Elder Tian Long, the powerful expert from the Beast Revolution Faction, hobbled into the darkness, a broken man stripped of his wealth and dignity, believing he had narrowly escaped death. A moment later, Jian Xuan melted into those same shadows, a silent, inevitable fate following in his wake.
Back in the ruins, Li Yu, Kui, and Spine were left with the grim task of waiting. They knew the clan would react to the death of hundreds of their members and the destruction of their guest pavilion. It was not a question of if, but when.
"Spine," Li Yu said, his voice gentle. "Go into the sanctuary and rest. You are gravely wounded."
The massive beast, his rage now replaced by a deep, weary sorrow, gave a slow, grateful nod. With a shimmer of light, his hundred-meter-long form vanished, taken into the healing environment of the Koi Sanctuary to recover and grapple with the new, complicated hope he had been given.
"Wise Host," Kui said, his expression all business as he surveyed the field of bodies. "We don't have much time. Before the clan's main force arrives, we should make sure to loot the remaining storage rings."
Li Yu nodded in agreement. Kui, with a practiced efficiency, went around collecting. While Li Yu stood watch, Kui quickly and systematically absorbed the contents of the rings into a master ring for the Guild. The sheer wealth accumulated was staggering. They would look through it later for anything rare or unique as there wasn't time now.
They did not have to wait long. Twenty minutes later, an organized force descended upon the crater. They moved with a disciplined speed that spoke of a hastily assembled but still formidable elite unit.
From the direction of the city's heart, a dozen figures flew through the air, their auras blazing with power. The man in the lead was old, with long, white hair and a face carved with the deep lines of age and authority.
He wore the ornate robes of a clan leader, and his powerful 2nd level Core Formation aura washed over the area. He was followed by the clan's remaining elders, their faces a mixture of fury and disbelief. They were all in the foundation establishment realm.
The Clan Leader of the Golden Tide Clan landed in the center of the crater, his gaze sweeping over the scene of utter devastation. He saw the bodies of his clansmen, the shattered remnants of his beautiful pavilion, and his eyes blazed with a furious, grief-stricken rage.
"What is the meaning of this?!" he roared, his voice shaking the very ground. "Who are you?! What have you done to my city, to my people?!" He looked at the figures standing amidst the carnage. His eyes immediately locked onto Kui. The quiet, unassuming young man beside them, Li Yu, did not even register as a threat in his mind. "Did you do this?!" He directed at Kui.
His daughter, Lan Yue, was with him, her face as pale as a ghost. She saw the bodies of Elder Tian Long's personal guard, the powerful experts she had known were sent to handle this, and her heart turned to ice. They had failed. The force they had sent, a force capable of laying waste to a small sect, had been utterly annihilated.
Before the Clan Leader's rage could escalate into an attack, Kui stepped forward, his expression calm and professional, projecting the unshakeable confidence of the Golden Shell Guild.
"Honorable Clan Leader," Kui said, his voice respectful but firm. "My name is Kui, Guild Leader of the Golden Shell Company. We were guests in your city, staying in this very pavilion, when we were attacked in the dead of night by an overwhelming force of your clansmen and their allies. We merely… defended ourselves."
He let the words hang in the air for a moment before posing a simple, devastating question. "Is this a declaration of war between the Golden Tide Clan and the Golden Shell Guild?"
The Clan Leader was taken aback, his rage momentarily checked by the political gravity of the question. A war with the Golden Shell Guild? The new, terrifyingly wealthy and well-connected power that had taken the southern coast by storm? He was no fool. This was not a fight he could win.
"I… I was not aware of this," he stammered, his fury giving way to a dreadful confusion. He turned, his gaze falling upon his daughter, Lan Yue. "I have stepped back from the day-to-day running of the clan to spend these last years with your mother a few years ago. I left you in charge of our business affairs. Daughter, what is going on? Explain this!"
Lan Yue trembled under her father's furious, questioning gaze. She looked at the field of dead bodies, at the decimated remains of the elite force she had sent. She looked at the calm, knowing eyes of the men who had so effortlessly destroyed them. The lie, the perfect facade she had so carefully maintained, had been shattered beyond repair. There was no escape.
With a choked sob, she fell to her knees. "Father… I confess," she whispered, her voice a broken admission of guilt. And then, the whole story came pouring out—the ambition, the desire to crush the Crimson Forge Sect, to grow the clan and its businesses, the secret alliance with the Beast Revolution Faction, the plan to use them as a deniable force, everything.
The old Clan Leader listened, his face slowly losing all color, his powerful frame seeming to shrink with every word his daughter spoke. When she was finished, he did not rage. He did not yell. He simply shook his head, a look of profound, soul-crushing despair in his eyes. He looked at the legacy his ancestors had built over a thousand years—a legacy of artistry, of pride, of honor—and saw it all brought to ruin by the foolish, short-sighted ambition of his own child.
"You have destroyed us," he said, his voice a hollow whisper. "You have allied us with fanatics and terrorists. You have brought a calamity upon our house. I will go down in the clan's history as its greatest sinner, the one who oversaw its fall." He knew, with a crushing certainty, that he couldn't right this ship anymore. The clan was poisoned from within and had made enemies of a terrifying, unknown power. This was the only thing he could do now for the people who were innocent.
He looked at his weeping daughter, and the fury in his eyes was replaced by a deep, weary sadness. He couldn't bring himself to kill her.
He then turned to Kui, and with the last of his pride, he gave a deep, formal bow. "This old one has failed his clan, and failed his ancestors," he said, his voice heavy with his decision. "I ask only for a measure of mercy. Let my daughter, my wife, and I go. Let us disappear from this world, to live out our final days in obscurity."
He took a deep breath. "In return, the Golden Tide Clan will be no more. I will personally purge every last member who was involved in this conspiracy. My daughter will tell us who they are. I will not have more innocent blood shed because of our mistakes. When it is done, the Golden Shell Guild may take the assets of our clan. Our workshops, our trade routes, our properties, everything. I ask only that you keep those who are innocent employed, should they wish to stay. They are skilled artisans and loyal workers. They do not deserve to suffer for my daughter's mistakes."
Kui looked at Li Yu, who gave a single, almost imperceptible nod. "We agree to your terms," Kui said, his voice now soft with a hint of pity. What a decision, it was a practical one, but to make it was another thing altogether.
And so, the Great Purge of the Golden Tide Clan began. A message was sent, and Xylia was called over, her arrival with a squad of elite White Paw mercenaries a clear and undeniable show of force that quelled any thought of resistance. With a now-surrendered Lan Yue pointing out every member who had been a part of her conspiracy, the old Clan Leader moved through his own city like a specter of death, his face a mask of grim, sorrowful duty.
Kui and Xylia oversaw the process, ensuring the purge was swift and that the subsequent transfer of assets was orderly. The innocent artisans and workers of the clan were allowed to stay, offered positions and fair wages under the banner of the Golden Shell Guild, effectively a complete takeover of the business.
The guards and warriors were given a choice: leave the city peacefully, or join the White Paw Company. It was a massive, unprecedented influx of wealth, resources, and personnel. It would take months to sort through, to weed out any remaining sympathizers, and to fully integrate into their own burgeoning empire. The Golden Tide Clan, as a sovereign power, was no more.
Miles away, in the dark, silent wilderness, another story was reaching its conclusion.
Jian Xuan had followed Elder Tian Long with the patience of a hunting cat. The wounded, stripped-bare expert moved with a desperate, stumbling haste, his only thought to reach his hidden sanctuary and report the disaster. He finally arrived at a sheer cliff face, in the middle of nowhere. He made a series of complex, secret hand seals, and a section of the rock shimmered and became transparent, revealing a hidden cave entrance protected by a powerful formation.
A woman, a Foundation Establishment cultivator who was clearly acting as a sentry, was waiting for him inside. "Elder Tian Long! You've returned! What happened? Where are the others?"
Jian Xuan, who had been watching from a concealed position a thousand meters away, decided this was the moment.
The woman was helping the wounded Elder Tian Long into the cave when the attack came. Two energy swords, precise and unstoppable, shot from the darkness. The first pierced Elder Tian Long through the heart, killing him instantly. The second deliberately missed the woman, striking the ground at her feet with an explosive force that sent her tumbling backwards into the cave, terrified but unharmed.
As she scrambled to her feet, a voice, filled with a crazed, manic laughter, echoed from the darkness, loud enough for all the world to hear.
"THE HUMAN REVOLUTION FACTION WILL ALWAYS OVERPOWER THE LOWLY BEASTS! HAHAHAHA!"
Jian Xuan, his performance complete, turned and flew away into the night, a silent phantom leaving behind a scene of confusion, terror, and a single, terrified witness who would now run back to her superiors with a very specific, and entirely false, story. He had not only eliminated the target; he had just poured a gallon of oil onto the smoldering fire between the two rival factions.