Guang Ling's voice pierced the wind and snow, crashing into the council hall like a shard of ice. The hall fell deathly silent for an instant, then erupted into an even fiercer clamor.
"The resources reduced to one quarter..."
The chief elder murmured the words again, his aged fingers trembling as they brushed over the arrow shaft, disbelief written across his deeply lined face.
"They knew all along that we would expel Yu Xiaogang from the clan."
"Just as I thought! Expelling that unfilial son was the right decision!"
Another elder slammed his hand onto the table, making the tea splash from the cups. The heavy rosewood tabletop gave a dull thud, making the tea splash from the cups, and he did not even notice the scalding droplets landing on the back of his hand.
"If we hadn't driven him out, how would we have gotten this reduction? That wretch finally did something 'useful'-getting out so the clan could pay less in compensation!"
"It seems expelling that wretch Yu Xiaogang was the right decision!"
Another elder stroked his graying beard. The anger on his face gave way to the relief of a man who had survived a calamity, and even the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes relaxed.
"They approved of how we handled it! That proves Spirit Hall listens to reason!"
"We should have done it long ago!"
The chief elder, who had berated Yu Xiaogang most fiercely earlier, struck the table hard.
"If not for that unfilial son, why would we have had to surrender three Soul Bones? The only reason we can give up fewer resources now is that we expelled him from the clan!"
A representative of the younger disciples clenched his fists, his knuckles whitening with the strain, his face filled with indignation.
"A useless wretch who couldn't even awaken the blue lightning tyrant dragon martial soul-what right did he have to cling to his status as the clan leader's son? If not for him, how could Spirit Hall have climbed onto our heads?"
"And he still had the nerve to defend himself! Saying Spirit Hall was jealous of his talent? To me, he's nothing but a thief who steals chickens and dogs!"
"Expelling him was too lenient! We should have crippled his soul power and made him remember this lesson for the rest of his life!"
The chorus of condemnation grew louder than before. Even the few elders of his uncles' generation who had once felt pity for Yu Xiaogang lowered their heads now-a reduction to one quarter meant the clan could spare countless resources and more than a thousand rare medicinal herbs. That was enough to let the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan recover its breath over the next three years.
When weighed against the clan's survival, the last shred of affection for a "useless wretch" vanished without a trace.
They chose to ignore Spirit Hall's oppression, clutching only at the lifesaving straw of "reduced resources" to prove how "wise" their decision had been.
Yu Yuanzhen stood in the hall, gripping the roll of parchment between his fingers. His knuckles whitened with the strain, and the paper's rough edges nearly bit into his palm.
The news of the reduction acted like an anesthetic, briefly easing his taut nerves. In his daze, he actually felt that expelling Yu Xiaogang might truly have been a "good thing."
But no sooner had that thought surfaced than the bone-piercing chill lingering on Guang Ling's ice arrow shattered it.
He abruptly looked toward the ice arrow in the chief elder's hand, which was still giving off cold air. The cold light refracting along its shaft stabbed painfully at him. He recalled the utterly unruffled golden eyes Qian Daoliu had worn when he left. The control and indifference in that gaze were like an invisible net enveloping the entire Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
"Enough."
Yu Yuanzhen's voice was as hoarse as though it had been scraped with sandpaper, weighted with utter exhaustion. The hall instantly quieted. He raised his eyes and swept his gaze over everyone. The weariness and grief in his eyes pressed down on them like waterlogged cotton, silencing them all.
"Send down the order. Inventory the storehouse immediately. Set aside one quarter of the clan's resources and pack them into crates by category. Chief elder, you will escort them personally with me. They must reach the Spirit Hall Branch in Heaven Dou City within three days."
"Clan leader, you intend to go personally?"
The chief elder froze, his graying brows knotting together. Spirit Hall had humiliated the clan so thoroughly-would the clan leader not be lowering himself by going in person?
"I must."
Yu Yuanzhen slowly rose. Blue-violet soul power flashed through his eyes, carrying the imposing pressure of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, yet also a helplessness he could not conceal.
"This is a gesture, and also... a necessity forced upon us."
The council hall doors were pushed open, and wind and snow swept inside with a rush of cold, making the candle flames sway violently.
They stretched the shadows on the walls long, then short.
Yu Yuanzhen led the way outside. Golden sunlight spilled through gaps in the clouds onto his stooped back, making him look strangely forlorn.
The chief elder and several core elders followed close behind. Their boots crunched against the snow, as though accompanying this humiliating compromise. Every step felt so heavy that it seemed to tread upon the clan's thousand-year foundations.
Inside the storehouse,
Row after row of towering shelves were piled with gleaming gold soul coins, medicinal herbs stored in jade boxes, and forging materials that glinted with cold metallic light.
Yu Yuanzhen and the chief elder conducted the inventory themselves. With every entry they crossed off, their expressions darkened another shade, as though they were cutting away their own flesh.
The disciples silently carried crate after crate of resources, their footsteps as heavy as if filled with lead. With every crate they moved, their heads sank lower-these were the foundations generations of clan members had built by crossing perilous lands and fighting through blood. Now they had to hand them over like tribute.
When the final crate of Gold Soul Coins was lifted onto the carriage, the chief elder could not hold back a sigh, his voice full of anguish.
"These would have been enough to raise eight Soul Douluos..."
Yu Yuanzhen did not answer. He merely reached out and gently stroked the weighty wooden crate. The grain of its walls pressed into his palm, as though voicing a silent accusation.
Meanwhile,
Outside the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's Mountain Gate, the bitter wind whipped snowflakes against people's faces like countless tiny knives slicing across their skin, painfully sharp.
Two young disciples held Yu Xiaogang by the arms and threw him into the snow as though dumping a dead dog. The icy snow instantly soaked through his thin robes, and the cold burrowed through his pores, freezing him until his teeth chattered uncontrollably with a clicking sound.
"Trash!"
One of the disciples spat, his tone filled with contempt.
"If you weren't the clan leader's son, that worthless martial soul of yours would have gotten you expelled the moment you awakened it!"
The other disciple sneered and kicked the snow piled beside Yu Xiaogang.
"And now look at you. You caused trouble and dragged the whole clan into paying so many resources. You've utterly disgraced the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan!"
"Get lost! Don't let us see you again, or we'll break your legs!"
Still cursing, the two turned and went back through the Mountain Gate. The heavy stone doors closed behind Yu Xiaogang with a rumble, shutting out all warmth and familiarity.
Yu Xiaogang lay sprawled in the snow, his whole body frozen stiff, yet the chill in his heart was worse than the cold on his skin.
He raised his head and gazed through the swirling snow at the towering Mountain Gate. Once, this had been his home, the backing that had allowed him to act as he pleased under the title of "the clan leader's son."
Now, however, he had been mercilessly thrown out like a dog that had lost its home.
He thought of Qian Daoliu of Spirit Hall, of the announcement that had stripped him of all dignity, and of the ice arrow Guang Ling had shot outside the council hall.
Hatred wound around his heart like vines, tightening until he could barely breathe.
"Spirit Hall..."
Yu Xiaogang abruptly clenched his fists. His nails dug deep into his palms, drawing beads of blood that dripped onto the snow and instantly froze into tiny red dots.
"Qian Daoliu, Bibi Dong... just you wait! One day, I'll make you pay!"
"And the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan..."
Yu Xiaogang's voice rasped like a worn-out bellows, yet a venomous smile curled at the corners of his mouth.
"You'll regret this..."
Amid the wind and snow, his thin figure slowly rose, then staggered away from the Mountain Gate.
Each step sank into the thick snow with a crunch, as though sounding the prelude to his revenge against the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and Spirit Hall.
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