Self-Inflicted Misfortune

The Fourth Elder sneered, "You insignificant cur! The Lu family raised you, and it's your honor to pave the way for Young Master Lu Ran..."

Chii!

A blade aura like a silver dragon pierced through his chest, cutting off the Fourth Elder's words mid-sentence.

The remaining five elders retreated in terror. They watched as Lu Chen's figure flickered, and the heads of the Second and Fifth Elders, who had participated in stripping his bloodline, rolled to the ground.

Amidst the blood mist, Lu Chen stood with his saber sheathed, saying calmly to Lu Changqing, "I won't kill you, but don't block my path. Otherwise, I'll show no mercy!"

Cold sweat beaded on the Fourth Elder's back, his heart chilled to the bone.

"You little beast! My son, Lu Ran, is a prodigy of Tianyu Academy. How dare you—"

Lu Ran's father, Lu Yong, rushed out from the inner courtyard, his palm condensing the pressure of the Golden Core Realm. A palm strike boomed down.

Lu Chen's eyes flashed. That old geezer actually broke through to the Golden Core Realm.

Looks like he gained quite a bit from his son.

Lu Chen didn't dodge. He met the strike with his right fist, which carried a force of over a thousand jin.

Boom!

The palm strike shattered, and Lu Yong's right arm exploded into bloody mist.

Before he could even scream, Lu Chen grabbed him by the throat. "Father of a prodigy, so what if you're in the Golden Core Realm? You're still just an ant."

With a clench of his fingers, his throat bone shattered.

The Patriarch, Lu Kang, finally appeared. Seeing this, his eyes split open with rage:

"You scoundrel! Today, I will obliterate your soul! Old Ancestor, come quickly!"

He roared, and an ancient figure tore through the air from the ancestral hall—it was the Lu family's Old Ancestor, who was in seclusion and also in the Golden Core Realm.

He hovered in the air, pressing his withered palm down. The spiritual energy within a hundred-zhang radius condensed into a mountain-like giant palm and pressed down with a roar.

Lu Chen crossed his arms to resist. The bluestone beneath his feet exploded into dust, and his knees sank three inches into the ground, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

"Sixth level of the Qi Surge Realm, and you can withstand three-tenths of my spiritual power. No wonder you dared to come back!" the Old Ancestor sneered, lightning crackling at his fingertips. "Let's see how you handle this move!"

"Nine Tribulation Thunder Seal!"

Nine purple lightning bolts transformed into coiling dragons and pounced down.

Lu Chen's pupils contracted. The Myriad Manifestations Furnace erupted from his dantian, its opening a dark abyss that swallowed half the lightning.

The remaining lightning snakes struck his back. His protective aura shattered instantly, and his flesh was scorched and curled.

"Cough... old dog..."

Lu Chen spat out blood. Three clones differentiated from his body.

Four layers of Qi and Blood Domain stacked like bloody tides, forcibly suppressing the spiritual energy around the Old Ancestor, causing the Thunder Seal's light to dim.

"Qi and Blood Domain!" The Old Ancestor's expression changed slightly. He bit his tongue, spitting out a mouthful of vital blood.

The blood mist merged into the Thunder Seal, temporarily boosting his cultivation to the fifth level of the Golden Core Realm.

The nine lightning dragons grew ten times larger, their horns piercing the domain's restraints. The furnace let out a groan of being unable to bear the load.

"Explode for me!" Lu Chen roared, and one of his clones slammed into the Thunder Seal.

The furnace outside his body exploded upon contact, its demonic fire and lightning intertwining and annihilating each other.

Taking advantage of the Old Ancestor's effort to calm the backlash, the remaining two clones shot forward like blood-red rainbows. The Soul Severing Saber's light was as bright as the scorching sun.

"Clang—"

The blade struck the Old Ancestor's protective Golden Bell, sending sparks flying. Cracks like spiderwebs spread across the bell's surface.

Lu Chen's main body seized the opportunity to leap to the sky. The energy stored within the furnace poured down.

"Break!" He gripped his saber with both hands and slashed down from the air, his two-thousand-jin force carrying explosive energy.

The Golden Bell shattered with a roar, and the Old Ancestor's chest bones caved in as he was sent flying backward.

Lu Chen lunged like a hungry tiger, stabbing the tip of his saber into the Old Ancestor's dantian and gouging it out.

"Ah!" The moment his Golden Core was absorbed by the furnace, the Old Ancestor's body visibly withered and shriveled.

Lu Chen stomped on his withered skull and put his corpse into one of his external furnaces.

The onlookers on the street were silent.

When the blood-dripping bone blade turned towards them, no one dared to meet its gaze.

Lu Kang's soul was nearly scared out of him.

Martial Dao cultivators were indeed more powerful than cultivators of the same rank, but he had never heard of them challenging higher realms, let alone witnessing it firsthand, and killing their own Lu family's Old Ancestor.

"Little beast, I should have killed you back then!" Lu Kang said, filled with hatred and regret. He lunged desperately.

He missed his attack.

Lu Chen, who had appeared behind him, severed one of his arms with a saber strike.

Amidst his screams, he was grabbed by the neck, and his dantian and sea of qi were shattered.

It was clean and swift, making everyone's hair stand on end.

Lu Chen, gripping Lu Kang's neck, darted to the front gates of the Lu Family mansion. Facing the approaching crowd, he declared:

"The Lu Family stole my bloodline. The disaster today is their own doing!"

He flicked the Soul Severing Saber, raising Lu Kang. "And you, as the Lu Family Patriarch, allowed them to strip my bloodline, even selling me to the Cangwu City beast arena. Despicable, shameless, vile, die!"

Poof!

Amidst a scream, Lu Kang was split in two.

The entire place fell silent.

Everyone was deeply shaken by Lu Chen's words.

Not only was his bloodline stolen, but he was also sold into slavery.

Too much information had been revealed.

To be clear, only Yan Bei allowed slavery; no one in Great Yan dared to do such a thing.

"Insolent!" The Chixiao City Lord, leading the Nascent Soul Elders of Tianyu Academy, arrived through the clouds.

"Lu Ran is a core disciple of the academy, how dare you slander him!"

Lu Chen tilted his head back and sneered, "Since when does the City Lord have to bow to Tianyu Academy's whims? Are you an official of Great Yan or an official of the academy?"

"Or are you afraid of Lu Ran?"

"Insolent!" the City Lord roared, flicking his finger. Spiritual energy condensed into a cage. "Demon, perish!"

Just as Lu Chen was about to fight to the death, a hunched figure suddenly appeared before the cage. The old man in grey robes tapped the ground with his wooden staff, and the cage shattered.

"What grand authority!" The old man lifted his hood, revealing a weathered face. "You... you you you... Old Ancestor Tianyan!" The old man from Tianyu Academy's face changed drastically.

The City Lord also trembled violently and quickly descended, respectfully performing a deep bow.

"Go and confess to the royal family yourself," the old man said coldly.

The City Lord's face turned pale, knowing he was in deep trouble.

"As for the matters of the younger generation, let them fight and scramble amongst themselves. My lord, don't get involved and lose face."

Old Ancestor Tianyan glanced at the old man from Tianyu Academy.

The latter quickly bowed.

"If you wish to make a move, then your Dean must come out. I will wait for him at Tianyan Academy!"

"I... I dare not!" Cold sweat beaded on the old man's forehead.

Although Tianyan Academy was in decline and practically empty, this person's status was undeniable.

He was one of Great Yan's pillars of support!

What was he? Just a mere instructor at the academy.

"Return what you took, and go confess in the capital. These old bones followed you all the way. Heh, this kid is not bad!"

The old man chuckled as he looked at Lu Chen, then suddenly snorted. "Truly ruthless. You almost buried this old man in the beast arena!"

Lu Chen frowned. "Who are you? Why are you involved in my affairs!"

"I'm saving you, can't you tell?"

"What was the meaning of that tracking earlier?"

"I saw you causing chaos in Cangwu City, eradicating the Black Collar Prison Heaven Cave, and all of this..."

Saying that, the old man gestured towards the Lu Family mansion.

Lu Chen's scalp tingled.

Everything he had done was exposed before this man, not to mention the Myriad Manifestations Furnace.

What did this old geezer want?

But the City Lord and the old man from Tianyu Academy were filled with disbelief.

"Why?"

"I want to take you to Tianyan Academy in Yan Capital. If Lu Ran can enter Tianyu Academy, you are also qualified to enter Tianyan Academy. Are you interested?"

Lu Chen was stunned and stammered, "Tianyan... Academy? I've never heard of it?"

The City Lord and the old man from Tianyu Academy twitched their mouths.

The old man laughed heartily, "Of course you haven't heard of it. It only accepts monstrous talents."

"Also, that Lu Ran kid became this... at Tianyu Academy,"

He said, holding up a thumb. "He was taken notice of by their Dean. If you go there, it will only bring you trouble, and you might even lose your life!"

"But at Tianyan, hehe, I am the Old Ancestor. I'll take you in, who would dare to object? I'll crush them."

Cough!

The City Lord and the old man from Tianyu Academy coughed and quickly shut their mouths, turning to leave. However, Lu Chen stopped them.