The peace Li Yu had returned to was a fragile, fleeting thing, a calm sea before a hurricane. He had barely two days to enjoy the quiet rhythm of his valley before the world once again intruded with a brutal, unwelcome urgency.
The first sign of trouble was the sounding of the sect's innermost, highest-level alarm. It was not the clanging of a bell, but a deep, resonant hum that vibrated through the very bedrock of the mountains, a sound that had not been heard in over a century. It was a signal of an imminent, existential threat, a call to arms for the sect's entire leadership.
Li Yu was in his pagoda, sharing a quiet cup of tea with Cyra, when the hum began. He looked up, his calm expression hardening into a cold, sharp focus. He didn't wait for a summons. He knew what this was. He stood up, his simple robes swirling around him.
"Stay here," he said to Cyra, his voice a low, quiet murmur. "Guard the valley."
He vanished from the pagoda, his form a blur as he raced towards the Sect Master's peak. He was granted immediate entry to the hidden chamber, where the Sect Master and the two Grand Elders were already gathered, their faces grim masks of stone. The decision from the Elder's Council had been made, and now, the true pillars of the sect were preparing for the consequences.
"They have come sooner than we expected," the Sect Master said, his voice a low rumble as Li Yu entered.
"Indeed, they were quick to take action, I thought we would have a few more days," Li Yu said with a respectful bow. "The sect's decision was honorable. But you are not alone in this fight." He looked at the three powerful figures who had guarded the sect their entire life. "The Golden Shell Guild and my companions will support the sect. Your fight is our fight."
A wave of profound relief washed over the three elders. They knew who his 'companions' were.
"But we must be clever," Li Yu continued. "To reveal our full strength now would be to show our hand to the entire world. A deterrent is all that is needed." His expression softened, a strange, almost mischievous, humor entering his eyes. "Sect Master, I have a plan. You will be elevate Sect Master. It may seem… unorthodox."
He explained his idea. When he was finished, a stunned silence filled the chamber.
"A joke?" Grand Elder Chen finally asked, his voice full of disbelief. "You want our Sect Master, at the moment of a life-and-death confrontation, to shout a line from a third-rate play?"
Li Yu simply smiled, a calm, disarming expression that seemed to suck the tension out of the room. "Perhaps," he said, his voice light. "But if say what I had told you to and do those actions as described, victory can be won"
He looked at them, his smile widening into a grin. His relaxed attitude and his "plan" was meant to relieve tension and worries for the three of them. It was a ridiculous plan, he didn't think the upright and seemingly rigid Sect Master would follow through with it. They had been shouldering the burden of keeping the sect safe for centuries. He wanted them to know that it would be safe, don't worry and act!
"Very well," the Sect Master said, a slow, grim smile touching his own lips. "A strange plan, but I have learned to trust your methods, Li Yu. I will play my part."
High in the sky, miles from the Green Mountain Sect's main gate, two colossal Frost-Dreadnoughts breached the outer territorial markers. The lead ship flew the banner of the Third Prince: a snarling, three-headed frost wyrm. At its head stood General Vorst, a tall, imposing man in masterwork armor, his 2nd-level Core Formation aura a chilling, oppressive weight.
The second ship flew the banner of a swooping, white-feathered falcon on a field of grey. This was the sigil of the Frostwind Sword Sect, one of the Third Prince's most ruthless allies. Their leader, a man with a cruel, thin-lipped smile, stood at the prow, his 1st-level Core Formation aura burning with a sharp, aggressive hunger for battle. They had come for the merit of eliminating a rival claimant.
Before they could even approach the sect's main defensive formation, a procession of figures rose from the Sect Master's peak. The Sect Master himself led the way, flanked by his most powerful elders, including a furious First Elder Jin Wei.
It was General Vorst who spoke first, his voice a cold, arrogant boom. "I am General Vorst of the Third Prince's Northern Legion. You are the leaders of this… Green Mountain Sect?"
"I am the Sect Master," was the simple, steady reply.
"Good," the general said. "Then you will make this simple. We have come for the fugitive, Lin Xiaowei. Hand her over to us, now, and the Third Prince may overlook your crime. Refuse, and your entire mountain will be reduced to dust and rubble. You have one chance. Choose wisely."
The threat was absolute.
It was the First Elder, Jin Wei, his voice a low, dangerous growl, who answered. "She is a disciple of this sect. My disciple. You will not touch a single hair on her head. Take your imperial posturing and your tin-pot prince's demands, and get out of our territory before we throw you out."
The Frostwind Sword Sect's leader simply laughed. "Brave words for an old man from a backwater sect. We have come to kill a single girl to earn some merit. We would be just as happy to earn even greater merit by exterminating your entire, insignificant clan."
The Sect Master raised a hand, silencing the First Elder's furious retort. He looked at the two Core Formation experts, at the legions of elite soldiers, at the two colossal warships. He took a deep breath, and his voice, empowered by his own spiritual energy, boomed across the sky, a sound meant not just for his enemies, but for every single disciple listening with bated breath on the mountains below.
This part was not what Li Yu had said to say, this came from the Sect Master himself, from his heart. Since he had to follow the ridiculous plan later, he might as well take this chance to say what he wanted.
"We will not hand over any disciple!" his voice was a deep, resonant roar that seemed to carry the weight of the mountain itself. "An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us! This is the law of our Green Mountain! If you seek war, then you have found it! We will not cower! We will not bend! And we will not break!"
Down in the Deepwater Menagerie, Brother Kai and Hu Jian, who had been nervously watching the sky, felt a surge of pure, unadulterated pride. "The Sect Master is right!" Kai declared, slamming a fist into his palm. "We don't abandon our own!"
In a secluded courtyard, Su Ling, who was being guarded by sect deacons, heard the voice of her Sect Master echoing from the heavens. She looked up, and tears of profound, grateful relief streamed down her face. They were not abandoning her. They were willing to fight for her.
Throughout the sect, almost everyone was watching and was ready to fight. Not everyone wanted to fight but there was unity here and most were ready to fight.
The Sect Master's words were a roar of pure, unadulterated defiance.
"So be it," the Frostwind Sword Sect leader hissed, his patience finally gone. "You have chosen death!"
He did not wait for the general's command. He drew his ice-blue sword, and his 1st-level Core Formation aura exploded outwards. "Frostwind Blade!" he roared, slashing his sword through the air. A colossal, hundred-meter-long blade of pure, solidified ice and wind energy formed in the sky and screamed towards the Sect Master, its edge sharp enough to cleave a mountain peak.
This was it. The moment of truth.
The Sect Master's heart pounded in his chest. His mind screamed at him to erect a defensive barrier. But he held his ground. He put his trust, his life, and the life of his entire sect, in the hands of Li Yu and the confident front he put on. Besides, there was always time to erect a defensive barrier after he played his role.
He looked at the furious face of the attacking sect leader. He took a final, deep breath. And he yelled. He yelled the exact, ridiculous, and utterly theatrical line Li Yu had given him, his voice once again booming across every peak and valley of the sect.
"DO YOU TAKE ME FOR A WEAKLING? LET ME SHOW YOU MY TRUE POWER!" he roared, his voice a thunderclap of pure, almost crazed, fury that shook the very heavens.
A wave of stunned confusion washed over the entire Green Mountain Sect. Down below, disciples stared at each other, bewildered. "Did... did the Sect Master just say that?" one whispered. "He sounds... different." Han Jian, standing with the other inner disciples, simply shook his head, a look of utter disbelief on his face.
The elders floating beside the Sect Master were even more shocked. First Elder Jin Wei's jaw dropped, his furious expression replaced by one of pure, dumbfounded confusion. Elder Ning simply closed her eyes, a faint, weary sigh escaping her lips.
The Sect Master ignored them all. He thrust his finger forward, a single, accusatory point, aimed directly at the charging Frostwind Sect Leader.
The moment he pointed, a flicker of profound darkness appeared in the empty air just beside the Sect Master's shoulder.
It was a javelin. A sleek, perfectly formed javelin, forged from a starless, midnight-black energy, impossibly dense and heavy. It had appeared from nowhere, a silent, absolute judgment. It did not move with explosive speed. It did not radiate a terrifying aura. It simply hovered there, a quiet promise of annihilation, waiting as the colossal blade of ice and wind screamed across the sky towards them.
In his quiet valley, Li Yu stood atop his nine-story pagoda, watching the distant confrontation. A calm, amused smile was on his face.
"He actually did it," he murmured to himself. Of course the Javelin had come from Li Yu himself. He was ready to unleash the wrath that the Sect Master had been holding back.