The old woman waved a hand slightly, signaling for the two women to leave.

Only once Aqing and Xu Wanyun had wandered off in a daze did she draw back her gaze and exchange a glance with the other clan elders.

All seven old people saw the shock in one another's eyes.

Every single thing Aqing had said before had set their hearts pounding — it was only their standing as elders that had kept them from showing it in front of the two.

Since when had Great Qian's War Temple grown so overbearingly powerful?

To dare offend the Thousand Demon Den and Xuanguang Cave both at once.

The old woman was silent a moment, then said softly, "Hongde said before that the man carries the Dark-Tail Spear, and that the reason he came to our Xu family is likely truly to shelter from that demon emperor for a while — not to scheme after anything."

She slowly turned her eyes. "This is an opportunity."

"Old Five, are you saying you want to rely on some green little youngster to take us all out of here?" a clan elder said, lifting his teacup and taking a sip before going on. "If you ask me, if Great Qian really had that kind of strength, why would he need to come to the Xu family to take refuge at all?"

"There's sense in what you say — but it makes no difference, because I never intended for us to go out at all."

The old woman went on, "What I mean is, the Xu family truly does need an ally out in the world. Look at Aqing and Wanyun — already the finest of the younger generation, yet simple-minded to this degree. If we all grow old and die here, then with only this crowd of ignorant youngsters left, who's going to go on looking after them?"

"If we could have someone trustworthy on the outside, then whether it's arranging for the juniors to go traveling or gathering formation materials, it would all be a great deal more convenient."

"It's very hard…