Uphold the dignity of the Celestial Extreme Mansion!

This sentence made their blood boil with passion. Their faction was weaker than others, their dignity constantly trampled upon. How could they accept that? Now, Yi Tianyun had stepped forward to stand up for them, reigniting the fire in their hearts.

"We will follow the Mansion Master’s orders! Whatever the Mansion Master tells us to do, we will do it!" The Great Elder nodded emphatically. He was now completely won over by Yi Tianyun. Before, he had only acknowledged Yi Tianyun as the Mansion Master because he thought his potential was decent and because the previous Mansion Master had appointed him.

But things were different now. Yi Tianyun’s approach seemed reckless and far from low-key, but enduring constant oppression without fighting back would only lead to a silent demise. If they were doomed to perish anyway, it would be better to go out in a blaze of glory, fighting for their dignity!

The Celestial Extreme Mansion was once quite famous, a source of pride for every member. Now, they were like a tiger stranded on the plains, bullied by mere dogs. How could they stand for it?

Yi Tianyun smiled faintly. Even if his opponents were at the Empire level, he wouldn’t hesitate to strike! They had already tried to walk all over him and even threatened to make him cripple one of his own hands. That was impossible. Besides, his mansion was now a third-grade faction, and he feared no other third-grade faction!

’However many come is however many I’ll kill. It’ll all just turn into experience for me.’

’The Divine Rune Mansion really can’t stay out of trouble. It seems they’re all like that Lin Li, thinking they can be arrogant just because they’re from the Divine Rune Mansion?’

Admittedly, the Divine Rune Mansion had a big enough name. The field of Divine Runes was powerful in itself, and many experts had connections with them, so it was no wonder they were so arrogant. He had originally thought Lin Li was the only piece of trash in the Divine Rune Mansion, but now it seemed he was wrong. They were a whole pile of trash!

Every single one of them looked down on others. Accustomed to their usual arrogance, they wouldn’t give an ounce of respect to any faction of a lower grade.

This incident made Yi Tianyun despise the Divine Rune Mansion even more. He hoped they wouldn’t continue to provoke him. Otherwise, if he ended up trampling the entire Divine Rune Mansion flat, it would just earn him a huge wave of Divine Rune Mastery Proficiency and help him level up his Divine Rune Mastery faster.

Immediately after, they all returned to their rooms. Yi Tianyun took one room for himself, while the other four stayed in another. At their level of cultivation, they didn’t really need to sleep. They could just spend their time meditating, so it didn’t matter whether there were beds or not.

Yi Tianyun had told them to come and rest with him, but the Great Elder and the others insisted that he have a room to himself, arguing that this was the treatment a Mansion Master deserved.

Yi Tianyun felt helpless but could only stay in his room. The banquet wasn’t far off; it was scheduled for the day after tomorrow, so they wouldn’t have to wait long. He had timed his arrival perfectly for this reason.

Time passed in the blink of an eye. Nothing happened during this period; no one from the Divine Rune Mansion came looking for trouble, so it was relatively peaceful.

"It’s about time." Yi Tianyun opened his eyes. He had spent his time here simply inscribing some Divine Runes and cultivating a little to earn proficiency.

He wanted to move the Merak Sect to the Celestial Extreme Mansion’s territory as soon as possible. Merging the two would undoubtedly cause a massive increase in their Overall Strength.

He got up and walked toward the door. The Great Elder was just coming out from his own room, and their eyes met. They could both see the caution in each other’s gazes. No one believed this trip to the banquet was for a simple meal. Anyone who thought so would be a true idiot.

When Elder Yun of the Star Pavilion had invited him, he had explained the Netherworld Empire’s intentions. Essentially, they were invited to a banquet where a minister would make an announcement. As for what that announcement would be, he was sure it would be nothing good.

"Let’s go."

They nodded and headed toward the Imperial City in the center of Julong City. In the heart of Julong City stood a massive, splendidly decorated Imperial City, large enough to accommodate many people. However, very few were ever invited to stay within its walls.

This was why many third-grade factions could only find inns to stay in outside the city walls. In stark contrast, the people of the Empire had a multitude of residences inside. The treatment was truly terrible. Or rather, the Netherworld Empire was simply too arrogant. They invited factions to a banquet but didn’t even prepare accommodations for them, forcing them to search for inns everywhere.

Although with their cultivation, they could just find any spot to meditate, a sect still had its pride to consider. If they couldn’t even afford a place to stay, how could they be considered powerful?

Soon, they arrived at the city gate. Two guards at the Core Formation Stage stood on either side, checking people. Only those with an invitation were allowed to enter; no one else could pass.

"Invitation!" a guard motioned for them to stop and present it.

The Great Elder took out the invitation and handed it over. After a brief inspection, the guard nodded and said, "Go on in!"

They were allowed to pass immediately. The guards didn’t even look at Yi Tianyun or the others’ faces. As long as you had an invitation, you could enter, even if you were a beggar. Of course, anyone who dared to enter, especially by faking an invitation, must have a death wish.

After entering, they found the security inside was tight. Several squads of patrolling soldiers marched back and forth, their gazes sweeping over from time to time. The leaders were all experts at the Spirit Pill Stage, while the guards following them were at the Core Formation Stage.

The difference was staggering. A Spirit Pill Stage expert would be an elder in a third-grade faction, but here, they were just squad leaders. Of course, their rank wasn’t low, but compared to those comfortable elders, these Patrol Envoys who had to constantly patrol obviously had more duties.

To reach the rank of an elder here, one would need to be at least at the Transformation Pill Stage. However, they were usually called ministers or generals.

Yi Tianyun had heard that the minister attending this time was a person of high status and great power, with a cultivation level at an astonishing fifth or sixth layer of the Transformation Pill Stage. It was simply heaven-defying. That cultivation level alone was enough to suppress the patriarchs of all the third-grade factions. Who would dare to speak out of turn?

With a guide leading the way, they soon entered the innermost palace. Inside, many Cultivators were already conversing amongst themselves. The various factions were gathered in separate groups. Yi Tianyun glanced around, looking to see if he knew anyone else here.

Just as he looked up, he saw a familiar, graceful figure. It was one of the two women he had met on Demon Cloud Island. He remembered their names were Yu Shiqian and Zhao Yu, and they were also attending the banquet. He had known back then that they must be disciples of a major sect. Since they were invited here now, that was certainly the case.

However, he wasn’t wearing the Hundred-Change Mask at the moment, so they wouldn’t recognize him.

"What sect is that over there?" Yi Tianyun asked, pointing in Yu Shiqian’s direction.

"Oh, them? Those are the female disciples of the White Lotus Prefecture. They’re very famous on the Celestial Realm Continent, mainly because they only accept female disciples... just like your Merak Sect, Mansion Master," the Great Elder explained.

"’White Lotus Prefecture, only accepts female disciples... Interesting.’" A glint flashed in Yi Tianyun’s eyes. There were indeed quite a few sects that only accepted female disciples. The Merak Sect wasn’t the first, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.