Atop Sacred Mountain, inside the Ji Family’s Council Hall.
The Ji Family had many branches, and aside from a few brothers familiar with Ji Yun Ge, who were accompanying him on his final journey, the rest of the elders and branches had all gathered here.
They had wanted to visit Ji Yun Ge, as he was their War God and deserved open respect, but the family head, Ji Daoxin, had stopped them. Ji Daoxin saw that Ji Yun Ge’s ability to return to the family when his body and way were about to perish was driven solely by his sentiment for certain things within the family.
As for the complex crowd, it wasn’t likely to enter his heart; instead, it might cause distraction.
Having fought for the Ji Family all his life, Ji Daoxin hoped that in his dying moments, he might leave quietly in the way he preferred, untainted by these mundane affairs.
At this moment, some elders and branch leaders gathered to discuss the return of Ji Yun Ge.
“What a pity, War God Yunge is about to fade away. Otherwise, sending the soul of War God Yunge back would have been a great merit to our Ji Family!”
“Yunge intends to have this child join the Ji Family, which could break our rules.”
“Initially, for the sake of Lord Thirteen’s face, Ji Qingqing was not punished severely. As a legitimate daughter, she committed a grave offense. Now, she’s only imprisoned for a thousand years, a light sentence. Allowing her son to join the clan now may be a sign of our clan’s decline!”
“Exactly, once this precedent is set, how shall we deal with those geniuses who marry foreigners in the future?”
The crowd was abuzz with mostly dissenting opinions, some of whom were agitators from a faction led in secret by Ji Qingyuan.
Since Ji Qingyuan consecutively broke through to the Four Stands Realm and became the new War God of the Ji Family, many people had formed close ties with him.
On the rattan chair next to Ji Daoxin, an old man with snow-white temples sat upright with an air of authority that demanded respect even in silence; it was Ji Qingyuan.
His gaze was indifferent, seeming to not take part in the disputes, but his mere presence, and the opening statement of opposition, had made it clear to his followers what he intended, prompting them to argue fiercely on his behalf.
“This matter has already been accepted by me on behalf of Yunge. He is our Ji Family’s War God and has worked tirelessly for our Ji Family his whole life. Now that he can return to his ancestral home, don’t we owe it to that young man to be grateful?” Find your next read on empire
Ji Daoxin spoke calmly, “Besides, the matter with Qingqing has been put to rest and need not be reopened. The young man possesses Qingqing’s bloodline yet is from another tribe. According to custom, he should indeed be executed. But he risked the danger of execution to escort Yunge home, and this intention should also be taken into consideration by all.”
“Family head, that young man’s actions are but an attempt to leverage his escorting merit to join our Ji Family.”
An elder spoke, “Such intentions are clear at first glance.”
“That’s right, dreaming of using the resources of our Ji Family to rise is pure folly!”
One short-tempered elder stated, whose grandfather’s generation had also seen glory.
“Gentlemen, previously the War God Yunge mentioned that the young man is a prodigy of his generation. If our Ji Family could gain such a genius, it wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing.”
There were also members of Ji Yun Ge’s lineage who had joined the discussion.
“Hmph, our Ji Family isn’t lacking prodigies. With the resources of our Ji Family, even a slightly enlightened genius can be nurtured into a prodigy. Why would we need such a half-blood mongrel?”
The former short-tempered elder scoffed.
This unapologetic insult changed the expressions of several people; they looked angry.
They were all from Ji Yun Ge’s line, and Ji Qingqing’s child was also their junior with closer blood relations.
However, marriages within the Ji Family were forbidden, and those who were executed or imprisoned for defying this were not few. The ones of common birth faced even harsher insults, and although they were angry, they knew that showing anger over this issue would only infuriate more people.
“Stepping back, even if we allow him to join the Ji Family, would he be considered illegitimate or of legitimate descent?” an elder inquired.
Hearing this, the arguing people all turned their gazes towards Ji Daoxin.
The previous disputes had also quieted somewhat.
Ji Daoxin looked calm, and casting a glance at Ji Qingyuan, he knew this was the true reason behind the opposition.
Although the Ji Family could unite against external enemies, internal conflicts that had built up over millennia were irreconcilable. The distinction between legitimate and illegitimate descendants was significant due to reasons of bloodline and Holy Bone.
For example, illegitimates could only live on floating islands outside of Sacred Mountain.
Even a War God figure like Ji Qingyuan couldn’t reside on Sacred Mountain due to this, and despite his esteemed status and power, he had to rank beneath his peers of the legitimate line.
This was because the overall distribution of the Ji Family’s illegitimate line was in the middle and lower tiers, while the legitimate line controlled the upper echelons and generally possessed greater strength.
Although Ji Qingyuan was powerful and had now become a War God, in the end, he was from an illegitimate line and couldn’t escape the flaw of his birth.
This difference between legitimate and illegitimate descendants had seeped deep into the marrow of the Ji Family, and the disparity often led to prejudice and arrogance.
For instance, descendants of royal families might still boast about their imperial ancestors even if they were reduced to vagrancy, refusing to accept their fallen reality and indulging in the glory of their forebears.
Or ancient nobility, despite decline, would still look down upon newly risen wealthy merchants as vulgar.
To mock others’ shortcomings while priding oneself on perceived strengths is human nature.
Even if they had nothing but good looks to their name, people would ridicule those at the pinnacle of power for not being as attractive, using this to comfort themselves.
Not to mention that the difference between legitimate and illegitimate descents was indeed vast, with disparities in all aspects of strength, which is why the legitimate line had a firm hold on the upper tiers.
Cases like Ji Qingyuan, born illegitimate but unexpectedly awakening the Holy Bone, were after all rare, only the second instance in ten thousand years.