"But why should I react at all? A few Blood Servants—even if every last drop of blood were drained from them after they were sent into the Blood Nest—they're nothing but a bunch of lowly Blood Servants. Dead is dead. And as for you, Yin Xuege, if you hadn't inherited your mother's monstrous talent, if you couldn't withstand the suppression and bullying from your elder brothers, then why should I shelter you?"
Yin Xuege clenched his fists tightly. The rules and prohibitions of the Children's Hall flowed through his mind one after another. He raised his head and stared fixedly at Yin Tianjue, shouting coldly, "Then how much is a Sunwalker worth to the Yin Clan?"
Yin Tianjue narrowed his eyes. His pair of long brows twitched lightly, and an evil smile curled across his lips, making him look just like a demon from legend, plotting some sinister scheme to lure people into corruption.
After a long, long while, Yin Tianjue finally smiled and shook his head, then nodded again.
"Aren't you surprised about your mother's marriage? It was a decision made jointly by me and the eight grand elders of the family. Her conduct disgraced the reputation of the Yin Clan, so she was used as a marriage alliance tool and married to Charlie Vanek Brianburg, the legitimate eldest son of the Brianburg Family."
Looking coldly at Yin Xuege, Yin Tianjue said indifferently, "As the most gifted legitimate daughter of the Yin Clan, after becoming engaged to the future head of the Brianburg Family, she unexpectedly entered a human city-state in secret because she resented the marriage arranged for her by the family, then got dead drunk in some seedy bar."
A strange chill and killing intent flashed through Yin Tianjue's eyes. He stared at Yin Xuege, and his tone became chillingly severe and icy.
"When she returned to the Yin Clan, she was already pregnant. Yet she couldn't even figure out who your father was! She disappointed us far too much! If Charlie Vanek Brianburg hadn't fallen hopelessly in love with her, Yin Huangwu would have been imprisoned for eternity long ago, and you wouldn't even have had the chance to be born."
"So even though I suffered countless injustices within the family, you all remained unmoved!" Yin Xuege's question was razor-sharp.
"'Heaven and Earth Limitless, Blood Sea Universe'—when the nine elders of the Yin Clan and I laid the foundation for the clan's eternal legacy, this was the generational ranking we arranged for the family. In your Blood Generation, there are nine hundred and seventy-seven legitimate sons and more than five thousand collateral bastards. You, Yin Xuege, have never displayed anything exceptional. Why should we speak up on your behalf?"
Yin Tianjue clasped his hands behind his back. A vast, surging pressure—dark and sinister, cold and chilling, shifting unpredictably like a fish and dragon dancing in the water, yet weighty and murderous like a mountain of blades and a Blood Prison—silently spread from his body. Struck head-on by this pressure, Yin Xuege saw illusion after illusion flash before his eyes. It was as if an endless sea of blood were crashing toward him, while countless demons and fiends hid within the bloody waters, shrieking sharply as they tried to drag him into the Blood Sea and devour him in one bite.
Yin Xuege's face turned deathly pale. His body trembled violently, and he staggered backward again and again, unable to control himself.
With a cold laugh, Yin Tianjue got straight to the point.
"You're a clever child. Otherwise, you couldn't possibly have returned alive from the Great Berlin City-State this time. From your reaction just now and the things you said, I'm even more certain that you're a good child who knows how to distinguish what matters and what doesn't!" Yin Tianjue reined in the immense pressure that had nearly crushed Yin Xuege, then smiled and patted him on the head.
"So, the Yin Clan will give you the finest treatment—treatment a hundred times more generous than that given to all the other legitimate sons."
"Cultivation resources, every imaginable comfort in life, Blood Servants as guards at your side, and even the special privileges you enjoy in the Yin Clan will all be a hundred times more generous than those given to the other legitimate sons! From today onward, you will receive the same treatment in the Yin Clan as an elder of the 'Earth' Generation!"
"An independent manor occupying a thousand mu, eight personal grand stewards at your disposal, drawn respectively from the Internal Affairs Hall, External Affairs Hall, Merit Hall, and Blood War Hall—the four great halls. You will also have three hundred warriors of the Yin Clan's main family as close personal guards, a thousand vassal warriors as your retinue, and three thousand Blood Servants to attend to your daily needs."
"From today onward, no one will dare call you a 'bastard' again. You are the finest descendant of my Yin Clan, the hope of the Yin Clan's rise! The Yin Clan will spare no expense to cultivate and support you. And we old fossils only want you to promise us one thing—you will always be Yin Xuege of the Yin Clan! No matter how powerful you become in the future, no matter how great your achievements!"
Yin Xuege carefully pondered the terms Yin Tianjue had offered, then let out a rather unconvinced cold laugh.
"If I refuse, does that mean I won't be able to leave this place?"
Yin Tianjue smiled brilliantly and nodded with utter frankness. "Who told us to misjudge the potential of your talent? We never imagined that your aptitude would be even more monstrous than your mother's! You've suffered quite a lot over the years and endured countless cold looks. But fortunately, you're still young—you're only eleven. Whether it's you or us, we have enough time to correct the mistakes of the past!"
After a moment of silence, Yin Tianjue blinked and said with extraordinary bluntness, "If you can't let go of your hatred toward the Yin Clan, while you're still growing, I'd be more than happy to eliminate an unstable and dangerous factor for the Yin Clan."
"Sounds like a transaction!" Yin Xuege extended his right hand.
"In this world, where is the principle that one can obtain benefits for no reason?" Yin Tianjue chuckled and slapped Yin Xuege's palm. "You're a clever child, so you won't do anything that harms you."
"You're only eleven, and the lifespan of a Blood Demon is so long it inspires despair. We have plenty of time to improve our relationship, and we have enough years to deepen our bond! You're a legitimate son of the Yin Clan, so in the future, you'll certainly strive for the interests of my Yin Clan."
Looking at Yin Tianjue, who was brimming with confidence and absolute certainty, Yin Xuege licked his lips and straightforwardly told him about some of the things he had seen in the Great Berlin City-State.
"There's a group of cultivators from the East. They've joined forces with the Grand Arbiters of the Great Berlin City-State. I don't know what they're trying to do."
Yin Tianjue's face suddenly stiffened, and his originally fair complexion abruptly turned ashen gray.
"Cultivators from the East? What did they come here for? Those arrogant, conceited cultivators have always looked down on the powers of the West. What did they come here for?"
Yin Xuege smiled easily, exhaling heavily as he looked at Yin Tianjue with no small amount of smugness.
"You see, my mission to investigate the Great Berlin City-State wasn't a failure, was it? The Merit Hall ought to award me a major merit!"
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