Volume 1, Chapter 450 – Sounding Out

With her current strength, she was already more than capable of sweeping across Yunyan Star.

Even though heavenly tribulation could descend upon her at any moment, restricting the extent to which she could exert her strength, Shi Lan still had little fear of these so-called King Realm experts on Yunyan Star.

The reason she had issued a warning was simply that she did not wish to commit excessive slaughter. After tempering her heart in the mortal world, no matter the circumstances, she would never again lack reverence for life.

“This subordinate understands.”

Li Canglan asked no further questions. Since Shi Lan had spoken so, that meant she had absolute confidence in handling whatever changes might occur afterward, and naturally he would not say anything unnecessary.

…

After Li Canglan followed Shi Lan’s instructions and spread the word, Yunyan Star was almost instantly shaken by an earthquake.

For the many small families and ordinary commoners, however, there was not much reaction.

Compared to the lofty and powerful great families, the Tianyan Sect was actually more popular among them. After all, a large portion of the Tianyan Sect’s disciples had come from small families, or even from ordinary commoners.

After the Tianyan Sect issued its edict, many places even broke into celebration, spontaneously beginning to choose locations and prepare to establish branch stations for the Tianyan Sect.

The more branch stations the Tianyan Sect had, the more disciples it would need. That undoubtedly meant their chances of entering the Tianyan Sect and changing their own fate would grow greater, whereas the lofty clans and aristocratic houses would never grant them such an opportunity.

Unlike these small families and commoners, the four great royal clans and the more than ten powerful aristocratic families beneath them were all somewhat unable to sit still for a time.

There was no issue with bowing their heads in submission in name alone, but once these branch stations began to appear, their territories and cultivation resources would inevitably be affected.

And once they bowed their heads in submission, if the Tianyan Sect demanded spirit veins, immortal materials, or even population from them, would they give them up or not? If matters came to that, the damage to their interests would be far too great.

At first, these aristocratic families had been so courteous to the Tianyan Sect for two reasons. One was their fear of Shi Lan’s unknown strength. The other was that, at the time, the seven great powerful clans had just been wiped out, leaving behind an abundance of cultivation resources, so there had been no need to fight over them.

But now, those cultivation resources had already been divided up among the major families and swallowed whole. How could they possibly be willing to spit them back out?

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For a time, with the Qin family—the strongest of the four great royal clans—taking the lead, the fifteen most powerful aristocratic houses now remaining on Yunyan Star gathered together.

“What do you all think of the Tianyan Sect’s edict?”

Qin Guang, the current head of the Qin family, sat in the seat of honor and looked at the leading figures of the various families in the hall as he asked calmly.

He looked to be around forty years of age. Clad in gilded robes, he spoke in a steady tone and carried himself with extraordinary bearing. Though not especially old, he had already taken his place among the Seven Saints of the Qin clan and had long enjoyed great fame.

“Naturally, we cannot agree to it!”

The head of the Zhao royal clan was the first to respond, his tone resolute.

“The moment we open this breach, it won’t be long before all of Yunyan Star belongs to the Tianyan Sect!”

“Exactly.”

“This is tantamount to offending the public. Presumably, if we reject them sternly and hold our ground to the end, the Tianyan Sect will not dare go too far.”

The other two great royal clans nodded in agreement one after another.

“We absolutely cannot agree so easily, but neither is it wise to rashly start a war.”

“My son is still cultivating in the Tianyan Sect…”

“The Tianyan Sect’s cultivation methods truly do have a few remarkable mysteries to them.”

Aside from the four great royal clans, the remaining aristocratic houses were obviously somewhat lacking in confidence.

“Everyone, be quiet for the moment!”

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Seeing that the speakers were growing softer and softer in tone and the topic was starting to drift off course, Qin Guang gave a light cough and pulled the discussion back.

“My family’s old ancestor means to arrange a meeting with the Tianyan Sect’s Sect Master and sound out her true strength. If she has only an empty reputation…”

Qin Guang did not finish the rest, but his meaning was self-evident.

“She is, after all, someone from beyond this world. If by some accident we provoke her and bring retaliation upon ourselves, I fear we may not be able to bear the consequences…”

The family head who had earlier mentioned that his son was cultivating in the Tianyan Sect looked somewhat hesitant.

The moment those words came out, even the four great royal clans looked somewhat unnatural.

The fate of the seven great powerful clans was still vividly before their eyes. The former strongest expert on Yunyan Star still had his corpse nailed to the highest peak on the star, and to this day no one dared to retrieve it.

Faced with such a bloody lesson, who would dare offend them and test the law with their own body?

“There has been no movement from beyond this world until now. Perhaps those people have already left.”

“Those outsiders only slaughtered the other seven clans and left our Human Race alone. Clearly, that was because we belong to the same race. Besides, what lies beyond this world cannot possibly be a single united front.”

People were mostly inclined to cling to luck. The great royal clans were clearly still unwilling to let the matter rest and wanted to probe a little.

In their view, it was only a test. Even if the Tianyan Sect really was some fierce dragon too formidable to provoke, then if they committed a slight offense, they could simply offer up some cultivation resources, lower their posture, and let the matter pass.

Li Canglan’s series of god-making efforts had achieved obvious results. Most of the family heads in the hall were somewhat fearful of Shi Lan’s reputation outside, where she was spoken of like some divine or demonic being.

Even if it was only a test, they could not quite bring themselves to harbor thoughts of offense.

After speaking nonsense for half the day, the gathering ended just like that without accomplishing anything.

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In the end, Qin Guang could only throw out all of the aristocratic houses other than the four great royal clans.

“A bunch of useless trash—good for nothing, but excellent at ruining things!”

The head of the Zhao family was so furious that he burst into loud curses.

“Brother Zhao, calm yourself.”

Qin Guang offered a word of consolation, then turned to look to one side.

“What are your families’ views, the two of you?”

The members of the Hou and Li families had remained indifferent. During the gathering just now, they had barely spoken at all.

“We can sound her out, but we cannot make a move, much less injure anyone. That is the position of my Li family.”

“You three families decide. My Hou family will accompany you.”

The head of the Hou family rose directly to his feet and left the hall.

…

What the great royal clans did not know was that before their gathering had even ended, a secret letter had already been delivered into Li Canglan’s hands.

“Who is Hao Yangsa?”

Shi Lan swept her eyes over the contents of the secret letter, casually burned it to ashes, and asked.

“He is currently an inner sect disciple of my Tianyan Sect. His cultivation talent is fairly good.”

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Li Canglan replied at once.

“Promote him to true disciple.”

“This subordinate understands.”

Li Canglan nodded, then asked,

“And the contents of this secret letter…?”

“Sound me out?”

Shi Lan let out a soft laugh, but there was not the slightest warmth in her eyes.

“Are they worthy?”

“If the great families send invitations, how should this subordinate respond?”

“Do whatever should be done. I already gave them their chance.”

“This subordinate understands.”

“You will make all arrangements for this matter. In three days, I will act and sweep aside all who refuse to submit.”

After entrusting the matter to Li Canglan, Shi Lan directly opened a gate and entered the Qiongluo Realm.

For her now, the Qiongluo Realm was what mattered above all else. Leaving aside the twelve Supreme corpses within it and the precious treasures they carried, even the remains of Reincarnation Hall’s army alone represented a considerable fortune.