By the time the people had followed the Formations to the Mansion, Zhi had called for Fanghong and the Long Ancestor. Currently, Zhi was sitting at a big table outside in the garden. To his right was the Long Clan Ancestor and to his left was his father, Fanghong. On the table were various Spirit Teas and other Spirit foods. The difference between Spirit Food and normal food was that Spirit Food contained minimum amounts, if none at all, of impurities.

As Zhi was silently sipping on tea, the seven people arrived. There were 3 old men in red robes. They all had various scars on them and their aura was as fiery as a phoenix’s. They were all in the Paragon Realm, so just them glancing at a person in a lower realm would make them feel as though they were insects. Behind the three came Qing, currently she had quite the complicated face on. Next to Qing was Hao and a middle aged lady in red robes. She looked like an older version of Qing but she had a golden Phoenix imprint on her forehead. She seemed to be the current Matriarch of the Xi Clan. Her aura was one that demanded respect.

However, Zhi’s attention was on sweet old lady who was at the back. Although Zhi couldn’t feel what her cultivation was, he felt as if he was looking at a drawn sword. She didn’t exclude any Qi or Aura and her demeanour was like that of a sweet old lady, Zhi couldn’t help but have a chill run down his spine when he saw her. She walked with the help of a cane, her hair was long and had turned grey already. Her eyes were closed and she honestly looked like a bag of bones. The wrinkles were all over her face and hands. As Zhi was looking at the old lady, she turned her head towards him and smiled. Zhi instinctively nodded his head and then stood up.

When Hao saw that, he just laughed lightly as he said, “It has been a while little friend.” Zhi just put on a smile as well as he said, “It has been a while. I wonder what brings such exalted people to this little minor world? I have a feeling that it isn’t for the item you entrusted to me.” Hao just let out a hollow laugh as he said, “May we take a seat?” Zhi politely gestured them to take a seat and waited for Hao to finally tell him why they are here.

When everyone had taken a seat, Hao cleared his throat and started introducing everyone. He pointed towards Qing and said, “You have already met Qing. The fellow at my most left is called Xi Shudao. He is the Grand Elder of our Clan.” Zhi looked towards the man that was introduced as Xi Shudao and remembered his face. It wasn’t hard because half of his face was covered in burn marks. Hearing the introduction, the old man cupped his hands respectfully towards Zhi and Zhi did the same.

Seeing this Hao continued, “The ones on his right are the Discipline Elder Xi Shing and Foreign Affairs Elder Xi Zhing.” The two old men cupped their hands and Zhi politely did the same again. Right from the old men but left from Hao was Qing. Then it was Hao and then on Hao’s right was the middle aged lady. Hao gestured towards her and said, “She is Xi Ling. She is the current Matriarch of the Xi Clan.” After the introduction Ling cupped her hands towards Zhi and said, “Hello, I have heard quite a bit about you.” Zhi just weakly laughed as he also cupped his hands. However, Zhi’s attention was on the old lady who was sitting next to the Long Clan Ancestor.

When the introductions got that far Hao had a face that didn’t know whether to laugh or cry on. Seeing this, Zhi felt that something was wrong. He looked towards Hao and as he cleared his throat to introduce her, the Long Clan Ancestor said, “This old lady is Xi Xinq. The previous Matriarch of the Xi Clan and the current Ancestor of the Xi Clan.” As Zhi started cupping his hands towards her, the Ancestor continued, “And she is also your great, great, great grandmother.” Everyone present except for the Hao, Xing and Ling had a dumbfounded expression on. It seemed like even Fanghong and the Xi Clan members didn’t know about this.

Zhi’s eyebrows just furrowed as the old lady laughed lightly as she said, “Oho, you make me blush. However, who are you calling old you old fart?” The Ancestor seemed to have met his nemesis as he was ready to get into a verbal argument but he restrained himself when he thought of the reason why they were here. He cleared his throat as he said, “Let’s drop that for now. How about we get to the main point of you being here?” The old woman just laughed lightly as she said, “You should know very well why we are here.”

Hearing this, the Long Clan Ancestor had a complicated face on. Just as he was about to say something, Zhi said annoyed, “Will you people just please get to the point? If you wish to talk about past relations and the weather, call me when you are done and we can get to the main point.” This astonished everyone and Xi Zhing opened his mouth as he said, “Aren’t you a little rude young lad?” Zhi looked at him coldly as he said, “Due to various reasons, I have made a lot of enemies in a short timespan lately. I honestly don’t have time to talk about the weather with you guys, there are a lot of things still needed to be done on the Island and my own cultivation isn’t going to advance by itself.”

Just as Zi Zhing wanted to say something again, Xinq said, “Oho, the young ones are always in a rush but your words are valid. You have a lot of better and important things to do rather than talk to all of us old foggies about the weather.” Towards the end her tone turned serious and the happy go lucky atmosphere had disappeared. Hao started explaining, “You see, our Realm is a layered type. The lowest level are the countless Mortal Planes, above that are the one thousand Deity Planes, and above that is the Ascended Plane.”

He took a breath before continuing, “Just as the Mortal Planes divide themselves by kingdoms, there are also Alliances and Factions on the Ascended Plane. The ones from the Ascended Plane control a certain number of Deity Planes. The Deity Planes control the Mortal Planes. Not everyone is friendly with one another. Some Alliances or Factions fight for pride, some because their cultivation techniques are the opposites. If you think about it this way, then you could say that the Factions themselves are the Command base and we, who are on lower Planes, are the outposts.” As Hao said this far, he let it all sink in to Zhi. Actually, they all knew that Zhi would become someone who will be able to go to the Ascended Plane.

Also, given the resources he had, it would only be a matter of time before he would turn Dragon Cross from a trivial Sect from the Mortal Plane into a Supreme Sect in the Deity Plane. They wanted to foster a good relationship with him because they knew that if Zhi would make a move, he would be thorough. This was seen in his battle against the Human sects here. It didn’t matter that he was out numbered, his cultivation was lower, he still stood tall and embraced it. That one fight showed every senior person that Zhi’s personality was that of a prideful person. As long as you didn’t pick a fight with him, he wouldn’t do so to you.

Zhi just calmly listened and seeing Zhi focused like that Hao continued, “There are only so many Worlds and so many Powers. Without beating around the bush anything further, I would like to ask you, would you be interested in an alliance with our Xi Clan?” Fanghong and Long Ancestor seemed to have been expecting this as their faces didn’t even change. However, Zhi’s eyes narrowed as he said, “What kind of an alliance?” Hao said, “We will develop together and-” Zhi cut him off with a wave of his hand.

He looked Hao straight in the eye as he asked, “That is a very vague answer. What I want to know is that whether we will only help one another in times of need or will we also trade with each other and exchange students etc. Saying it briefly, Do you want a mutually beneficial alliance or a situational one?” This made Hao stumped as he looked towards the Xi Clan Ancestor. She just laughed lightly as she said, “Of course the Alliance we propose is the one where we will mutually grow. We trade resources and help out one another also in situations outside of fighting.” Hearing this Zhi fell into thought as he asked, “How many enemies do you have?”

This one question startled everyone present. This was a question none of them could answer. There were some that were in the open but who knows how many there are hidden deep. Hearing no answer, Zhi just sighed as he asked, “Why do you want an alliance with us now? There are a lot of stronger powers out there and unless it was some special reason you wouldn’t come here with this kind of an intense line up.”

Hao let out a hollow laugh as he thought about the meaning of the words. He had seen through that something was up, otherwise just him and the Foreign Affairs Elder would have been enough for the talks. Hao let out a sigh as he said, “The previous power balance has collapsed. That means that a bloody storm is coming soon.” Zhi looked astonished as he asked, “The power balance collapsed? How?” Hao looked deeply at Fanghong and said, “The Long Clan used to be on the same level of power as our Xi Clan. They were a power no one dared to piss off just for the heck of it. However, with your disappearance ten years ago, the Long Clan started to weaken.

First Fanghong left the Clan to search for you. Then many prominent people of the Clan started dying one after another with no clear perpetrator. Now, the Clan had split up completely destroying their power.”

Hao let out a sigh as he said, “The current Long Clan is like a paper tiger that currently only survives due to it’s past glory. It won’t take long for people to start eyeing the Long Clan’s resources and other things. It is inevitable that they fall.” Hearing this Zhi just looked at Hao coldly. This power balance collapse may be triggered by him but he didn’t cause it. Hearing Hao say that some strangers will take over the Long Clan territories the Ancestor showed a bit of reluctance. No matter what, he had spent a lot of time there there, to have it all land in the hands of some strangers who wouldn’t know how to cherish it was very unpleasant. Seeing the Ancestor act like that Zhi smiled, “Don’t worry Ancestor, someone might take over the Long Clan territories but they won’t have them for long.”

Hearing this everyone turned towards Zhi puzzled. Suddenly the Ancestor thought of something as he said, “You couldn’t have been eyeing this from the start?” Everyone were confused but Fanghong seemed to also have realized what the Ancestor meant and looked at Zhi suspiciously. Zhi just smiled as he said, “I only said that let them act as kings of their paper fortress. I never planned on letting them keep the Long Clan territories.” Hearing this both the Ancestor and Fanghong sighed. Fanghong said, “Mind elaborating what you have in mind?”

Zhi just nodded as he said, “The reason I had all the Clansmen leave was because this will show me clearly who are enemies. Those that stayed behind are all people under that Grand Elder, that is all I need to know. Did you two honestly not think about anyone taking over the Long Clan’s territories after you guys left?” The both could only sigh as they nodded their heads. They had thought about it but felt as though the Clan still had many friendly relations that would help them survive. The old woman looked at Zhi and asked, “Back on track, are you interested in our proposal of an Alliance?” Zhi looked towards her and said, “Yes but you need to give me a bit of time to properly build up my strength. Currently to go to war against someone would be a very bad idea for me.”

It didn’t matter that Zhi had people of the Paragon Realm or Sovereign Realm under him, he didn’t have a proper system for them. Currently, they were not united but everyone was doing their own thing. Also, all of the people that had passed the Second Tribulation came from the Long Clan. To have all of them immediately fight for him was not such a good idea. The best idea was to wait for a bit and let the Demon Race from this world grow. There were over ten thousand of people with various levels of cultivation under him but again, they were all doing their own thing. It would take them a bit of time to adjust and to truly become a part of the force. Hearing this the old woman nodded and stood up.

She smiled towards Zhi and said, “This is all I need to know, the Foreign Affairs Elder shall talk over the details with your Island Lords. We won’t take more of your time as I understand how hard it is to manage everything.” Saying so, she raised her hand and everyone from the Xi Clan had flown out of their seats and were floating up in the air. She waved her hand and all of them disappeared. When only the four of them were left, Xinq gave Zhi one last look before saying, “There will be a lot of people after your head because of those two Flames you have. Better hide them thoroughly and let as few people know about them as possible.” Zhi stood up and asked, “What do you mean?”

Xing opened her crimson eyes and said, “I originate from the Ascended Plane and I know a lot more about those Flames than anyone else in the Lower Planes. The Flames you have are the Guardian Flames. The right hand of the Guardian kills the enemies while the left hand heals the harmed. Since the beginning of time, only 7 Guardian Fruits have ever existed. 6 of them had found a Master a long time ago but the seventh which is the Leader of the Guardians, Pride, has not given anyone their full acknowledgement.”

She took a breath as she continued, “Not to anyone but you. However, when the 7 Guardians finally gather, the Immortal Emperor shall rise. The Emperor will take the throne of the Ascended Plane and usher our 7 Sins Realm into a new era. Now then, think about it, the Major Powers that have been the Kings of their little hills, would not allow anyone to step on their heads. Since you are the weakest and have the most picky Guardian Fruit, you are the most likely target.” Hearing this, all three of them were dumbstruck. Zhi furrowed his brows as he asked, “You said that there are Seven Guardians? Who is currently the strongest?”

The old woman thought for a moment and then shuddered, “Without a doubt it is Wrath. She may seem like a sweet little girl but when she flips the switch...” As her words trailed off, they could all understand the meaning behind those words. However, Xinq gave Zhi a peculiar look as she said, “I wonder how you are going to end up as. The Fruits tend to influence the personality of the Guardian a lot. For example, Greed used to be the most generous person you could find but when he ingested the Guardian Fruit of Greed, he became the stingiest person in the whole wide Realm.” Hearing this Zhi had complicated face on.

However, when he heard that his fruit was “Pride” he understood why the Fruit was so stuck up on perfection. It’s pride didn’t allow mediocrity, when you do something, do it thoroughly and perfectly. However, his train of thought was cut short by Xing continuing, “You have the Guardian Fruit of Pride, your Bloodline is of the Primarodial Dragon, the most prideful beast in existence. Although you have a cold disposition, I wonder how you will end up.” As she said that, she turned around and also disappeared.

Both Zhi and Fanghong looked towards the Ancestor who sighed, “I know what you both want to say and what she said was true.” However, Zhi felt something as he suspiciously asked, “You wouldn’t happen to also be-” The Ancestor let out an even deeper sigh as he said, “Yes, I am also from the Ascended Plane. However, since my path ended at the peak of the Primadorial God realm, the Main Clan didn’t see the point in wasting resources on me and sent me here to found the Long Clan. Countless years have passed but I still want to go back to the Main Clan.”

As he said that, he looked towards the sky as he said, “That place is my true home. I long to go back and then proudly declare that from my Clan came the Leader of the Guardians. I no longer wish for the Main Clan to take me back but rather to show them that I don’t need them.”

These words confused both Zhi and Fanghong. Zhi asked, “Do you have some bad blood with the Main Clan?” The Ancestors face turned cold as he said, “It is because of them that my path ended at the end of the Primadorial God realm.”