The Steps

Lian Chengyu stared at Yi Yun, his gaze like a knife piercing Yi Yun!

"Once I recover in a few days and my injuries heal, I can get my revenge for what happened today! I'll show you what it means to wish you were dead!"

If he were bullied by someone stronger, that would be one thing, but now, it was a little brat, in Lian Chengyu's eyes, much weaker than him, jumping around and challenging his authority, while he was helpless because of his injury. How could he not be angry?

"Yi Yun!" Lian Chengyu spoke up. Even though he was extremely unwilling, he knew that today, his relationship with Lian Chengyu Yi Yun could only end here. If he fought with Yi Yun, even if he could defeat him, it would affect the Divine Kingdom Grand Selection Empress, a price that Lian Chengyu could not afford.

"My Lian Clan has suffered for hundreds of years in this Yunhuang. Our ancestors ate grass roots and tree bark, and slowly the clan developed."

"In my generation, I have diligently practiced martial arts for ten years, never daring to slack off in my training regardless of famine or scorching heat, all for the sake of enabling the Lian Clan to move into the city and make the clan prosper!"

"But now... when I've invested everything I have and poured the strength of my entire clan into this desperate gamble, you've stepped forward to spread rumors, mislead the people, and frame me. Do you want the people of the Lian Clan to live this miserable life forever?"

Lian Chengyu's words turned into a counterattack against Yi Yun, causing a stir among the crowd.

Lian Chengyu Yi Yun each held their own version of events.

Yi Yun accused Lian Chengyu of refining poisonous waste bones, causing the deaths of civilians, while Lian Chengyu claimed that Yi Yun was framing him! The two confronted each other fiercely!

However, in this debate, people are more inclined to believe Lian Chengyu, after all, Lian Chengyu has extremely high authority in the Lian Clan, while Yi Yun is just a child.

After listening to the public's discussions and understanding the attitudes of the majority, Yi Yun couldn't help but recall a short story he had heard on Earth.

It is said that in primitive times, a group of primitive people living in caves worshipped a shadow on the ground. This shadow could change size and looked like a god, so the primitive people worshipped the shadow every day.

However, there was a clever primitive man who did not believe in gods. He went to great lengths to climb to the top of the cave and discovered a strange rock. It turned out that the god people worshipped was actually just the shadow cast by the rock in the sunlight.

The wise primitive man told his people the truth, telling them to stop worshiping the shadow, that it was just a remnant of a stone and not a god at all.

As a result, no one believed this clever primitive man; instead, they were filled with fear. Later, this clever primitive man was burned to death by his people for blaspheming the gods. Afterward, those primitive people continued to worship the shadow of the strange stone.

Yi Yun felt that the situation he was facing now was just like that in a short story.

He was the clever primitive man, while Lian Chengyu was the shadow.

Now, after exhausting the strength of his entire clan in a desperate gamble and "successfully breaking through" to the Purple Blood Realm, Lian Chengyu has become a god of the Lian Clan!

Everyone, from the high-ranking Lian Clan to the members of the Warrior Reserve Camp and ordinary people, was counting on Lian Chengyu to bring about change to the Lian Clan and free these suffering people from poverty and hunger.

People living in suffering always need faith, need a spiritual anchor, to escape reality and imagine that life will be better in the future, so that they have the courage to keep living.

Lian Chengyu was undoubtedly suited for the position. He was the leader of the tribe, the idol of all the boys in the tribe, and the dream lover of all the girls.

As long as Lian Chengyu passes the Divine Kingdom Grand Selection, he will be the savior of the entire Lian Clan!

In contrast Yi Yun, a twelve-year-old child, has virtually no authority, making it extremely difficult for him to bring down Lian Chengyu.

Even if Yi Yun irrefutable evidence, let alone lack of proof, no one would believe him. Overthrowing Lian Chengyu would shatter the spiritual anchor of all the impoverished Lian Clan, forcing them to live in darkness forever. Who could tolerate that?

If Yi Yun hadn't crippled Zhao Tiezhu and intimidated the crowd with his strength, Zhao Tiezhu would have suffered the same fate as that clever primitive man—being burned alive by the angry mob.

Seeing that the public had clearly sided with him, Lian Chengyu was very satisfied. His only dissatisfaction was that even with the support of the people, he still couldn't do anything to Yi Yun.

"Yi Yun, I see you as a talented individual with decent martial arts skills. I suspect you've had some extraordinary encounter that has brought you to where you are today!"

Lian Chengyu emphasized the word "fortuitous encounter," her heart filled with intense jealousy towards Yi Yun. Why did he have such an encounter, but I didn't?

Despite her jealousy, Lian Chengyu had to put on an act as if strength gained through fortuitous encounters was not true skill. The implication was that she had taken shortcuts to get to this point, while her strength was earned through hard work and genuine ability.

Lian Chengyu's meaning was quickly understood by his lackeys, who exclaimed, "So that's how it is! No wonder this kid couldn't possibly beat Zhao Tiezhu; he took a shortcut!"

"He probably found some Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures and ate them. I've heard that some Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures can quickly improve a person's strength, but after eating them, the foundation will be unstable, and future cultivation will encounter bottlenecks. It's like pulling up seedlings to help them grow faster!"

The lackeys looked as if they had just realized something. Sure enough, their master was the most powerful, Yi Yun's prowess was just a flash in the pan. Besides, Yi Yun wasn't that powerful; he had only defeated Zhao Tiezhu, which was nothing.

The public was misled and felt that the explanations given by these lackeys were reasonable. Only in this way could they understand why Yi Yun's strength had improved so rapidly.

Lian Chengyu continued, "It has not been easy for you to grow to where you are today. I am pardoning your death sentence today. You should join hands with me and work together to make the Lian Clan prosperous!"

Lian Chengyu spoke with great righteousness and awe.

Among the people, Lian Chengyu's supporters and lackeys cheered.

"Young Master Lian a man of great wisdom and righteousness; it is a great fortune for the tribe!" someone clapped and cheered.

"Young Master Lian Yi Yun has slandered Young Master Lian so much, Young Master Lian not only doesn't blame him, but also intends to give Yi Yun an important position. If this brat Yi Yun, he should assist Young Master Lian."

Public opinion is easily swayed, especially since what these lackeys say is entirely reasonable.

After all, Lian Chengyu has broken through to the Purple Blood Realm, so it seems like his passing this Divine Kingdom Grand Selection is a foregone conclusion.

As for Yi Yun, although his martial arts talent seems to be good, he has only been practicing martial arts for a short time and only achieved such strength by chance. His training time is too short, probably only around the third level of mortal blood. It would be almost impossible for him to pass the Divine Kingdom Grand Selection.

If Yi Yun grows up in the future and is willing to assist Lian Chengyu, it could be a great help to Lian Chengyu and allow the Lian Clan to rise to prominence.

This is the opinion of the majority of the Lian Clan, but Lian Chengyu Yi Yun, the two people directly involved, would not think that way at all...