14 Let's tread carefully...

"Another ?" hearing sect master, the lean elder Gao couldn't help but furrow his brows. As he scrutinized the woman wearing the strange attire, he couldn't help but become perplexed. He couldn't detect any signs of qi circulation in her body. For him, she looked as ordinary as a mortal.

"Elder Gao, the so-called 'guest', as you put it, has actually entered our sect without any invitation, and you have actually come here instead of capturing him ?" Yuan wenyan asked with a hint of displeasure in his tone.

"Master Yuan, that person is not someone any of us can afford to offend. To tell the truth, we have also taken him for some shameless imposter at first. But, when we foolishly tried to attack him... that was when we found out, that he is a Core formation realm expert and..."

"Wait! You mean that the guest you are speaking about, is in Core formation Realm !?" the sect master questioned in a trembling voice.

"Yes, Sect master" elder Gao replied.

"Hisss..." at this moment the two elders who were listening from behind them, couldn't help but suck in a cold breath as their hearts turned chilly with dread.

Seeing their reaction, elder Gao couldn't help but shake his head.

"You can imagine the horror we felt when we realized our mistake. Thankfully, that senior is magnanimous and didn't hold it against us. I would sincerely urge you all, to not make the same mistake, for he might not be as lenient this time." elder Gao said as he tried his best to make them understand the gravity of the situation.

Hearing his warning, the sect master couldn't help but rub her temples with worry.

"Elder Gao, have you found out about the intent behind this person's visit? What I mean is... is he expecting something from us ?" sect master inquired after thinking for a while.

"Hahh... Sect Master, truthfully, that is the most puzzling thing of all this. Can you believe that this powerful expert is actually intending to gift you something ?" elder Gao questioned back with a resigned look on his face.

"Gift me something ?" the sect master couldn't help but become perplexed as she wondered which core formation senior would be so kind as to bring gifts for her.

"Umm.. elder Gao, did this guest reveal anything about his identity ?" the sect master questioned again as she was unable to recall any core formation experts who had such close relations with her.

"Identity... ah right! that senior has mentioned that he is called Lord Santa in the outside world" elder Gao replied as he recalled the name that the bearded expert called himself.

"And... don't tell me that is all you know !? "

"This... Sect master, I am ashamed. To tell the truth, at that moment we were so overwhelmed by his strength that we were unable to muster the courage, to pry out any information from him." elder Gao said as he hung his head in embarrassment.

" ... "

Seeing how even the most reliable and competent elder in the sect became so scared, the sect leader couldn't help but become more worried.

Meanwhile, Yuan wenyan, who is listening to elder Gao's recount, also had worry flash in his eyes, due to a different reason altogether.

"Is the mystic sword sect still secretly continuing their old connections from when their sect founder was still around ?" That was the only thought that kept popping up in Yuan Wenyan's mind.

"Not impossible. This must be some new player." he quickly eliminated that possibility because he had been, quite literally, living in this sect for the past year, and he is confident that they don't have any such big head to bank on.

If they have, then they would have absolutely no reason to make peace with their Iron palm sect, and even more, agreeing to their marriage proposal. Once he came to this conclusion, the worry on his face eased a little and he started to think about what steps he should take regarding this new player.

"Ming'er... Don't worry too much. I will send word to my brother immediately, requesting him to come over. Heh, You might be aware already. But let me tell you, my brother has very thick relations with few big experts from the sects in the prefectural capital. I believe, once he is here, this Santa or whatever expert, wouldn't have guts to act so brazen anymore." Yuan wenyan said confidently with a smirk on his face.

"You would do that !? No... what am I thinking? This is our sect's trouble. I don't want to drag your sect into this mess." the sect master who was vexing over the matter of dealing with this expert, suddenly felt as if she had caught on to a life-saving straw while drowning in the sea, but she quickly snapped out of it, realizing that they might implicate their ally too.

"Nonsense Ming'er, what are you talking about. We are already tied together with each other. There is no reason for us to sit and watch when someone is trying to bully one of us."

Hearing that the sect leader couldn't help but feel touched.

"This... I really don't know how to thank you anymore..."

"Haha, just a small matter. Let me..." Yuan wenyan laughed off and took out the jade pendant hanging around his neck and slowly channeled his qi essence into it while closing his eyes.

After a while, he slowly opened his eyes and glanced at the wild beauty, who is standing next to him obediently, while a faint smile appeared on his face.

"What happened master Yuan. Did your brother agree ?" the sect master asked while sounding a little unsettled.

"Of course he would. It's just that... he is busy with a few matters, and would take some time to arrive. In the meanwhile, we shall see what this expert is up to. I believe, once we reveal our backing, he wouldn't dare to cause trouble for us." Yuan wenyan proclaimed confidently.

"Oh... Then we might as well meet him first. But, we need to be careful. We don't know if this expert has any ulterior motives behind this visit." sect master said with concern evident in her tone.

Hearing their conversation, elder Gao couldn't help but feel that things are going in the wrong way!

That's right. What baffled him is, why would they just assume that this senior has ulterior motives? Till now he did not detect any ill intentions from him. In fact, the senior did not hold any grudge against them even though they tried to ruthlessly attack him, without even speaking a word.

In this primordial world, it is not at all exaggeration to say that even a chicken will hold a grudge and peck the shit out of you if you provoke it unnecessarily. So, if you still dare to offend someone so powerful, it only means that you feel your head is an unnecessary weight on your neck!

Thinking up to here, the lean elder decided to offer his advice.

"Sect master, I don't know if I should say this, but I find that senior to be quite easy-going and amicable. I think, maybe we should approach him in a friendly manner first, instead of acting too wary, which would only make things more awkward."

"What's on my mind is that... Maybe... he could become a future backer for our sect? Ah, I only say this with good intentions... please forgive me, sect master, if you think I have overstepped my boundary." elder Gao said while carefully measuring his words.

When Yuan wenyan heard that, a strange glint flashed in his eyes.

"Elder Gao, you shouldn't just believe everything you see. Since when did the old men in the primordial world become so amicable. As far I know, the old are the most cunning and ruthless. They would do anything just to bolster their deteriorating blood qi and extend their lifespan for few more years. I believe that this old man must also be of that kind. Maybe he caught wind that your sect is in possession of precious immortal blood vine seeds." Yuan Wenyan immediately retorted against elder Gao's advice in a firm tone.

"But master Yuan..."

"Enough elder Gao... I understand your point. But what master Yuan said is also correct. Why would someone so powerful come to us just to gift? There must be some hidden motive in this. Anyway, we will tread carefully while dealing with this person." the sect master said firmly without allowing any further opinions on the matter.

"I will follow your instructions Sect master," Elder Gao said respectfully.

"Shall we go then... master Yuan ?" the sect master turned towards Yuan wenyan and asked.

"Let's go," Yuan wenyan said. And with that, all of them entered the sect as they headed towards the core area.

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"System, minimize the projection" drake instructed the system. Immediately the projection of the scenes related to burly Huang got minimized to the bottom right corner while his normal vision got restored back.