by Mars Gravity
As Yun Qinghong said this, he pulled on the sleeves of his robe, concealing what he was wearing on his arm.
Today was the day of the Yun Family Competition. Such a huge family event was occurring, but up to this very moment, the courtyard where the family head, Yun Qinghong, was in, was still quiet and lonely, and not even a single junior came to notify them. It could be seen how empty Yun Qinghong’s position of Patriarch was to the rest of the Yun Family. From Yun Che’s expression, Yun Qinghong could tell what he was thinking, so he laughed dully and said, “It doesn’t matter what world it is, profound strength always comes first. Who else would even pay attention to a cripple who is not long for the world, besides his own family and intimate friend. I am cripple, yet I get continue to retain the title of Patriarch for these past twenty odd years. That is solely due to the support of the Mu Family, and even this should be the very limits of what they can do as well.”
“Don’t tell me that they have so easily forgotten who it was that established the Yun Family, and who it was that commanded and guided the Yun Family to the very peak of the Illusory Demon Realm? If not for the bloodline of you Patriarchs, these clan members, could they even possess their current positions and glory?!” Yun Che’s brows sank heavily as he spoke. In the time that he had stayed in the Yun Family, his understanding of the current situation grew all the more clear. All these years, the Yun Family succession has only ever been passed down from the line of the initial Patriarchs. And these initial Patriarchs, in order to eliminate all struggles for succession, six thousand years ago, they set down a rule of sole inheritance through the generations. Each current Patriarch could only have one son, Yun Canghai was the only son and Yun Qinghong was his only son, and at the moment, Yun Qinghong, only had one son as well.
In every generation, the Yun Family Patriarch had been outstanding beyond compare, and it was this line of Patriarchs that allowed the Yun Family to become head of the Twelve Guardian Families; the very same families which shocked and awed the entire Illusory Demon Realm, to the point where they were an otherworldly existence second only to the Illusory Demon Imperial Family for thousands of years.
But now, in Yun Qinghong’s generation, the title of Patriarch had come to such a frivolous and lowly state.
Yun Qinghong shook his head and gave self-deprecatory laugh, “They will not think of these things. What they will pay attention to are only the things that will be beneficial to their own future… This can be said to be the instincts of a human being.”
“In Yun Family’s ten thousand year tradition of inheritance, the succession of the next Patriarch has never been about profound strength; it has always been decided by blood lineage! Every single member of the Yun Family should be extremely clear that even if you have become a cripple, you are still the only person who has the qualification to assume the mantle of Patriarch. But it seems like everyone has subconsciously forgotten this particular point.” Yun Che gave a cold and faint laugh, “Moreover, not only do they disregard your position as Patriarch because of your crippling, they do not even accord you the most basic respect or the slightest bit of importance. Yun Xiao, as the scion of the current Patriarch, is easily bullied by even common disciples within the Yun Family. And in regards to this huge event that is the Family Competition, in this period of two months, not even one person came to you to discuss it… I do not believe that the Yun Family, which was at its peak for so many years, are such a bunch of selfish and immoral people.”
Yun Qinghong gently closed his eyes and replied in an airy voice, “Regarding this competition, there really wasn’t any need to discuss it with me. Because this so-called Family Competition is only a pretense, the real motive is to get this cripple to relinquish his position. Because in one month’s time, it is the Little Demon Empress’ Hundred Year Reign Ceremony and this grand ceremony is certainly not common in the least. It is extremely likely that it will decide the direction that the entire Illusory Demon Realm will move in from now on. And even more than that, it will definitely decide the fates of the Twelve Guardian Families. The fate of the Yun Family especially, hangs in the balance. So at this critical juncture, for them to want to remove my position as Patriarch due to my crippling, can be said to be within reason. At first, I had already silently accepted this inevitable and impending result, but I never thought that I would meet you.”
Yun Qinghong gave a quiet laugh as his face filled up with melancholy.
Once Yun Xiao and Mu Yurou came out, they did not linger much longer. Soon after, Yun Xiao began to push the wheelchair Yun Qinghong was seated on, and the four of them gradually strolled towards the center of the Yun Family household, which was the venue of the Family Competition.
The true center of the Yun Family was where their ancestral monument, which constantly released a purple profound light, was erected. This ancestral monument was more than one hundred meters tall and the names of the Patriarch belonging to every single generation was engraved on its surface. And amongst these names, the most eye-catching one was ‘Yun Canghai, because to the right of this name were two words, ‘Demon King’, engraved in a fiery scarlet color.
Among the all the Patriarchs of the Yun Family, only Yun Canghai was accorded the rare honor of being called ‘Demon King’. And this was not only the personal glory of Yun Canghai alone, it was also the glory of all the generations of the Yun Family. But this glorious light, which caused the rest of the Guardian Families to feel incomparable jealousy and admiration, had descended into darkness at the speed of a falling star.
In front of the ancestral monument was a giant plaza, and this plaza was filled with seats that were spread out over the entire area. And at the heart of these seats, was a hundred meter tall square dias. This was the Sacred Cloud Arena, which the Yun Family used for their internal competitions. By the time Yun Che’s party of four had arrived, there were two young Yun Family disciples currently battling in the Sacred Cloud Arena.
The Family Competition would only officially begin in slightly more than an hour’s time, but there were a few Yun Family disciples who were unable to contain themselves anymore so they had already began to compete with one another.
Yun Che’s party had actually arrived reasonably early. Even though this place was already full of noise and commotion, most of the crowd came from the young disciples. When these young disciples saw Yun Qinghong and his wife, there were some who would come forward and pay their respects, but there were also some who directly moved away or directed their gaze towards the Sacred Cloud Arena, as if they did not see them at all. Yun Che swept his eyes across these Yun Family disciples and took note of their clothes… Basically they were all the children of the the elders in the Yun Family who held real power. They had never experienced glory days of the Yun Family when they were being led by Yun Canghai, and they did not witness how Yun Qinghong’s formidable might in those days had shocked and awed an entire generation of the Illusory Demon Realm’s outstanding heroes. In their eyes, they only saw a crippled individual who held a hollow title, someone who could not even compare to their seniors… and someone who was about to be stripped of the title of Patriarch. So they naturally did not condescend to pay their respects to Yun Qinghong and his wife.
Yun Qinghong had long ago become accustomed to this type of behavior. At this moment, in the Sacred Cloud Arena, two young Yun Family disciples were dueling. Both of them looked to be a match for each other, the sounds of their swords ringing out while purple lightning roiled about. Two orange Profound Handles closely clashed with one another, and endless waves of shouts and heckling rang out from below. Finally, one of the two duelists grabbed an opportunity and used a beam of lightning to strike down the other. This was followed up by the furious advance of the disciple’s Profound Handle as he knocked his opponent off the Sacred Cloud Arena.
The two disciples that were in the arena were young, but amongst the Yun Family disciples of the same age, they were definitely considered excellent. After he had finished wa
tching the both of them compete, Yun Qinghong covertly shook his head as disappointment flashed across his face. He furtively inclined his head and said, “Xiao’er, go up there.”
“Ah?” Yun Xiao was caught off guard but he nodded his head and replied, “Yes!”
After speaking, Yun Xiao jumped up in one crisp movement and as purple light flashed in midair, he landed on the stage, his hand gripping a long sword which had a purple light coiled around it. This was the Emperor Profound sword that Yun Qinghong had bequeathed to him when he was eleven years old —— Galloping Lightning, and from then on he kept using this sword and it never left his side. Combined with the Yun Family core Profound Art ‘Purple Cloud Art’, it could exhibit an enormous amount of power.
“Brother Yun Qiu, please instruct me!” Yun Xiao tightly gripped Galloping Lightning as his gaze focused on his opponent. His expression was grave and sincere as he blocked out all the chaos and noise from his ears. All these years, as he grew up, the pressure of public opinion he had to bear and the suspicious glances thrown his way had only grown heavier and heavier, more and more numerous. But he had silently endured through all of this. For the sake of trying to bring credit to his parents, for the sake of gaining the strength to protect his parents in the future, he desperately trained… Despite not having a Profound Handle, he made up for it with his effort. Despite not having any resources, he compensated with even more effort.
The result of this was half-step Overlord at the tender age of twenty-two! Among the people his age, even though all the opponents he faced were Yun Family disciples who were innately born with a Profound Handle, he was still among the best. And no one knew how much effort and hardship he had put himself through.
All this time, he had always had his parents’ safety at heart, so he was never willing to compete with anyone. Even if he was bullied and humiliated, he merely endured and swallowed his own words, but today… It was time for him to finally showcase himself before his parents and before everyone else.
Seeing that the person who had suddenly jumped onto the stage and issued a challenge was Yun Xiao, Yun Qiu was taken by surprise. Because normally Yun Xiao would keep such a low-profile that he was no different from dust, and he had never appeared at competition before. His face immediately started to grow grave. Even though Yun Xiao was younger than him and he did not have a Profound Handle, he had heard that Yun Xiao was already half a step into the Tyrant Profound Realm. Moreover, he, like many other Yun Family disciples, had secretly mocked Yun Xiao numerous times regarding the matter of his blood lineage. So if he was defeated in public by someone who, not only did not have a profound handle, but was also universally mocked as well, it would be something that he would find hard to live down.
He immediately let out a low cry and tried to grab the initiative to draw first blood. His arm flashed and a chain of lightning flew out from his sword. At the same time, his Profound Handle materialized as a yellow-colored sharp sword which descended sharply through the air to pierce straight through Yun Xiao.
Yun Xiao’s expression never wavered. The tip of his sword thrust forward and a similar chain of lightning flew through the air. But the chain of lightning which he released was exceptionally solid and concentrated, and it looked like an actual chain. Its surface even released a dense, sparkling purple light. The entire chain looked like it was made of purple crystals.
Just from looking at that chain of lightning alone, anyone could tell with a glance who had a better grasp of the Purple Cloud Art!
Two lightning chains entangled with one another, but within the span of a few breaths, Yun Qiu’s lightning chain broke with a snap. Yun Xiao did not take the opportunity to attack Yun Qiu with his lightning chain. Instead, it soared into the sky and smashed into the Profound Handle with an explosive roar, blasting the Profound Handle far away, after which, it simply disappeared in midair.
Yun Qinghong slowly nodded his head and he wore a quiet smile on his face that displayed his happiness.
Yun Qiu staggered back and forth for a few moments before he plopped to the ground on his buttocks while falling into a daze. His profound strength was not up to par with Yun Xiao’s but it was not far off either. So he had originally believed that, with the advantage of his Profound Handle, he would definitely not be easily defeated. He never expected that the Yun Xiao, who was always timid and cautious, who never dared to offend anyone and was perceived as somewhat cowardly, had cultivated his profound strength and the Purple Cloud Art to such a deep level. In the span of a few breaths, he had been completely suppressed and wiped all over the floor.
Chapter 512: Coming Uninvited
“Yun Xiao? He actually took the initiative to enter the Sacred Cloud Arena? That certainly is a rare sight.”
“Did this guy take the wrong medicine today?”
“Heh, it is clear that he knows that his so-called position of ‘Young Patriarch’ is about to be taken away, so he wants to at least display some prowess to gain back some prestige.”
“Yun Qiu was defeated so easily? This Yun Xiao normally does not display his talent, but to think that he was actually this strong?”
“This is definitely because Yun Qiu had already defeated quite a few challengers beforehand, so he had exhausted a large amount of his profound energy! Even though Yun Xiao’s profound strength is slightly greater, without a Profound Handle, how could he defeat Yun Qiu in such a straightforward manner under normal circumstances?”
In regards to Yun Xiao’s easy victory over Yun Qiu, the Yun Family disciples were not only extremely shocked, they were also extremely upset. This was because, in their eyes, Yun Xiao was not even a member of their clan; he was some bastard who was picked up from the Profound Sky Continent, and even the entire Illusory Demon Realm knew about it. In the past, Yun Xiao had never participated in anything involving direct combat, but this time, he took the initiative to enter the stage and even beat Yun Qiu… To them, this was basically equivalent to their clan member being beaten up by an outsider, so they were naturally upset.
“Despite what he said in the past, looks like he is still hanging on to the name of ‘Young Patriarch’. But after today, heh, let’s see who will still protect him. For him to be kicked out of our family is only a matter of time, but he actually dares to try to steal our thunder at this time… See how I’ll beat him down!”
Another Yun Family disciple immediately vaulted onto the stage and stood in front of Yun Xiao. With an arrogant expression, he said, “Come, let us exchange pointers with one another!”
As his words fell, he exploded into motion and swept up all the shadows in the sky as tens of lightning sword beams interweaved to form a net of purple swords which rushed straight at Yun Xiao.
Yun Xiao’s expression was grave and he retreated half a step. With a single brandish of Galloping Lightning, seven lightning edges screamed forth. The sound of space tearing was akin to a knife cutting glass, it was extremely ear-piercing.
BANG BANG BANG BANG…
A succession of sounds that sounded like the shattering of crystals chaotically rang out together. At the same time, both Yun Xiao and his opponent were clashing together in the shadows cast by the lightning swords. And most of the Sacred Cloud Arena, which was several tens of meters in diameter, was immediately enveloped in a screen of lightning.
“The Great Elders have arrived!”
As the two people battled atop the stage, a shout rang out. Yun Che tilted his head to look and he saw more than thirty people flying towards them at a slow pace from different directions. Every single one of them exuded an indomitable and powerful aura from their body. None of them deliberately activated their profound energy aura, but because of their appearance, the surrounding space seemed to have been completely solidified.
Every single person in this group were all peak-level powerhouses who could shake the Illusory Demon World.
“These are the thirty six elders who comprise the core of our Yun Family’s Elder Council.” Yun Qingho
ng told Yun Che in a dry voice, “Among the thirty six core elders, the strongest is the Great Elder Yun Waitian. He is the head of the Elder Council, and for the past twenty odd years, his words have carried the highest weight.”
Yun Che slowly nodded his head. He also understood that the reason why Yun Waitian was the head of the Elder Council wasn’t just because his strength was the greatest or he had lived the longest, there was an even more important reason; his youngest son was Yun Xingyue, Yun Family’s greatest hope to rise to ascendancy once more!
He did not need Yun Qinghong to tell him; he could tell who was Great Elder Yun Waitian with a glance… because he had come together with Yun Xingyue.
The thirty six elders took their seats in proper succession. In regards to Yun Qinghong, some of them nodded their heads towards him. Others pretended not to see him and there were even those with complex emotions in their eyes. As the people who made up the Elder Council, they were the most clear on the events which were going to happen today… Because they were the ones who had come together to decide today’s events.
A elder who was ranked among the last of those in attendance passed by Yun Qinghong and whispered to him in a suppressed voice, “Qinghong, the real agenda behind today’s Family Competition, I believe you have already guessed it… the majority of the Elders have thrown their support behind Yun Waitian, even the three Grand Elders have also… Even though we are not content, we are powerless to change anything… Haah.”
Yun Qinghong laughed faintly and said just five words in a carefree manner, “Do not brood over it.”
That elder shook his head and didn’t speak any further. He sat down in his designated seat with a complex expression on his face.
At the very center of where all the Elders were seated, Yun Waitian had already taken his place, and Yun Xingyue was seated at his right hand side. A junior was actually seated with the rest of the Elders, but not a single person felt that it was inappropriate. Just from that, it could be seen how esteemed and important Yun Xingyue was to the Yun Family.
