The Return of the lost Lotus Flower

Chapter 6

Senlin Shao Sect; Liu Fennge and Shao Yuming's private residence: Shao Yuming Pov.

Shao Yuming could only sigh as she rubs the throbbing headache she now has thanks to the call Elder Jing and Yang Shixiong gave during the entirety of the week-long discussion conference to report about the actions of the eastern cultivation clans had taken during it.

She can't believe that Sect Leader Bai's half-assed prognosis which by the way he made while being heavily sleep-deprived for an entire 2 whole months would be the one to come true this time. Although she's pretty sure that the man himself is just as surprised as she was when she heard the news. Even he himself admitted that the probability was low and laughed about how those godforsaken idiots couldn't be that much of a fool enough to actually pull of a stunt this ridiculous especially with how they were being closely watched by the Eastern Imperial Court over their involvement in the Western Kingdom's civil war against its vassal states.

They couldn't possibly think they could fool both the mortal realm and cultivation world with the amount of evidence and eyewitness accounts they had against them. Not to mention escape the strict surveillance that they were currently being put under by both the agents of the imperial court and investigators of the cultivation world. Taking these things into account there's no way they would be stupid enough to try and frame...

Turns out they really were that stupid.

Ok, maybe she should have expected that considering how they just had the guts to send that godforsaken piece of writing that under normal circumstances could have potentially caused a detrimental impact on foreign relations between the two regions and possibly the others as well (which was on the minus point considering how they just pissed off the most powerful region among these lands). In the worst-case scenario had the ancient clans been even slightly more petty or ambitious it would have given them more than enough ground to openly declare war against the eastern cultivation world for the insult they had received. After all, throughout history, people have started wars for even more petty reasons or used them as an excuse to fulfill their own needs and wants.

Even in the best-case scenario, the northern region could have easily charged the eastern cultivation clan for defamation of their people and demand some form of monetary compensation in return as well as a force to provide them a formal public apology in front of the entire immortal realm for the offense they have caused.

Yes, it does sound extreme but the cultivation clans have reputations to manage and maintain. It isn't simply about keeping a good face in the public, it's also a matter of trust. People are naturally cautious and doubtful creatures. If their reputation is put into question naturally it would also warrant the people to question the trust they have for them. As a result, tensions would arise between the two parties and lead discord to run amok potentially causing casualties to increase from the number of conflicts, misunderstandings, accidents, and etc. that would inevitably happen in the future.

In addition to that, one dent in their reputation could easily be taken as a sign of weakness and give others the perfect excuse to zero in on them and attack them to their heart's content. Although prominent sects with a long history are able to protect themselves to a certain extent, the newer ones or smaller ones have such no means are more likely to be subjugated by those vicious attacks unless they have strong connections within the imperial court or other large cultivation clans. Still, the larger sects aren't entirely safe as well as history has proven over and over again. In fact, the more prominent they are the more harder they are likely to fall and unable to recover from the extensive damage put upon them.

Many cultivation clans, nobles, officials, even the imperial ruling families fell because of this. In fact, the ancient clans almost nearly destroyed themselves in the past because of this as well. By some sheer stroke of luck, they were able to barely pull themselves through and build proper relationships with their people which persists to this day thanks to the efforts of many on both sides.