The Fu Clan’s sprawling set of manors and courtyards was basically knocked to the ground, flattened in the course of the war between the two first rate clans. In the time since the completion of that battle, a new building had been erected in place of the old. Surprisingly, the new compound was very familiar to Sage. An extremely wide tree had sprung up at the center of the former Fu Clan territory and that territory was now surrounded by hundred foot tall trees with a fifty foot tall lattice of vines and branches extending between them.

Sage immediately recognized the tree growing techniques that had been used extensively in the Lang Clan and was surprised to see them being used here. He flew over the tall fence of trees and descended as he came to the base of the gigantic tree at the center of the territory. Just as he’d expected, much of the tree’s interior was hollowed out and reshaped to act as a living building.

This style of building was something he’d read about in fantasy books back on Earth, and then actually saw in person at the Green Plateau Province in the Shihu Kingdom. He’d attended an auction in a giant tree building, and at that point knew such a thing was possible in this world. Yet, it was only with the help of dozens of his descendants that he finally was able to realize that dream. They had first helped him create the Utili-Tree, but then moved on to full scale construction without him.

Entering the giant tree he was greeted by a low level member of the Chong Clan that served him as an attendant, guiding him to the location of the meeting. Sage took a look around the room and saw that there were far more people in attendance today than for the usual Chong Clan Council meetings. He noticed the Lang Clan members and walked over to join them.

“This is quite the extravagant building, Patriarch! I wasn’t even aware you offered to build this for them, so it was quite a surprise seeing such a construction already completed.”

“Great Elder, it is an honor for you to grace us with your presence! Please forgive this little one for his transgressions. We gifted the Chong Clan with our Banyan Building techniques in return for the favor they showed to us.”

Sage was only aiming to tease Yating a little, but he got such a serious response that he instantly abandoned the stern face he was putting on and laughed. He reached out and gave his son a hug and then matched eyes with him, “So, the gambit was a success?”

The Patriarch of the Lang Clan puffed up his chest and looked proudly at his father, “Of course!”

The two of them laughed together, and then they started trading praise for each other and their descendants. The others there with them were also highly ranked in the clan and all of them were family so there were plenty of young talents for them to brag about in order to raise a favored descendant’s standing among the others of the clan. Even Sage’s great great grandchildren were around five hundred years old at this point, and all these old men each had their own favorites in the youngest generations to talk up.

After some time the side conversations came to a halt and the meeting had its official start. A mid-ranked member of the Chong Clan that Sage was told was known for her great prestige and beauty started the meeting by listing the most glorious and impressive accomplishments made by the members of the Clan during the war. Of course, every person that was mentioned by name was present at this meeting and stepped forward to make themselves known when they were introduced. Every notable contribution was recognized in this manner and being congratulated in this manner meant that each of these people would become famous figures in the Chong Clan. It was likely that each of their names would be known all over 10,000 Waves Province and likely Lucky Star Province as well after this.

This wasn’t a confidential meeting of the Elders that Sage usually attended, but a far more public meeting that had all the important members of the Chong Clan in attendance. It wasn’t just the strongest, but the most prestigious. There were many famous figures among the younger generations that were here today that had never attended the Clan Council. The Chong Clan Elders only brought their likely successors and most trusted subordinates to the Clan Council meetings. The events of this meeting on the other hand, were going to be spread to the general public and used to enhance the Clan’s prestige. The more heroes and amazing feats they could show off to others, the better.

Sage wasn’t really interested in all this posturing, so he didn’t pay much attention. Finally, after quite some time they moved on to the reason he’d been eager to attend this meeting. It was time to see if the opportunity he’d tried to create for the Lang Clan would be realized. The Lang Clan had done all the work, and his own part was nothing more than a middle-man proposing a possible sale and then leaving the buyer and seller to work out the details among themselves. Yating had already hinted that the deal had been successful, but he didn’t know any of the specifics and it was also still up in the air as to whether or not the Chong Clan would keep their end of the bargain.

With the way things have gone for me in the past, they might just decide that we’re traitors and this whole meeting is an elaborate setup meant to take out the leaders of the Lang Clan.

“The Chong Clan is officially stepping down as the rulers of Ten Thousand Wave Province. From this day forward, the Chong Clan will be the official rulers of Lucky Star Province.”

“Congratulations!”

“Such a great clan is truly worthy of such a magnificent achievement!”

The first exclamation came from a member of the Ci Branch Clan, eager to build some goodwill, or suck up as Sage saw it. The second statement was from a wealthy business owner in Good Fortune City, someone invited to help spread the news delivered in this clan meeting.

“It is also important that the great legacy of the Chong Clan not be defiled. As such we are handing control of Ten Thousand Wave Province over to the Lang Clan. The Lang Clan used the battlefield to prove its strength to the world. Just like a proud parent, we are pleased to see them rise up!”

Only the highest echelon of the Lang and Chong Clan had been privy to this decision previously, so only a few dozen of the people in the room were not completely surprised by this announcement. Who was the Lang Clan? Weren’t they considered to be basically wiped out just a few years ago? The Lang Clan had basically ceased to exist a century ago and only recently a solitary heir had appeared, one that was quite a laughing stock that couldn’t even maintain control of a single city. Now they were supposed to take over an entire province?

Many eyes turned upon Sage and he not only knew of these harmful opinions of himself, but also overheard these scattered conversations. In the Inner World, he recorded this moment into a Memory Sphere and then spent a few minutes picking apart the individual conversations from the mess he’d heard. It was certainly an extravagant use of time, using various techniques and magical devices to analyze rumors and hearsay. Yet, he considered it to be somewhat useful as he could get a more accurate judgment of what those in the Chong Clan and the Branch Clans thought of the Lang Clan.

At least it’s mostly disregard and confusion. I didn’t really notice any outright hostility or vehemence.