Pursued by the Top Grade Saintess after Engagement Annulled

Chapter 537 - 533: Elder Council of the Dongfang Clan

The Third Elder’s words do make sense; now it’s no longer just a matter between the Great Xia and the Dongfang Clan.

It has now become an issue of pride. If the Dongfang Clan simply backs down, they will no longer be able to remain in power in the Infinite Divine Domain and might as well relinquish their position to the other three great families.

However, continuing to clash with Xia Feng is far from worth it.

Now that a Main God has fallen, continuing like this will cost the entire Dongfang Clan dearly to deal with the Great Xia.

If that happens, they might be severely weakened and could be taken advantage of by the other three great families.

Dongfang Changming pressed his temples, particularly resenting the Fourth Branch for coveting others’ Ancient Divine Artifacts.

Moreover, the people from the Fourth Branch were incredibly foolish. If they had reported the issue of the Ancient Divine Artifact earlier, he could have easily sent Main God level people to obliterate the Great Xia at the time.

Because of their greed and stupidity, they utterly missed the best opportunity.

If the Great Xia had been dealt with back then, there wouldn’t be so many issues now.

The Second Elder continued to advocate for reconciliation, stroking his beard as he slowly spoke, "We all know that solving this boy now will come at a great cost."

"Even if we really manage to capture him and obtain the Ancient Divine Artifact, given our situation, we won’t be able to retain it."

"It would be like the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind; we’d lose face entirely."

The Third Elder looked slightly conflicted and asked, "But none of us can guarantee that if we stop, the Great Xia will agree to do the same."

The Second Elder paused before continuing, "Let’s seek someone to negotiate. Looking back, since we started to capture this boy, how many of our clan members have died or been injured."

"He, on the Great Xia’s side, has nearly suffered no casualties. Surely they can accept our peace proposal."

The Third Elder’s expression showed some interest, seemingly swayed by the Second Elder, and he turned to look at the Great Elder and Clan Leader, who had remained silent.

"What the Second Elder says even makes sense, how do the Clan Leader and Great Elder feel?"

The Great Elder continued to stare intently at his grandson’s shattered Life Token without speaking, while Dongfang Changming glanced at him, his brow knitting even tighter.

"You all make valid points, but from what I know, the young boy of the Xia Family is cunning and vengeful."

"When the Fourth Branch captured his grandfather, he directly looted the Fourth Branch’s treasury and slaughtered everyone related to the Fourth Branch within the clan."

"How can we ensure that he won’t tear up the agreement and seek revenge after agreeing to peace once he’s further along in his cultivation?"

Now, everyone believes that if Xia Feng continues cultivating, he’s sure to break into the Main God Realm, and breaking into the Divine King Realm is only a matter of time.

If we don’t negotiate with Xia Feng now, once he advances to the Divine King Realm, the entire Dongfang Clan surely won’t be able to resist him.

But what the Clan Leader says also makes sense: this boy has been relentless against the Dongfang Clan, and no one can guarantee that Xia Feng, after agreeing to peace, will truly let the Dongfang Clan go in the future.

At this moment, as everyone hesitated, the Great Elder suddenly moved his gaze from his grandson’s Life Token and began to look around the council hall at everyone present.

"Gentlemen, you are all elders of the Dongfang Clan, the highest in cultivation among us now."

"How can we boost others’ spirits while dampening our own strength?"

"If we really negotiate with that bastard, how would the people in our clan view us?"

"How would the relatives of clan members who’ve died because of that bastard view us?"

"In the future, wouldn’t our main family’s control and influence within the Dongfang Clan drop to an unimaginable level?"

No one spoke up; naturally, the other elders also had relatives who died in the Lower Realm or were killed by Xia Feng in the Fourth Branch.

But these were distant relatives, and they did not grieve over their deaths.

However, the Great Elder was different—his favorite grandson had died in the Lower Realm, the very one he had hoped would inherit his position, now lost.

The fact that he could still sit at this meeting was already considered remarkable, and naturally, no one wanted to provoke him now.

The Great Elder, seeing no one agreeing with him, felt an even stronger sense of mockery in his expression.

"Look at this, the Dongfang Clan nowadays, bullying the weak and fearing the strong, trying to forcibly take others’ Ancient Divine Artifacts from weaker Great Xia."

"Now, finding out their fists are bigger than ours, are we preparing to back down and beg for mercy?"

"Perhaps Dongfang Lu’s attitude was learned from you elders!"

His words were extremely blunt, and recalling Dongfang Lu pleading with Xia Feng made the elders’ expressions unpleasant.

Dongfang Changming’s expression was also a bit grave, yet he still patiently looked at the Great Elder.

"So, what do you think we should do to resolve this issue?"

The Great Elder sneered, slamming his fist heavily on the table, causing the shattered Life Tokens to bounce and settle back down.

"Of course, we respond with a forceful attack. If one Main God isn’t enough to handle the Great Xia, then send ten, a hundred..."

Saying this, he seemed to recall that the entire Dongfang Clan didn’t have a hundred Main Gods. He frowned slightly before continuing.

"Pull in the other families to join this battle, bring their Main Gods to the Lower Realm."

"This way, we can eliminate the possibility of the other three families taking advantage of us, and once we deal with the Great Xia, why should we focus on the Infinite Divine Domain?"

"Right now, the Divine Power density of the Great Xia is a few shades denser than our clan’s, who knows how many things that boy has taken from the Infinite Secret Realm."

Thinking of this only made his expression more somber, feeling as though what belonged to his clan was snatched by that boy.

Upon hearing the Great Elder’s words, Dongfang Changming’s expression turned thoughtful: "You have a point. I will discuss it with the other families."

"Since the Great Elder has thought everything through so thoroughly, I cannot let down the clan’s expectations."

"This time I’ll personally lead the campaign to the Lower Realm. I can’t believe that boy, at the Ninth Grade True God realm, can defeat me, a Divine King."

The elders’ expressions were shocked, collectively urging him against going, even the Great Elder hadn’t intended for Dongfang Changming to personally go to the Lower Realm.

Dongfang Changming waved his hand to stop their persuasion: "My mind is made up; saying more is pointless, and this is settled."

After saying this, he directly teleported away, preparing to engage with the other three families to discuss dealing with the Great Xia and dividing the spoils.