Taking & Leaving
Xie Ya's laughter pealed out anew, as bright and piecing as the flash of her saber.
"Spare me your sanctimonious mewling, old relic," Xie Ya spat, her eyes flashing with scorn. "Balance? Restraint? I spit on such outmoded delusions! There is only the law of blood and fang. The strong shall feast, and the weak shall be the meal. That is the one true dao."
The air crackled with tension as the two women stared each other down, their wills clashing like storm-lashed waves upon a rocky shore.
Around them, the assembled cultivators watched with bated breath, the atmosphere thick with the acrid tang of fear and anticipation.
Many among the crowd nodded along with the Saint Ruler's earlier pronouncement, finding her call for moderation and wisdom to be self-evident truths. After all, such precepts formed the very bedrock upon which the great sects had built their millennia-long legacies.