The Lan Clan members stared at this shiny piece of gold, easily five taels worth, lying on the ground, a great variety of expressions on their faces.Gold!

Other than people in the secular world, what other places still used gold?

To massive presences such as the Lan Clan, gold was… practically no different from dirt.

Even if only gold was used, just the main gates that had been set on fire alone would require 100,000 taels of gold to repair! Not to mention the dozens of fatalities and casualties involved. Among the casualties, there were even seven Supreme Martial Artists who perished and more than ten others gravely injured!

Not even a million Purple Crystals were enough to compensate for these losses and yet, this fellow had actually just thrown out five taels of gold? And even requested for the Lan Clan to… accept it?

He even said in a sincere tone of voice —”With this, we’re now even. We don’t owe each other anything anymore…”

F*ck you! Aren’t these five taels of gold of yours too f*cking valuable then?

Lan Buhui’s expression was covered in heavy frost as he stared at the glittering gold on the ground. With a flourish of his arm, the gold was already in his hand. It seemed as if the next moment, the gold would turn into liquid and flow from his palm.

Yet he suddenly took a deep breath instead and replied with a laugh, “That’s right, but I also ask that the two of you keep this in mind — From now on, we’re even and neither of us owes the other anything anymore. The mountains remain tall and the rivers flowing… We shall meet again!”

Outside, separated by the fire, a low laugh seemed to drift over, as though a faint voice saying, “… Alright.”

“Elder Master!” Lan Yingfeng’s eyes were widened so much from fury that they were close to splitting. Never in his dreams would he have expected the Elder Master to take such a feeble stance.

Clutching the gold ingot in his hand, Lan Buhui aked somberly, “What are you going on and on about? Do you not admit defeat?!”s

Lan Yingfeng’s face contorted. “This… is too much…”

Taking a deep breath, Lan Buhui replied, “This is what the martial world is like!”

Everyone lowered their heads, breathing heavily as veins on their foreheads throbbed.

With his hands behind his back, Lan Buhui walked back into the residence as he spoke slowly, “Ten thousand years of peace and comfort have made all of you arrogant and full of yourselves to a certain extent, lording over others while dressed in finery and enjoying delicacies. All of you have already forgotten the nature of the martial world!”

“Before this, the Lan Clan has already been bullying others in ways that are tenfold or hundredfold more unreasonable than this, right? But all of you have overlooked the most important point — Since you can treat others this way, others can also treat all of you the same way. Do you mean to say that… only you are allowed to be unreasonable to others while you yourselves cannot bear to suffer any bit of injustice?”

“If that’s the case, should the Lan Clan be destroyed in the great trial which awaits us this time, this old man… will not be surprised in the least!” Lan Buhui’s last sentence drifted over from a great distance away, his voice already extremely faint.

“Keep this in mind from now on — Do not let your ancestors… be shamed because of you again!”

This sentence of his was extremely grave!

Everyone looked ashamed of themselves.

Indeed, what kind of person was Lan Buhui? He was the man who founded the Lan Clan, their Elder Master of ten thousand years! There was absolutely no need for him to accept the humiliation he had suffered today. He could have very well cut off all means of retreat and engaged in a battle to the death with the enemy today.

Whether he survived or not, he would not have let down his great reputation at all.

Moreover, since all those years ago, Lan Buhui had always been known in the martial world as a man who did not fear death. The wild arrogance in his personality was also well-known to all. Today, the first one to have flared up should have been him.

However, for the sake of his descendants, he chose to bear with it nonetheless.

Actions spoke louder than words!

Lan Buhui’s decision to take a step back this time had given everyone in the Lan Clan a timely warning. If the Lan Clan could really adopt a cautious attitude from this point onwards and not let down Lan Buhui’s efforts, perhaps… their ending might be different?

With a livid look on his face and his lips trembling, Lan Yingfeng said, “Everyone… You heard him, right? And seen everything? The foundation which the Elder Master has gone through so many hardships to lay down is not for us to enjoy ourselves, much less for us to become so delirious with joy that we forget ourselves… Should we allow such things where the Elder Master suffers shame to happen again in the future… We might as well just commit mass suicide and be done with it.”

Everyone’s eyes were red and their breathing heavy.

In this instant, all of them were truly filled with regrets. Indeed, they had really been too much of a bully in the past…

Right at this moment.

“I bring news!” Someone galloped at high speed toward them on horseback. He actually charged through the main gates of the Lan Clan through the fire, causing all the clothes on him to catch fire. After he rolled about on the ground and put out the flames on himself, he was already covered in blisters. However, he had no time to be bothered with these before he knelt in front of Lan Yingfeng. “Clan Leader, reporting emergency news!”

“What news?” Lan Yingfeng’s heart tightened.

“During the second half of the night, there was a terrible accident in the Lan Clan’s Nine Heavens passageway… All the disciples guarding the passageway have been killed. There are no survivors among those who are second-grade Supreme Martial Artists and below! It is suspected that powerful enemies have come to the Upper Three Heavens from this area!” The man reported hurriedly.

Lan Yingfeng felt his body sway a little. “To think something like that has happened!”

“By the time I reached, the only thing I saw was corpses strewn all over the place.”

“This situation is practically unimaginable!”

Lan Yingfeng twirled his beard as he sank deep into contemplation. Just what kind of situation could have allowed this many experts to be killed at the same time?

And if they had been killed by people coming up from the Middle Three Heavens, in that case, since when had people from the Middle Three Heavens become this powerful? There was a sense of weirdness to this matter…

“After discovering this, I mustered the courage to go into the passageway to check it out. But after traveling for a distance, I found several corpses strewn all over the passageway too… The team that the clan had dispatched to the Lower Three Heavens… has also…”

“What happened to them?!” Lan Yingfeng bellowed furiously. “Hurry and spit it out!” There was already a sinking feeling in his heart. However, he still held a sliver of hope nonetheless.

“They have also been… completely slain by someone! Out of the 135 members in the team, none of them survived!” When the man finished, he lowered his head to the ground, not daring to speak anymore. However, his mental and physical strength had taken too large a toll and he collapsed onto the ground at last and passed out.

Everyone who heard the news was so shocked that they couldn’t speak.

Totaling the count from all three incidents, in just a single day, the Lan Clan had lost more than 300 experts!

One must understand that there were easily a good 160 people guarding the passageway! Divided into ten teams, they took turns to stand guard. Over the years, when had there ever been any problems? Who would’ve thought that they would be wiped out completely by someone today?

Furthermore, the experts whom they had dispatched to the Lower Three Heavens had also been killed…

“Could it be… that the Nine Tribulations have ascended to the heavens?!” A shocked Lan Clan expert uttered what was on everyone’s minds. “Should that be the case… then the strength of this generation’s Nine Tribulations, as compared to the earlier generations… is much more powerful.”

This was a problem that everyone was worried about as well.

“Clan leader! We must thoroughly investigate this! This feud must be avenged! Even if it’s the Nine Tribulations, they must repay this blood debt!” The eyes of an elder, whose hair and beard had already turned white, were so red that blood was almost seeping out of them.

The ones in charge of guarding the passageway this time were exactly the descendants of this Sixth Elder. Now that they were all dead, this meant that… There was no longer anyone to carry on his bloodline. How could he not be infuriated?

“Dispatch Team Lan Xiang to thoroughly investigate!” Lan Yingfeng was trembling all over somewhat. “No matter the price, find out who the culprits are!”

This order of his was rather well-said. Everyone could tell — He only said to find out the identities of the culprits; he didn’t say what to do with them. They believed that should it really turn out to be the Nine Tribulations, the clan leader’s instructions would then become… to give the matter further thought and discuss at length.

After all, it was still unknown what was happening on Lan Ruo’s end.

The Sixth Elder let out a cold snort and left in a huff.

“Other than that, even though all the manpower that was dispatched to the Lower Three Heavens have already… already been wiped out, the plan in the Lower Three Heavens must not run aground! Dispatch another team at once… Great Elder, we must not send just anyone this time around. I think… How about you personally lead a team and head down to Iron Cloud in the Lower Three Heavens together with the three high priests?” Lan Yingfeng turned and looked at an elder who looked livid as he stood at the side.

The Great Elder and the three high priests were all seventh-grade Supreme Martial Artists who had crossed the boundary between immortal and mortal. They were also the main forces in the Lan Clan’s remaining forces. Other than the four of them, they were only left with two high priests of eighth-grade Supreme Martial Artist cultivation and the Elder Master, Lan Buhui. With them leading the team, even if demons and spirits were to appear in the trifling Lower Three Heavens, they definitely wouldn’t be a match for the four of them.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

After all, in the Lower Three Heavens, the Nine Tribulations Sword Master’s woman was the ultimate priority and key to the Lan Clan’s survival!

“Alright. I’ll make a trip there personally.” The Great Elder continued in a low and steady voice. “But I’d like the Clan Leader to come up with a proper plan as to what we should do exactly.”

“Should Lan Ruo and the others have already produced results… then we can let nature run its course. If the other party has already seen through Lan Ruo… then, we will spare no effort in the measures we take, no matter what we must do. Even if we must destroy the entire Iron Cloud Nation, it matters not! By that time, we will have truly fallen out with the Nine Tribulations Sword Master.”

Lan Yingfeng heaved a heavy sigh. “What a pity that Meixian is already dead… Otherwise, we can let her step forward personally… and things will be a lot easier. The information that she left behind in the past was too ambiguous, such that we were only in time to move once before the Nine Heavens were closed off immediately…”

“If the news is accurate, then with the opening of the Nine Heavens this time, the Nine Tribulations Sword Master is sure to make his move. Therefore… The Great Elder and the others going down this time is the Lan Clan’s final chance.”

Lan Yingfeng concluded in a solemn tone. “That’s it.”

The white beard of the Great Elder fluttered as he replied solemnly, “I understand now!”

From afar, Lan Buhui’s sigh was audible. “Do not forget what I said. Do not ever offend the Nine Tribulations Sword Master.”

With his face turned to the heavens, Lan Yingfeng stayed silent for a long time.

He naturally understood what the Elder Master meant. However… These past few years, they had already offended the Nine Tribulations Sword Master through and through! Right now, even if they wanted to stop… it was no longer possible.

Unless… Lan Ruo was successful. Otherwise, it was already destined to be an irreconcilable situation.

But what they didn’t know was that their feud with the Nine Tribulations Sword Master… was already destined to be since a long time ago. Lan Buhui’s pains and efforts for the sake of the Lan Clan were also fated to go to waste…

…

In a tiny restaurant in a very secluded area in the south, Mo Tianji, Gu Duxing and the others sat around a table.

They had finally come up.

All of them, including Mo Tianji himself, didn’t think that it would be this easy and simple. To them, this should have been a bloody battle where they went through great pains and trouble to break through the enemies and come up. All of them would be covered in wounds as they treated their injuries before going on to talk about other things…

They didn’t expect to run into a whole lot of corpses in the passageway. Then, after they came up, when they saw another group of people cleaning up dead bodies, all of them charged out at once. Before they could even put into action all of Mo Tianji’s plans…

Everything had already ended.

There were still easily more than a thousand kilograms of explosives inside the two large coffins that they brought everywhere with them… This was something that Mo Tianji had gone to great lengths to get, so that they could ignite them during critical moments and escape during the confusion…

“We’ve finally come up. Now, I’m going to talk about our arrangements for the future.” Mo Tianji calmed down quickly.