In response, Gongyi Tianheng stood up and, without any reservations, released his own qi.
Instantly, his qi and blood was like a signal that flooded out and kept climbing. With an incomparable force, this qi gave people an oppressive feeling. Compared to an ordinary Houtian stage nine perfect-grade, it was even more powerful!
There were several elders who immediately widened their eyes.
They were also Xiantian realm powerhouses. Naturally, they could also perceive this younger generation martial artist without any doubts.
At this moment, their thoughts were churning and their moods were psyched up. Yet, their first response unexpectedly was — With the Gongyi Clan having this child, it was inevitable for their position to be secured for over a hundred years!
So long as…Gongyi Tianheng advanced to Xiantian without any problems.
At this time, the feelings of reverence to Tianheng became even more pa.s.sionate, and the original fires of jealous rage burned even hotter. But once they sensed that terrifying qi, those flames extinguished with a poof into a long sigh.
In any event, Gongyi Tianheng was a member of their main branches. The side branches had many experts during the Clan War, which gave the younger generations of the main branches a lot of pressure. And they knew that once the young master of the Clan Head took to the stage, he would bring them, the main branches, much honor!
Tianheng put away his imposing aura.
After the packed clan members were quiet for a time, their minds became determined.
Since the Tianwu Continent respected martial arts, when Gongyi Tianheng didn't have any martial strength and only had a high IQ, there was always someone who wouldn't recognize his contributions to the Clan. They would want to challenge the Clan Head to seize this position. However, now that Tianheng could practice martial arts and displayed his alarming apt.i.tude, he put an end to all these voices.
Within the Gongyi Clan, there existed a struggle between the main branches and the side branches. However, the reason why the status of the main branches had been stable for countless years was due to the unanimous treatment of the side branches. For the sake of its own orthodoxy, when the side branches abruptly rose to power, the main branches would unite and put aside their internal struggles. And the side branches were divided into fifty two branches. Although they also had several that could unite for the sake of benefits and cooperation, they were isolated among various regions of the Cangyun Empire. They still couldn't compare to the main branches, which had dwelled within the Clan's ancestral residence for a long time and whose people were close-knit.
This was also a rule established by the Gongyi Clan's founding generation, which had already been carried out. As a result, even though the side branches produced many powerhouses generation after generation, the bloodlines of these powerhouses had been merged into the main branches. In the end, they were incapable of destabilizing the main branches' status, which forced the side branches to establish a presence in the ancestral residence.
There was an elder whose face showed regret: “What a pity. If the young master could've practiced martial arts since childhood, with his apt.i.tude, wouldn't the other four young masters of the Great Clans be like ordinary chickens and dogs?”
The other clan members heard these words and revealed similar expressions: “Just so. It's truly too unfortunate…”
The apt.i.tude Gongi Tianheng displayed was too astonishing. It was difficult for them to avoid sighing.
They even thought that since he could reach this stage in merely one year, if he started practicing martial arts from childhood, what stage could his realm have reached now? Perhaps, he could've reached Xiantian long ago. He could've even surpa.s.sed these old men! With this kind of exceptional genius appearing out of the main branches, then the Gongyi Clan could possibly threaten the royal family!
Gu Zuo, who maintained his ident.i.ty as a little servant, stood with Dragon One in a corner and watched all this. He couldn't help shaking his head.
These people were just too greedy.
His patron…big brother had great ambitions, skills, apt.i.tude, and intelligence. He could practically be considered flawless. What was so serious about being a couple years late? With his big brother's strength, he could quickly catch up. Then it'd be inevitable for him to leave the others behind.
Now, wasn't a nice surprise a good thing? No matter how much a person's heart was lacking, don't reveal it so obviously at such a time.
After living on the Tianwu Continent for over a year and often being supported by Gongyi Tianheng, Gu Zuo understood a lot of things. He smirked and secretly thought, if big brother's strength slowly improved since childhood, he'd greatly surpa.s.s the others. Yet, he couldn't live while being targeted by a.s.sa.s.sins day and night… If it really was like that, Gu Zuo couldn't believe that the other four Great Clans could ignore the rise of his big brother.
On the contrary, his big brother's sudden rise was unstoppable. Once he entered the imperial capital and obtained a placement to the Azure Dragon Pool, it wouldn't be so easy to scheme up any dark plots against him!
Gongyi Tianheng lifted a hand and spoke clearly: “Rest a.s.sured, everyone. I will certainly obtain a placement to the Azure Dragon Pool and seize the opportunity of achieving Xiantian. All for the honor of the my Gongyi Clan. Everyone also needn't worry about what happened in the past.”
The clan members regretted their behavior caused by their human nature, but Tianheng knew that if he didn't have his little pharmacist to refine countless top grade Qi Generating Pills: It'd cause him to needlessly waste a large amount of time absorbing ambient qi, and halt his daily consumption of medicinal cuisines and soaks in medicinal decoctions. Even though his apt.i.tude was very high, it wasn't a certainty that he'd obtain the same achievements now.
All martial artists knew how precious pharmacists were. And the one he had was the most precious, whose understanding was especially profound.
Only…for the sake of safety and the Clan's plans, he absolutely couldn't let anyone else know about Gu Zuo's abilities!
The numerous elders didn't understand his way of thinking, but after listening to his speech, their regretful murmurs ended. One after another, they laughed in grat.i.tude: “That's right. Things in the past don't need to be brought up. We only need to look towards the future. The current young master has many accomplishments, so we hope that you can watch over our descendants. Please raise the prestige of our Gongyi Clan!”
Gongyi Tianheng smiled and made this promise.
Through his strength, the Gongyi Clan's honor would prosper. There weren't any conflicts between the two sides, so naturally there weren't any reasons to decline.
After everyone's excitable moods gradually cooled off, numerous Gongyi clan members began to discuss and follow behind Gongyi Tianheng as their candidate to the imperial palace [1].
At first, they thought that they'd lose a lot of face and they weren't at all prepared to bring too much manpower. But now, not only were they not going to lose face, they could also watch the heroic appearance of the returning young master's first undertaking. It was only natural that there were even more numerous and difficult choices to make for those who wanted to go.
Gu Zuo had an absolutely helpless look as he watched that spectacle which was like a food market where one haggled over prices till they were red in the face. His frame of mind was a little complicated. But he quickly felt happy since this scene was because of Tianheng's emergence. He also was a little excited! Although it was a bit pretentious, in the wake of his lengthy time interacting with Tianheng, he truly considered this person to be the one he was closest to in this world.
Being able to call Gongyi Tianheng big brother… Deep in his heart, he wasn't unhappy about it.
It didn't take a genius [2] to know that it would take a very long time to cultivate enough strength to return to the modern era. And with such a long time, it would be too lonely to live in this world without the cherished memories of his loved ones. Though, he did obtain something he was emotionally invested in. Gongyi Tianheng was very good. Gu Zuo also wanted to treat him even better.
While Gu Zuo's mind drifted, the members of the Gongyi Clan already settled on this person.
Besides the Xiantian stage three Clan Head Gongyi Yan, there were also two Xiantian stage two elders, and one Xiantian stage one elder. They were all cla.s.sified as Qi Breathing [3] realm Xiantian powerhouses. Their strengths were very formidable. Yet, with only this, it was an insufficient lineup to protect the exceptional genius Gongyi Tianheng. As a result, Tianheng's grandfather, the senior generation Clan Head Gongyi Zhuoyue also followed along. He was at Qi Forming stage one — That is, he was a Xiantian stage seven powerhouse. With every Clan's Immortal realm venerable antiques all in secluded cultivation, it was a situation where they all mutually curbed one another from rashly acting out. He could a.s.sume the heavy responsibility of protecting Gongyi Tianheng. Previously, when the Clan Head and his bloodline's powers were insufficient, they could still tower above without collapsing. To a large degree, this was all because of Gongyi Zhuoyue.
In addition, twelve of the younger generation similarly went out.
Among them, nine were the lucky few of the main branches. One of them was the Clan Head's second young master Gongyi Tianyang. With the other eight, they were all preeminent youths of the Clan War. As for the other three, they were the strongest powerhouses of the side branches. After the Clan War, they were recruited into the main group for nurturing. At this time, they were also brought along — It was for the purpose of broadening their horizons as well as moulding this batch of youths with the mindset of uncrowned kings [4].
As for the next batch… It depended on the realm advancements of Gongyi Tianyang and the others.
If they were suppressed by the side branches, then it would be the main branches' incompetence.
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Something could be seen far away from the lofty imperial palace.
A majestic intermediary of the Gongyi Clan was riding upon an incomparably huge wild beast.
This wild beast was a grade five wild beast and could be compared to a Xiantian Qi Breathing stage two martial artist. It also was Clan Head Gongyi Yan's combat pet. The shape of its body resembled a gigantic tortoise, but behind it was an extremely terrifying tail composed of countless barbed whips. Its exterior was completely covered with sharp thorns, and its head was malevolent beyond measure.
Its existence brought about a sense of absolute oppression. Even though the road to the palace had been evacuated long ago by the Gongyi Clan guards, the foolish martial artists in the nearby houses could hear those heavy footsteps. It brought about a kind of feeling that curdled the stomach and stopped the heart.
The grade five wild beast was too scary!
At the same time, the other four Great Clans also sent out their immense combat pets.
They were all equivalently grade five, and every wild beast was extremely frightening!
After the initial m.u.f.fled sounds of their approach, the closer they got to the palace, the shorter the distance became between the five wild beasts.
Once the distance got short enough, a higher grade wild beast's dignity wouldn't tolerate the close proximity of existences of similar rank. Between their imposing auras, they naturally started confronting and oppressing each other.
Among them, the Helian Clan's grade five gigantic wild beast stomped its leg.
Boom!
The powerful impact force radiated out. Its power formed a ripple that spread in all directions.
Wherever it went, innumerable rocks were transformed into fine powder.
Gu Zuo was caught off guard along with many of the children of the Gongyi Clan. As a result, he felt a jolt in the pit of his stomach and instantly felt a huge repressive force on his heart.
Furthermore, a couple of the younger generation already had some blood leaking from the corners of their mouths.
Gongyi Zhuoyue's brows furrowed: “That Helian Clan has become more and more domineering!”
Although the younger generation suffered a small loss, it was far from the point where the old folks had to step in. It truly left a person's heart in a bad mood.
Tianheng's line of sight swept across the thing appearing from the other road. He looked at the person standing on the top of the giant creature's head and his complexion faintly deepened.
His body moved slightly and he stood next to Gu Zuo and Tianyang to obstruct the never-ending waves of that power's fallout.
Gu Zuo promptly activated his cultivation method to lessen the feeling of nausea in his mind.
After that, an even more imposing aura appeared ahead of them from the imperial palace. Immediately following that, there was a resonant cry of a bird. A huge shadow flew out from the palace like a black could.
It was a tremendously large bird of prey, and a tall and st.u.r.dy man stood on its back.
A member of the royal family had appeared!
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[1] The author used 皇城, which can mean imperial city, but since they're already in the city, it must be referring to either the palace or an inner region of the imperial city. Similar to the Forbidden City located within Beijing.
[2] 用脚趾头(想) - Yong jiao zhi tou (xiang), to use one's toe to think, something that doesn't require thinking.
[3] 含气 - Han (to suck, keep in your mouth without chewing) qi (self-explanatory). We've reached the second rank for martial artists. Please check the Table of Contents for reminders on the ranking system.
[4] 无冕之王 - Wu mian zhi w.a.n.g. I'm not sure if this means that they act like rulers, a king in all but name, or soldiers on a leash, a powerful man whose authority has been taken away.
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