“Since it was a misunderstanding, that is for the best. It is also fortunate that my strength is not too weak and that the Hehuan Sect’s mountain-protecting formation is stable enough. Otherwise, this misunderstanding might have caused significant personnel casualties and sect losses.”
As she spoke, Tai Lingxuan paused, subconsciously glancing at Chen Yuyang out of the corner of her eye.
‘A mountain-protecting formation that could forcefully withstand the full-strength attack of a Mahayana Realm cultivator without budging? As the Sect Master of the Hehuan Sect, I don’t remember our sect having a formation of this caliber. Is this… also something Yuyang created?’
“How could there be no loss!”
Just as Tai Lingxuan was secretly thinking, Chen Yuyang’s voice suddenly rang out, taking over the conversation.
He deliberately raised his voice so that everyone present could hear him clearly.
Chen Yuyang put on a look of extreme distress and said to Tai Lingxuan, “Master, how could you have forgotten?”
“This mountain-protecting formation is no ordinary item; it is a genuine Grade 9 defensive array! How many Spirit Stones did you spend to set up this formation back then? It almost emptied more than half of our Hehuan Sect’s family assets! It was only after great difficulty that we managed to invite that reclusive grandmaster of formations to take action and build it.”
“Now, during Sect Master Mo’s indiscriminate and frantic attack just now, the mountain-protecting formation has been severely damaged. The foundations are shaken, the consumption of High-Grade Spirit Stones is countless, and the subsequent repair will be another astronomical expense!”
Chen Yuyang spoke with such conviction and agonizing pain.
Tai Lingxuan was stunned at first, but she immediately realized Chen Yuyang’s intention.
At the same time, Chen Yuyang’s “price quote” sounded in her mind.
Slightly adjusting her expression, Tai Lingxuan adopted a stern posture, though she was cooperating with Chen Yuyang’s words.
“Yuyang, say no more.”
“It is merely several million High-Grade Spirit Stones. Is a sect as large as the Qiankun Sect really going to default on its debt and refuse to pay?”
Several million High-Grade Spirit Stones…
Mo Chen nearly coughed up a mouthful of old blood on the spot.
‘What Grade 9 formation needs millions of High-Grade Spirit Stones? This isn’t even robbery anymore!’
Although matters had reached this point and Mo Chen did not mind compensating them with something to settle the issue and move past this for now, the price of several million Spirit Stones was extremely painful even for the Qiankun Sect.
“My Qiankun Sect has many elders specializing in the Dao of Formations. My Qiankun Sect is willing to help the Hehuan Sect repair the array and offer 300,000 High-Grade Spirit Stones as—”
However, before Mo Chen could finish, Tai Lingxuan suddenly raised her palm and slapped Chen Yuyang on the back, scolding him, “What backdoors! Do not talk nonsense! The Qiankun Sect is upright and honorable. How could they take the opportunity of repairing the formation to leave backdoors in our mountain-protecting array?”
Mo Chen: “…”
Yan Dangmo: “…”
“Master, but I am worried!” Chen Yuyang said with grief and indignation.
“Even if they don’t leave a backdoor, if we expose our sect’s formation core to others, they will know its weaknesses. What if in the future…”
Chen Yuyang did not say what would happen in the future, but his meaning was already very clear.
Tai Lingxuan shook her head, looking both helpless and lamentable.
“Sect Master Mo, you have seen it too. It is not that I do not agree, but rather that my disciple was truly frightened by your display today.”
Mo Chen’s eyebrows twitched slightly, and the stiff muscles on his face trembled.
He looked at Chen Yuyang and Tai Lingxuan below, who were playing off each other, and felt a surge of irritation, yet he was helpless.
“It is fine, it is fine…”
Mo Chen suppressed the unwillingness in his heart and squeezed out a smile that looked uglier than crying.
He cupped his hands toward Tai Lingxuan.
“I understand Sect Master Tai’s concerns… It is just that the cost of repairing the formation, amounting to several million High-Grade Spirit Stones, is truly… truly a bit beyond what my Qiankun Sect can bear…”
“Oh, speaking of which, Master.”
Chen Yuyang acted as if he had suddenly remembered something and urgently asked Tai Lingxuan, “Where is your complete set of Grade 9 Immortal Sword Arrays? I mean the Slaughtering Immortal Sword Array composed of eighty-one top-tier Immortal Swords! That is the treasure of our Hehuan Sect, passed down for dozens of generations! The situation was urgent before, so I forgot to ask. Where has that sword array gone?”
Tai Lingxuan understood immediately.
She instantly put on a look of heartbreak and followed along with Chen Yuyang’s words.
“That’s right! If you hadn’t mentioned it, I would have nearly forgotten! Previously, when I was fighting Elder Long Zhizheng of the Qiankun Sect, his cultivation far exceeded mine. To protect myself, I was forced to sacrifice the sect’s supreme treasure to stall him. Although I fortunately defeated him in the end, I was also seriously injured and unconscious. After I woke up, that sword array had disappeared!”
After a pause, Tai Lingxuan continued, “Furthermore, I also lost a set of Grade 9 array flags used to amplify the power of the sword array. The dozens of Grade 9 life-saving talismans I carried on me, as well as ten or so Grade 9 healing pills, were all completely exhausted during that fierce battle…”
The more Mo Chen listened, the more his head spun.
‘What on earth is all of this?’
‘An entire set of Grade 9 Immortal Sword Arrays? A set of Grade 9 array flags? Though, we did find some damaged flags, so that might be true. But several dozen more Grade 9 talismans and ten or so Grade 9 pills? Are you really not just making this up? What, does your Hehuan Sect have deeper pockets than my Qiankun Sect?!’
Mo Chen complained wildly in his heart, but he did not let it show on his face at all.
However, he quickly realized that if he let them keep remembering things like this, forget about several million Spirit Stones — even if he sold the entire Qiankun Sect, they wouldn’t be able to pay for the losses.
“Cough…”
At this moment, Yan Dangmo, who had been observing in silence, spoke slowly.
His voice was not loud, but its authority was undeniable.
“Allow me to say a word of fairness.”
Everyone’s gaze turned toward Yan Dangmo.
Yan Dangmo spoke slowly.
“Whether it was Long Zhizheng’s unprovoked assassination attempt on Sect Master Tai or today’s incident, the root cause lies in the Qiankun Sect’s misjudgment. The fault lies with the Qiankun Sect. Therefore, these losses should naturally be compensated by the Qiankun Sect.”
Mo Chen’s eyelids jumped as he listened, but he also understood that Yan Dangmo speaking now was equivalent to settling the nature of the matter once and for all.
Could he argue?
He could not.
And now, all the fault lay with the Qiankun Sect, and with Long Zhizheng dead, there was no witness to prove otherwise.
In this situation, anything more he said would be useless.
“Yes… yes… Senior Yan is right…”
A bitter smile was squeezed onto Mo Chen’s face, though a hint of malice was hidden within his eyes.