Since nobody else jumped to start the conversation, Liu Wei decided to speak first. Perhaps, he could set the tone from the start to ensure a constructive and productive debate.

  “I think the first thing that is in order is to acknowledge that we have made a mistake. Our hesitation to take a more active stance from the start will cost us, or rather, has already cost those who we deem our allies. There is no turning back time though, so we should focus on rectifying this mistake to the best of our abilities.”

  Some of the elders nodded, others merely remained thoughtfully silent. At least, no one seemed to fully disagree. The one to speak next was Jiang Peng.

  “Agreed. We should have shafted these arrogant assholes with properly sharpened blades the moment we had the chance to!”

  Liu Wei hadn’t expected support from that direction, but he supposed it made sense. Jiang Pen wasn’t exactly a deep political thinker; he tended to just blast out what he was thinking at the moment. And if there was one thing that he hated more than feeling disrespected by his fellow elders, it was feeling disrespected by outsiders. With a chuckle, Sun Liang chimed in as well.

  “I wouldn’t phrase it that way, but yes, we should have joined up with the new alliance from the start. I do believe that all of us paid too much heed to Elder Bai’s assessment of the situation. We should have known that it wouldn’t be so straightforward.”

  Liu Wei flinched. He had spent enough time with his fellow elders to know exactly where this was going, and he didn’t like it one bit. Ning Bai, of course, took the bait.

  “What was that about me, Elder Liang?”

  “Well, you are our sect’s grand strategist, are you not? And I remember you loudly declaring that the Roaring Thunder Sect didn’t have an inkling of a chance winning this war and advising us to stay out of it. It may really have been your influence that made us take that decision.”

  Like in a well-rehearsed play, Meixiu Xia jumped in without missing a beat. Her voice was friendly and soothing, but Liu Wei didn’t doubt for a second that she was going to stir the flames further. Perhaps, she had even orchestrated this in the first place.

  “Please don’t be so harsh, Elder Liang. Even the best can make mistakes sometimes. I am absolutely certain that he didn’t intentionally mislead us but merely misjudged the situation. And we can hardly fault him for having second thoughts about going up against a cultivator as powerful as Xing Zhou. We all saw what happened to Matriarch Liqiu and fear can cloud even the sharpest judgement!”

  Liu Wei resisted the urge to clench his fist in anger. So much for setting the tone. These morons were seriously bringing their petty disputes into a discussion of the most existential threat their sect had faced in generations without even flinching. It was the height of arrogance!

  “I staunchly reject that accusation.”, Ning Bai called out with visible anger. “I was never even the slightest bit afraid of a confrontation and my judgement was shared by everyone present that day.”

  He took a moment to breathe before he continued in a more measured but still energic tone.

  “May I remind you, Lady Xia, that you yourself called more than most of us for staying out of this conflict, even after you had already effectively taken sides by healing Matriarch Liqiu? It were your actions that needlessly complicated things when even Elder Peng had enough tact to stay put. Yours and that of Elder Ma Rong!”

  Jiang Peng, clearly offended by the implication, wanted to jump to his feet but was held back by Sun Liang, who simply placed one hand on his shoulder and held him down with the strength that his four stages of cultivation advantage over the hot-headed blacksmith afforded him.

  Instead, Meixiu Xia responded, her voice not moving the tiniest bit from its friendly tone.

  “Oh please, Elder Bai. I merely helped someone in their moment of need. Such is my obligation as a healer! Besides, you surely don’t mean to suggest that allying with a backstabber such as Xing Zhou would ever have been an option? That man has openly shown anyone in the room that day that he doesn’t possess a shred of honor!”

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  Ma Rong spoke next, his voice calm and without accusation. He clearly felt compelled to speak but didn’t want to escalate this matter.

  “I must agree with Lady Xia here. Matriarch Liqiu was attacked through no fault of her own. She had even attempted to take steps to mend her sect’s relationship with the Roaring Thunder Sect throughout the tournament. Helping her survive Xing Zhou’s shameless attempt on her life was a matter of both honor and basic decency and I do not regret it in the slightest.”

  In the time that Ma Rong had spoken, Ning Bai had visibly calmed down. When he answered, he had moderated tone and expression.

  “I apologize; I chose my words poorly. I did not mean to chastise you for your actions, and I concede that they were honorable and necessary in the situation we were in. Even so, I maintain that Lady Xia was just as active as me, if not more, when it came to calling for neutrality. Beyond that, I believe that the issue lies somewhere else entirely here; after all, we were both only following the initial decision of Patriarch Zhao.”

  What???

  Shocked silence filled the room for a long moment, until Long Zhao spoke up, his voice quiet but overtly threatening, like a tiger ready to strike.

  “Would you elaborate what you mean by that, Elder Bai?”

  “My patriarch, please do not take this the wrong way, but it was you who didn’t speak up when everyone else was declaring their support for the Parting Clouds Sect. The eyes of all the sects beneath us rested upon your lips as the representative of our sect and you didn’t speak. You could have declared that you would first like to convene with your sect’s elders, giving us leeway to make the decision as one before having to answer.”

  Ning Bai stood up from his seat, straightening his robes before continuing in a more accusatory tone than before.

  “By not doing so, you preempted our collective decision, signaling neutrality. It is only natural that we all followed that line upon discussing if we should enter the war. Had we tried to walk back your silence, we would have openly diminished our sect’s prestige.

  “But that is not all. First, we all followed your initial decision not to join the War, isolating from a majority of the sects on the peninsula. Now, you have come here clothed in robes of war, effectively taking an outcome of this council meeting for granted before the debate on it has even started.

  “My Patriarch, I do not wish to call your position of leadership over the sect into question, but through all the respect I carry for you, I simply can’t help but feel like you have been making decisions over this council’s heads recently. I would like to remind you that it is the equal duty and right of all elders in this sect to decide upon any important matters of such importance. That principle of cooperation is what our sect is and always has been built upon.”

  With that, Ning Bai sat back down, leaving the room to fall back into absolute silence that wasn’t broken for a long time. Liu Wei felt just as flabbergasted as everyone else apparently did. What in the world was that maniac trying to accomplish right now?

  Playing politics for trivial gains was one thing, but he was openly challenging Patriarch Zhao’s authority and reputation for no apparent reason. Putting aside the matter that he wasn’t in a position to do this, overlooking the fact that this was the worst timing imaginable to cause internal division in the sect, he had literally nothing to gain from this!

  Liu Wei studied Ning Bai’s expression as closely as he could. The concern on his face was naturally a farce, put on to empathize his words. But if he wasn’t mistaken, there was a hint of… gloating in his eyes.

  A theory began to form in Liu Wei’s mind. Unlike Jiang Peng, Ning Bai wasn’t actually incompetent, at least not to a remotely similar degree. But he did share one trait with him, the one that was usually the reason behind the mistakes he made: his completely overblown ego.

  In recent times, he had lost much of his former standing in the sect. He hadn’t been allowed at the table in the initial discussions at the Parting Clouds Sect, he had been given errands that would previously have fallen onto other elders and now he was being blamed by several elders for a collective mistake they had made. It was easy to see how this would damage his pride.

  This had all started in his confrontation over the Training Hall with Liu Wei. Or rather, it had started when he lost that confrontation because Long Zhao had refused to take his side, which he had clearly counted on. He would probably have felt betrayed by that.

  If that was the case…, was he blaming the Patriarch for his downfall? Liu Wei had, until now, assumed that he himself would be the primary target of Ning Bai’s resentment, but if he looked at it like this, he might have been wrong about that all along. After all, he knew from personal experience that the betrayal of a friend – real or imaginary – could sting a thousand times more than anything an enemy could do. And he had already been wondering why Ning Bai hadn’t caused him any trouble in the time since the summer.

  Normally, he would have welcomed this information. Infighting between the pillar families was pretty much the best thing that could happen to him and his faction. However, right now was the absolute worst timing for that sort of thing. They were going to fight a war and if there was one thing they couldn’t use right now, it was disunity within the council.

  Patriarch Zhao began to speak. His face was unreadable, his words quiet and deliberate.

  “Elder Ning Bai, you are mounting some serious allegations.”

  Liu Wei held his breath. The success of this meeting might depend on how he would respond right now.