The door to the council of elder's meeting chamber was *not* the estate's main gate. It was heavy, old, and well-maintained, but lacked any sort of extra defenses - because they never expected it would ever be needed to barricade themselves within the room. It was also unlocked… and hinged to open inwards. Which was perhaps somewhat fortunate for the cultivator who had just used his Astralism on his own guard partner.
'Put him to sleep before he could make his choice. Kind of an unwinnable situation, I guess. He must have known what his own family member would pick, but…'
When someone pissed off gives you an ultimatum, and you *intentionally* go out of your way to work around it - that is rarely the end of the situation. At that point, you have simply doubled down on allowing your enemy to see you as a threat by showing off your unwillingness to compromise and willingness to seek maximum resistance. Revealing the iron in your spine to them, in this case…
