Sect Leader's Rise to the top!

"..."

Everyone in the room became dead silent.

The man in green couldn't believe what he had just heard. His face turned red in anger but he was able to control his words as he continued speaking.

"Y...you! who are you?!..."

Kai cleared his throat and slowly raised his right hand. "Ah, sorry about that. I suddenly said what I was thinking. You may call me Kai, and you are?..."

The man was enraged even further, prompting Hou Zhou to quickly come forward. "Mr. Kai, I had a feeling that it was you. The last time we met was also under...unfavorable circumstances. This here is Chen Dou. His father is the former Patriarch of the Chen family, as well as a current member of the Twin-Lions sect.

Kai was a little surprised. This whole time, the Twin-Lions sect had been an enigma. People spoke about them and their power, but he hadn't actually seen any of their members.

Chen Dou's face was full of pride as he listened to his own introduction. Although he wasn't the head of the family anymore, his father's status meant that he could not be ignored within the Chen family or Huang city for that matter. The Chen family was one of Huang City's founding families and had been in the top ten ever since its inception. They have produced powerful internal and body cultivators for every generation. Wherever Chen Dou went, he received respect, yet this man dared to be rude to him.

Chen Dou looked at Kai but couldn't see his reaction behind the mask which annoyed him.

"Ahem, Mr. Zhou, there is no need to go into such detail with this nobody. I'm actually here to talk to Patriarch Lee...", Chen Dou said as he ignored Kai and looked over to the Lee family head.

Kai was glad to be ignored and inwardly thanked Hou Zhou for diffusing the situation for him. Although Kai wasn't afraid of getting into a fight, he didn't want to do so unnecessarily when there wouldn't be anything to gain from it.

The Lee Patriarch was visibly upset by their rude intrusion but he still kept a professional tone.

"Young Chen Lord, I believe your VIP balcony is on the other side of the hall. I will ask one of my attendants to escort you there if you have lost your way"

"Haha, old Lee you never change. OK, I'll leave it at this for today. I hope there are some good items during this auction!", Chen Dou laughed as he lead his group out of the room and back into the hallway.

As they left, Hou Zhou gave Kai a small nod while Xu Wei starred at him with evil eyes.

*sigh*, The Lee family Patrick fell back into his chair while sighing.

"Uncle...", Mei Lee said with a look of concern.

"I'm fine...", his eyes drifted over to Kai who had also quietly gone back to his seat. "Mr. Kai, as you've seen, the other families are already treating our family with hostility and disrespect. When the time comes, they will outright challenge us for our lands and businesses, and without powerful fighters or backing..."

"Lee family head, I've given my proposal to your niece. We can help protect a portion of your Lee family, but it's greedy to want to protect everything while relying on someone else's power...", Kai cut the man off immediately. He wanted to draw a clear line so that the old man wouldn't get any false hopes.

Mei Lee clenched her teeth but said nothing. She knew that Kai's option was the only way that the Lee family would survive within Huang City after her uncle died. Their 'allies' had already abandoned them with some even joining the parties that were waiting to rip the Lee family apart.

The Lee family head sat down quietly and simply stared at the stage with a blank expression. The somber mood continued for a few minutes until the family head spoke again.

"It may be greedy, but I still want to protect what our ancestors had built for hundreds of years"

Kai knew exactly how the man felt. His previous life was exactly like this. He had done nothing wrong yet everything was taken from him simply because he was weak.

"Weakness itself is a sin..." Kai said softly, but loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. This comment was directed at his former self however the room fell silent again after hearing his words.

Mei Lee clenched her fists as Kai continued to speak.

"But...knowing that you're weak and trying to do something about it is something I can respect. Despite your weakness, you still want to protect what's precious to you, which I admire. But there is a time and a place for everything. Now should be when you bide your time in the shadows of your enemy.

If you all die now fighting to keep everything, then it will all over. But if you can survive, even with just a few scraps of what you had before, then you've survived and can build up to fight another day!"

Kai looked around the room and saw the determined looks in the eyes of the surrounding Lee family guards and Mei Lee who was trying her best to hold back her tears.

Kai looked to the Lee family head who was still quiet.

"You're right...", said Craftsmaster Lee said softly. "I've failed to protect my Lee family, but I will at least make sure we survive and give our next generation a fighting chance...thank you, Mr. Kai".

Kai nodded his head in approval then looked down at the stage. The somber atmosphere in the balcony had now been replaced with an infectious will to survive.

At that moment, a beautiful woman stepped onto the stage, signaling that the auction was about to begin.