"Oh? So you are Xue Hen? And who are you then?" Liu Lang looked at Xue Hen, who had been betrayed by two of his kin, then turned his gaze to Xue Shen.
It was unusual for someone from a fifth-tier universe to recognize him as a member of the Wandering Tribe upon sight. This indicated an extraordinary identity, and this seemingly frail member of the Xue Clan was, in fact, the strongest among them. His cultivation had already touched the threshold of the Quasi-Emperor realm!
Liu Lang knew that individuals of such strength were typically the patriarchs of their respective races. Under normal circumstances, they would bury themselves deep underground, entering a state of embryonic breathing to prolong their lifespan, all while hoping to break through to a higher cultivation level within their remaining time.
"This humble one is the thirteenth Xue Shen of the Xue Clan. Greetings, Wandering Venerable!" Xue Shen bowed slightly, showing respect to Liu Lang.
Venerable?!
The five elders and Xue Hen were stunned!
Xue Shen was the most powerful being in the history of their Xue Clan! His peak-tier completion cultivation alone was enough to make the Xue Clan the absolute overlords of the fifth-tier universe!
Xue Shen's life was nearing its end, and recently, the entire Xue Clan had been channeling all the spirit stones gathered by their ten billion kin, who had entered the New Mortal Continent, towards this elder. Their sole aim was to help Xue Shen break through the shackles of the peak tier and become the first Quasi-Emperor to appear in the fifth-tier universe.
Yet, this powerful being, on the verge of becoming a Quasi-Emperor, addressed the smiling Wandering clansman before them as "Venerable." Did this not imply that the visitor's strength had already reached the Quasi-Emperor realm?
Quasi-Emperor!
Hearing the elder's address, Xue Hen's heart tightened, filled with bitterness.
Who in the Ten Directions Heaven and Earth didn't know that the Wandering Tribe of the Second-Tier Universe was the most formidable vassal of the Muwu race? He never imagined that someone as insignificant as himself would warrant a personal visit from a Quasi-Emperor.
"Thirteenth Xue Shen? And what is the stance of your Xue Clan now?" Liu Lang looked at Xue Shen, his earlier joviality replaced by a hint of indifference. He didn't even glance at the thousands of thousands of Great Gods surrounding them.
"Our Xue Clan is willing to surrender. We only beg for the Venerable to spare Xue Hen, for he is but young and ignorant." As Xue Shen spoke, a Spatial Ring quietly floated before Liu Lang, its meaning self-evident.
"Do you have anything to say?" The turn of events was somewhat unexpected.
But then again, it made sense. The Xue Clan's star domain was all snow and ice, with no crops to speak of. While cultivators could go years without eating or drinking, being sealed for half a year meant that no matter how many spirit stones the Xue Clan acquired in the game, they were useless. After all, manifesting power also consumed energy.
"Nothing. Kill me or flay me, as you wish!" Xue Hen didn't look at Liu Lang but stared intently at Bing Bai.
He hadn't expected this Grand Elder, who usually kept a low profile and even projected an image of kindness, to be so deceptive. All those traits were mere pretense. Based on his current words and actions, this fellow likely had connections with the Futian Empire long ago.
"Grand Elder, I truly wish to know. If we were to defect to the Futian Empire, what about the contract we signed when we entered the New Mortal Continent? It stipulated a hundredfold compensation! Can our entire Xue Clan afford that?" Xue Hen stared at him, gritting his teeth.
A year ago, when ten billion Xue Clan members entered the New Mortal Continent, Ye Yun had imposed stricter conditions on their contract due to their one-tenth higher income. The most crucial stipulation was that they must not stand against Ye Yun!
"Compensation? What compensation? That's for those of you who entered the New Mortal Continent. We didn't!" Bing Bai sneered at Xue Hen.
With ten billion Xue Clan members entering, eight-tenths of the resources they acquired were handed over to the Elder Council for unified deployment and arrangement. This meant that elders like Bing Bai, without entering the New Mortal Continent themselves, enjoyed the highest utilization rate of resources. Now that this had happened, this fellow intended to cut his losses and abandon those ten billion kin!
"Exactly. Our Xue Clan has billions of members, and ten billion is but a small fraction. As long as we follow the path of the Futian Great Emperor, our Xue Clan will at least regain a thousand years of peace. By then, let alone these ten billion, we could even have ten or a hundred times more!"
If one person brought back twelve thousand spirit stones from the New Mortal Continent in a year, then ten billion members would bring back twelve trillion spirit stones! If the compensation were truly a hundredfold, the entire Xue Clan would have to be sold to pay it off. Therefore, rationally speaking, the Grand Elder's decision seemed somewhat plausible.
"You will all regret today's decision! You definitely will!" Xue Hen's body suddenly surged with immense energy, and an endless blizzard erupted. The snowflakes drifting in the air coalesced into spheres, which then violently exploded.
*Boom…*
The sound of the explosion was muffled but could travel across the entire planet.
Escape! Or quickly hide! This was the last thing he could do for those ten billion kin. Since they had been abandoned, the Futian Empire would certainly not let them live! And this was something Xue Hen had anticipated when Bing Yi proposed peace talks with the Futian Empire. Hence, this was also a prearranged signal between him and the kin he had brought to the New Mortal Continent.
"Xue Hen! This is your dying struggle; it's useless. All your actions are under our control." Bing Yi shook his head, a mocking smile on his lips.
At this moment, neither Xue Shen, the patriarch of the Xue Clan, nor Xue Shuang, who shared the same surname, spoke. They seemed to implicitly agree to something. When faced with their own interests and the survival of the entire clan, they had no choice but to tacitly accept Bing Bai's words. Sacrificing ten billion elite members was better than complete annihilation. At least the Xue Clan's legacy would endure.
"Heh heh, I never expected that the mission my master sent me on would lead to such an amusing spectacle due to a misunderstanding," Liu Lang said, looking at the seven supreme authorities of the Xue Clan before him, a smile playing on his lips.
And on the snowfield, nearly thirty million Monarch-level beings were already densely packed. The wind and snow howled, and the spatial gates had vanished. They stood there like stone sculptures, letting the wind and snow bury their bodies into snowmen.
"Subordinate is late! Please punish me, Xue Lord!"
"Subordinate has come to support Xue Lord! Please leave first, Xue Lord…"
Bing Yi's smile hadn't even faded when soldiers suddenly emerged from all directions. Judging by the aura erupting from them, they were all Great Saints, and even some at the level of Great Gods…