The Blood Treasure Method, Qingyang's Response!

"Methods must not be passed on lightly!"

Only after watching Jin Wei enter the stone courtyard where the grand elder resided did Qingyang Jue turn his gaze back to Qingyang Huan.

Qingyang Huan was not surprised in the slightest. Cultivation methods were the very foundation upon which a tribe stood.

The Qingyang Clan ruled these ten thousand li of the Great Wilderness not only because of the Five Body Forging Methods, but also because of the Three Yang Treasure Opening Method and the Spirit Seizing and Soul Condensing Method, an inheritance sufficient to carry a warrior all the way to the Spirit Seizing Realm.

Not just the Qingyang Clan, but all the other tribes throughout the Great Wilderness would never readily show outsiders the inherited methods upon which their tribes were founded.

"Although I'm the Qingyang Clan's chief, the methods are in the hands of the clan elders stationed in the ancestral hall. The boy you brought back may be extraordinary, but if the elders refuse, he still won't receive a treasure-opening method."

Thinking of the elders in the ancestral hall, Qingyang Huan could only stare helplessly. Naturally, they treated him impeccably, but they defended ancestral rules with incomparable zeal. Getting them to pass a treasure-opening method to Jin Wei could no longer be described as difficult-there was simply no chance!

Otherwise, his father would not have been utterly helpless despite being the chief.

Of course, if Jin Wei could pass the trials and join the Qingyang Clan, then marry a woman of the Qingyang Tribe and have children, that barrier would naturally cease to exist. But right now, he simply could not afford to wait!

He had already learned from Surging Cloud's two youths that the surrounding tribes were bringing their young clansmen in an aggressive show of force, intent on getting the upper hand over Qingyang. Moreover, he was absolutely certain that someone among them had advanced to the Divine Treasure Realm!

In truth, even counting generously, he was only fourteen. With his strength, he could hardly be considered weak at that age, especially since he had cultivated Body Casting anew.

However, most of the warriors coming from the various tribes were probably two or three years older than him, and two or three years were enough to open a gap in cultivation realms.

It was not that the Qingyang Clan had no youths who could meet them in battle. In fact, the Qingyang Clan also had those who had advanced to the Divine Treasure Realm, but most had already reached twenty.

Twenty could be considered the dividing line between youths and the younger generation. At a martial gathering of several great tribes like this, the Qingyang Clan could hardly send warriors over twenty into battle.

Yet among those under twenty, the Qingyang Clan truly had no one presentable. The tribes' aggressive approach had struck precisely at the Qingyang Clan's weak spot. Among Qingyang Huan's peers, there were naturally those who had cultivated to the peak of Body Forging, but none had reached the Divine Treasure Realm. He was confident he could advance to the Divine Repository before twenty, or even become stronger, but the tribes had not given him that opportunity.

"Dad, you've roamed the Great Wilderness for so many years, fought countless battles, and robbed... ah, no, obtained so many opportunities. Surely a treasure-opening method wouldn't stump a venerable elder like you!"

Seeing Qingyang Jue glare at him, Qingyang Huan immediately corrected himself.

"You little brat! Am I that old?"

Qingyang Huan chuckled, letting the large hand clap his shoulder as he pulled his mouth wide, acting as though the blow had been heavy.

"Come to think of it, your dad really does have a treasure-opening method. Back then, I killed a member of the Demon Race prowling around Qingyang territory and robbed... mm, obtained that demon's opportunity."

Qingyang Jue's palm-fan-sized hand came down again. Who told his boy to have laughter in his eyes?

"Dad, how could we let Jin Wei cultivate a Demon Race method?"

"You little brat, did I say killing a demon meant I obtained a Demon Race method?" Qingyang Jue's wild presence erupted, his voice thundering as he grabbed Qingyang Huan and headed straight for the valley behind the clan hall.

Inside the stone house where their family lived, Qingyang Jue pulled a folded beast hide soaked in blood-red stains from beneath the stone table in the middle of the room and handed it to Qingyang Huan.

"This is that treasure-opening method. Your dad reckons it can open at least four treasures, perhaps more. It's even more profound than our Qingyang's Three Yang Treasure Opening Art."

At those words, shock appeared in Qingyang Huan's eyes, and he looked at his father.

"You brat, this treasure-opening method is far too overbearing. We Qingyang have a complete inheritance, from Body Casting methods all the way to Spirit Seizing methods. Profound as this method is, it isn't suitable for widespread cultivation in the clan. The most important thing in Qingyang's two-thousand-year foundation is stability. Only once we're stable can we seek progress."

Qingyang Jue naturally knew what Qingyang Huan was thinking and immediately barked at him.

"Over the years, some people in the clan have cultivated this treasure-opening method called Blood Treasure, but most couldn't endure it. Too overbearing, with terrible pain. In the end, their Divine Repositories never opened, and their bodies crumbled instead. So, as time went on, your dad started using it to prop up the stone table."

At this point, Qingyang Jue made the rare move of turning his gaze away rather than looking at Qingyang Huan, because he saw that something was not quite right in his boy's eyes.

"Is that any way to look at your old man?"

The next instant, however, Qingyang Huan's sly smile vanished without a trace.

Yet immediately afterward, his mouth split open again. He could not hold it in. This really was his father-a method capable of opening at least four treasures, and he used it to prop up a table. Very good, very mighty!

"Dad, you're mighty!"

Seeing that palm-fan-sized hand about to fall again, Qingyang Huan hurriedly shouted.

"You little brat, hurry up and scram!"

This time, however, Qingyang Huan did not flee in disarray. Instead, he said to Qingyang Jue, "Dad, why haven't you reacted at all to the great tribes coming here?"

"What reaction do I need? What's coming will come eventually. I've already had your older brother build a hundred-zhang battle platform out of bluestone three li outside Qingyang Mountain. Don't they want to challenge us? If they can't even win on the battle platform, they still want to enter my Qingyang Mountain and strut around like tigers? They can dream on!"

Hearing this, Qingyang Jue's eyes lit up. As expected of his father-truly mighty, blocking them outside the mountain outright.

"Then, Dad, while I was away, did Qingyang Zhu or someone else in the clan advance to the Divine Treasure Realm?"

Seeing his father's towering confidence, Qingyang Huan could not help asking.

"No."

"What?"

The words Qingyang Huan had been about to say stuck at his lips. He paused instinctively before saying, "Dad, some of those great tribes' people have advanced to the Divine Treasure Realm!"

"Your dad knows that without even thinking!"

"Then you still had Eldest Brother build a hundred-zhang battle platform outside Qingyang Mountain!" Confusion filled Qingyang Huan's eyes.

The next instant, however, Qingyang Jue's large hand landed on Qingyang Huan again, accompanied by his voice.

"That's your business. As the Qingyang Clan's young chief, if you can't even stop these troublemakers and let them enter Qingyang Huan Mountain, you're the one losing face. Other people will only say that I, Qingyang Jue, am a tiger of a father with a dog for a son. Nothing wrong with that, is there?"

"What?"

This time, Qingyang Jue was dumbfounded. Looking at his father's utterly unconcerned expression, only now did he realize that his father was not merely ruthless toward opponents-he was quite something toward his own, too.

"They have Divine Treasure Realm cultivators!"

"My seed, Qingyang Jue's son, is a man who's going to reach the Body Casting Extreme Realm!"

"I'm still young!" Qingyang Huan finally shouted.

"Not that young. You can carry a wife home and give me a grandson to hold!" Qingyang Jue stood and headed out of the stone house, his voice drifting back.

"How could a man of Qingyang retreat without fighting? The hundred-zhang battle platform is three li outside Qingyang Mountain. The great tribes still need a few days to reach Qingyang Mountain. Every resource in the clan will be made available for your cultivation. A man of Qingyang should stand tall, holding up the heavens!"