Xiao Chen's words sent a shock through everyone present.
Kill them all?
Lu Mingfei and Xu Yong both felt chills down their spines, their scalps prickling.
This ancestor of the Xiao Clan was ruthless!
"Ancestor, well... the Jia Lie Family and the Ao Ba Family have lost all their elite fighters. They no longer pose a threat," the First Elder advised, choosing his words carefully.
"Must we really do this?" the Second Elder also spoke up to confirm once more.
"Fools!"
"Since they're our enemies, why show them mercy?"
"When those two families charged in just now, do you think they would have spared our people if the Xiao Clan hadn't possessed its current strength?"
"From this day forward, 'when cutting weeds, pull out the roots' will be an ancestral precept of the Xiao Clan."
"Never underestimate any potential danger. Even one could lead to consequences you cannot bear!"
"I'm telling you, to make your way on the Dou Qi Continent, you must be ruthless!"
"Mercy toward your enemies is cruelty toward yourself!"
"Will you remember that?"
Xiao Chen was speaking not only to the First and Second Elders, but to everyone in the Xiao Clan.
"Yes, Ancestor. I will pass your exact words on to every clan member," Xiao Zhan said earnestly.
"Ancestor, I'll be on my way, then." Xiao Yan shared Xiao Chen's view.
Unless the roots were pulled out, the weeds would grow again with the spring breeze!
"Go." Xiao Chen nodded.
Watching Xiao Yan leave with the burly men of the Xiao Clan, Xiao Chen turned back to Lu Mingfei and Xu Yong.
"By the way, did you say you came from Floating Ink City?"
There seemed to have been no mention of that city in the original novel.
"What did you think of what I just did?" Xiao Chen asked with a smile.
This ancestor of the Xiao Clan is asking what we think of him?
He wants us to judge him?
Only an idiot would do that!
"You jest, Senior. Your words have taught us a great deal," Lu Mingfei hurriedly replied.
"All right. I caused the disturbance half a month ago. If there's nothing else, you may leave."
"Senior, with the Xiao Clan's current strength, Wutan City is no longer a suitable place for its development."
"Why not start with Floating Ink City?"
"We're willing to give half our businesses to the Xiao Clan."
Seeing that Xiao Chen was dismissing them, Lu Mingfei and Xu Yong exchanged a glance and hurriedly spoke up to build a closer connection.
Neither wanted to miss such an opportunity to curry favor.
"There's no need. Just manage Floating Ink City well. The Xiao Clan will remain in Wutan City for a while."
"After some time, the Xiao Clan will leave this place."
"If I need manpower in the future, I'll send someone to contact you."
At those words, delight spread across both Lu Mingfei's and Xu Yong's faces.
As expected of an ancestor-level figure, he understood with the slightest hint.
"Then... may we ask where the Xiao Clan will be going?"
"The imperial capital!"
After exchanging a few more words, Lu Mingfei and Xu Yong bowed respectfully to Xiao Chen, then left the Xiao Clan.
That evening.
"I never imagined the Xiao Clan would actually have an ancestor!"
Only after returning to Floating Ink City did Lu Mingfei dare discuss Xiao Chen.
"Neither did I. They hid it far too well."
"If they have an ancestor, why hide him?"
"Could there be some earth-shattering secret behind it?"
"That's not something we need to consider."
"But why didn't I sense any danger from him?"
"Someone like him has long since reached heights beyond our grasp. What seems the most unremarkable is precisely what proves fatal!"
"The skies over the Jia Ma Empire may be about to change."
"The Xiao Clan's ancestor has appeared. Waves are bound to follow!" Xu Yong said with feeling.
"Undercurrents are surging. Who knows how the Misty Cloud Sect and the Imperial Family will respond?"
At the same time.
The imperial capital of the Jia Ma Empire.
In a spacious, brightly lit hall, a middle-aged man with a somewhat gloomy expression held a teacup, the hand resting on the table tapping its surface incessantly in agitation.
Nalan Su was very agitated.
His father, Nalan Jie, had practically beaten him out of the room with a stick.
He had never imagined that, in the short time he had spent leading troops stationed in the empire's west, his outrageously bold daughter would dare call off the marriage the old man had personally arranged years ago, all on her own.
Who in the family did not know how fiercely Nalan Jie valued his reputation?
And Nalan Yanran's actions would undoubtedly give others grounds for gossip.
They would say that the Nalan Family, seeing the Xiao Clan's decline, had scorned a marriage alliance and sought to break the engagement.
Such gossip had sent Nalan Jie into a towering rage at home every day for the past half month.
Had he not been unable to get around, he would probably have dragged his body, already nearing the grave, to Wutan City long ago.
Truthfully, Nalan Su had not particularly approved of the marriage between the Nalan Family and the Xiao Clan either.
After all, Xiao Yan's name had practically been synonymous with "good-for-nothing" back then.
Marry his daughter, whose beauty and cultivation talent were both of the finest caliber, to a good-for-nothing?
Nalan Su had been unwilling a hundred times over.
But that had been then.
According to the news Nalan Yanran had brought back, an ancestor of the Xiao Clan had now appeared. His strength was utterly terrifying; he had casually drained all the Dou Qi from Wutan City.
With this ancestor around, that boy from the Xiao Clan might soon shed his reputation as a good-for-nothing.
Xiao Chen's appearance was undoubtedly enough to make Nalan Su take the Xiao Clan seriously.
Yet Nalan Yanran's act of breaking the engagement had turned the relationship between the two sides into an icy stalemate.
This left Nalan Su extremely embarrassed.
If things went badly, not only would he lose a son-in-law with limitless potential and an in-law family backed by a powerful ancestor, but the Xiao Clan would also bear a grudge against the Nalan Family because of it.
Just thinking that the Xiao Clan, backed by an ancestor who had lived for thirty thousand years, might regard the Nalan Family with hostility, or even exterminate them-
Besides being afraid, Nalan Su was so angry he could stamp his feet.
"That girl is getting bolder by the day!"
The more he thought, the angrier he grew. Nalan Su suddenly slammed his teacup onto the table, splashing tea all over it.
The maid attending him jumped in fright and hurriedly, carefully replaced it with another cup.
"Father, what does Grandfather think?"
Just as anger filled Nalan Su's heart, a young woman's clear voice suddenly rang out from beyond the hall.
A graceful figure clad in moon-white slowly entered through the doors, asking with a nervous expression.
"Hmph! Do you still regard me as your father?"
"I thought becoming Yun Yun's disciple had made you forget what the Nalan Family was!"
Looking at his daughter, who was growing ever more lovely, Nalan Su's anger subsided a little as he snorted coldly.
Seeing Nalan Su's unpleasant expression, Nalan Yanran stuck out her tongue and waved the maid aside, dismissing her.
"Father, you're scolding me the moment I arrive. I'm definitely telling Mother later!" Once the maid had withdrawn, Nalan Yanran wrinkled her pretty nose, sat beside Nalan Su, and huffed petulantly.
"You're still trying to act cute with me? Is this something acting cute can solve?"
"You'd better pray your grandfather doesn't get so angry he breaks your legs!"
Pursing her lips, Nalan Yanran lowered her head.
Nalan Su drew a deep breath and slapped the table hard, demanding angrily, "Your grandfather personally agreed to this marriage years ago. Who told you to call it off?"
"It's my marriage! I won't marry someone just because you want me to. I'll make my own decisions!" At the mention of this matter, Nalan Yanran immediately raised her head and frowned.
"Don't think I don't know. You're my daughter-how could I not understand you? You simply thought Xiao Yan was a good-for-nothing who wasn't worthy of you, didn't you? If he were still that genius who became a Dou Zhe at eleven, would you have broken the engagement?" Nalan Su demanded angrily.
Nalan Yanran's delicate brows knitted slightly, as though he had struck upon what she truly thought.
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