The silence of the grand main hall was broken only by the pitiful wheezing of Elder Bai Mo, who lay curled on the floor, rapidly aging into a mortal husk.
Lin Yuan turned his gaze away from the ruined man. With a slow movement, he turned around and sat back down upon the throne.
He looked down at the trembling Patriarch Bai Changkong and the remaining elders of the inner circle, all of whom were still pinned to the floor by the residual terror of his aura.
"Bai Qingyue," Lin Yuan began, his voice calm and measured, "possesses a heart far purer than anything in this clan. If she were standing here beside me today, she would not want me to do anything excessively harsh to anyone. She would likely ask me to stay my hand, to show a mercy that none of you ever showed her."
The elders held their breath, a fragile, desperate sliver of hope igniting in their chests. Was this monster truly going to spare them on behalf of the daughter they had exiled?
"But just know this," Lin Yuan continued, his tone chilling the very air in the room, extinguishing that brief spark of hope. "Power in this universe is absolute, but any situation you find yourself in is not. The wheel of life is eternally turning, and the Heavens have a profound sense of irony. A carp leaping against the current can, through sheer will and destiny, cross the dragon gate and become a true dragon!"
Lin Yuan leaned forward, his elbows resting on the armrests, his purple eyes glowing with weight.
"You sat in your high pavilions, counting your spirit stones and measuring the worth of your blood by their utility. You thought yourselves untouchable because you stood at the peak of a very small hill. But in the grand tapestry of the Dao, the weak man today is the strong man tomorrow. A single pebble, washed down a mountain stream for a thousand years, can eventually shatter the dam that holds back an ocean. A seed buried in the darkest, most suffocating mud is not dead; it is merely waiting for the spring rain to burst forth and eclipse the canopy. You discarded a crippled girl because you could only see the present weakness, entirely blind to the boundless potential of the future."
As Lin Yuan spoke the words spring rain, his voice trailed off slightly. The fury in his eyes softened, replaced by a profound, distant glaze as his mind drifted.
Sitting upon the throne of the clan he had just subjugated, Lin Yuan’s consciousness temporarily detached from the hall. He remembered the exact moment he had gained true insight into the Dao of Rain from the system. It was an enlightenment that had been directly inscribed into his Sea of Consciousness, allowing him to perceive the universe in a different light.
Looking at the concept of rain, Lin Yuan pondered its tragic, beautiful existence.
Rain is born in the heavens, Lin Yuan thought. It is forged within lofty clouds, suspended high above the filth and mud of this world. It is pure, absolute, and pristine.
Yet, its undeniable destiny is to fall.
It is forcefully pulled from the heavens, plummeting through the cold atmosphere, only to violently crash into the dirt and die on the earth. To the ignorant observer, the falling of the rain is a tragedy. It is a descent from absolute purity into filthy oblivion. It was exactly like Bai Qingyue—a flawless Saintess residing in the high heavens of the clan, only to be struck down, crippled, and forced to fall into the mud of the outer city.
But the death of the rain is an illusion, Lin Yuan reasoned, When the rain dies on the earth, it does not disappear. It sinks into the soil. With that rain comes new life. On the earth, it nourishes the dormant seeds, granting them the vitality needed to sprout, to break through the dark soil, and to grow into towering, unyielding trees that eventually reach back up toward the very heavens from which the rain fell.
It was the exact same principle as the creation hidden within thunder! Thunder lays absolute, terrifying destruction upon the old, dead wood of the forest, burning it to ash so that the soil might be fertilized. Destruction always precedes creation. The fall is inherently necessary for the rise.
Falling isn’t the end, Lin Yuan concluded, a profound peace settling over his Dao Heart. Falling is merely the necessary beginning of a new, greater path.
By being crippled and cast into the slums, Bai Qingyue had died as the Saintess of the Bai Clan. But in that mud, she had been nourished by a new destiny. She was now the Dao Companion of Lin Yuan, destined to soar to heights that the Bai Clan could not even comprehend in their wildest dreams.
The profound enlightenment faded, and Lin Yuan’s consciousness snapped back to the main hall. The elders were still groveling, trembling as they waited for Lin Yuan to resume talking.
Lin Yuan stood up.
The movement was simple, but the residual weight of his Nascent Soul aura caused the entire pavilion to groan in protest. The remaining braziers flickered violently, casting long, dancing shadows across the terrified faces of the elders present.
"I did not come here today to eradicate your bloodline," Lin Yuan stated, his voice returning to a cold, authoritative tone that left absolutely no room for negotiation. "I have a heavy karma to settle with the Xu clan. In doing so, I am establishing a new balance within Azure Cloud City, one that requires absolute compliance."
He stepped down from the elevated dais, his boots clicking softly against the floor. He stopped right in front of Patriarch Bai Changkong.
"I require the Bai clan to completely halt any and all expansion towards their territory," Lin Yuan decreed. "No member of this clan is permitted to come within a hundred miles of the Xu clan’s estate."
Lin Yuan raised his hand, pointing a single finger directly at the withered, shrieking form of Elder Bai Mo, who was still coughing up blood and writhing in agony in the corner of the room.
"If any of you dare to cross that," Lin Yuan’s voice dropped to a terrifying tone, "if you so much as send a single person into that hundred-mile radius... this will be the fate of everyone in this room. I will personally rip the spiritual roots from every single cultivator bearing the Bai surname, and I will force you to watch your legacy wither into dust."
Patriarch Bai Changkong did not hesitate. He completely abandoned whatever shred of dignity he had left. He then slammed his forehead against the floor, entirely submitting to the power standing before him.
Following their Patriarch’s lead, the remaining elders of the inner circle frantically scrambled onto their hands and knees. They tightly clasped their hands over their heads, pressing their faces into the dirt in a synchronized display of submission.
"We adhere to senior!" the elders and the Patriarch shouted in unison. "We swear upon our hearts, the Bai Clan will not take a single step toward the Xu Clan!"
Lin Yuan looked down at them. His karma with the Xu Clan was finally settled.
Without another word, Lin Yuan released his aura. The terrifying pressure instantly lifted from the hall. He then channeled the spatial authority of his realm, and with a single step, the fabric of the universe folded around him. In a flash of crackling purple lightning, Lin Yuan teleported from the clan estate, leaving it behind.