Subduing the Three Clans

"As a God Trial Taker, you should understand how important this ' Inheritance Soul Bone ' is to the Clear Sky Sect..." Looking at the Soul Bone in Ye Qingcang's hand, Yang Wudi emphasized, speaking bluntly, "Yet you still let these three old guys choose. To put it bluntly, are you trying to leave us three old guys and our families with no room for maneuver, destined to stand against the Clear Sky Sect?"

"Of course, Clan Chief Yang can interpret it that way." Faced with Yang Wudi's question, Ye Qingcang neither evaded nor downplayed the issue, but instead asked, "But if you don't take it, are you sure you have room to maneuver?"

Having said that, he continued in return, "Or are you willing to stumble on the same stone twice, with a high probability that you won't be able to get up the second time?"

"But from what you're saying... you're certain we'll surrender?" Niu Gao's tone was somewhat indignant. "First of all, if you're so sure we'll surrender, why use this method to test our attitude? Secondly, why should we believe what you're saying is true?"

"It's not that I've got you cornered, but that you've already made your choice." Ye Qingcang walked up to Tai Long, looking at the still struggling Tai Long, and answered irrelevantly, "Tai Long, if you were the future patriarch of the Strength Clan, and the Speed Clan, the Breaking Clan, and the Defense Clan had already become prisoners of the Strength Clan at that time, tell me, how would you deal with these prisoners of the Strength Clan?"

"I'm going to kill you!" Tai Long's eyes were bloodshot. His own grandfather, Tai Tan, had died under the "Great God Declaration," and this hatred was enough to consume him. "The Speed Clan, the Breaking Clan, the Defense Clan, you traitors, you all deserve to die... Weren't you all on good terms with Grandpa? It's one thing if you didn't avenge him, but why did you suppress us? What have we done to wrong you?"

"Behave yourself!"

Upon hearing Tai Long's words and feeling the brute force of the Soul Breaking Spear, the two Soul Master of the Breaking Clan who were controlling Tai Long couldn't help but change their expressions.

One of them let out a stern shout without any mercy.

He swung the handle of the Soul Breaking Spear backwards and slammed it down.

A bright red mark was left on Tai Long's face.

The blow caused blood to trickle from Tai Long's mouth, and his head was spinning.

"Alright, let's hear how your father answers." Ye Qingcang walked up to Tai Nuo, Tai Nuo was kneeling on the ground with his arms pinned down by two Soul Master of the Defense Clan. Although he wasn't dead, he was completely powerless to resist. "Same question, less than ten meters away, I don't need to repeat myself, right?"

"Every wrong has its perpetrator, every debt its debtor..." Compared to the hot-tempered Tai Long, the equally simple-minded Tai Nuo matured rapidly after seeing Tai Tan's corpse. Even though he hated him to death, he instinctively learned to flatter. "I've long harbored resentment towards that old man. All he talks about all day is Tang Hao, Tang Hao, Tang Hao. He doesn't even value me, his son, as much as Tang Hao. If you are still willing to accept my loyalty, my Strength Clan and I are willing to be your pawns and will definitely crush the Clear Sky Sect for you!"

"A perfect answer." Ye Qingcang smiled, turned to look at Yang Wudi, Niu Gao, Bai He, and the others, whose expressions varied, and said in an appreciative tone that sent a chill down everyone's spine, "Young people are hot-blooded and always think they are omnipotent. So, when faced with the tragedy of their grandfather's murder, they always show great anger, expressing to the murderer in various ways: If you don't kill me, I will definitely kill you. I swear, if you let me go, I will make you regret this choice. Middle-aged people have learned to bow their heads under the grind of reality. Especially after hearing his son's impulsive answer, he knew very well that if he also died cleanly, then the hatred for his father's death and the hatred for his son's death would be completely unavoidable. So, he humbly offered his loyalty, just to get a chance to live from me, like a venomous snake waiting for the right opportunity to strike deadly."

Ye Qingcang seemed to know what Tai Nuo wanted to explain.

He continued, "You may think I'm exaggerating, but you must admit there's a possibility... So, Chief Yang, Chief Niu, Old Master Bai, and many, many of you, are you willing to take the risk and gamble on this possibility?"

"And this..." Seeing the thoughtful expressions on Yang Wudi's, Niu Gao's, Bai He's, and the others' faces, Ye Qingcang calmly added the final blow, "It's the real reason I just said... it's not that I've got you all figured out, but that you've already made your choice."

Yang Wudi let out a long breath.

Niu Gao's expression was slightly bitter.

Bai He could only shake his head helplessly, looking at Tai Nuo's bitter smile and Tai Long's loud cursing, and was forced to suppress the unbearable look in his eyes. "You are right. I don't know their opinions, but for me alone, I certainly wouldn't dare to gamble the Destiny of the Speed Clan on a single possibility. Moreover, just now, Tang Hao once again proved to us with his actions that he never cares about the life or death of our Four Element Families, and the Clear Sky Sect never cares about the life or death of our Four Element Families either. They run away when they lose, and they are not even willing to give our organization a little bit of time to evacuate... The most tragic thing is that we don't know whether we should believe your words, because this is also our first meeting."

"But we have no way out now." Niu Gao said with a bitter smile, "Although we don't know what Tang Hao will say when he goes back, he has already abandoned us, so the right to explain is definitely in his hands. Even if those two Clear Sky Sect elders can tell us the truth, Clear Sky Sect will not change its Young Sect Master for the sake of a few of us; why did you throw the Clear Sky Sect's Chief Elder Token to Tang Hao? If you hadn't thrown it, we wouldn't be in such a predicament..."

As he was talking, Niu Gao suddenly realized what was going on.

Yang Wudi and Bai He also realized what was happening.

Yang Wudi blurted out instinctively, "You're not deliberately cutting off our escape route, are you?"

"Not bad, not bad." Ye Qingcang tossed the Soul Bone in his hand. Although his tone was one of praise, Yang Wudi, Niu Gao, Bai He, and the others felt as if their intelligence had been insulted. "However, I'm a very reasonable person. I'm only giving you choices—note, only choices. You have the right to refuse to choose. Besides, you're not three or four-year-old children anymore. Making a choice means bearing the consequences of that choice. I don't need to explain this to adults, do I?"

Yang Wudi looked at Ye Qingcang with a strange gaze.

Niu Gao, Bai He, and the others also looked a little strange.

"You talk like you're so old..." Bai Chenxiang muttered under her breath, but in the quiet environment, it sounded particularly jarring, startling even Bai Chenxiang: "I really didn't mean that..."

"It's alright." Ye Qingcang didn't mind the harsh truth. "There are two ages in a person: physical age and psychological age. Without external interference, under the same circumstances, you'll find that girls of the same age are more mature than boys of the same age. Boys of the same age are still expressing their affection through pranks, but girls of the same age can already discern a boy's affection from such behavior and respond according to their own emotions. They indulge those they like and get angry those they don't. I once built a machine at the Blue Tyrant Academy that allows a person to experience a life in an immersive way based on the input of a novel script. Although frequent use can make people lose sight of reality, occasional use can indeed make the path of young people much easier... Many things that are hard to understand when you're young can be laughed off when you reach sixty. And as a person's mindset gradually becomes more open-minded, this strong mindset can gradually take control of the body."

Ye Qingcang's mindset has never been to achieve everything in one step.

He also experienced confusion in his youth.

What does it mean to be confused about yourself?

Confused about defining myself.

She wondered if she would end up like Tang San, a character in an unknown novel.

But he believes in the power of time.

Nothing is insurmountable in the face of time.

So, he gradually understood that what he was, depended on himself. When you consider yourself someone important, you are someone important; when you consider yourself nothing, you are nothing. He also gradually understood his own definition, no longer confused or agonizing over whether he was a character in a novel, because even if he was, he had no power to change that reality, so why bother? If he wasn't, then there was even less reason to bother. Taking things one step at a time was his path, and all of this required sufficient mental maturity. Gradually, he discovered that many things in the world were nothing more than this, just unnecessary worries. Living simply, thinking less about others and more about oneself, is the philosophy of life for a small human being striving to live in the face of the vast universe. Similarly, having a tolerant mindset is also very important.

I can stop being so passionate.

But I will not underestimate passion.

In summary, that's the principle.

"Alright, there's no need to talk about those things... which are too far removed from the present." Ye Qingcang didn't want to make the atmosphere too heavy. This was also why he enjoyed spending time with Violet, Qian Renxue, Jiang Nannan, and Ju Zi. Talking about these things with people who didn't understand was like casting pearls before swine. Therefore, he gradually learned to remain silent and to seek out every precious friend who could follow his train of thought, "Clan Chief Yang, Clan Chief Niu, Elder Bai, that's all I have to say. You should be able to give me an answer now, right?"

"There's only one Soul Bone, how should we divide it?" Bai He glanced at Bai Chenxiang, feeling helpless at his suddenly obedient granddaughter, and jokingly probed, "Do you perhaps only want the strongest one?"

"I don't like raising poisonous insects."

"I also don't like any kind of elimination system."

Ye Qingcang tossed the Inheritance Soul Bone aside and made a promise, "This Soul Bone represents an attitude. Whoever takes this Soul Bone will be my leader among you. However, taking this Soul Bone will also bring a lot of trouble. To put it mildly, you will not be able to return to the Clear Sky Sect. Even if you do return, the Clear Sky Sect will be suspicious of you. To put it more seriously, you may be used as a typical example by the Clear Sky Sect. The pressure you face will definitely be greater than that of other families... But you can rest assured that I, Ye Qingcang, am not the kind of person who only makes empty promises. After taking this Soul Bone, you can make one reasonable request of me as a gift to win you over."

Slap me, then give me a treat.

A combination of kindness and severity.

You noticed?

It's okay, it's still effective even if you can see it!

As long as you are fair enough, you shouldn't slap someone for any reason, but only after they have made a mistake. And when you give someone a treat, you shouldn't be stingy and pick out the bad ones, but give them generously. Even if the other person knows it's a trick, they will willingly fall for it.

As for what demands are excessive and what demands are not, Ye Qingcang knew, and Yang Wudi, Niu Gao, Bai He and others had the ability to judge.

At this point, the selection process will be based on the most decisive person among the three. Just like the school rules of the Blue Tyrant Academy, opportunities will not stand still and wait for you, nor will they give you time to think and hesitate. Whether or not you seize the opportunity depends on your decision the instant you see it.

Among Yang Wudi, Niu Gao, and Bai He...

The most decisive one was Yang Wudi.

But the most experienced are the Bai He.

No one knew better than Bai He how the Speed Clan rose to power. Although he was reluctant to part with his granddaughter, seeing her repeatedly protect Ye Qingcang, he suspected she had already secretly fallen for him, or at least had some affection for him. In terms of strength, he certainly couldn't compare to the other three clans, but in terms of speed, the Needletail Swift, having abandoned everything, was undoubtedly the fastest. A Soul Douluo with the Needletail Swift as their Martial Soul could even crush a Title Douluo of the Agility-attack type in speed, only slightly slower than Super Douluo of the Agility-attack type. He, Yang Wudi, and Niu Gao were all Soul Douluo, and these two old friends, as slow as tortoises, simply couldn't outrun him. "Then this old man will not hesitate..."

The Bai He was so fast that it didn't even leave a afterimage.

Yang Wudi, unaware of the situation, missed his chance.

Niu Gao, on the other hand, was still hesitating and thinking.

When the three are compared, the difference in their abilities is immediately apparent.

"Then tell me your requirements..." Ye Qingcang put down his hand. Perhaps this competition was unfair, but people's hearts are biased, and how could there be absolute fairness in the world? "If you haven't thought it through, you can wait until you have. However, I suggest you think about it quickly, because I will be leaving the academy in a few days. Even if you find Blue Tyrant Academy, I may not be there. This is just a suggestion."

Just a suggestion?

The Bai He immediately laughed.

He acknowledged that Ye Qingcang was exceptionally talented.

He acknowledged that Ye Qingcang possessed unparalleled courage and spirit.

He acknowledged that Ye Qingcang was exceptionally talented.

But!

Here's the important part!

Ye Qingcang, I bet you, you absolutely won't be as eager to curry favor as we, the Speed Clan, would!

Because you have no experience in currying favor with powerful people!

The worst thing you can do when trying to curry favor with someone is to exhaust their resources!

Especially this kind of blaming the entire clan to curry favor with a powerful figure!

Either don't hold on at all, or if you do, hold on for long-term gains!

Therefore, Bai He, with considerable experience, stroked his beard and said tactfully, "My lord, you are wise: My Speed Clan has been suppressed by the Spirit Hall for many years, and the clan is already facing a generational gap, with very few talented members. My granddaughter is considered the most talented among the younger generation. Before meeting you, she was somewhat rebellious and even ran away from home once. Unexpectedly, she returned on her own initiative this time, showing great understanding and reason. Therefore, I have a somewhat immature idea: to let her stay by your side and temper her temperament... What do you think?"

"If she's willing, I'm fine with it."

Ye Qingcang readily agreed.

The Bai He's request was not unreasonable.

Bai Chenxiang is indeed a promising material.

Bai Chenxiang's determination to add offensive Soul Ring to the Needletail Swift and not be content with being just a fast Soul Master was admirable. At least he was more worthy of being nurtured than Ma Hongjun, who was still indulging in desires. It didn't matter if he took the wrong path, he could correct it, but if his heart succumbed to Destiny, he couldn't change it.

For Bai Chenxiang, who had long wanted to surrender, this was even less of a problem.

He nodded.

No words are needed.

This means that you have agreed.

"Those people of the Strength Clan..." If the Clear Sky Sect's abandonment of them last time was out of necessity, then Tang Hao's escape this time had thoroughly broken their hearts. Yang Wudi, having failed to seize the Soul Bone, was even more eager to prove himself. Now that he had clearly chosen sides, he no longer needed to show mercy to the Strength Clan, their enemy. "Should we kill them all, or spare a portion who are willing to surrender?"

"Kill them all." Ye Qingcang's tone was indifferent, as if he were ordering someone to swat a fly. Amidst the wails and curses of countless members of the Strength Clan, he announced their Destiny: "I admire their loyalty, so I will grant them their wish!"