Xu Hongde, as clan head, could see the essence of the matter all the more clearly.

If Shen Yi were too weak, then his promise would have no value.

If he were too overwhelmingly strong, then he'd have no need to promise the Xu family anything at all.

Great Qian's present state —

was precisely the moment for the Xu family to make its choice.

Xu Hongde glanced sidelong at the withered fox demon corpse in the distance, and gradually settled his mind.

"Junior Brother Shen, are you all right?"

Zhu Jue drifted out from the golden dharma form, turning it into a single golden bead.

Though he was an extreme-peak Martial Immortal, and had even faintly touched upon the true essence of the dharma form, driving a senior's golden-body husk for a long stretch was still an enormous drain on him.

And then to look at Junior Brother Shen — who had not only condensed a golden dharma form a step ahead of him, but had even found the spare time to cultivate a bit of Mixed Origin and body-refinement, offhandedly slaying a Spirit-Transformation mid-stage fox in passing.

It truly made one want to cover one's face in shame.

Upon seeing Shen Yi nod, the crowd finally set their hearts at ease.

Wu Dao'an stared blankly in the direction Perfected Master Qingfeng had departed, his thin divine spirit swaying slightly in the air.

Only upon noticing that the others had caught his odd state did he quietly draw his gaze back.

He'd once thought that so long as their crowd endured with enough forbearance, sooner or later there'd be a chance to rise anew.

For that, one could set aside temporary setbacks, holding the greater situation above all.

Until Perfected Master Qingfeng's casual sweep of a sleeve just now, which could hold back everyone present — only then did Wu Dao'an suddenly wake to the fact that their crowd had long since lost the qualification to stand shoulder to shoulder with the immortal sects.

Before that Daoist-robed boy, their crowd was no different from the common masses — all…