Bai Clan!

::Golden Sands Island - Great Yang Empire, Ember City::

Golden sands island was a massive island that stretched over three hundred and seventy miles from east to west at its widest and extended over one thousand miles from north to south. The Great Yang Imperial Family was the leading power of the island, holding control over the entirety of the Golden Sands island and maintaining their rule for over two hundred years!

Ember city was the third largest city within the Great Yang, located on the southern east coast of the island, the city was known for its rich resources and political influence.

Boasting a population of about four million citizens, it was truly a sight to behold.

The magnificent towering red and white buildings, the streets that were so wide six carriages could travel side by side, and the richly dressed citizens served to show just a fraction of the city's wealth.

Hundreds of vendors could be seen hawking their goods on the streets. Their voices blending with the cacophony of others, creating the sounds unique to only a large city.

All sorts of smells from the various food stalls and restaurants wafted throughout the city, enticing travelers and residents alike.

Crowds of ordinary civilians and cultivators equally could be seen trying and sampling what the city had to offer.

Young men and women who had come to live out their dreams could be seen running around with fervor and drive!

Everywhere one looked you would see life and vigor!

The city was alive!

Outside the city gates, lines of all kinds of people could be seen waiting to enter. The evening sun casting long shadows, creating a particular ambiance.

Far above them and away from sight, there was a massive ark flying through the clouds heading straight towards the city.

It was almost one hundred and twenty feet long and forty feet wide, it appeared to be made of greyish white stone yet gleamed with the beautiful luster of polished marble. The bottom portion of the ark seemed to resemble the lower part of a baleen whales jaw and had deep purplish hue to it.

On its side, was a circle trimmed in silver, within the circle was the image of a giant black eagle with purple eyes, its body wrapped in white lightning!

Its spread wings appeared as if they could cloak the entire world in storms!

This was the symbol of one of the Four Great Clans of the Great Yang!

The Bai Clan!

On said ship, there were over one hundred armed soldiers in black armor trimmed with purple, a silver eagle emblem wreathed in white lighting on their shoulders identified who they were.

Standing together they gave off gave of a terrifying pressure!

All of them were cultivators!

Among them, standing at the very front of the ship were and old man and a young lady, both clad in purple silk robes.

"You didn't have to come yourself you know. The Seven Skies Conference is in three months, you should be focusing on your training," the old man said to the young lady.

The young woman seemed to be around twenty years old, her long black hair fell all the way to her lower back, a few strands gently swayed in front of her face. She wore it loose and without adornment, same as her clothing.

Though, if one looked closely, they would clearly see that her robes were made of exceptional materials and the sword she wore at her waist was no ordinary weapon!

Nevertheless, her simple attire did nothing to diminish her charm; in fact, some might say it served to elevate it.

As for her face, beautiful would be an understatement.

From her sharp features, perfect skin, and regal purple eyes that seemed to have brilliant lightning dancing in them, one couldn't find any faults.

Yet, at the moment the look on her face was anything but beautiful, the anger in her eyes unconcealed.

In fact, it was clear that she was furious!

The young woman's name was Bai Lifei.

"Uncle Ning, please don't try and stop me! If I don't teach that dog a lesson my surname isn't Bai!" Bai Lifei retorted unable to hide her anger.

"Sigh, but don't you think this is a bit overboard?" Bai Ning couldn't help but question as he looked at the one hundred armored men standing behind them.

"One hundred Early Stage- Nine Springs realm cultivators from the Thunder Legion....Sigh, truly overkill."

"This is just insurance; I'll challenge him to a fair fight! One-on-One! But if he dares try to flee or use his guards as shields than he can only blame himself!"

"Sigh, fine but remember you can't kill him. The Liu Clan he comes from might not be as powerful as our clan, but they aren't people we can casually make enemies with on a whim," Bai Ning could only sigh and hope that Bai Lifei would take his advice.

He truly didn't want to have to interfere.

'I just want to drink good tea and bask in the warm sun, is that too grand a wish?' he quietly mumbled in his heart.

However, as he looked at the fierce young woman next to him, he couldn't help but give a warm smile, he just couldn't refuse her request. Besides the young man had it coming, perhaps he might have acted alone had she not come to him first.

"Don't worry uncle, I won't kill him," Bai Lifei responded with a charming smile and strange gleam in her eyes.

The guards behind them couldn't help but shudder

'Ah, young man, you've truly made a mistake.'

They couldn't help but feel bad for the young man, a calamity was approaching him!

Slowly the ark made its way towards the city, attracting all kinds of stares and gasps. As they began to descend, Bai Lifei leapt from the ark. Her long black hair dancing wildly behind her as she launched herself towards the gates before landing elegantly in front of the shocked guards and bystanders. The guards could not even respond before they saw tens of shadows suddenly leaping from the massive ark above.

The hundred guards had immediately followed their Young Miss and leapt down as well.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The impact of one hundred armored guards landing outside the gates shook the ground causing some regular non cultivators to quite literally fall and shake in fright.

While it frightened these normal folks, the fall was merely one hundred or so feet from the ground. A small task for a Mid Stage - Meridian Establishment realm cultivator let alone Nine Springs cultivators.

The city guards suddenly leapt into action after taking a second to process what just happened.

"Halt!" One guard suddenly shouted only to suddenly see a hexagonal shaped Golden Emblem thrust in his face!

On its surface, an intricately carved image of an eagle could be seen.

"T-That's! A Great Insignia!" All the guards who had been preparing to fight were shocked.

In the Great Yang, great and powerful clans under the Empire would be given a unique insignia by the Emperor himself, as a testament to their power and identity.

A Golden Insignia could only be held by one of the Four Great Clans, their status only below the Imperial Clan!

Suddenly the guard noticed the terrifying arcs of white lightning dancing in the young woman's eyes.

Along with the carving of the eagle, it didn't take long from them to identify the group.

Only one of the Four Great Clans was known for their Lighting Arts and had an eagle as their insignia.

The guard who had spoken up earlier suddenly bowed towards Bai Lifei.

"This lowly guard had eyes but could not see, forgive me if I offended this esteemed member of the Bai clan."

Bai Ning suddenly appeared next to Bai Lifei.

He appeared without indication or sound, almost as if he teleported.

"Eek!" the guard almost pissed himself as he jumped back.

The old man had suddenly appeared like some sort of specter and the waves of energy that naturally radiated from him made the guards hair stand on end.

'An expert! Definitely an expert!' the guard silently thanked his good fortune that he didn't overstep

Although he would encounter low level cultivators regularly, no high-level characters would bother coming though the city gates and even if they did, they would not interact with him.

"Friends forgive my niece she's just upset and meant no offence. We have a few small matters to attend to please continue to work hard and pay us no mind," Bai Ning smiled before walking towards the gate with Bai Lifei and the guards.

Not once did any member of the Bai clan's guards wait for the city guard's approval as they made their way through the gates.

"...Yes, thank you," the guard could only smile helplessly and watch on. These were not people he could offend; he would leave that task to his superiors.

"Looks like the Bai Clan is looking for trouble. Why the need for so many guards? Who were those two for them to accompanied by so many guards anyway?" A few of the folks who were still in line began asking questions.

It was strange to see so many guards be used just for protection, there had to be something else right?

"Hehehe, haven't you all heard?" suddenly a young man around eighteen years old, wearing a straw hat, straw coat, and straw sandals chuckled and spoke.

His words drawing the attention of those nearby.

"What? Do you know something?"

They were unable to hide their curiosity, who didn't love a little gossip?

The young man lifted his straw hat showing off his dirty blonde hair and light hazel-colored eyes. A smirk plastered on his face, as if he couldn't wait to speak.

"This is just something I heard but...about two weeks ago the Liu clan of Ember City traveled to the Imperial city for a meeting with the Bai Clan! It was said that the Young Master of the Liu Clan had fallen for the Young Miss of the Bai clan at first sight during the imperial feast a few months ago. After speaking with his father, they prepared gifts and went to propose...but"

The numerous onlookers had formed a crowd around the young man by now, even the guards had begun to get caught up in the story. All of them craning their necks so they could hear what happened.

"Proposed right away? Did he even meet her? How rash."

"Come on, speak up. What happened next?"

A few of the listeners spoke up during the lull.

The young man seemed to enjoy the building suspense, after a few moments to let the crowd simmer he continued.

"But! The Young Miss, Bai Lifei turned him down! Not only that, but I also heard she didn't even bother to see them and just had one of her servants inform them before dismissing the entire matter."

"Seems about right," a woman scoffed

Did this guy think she would just jump into his arms without even knowing him?

"Is that true? That must have been a blow to the Liu Clans face," a young man said.

"But what does that have to do with anything? Since they had declined was there any reason for them to come all the way here from the Imperial City?"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, there's more to the story!" the young man in the straw hat smiled.

"After the Young Master of Liu clan returned to Ember city, he had begun spreading rumors! Saying that he had slept with the Young Miss and turned her down after getting what he wanted!"

"Gasp! The fool! Does he not know fear?! This is the Bai Clan were talking about!" the woman who scoffed earlier suddenly paled.

"Pride can drive a young man to do great things but a wound to that pride can lead him into making the most foolish of choices," and older man with white hair said calmly as he smoked from his bamboo pipe.

"If I'm not wrong, I believe that young lady was none other than Bai Lifei!" the straw-hat youth kept going on.

"Oh! The Liu Clan is going to have an eventful day, hahaha," the young woman laughed.

"Oh well, the disagreements between these cultivators and their clans have nothing to do with us normal folk," The old man spoke steadily all the while smoking from his pipe.

Many more discussion could be heard among the crowd as everyone slowly made their way through the gates.

Today was bound to be exciting.