“Bai Yunfei?!”

Yao Tianji and the other"s repeated. This was not a name they knew or were familiar with. Who could this person be?

“Wasn"t he named Tang Long?” Yao Wuchen asked, “why do you say he"s named Bai Yunfei then? Who is this person and how do you know him?”

“He is…not a man that can be so easily described with words…” Dan Teng replied hesitantly. He was still having a hard time believing what he saw. “But nonetheless,” he sighed, “he is a very amazing person…

“I just never thought that he was still alive…and here of all places! Thank the heavens and earth for this! Our clan has a chance now!”

“What?” Yao Wuchen spoke, “Seventh uncle, what do you mean by that? Our clan has a chance? What makes you say that?”

“It"s true! We"re saved! Everyone can be saved! Even the civilians in the city! Everything here can be saved…everything!” Crowed Dan Teng. “As long as he is here…” he pointed at Bai Yunfei, “our clan"s chances of survival explode exponentially!”

“That"s…”

No one knew what Dan Teng was getting at. The words he was saying made sense grammatically, but they weren"t sure about the meaning behind them. How could a single person be that crucial? “Seventh brother…could you explain? How would Tang…this Bai Yunfei person be able to solve our problems? He"s just a Soul Warrior. He wasn"t even able to break through with a fireseed pill. Having this many soul armaments might be proof that he was someone of extraordinary means before, but now…what use has he to us?”

“What was that? A Soul Warrior?!” 

“What"s going on here?!” 

Both Dan Teng and Wu Dijian exclaimed at the same time, though for different reasons. It was because of his conversation with Yao Tianji that Dan Teng cried out loud, but Wu Dijian was inspecting Bai Yunfei"s pulse at the time when he howled in terror. 

“A Soul Warrior?! He has the strength of a Soul Warrior?! How in the world?!”

His hand moved to press against Bai Yunfei"s forehead next. “The Soul Refining Palm! d.a.m.n! How did his originseed get this weak?! What in the world happened to him?!”

Dan Teng rushed to the bedside at once. “Let me take a look!”

Wu Dijian obliged. He knew there was no other person better to help Bai Yunfei now that he knew who Dan Teng was. 

Concentrating hard with his hand on Bai Yunfei"s forehead, Dan Teng breathed in and out for two seconds before looking as worried as Wu Dijian…or even more worried, in fact!

“How…did this happen? How did his soul become this weak? Can one even have enough willpower to live through something like this? It"s…” Dan Teng sputtered.

“Dan Teng, my friend, what are you saying? Can you heal him or not?”

“Worry not,” Dan Teng stood up to face his friend. The bewildered tone in his eyes was gone and replaced with grim determination. “I"ll definitely find a way to save him!”

Within the halls of the Yao clan compound.

Yao Wuchen, Yao Tianji, and various other men sat on their chairs in silence as they watched Dan Teng sip his tea in heavy thought. Everyone didn"t know what to say right now. After hearing about Bai Yunfei"s story, none of them even felt like they were capable of standing up. If a story was meant to be like water when spoken about, then Bai Yunfei"s story was like a tidal wave during a storm. His story churned and smashed at the hearts of everyone who listened.

“A single man…sowing such destruction into the Soul Refining School and even defeating the avatar of the Soul Emperor headmaster…was this really be done by that Bai Yunfei?”

Dazed, Yao Wuchen found himself asking this almost-rhetorical question.

“It was. Everything has already been verified without any falsehoods.” Dan Teng nodded. “The battle at Swallow City three years ago surprised everyone. And once news of what he did to the Soul Refining School came out the entire world was shocked. In fact…the conspiracy of the Soul Refining School was supposed to start those three years ago. It was only because of Bai Yunfei and the damages he did to the Soul Refining School that they didn"t go through with their plan until later. The chaos today was only started half a year after.”

“But from what you said about him, this Bai Yunfei was only a Mid-stage Soul King. How was he capable of those amazing things at such a level like that? The avatar of a Soul Emperor can"t be so easily destroyed…” An elder sighed in disbelief.

“That is just proof of his strength. From the very start of his legacy, everything Bai Yunfei has done has been thought to be extremely difficult, if not impossible, among those at his level of strength. It is because of the extremely rare arts he practices and the awe-inspiring soul armaments he wields that gives him a unique advantage over everyone else. His true strength can"t even be properly evaluated through the use of common sense in our world. Our rigid structure of power hierarchy is simply just a suggestion when it comes to him. You"ve seen proof of that. Take a look at his current state. In this state, he was able to kill a Soul King! What else could this be but proof!”

“And you said…he has the Regalia, the "Core Stone"?!” Yao Tianji spoke. “That small stone he wears over his chest? How will that be of a.s.sistance to us?”

Now came the important point of the discussion. There wasn"t a point discussing any other topic but this one. The eyes of everyone there was glued to Dan Teng as they waited with bated breaths for his response.

“Because! The Core Stone is a soul armament like none others when it comes to s.p.a.cial manipulation. Inside the Core Stone is a miniature world. As long as we are inside, our clansmen, civilians, familiars, and even possessions, then no one will be harmed! All we need to do is have a few of us break free from this besiegement and get away, a feat far easier to manage!”

“The Core Stone…a world within the Core Stone…” Yao Tianji muttered to himself. “Indeed, there won"t need to be any concerns to anyone within this city dying if this is the case. We wouldn"t have to worry about our people being killed then. Our clan will have the chance to live on…”

“Precisely! If the legends are true, then our clan will be saved!” Another elder nodded with vigor. “But Dan Teng, your desire to save this Bai Yunfei…will be a hard one. The elders have already checked on him, and you as well, this Bai Yunfei is The chances of him making a recovery are slim…”

“That is true, but in the end, we only require the Core Stone…”

“Absolutely not!!” Dan Teng interrupted with indignation, “Bai Yunfei…must be saved!

“The Core Stone has already accepted Bai Yunfei as its master, meaning it won"t allow itself to be used by anyone else. If by chance Bai Yunfei dies and the Core Stone becomes without a master, that doesn"t mean anyone else can use it. It"s a Regalia, a soul armament with a spirit. We have no idea about this spirit. If we can"t become its master following Bai Yunfei"s death, what will we do then?

“Futhermore, we must remember one thing about this—Bai Yunfei is a very special person with a very special background. Saving him is something we as a clan should heavily consider. Our clan cannot hide from the world anymore. We"ll be known throughout the continent soon enough. Therefore, we must plan ahead accordingly. Bai Yunfei is a valuable member of the Crafting School. If we save him, then the Crafting School will look favorably to us. We, in turn, will have a valuable ally in the world and have one problem less to think about.

“And if by chance the Crafting School learns that we not only let Bai Yunfei die without helping and "stole" his Core Stone…then we will simply be jumping out from the wok and into the fire. We might be able to escape one calamity with the three allied schools, but we will have to consider the added anger of the Crafting School.” Dan Teng summarized.

“Furthermore, Bai Yunfei has a deep relations.h.i.+p with Tianhun Academy, and by extension with Wu Dijian here. If we don"t save Bai Yunfei, then…I believe Wu Dijian will take Bai Yunfei with him and leave this place. The Core Stone will be beyond our grasp then as well…”

A heavy and uncomfortable silence descended upon the crowd as they digested the words spoken by Dan Teng. 

“It"s not that we "aren"t willing" to save him, but that it can"t be done! You said it before, the damages done to his soul is extraordinary. It"s amazing that he even managed to survive that, let alone being able to live right now! And now that the Soul Refining Palm has been added to the mix, it"s like oil has been added to the fire rather than water. All the pills we offer him now won"t be very effective. Saving him simply cannot be done.”

“No! There has to be a way to save him!” Dan Teng boomed with anger. “If it"s "that" pill, then it"s possible!”

“You can"t mean…”

Inhales rang through the crowd as the realization hit them.

“Absolutely not!” Bellowed the elder who spoke before, “that is the treasure our clan has safeguarded for two thousand years. How could we even possibly think about giving it away to an outsider of all people? I forbid it!”