"What do you know about the Ancient clans?"
Standing a couple of feet from the Prefecture Lord, Su Yen looked directly into his eyes. The Prefecture Lord had long stood up on his feet with trembling lips.
Now that he was the only one in the hall with Su Yen, he realized how dreadful it was to stay in front of him. The vast differences between them made him lose all his courage and pride.
Taking a deep breath, he began slowly. "There wasn't much known about the Ancient Clans. According to what I heard, they are clans that existed long before the arrival of the Bloodmoon Envoy, and with the Bloodmoon Envoy's arrival, they somehow survived their onslaught."
"They survived?!"
"Yes. No one knew how they did it. But after that, they disappeared from the public eyes. Years after years when the Bloodmoon Envoy arrived, they never came out, and the Bloodmoon Envoy never seemed to care about them."
"Do you know why?"
"I don't. There is little to no record about the Ancient clans. Since the arrival of the Bloodmoon Envoy, most clans had lost their inheritance. Only the few that knew how to hide kept a little of their inheritance."
"So apart from the Monster Beast Race, there are still the Ancient clans hiding."
"Yes."
"How is the Monster Beast Race in our region?"
A deep sigh escaped from the Prefecture Lord. "It has not been easy. We're always at war with them. They have taken a huge chunk of the Empire's ground and have no intention of stopping."
"Our territory is under massive threat. The region with powerful experts can still hold their ground, but we, the weakest of them all, are barely holding on."
His voice was laced with exhaustion and hatred. The battle with the Monster Beast Race had been going on for centuries without plans of coming to an end.
Su Yen could understand the heavy burden on the Prefecture Lord's shoulder but still wondered why they didn't let the people know about the danger they were in.
"Why don't you let the people know about it?" he asked.
"What could they do if they knew about it? They are weak and spineless bastards. Besides, with the threat of the Bloodmoon Envoy dangling over everyone's lives, many people thought it was a lost cause fighting a losing battle."
"I see..." Su Yen nodded, realizing the crux of the problem.
"Do you want them out of your region?" Su Yen suddenly asked.
What!
The Prefecture Lord froze for a couple of seconds before blinking his eyes twice. Recovering from his initial shock, with wide eyes, he stammered, "Y-Yes. Yes. I'll forever be grateful to you..."
"Sect Master."
"Sect Master." He bowed his head full of gratitude.
Since he had been appointed as the Prefecture lord of the Zizhu region, his reign had never been a peaceful one. The threat coming from the Monster Beast Race always gave him sleepless nights.
But now, it seems he would have the chance to breathe a sigh of relief. As for the fact that Su Yen might be lying, he didn't consider it.
Even if they couldn't repel the Monster Beast Race completely, it would still shoulder a portion of the burden from him. With such an expert supporting him, only a fool would not accept his help.
A deafening sound echoed in the sky while the shockwaves left a deep crack on the ground. The Thunderbird swayed back and forth as she tried to maintain her flight.
"I never expected a human would dare ride a Thunderbird as a mount." A voice laced with ridicule came from the distance.
In the distance, three powerful people walked toward them. Since they walked in the sky, their cultivation would at least be from the Core Refining realm.
But the previous attack was not something a Core Refining realm could produce. The three arrivals stopped a couple of feet from Su Yen and the Thunderbird.
Su Yen stood calmly on the back of his mount and asked. "Who are
you, and why would you attack me?"
A chuckle escaped from their mouths as they looked at Su Yen as if they were already looking at a dead person.
"How do you make her your mount? With your cultivation realm, that should be impossible for you to do?" An old man with a head full of white hair asked curiously.
Out of the three, he had the lightest cultivation realm. A Golden Core expert.
For the fact a Golden Core expert appeared in a backward place like Zizhu prefecture would be astonishing. However, Su Yen didn't have any change in his expression even when he found his enemy was a Golden Core expert.
As for the two, they were half-step Golden Core experts. This line-up was enough to make any region crumble to their knees.
"You're a Roc," a voice came from the Thunderbird.
"So you know." The only woman in the group of three said with her face filled with pride. "I'm not just any Roc but the Wind Rain Roc."
"I see..." The Thunderbird was only shocked for a moment before she cast her gaze from the Roc.
"What! Don't compare me with you. I serve a greater being than you, being a slave to some puny human." The Roc retorted in anger.
"Enough!" The old man commanded.
Instantly, the Roc held her mouth and glared at the Thunderbird. The old man didn't care and focused on Su Yen.
"You've caused a lot of problems for us. It is time we put you in your place."
"You see... I don't care why you attack. But what I want to know is, who the hell are you?" Su Yen's voice rose a couple of octaves, and the air around him trembled.
The Thunderbird could feel the raging inferno waking up from the depth of its stupor and shivered slightly. She knew how unreasonably strong the young man standing on her back was and couldn't help but see how these fools would be mercilessly beaten.
"I've to give it to you, kid. You've got the nerve." The old man responded calmly and took a step forward, and the aura of an Early Golden Core erupted from his body.
His face brimming with confidence. The intel they received was that Su Yen was not an ordinary person, so it was advised to go all out when fighting him.
The horrifying pressure from the old man made the air twisted, making a deafening sound. The light around them dimmed, and clouds scattered as if escaping for what would happen next.
"You still don't know who you're facing..." Su Yen's robe swayed gently as he took a step forward from the Thunderbird back.
"To me, you're a dead kid."
"I called myself the Sect Master, but my people call me..."