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(Southern Region- Xercopolis Empire)

(Outskirts of The Capitol City- Guang Clan)

The Guang Clan was a cultivation organisation affiliated with the Holy Sword Sect and under their indirect control.

The power of the clan was quite weak compared to the other cultivation groups in the capitol city, but the backing of the Holy Sword Sect allowed them to act quite arrogantly.

Xu Lu walked towards the edges of the capitol city and approached a series of small mountains with golden palaces built on top of each hill.

A magnificent sect gate composed of pure white marble had been placed near the entrance to the clan and it was guarded by two qi spirit disciples.

The saintess approached the gate and the disciples immediately recognised her from the mask that covered her features.

"Saintess!" one of them knelt down on the ground and bowed respectfully. The other immediately left to go notify the clan elders.

"You may rise," Xu Lu quietly spoke.

She did not have a good impression of this clan and her opinion had only gotten worse after she heard what the missing disciples did to the mortals living in the desert.

There was only one of two possibilities to explain their behaviour.

The first was that they were all bad apples and had been coincidentally chosen as a group for the mission and the second and far more likely possibility...

They had never been punished for that kind of behaviour which meant that there was a culture of indifference at best or active malice at worst against those without cultivation.

Xu Lu suspected that the latter was the answer.

She had been witnessed firsthand this kind of attitude in the Holy Sword Sect... the 'paragon swordsmen of righteousness'.

During her time in the punishment hall, not once had disciples been sent there for crimes committed against mortals.

The saintess looked up at the magnificent palaces that had been built at the top of the mountain with numerous thoughts running through her mind.

She did not like this world.

It had been fun at first to fly around and have supernatural powers but beneath the shine lay a filthy interior.

Human lives in this world were worthless.

There was no law and order other than the strong preying on the weak. Humanity was no better than animals.

And it would remain this way until the end of time.

How could mortals fight gods when their weapons broke against their flesh and one swipe from their fingers could spell death.

Xu Lu did not know the answer to that question.

She let out a heavy sigh under her breath as she decided to just focus on finishing her mission and stopping the villainess of this plane.

Around five minutes later, the clan leader and several of his direct relatives quickly appeared and plastered flattering looks across their faces.

"Saintess it is an honour to have you as our guests once again," the clan leader spoke happily as he rubbed his hands together.

Winning the saintess' favour would mean that more resources would be allocated to their group and their influence would grow.

"Please... allow us to throw you a feast to celebrate the completion of your mission. We will invite representatives from all the major groups across the city to witness your glory!"

Xu Lu had an icky feeling in her chest as she listened to the honeyed words of the clan leader.

She knew exactly what he was trying to do.

Hosting a grand banquet with her as the guest of honour would send a message to the other cultivation organisations.

It would tell them that the bond between the Guang clan and the Holy Sword Sect was strong and unbreakable.

She had no interest in becoming a political chess piece.

"I do apologise clan leader, but I have come bearing unfortunate news," Xu Lu spoke solemnly and a heavy atmosphere formed due to her words.

"After weeks of searching... I was unable to locate the missing disciples who were lost in the desert."

"I suspect that they have died and their corpses are buried somewhere beneath the shifting sands."

"That is indeed unhappy news," the clan leader replied sorrowfully but Xu Lu could not see a trace of sadness in his eyes.

"Still... it is all the more reason to host a banquet in your name. You have done all that you could and on behalf of the Guang clan..."

"We thank you."

Xu Lu nodded her head and her eyes roamed over to the direct relatives of the clan leader who all stared back at her eagerly.

The Guang clan was ruled by the Qin family.

It was not a meritocracy since one needed to be a direct relative in order to gain a position of power.

Honestly she may have gone to the banquet if the clean leader had not proposed to invite other cultivation groups across the city.

It would be interesting to observe how a subsidiary clan under the control of the Holy Sword Sect behaved and how was life for the disciples of this clan but...

No... she just wanted to return to the sect...

"I thank you for the offer but I'm afraid that I must decline. I have another mission to complete and I must leave immediately," Xu Lu spoke in a firm tone.

Her voice was filled with conviction and the steely gaze in her eyes caused the words of protest in the clan leader's throat to die down.

The saintess made small talk for the next few minutes before politely saying goodbye and stepping on a floating sword.

She headed in a northeastern direction with the wind gently caressing her hair.

It would take around two months for her to arrive back to the Holy Sword Sect so she had time to enjoy the sights.

Xu Lu planned to visit the central market in the capital city one more time to see if she could pick up any more interesting souvenirs.

She still had the amulet that she had bought from the shady old man wrapped around her neck.

It was supposed to bring her good luck and ensure that her journey would always be smooth but clearly...

It did not work!