The Qin Family's Third Elder was dead!
This sight left the Aristocratic Clans and other onlookers watching from the shadows dumbstruck.
The Qin Family had made such a commotion in the city. How could they not attract attention? Still, no one had expected the one to die here would be the Qin Family's Third Elder.
How had this man dared to kill someone from the Qin Family in Tianning Prefecture?
Just as Qin Hao had said back then: the Qin Family of Tianning Prefecture! Those words alone spoke volumes about the family's standing in the prefecture.
Even more shocking was the young man's strength. His formidable body was one thing, but the fact that he possessed two divine abilities was truly unheard-of. They had never seen anything like it—not even heard of anything like it.
"It's a bit of a pity. That young man must be a prodigy, but I'm afraid he won't make it out of Tianning Prefecture alive."
Someone sighed in quiet regret.
The Bai Family.
As Bai Junya stepped out of her boudoir, a water dragon swept up the last guard, then shot into the air and exploded. One by one, the clan members were flung in every direction. They hit the ground in tumbling heaps, groaning in pain.
Bai Junya's mother hurried over, astonished. "Junya!"
After the water dragon dissipated, Bai Junya's face had grown a little pale. She looked at her mother with a resolute expression and said, "I've made up my mind. I won't accept a fate arranged for me by others!"
She led her mother toward the Bai Family's Punishment Hall, where clan members were held and disciplined.
In the dim, sunless underground iron cell, Bai Jingliang slumped against the wall, his head bowed and his spirits low.
"Jingliang!"
When Bai Junya entered, she happened to see her brother's dejected state. Her heart ached.
Bai Jingliang snapped out of it and saw his sister approaching with their mother.
"Sis, they let you go?"
He asked in disbelief.
Bai Junya gave a bitter smile and shook her head. Then she clenched her small fist, her expression firm. "I fought my way out."
Bai Jingliang stared. It was the first time in his life he'd seen his sister like this.
"I'll get you out."
Bai Junya looked at her younger brother inside the iron cell.
"There's no point. This dungeon is made of exceptionally sturdy metal. My True Essence has been sealed, so I can't break through the bars."
Bai Jingliang shook his head bitterly.
"Then I'll smash it down!"
Bai Junya cried out. A water dragon sprang from her hands and grew larger and larger before roaring toward the cell door.
BOOM!
The iron bars crashed to the ground with a heavy clang, and the surge of water splashed all over Bai Jingliang, who had been caught off guard.
"So this is the power of a divine ability?"
He gaped, unable to believe his sister had done it.
"Let's get out first!"
Bai Junya's face had gone several shades paler. She urged them onward.
The three left the cell and made their way out, stopping at last outside the Punishment Hall's main doors.
The clan elders had already filled the way outside, their faces dark as they blocked the only exit.
"You're the Bai Family's Matriarch. Is this how you conduct yourself?"
One of the clan elders immediately stepped forward, pointing the blame at Bai Junya's mother and scolding her.
Bai Junya's mother, Lin Ruojun, strode forward and stood her ground. "I'm not the Bai Family's Matriarch. I'm just the mother of two children. I'm not Bai Chong'an. You can't use some grand principle to pressure me. If the Bai Family has to sacrifice my children to prosper, then let it fall into ruin sooner rather than later!"
Somewhere in a corner, a figure trembled at her words, but the clan elders answered with a barrage of denunciations.
Some brought up how their forebears had made all kinds of sacrifices for the family's fortunes.
Others claimed the family provided for them all, so they ought to make sacrifices in return.
Bai Jingliang's anger flared. He couldn't help roaring, "So this is the Bai Family you keep talking about? First you send my sister off in a political marriage so the family can cling to life, and then you expect me to spend the rest of my life breaking my back for the useless next generation?"
If nothing unexpected happened, Bai Jingliang really had been designated the next family head. He was the most outstanding of his generation.
"Shut up! You have no standing to speak here."
A clan elder immediately snapped at him in anger.
"Junya, you've always been sensible. You tell us."
A clan elder with a somewhat kinder expression stepped forward and addressed Bai Junya. Everyone had assumed Bai Jingliang had stirred up trouble again, but Bai Junya only shook her pale face. Her words, however, rang out with conviction.
"Uncles, I refuse to be at anyone's mercy."
The crowd erupted. It seemed no one could believe Bai Junya would take this stance.
They were used to her keeping quiet. They had even felt certain she wouldn't fight back.
After speaking, Bai Junya felt an inexplicable lightness in her heart. For the past two days, she had been like an ostrich, offering only silent resistance. Now she realized that saying no could make her feel so free.
But the clan members were furious. One after another, they went on about the family's interests and gains, trying to pressure her into submission.
Bai Jingliang sneered again and again. From the looks of it, if their pressure failed, they'd resort to force.
"Enough!"
A deep reprimand rang out. Everyone turned, eyes lighting up as Bai Chong'an strode toward them with an imposing bearing.
"Chong'an, you've come just in time. Look at these two children of yours, acting so defiant!"
The clan elders stepped forward one after another to denounce them.
Bai Chong'an came up to them and looked at his wife and daughter with a complicated expression. He sighed.
"If she doesn't want to marry, then she won't."
"Fine, then she won't marry—"
A clan elder casually agreed, then froze. That wasn't what they wanted to hear.
"Have you gone mad? Do you know what you're saying?"
"Chong'an, you're the Bai Family's head. The family must come first in everything..."
Words came at him from every direction. For some reason, like Bai Jingliang moments earlier, Bai Chong'an felt a chill creeping through him the longer he listened.
"Enough!"
He roared, his face flushed red. Then he pointed at the crowd and shouted angrily, "You keep calling me the family head, but have any of you treated me like one these past few years? Did you consult me on a single decision you made together? You even— you even arranged my daughter's fate without my consent!"
"And you!"
Bai Chong'an pointed at Bai Zhiyuan. "The moment you learned Junya had an innate divine ability, you couldn't wait to inform the Qin Family. In return, you got one of their combined attack techniques."
Then he pointed at an elderly man. "You, always talking about the family's interests. When I was young, you told me to marry for the family's sake. I wanted to cultivate, but you insisted I become the family head—for the family's sake. So answer me: all these years, my whole family has given everything for the clan. What have you done?"
At last, he pointed at everyone. "You keep saying it's for the family. But shouldn't every member be contributing to support the family? Instead, you're making the family support you. My son was right."
"The Bai Family really has fallen into ruin, generation by generation. Your generation relied on ours, and now ours is supposed to rely on Jingliang's. This family is already failing to pass the torch, yet you still delude yourselves that it can carry on as it is."
The clan elders were used to Bai Chong'an accepting whatever arrangements they made. They had never imagined how long he had been holding back, and now they were all stunned.
Gradually, an elder of senior standing jumped up and pointed at him. "You didn't object before, and you didn't object after. Now that everything's settled, you finally speak up and say you won't accept it? You—you and that rebellious son of yours both want to destroy the Bai Family!"
Bai Chong'an swept his gaze over them, finding them both hateful and laughable. "I'm done being the Bai Family's head, too. The real tragedy of the Bai Family is having muddleheaded fools like you. You hope to tie yourselves to the Qin Family through marriage and survive this gap between generations. But will the Qin Family give you that chance? It won't take many years before they swallow the Bai Family whole."
Bai Zhiyuan retorted indignantly, "By then, we'll be in-laws..."
Bai Chong'an cut him off with a cold laugh. "That's why it's such a tragedy that the Bai Family has people like you. You can sell off your own clan members without a thought for family affection, yet you expect the other side to honor the bond between in-laws. What a joke!"
There in the hall, he couldn't help laughing aloud, two trails of tears streaking down his face.
The clan elders' faces turned ashen. Not one said a word.
Just then, a clan member came running over in a panic. "Something terrible has happened! A young man beat the Qin Family's Third Elder to death in the street!"
After catching his breath, Hanyu tore off the shredded cloth covering his upper body and wiped away the blood.
Though the Half-step Divine Peeking Realm still belonged to the See Me Realm, it was beyond what an ordinary See Me Realm cultivator could match. After all, it was only one step away.
The Qin Family's cultivation technique was especially terrifying. It could even stack True Essence and unleash it again in an explosive burst. In theory, it had already come infinitely close to the Peeping God Realm. Otherwise, it wouldn't have left him in such a state.
"I really can't stay here. I said that if I beat the young one, the old one would come. Now I've beaten the old one, and the whole nest will come after me."
Hanyu muttered to himself.
"They're already here!"
The little Artifact Spirit cried out without warning.
Hanyu faintly heard the sound of something cutting through the air. He hurriedly looked up and saw a dozen figures flying on swords across the sky...
First update! Thank you all for enjoying my story.
Before you continue