200: Chapter 200 Testing the Beast Taming Family

Peak Master Su Hanyan knew the weight of this matter well and dared not delay for even a moment. She had Lin Tian rest in the Peak Masters Hall while she took the map and went to the Sect Masters Hall overnight.

Qixia Sect Sect Master Dugu Yun was in his study reviewing documents submitted by the various peaks, the candlelight remaining unextinguished throughout the night.

Peak Master Su Hanyan spread the map out before him and recounted the intelligence Lin Tian had brought back in detail—the remnants of the Demonic Sect, the Situ Family, the Blood Pact used to control Vicious Beasts to ambush Martial Artists of various clans, and the valley whose location Lin Tian had uncovered.

Sect Master Dugu Yun put down his vermilion brush and stared at the red circle on the map in silence for a long time.

Before dawn, he had the Deacon Elder ring the assembly bell of the Discussion Hall.

The Seven Peak Masters and the various Elders hurried over, draped in morning dew. The Discussion Hall was brightly lit, and the arguments lasted from early morning until late at night.

Some advocated for directly mobilizing the Sect's elites to forcibly attack the Situ Family, others worried that without sufficient evidence, rashly attacking a neutral Family would invite criticism, and still others repeatedly questioned how exactly Lin Tian had tracked the Demonic Sect's hideout and whether someone else could do the same.

In the end, Sect Master Dugu Yun made the final decision: probe first, then act. Although Lin Tian's intelligence was detailed, it was far from enough to move against a beast-taming Family that had been entrenched in the Taixuan Mountain Range for hundreds of years, relying only on the tracking of one person and one bird. To be safe, they would unite with several major forces around Yunzhou Prefecture and pay a visit under the guise of inviting the Situ Family to join a demon-hunting team, probing their true intentions face-to-face.

At the same time, they would mobilize elite forces to set an ambush outside the valley, and once a signal was sent from within, they would immediately surround it.

Over the next few days, Qixia Sect's messenger pigeons flew in batches to various parts of Yunzhou Prefecture.

The Iron Sword Sect, the Zhao Family, the Li Family, and the Wanbao Chamber of Commerce—several major forces that had been rooted in Yunzhou Prefecture for decades or centuries—responded one after another, each drawing their most elite Elders and guards to gather at the temporary camp outside the Qixia Sect gate.

According to the finalized deployment, the troops were divided into two groups: the first group was led personally by Peak Master Chen Zhenshan of Chixia Peak and Peak Master Gu Yunshen of Moxia Peak, accompanied by Grand Elder Zhao Tiejian of the Iron Sword Sect, Elder Zhao Yuankui of the Zhao Family, Elder Li Xuantong of the Li Family, and Elder Mo, a consultant of the Wanbao Chamber of Commerce, to enter the Situ Family's valley under the guise of a visit to probe the Situ Family's attitude and bottom line in person.

The second group was commanded and coordinated by Peak Master Su Hanyan, with the elite main forces of the various factions lying in ambush in the dense forest outside the valley, ready to attack the valley from three directions simultaneously once a signal was sent from within.

Lin Tian was assigned to the second group.

He did not vie to enter the valley—given his seniority and cultivation, being able to participate in this operation was already an exception made by Peak Master Su Hanyan.

The ambush circle outside the valley was chosen in the dense forest on both sides of the valley exit, with over a thousand people hiding behind bushes and scattered rocks, not even daring to cough loudly.

It was afternoon when the first group entered the valley.

The Peak Masters and Elders walked along the deep, ancient riverbed, and the stone pillar at the valley entrance engraved with a tiger-head totem cast a long shadow under the sunlight.

The Situ Family's hidden sentries had long discovered their movements, and the valley was instantly thrown into chaos.

Several young clansmen ran down from the buildings, rushing into the Clan Chief's Discussion Hall with pale faces.

Patriarch Situ Lie was sitting in the Discussion Hall reviewing this month's Blood Pact records. Hearing the clansmen report that the Elders and Peak Masters of the Qixia Sect and several other major forces were visiting together, his fingers holding the bamboo slip tightened abruptly.

He was silent for several breaths, placed the bamboo slip on the table, and asked in a deep voice: "How many people came?"

"About a dozen people. The Peak Master of Chixia Peak and the Peak Master of Moxia Peak have both come, along with people from the Iron Sword Sect, the Zhao Family, and the Li Family." The reporting clansman's voice could not suppress the panic, "Patriarch, could it be that our involvement with the Demonic Sect has been discovered? Should we retreat first?"

Patriarch Situ Lie shook his head slowly.

Retreat? The Situ Family had lived in this valley for two hundred years; their ancestral hall, beast pens, Blood Pact stele, and ancestral graves were all here—where could they retreat to? Moreover, he was not willing to work for the Demonic Sect.

Initially, the Demonic Sect had used Blood Evil Pills and a batch of cultivation resources as bargaining chips, agreeing only to borrow the Situ Family's secret Blood Pact techniques to tame a few Vicious Beasts to scout the way. However, once the Situ Family had accepted the items and handed over the core techniques of the Blood Pact, the Woman in Black Dress had immediately turned hostile—they had poisoned the food and drink of all the Situ Family's core members with a chronic blood poison, which required an antidote to be taken every month to suppress it.

From that day on, the Situ Family became a puppet in the hands of the Demonic Sect. If they could use this opportunity to break free from the Demonic Sect, then this visit from the Qixia Sect would not be a crisis, but a turning point.

But the prerequisite was that he could not let the Demonic Sect members discover his intentions, otherwise, before the Qixia Sect people even entered, the entire Situ Family would collapse from the blood poison.

"Don't panic yet." Patriarch Situ Lie suppressed the tremor in his voice, stood up, and straightened his robes, "Everyone, stay steady. Let's see what they are here for first; perhaps it's just a coincidence. Pass down the order: no one is allowed to reveal any flaws."

Before the order had even left the Discussion Hall, the news had already reached the Demonic Sect. In a stone room deep in the valley that had been designated as a Forbidden Ground by the Situ Family, the Woman in Black Dress was half-reclining on a soft couch, her face as pale as paper.

The trauma caused to her Sea of Consciousness by Lin Tian's mental attack had yet to heal, and her temples were still throbbing with pain.

After hearing her subordinate's report, her first reaction was the mysterious person who had severely injured her with a mental attack outside the dense forest—had he brought people back to kill her? But she thought about it again and felt something was wrong.

That person had been pursued by her and her men in the dense forest, and several people had chased him for several miles without catching him, and his escape route was completely opposite to the direction of the Situ Family.

Moreover, when she had led her people back to the valley, she had been extremely cautious, taking several turns in the ancient riverbed, and all the hidden sentries along the way had not discovered anyone tailing them.

"It shouldn't be aimed at us." The Woman in Black Dress forced herself to sit up straight, her voice weak but still cold and sharp, "Go tell Patriarch Situ Lie, don't panic yet, and see what they are actually here for. Respond to changes with constancy. Remember—tell Patriarch Situ Lie to play his part well; if he reveals any flaws, he knows the consequences."

After hearing the message, Patriarch Situ Lie nodded silently, the glimmer of hope that had just ignited in his heart being suppressed again by the words 'blood poison'. He straightened his robes, brought a few Elders from the clan to greet them at the valley entrance, cupped his hands in a salute, and smiled broadly: "Peak Masters, your arrival is a great honor; the Situ Family failed to welcome you properly, please forgive us, please forgive us."

Peak Master Chen Zhenshan walked at the very front, his tiger-like eyes seemingly casually scanning the stone pillars and hidden sentry positions on both sides of the valley entrance, a hearty smile on his face: "Patriarch Situ Lie is too polite. We came uninvited, so we are the ones intruding. We came this time to ask the Situ Family for a favor." Everyone chatted and laughed as they entered the valley and took their seats in the main hall as hosts and guests.

Patriarch Situ Lie kept offering seats and tea, with several clansmen serving on the side, and the atmosphere really seemed like an old friend's reunion.

The tea was served quickly.

High-quality Maojian, the emerald green tea leaves unfolding in the boiling water, the fragrance of the tea was clear and serene. An attendant placed the teacups in front of each distinguished guest.

Patriarch Situ Lie took the lead, picked up his cup, and took a sip to fulfill the duty of a host. Peak Master Chen Zhenshan also smiled and picked up his teacup, bringing it to his lips just about to drink, when the corner of his eye suddenly caught a very subtle movement in the corner.

A black-robed figure slipped silently out of the back door of the Discussion Hall; the person's toes barely touched the ground when walking, and their body was wrapped in a faint, lingering aura of Evil Qi.

Peak Master Chen Zhenshan and Peak Master Gu Yunshen exchanged a look, and both saw a trace of vigilance in each other's eyes.

The two of them calmly put down their teacups and simultaneously circulated their internal energy to seal their mouths and noses—they didn't know if there was a problem with the tea, but since they had seen a Demonic Sect member sneaking out after serving the tea, this tea must not be drunk.

Elder Li Xuantong and Elder Zhao Yuankui were also old hands in the Jianghu, and seeing the two Peak Masters put down their teacups, they naturally followed suit. Only Grand Elder Zhao Tiejian of the Iron Sword Sect had a quick temper; he picked up his teacup, took a sip, smacked his lips saying it was good tea, and then took another big gulp.

Meanwhile, in the dense forest outside the valley, the second group had already been waiting for nearly half an hour.

Peak Master Su Hanyan lay behind an ancient pine tree as thick as a person could embrace, her gaze piercing through the gaps in the branches and leaves, staring fixedly at the valley entrance, her fingers unconsciously tapping lightly on the hilt of her sword.

Lin Tian crouched beside her, one hand pressed to the ground, sensing the movements in the valley in the distance, while his other hand hid three moyuan flying daggers in his sleeve.

He felt vaguely uneasy in his heart—the Situ Family could be controlled by the Demonic Sect for so long, it was definitely not just because of the Blood Pact; there must be Demonic Sect members stationed in the valley. This meeting, under the guise of a visit, would likely not go so smoothly.