"This child will have the Qin family name and will not be able to cultivate the Flowing Heart Central Sword Manual." Li Zhang spoke every word clearly and seriously. His words however caused the expressions of everyone present to turn from initial shock to rage and despair.
BANG! Qin Mengruo immediately kowtowed towards her father in law with tears streaming down her beautiful face. "Father if Ruo'er has offended you in any way please punish this daughter! Please punish this daughter and not her child!" Qin Mengruo begged Li Zhang with a hoarse voice, thinking of any action she could have taken to have offended her father in law.
BANG! Li Jie also kowtowed towards his father before repeating his wife's words."Father if this son has offended you in any way please punish this son! Please punish this son and not his child!" Li Jie's voice sounded full of confusion and despair, he could neither understand nor accept his father's words.
Wang Fang gently placed her grandson in his cradle before turning to face her husband. The moment she had spun around a terrifying killing intent was released from her body. 'This man is not my husband, this man is an entity that threatens my family.'
As soon as Wang Fang has completed this thought, the killing intent surrounding her grew even more terrifying. Wang Fang was also a prodigy and she had lived for the same length of time as Li Zhang, she definitely ranked within the top ten experts within the Central Sword Realm and she was currently displaying her strength towards her husband with the intent to attack at any chance.
"Li Jie, Qin Mengruo you have done no wrongs, Brother Li simply decided to open this topic with the outcome and not the reason. Brother Li why did you choose to open with this line?" Luo Ming sighed as he stepped forward before looking at Wang Fang
'She matches me in strength. No perhaps she is slightly stronger than me, your wife is truly impressive Brother Luo.'
"Sister Fang calm yourself, your husband has not abandoned his family. He is in fact doing this to save the Heavenly Sword Sect and the Central Sword Realm." Luo Ming's explanation lessened Wang Fang's killing intent, however she continued to stare at the pair of Li Zhang and Luo Ming as though she would attack if they made a single step towards the cradle behind her.
"Divination Master Luo Ming explain what the Sect Master has failed to explain with his words." This single sentence from Wang Fang caused both Li Zhang and Luo Ming to smile bitterly 'she is addressing us by title, she sees us strangers currently.'
"The hope for surviving the calamity is this child, however he cannot be part of the main lineage of the Heavenly Sword Sect in order for this to be possible." Luo Ming spoke openly and his words caused those present to both understand the meaning and feel the greatest shame they had ever felt simultaneously.
All those in the room were well aware of the coming calamity, any opportunity to survive this would normally be celebrated, yet no one would celebrate this option.
"Is there no other way? Must we take this action to save the sect and the realm? Must we force all responsibility onto a new-born as we shirk responsibility? Must we make this child feel as though he is an outsider?!" The pitch in Wang Fang's voice was raised with every question, yet she knew that this must be the case if these words came from Luo Ming. She felt as though all her life's accomplishments were wiped away by her failure to change the current situation.
"This is a cruel fate to force upon my nephew, Father would it not be possible to ally ourselves with our enemies competitors?" Li Zhen looked to his father as he tried to provide an alternative. Li Zhang looked at his family and sighed bitterly. 'Do you all think I haven't attempted this? I have tried every alternative, there is no other way'.
"This is our only path to survival. All other routes have been sealed off, our choices are to accept annihilation or to treat this child unfairly." Li Zhang's response caused his wife and children to feel more guilt than before. However they knew that if this was the only option, they had no choice but to persevere down this path.
"This is not all that you must tell them is it Brother Li, are you not going to explain the remaining details?" Luo Ming looked at Li Zhang as if to reaffirm his conviction. He knew that his old brother was currently feeling such guilt and he wished there were another way out. At this moment Li Zhang had only mentioned the cruelty to the child, let alone the cruelty to the realm.
"Father what else do you need to tell us?" Li Jie had stood up and was helping Qin Mengruo to her feet when he put this question to his father.
'If Father is starting with this then that surely means what follows will be far more terrifying. What could he possibly be about to say?' Li Jie's mind spun, eyes widening as he suddenly thought of a horrific possibility.
"We are cancelling all our preparations to attack first in this war. We will fortify our defences and wait for our enemy to strike first." All present in the room looked at Li Zhang and Luo Ming with looks of confusion and disbelief.
Everyone present had the same thought 'Why would we allow the enemy to attack first?' Li Jie's countenance changed heavily as his face warped, he alone became aware of what was about to follow.
"On the day that the enemy attacks..." Li Zhang began to explain the plan however his words became caught in his throat. 'Should I really go through with this?' As Li Zhang's resolve wavered for a moment he cast all thought of turning back aside. Straightening his back and recovering his aura he reaffirmed his will once more.
"On the day that the enemy attacks, we will submerge the realm!" Li Zhang spoke calmly, without a hint of conflict in his words. To everyone present in the room though they looked as though they had just been placed in front of an inner demon that they could not overcome.
Li Jie was the only one present to be able to hold fast and only because he had suspected that his father may suggest this. Even so, once the words were actually said he could not stop his heart from shaking in fear at the consequences.
"Father you cannot be serious! Submerge the realm?! How could we do this?! We would destroy that which we are seeking to protect?! Who could say the realm could even survive such an action?!" Li Xue was the first to speak out, voicing her opposition through a shrill shriek.
Li Zhen was stood beside his sister nodding his head vigorously with her argument's logic.
"Although there will be extensive damage above, I have divined that the core of the realm would only receive minor damage. The realm could recover and the realm would be safe once submerged. The Central Sword Realm would effectively return to the state before it's ascension. Given time, the realm could once more ascend, however the Heavenly Sword Sect could not be the ones to bring the realm to ascension once more." Luo Ming looked calmly between all parties within the room and detailed the outcome of his divination. Hearing the first part of his findings left the party more willing to comply, but once they heard the final sentence the atmosphere once more changed to that of resistance.
"You are telling us to remove the Heavenly Sword Sect from the realm as we submerge it? This realm has been under the jurisdiction of our sect for over a thousand millennia. Even if there are clans and sects within the realm looking to vie for power, they at least know that in order to guarantee stability they would need to weaken us over a similar period of time! Take the Donghua Clan as an example. Although they wish to overthrow us, if we turned to them and said we are leaving the realm, for the foreseeable future they would beg us to stay! The Central Sword Realm's current standing comes from the position it is currently in. If we submerge the realm and do not help to stabilise it, who can say if the realm would ever be able to ascend again?" Li Jie finally had a look of shock that matched those of his family members.
Even he could not have expected this to be the final outcome. Although there were other places within the cosmos that the Heavenly Sword Sect had claimed, they could not abandon the realm without fear of the consequences. It was the same for the Heavenly Sword Palace, being sat above the realm clearly showed that the Palace was a movable treasure. Yet ever since the palace was created it had never been moved away from the realm in all of history.
"Even if we were to complete these actions, how could this child possibly be able to bring the realm back into ascension if he was never a part of the realm?" Qin Mengruo looked at her father in law perplexedly trying to understand the logic between his earlier comments and the actions being stated now.
"This child will move to the Myriad Sword Pavilion. From there he will grow into the ruler of this realm that we will require once more." Li Zhang explained the logistics to his family at this time.
"Jie'er, Ruo'er the two of you and Yun'er will take over the Myriad Sword Pavilion in three day's time. To this child, all he will ever know of the Heavenly Sword Sect are the Myriad Sword Pavilion and the Heavenly Sword Pavilion." Li Zhang looked to his son and daughter in law before outlining the rules for their son.
"He will not witness any other part of the Heavenly Sword Palace or the Heavenly Sword Sect within the realm, he will also never see the Flowing Heart Central Sword Manual performed in front of him in fear of it influencing his cultivation." Luo Ming added this final part with a forceful attitude. If this was not to be completed then all of the sacrifices that were being made were pointless.
"Do we treat this child as a castaway? Do we treat him as family?" Qin Mengruo asked these questions through the tiniest of voices, fighting back tears the entire time. She knew that she and her husband would always shower this child with love. She was afraid that his family would abandon him.
"What nonsense are you saying Ruo'er? This child is our treasure, our hope for the future! He shall be treated in the greatest possible manner by the Li Clan! Although I doubt the rest of the sect will treat him so well. We can never tell them why he is treated so differently." Li Zhang's words saved Qin Mengruo's heart from shattering and Li Jie's complexion grew mildly better alongside.
"Now that I have explained all of this horrible business for the future, I only have one final thing to ask." Li Zhang's demeanour instantly became doting and familiar, returning his family to a feeling of relief.
"What does Father wish to ask? This son will try to answer appropriately." Li Jie responded to his father in an attempted jovial tone. Although he had not recovered completely from the shock of the days conversation. He had managed to mostly recover after hearing the treatment his son would receive.
The head knows, the heart hurts. This saying made complete sense to Li Jie right now.
"Haha isn't it obvious? What is this old man's grandson to be named?" Li Zhang finally smiled as he looked at Li Jie and Qin Mengruo awaiting the response on tenterhooks.