The Xiao Clan Has Arrived, and All Who Bear the Qi Surname Must Die

"Xiao Lin, do you know whether gods still exist in the world today?" Qi Tianji asked.

Qi Lin nodded.

"Then do you know whom the gods hate most?" Qi Tianji asked again.

"Us." Qi Lin's gaze burned.

"That's right." Qi Tianji looked at the black wooden sword at his waist. "Compared with the gods of this world, we of Qitian have been in decline for ten thousand years. Now, our hope of revival rests in the clan flame within this sword."

"I understand!" Qi Lin nodded deeply.

Qi Tianji looked into the distance again and said gravely, "Ten thousand years ago, only our eleventh-generation ancestor remained alive. He put forth branches and leaves, leading our clansmen to the four corners of the world. That is why, all across the Divine Scion Continent today, our Qitian brethren conceal their names and identities to evade divine might. They don't even all know one another... We in the Divine Ash Ruins are one such group."

He looked back at Qi Lin, his eyes blazing. "Now that the clan flame has returned, a spark will set the heavens ablaze. We of Qitian will surely return to the pinnacle of the human race one day! So, Xiao Lin, this sword is the spirit tablet of ten ancestors, and more than that, it is the hope of our entire clan. You must protect it with your life!"

When Qi Lin heard this, flames rolled in his voice. "Grandpa, I'll dedicate my life to this sword."

Qi Tianji's aged heart was comforted.

"Because the clan flame is so important, I've made two decisions," he said.

Qi Lin knew full well that both decisions must concern him, so he listened attentively.

"First, I won't teach you any Qitian Clan cultivation arts or battle techniques, nor give you anything bearing the Qitian Clan's mark. You'll have to rely on yourself along your cultivation path," Qi Tianji said solemnly.

"Is it to avoid the Eye of God?" Qi Lin asked.

"Yes." Qi Tianji nodded.

Qi Lin could accept that. He had the Heaven-Piercing Prison-Suppressing Art, which was not a Qitian cultivation art, but might be even better.

As for sword techniques, battle techniques, fist techniques, and the like, the sea took in a hundred rivers; he would naturally achieve results.

"My second decision is also related to the first." Qi Tianji patted Qi Lin on the shoulder. "Starting today, you'll go to the Divine Strategy Manor to cultivate."

Qi Lin said urgently, "Grandpa, the Xiao Clan is about to attack, and the people of Pingyang are hanging between life and death. How can I leave?"

"Don't rush. Hear me out first."

Qi Tianji relaxed and smiled.

"First, this battle will be fought by the elders of our clans. You can't help."

"Second, the Divine Strategy Manor gathers the legacies passed down through generations of the Great Cang Kingdom. It has cultivation arts, forbidden arts, and battle techniques, as well as wondrous arts like alchemy and artifact refining. You can also learn the ways of cultivating oneself, managing a family, and governing a kingdom. You're already thirteen. It's time you studied martial arts and books alike."

"Finally, the Divine Strategy Manor has plenty of young geniuses from the Xiao Clan and the Universal Salvation Chamber of Commerce. They won't be coming with their clans to attack Mystic City, and I can't storm into the Divine Strategy Manor and kill them. So the heavy responsibility of cutting the grass and pulling up the roots falls on your shoulders now!"

"Me? Go to the Xiao Clan's den and cut the grass and pull up the roots?"

Qi Lin pointed at his own nose, utterly bewildered.

"That's right! If we don't pull up the roots, the Xiao Clan's young prodigies will grow strong. What'll Mystic City do once I've kicked the bucket? Naturally, while their geniuses are still young, you should kill every last one you can." Qi Tianji smiled coldly. "Did you think I was sending you on vacation? We're fighting on two fronts. I'll take on the old ones, and you take on the young. Once you get results over there, those old Xiao Clan ghosts here will hear that something's happened to their descendants and lose their focus. Now that would be a huge help to your grandpa!"

"Grandpa, you're not trying to pull the wool over my eyes, are you?" Seeing how worked up he was, Qi Lin asked suspiciously.

"What kind of talk is that? Would I pull the wool over your eyes?" Qi Tianji glared.

"You played dead for three years so you could run off and enjoy yourself. What else wouldn't you do to trick your own grandson?" Qi Lin said contemptuously.

"Pah, pah, pah!" Qi Tianji glared at him. "Anyway, I'm definitely not lying to you this time. Ask around and see how many Xiao Clan disciples there are at the Divine Strategy Manor. There aren't just a lot of them—they're strong, too! That Xiao Tianyang is a genius of the Divine Strategy Manor's One Yang Pavilion, and he's not even the strongest of the Xiao Clan. I've heard they even have an Earth Yang Realm genius, so you're under just as much pressure as I am!"

"Not only are there a lot of these aristocratic disciples, but they also form cliques. It's definitely a genius Asura battlefield," Qi Tianlong added, helping Qi Tianji and patiently coaxing Qi Lin.

"But Grandpa, you're alone here, and there's no telling how many experts the Xiao Clan will send. I'm worried..." Qi Lin gritted his teeth.

"Who said I'm alone?" Qi Tianji smiled faintly and pointed at Qi Tianlong. "Now that the clan flame has been rekindled, clansmen will come to protect it one after another. Your sister is only the first."

"There are more clansmen?" Qi Lin asked the question he most wanted answered. "Grandpa, after ten thousand years of decline, how strong is our Qitian Clan overall today? All together, we're stronger than the Xiao Clan, right?"

"Of course!" Qi Tianji said with a perfectly serious face. "As long as a few more people come back, we'll definitely be stronger than the Xiao Clan by a teeny tiny bit!"

"Just a teeny tiny bit?" Qi Lin narrowed his eyes.

"A teeny tiny bit is enough!" Qi Tianji coughed. "Anyway, the advantage is mine here in Mystic City. You'll have to work harder at the Divine Strategy Manor."

Qi Lin thought for a moment, then went ahead and asked, "Grandpa, does the Xiao Clan have some other aim? Is there something beneath our ancestral hall?"

"Shh!" Qi Tianji acted all secretive and whispered, "You mustn't tell anyone. The ten-thousand-year-old treasures and legacies of our Qitian Clan are buried deep beneath the entire Great Cang Kingdom, and the entrance is right under our ancestral hall."

Qi Lin couldn't help rolling his eyes. "Like hell I believe you!"

"Haha." Qi Tianji laughed awkwardly. "To tell you the truth, there's an ice mystic crystal vein underground."

Hearing that his grandfather understood the Xiao Clan's motive, Qi Lin finally stopped worrying.

"All right..."

He slowly made his decision.

"I'll go to the Divine Strategy Manor."

"Good! We grandfather and grandson will each fight our way out through a river of blood on our own battlefields!" Qi Tianji was full of passion.

Qi Lin said sheepishly, "You can boast all you want, but I don't dare. I've only reached Mystic Sea Frost Descent, and there are Earth Yang Realm enemies at the Divine Strategy Manor. What am I supposed to fight them with, my head?"

"Don't panic!" Qi Tianji leaned close to Qi Lin's ear. "Don't worry. I've arranged for a secret expert to protect you from the shadows."

"A secret expert?" Qi Lin looked around. "I don't see anyone. You don't mean my sister, do you?"

Pfft!

Qi Tianlong had been drinking water. At his words, she sprayed a mouthful all over the ground, then covered her forehead with one hand, looking delicate and frail. "The journey wore me out. I'm a little dizzy. Oh dear, I think I might just faint and fall asleep."

"Does this thing look like an expert to you?" Qi Tianji asked.

"More like a god of sleep," Qi Lin said, at a loss for words.

"Your sister has had a hard life too. She's never had a younger brother to look after her since she was little."

Qi Tianji sighed, speaking as though he were about to shed tears.

"Yeah..." Qi Lin sighed along with him, then his eyes widened. "Isn't it normal that she didn't have a younger brother to look after her? Who has a younger brother looking after them from childhood?"

"Good point?" Qi Tianji spoke earnestly. "Never mind. Anyway, take her with you when you go to the Divine Strategy Manor. This thing has been short on sleep since she was little. Just make her a nest to lie in. She only needs feeding once a day, and the good thing is she can take care of her own bodily functions."

"Huh?"

Qi Lin felt a little dizzy himself!

"Besides, if there's a cloudship, the Divine Capital isn't all that far. It only takes a shichen to get there, and you can take a ship back to help me whenever you want."

Qi Tianji was still speaking when the sky suddenly darkened. He looked up and laughed. "Oh? What timing. Speak of a ship, and one arrives!"

Qi Lin looked up and saw a cloudship flying overhead.

The ship had a pair of wings and was powered by divine stones. It was a means of travel reserved for the Great Cang Kingdom's nobility and wealthy clans.

A window on the ship rolled down, and an enchanting beauty in a red dress glanced down. "This ship is bound for the Divine Strategy Manor," she said softly. "Is there a handsome thirteen-year-old boy who happens to need a ride?"

Qi Lin had to hand it to them.

In the end, his grandfather had still "sold" him to one of Mystic City's three giants!

"There's also the Divine Scion Continent's number one classical beauty, aged twenty, who needs a ride," Qi Tianlong called, waving.

Tang Wenwan couldn't help smiling. "And who is this?"

"My sister," Qi Lin answered.

"Look at that pretty little face. I thought so." Tang Wenwan gazed at her appreciatively. "What's her name?"

"My sister's name is... Qi Delongdongqiang. You can just call her Xiaoqiang."

Rumble!

The cloudship rose into the air and headed north.

The hull was about ten zhang above the ground, not very high, just right for admiring the scenery along the way.

Qi Lin stood on the deck, gazing out at heaven and earth as a bold spirit swelled in his chest.

But just then, a vicious, savage voice rang out from below-

"The Xiao Clan has arrived in force! The whole of Mystic City is sealed off! Anyone who wants to leave the city must leave their head behind! Especially anyone surnamed Qi!"

The voice had come from a dense mass of experts.

Hearing it, Tang Wenwan's expression suddenly changed.

"The Xiao Clan has already attacked Mystic City? They came so fast! And there are so many of them!"

She glanced down and saw a figure soaring toward the cloudship.

"It's him!"

When Tang Wenwan saw the man clearly, she was terrified, cold sweat streaming down her face.

"Qi Lin, hide, quickly... Otherwise, you won't make it out of Mystic City!"