“Make your announcement, then pass control to me. Unless you’d prefer to be the one using your Sect Protecting Array to trap your own Clan.”

Xie Bian’s face twisted with his declaration. This order was truly distasteful to her, but if she trusted Lang Sheng’s words then it would be best for the Chong Clan to comply. By trapping her own Clan in then it would help squash any misguided hope of escape. The Blood Contract Lang Sheng showed her proved that as long as they surrendered they would be safe. If they escaped from the Clan then it would be much more dangerous for them when the Lang Clan hunted them down.

The five members of the Purple Mist Sect dissolved the trapping formation and released Xie Bian and her scorpion. Ancestor Scorpion still looked eager to fight, but Xie Bian shook her head, “Let’s go.”

She led Sage through the wreckage caused by the giant scorpion’s rapid approach over to a nine layered stone pagoda. After claiming the Lucky Star Province from the Fu Clan, they’d spent a few years building this immense building as the core of their Sect Protecting Array. They walked up to it without anyone else approaching or disturbing them, which might be odd if it were not for the fact that more than a hundred Nascent Souls were around them. Sage walked into the Pagoda with her and to the center of the first floor where a giant cylindrical bell was placed. It was covered in complicated array symbols and Xie Bian walked up to it. She connected her Qi to it and for just an instant thought about using the array to resist. She glanced outside and saw that the five wearing dark purple armor were still loosely surrounding her partner and Lang Sheng was watching her closely.

For his part, Sage didn’t say anything. He simply smiled knowingly and shook his head, “You know it won’t do much. Only a small fraction of this array’s power will work here and even at its full strength I can break through it in a few hours.”

If she tried to resist him here it would only buy her a few hours. She would also be without the help of her battle partner, and the two of them were the strongest in the Chong Clan. While she was busy stalling, the Purple Mist Sect would have free reign. Sage didn’t want her to go for this option, but he was also confident that her chances in succeeding were small and that she would also realize this.

Finally, after what seemed an eternity, but was only a few seconds, Xie Bian’s voice echoed through the whole of the Chong Clan. It wasn’t overwhelmingly loud, but just repeated through the many nodes of the Sect Protecting Array that were distributed through their territory.

“I, Xie Bian, the Head of the Chong Clan, am speaking to you all with unfortunate news. The Chong Clan has been subdued. All is not lost. Our enemy has a Blood Contract to guarantee the safety of anyone who surrenders. We will not be killed, enslaved, or tortured. It is not the end for us, please do not do fight to the death or attempt a noble suicide. There will be a chance for us again in the future, don’t squander our chances now.”

Sage was impressed at how quickly Xie Bian had accepted the circumstances, caving in to his demands but also using it as a rallying call for a future rebellion. Others might be upset by this resistance, but Sage approved. By giving them hope, then it would hopefully reduce the number of casualties and pointless resistance. Yet, as much as he tried to make things as bloodless as possible, there was still no way it would happen without fights and deaths. There were probably more than a few people who felt the announcement was fake, or their Head had been controlled. There were others who just wouldn’t care either way and would never allow themselves to be at anyone’s mercy. They would rather die than be captured.

“Instruct them to gather here.”

Xie Bian reluctantly did as he asked, telling the members of the Clan to head towards their location. As soon as the announcement was completed, Sage took control of the array from the reluctant Xie Bian. He took only a moment to familiarize himself with it and then activated it, inverting its power so the barrier that stopped anything from entering the Clan was now focused to keep anything from exiting. This sudden change meant that the announcement was not a joke, or at least the fact that the Chong Clan was in trouble was real. The number of people that were planning their escape suddenly dropped. Those who were already rushing to leave the Clan also stopped in their tracks. Unless many Nascent Souls combined their efforts for a sustained period there was no way to break through the large scale defensive array. Most Cultivators knew that these big arrays could last as long as the people in charge kept feeding resources into it.

With the announcement complete, Sage gave the order to the Purple Mist Sect and the majority of them quickly moved to the perimeter of the Chong Clan territory. Previously, they’d been protecting the central area to keep the Elders from interrupting Sage’s discussion with the Clan Head. Most in the Chong Clan had no idea what was going on, and only the Elders realized what they were up against. Not many people knew the dire straits they were in and escaped immediately, most were ready to go to battle with these foreign elements in the center of their Clan. Now that it was obvious they were no match, the Purple Mist Sect members moved over towards the defensive array. There were still bound to be many desperate people who tried to escape with all their might and so the majority of the Purple Mist Sect were prepared to intercept them.

A small number of the Purple Mist Sect moved as a group to quell those who were trying to organize into groups to resist. Groups of five moved through the Chong Clan, instantly knocking out those who were calling for others to team up. The Chong Clan had always been divided into factions which meant all the strongest members of the Clan were not located together. None of the factions had more than three Nascent Souls, so when a group of five Purple Mist Sect members showed up, they knew they had no chance. Even if they wanted to team up with the other factions to attempt an escape they would first have to get past the enemies that outnumbered them.

The Chong Clan had gained many important resources after their war with the Fu Clan. They’d also lost a pair of Nascent Souls. They’d also overthrown the Jinxi faction which had led to the loss of two Nascent Souls just before that. The issue was that the advancement of Nascent Souls was never guaranteed. They were sure that with their new position and influx of resources they would have more rise, but they didn’t know how many decades this would take. Worse yet, after using Messaging Jades to confer with the leaders of the other factions, they realized how bad the situation was. They gathered their most important family members, the most powerful and the ones with the most potential around them, hiding within their own faction headquarters to gather more information.

The teams of five from the Purple Mist Sect didn’t stop them and instead focused on the smaller resistance groups, letting the main faction Elders do what they wished. The leaders were quite cautious and sent scouts to better check the situation. After receiving the reports one of the Elders went to the defensive barrier and confirmed their worst fears. The news spread through the faction Elders quickly and they realized the sheer power they were up against. What force could have so many rank sixes and why were they its victim? With such odds against them, they could only follow the arrangements of their Clan Head and approach the pagoda at the center of their territory.