Lin Fan's group didn't stay for the rest of the meeting since it was just a simple discussion on how to attack the One Shadow Organization.
When Xu Lin came to report on the results of the meeting, Lin Fan learned that they would be attacking at the same time as the meeting.
Xu Lin's second uncle would be the one leading the delegation to the meeting while Lin Fan would be going with the Xu Family Head to attack the One Shadow Organization's main base.
With the plan set, there was nothing else for them to do except wait for the time to come.
So the night and the next day passed without much incident.
Finally, it was time for the meeting set up by the One Shadow Organization and they split off into two teams.
There was the team led by the first elder who would be going to meet the One Shadow Organization delegate and there was the team led by the Xu Family Head who would be attacking the One Shadow Organization.
Lin Fan made sure to cover up and followed the Xu Family Head's group since he was nothing more than an observer. So unless there was a need for him to interfere, he wouldn't make a move.
…
The first elder led his group to the restaurant that the One Shadow Organization had prepared for the meeting. This was a place that was rather well known in Harmony City and there were plenty of witnesses around just in case, so it seemed like it would be a safe place to meet.
The only thing the Xu Family group was worried about was if there were any hidden tricks that the One Shadow Organization would be playing.
Since they had arrived early, there was no one at the appointed meeting spot, but it didn't take long for the One Shadow Organization to arrive. At the very least they arrived at the specified time which was a sign of respect.
The one thing to note was that neither of the parties had their leaders with them, but that wasn't strange either.
The Xu Family Head had just announced that he was going into closed door cultivation, which meant that he wouldn't be here. It was already showing quite a bit of respect for the first elder of the Xu Family to be here.
As for the One Shadow Organization side, they had sent their grand protector who was the right hand man of the One Shadow. But in truth, this was an attempt to shame the Xu Family and pressure them.
Since they knew what the situation with the Xu Family was, the One Shadow Organization knew that the first elder was basically the leader of the Xu Family now. However, even though the Xu Family had sent their leader, the One Shadow Organization had only sent an elder to negotiate with them…
It could be seen how disrespectful they wanted to be.
But neither side chose to mention this.
When they arrived in the room they had booked, there was a tense atmosphere that filled the air as both sides sat there just staring at each other.
They were both sizing up the other side.
The Xu Family's first elder noticed that something was off since he recognized most of the people that the One Shadow Organization had brought, but there was a single cloaked figure that he couldn't recognize. That person even had an aura that he had never felt before.
However, right now, what they needed to do was buy time for the main force to attack the One Shadow Organization, so that was what they were planning on doing.
There was a silence that filled the room as no one said a single thing while facing each other. This silence lasted over ten minutes before it was finally broken by the One Shadow Organization's side.
The grand protector looked right at the first elder and said, "I think you should know why we invited you here tonight."
The first elder stared right at him before picking up a menu and saying, "Shouldn't we get some food first?"
The grand protector was taken aback by these words at first, but then he revealed a smile since he could tell what the first elder was trying to do.
In a situation where they had clearly lost the pillar that held their family up, they needed to remain strong or else the other forces that were eyeing them would rip them apart.
Of course, this wouldn't work against the One Shadow Organization that already knew everything.
The One Shadow Organization was making the first move ahead of everyone because of this information and because they wanted the biggest piece of the slice. They wanted the prize that they knew that Xu Family had and after that, they would leave the scraps for the rest of the forces eyeing the Xu Family.
After all, the One Shadow Organization was still a small group when compared to the entire Harmony City and they weren't strong enough to fight everyone. The only way they would survive would be to share with others to make sure that no one turned against them.
But that was only until they recovered the item that they wanted. Once the One Shadow was able to make an impression on that Nascent Soul Realm elder of the True Spirit Sect and become their disciple, naturally everything would also change for the One Shadow Organization.
The grand protector also picked up a menu since he didn't mind at all, since he had also brought along a secret weapon that the One Shadow had given him. It was a bit too early to reveal this secret, so he was willing to go along with the first elder.
Both of them ordered a few dishes, making sure to order the dishes that the other person hated the most.
Both of their organizations had spies in the other organization, so investigating something as trivial as this was nothing for them.
They also ordered wine with their meals, but not a single person let a single drop of wine pass through their lips because they knew what kind of a place they were in.
With this tense atmosphere in place, the two sides stared each other down as they finished their meal.
Finally, once they were done, the grand protector said, "Now, I think we should get down to business."
The first elder didn't say a thing, but he gave a nod.
The grand protector didn't mind as he continued, "Surrender the entire Xu Family to us and we'll let you serve us. I think it's quite a fair deal, don't you?"
The first elder gave a cold snort as he said, "Fair deal, do you even know the meaning of those words?"
The grand protector revealed a smile as he said, "You really don't know what kind of position you are in, do you? You think that there's anything you can do to stop us?"
The first elder said, "I can try at the very least, can't I?"
The grand protector gave a sigh before turning to the mysterious cloaked figure and saying, "Senior, I think it's your turn."
That mysterious cloaked figure stood up and walked out in front of the table, facing the Xu Family group. After standing there in silence for a bit, that figure suddenly said in a deep voice, "Submit or die."
The first elder immediately stood up and released his aura as he said, "You really think that you can win with just…"
But before he could finish, the mysterious cloaked figure had also released their aura.
This aura was one that he had felt before, it was just as powerful as the Xu Family Head when he released his cultivation.
That meant…
This was an Embryo Soul Realm Expert!
The first elder gritted his teeth and said, "I never thought that your One Shadow Organization would be so shameless. The leader would come and hide his identity just so he could attack us all!"
The grand protector revealed a faint smile as he said, "You're mistaken there. You really think that we're the same as your Xu Family? This is what's called having connections. This isn't our leader, but rather a helper that our leader invited to help us bring you all down. Did you really think that you had a chance at all?"
The first elder said, "You really are shameless, telling a bold faced lie like this. If your leader could invite such an expert to help him, why didn't he attack our Xu Family all those years ago?"
The grand protector ignored this and said, "I'll give you a chance to give up now. If you do and agree to serve my One Shadow Organization, we can let you go. All you have to do is get what we want for us."
The first elder spat out at the grand protector and said, "We'll never submit. You can go to hell."
The grand protector gave a sigh and shook his head, "What fools." Then he turned to the mysterious cloaked figure and said, "Senior, please capture them alive, but if they struggle, feel free to kill the troublesome ones."
After that, he turned back to the first elder and said, "At the very least, I've given you a last meal, right?"
The mysterious cloaked figure came forward and raised his palm, preparing to attack, but before he could, there was another aura that appeared.
The first elder had fully released his aura and this aura was similar to that of the mysterious cloaked figure.
It was the aura of the Embryo Soul Realm!