The family council meeting stretched into its third hour, and still the elders argued in circles.
"It's too dangerous," Elder Davies insisted, his weathered hands gripping the table. "The moment we accept, every family that wanted the Ninth Province weak will target us."
"They'll target us anyway," Elder Silas countered. "The boy revealed dual cultivation in front of a Grandmaster+ observer. We're already marked."
"Then why make it worse? Why take responsibility for families we can barely protect?"
"Because those families are offering resources we desperately need," Khan said, his voice carrying the weight of authority that came with being family head. "Territory, manpower, legitimacy. Alone, we're vulnerable. United, we have a chance."
"A chance at what? Survival or suicide?" Elder Ronan's skepticism was evident. "Zeke Ackerman was stronger than any of us, and look what happened to him."
The room fell silent at the mention of Zeke. It was a wound that had never fully healed.
