After the spar-like clash ended, Jiang Mo and Yang Wudi once again sat facing each other in the main hall of the Breaking Clan..
Yang Wudi did not waste words.
He leaned forward slightly, his sharp gaze fixed on Jiang Mo.
"Tell me—why have you come here?"
Although his tone remained blunt, it was no longer hostile.
The battle outside had already answered many questions.
Yang Wudi had always respected strength, but more than that, he respected character.
Jiang Mo was powerful, yet he did not act arrogantly. He had neither belittled the Breaking Clan nor relied on Spirit Hall's reputation to suppress them.
'Unlike those so-called geniuses…This one knows restraint.'
What Yang Wudi did not know was that Jiang Mo had already glimpsed a mountain he might never cross.
Compared to that existence, pride was meaningless.
Jiang Mo smiled faintly and reached into his sleeve. He placed a token gently onto the table.
The sound was soft, but it echoed clearly in the silent hall.
"I came to invite you to join—"
Before he could finish, Yang Wudi interrupted coldly.
"I will not join Spirit Hall. Under any condition."
There was no hesitation in his words.
Jiang Mo shook his head slowly.
"Patriarch Yang… I am not asking you to join Spirit Hall."
That sentence caused Yang Wudi to pause.
His gaze unconsciously dropped to the object on the table.
It was a palm-sized circular token, cold and heavy, forged from an unknown alloy. At its center was engraved a half-open, half-shut hooded eye, ancient and profound. The eye did not radiate light, yet it gave off an inexplicable sense of being watched.
A faint chill crept up Yang Wudi's spine.
Jiang Mo continued calmly:
"I am inviting you to join the Twilight Hermit Order."
Yang Wudi's eyes narrowed.
"Don't think I know nothing about the world."
He tapped the table lightly.
"Every branch of Spirit Hall has a monumental symbol of an eye. It is said to represent the will of the Angel Goddess."
The atmosphere grew tense again. Jiang Mo did not refute him immediately.
Instead, he folded his hands and spoke slowly, each word measured.
"That is precisely why I came here personally."
Yang Wudi's brows furrowed.
Jiang Mo raised his eyes and met his gaze directly.
"Twilight Hermit Order does not solely belong to Spirit Hall."
Jiang Mo shrugged lightly.
"In a way, you are partially correct."
Then he placed deliberate emphasis on the last word.
"It actually represents HER."
The temperature in the hall seemed to drop by several degrees.
Yang Wudi frowned.
"What… do you mean?"
Jiang Mo did not answer immediately. Instead, he looked at Yang Wudi with an expression that was neither smug nor threatening—only calm, as if stating an established fact.
"The one who sent me...was very certain that you would join."
Yang Wudi's gaze sharpened, locking onto Jiang Mo.
The certainty in that sentence unsettled him more than any threat.
Jiang Mo sighed softly, as though genuinely troubled.
"Patriarch Yang, I know you."
"You hate Spirit Hall."
"And you resent the Clear Sky Clan for abandoning all of you branch clans to face suppression alone."
His voice was steady, but each word struck precisely.
Then Jiang Mo raised his eyes and looked straight into Yang Wudi's.
"Everything you have spoken… has already been heard by HER."
He reached into his sleeve and took out a sealed letter, placing it on the table between them.
"Please read."
Yang Wudi hesitated for a brief moment before picking it up.
As he unfolded the letter and began reading, cold sweat instantly soaked his back.
The contents were terrifyingly detailed.
Trade routes negotiated with other subsidiary clans, Secret material exchanges conducted under false identities, Hidden pill supply channels meant to bypass Spirit Hall's scrutiny.
Each line was accurate.
'Only the patriarchs of other clans were present during those negotiations.'
Yang Wudi's fingers trembled.
'Has one of them betrayed the Breaking Clan?'
His eyes slowly drifted toward the token on the table—the half-shut hooded eye.
But before he could settle on that thought, his pupils shrank.
The next section of the letter made his heart pound violently, because it was not intelligence anymore.
Future clan development plans, possible alchemy techniques he wanted to experiment on, and some contingency plans he thought off, if Spirit Hall tightened suppression further.
These were the plans that existed only in his mind.
Yang Wudi felt his grip weaken as the letter nearly slipped from his hand.
At that moment, Jiang Mo suddenly smiled awkwardly and scratched his head.
"Ah… I may have made a mistake."
Yang Wudi looked up sharply.
Jiang Mo met his gaze directly, his tone casual.
"Allow me to correct myself."
"It is not just what you've said."
"Every thought of yours… has already been known to HER."
Yang Wudi felt as though he had been thrown into an icy abyss. The air around him turned suffocatingly cold.
He instinctively looked at the token again.
This time, he was certain. The hooded eye was staring directly at him.
Jiang Mo picked up the token calmly and stood up.
"If you do not wish to join, Patriarch Yang—"
"I will not force you."
He turned slightly, preparing to leave.But before he could take a step, a hand shot out.
Yang Wudi grabbed Jiang Mo's wrist.
His palm was ice-cold, drenched in sweat.
"I'll join."
The words came out hoarse.
Jiang Mo stopped and looked at him.
Yang Wudi exhaled heavily, his chest rising and falling.
"I… will join the Twilight Hermit Order."