Xie Yuan quickly introduced Mu Jinyu, then signaled Lin Yi and the others that if they had questions, they could ask Mu Jinyu directly.
Xie Yuan collected himself and said to Mu Jinyu, "Young Master Mu... I wonder if you can spare us Beixue Mountain Villa; we are willing to surrender and will never again be enemies of the Heavenly Sword Faction..."
Mu Jinyu had already understood the intentions of Beixue Mountain Villa on the way here. Watching Lin Yi and the others' reverent expressions at this moment, he found it somewhat amusing.
He smiled and gently shook his head.
Seeing this, Lin Yi thought that Mu Jinyu was rejecting their surrender, and his face turned ghostly pale, his back quickly drenched in cold sweat, his heart sinking.
Did I really make a wrong move with this step?
Is Mu Jinyu truly bloodthirsty, determined to wipe out Beixue Mountain Villa?
If they had known it would end this way, they wouldn't have tried to surrender to the Heavenly Sword Faction, even if bleakly wandering as strays in another country was better than being destroyed.
In Lin Yi's despair, Mu Jinyu spoke with a smile, "Elder Lin, you're overthinking. I've not planned to eliminate Beixue Mountain Villa unless you provoke my Heavenly Sword Faction. Why would I destroy Beixue Mountain Villa? Do you truly think I'm insane and bloodthirsty?"
Hearing Mu Jinyu's words, Lin Yi and the elders from Beixue Mountain Villa breathed a sigh of relief, thinking they shouldn't have overthought just now.
Then Lin Yi thought of something, his expression stiffened again, and muttered, "But hasn't Flowing Cloud Sect also..."
He didn't dare to be too explicit, fearing to anger Mu Jinyu.
But Mu Jinyu understood his meaning and laughed, "You're trying to say that Flowing Cloud Sect also didn't provoke my Heavenly Sword Faction, but because of a slight grudge between me and Di Shitian from the Four Sects Martial Meeting, I decided to destroy them?"
Lin Yi and the others' expressions were awkward, but they dared not nod in acknowledgment.
Mu Jinyu chuckled and shook his head, saying, "You've overthought. That minor grudge with Di Shitian couldn't possibly lead me to take it out on the entire Flowing Cloud Sect. The reason I destroyed Flowing Cloud Sect wasn't for the Heavenly Sword Faction or the grievance with Di Shitian, but for my friend..."
"Friend?" Lin Yi and the others heard these words, looked at Mu Jinyu with strange eyes, thinking whether he was finding excuses again.
Mu Jinyu looked back at Ji Li briefly, then introduced to everyone, "Her name is Ji Li, originally an Inner Sect Disciple of Mingyue Valley."
"Huh?" Lin Yi and the others were momentarily stunned by Mu Jinyu's words, then suddenly came to understand, "Ah, that's how it is..."
Now he understood. Mu Jinyu destroyed the Blood Sword Sect because they attacked the Heavenly Sword Faction for unknown reasons, so he just wiped them out.
While Flowing Cloud Sect had no grievance with him, since Mu Jinyu had a friend who was a disciple of Mingyue Valley, possibly an intimate relationship, he cleared Flowing Cloud Sect in revenge for Mingyue Valley.
In that case, Beixue Mountain Villa wouldn't face the danger of annihilation, right?
Thinking this way, Lin Yi and the others somewhat regretted rushing over to the Heavenly Sword Faction to declare allegiance.
However, now that the words had been spoken, was it too late to regret?
Lin Yi was torn inside, cautiously looked up at Mu Jinyu, trying to test if he could change his mind.
However, upon seeing Mu Jinyu's faintly smiling expression at the corner of his mouth, he didn't dare utter a word.
If he tried to change his mind and angered Mu Jinyu, even if they didn't want to destroy Beixue Mountain Villa, they might have to.
"Then Young Master Mu, as we surrender Beixue Mountain Villa to the Heavenly Sword Faction, can we... can we retain the Heaven Cave Blessed land within the sect?" Lin Yi asked softly.
He now dared not regard Mu Jinyu as a junior at all.
Not just because of Mu Jinyu's terrifying achievements, but also his power, which was comparable to his own, both at the Peak Third Layer of the Fanxu Realm.
Mu Jinyu shook his head saying, "I don't really understand these things. You should discuss with our Sect Leader and Great Elder."
"All right, all right..."
Lin Yi quickly responded, and also felt relieved inside.
Compared to discussing with old rival Xie Yuan about becoming a vassal sect, he much preferred not to talk with Mu Jinyu.
After all, Xie Yuan and others, he interacted with many times, knowing their character and limits; Mu Jinyu, he truly didn't understand his character and disposition, feeling fearful of discussing with him, afraid he'd always be at a disadvantage, conceded boundaries that shouldn't be conceded, agreed to terms that shouldn't be agreed to...
Negotiating terms with Xie Yuan and others was the lesser of two evils for him.
Mu Jinyu led Ji Li and the three women, got up and left.
Afterward, Xie Yuan and Lin Yi began their heated negotiation and bargaining.
Upon exiting the Elder's Grand Hall, Ji Li followed behind Mu Jinyu, took a deep breath, and said to Mu Jinyu, "Young Master, I've decided to have the female elders of the Heavenly Sword Faction join Mingyue Valley and rebuild it together."
Hearing this, Mu Jinyu paused his steps, turned back to look at Ji Li, and softly said, "Don't rush to decide so early, and don't be influenced by Beixue Mountain Villa. You can first find those surviving senior and junior sisters, discuss with them before making any decision."
"Hmm, actually I feel that my abilities are limited. Even if I reluctantly rely on you to rebuild Mingyue Valley, maintaining it long-term might be difficult, soon causing Mingyue Valley to disintegrate, sooner or later the senior sisters will ask me to seek support and dependency. Given this, resisting outside stubbornly doesn't make sense; I am quite self-aware."
Ji Li said.
"Well, whatever you think is best for you." Mu Jinyu hesitated briefly, then nodded without saying more.
He didn't have much advice for Ji Li, not being adept at managing things himself, Dragon King Hall mostly operating independently.
And whether Mingyue Valley depends on the Heavenly Sword Faction or not was irrelevant to him, as long as Ji Li doesn't regret her choice.
Even if Ji Li regrets later, if rebuilding Mingyue Valley faces issues, he can still reconstruct a Mingyue Valley without much difficulty.
"Well, I've thought it through..." Ji Li's expression relaxed considerably, and said, "Young Master, I'll go find those scattered senior and junior sisters now..."
"Hmm, I'll call some people to help you." Mu Jinyu thought for a moment and said.
"Good, thank you, Young Master." Ji Li accepted.
She knew that to find those struggling escapee sisters would be difficult on her own.
Because during her time at the Heavenly Sword Faction, she had tried searching for them but found no one.
Now with Mu Jinyu's help, she might at least find a few fellow disciples.
If she truly can't find a single Mingyue Valley fellow disciple, she alone cannot rebuild Mingyue Valley?
So, if she refused the Heavenly Sword Faction's support, and reconstructed Mingyue Valley successfully with Mu Jinyu's help, but couldn't ensure the new disciples' loyalty to Mingyue Valley, would they not infiltrate from other factions?
Ultimately leading to her being sidelined, and Mingyue Valley devoured entirely?
This was one of the reasons she made the decision to rely on the Heavenly Sword Faction.
She actually never had much choice.