Li Guanqi settled everything methodically, carrying himself with the natural authority of someone born to lead. Everyone within Daxia Sword Sect was willing to follow his lead without question.

Off to the side, Qin Xian, Ling Daoyan, and Gong Ze stood together. Gong Ze chuckled. “This kid really does have the makings of a sect master. Has Lu Kangnian never asked him?”

Qin Xian, now effectively Gong Ze’s informal disciple, picked up the conversation with a grin. “He has. Of course he has. The problem is that Li Guanqi’s ambitions run too deep. He has absolutely no interest in the sect master’s seat. If he had said yes, Old Lu would have handed over the position immediately.”

Gong Ze nodded, finding that entirely plausible. Qin Xian turned with a puzzled look toward Ling Daoyan, who had been sulking over his wine. “Elder Ling, what’s the matter with you?”

Ling Daoyan rolled his eyes and said irritably, “I had the bowstring pulled all the way back, but I never got to fire a single shot in the end! I hate that.”

But even as he grumbled, Ling Daoyan broke into a foolish grin. “Still, that was spectacularly satisfying! Hahaha! I’ve lived this long and never felt this good in my life.”

Nearby, Li Guanqi looked at Ye Feng with a smile. “You’re carrying a lot of hostility today.”

Ye Feng casually tied his hair back and grinned. “Well, I woke up and the first thing I saw was that guy running his mouth.”

The words had barely left Ye Feng’s mouth before he leaned in and sent a voice transmission. “Boss, that guy’s no pushover. It looked like I hurt him, but even now, facing him makes my skin crawl.”

Li Guanqi nodded but said nothing. He felt the same thing Ye Feng did, and if anything, his own senses gave him an even louder warning.

He had Cao Yan and Xiao Chen clear out the visiting clan cultivators. Anyone who didn’t leave got thrown out. “Boss, the sect master might need a moment to come around. What did the calling card actually say?”

Li Guanqi shook his head and looked up at the storm clouds slowly dispersing overhead. “Go to the main hall and wait. Take Third Brother and Fourth Brother with you.”

Ye Feng turned and left. Not long after, Lu Kangnian came to. He looked down at the pale-green calling card in his hand, then simply said, “Let’s go. We’ll talk when we get back.”

Swish swish!

As everyone returned to the sect’s main hall, Lu Kangnian’s cold voice echoed across the entire domain of the sect. “Anyone not of this sect, leave immediately. You have fifteen minutes. Anyone still here after that will be killed without exception!”

He had no patience left to spare. His voice carried no emotion.

The clan representatives didn’t dare entertain any false hopes. The Daxia Sword Sect was no longer what it once was.

Once the outsiders had left, Lu Kangnian raised the sect’s protective formation again, while Li Guanqi and the others helped reinforce the seals.

Lu Kangnian took a deep breath and looked at the calling card. A moment later, the blood drained from his face.

Li Guanqi frowned and took the card. As he read through it, his expression darkened, and he grew furious. “Hmph! Damn them! They are coercing everyone!”

Cao Yan, Ye Feng, and the others had never seen Li Guanqi this angry. They were all startled.

Ye Feng took the card and read through it himself. He raised a hand and projected the writing into the air.

The contents were simple. It was a wager between the Lu clan and the Daxia Sword Sect, with everything on the line for both sides. Everything—every last resource.

There would be five duels on the martial stage, all between cultivators under a hundred years of age, any cultivation realm permitted. The winner would claim the other side’s resources and seize their territory.

And it contained one condition that no outside clan force in the world could refuse.

Should anyone refuse this wager, all ancient clans will return to seclusion and stop suppressing the abyssal demons.

That one line was enough to crush everyone.

The Abyssal-Sealing Lands that the ancient clans suppressed would remain sealed for half a month at most, and the six territorial lords had no way to reseal them in time. Every clan had suffered grievous losses. Apart from a small handful of the strongest, none of them could survive another rampage from the Abyssal Demons.

If anyone refused, they would become a sinner of the Six Territories. Calling it a crime for the ages would be no exaggeration. Every faction the ancient clans had set their sights on had no choice but to accept.

It was exactly as everyone feared. Ji Yuchuan gravely looked at Li Guanqi. “Many clan forces across the Six Territories have already received the wager calling cards! Pavilion Master, what do you think we should...”

Li Guanqi took a deep breath. The situation was clearly beyond what his grandfather and the others could control.

If the ancient clans were resorting to this, it meant they were running dangerously low on resources. Without conquering resource-rich clans from the outside world, they would struggle to survive.

They had simply shifted their approach from outright seizure by force to a wager that wore the mask of fairness.

Li Guanqi’s expression darkened. The competition was a best-of-five between cultivators under a hundred years of age. In the entire Daxia Sword Sect, perhaps only he and his three sworn brothers could even step onto the stage. The other sects were likely in an even more desperate position.

Li Guanqi handed the Heavenly Intelligence Map to Ji Yuchuan and said firmly, “I’m entrusting this to you. Do everything you can to maintain contact between the clans of the Daxia Territory. The situation right now means everyone is struggling just to look after themselves. Lower your intelligence fees and gather more resources and spirit herbs in exchange. If people can’t pay in spirit stones, accept rare materials instead.”

Ji Yuchuan hadn’t expected Li Guanqi to trust him so completely. Li Guanqi had handed over the original Heavenly Intelligence Map itself. Even the Heavenly Intelligence Pavilion had only ever possessed a copy.

Ji Yuchuan accepted it with both hands, bowed, and withdrew. He had far too much to do.

When he returned, he sat down with Tang Ru to work out how to keep costs low and profits high.

Lu Kangnian’s shoulders sagged. He closed the doors of the main hall and looked around at the people still with him. They were the Daxia Sword Sect’s innermost circle. Nothing needed to be hidden from them.

“Everyone. Tell me what you think,” Lu Kangnian said.

The moment the words left his mouth, the hall went utterly silent. One could have heard a pin drop.

The moment the words left his mouth, the hall fell utterly silent. They could have heard a pin drop.

They were living through troubled times, one crisis rolling in before the last had passed. The Abyssal Demons had rampaged across the Six Territories, leaving countless mortals dead and the land soaked in blood. A faint scent of blood still lingered in the air.

Countless villages and towns had been wiped out, and many sects and clans had lost nearly thirty percent of their people in the very first wave. The outside world was still reeling, and the Daxia Sword Sect’s relief forces had yet to get a break.

Now, just as the ancient clans finished suppressing the Abyssal Demons, they turned around and sent out wager challenges.

Li Guanqi exhaled slowly, a cold glint flickering in his eyes. He murmured coldly, “These people... they deserve to have their hearts cut out.”

Following the harrowing aftermath of the Abyssal Demon’s rampage, any faction receiving a challenge from the ancient clans would almost certainly accept.