427: Chapter 427 Three Realms Clash

[You hold your teacup, squinting as you watch everything unfold.]

[Du Hong, Tang Yao, and Lan Yuting—three plants from the Nine Heavens Heavenly Palace. This stunt today is clearly meant to force the Three Great Factions into a dead end.]

[To step forward is to hand a knife to the Liu Clan.]

[To stay back is to offend everyone present.]

[This play is quite sinister.]

[The show is getting more and more interesting.]

[You smile and take a sip of tea.]

[Duan De is still rubbing his hands in excitement behind you, while Luo Jing's legs are already trembling.]

[You can't be bothered with them, keeping your gaze fixed on the three Old Ancestors.]

[The three Void Refining Cultivators, being pushed forward by a mob, look somewhat grim.]

[Having roamed the Immortal Domain for a millennium, aside from the caution and humiliation endured in their youth, they haven't faced such a predicament in over a thousand years.]

[Experiencing it again now feels like returning to their days of weakness.]

[Watching them, you have a rough idea—these three are likely in a bind.]

[Turn against them?]

[The three of them might be able to escape; if a Void Refining Cultivator wants to leave, the Liu Clan might not be able to stop them.]

[But what happens after they run?]

[What about the Sect?]

[What about those Disciples?]

[Can they just abandon a Legacy that has lasted for over ten thousand years?]

[They wouldn't be able to overcome their Heart Demon.]

[You raise your teacup, take a sip, and then transmit your voice: "Senior, you could suggest..."]

[The message is short, just a few sentences.]

[The moment Sword Nameless receives the transmission, his gaze inadvertently sweeps over you, a flash of surprise in his eyes, before returning to calm.]

[He nods slightly in your direction.]

[Then, he lowers his head, his lips moving slightly as he begins to communicate via voice transmission with the Wanling Immortal and the Heavenly Sound Old Woman.]

[A moment later, the three seem to reach a consensus.]

[While everyone else is still chattering in chaos, Sword Nameless suddenly lifts his head and looks at the person sitting motionless at the head of the main hall.]

["Clan Chief Liu."]

[His voice isn't loud, but it clearly cuts through all the clamor.]

[The entire venue falls silent.]

[Liu Qingtian's deep gaze lands on him, expressionless, as he utters one word:]

["Speak."]

[Sword Nameless speaks unhurriedly: "The Liu Clan's proposal is not entirely unacceptable."]

[At these words, many people's expressions change.]

[Someone opens their mouth to say something but is grabbed by the person next to them.]

[Sword Nameless ignores those reactions and continues: "However, you must convince everyone, don't you think?"]

[He pauses, looking straight at Liu Qingtian:]

["Otherwise, even if the Liu Clan takes over the entire Ziyang Star, the people below will be unconvinced. In the future, there will be constant small frictions; while there may be no major trouble, there will be no shortage of disgusting annoyances."]

[The words are tactful, but the meaning is clear—]

[Your Liu Clan is powerful, but you can't guard it every single day, right? A disturbance here today, an incident there tomorrow—it won't kill anyone, but it will be incredibly annoying.]

[Liu Qingtian's face remains unchanged, but he understands perfectly well.]

["You want to..." Liu Qingtian speaks, his tone carrying a hint of amusement, "follow the rules?"]

[Sword Nameless nods: "Exactly. One match each for Nascent Soul, Soul Transformation, and Void Refining. Best of three, life or death."]

["Heh." Liu Qingtian laughs.]

[The smile is brief, flashing and vanishing.]

["Good." He answers decisively.]

[In fact, he had anticipated this step long ago.]

[One could even say that this is what he was waiting for.]

[He had prepared three strategies for this banquet.]

[For the Liu Clan—the best strategy is for these people to get lost, go wherever they want; even if they team up to plunder other Star Continents, it's none of their business.]

[The middle strategy is what's happening now: deciding the outcome through combat.]

[As for the worst strategy—slaughtering the Sects and exterminating the Families.]

[This is only to be used as a last resort.]

[If it's possible not to kill, that's obviously best.]

[That is the true essence of this banquet.]

[Since Sword Nameless has proactively offered a ladder, he is naturally happy to take it.]

[Seeing Liu Qingtian nod, the smile on Sword Nameless's face deepens slightly as he continues: "If the Liu Clan loses, Ziyang Star remains as it is, how about that?"]

[He never thought he could drive the Liu Clan away.]

[That's impossible.]

[Pushing the Liu Clan to the edge would only lead to disaster.]

[What he wants is time.]

[As long as the Liu Clan isn't too aggressive in these coming years, the Three Great Factions will have a chance to take another step forward.]

[With the ebb and flow, who can say for sure how the scales will tip in the future?]

["Hahaha—" Liu Qingtian laughs out loud.]

[He laughs heartily.]

[How could he possibly lose?]

[The Liu Clan is full of talent and has deep foundations; how could they lose to this Ziyang Star, tucked away in a corner, among peers of the same realm?]

[Liu Clan Disciples can even place in the top ten at the Holy Land Grand Competition.]

[Just based on them? What do these people have to compete with?]

[After laughing, he looks at Sword Nameless, his tone carrying a hint of amusement: "It is settled."]

[Sword Nameless nods, saying nothing more.]

[The agreement reached by the two of them is unexpectedly—satisfying to everyone.]

[On the Liu Clan's side, each of them looks indifferent, some even wearing subtle smiles.]

[Satisfied?]

[Of course they are satisfied.]

[What is their background?]

[The Liu Clan Immortal Family!]

[The Disciples of their clan are beings who can fight their way into the top ten at the Holy Land Grand Competition.]

[Cultivation Technique, Medicinal Pill, Magic Treasure, Formation—which one isn't a top-tier Legacy of the Immortal Domain?]

[With this Ziyang Star tucked away in a corner, what do they have to compete with them in same-realm combat?]

[Victory is within their grasp.]

[As for the Ziyang Star side—the atmosphere becomes lively.]

[Many people whose faces were previously tense now relax, and some even start exchanging glances, hiding smiles at the corners of their mouths.]

[They also have their own reasoning.]

[The Liu Clan?]

[Coming from a big Family, pampered since childhood, with Cultivation resources piled up—when have they ever experienced real life and death?]

[They are different.]

[Who among those standing here hasn't crawled out from a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood?]

[In a place like Ziyang Star, resources are scarce; whoever grabs them gets them.]

[Over the years, the number of peers in the same realm who have died at their hands is too many to count on ten fingers.]

[Without real skill, they would have been hacked to pieces long ago.]

[So what is there to fear?]

["Same-realm combat..." someone lowers their voice, whispering to the person next to them, "Isn't that perfect? Let those big Family Disciples witness what real slaughter is."]

[The person next to them nods, a cold smile tugging at the corner of their mouth: "Let them come; it's the perfect chance to stretch our limbs."]

[In an instant, the atmosphere of the entire square changes.]

[The original gravity and suppression are now replaced by a strange restlessness.]

[Everyone is rubbing their hands and fists.]

[Although they aren't the ones going up to fight, the tension is even greater than if they were doing it themselves.]

[Some are muttering under their breath, some are pacing back and forth, and others are sitting still with calm faces, but their fingers tapping incessantly on the armrests betray their inner turmoil.]