Invincible Dad-Chapter 644: Brilliant! _1

"Brother Tan, please feel free to speak your mind."

Gao He, the president of the East Sea Martial Dao Association, spoke up. Although his Boundary wasn’t high, he represented the Martial Dao Association and thus occupied the seat at the head of the conference room.

In fact, this position should have been Tan Chang’s, but he had deflected it with a self-deprecating comment about his "virtue not being worthy of the position." After several gestures of humility, the host took his seat.

Tan Chang sat to Gao He’s left. He picked up his teacup, took a sip of the cool tea, and sighed lightly. "The tea’s gone cold."

Without any command needed from Gao He, an Eighth Grade Martial Ancestor personally came over to pour fresh tea.

Ruan Lan watched in quiet amazement. She took a seat in the farthest corner, where Zhang Suzi was incessantly waving her over.

"Fairy Sister, come over here!" Zhang Suzi giggled.

Ruan Lan sat down, saw the snacks and pastries on the conference table, and began to eat them without the slightest hesitation. "We meet again!" she greeted them while chewing.

Zhang Henshui, Zhao Wumian, and Xu Wandao all nodded with a smile.

"I was only asked to help set up a few Formations. Why are there so many people today?" Ruan Lan muttered.

"You see, Fairy Sister, it’s like this..." Zhang Suzi leaned close to Ruan Lan’s ear and explained the whole situation from beginning to end.

The pastry in Ruan Lan’s mouth almost sprayed out. "Oh my god! A Moon Clan member is the Sect Master of the Yunxiao Sect? This is insane!"

In recent days, Ruan Lan had come to understand the paramount status of the One Sect, Three Sects, and Nine Pavilions in Hua Country. But who could have imagined that the Thirteen Holy Lands were all rooted in the Yunxiao Sect? Even more shocking, the Yunxiao Sect had long become a pawn of the Moon Clan. No wonder the Three Sects and Nine Pavilions had previously targeted her brother-in-law, Xu Lai. It was an outright conspiracy!

Tan Chang is a real talent, Ruan Lan thought seriously.

"The Human Race is fortunate to have Mr. Tan," Zhang Suzi lamented. "Otherwise, we would have fallen for the Moon Clan’s divisive plot. If we had truly started fighting amongst ourselves, our top-tier combat strength would have plummeted."

The Moon Clan is just too despicable! the two young women thought simultaneously, clenching their teeth.

Tan Chang, seated in the second-most important position, looked at the steaming hot tea that had just been placed before him. He asked in a deep voice, "Gentlemen, what do you believe is the difference between hot tea and cold tea?"

"..."

There were about thirty people in the conference room. Aside from the masters of the Three Sects and Eight Pavilions, and excluding Tan Chang and Gao He, the rest were basically at the Ninth Grade Realm or even the Divine Gate Realm.

At Tan Chang’s question, the crowd exchanged puzzled glances. A difference? It’s just the difference between hot and cold. At most, the flavor changes a little.

The powerful cultivators were baffled and dared not ask. It was only a completely uninhibited Ruan Lan who blurted out, "Speak plainly!"

PFFT!

Zhang Suzi sprayed out a mouthful of tea, instantly drawing the attention of everyone in the room. The young woman’s face flushed with embarrassment, but she kept her back perfectly straight.

"Hehe." Tan Chang chuckled amicably.

Aside from Gao He, Ruan Lan was the person he was most familiar with. After all, she was Senior Xu Lai’s sister-in-law.

"Hot tea is steaming. It can warm the blood."

"Cold tea is a chilling cup. It can break the heart."

Tan Chang said gravely, "Do you all really think this matter is as simple as a Moon Clan powerhouse infiltrating the Yunxiao Sect and becoming its master?"

"I ask the seniors of the Three Sects and Nine... oh, Eight Pavilions to think carefully. Has the Yunxiao Sect not gradually become estranged from the various Holy Lands over the years, losing its virtue?"

Tan Chang’s rhetorical question made the eleven Golden Core sect masters frown simultaneously. Indeed, that was the case. Their rift with the head sect had started roughly three hundred years ago. Since then, the demands for offerings had grown increasingly onerous.

"The master of the Yunxiao Sect... no, that Moon Clan member—what has he been hiding for all these years? His goal was to make all the great Holy Lands lose heart!"

"The Moon Clan is playing a grand game; they even anticipated the day we would discover their plot."

"The moment you seniors take Daoist Ruan Lan’s Formation to find the Yunxiao Sect, that Moon Clan mole will raise the banner of righteousness and lead the Yunxiao Sect to defect from Hua Country!"

"That is why I disagree with going to the Yunxiao Sect at this time."

Tan Chang’s gaze swept over every face in the meeting room. He gradually stood up and bowed deeply.

"That is what I wished to say."

"..."

The room once again fell into silence, with many deep in thought.

Ruan Lan gasped and slapped the table. "Brilliant!"

"???"

Question marks appeared above everyone’s heads.

Zhang Suzi was dumbfounded. "Fairy Sister, what’s so brilliant about it...?"

"Don’t you get it?" Ruan Lan said in a serious tone. "Those despicable Moon Clan members are waiting for an opportunity to incite the Yunxiao Sect to rebel. But here’s the key question: do any of you even know where the Yunxiao Sect is?"

Everyone shook their heads.

Of the One Sect, Three Sects, and Nine Pavilions, the One Sect was supreme. Its location was a top secret, unknown to anyone in the Three Sects and Nine Pavilions.

"So you see, the Moon Clan is very cunning! If we deploy a large number of top-tier combatants on Earth to search for the Yunxiao Sect, what happens if they attack another city?"

Ruan Lan slapped her thigh in emphasis, causing Zhang Suzi to wince and her pretty face to pale—because the thigh Ruan Lan had just slapped was hers.

But Ruan Lan’s words made everyone draw a sharp breath.

Even Tan Chang couldn’t help but look at her with admiration. As expected of Senior Xu Lai’s sister-in-law. So sharp-witted.

Ruan Lan seemed to feel his gaze. She turned her head. The moment their eyes met, they both felt a sense of mutual admiration, as if one hero were recognizing another. This was a case of great minds thinking alike.

"I even suspect that the Yunxiao Sect still has people monitoring us," Tan Chang declared. He suddenly waved his sleeve, glaring at the unseen eyes that might be lurking in the shadows, and rebuked, "The Moon Clan’s schemes and tricks will never succeed! You want the Mojian Wuzheng? Then come and take it yourselves!"

"..."

No one replied. It was impossible for anyone to reply.

But everyone understood the meaning behind Tan Chang’s and Ruan Lan’s words: responding to all changes by remaining unchanged was the best possible strategy.

Despite this, Ruan Lan still promised to help construct three primarily defensive Starlight Arrays and inscribe them into a Jade Slip.

This was a massive undertaking. Setting up an array was one thing, but condensing an entire Formation into a tiny Jade Slip was something else entirely. It involved incredibly complex principles of Formation theory that Ruan Lan had not yet fully grasped and would need to study carefully.

Although the Star Origin Sect’s primary defensive Starlight Array was obscure in the Immortal Domain and known to very few, it was still one of the top defensive Great Arrays in existence. The difficulty of its construction for Ruan Lan at her current Boundary was immense. It was like an ordinary person trying to compress a ton of water into a single water bottle—an utterly impossible task.

「」

Various plans were discussed from noon until five in the afternoon.

After declining the Martial Dao Association’s invitation to stay for dinner, Ruan Lan took the subway and transferred buses twice to get back to Haitang Court.

How on earth do I inscribe the Formation into a Jade Slip? Ruan Lan scratched her head. She opened the front door, changed her shoes in the entryway, and flopped directly onto the sofa, lost in thought.

Just then, she heard a very familiar female voice drift in from the backyard.

"Xu Lai, be gentle... it hurts."

"..."