46: Chapter 46 Conversation

"Nephew," Gu Yuan finally spoke, his voice still like a deep, calm ancient well, "The decision to break off the engagement back then was made by me personally; it had nothing to do with Xun'er. You want an explanation, and I can give you one. The Gu Clan has three undeveloped secret realms on the Ancient Void Dragon battlefield; one of them shall belong to the Hun Clan. The Gu Clan's Scripture Pavilion contains seven volumes of Ancient Dou Techniques that have never been shared; the Hun Clan may choose any two. Furthermore, the Gu Clan is willing to sign a hundred-year non-aggression pact with the Hun Clan, which I will personally seal. Is this enough to repay the face you lost back then?"

Gu Dao suddenly rose to his feet at the side, his white hair standing on end: "Clan Leader! I can accept the secret realms, but how can you give the Hun Clan the Ancient Dou Techniques from the Scripture Pavilion—"

"Shut up." Gu Yuan did not turn his head, merely spitting out three words indifferently. The rest of Gu Dao's words were stuck in his throat, his old face turning livid, and in the end, he gritted his teeth and sat back down, the veins on his clenched fists standing out clearly.

Hun Feng held the wine cup without drinking, merely lowering his eyes to watch the clear wine leave fine tear-like trails on the inner wall of the cup. The price Gu Yuan offered was indeed substantial—the secret realms on the Ancient Void Dragon battlefield were the most fertile kind of Ancient Ruins, and countless factions fought tooth and nail for a single spot; the Ancient Dou Techniques in the Gu Clan's Scripture Pavilion were treasures that all experts on the continent dreamed of, and even a single volume could fetch an astronomical price on the black market. Coupled with a hundred-year pact, this sincerity was weighty enough in any negotiation. If it were any other time, he might have agreed.

But not today.

"Clan Leader Gu Yuan," Hun Feng set down his wine cup, his tone remaining polite, yet each word sounded as if it had been carefully weighed before being spoken, "Secret realms, Dou Techniques, a pact—these are all good things. But back at the Ancient Emperor Hall, what the Gu Clan destroyed was not just a contract, but the Hun Clan's face. The Hun Clan's Young Clan Leader was publicly humiliated by a broken engagement in the Gu Clan's main hall, and this matter has already spread throughout the entire Central Plains. Do you think a few secret realms and two volumes of Dou Techniques can make those factions on the continent shut their mouths?"

He stood up, hands behind his back, meeting Gu Yuan's deep, ancient-well-like brown eyes with a steady gaze: "What I want is not compensation, but an explanation. And the only way to let the entire continent clearly see the Gu Clan's sincerity is for the Gu Clan to personally renew the marriage contract that was torn up. If Miss Xun'er marries me, the Hun Clan and the Gu Clan will become in-laws from this day forth—this is not only my personal wish, but also the attitude of the entire Hun Clan."

Gu Yuan looked at him in silence. This young man's gaze was steady, so steady that he did not seem like a junior in his twenties. He had lived for over a thousand years and had seen countless negotiation tactics—some used power to pressure, some used profit to lure, some used emotion to persuade. But Hun Feng did not use any of these. He used logic: the Gu Clan broke the engagement first, and the Hun Clan was humiliated later; now that his daughter was in the hands of the Hun Clan, he either had to accept this marriage or bear the double infamy of breaking his word and abandoning his daughter. This was not a negotiation; it was a siege, and he was already inside the city.

"Nephew," Gu Yuan's voice remained calm and steady as a mountain, yet everyone present could hear the faint trace of weariness within it, "Xun'er has had a stubborn temperament since she was young; even I cannot necessarily make decisions for her regarding matters she has set her heart on. Furthermore, she has someone else in her heart—since you saw her and Xiao Yan at the Ancient Emperor Hall, you should know her attitude toward you. If she is unwilling, I cannot simply force her to marry you."

"Whether she is willing is her business; whether the Gu Clan is willing is the Gu Clan's business." Hun Feng took up his words unhurriedly, "Did the Gu Clan ask for her wishes when you submitted the marriage proposal back then? No. Did you ask for her wishes when the Gu Clan broke the engagement? Also no. From beginning to end, she has been a bargaining chip for the Council of Elders to make decisions for her. If the Council of Elders could decide to break the engagement for her in the past, the Clan Leader can naturally decide to fulfill the contract for her today. As for who she has in her heart—it will naturally fade with time."

He said this lightly, yet every word was heart-piercing. The fingers Gu Yuan rested on his knees tightened slightly, his knuckles turning slightly white. He knew that what Hun Feng said was the truth—the marriage proposal had been submitted directly to the Hun Clan by the Council of Elders, bypassing Xun'er, and the breaking of the engagement had been decided by Gu Yuan alone; from beginning to end, Xun'er had been the one being arranged. Now that Hun Feng used this logic to block his words, he was truly speechless.

"And if I do not agree today?" Gu Yuan raised his eyes, his voice still calm, but the intangible aura around him suddenly grew heavier at this moment. The pressure of a Nine-Star Dou Sheng peak was not intentionally released; merely that imperceptible fluctuation when his emotions shifted slightly caused the air in the main hall to stagnate. The glazed lamps hanging from the ceiling of the hall moved without wind, swaying gently and emitting a faint clinking sound. Gu Dao and the two accompanying elders held their breath in unison, and even Hun Qian subconsciously took a half-step back.

But Hun Tiandi did not retreat. Void Swallowing Flame did not retreat. Hun Qinger did not retreat.

Hun Tiandi remained in his lazy sitting posture, even raising his wine cup to take a gentle sip, as if the pressure that had just caused the air to stagnate was merely a draft. The black flame at Void Swallowing Flame's fingertips jumped once, and a flash of undisguised playfulness flickered in his eyes burning with black flames—that playfulness was not like watching a show, but the excitement a hunter feels when the prey finally begins to struggle. Hun Qinger moved the ice-crystal lotus from her fingertips to her palm, and ice-blue cold air circulated silently, congealing into a very thin layer of frost beneath her feet.

"Brother Gu Yuan," Hun Tiandi set down his wine cup, his voice as gentle as if he were catching up with an old friend, "Although Feng'er's words were direct, they were not without reason. The Gu Clan broke the engagement first, and the Hun Clan was humiliated later—no matter how many secret realms and Dou Techniques you use to compensate, it will not sound good if this gets out. Mutual affection between children does not necessarily exist from the beginning; during the days Miss Xun'er has stayed in the Soul Realm, Feng'er has not mistreated her. Why not let this marriage go through, and let the two families' thousand-year-old feud be wiped clean? Wouldn't that be the best of both worlds?"

Gu Yuan turned his head to look at Hun Tiandi. Hun Tiandi wore a smile on his face, a smile that was sincere and humble, as if he were mediating for two bickering juniors. But Gu Yuan had lived for over a thousand years and knew all too well what the quality of Hun Tiandi's "sincerity" was. This man had worn the same expression a thousand years ago when the Xiao Clan was destroyed—humble and sincere, as if everything was for the peace of the Ancient Eight Clans, and then the Xiao Clan was gone. Now he wore that same smile again, speaking of the best of both worlds, while having already laid out all of the Hun Clan's strongest trump cards on the table.

"Brother Hun, you and I have known each other for a thousand years; there is no need for these polite pleasantries." Gu Yuan's voice remained calm and steady as a mountain, but his tone was several degrees heavier than before, "This marriage was submitted by the Council of Elders, and I was the one who made the decision to break the contract. You are using Xun'er to force me to submit, and I concede. But Xun'er possesses the Gu Clan's God-Grade Bloodline, and her marriage concerns the thousand-year foundation of the Gu Clan—if the Hun Clan wants this marriage contract, relying solely on the excuse of 'compensating for lost face' is not enough weight."

He said this very calmly, yet everyone present could hear the sharpness within it. Gu Yuan was probing—probing the Hun Clan's bottom line, and also probing Hun Tiandi's true attitude. If the Hun Clan was only doing this for face, then the Gu Clan could compensate double in other ways; but if the Hun Clan had other motives, then he would have to re-evaluate the cost of this marriage.

Hun Tiandi did not answer immediately. He turned his head and glanced at Void Swallowing Flame, who was reclining against the back of his chair, his eyes burning with black flames meeting his for a brief moment. No extra communication was needed between two Nine-Star Dou Sheng; a single glance was enough to exchange their judgments.

Then Hun Tiandi moved.

He did not stand up, did not release any Dou Technique, and not even his expression changed. It was just that the pressure of a Nine-Star Dou Sheng peak, which he had restrained for who knew how many years, spread silently at this moment. There was no violent momentum, no surging soul fluctuations, only a pure, unadorned presence—as if the entire main hall, the entire Soul Realm, and even the entire void had become a part of his body in this instant. The soul-devouring iron patterns on the hall walls lit up simultaneously, and dark red fluorescent light spread from the ground to the dome like a tide, enveloping Gu Yuan and his accompanying elders completely. The air became as thick as gel, and every breath felt like swallowing solidified lead blocks.

Gu Yuan sat upright in the main seat, his grey robes motionless, but the fingers resting on the armrest had silently sunk three inches into the dragon crystal. He certainly recognized this aura—this was the posture Hun Tiandi adopted when he was truly serious. It was not the lazy and easygoing manner he had when speaking to Hun Feng, but the seriousness he had when he stood before Xiao Xuan's corpse and slowly raised his palm toward the remnants of the army on the mountain during the battle when the Xiao Clan was destroyed a thousand years ago. He had worn this same smile back then too.

At the same instant, Void Swallowing Flame put away the black flame he had been playing with at his fingertips. He did not release any pressure, merely turning his eyes, which were burning with black flames, toward the two accompanying elders behind Gu Yuan. Gu Dao's expression changed abruptly, and he subconsciously pressed his hand to the hilt of the sword at his waist, only to be pressed back into his seat by an invisible force—it was not pressure, but Void Swallowing Flame locking down all the Dou Qi circulation in his body with just a single glance. Veins bulged on Gu Dao's forehead, and his lips twitched for a long time, but he could not utter a single word. A Four-Star or Five-Star cultivation was not even enough to struggle before a Nine-Star.

Hun Qinger remained leaning in the corner, the ice-crystal lotus slowly rotating in her palm, and ice-blue cold mist diffused silently from the heart of the lotus, congealing into a very thin layer of frost on the ground. That layer of frost did not spread to Gu Yuan's feet, but three ice lotuses simultaneously congealed on the back door, side windows, and the skylight of the hall's dome—that was the mark of her Ice Soul Dou Qi sealing off all paths of retreat. If Gu Yuan moved even a step in any direction, those seemingly fragile ice lotuses would explode in an instant, turning into a cage.

Gu Yuan slowly withdrew his right hand that had been pressed into the armrest. The dragon crystal armrest silently shattered into a pile of fine powder the moment his fingertips left it, falling to the ground with a rustle, making a very faint sound in the silent hall. He looked at Hun Tiandi, then glanced at Void Swallowing Flame, and finally turned to Hun Feng. No obvious joy or anger could be seen on his face, but something deep within those brown eyes that had witnessed a thousand years of history was silently cooling. He finally understood that he had not come here to negotiate today. He had come here to be forced to sign a treaty under the city walls. The Hun Clan had never intended to bargain with him from the very beginning; they had only left him a chair so that he would sit down, listen to all the conditions, and then be told—you do not have the right to say no.

Gu Yuan did not answer immediately. He turned his head to gaze at the grey void outside the hall, remaining silent for a long time. No one in the hall urged him. Hun Tiandi continued to sip his wine slowly, the black flame at Void Swallowing Flame's fingertips danced unhurriedly, and the ice-crystal lotus in Hun Qinger's palm rotated at a steady pace. Everyone was waiting.

"Nephew," Gu Yuan finally withdrew his gaze, his voice a few degrees lighter than before, as if he were greeting a person he did not actually understand all over again, "To have brought out the Hun Clan's strongest lineup for this marriage contract, you have truly made me look at you in a new light." He paused, and the last trace of warmth in his brown eyes silently faded away, "But I will say it again—Xun'er is not my bargaining chip. If you want her, relying on these alone is not enough. I need a reason, a reason that can allow me to convince myself, and also one that Xun'er can accept. If you cannot give it, then even if the Hun Clan's two Nine-Stars act together today, I may not necessarily be unable to walk out of this hall. Brother Hun, what do you say?"

He directed the last sentence at Hun Tiandi. His tone was calm, yet it caused Hun Tiandi's hand holding the wine cup to pause slightly. A Nine-Star Dou Sheng peak—even if facing two of the same rank and one Eight Star Dou Sheng simultaneously, if he truly risked everything and was willing to face his own fall, he might not necessarily be unable to severely injure one of them. Hun Tiandi had certainly calculated this risk, but he knew even better that Gu Yuan would not truly flip the table, because his daughter was still in Hun Feng's hands. However, for Gu Yuan to speak to this extent was already him looking for a way out for himself—he needed a reason, a reason he could speak when he returned to the Ancient World to face the Council of Elders and Xun'er.

Hun Tiandi looked at Hun Feng, and Void Swallowing Flame also looked at Hun Feng. The cold light in Hun Qinger's ice-blue eyes flickered slightly, which meant—it's your turn.

Hun Feng straightened his cuffs, slowly walked down the steps from before the main seat, and stopped three steps away from Gu Yuan. He looked at this Nine-Star peak Gu Clan Leader, looked at the endurance and weariness written on that face which was five parts similar to Xun'er's, and then bowed slightly, performing the salute of a junior to an elder.

"Since Clan Leader Gu Yuan wants a reason, this junior will give it now."