They watched the fight between An Yue and the man closely. Lin Tian wasn’t worried at all because he could clearly see that An Yue had the upper hand.

Her sword qi attacks were stronger, especially when combined with her wind element techniques. Several times the man was pushed back and wounded, coughing up blood.

He crouched down, breathing hard, then lifted his head and looked straight ahead. His eyes went wide.

An Yue’s sword qi shot straight toward his head, and the man screamed out loud.

"I give up!" he shouted.

An Yue stopped the sword qi, just before the tip of the blade could touch the man’s forehead. Lin Tian gave a satisfied nod, watching as An Yue flew over with a happy look on her face.

"I won, Master Lin."

"Good. But you still need to look out for the other cultivator’s safety," he explained. "In a situation like that, it would’ve been wiser to ask whether he was still able to continue fighting."

"We’re not a barbaric sect. We hold ourselves to a standard of ethics and proper conduct," Lin Tian said.

The girl was struck by Lin Tian’s words. She put away her sword qi and flew over to Cao Ying’s side to recover.

Lin Tian stepped forward until he was standing right in front of the man. "The fight’s over. As we agreed, you’ll let us in."

"Senior is very wise. Thank you for sparing my life," the man replied, standing up while holding his still-aching chest.

He stretched out his hand and opened the way into Wuwei Sect. "A deal’s a deal. I’ll let you in. I only hope that Senior doesn’t bring disaster to Wuwei Sect."

"I’m only here to demand accountability. Nothing more."

"Understood, Senior."

Together with the man, the three of them flew quickly out of the Wu Forest and arrived at the heart of it.

Through Lin Tian’s eyes, he could see a large dome formation guarding the sect from the outside world, making it impossible for ordinary cultivators to see what Wuwei Sect actually looked like.

The man produced an entry token and pressed it against the wall of the dome. A portal formed perfectly and opened the way for them to enter the sect.

The buildings of Wuwei Sect looked similar to most other sects, except that trees and green plants dominated the space. An Yue was visiting another sect for the very first time and was taking it all in.

"Do all sects have buildings that look like this?" An Yue asked.

Cao Ying glanced over and shook her head. "Every sect has its own style of architecture, based on their natural element."

"Wuwei Sect follows traditional architectural principles, with an emphasis on trees, gardens, and courtyards. That’s because their element is earth."

An Yue listened and understood, then continued following Lin Tian as he flew ahead.

Below, several sect disciples could be seen training seriously. Some were cultivating, others were practicing sword techniques. They wore dark green robes and didn’t seem bothered by Lin Tian’s arrival.

"How dare you come here uninvited!" someone shouted.

A male elder flew in on his own sword qi, his booming voice echoing and bouncing around, drawing every disciple’s gaze up to the sky.

When he arrived, his eyes went wide the moment he realized that the visitors were a Nascent Soul Master, a Soul Formation Master, and someone at the Foundation Establishment stage.

The man flew over and clasped his hands together, bringing Lin Tian’s advance to a stop. "Greetings, Senior. Do you have an invitation from Wuwei Sect?"

"No."

The disciples listening started whispering among themselves, confused as to how foreign cultivators had managed to walk into the sect so easily without an invitation.

To them, it was a direct insult to the Wuwei Sect.

"I apologize for the imposition. However, cultivators without an official invitation aren’t permitted to enter our sect," the elder replied.

Lin Tian was quiet for a moment, paying no attention to what the elder said. White qi light flickered in his eyes as he stared straight ahead, catching sight of a middle-aged man deep in cultivation inside the sect’s main hall.

"Sect Master of Wuwei Sect!"

"Come out and face me. Lingxian Sect’s here to demand accountability," Lin Tian said firmly.

Everyone froze, eyes wide. "Lingxian Sect?!"

"This is bad! Is our sect going to end up like the Fenhai Sect?"

"Attacking the Lingxian Sect back then was a terrible idea. Now we’re paying for it."

"Please, no fighting. I’m so close to breaking through to Foundation Establishment."

The elder standing in front of Lin Tian visibly trembled. Cold sweat ran down his face as his heart pounded with panic.

The Sect Master of Wuwei Sect heard Lin Tian’s words. He didn’t stand up or go out to greet him. Instead, he simply called out to Lin Tian from where he was.

"I didn’t expect you all to actually come," the middle-aged man said. "Show them to the main hall, Elder Yu."

Elder Yu listened, clasped both hands together, and then led the way.

The disciples stopped their training and cultivation and stayed right where they were, gossiping and speculating about what might happen now that the Sect Master of Lingxian Sect had shown up.

Lin Tian arrived at the entrance of the main hall and walked forward, passing through the ornately carved wooden doors.

When the doors opened, a wide hall came into view with trees growing inside it, the pillars replaced by thick tree trunks that held up the roof.

At the far end, a man rose from his cross-legged position and walked up to the podium of his throne. He wasn’t alone — five elders stood on either side of the green carpet that ran through the hall.

"Greetings, Sect Master," said Elder Yu.

"Thank you. You may go."

Lin Tian stopped walking, with Cao Ying and An Yue standing behind him. He lifted his head and looked at the middle-aged man.

"This is the first time Wuwei Sect’s ever received the Sect Master of Lingxian Sect," the man said. "I’m Yu Xin."

"So, may we know what brings you to our sect?" Yu Xin asked.

"I’m here to hold Wuwei Sect accountable for the consequences of the attack you launched against our sect," Lin Tian replied.

Yu Xin went quiet, visibly caught off guard. He glanced briefly at his elders, who looked just as uneasy. He had no choice but to acknowledge that the Wuwei Sect had indeed attacked the Lingxian Sect.

"We apologize for our reckless actions. We never intended to attack your sect," Yu Xin answered.

"It was an order we couldn’t refuse, handed down by the Qin Sect Alliance."

"We ask that the Sect Master of Lingxian Sect understand why we acted as we did." 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Lin Tian looked around and noticed that most of the sect’s elders were Core Formation cultivators, with only one at the Perfect Core Formation level.

Yu Xin himself was only at Early Nascent Soul. That alone made it clear exactly what kind of sect this was.

"What classification does your sect hold?" Lin Tian asked, his voice firm.

"W-We’re still stuck in the low-sect category because we don’t have two Perfect Core Formation elders," Yu Xin answered.

Now I understand why they couldn’t refuse the orders from the Qin Sect Alliance.

Qin Sect Alliance... you people are genuinely asking to die.

"You didn’t destroy the Lingxian Sect, nor did you harm any of my disciples. You were stopped by my White Dragon Formation," Lin Tian said.

"That’s true!" Yu Xin confirmed.

"I didn’t come here to bring ruin to your sect. But I still expect compensation."

"Of course. Just name what you want, and we’ll provide it."

Lin Tian was quiet for a moment, looking at the sect elders who were all waiting on his answer. Even though he needed a lot of resources to train his disciples, he still couldn’t bring himself to squeeze a small sect like this one dry.

Their sect foundation was weak and their resources were limited. Bleeding them dry would destroy the image he’d built in front of An Yue.

"I understand your situation. I’m only asking for 50 level-one cultivation pills, 30 mortal-grade techniques, and 500 mid-grade spirit stones."

Yu Xin heard Lin Tian’s request and turned to look at his elders. Most of them nodded in agreement — those terms were far better than having Lin Tian tear their sect apart.

"One more thing," Lin Tian said, his gaze sharp as it landed on Yu Xin.

"What is it?"

"Wuwei Sect must agree to join the alliance I’ve formed," Lin Tian replied.

"That alliance is called the Heavenly Sect Pavilion."