Chapter 936: I, Your Host (6)

The air crackled with suppressed power. Each sect elder stood poised, gazes fixed on the unfolding scene before them. A palpable tension hung heavy, thicker than mountain mist after a summer rain.

“So,” the elder of the Azure Cloud Sect finally spoke, his voice cutting through the silence like a sharpened blade, “Young friend, are you truly so insistent on this course? To offend so many esteemed guests upon your first foray into this realm…is this truly wise?”

He spoke with a measured tone, attempting to portray reason and restraint. But beneath the surface, a thinly veiled threat simmered. They were, after all, powerful sects, each with roots sunk deep into the very foundations of this land. To challenge them so brazenly was an act of unparalleled arrogance, one that could easily ignite a conflict whose flames would consume them all.

The youth, however, merely smiled, a serene expression that belied the tempest brewing within. “Esteemed guests?” he echoed, his voice light and unhurried. “I welcomed them with open arms, provided them with shelter and sustenance. What more could a humble host offer? Yet, they repay this hospitality with veiled threats and grasping hands, seeking to seize that which is not theirs. Are these the actions of esteemed guests, or greedy wolves in sheep’s clothing?”

He paused, letting his words hang in the air, each syllable a deliberate condemnation. “I am but a simple cultivator, yet I value integrity above all else. If protecting what is rightfully mine earns the ire of these so-called esteemed guests, then so be it. I will gladly face their displeasure, for I will not yield to their avarice.”

His eyes swept across the assembled elders, a glint of unwavering resolve within their depths. “Let it be known,” he declared, his voice now ringing with an unmistakable authority, “that within these borders, I am the law. I am the guardian. And I will not suffer those who seek to violate its sanctity.” The implicit challenge was clear: defy him, and face the consequences.