I looked at the small table we’d set up in the center of the library and began wondering if holding the meeting here had been such a good idea after all.

Seeing the frosty expressions on Song Song’s and Ye An’s faces, I seriously began to question both my intelligence and my past self, the idiot who thought this would be a good idea. Sure, with the arrays around the library, I could control the situation if things exploded… but the books…

Just imagining a book I hadn’t read yet turning to ash and gone forever made my heart shudder.

Tingfeng and Jiang Yeming were also here, mostly just to fill out the numbers. Tingfeng, the sword-obsessed geek, looked like he’d rather be cutting grass with his blade than sitting at a table. Jiang Yeming, meanwhile, smiled like a kid finally invited to sit at the grown-ups’ table.

Ye An took a break from clashing glares with Song Song and scanned the room, as if checking for traps. Her gaze lingered a bit longer on the stacks of books scattered around the space.

“Aren’t you supposed to be taking care of this place?” she asked, giving me a look that could classify as psychological warfare. “This looks more like the private mess of some freshman disciple than the office of an Inner Elder. Isn’t it literally your job to organize these books?”

“I was just... reorganizing,” I said, shrugging like that somehow made it better.

Ye An narrowed her one eye, slicing straight through my excuse.

“Anyway,” I cut in, “let’s move on with the meeting. The reason I gathered you all here is to discuss how we should handle the incoming threat of monstrous beasts.”

“Sorry to ruin the party,” Ye An said, smiling as she turned her gaze to me, “but I’m not that worried. While I might not have the power to handle multiple Core Formation beasts at once, I can easily escape if the Sect falls. And if Song Song doesn’t live up to her responsibility, I’ll help you get out of here. How about it? I’m a much better partner than this… woman.”

Song Song frowned, clearly displeased. But she held back, so there were no blood swords and no attempted decapitations. That counted as progress.

“I don’t know what world you live in,” Song Song said coldly, “but obviously I’m more than capable of ensuring his safety myself. After all, one of us is stationed close to him. The other is all the way out in the outer sect.”

Ye An’s pretty smile didn’t even twitch at that. Instead, she laughed.

“Wow. That’s bold,” she said, shaking her head with mock sadness. “I hope there’s no bad blood between us… just because I inherited your grandmother’s position.”

Song Song said nothing. Her eyes narrowed, cold and flat. And of course, Ye An took that as an invitation to keep poking the hornet’s nest.

“Oh, sorry. I meant her position... and some more,” Ye An said with a sigh, as if it were all just a hassle. “She usually had nothing to do with sealing. But now that I’m both the elder of imprisonment and sealing, I’m technically two elders.”

I didn’t remember what position Song Song’s grandmother had held as an elder, but I was pretty sure it wasn’t anything to do with the prisons.

Though, to be fair, I had met her there for the first time.

If I hadn’t bothered remembering the positions of dead elders, Song Song likely hadn’t either.

Before this could devolve into a shouting match and then inevitably into a death match, I cleared my throat and drew their attention back to me.

“We’re here to figure out how to save the Blazing Sun Sect,” I said. “Not host a catfight. So, maybe cool it?”

That earned matching frowns from both girls. They clearly didn’t appreciate the insult, but I had to put my foot down.

Jiang Yeming, who had been almost invisible until now, looked up at me, her eyes wide in shock. As if the way I spoke to Ye An and Song Song had just shattered her worldview.

But despite their so-called offended looks, neither Ye An nor Song Song said anything back. Their silence wasn’t agreement; it was pride. Neither of them wanted to lose face in front of the other.

“There are too many monstrous beasts to deal with,” Ye An said at last. Her look of mock surprise had faded, replaced with a steely, calculated gaze. “Right now, I can sense four Core Formation beasts in their ranks, and there will no doubt be more.”

A heavy silence settled over the table.

While both girls could ragdoll most Foundation Establishment cultivators when they were at the same stage, Core Formation was an entirely different monster. Even a two-star difference in that realm created a chasm. No amount of experience or raw talent could easily cross it.

A Sky Grade technique might improve their odds, but I was fairly certain neither of them had one.

Just as we were all dwelling on the inevitable, Jiang Yeming who had been quiet until now, raised her hand.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“You can speak freely here,” I told her. “No need to ask for permission.”

“Ah, thanks,” she said, bowing her head. She didn’t dare meet the eyes of either woman at the table. “I was just thinking... wouldn’t someone skilled with poisons be effective against large numbers of monstrous beasts? Even Core Formation ones would be weakened by poison, giving our people an easier time fighting them.”

Both Ye An and Song Song turned toward her. Song Song was already frowning, clearly reading between the lines and not liking where the idea might lead.

I had also considered releasing Song San. But there were obvious risks, mainly that he might betray us, regardless of what he said before being sealed.

Still, releasing him now, instead of in some desperate last-minute scenario, might actually be the smarter play. Doing it early would give us more time to monitor him and more power in our hands.

And now that Jiang Yeming had brought it up so “innocently,” maybe it could work. When she said crazy things like that out of nowhere, it really helped prove my theory about her.

So with that in mind, I nodded to Jiang Yeming, then turned to the others.

“Perhaps we should start thinking about releasing Song San,” I suggested.

“No way,” Song Song said immediately, her frown deepening.

“Whoa, you don’t like your brother? What a shocking revelation,” Ye An said with a perfectly straight face. Then she turned to me. “Last I remember, wasn’t Song San that pathetic guy who embarrassed himself during the tournament with the other sects? How exactly is that loser going to be useful?”

I sighed and rubbed the crease between my brows.

Calm and logical. Logical and calm. I had to be the voice of reason here. Getting angry, annoyed, or visibly exhausted would serve no purpose.

And just as I was trying to stay grounded, a surprisingly good idea came to me.

“Let’s put this to a vote,” I said. “Whoever is in favor of releasing Song San, raise your hand.”

Ye An raised her hand, probably just to piss off Song Song. Jiang Yeming raised hers right after. Tingfeng looked lost until she nudged him and whispered something. Then he raised his hand too. I raised mine as well and looked at Song Song, the only one who hadn’t.

“Are you siding with her over me?” Song Song asked, frowning.

Of course. Instead of seeing it for what it was, she took it personally.

“Oh wow–” Ye An was about to say something, but I cut her off before she could pour oil on the fire.

“No,” I said, shaking my head.

God, I really hoped there would come a day when I could just exert my aura and shut down these kinds of ridiculous debates.

Did they forget why we were here? This wasn’t some middle school drama where I was choosing sides in a cafeteria squabble.

At least they hadn’t started physically fighting yet, so up to this point, I still considered the meeting a win.

“That guy you’re voting to release literally tried to poison you,” Song Song pointed out.

That made Ye An falter, her hand twitching slightly, but her concern for my safety wasn’t quite enough to overpower her pettiness toward Song Song.

“Ye An also tried to kill me when we first met,” I said. “But now she’s an asset to this team.”

“Yeah, and I don’t really trust her either, and would honestly prefer we just have her murdered,” Song Song replied without missing a beat.

Ye An smiled, lips parting as if to drop one of her usual sharp remarks, no doubt something to poke at Song Song and stoke the already simmering tension between them.

But just before the words left her tongue, her expression shifted. The smile faltered, and she closed her mouth with a faint click. Her brow furrowed.

Song Song’s eyes sharpened, her posture subtly tensing.

I felt it a second later; the faint, thunderous rumble beneath the ground and a tremor in the air laced with killing intent and a Qi signature pressing against the edge of my senses.

The monstrous beasts were on the move. They were charging the sect.

Well, so much for having time to build some grand stratagem. No matter how much effort I put into planning, sometimes something outside my control came to ruin it.

“Can you specify their numbers?” I asked, turning to Song Song. My sensory range wasn’t anywhere near a Core Formation cultivator’s.

“There are eleven Core Formation monstrous beasts, about a hundred at Foundation Establishment, and fifty thousand Qi Gathering,” she said.

My heart dropped at those numbers.

We stood no chance. Even if we did win by some miracle, the sect would be left crippled beyond repair.

“We have to release Song San,” I said.

Song Song sighed, clearly not thrilled but knowing we had to bend our expectations.

“I’ll go and get your teacher to release the array,” she offered.

“There’s no need,” I said, shaking my head. “My teacher has a very important job during this beast wave. I’ll break the array myself.”

Ye An and Song Song stood, and so did my disciples. But before they could act, I turned to them, already thinking several steps ahead.

“Jiang Yeming, Tingfeng, stay in the house I built near the library. It’s reinforced with protective arrays. The basement is shielded from standard detection methods,” I said, reaching into my pocket and pulling out a silver storage ring. I handed it to Jiang Yeming. “Inside are two thousand spirit stones. If the sect falls and I die, go out there and make your own fate.”

Tingfeng nodded.

Jiang Yeming stared at the ring with a blank, distant look, like her mind had wandered far beyond this room.

I nodded to Ye An and Song Song, and we began walking toward a rarely visited section of the library.

“Please don’t die,” Jiang Yeming said suddenly. Her voice was soft, uncertain, more like someone her age for once. “The world would be a worse place without you around.”

Heh. That was nice to hear.

I kept my thoughts to myself and pressed on deeper into the library.

The tall shelves loomed around us, stacked with ancient tomes and brittle scrolls and books I’d planned to read during my time here. But I passed them by until I reached a particular shelf. It looked ordinary to most eyes, but it sat just faintly misaligned.

Bending down, I reached beneath it and pressed a small knot in the wood.

There was a soft click, barely audible, and a section of the floor shifted, revealing a trap door concealed in shadow. The air around it was slightly cooler.