When Tang Yi returned, the disciples who had gathered seemed to have dispersed. Luo Yuan Gong, Su Bro, and Tang Susu were still waiting in the same place.

Seeing her return from the mountain holding a jar of wine, Tang Susu's face immediately darkened and she erupted, "Did he give this to you?"

Tang Yi met her gaze with an unprecedented seriousness, which made Tang Susu calm down a bit.

"This jar of wine may have been buried in the mountain by my father," Tang Yi said lightly.

"..." Tang Susu hesitated to speak. She had wanted to ask Tang Yi to throw away the gift from that person, but when she heard that it might be a relic of Tang Mu, she couldn't bring herself to say it.

Su Bro looked in her direction and tried to ask, "Sect Master, what about him?"

"He refused to stay and left," Tang Yi sighed.

"That Shangqing Sect traitor, he has the audacity to set foot in our territory. If it weren't for Sect Master's protection back then, his life would have been forfeit," Tang Susu sneered.

"Don't say useless things," Luo Yuan Gong scolded her. He then turned to Tang Yi and said, "Sect Master, with him stepping in to intimidate them, it is unlikely that anyone will trouble Shangqing Sect in the short term. What we need to do now is clean up our own house. We have sent people to pursue the dozens of disciples who defected earlier. It will be difficult to find them in these mountains, so we need to notify our contacts outside to report any sightings immediately so that we can send people to eliminate these traitors in a timely manner."

Tang Yi replied, "It's better that these traitors are gone. They don't want to share our hardships, so there's no use keeping them. There may even be external spies among them. After this incident, it might not be a bad thing if we get rid of them. As Luo Elder said, we should take advantage of this opportunity to make the necessary preparations. Notify the pursuing disciples to return. As for those traitors, I will use the name of Shangqing Sect to publicly expose them and make them infamous. This will make it difficult for them to survive in the outside world. We can deal with them later. In addition, as Sect Master, I declare that Song Shu ordered his son to murder fellow disciple Niu You Dao. Instead, he framed his fellow disciples and even colluded with the Liuxian Sect to attack our sect. He will be put on the list of traitors who betrayed their masters and ancestors, and the world will condemn him!"

The three elders were stunned. They did not think that it was wrong to put Song Shu on the list of traitors who betrayed their masters and ancestors. It was possible that he had colluded with the Liuxian Sect to attack their own sect. However, the matter of killing Niu You Dao was clearly instigated by Tang Susu and Song Yanqing. To push the blame onto Song Shu was simply framing him! However, with the incident of the Liuxian Sect raid, coupled with this early announcement, it was likely that no one would believe Song Shu's defense.

It was a good plan, and Tang Susu was also implicated. In the future, if anyone spread rumors about Tang Yi trying to seize the position of Sect Master, they would probably think it was the Song family seeking revenge. "Seize the initiative" was a good tactic!

This plan made Tang Susu feel a little uneasy, but she looked at Tang Yi with a slightly softer gaze. She realized that no matter how hard she tried to get her niece on the position of Sect Master, she was still a family member at heart.

At this moment, the three elders realized that Tang Yi's words and demeanor had changed significantly.

Luo Yuan Gong pondered, "Sect Master, this plan is good, but it will completely break ties with the Song family. They may retaliate openly, and it will be even harder for Shangqing Sect to establish a foothold in Yan Kingdom in the future."

"I have my own judgment!" Tang Yi looked up at the direction of the Upper Clear Palace, his clear eyes showing an unprecedented determination. He left the wine jar aside and walked away, saying, "Let's offer incense to the ancestor!"

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Offer incense to the ancestor? The three elders were stunned, looked at each other, and had no choice but to follow. It was never too much to offer incense to the ancestor at any time, and no one could refuse.

They arrived at the Upper Clear Palace, and Tang Yi placed the wine jar aside. She walked to the center of the ancestor's statue, lit three incense sticks, took three steps back, and looked up at the statue, silent.

The three elders also lit incense sticks and walked back to stand in a row behind Tang Yi, admiring the ancestor's holy image together.

After a long silence, Tang Yi suddenly knelt down, which surprised the other three.

Kneeling before the ancestors is nothing unusual, but usually it is only done during important ceremonies or when there are important matters at hand.

Even the Sect Master knelt down, and the three people, despite their seniority, had to kneel down with the Sect Master.

Tang Yi, holding incense in both hands, looked up at the statue with a pious expression and said, "Ancestors, Sect Master, Tang Yi, the 11th Sect Master of Shangqing Sect, kneels and asks for forgiveness! Today, Shangqing Sect is in a crisis and cannot extricate itself, all because of the incompetence of its disciples. At this critical moment of life and death for Shangqing Sect, I swear before the ancestors and the Sect Master to do my best to revitalize Shangqing Sect. If there is any fault, I am willing to bear it alone. I pray for the spirits in the heavens to bless us!" After speaking, the three of them kowtowed.

The three people looked at each other, moved by Tang Yi's words. They all knew that Shangqing Sect had fallen to its current state not just because of Tang Yi, but because of many factors. However, Tang Yi took all the responsibility in front of the ancestors.

They also held incense and kowtowed three times.

Tang Yi stood up and approached the altar, placing three sticks of incense in the incense burner. She slowly stepped back, waiting for the three elders to finish before turning to face them. She asked, "Do the three elders have any ideas for getting out of Shangqing Sect's current predicament?"

The three were silent. There was no easy way out of the predicament, and if there were, someone would have already suggested it.

Luo Yuan Gong asked, "Does the Sect Master have any ideas?"

Tang Yi replied, "There is no easy solution, but we cannot sit here and watch Shangqing Sect perish. Even if no one attacks us, we have been cut off from the resources for cultivation. The Song family will not provide us with any more resources for cultivation. If we continue like this, how can we explain to the disciples below? Where will their hearts be? I'm afraid that more people will leave us, and that the whole of Shangqing Sect will completely disintegrate. What right do we have to clean up the door? If the tree moves, so do the people. I want to temporarily abandon the ancestral home of the sect and lead the disciples of Shangqing Sect to seek cultivation resources elsewhere, in order to revitalize the sect!"

Luo Yuan Gong and Su Bro widened their eyes.

Tang Susu screamed like a cat with its tail stepped on, "You, the Sect Master of the sect, are actually abandoning the ancestral home of the sect. Have you thought about how the people of the world will see you? The people of the world will laugh at your incompetence! Have you thought about how the ancestors and the Sect Master will feel? They are buried in this mountain, including your father, and you just abandon them to be trampled on by others? How can you say such forgetful words in front of the ancestors and the Sect Master?"

She didn't say one thing, that her husband and son were also buried here, and she couldn't let outsiders level their graves.

Some of the ancestors' remains had already turned to ashes, and even if they wanted to dig them up and move them, they couldn't. What would be the point of moving only a part of them?

In fact, as Lianxian Sect said, Shangqing Sect occupied the spiritual mountain, and as soon as Shangqing Sect left, someone else would come and take over.

Leaving was easy, but with Shangqing Sect's current ability, it would be difficult to regain what was lost. If they gave up on their own, they would be the eternal sinners of Shangqing Sect. In fact, it was entirely possible!

Luo Yuan Gong tried to ask, "Does the Sect Master have anything else to say?"

Tang Yi replied, "I have thought day and night about Shangqing Sect's predicament. I learned that Shang Chaozong was accepted by Feng Lingbo. I did indeed consider the possibility of joining Feng Lingbo, but it was not feasible! Feng Lingbo can accept Shang Chaozong, but not necessarily Shangqing Sect. Feng Lingbo's acceptance of Shang Chaozong was already under pressure, and Sky Jade Gang had to post explanations everywhere in the cultivation world. If I, Shangqing Sect, were to join forces with Ning King's son, Sky Jade Gang would probably not be willing to bear this pressure. Even if the other party can bear it, Feng Lingbo's power is still too small, and he has not shown any ability to expand. And Da Yan Kingdom itself is in turmoil and could be dissolved and divided by other nations at any time. Feng Lingbo's power may not be able to resist such a situation. Therefore, none of the feudal lords in Da Yan Kingdom are suitable for Shangqing Sect's long-term development."

Tang Susu sneered, "Does the Sect Master want to lead Shangqing Sect to join another country? There are always exclusions, and other countries will not easily accept the power of another country!"

Tang Yi replied, "I plan to lead people northward and join the traitor Shao Dengyun in Da Yan!"