Proud Sword Soaring Clouds

As the group departed, those who remained all turned to look at Sikong Yang. They couldn’t even fathom why the Ouyang Clan had left so abruptly. They had seen Ouyang Yu and Sikong Yang discussing the most dazzling young man to come out of the Mortal World in recent years, but it was clear the two had vastly different opinions of Ling Xiao!

Clearly, Ouyang Yu had a very poor impression of Ling Xiao, while the brothers Sikong Yang and Sikong Liu thought highly of him!

However, no one said a word. After all, it was none of their concern. The Guardians certainly had their rules, but with tens of thousands of years having passed without a major incident, the Guardians of today had changed beyond recognition from when the organization was first founded.

In the tens of thousands of years since the time of the Saint Domain Emperor, countless generations of Guardians had already ascended to the Holy Sanctuary. If the Demon Race hadn’t appeared, all the Guardians would have continued to follow the path of their predecessors: silently watching over the continent, cultivating in peace, and never revealing themselves to the public.

But the appearance of the Demon Realm made most of the Guardians, especially the younger ones, grow excited!

The rules of the Guardians stated that they were forbidden from appearing before the public at will!

In other words, even if they were prodigiously talented Martial Artists—dashing, handsome, and incredibly powerful—they would receive little acclaim. They certainly wouldn’t be revered like Yun Zilan, who, even three hundred years later, was still spoken of with the utmost respect!

Anyone who is human is bound to have some vanity, whether a little or a lot. But the restrictions of their rules, and the punishment the Holy Sanctuary dealt to violators, were more than any Guardian could bear!

Now, an opportunity had finally arrived!

Too much time had passed. Although every Guardian Clan had detailed records concerning the Demon Realm, including the terrifying nature of its inhabitants, the events were too remote. Few people truly considered the Demon Realm to be all that frightening.

Even the Sikong brothers felt this way to some degree.

Furthermore, the passage connecting the Demon Realm to the Human Realm had not been fully repaired. This meant that anyone coming from the Demon Realm was destined not to be overwhelmingly powerful. At the very least, the supreme entities of the Demon Realm had no way of crossing into the Human Realm through a partially restored passage.

Many Guardian Clans had received explicit confirmation of this from the Holy Sanctuary, so… most of the Guardians saw this invasion from the Demon Realm as an opportunity!

This was an opportunity that came once in a thousand years. If they could successfully repel the invaders from the Demon Realm, they would become the first people to clash with the Demon Race since the war of the Ancient Era!

That kind of glory, that kind of prestige… it made many people who should have remained calm forget that while humanity was ultimately victorious in the war of the Ancient Era, back then, other races like the Elf Race and the Dragon Race had stood with them. Even though their relations with humans were also poor, they were at least united in their stance against the Demon Race.

But now, the Elf Race had been driven out by humanity, and the Dragon Race had also withdrawn from human lands. As soon as news of the Demon Realm’s return spread, both the Elf Race and the Dragon Race began advancing toward human territory. No one knew what the true intentions of these two powerful races were!

If they were to side with the Demon Realm, humanity… would be in peril!

Even if their goal was to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, it was still an open question whether the Eastern Continent’s one hundred or so Sword Venerable Realm Guardians alone could repel the invaders from the Demon Realm.

Some had already crossed over from the Demon Realm, and the passage was extremely well-hidden. Large groups of Guardians were stationed at several locations where the Demon Race was likely to emerge. The Mesopotamia Grassland was, in fact, one of the Demon Race’s passages from the Ancient Era! For that reason, a fortress had been constructed here long ago, and its activation mechanism was jointly controlled by the Sikong Clan and the Ouyang Clan. But now that the Ouyang Clan had withdrawn, the fortress could only be opened one-third of the way.

As the leader of this contingent, Sikong Yang was naturally filled with anger. He couldn’t help but sigh. “The Guardians… it’s been too many years since they’ve had a mission. Other than having a higher cultivation level than those in the Mortal World, I truly can’t see how they’re superior in any other way.”

Sikong Liu added sardonically from the side, “And the privilege of entering the Holy Sanctuary!”

Sikong Yang glanced at his brother, quite pleased with how he had just dealt with that idiot Ouyang Hong of the Ouyang Family. He then said coolly, “All of you here are witnesses to what transpired today. Ling Xiao was originally the one appointed by the Holy Sanctuary. I sent Ouyang Yu to guide him, but I never imagined a conflict would erupt between them. He then directed his anger at me, making it impossible to fully open the fortress. I will report this matter to the Holy Sanctuary, exactly as it occurred!”

Many people present nodded. The Sikong brothers might have been a bit forceful, but the Ouyang Family had indeed gone too far. They had gotten up and left without making things clear. If this delayed the opening of the fortress, and the Demon Race actually did emerge from this location, then even with the Ouyang Family’s considerable influence in the Holy Sanctuary, the consequences would likely be far more severe than simply having their Guardian status revoked!

This concerned the collective fate of all human Martial Artists!

How could they be so driven by personal feelings?

…

“Young Master, by doing this, aren’t you afraid that Old Sikong will report the matter to the Holy Sanctuary?” Ouyang Hong asked with a frown. Although he had just made a fool of himself, he acted as if nothing had happened at all, and was instead worried about Ouyang Yu.