Song Yiyi's Choice

She had never experienced anything like this before.

Now the power of life and death was in her hands.

How was she supposed to choose?

"Ancestor, why don't you make the decision for me?"

As she thought this, Song Yiyi looked pleadingly in the direction of Song Aotian.

"Your grandfather gave you the Purple Ring, which proves you have what it takes to inherit the family."

"Now you are the Family Head. Every decision you make will affect the family's future and its survival!"

"My era has passed. Your era is just beginning!"

"So, as Family Head, what is your decision?"

Song Aotian spoke to Song Yiyi.

The meaning behind his words was clear.

He was leaving it to Song Yiyi to decide whether these people lived or died.

Song Yiyi bit her lower lip, unable to decide for a long while.

If she killed them, they were still her relatives, after all.

Even if they didn't consider her family.

But blood ties couldn't be denied.

If she spared them, they had been willing to kill her today. She didn't know whether they might do the same again in the future.

Leaving them alive would surely invite trouble.

For a moment, she couldn't make up her mind.

In the past, her grandfather had handled all the family's affairs, big and small.

She had never dealt with anything like this before.

Now that she had to make the decision herself, she truly didn't know what to do.

She looked to Jiang Chen for help.

She hoped he could give her an answer.

"Song Yiyi, this is a family matter. I'm just an outsider."

The Second Elder had been paying close attention to all this.

He knew that whether they lived or died depended on a single word from Song Yiyi.

"Smack!"

A loud slap broke the stillness of the night.

The Second Elder, Song Tianshan, struck himself hard across the face and cried, "Yiyi, I've watched you grow up, and I've always guided your cultivation. Can you forgive your Second Grandpa this once?"

"Your Second Grandpa was just temporarily blinded!"

"That's right, Yiyi. Whenever there was something good, you were the first person I thought of. Can you forgive your Third Grandpa for old times' sake?"

"That's right, Yiyi. We know you're kind. You wouldn't kill us, would you?"

Looking at them,

Song Yiyi pressed her lips together, her gaze complicated. Her heart wavered, and she couldn't decide.

But Song Aotian clearly didn't care about any of that.

He glanced at the time.

"Time's almost up. Song Yiyi, what's your decision?"

"Will you kill these family traitors or not?"

Song Yiyi had been called upon, but she still didn't answer.

She truly didn't know what to say.

After all, she had never dealt with something like this before.

"Yiyi, you're not a child anymore. You're an adult, and you're the Family Head of the Song family."

"When a Family Head faces a problem within the family, she has to deal with it!"

Song Aotian was clearly running out of patience.

"If you can't make up your mind, then I, your Old Ancestor, will deal with these parasites myself."

"I..."

Song Yiyi looked at her relatives.

For a moment, it was as if she were watching a documentary of her memories.

From the time she was little,

these people had treated her well.

Of course, that was when her grandfather was still alive.

But now, her grandfather was gone.

And they had actually tried to seize power.

They had even tried to kill her for it.

They deserved to die!

She closed her eyes and said, "Ancestor, please spare their lives. After all, their actions haven't caused any actual harm yet."

Song Aotian didn't comment on Song Yiyi's decision.

Instead, he said, "All right!"

"I'll plant a restriction in their bodies. If they even think of betraying you, their hearts will shatter, and they'll die."

The Second Elder repeatedly knocked his head against the ground in front of Song Yiyi. "Thank you, Family Head, for sparing our lives."

"I'm sparing you because of Grandpa!"

"I think that if Grandpa were still here, he wouldn't want me to stain my hands with the blood of my own relatives."

Those words struck the Second Elder and the others like a heavy blow.

Their faces were full of guilt and regret.

Whatever their reasons, at least the emotions showing on their faces now were sincere.

Led by the Second Elder, they knocked their heads against the ground again and again in front of Song Yiyi. "We swear that we will never betray the Family Head in this life!"

Song Aotian floated in the air and spoke to the members of the Song family. "The Song family's internal strife has now been quelled. I can finally retire in peace."

As he spoke, Song Aotian and his sword vanished.

The Song family elders, who were already kneeling, didn't dare to get up. Now that their Old Ancestor had awakened, even if he had vanished, he would surely appear again.

They no longer dared to try anything.

The Song family's internal strife had finally come to an end.

Song Yiyi now had a firm grip on the Song family. She held the soul-binding lives of the family traitors in her hands; if any of them harbored ill intentions, they would be reduced to nothing.

Jiang Chen stood where he was without moving.

It wasn't that he wanted to stay.

He simply couldn't leave.

After withstanding the abilities of so many experts at once,

his soul force was practically depleted.

He didn't want anyone to notice his current condition.

So he stood there as if nothing were wrong.

Just then, the system notification sounded in his ear.

[ Ding! Congratulations, host, you have completed the mission to save Song Yiyi. You have received a Gift Pack!]

A Gift Pack, a Gift Pack!

Only special missions that appeared at random granted special rewards.

Saving Song Yiyi had earned him a Gift Pack.

This was the first time Jiang Chen had received a reward like this.

He was filled with anticipation.

He politely opened the Gift Pack in his inventory.

[ Ding! Congratulations, host. You have obtained 3 Advanced Recovery Potions, 10,000 Activation Points, 2 bottles of antidote, and 1 Sode no Shirayuki Upgrade Voucher!]

The Battle Soul Blade could be upgraded too.

Jiang Chen was curious, but for now he should restore his soul force first.

With that thought, Jiang Chen took out an Advanced Recovery Potion and drank it.

His soul force was restored in an instant.

This was incredibly useful.

Jiang Chen wished he could get a few more.

Unfortunately, the system was too stingy. It had only given him three.

With his soul force restored, Jiang Chen could move freely again.

He opened his inventory and took out the Sode no Shirayuki Upgrade Voucher.

He checked the voucher's description.

The Upgrade Voucher could upgrade a Zanpakuto.

It could raise a Zanpakuto from A-Class to S-Class.

Sode no Shirayuki was a B-Class Zanpakuto.

To evolve it to A-Class, he needed 10 Upgrade Vouchers.

Ten?

Jiang Chen only had one.

Still, he wondered what would change after he upgraded Sode no Shirayuki.

With that thought, Jiang Chen upgraded Sode no Shirayuki.

[ Ding! Congratulations, host. You have upgraded Sode no Shirayuki!]

Sode no Shirayuki had been upgraded. He wondered if anything had changed.

With that thought, Jiang Chen summoned Sode no Shirayuki.

He drew the blade.

He found a layer of snowflake patterns on its edge.

When he touched it with his finger, he could feel that Sode no Shirayuki had grown even colder.

A single upgrade had doubled Sode no Shirayuki's attack power.

He wondered what would happen if he upgraded Omniscient.

"I'm already at max level. You might as well give up on upgrading me!"

Just then, Omniscient walked out, dressed in a white Shinigami uniform.

As the oldest Zanpakuto,

he naturally had privileges of his own.

Now that Jiang Chen's soul force had recovered,

Omniscient could come out for a walk.

Jiang Chen wasn't surprised by Omniscient's appearance.

He still wanted to ask if Omniscient could come out less often.

Every time he did, it consumed a great deal of Jiang Chen's soul force.

"Omniscient, since you're out, can you tell me where Black Mountain Old Demon's true body is?"

"Why not just ask Song Yiyi? Don't you think asking me is a waste of your soul force?"

Ask Song Yiyi...

With that thought, Jiang Chen looked at the person who had been watching him the whole time and asked, "Song Yiyi, there's something very important I need to tell you..."