Fengyi of the Ye Clan (Five)

The next day, at the Transport Commissioner's residence.

The ten-day deadline had not yet arrived.

But the Gongsun Household head came to visit, bringing the heads of the Zhao, Li, and Chen families with him.

Inside the hall, seven heavy black iron treasure chests were opened in turn. Spiritual light shimmered, bathing the rather old hall in splendor.

A full seven hundred thousand high-grade Spirit Stones lay piled like mountains, their pure Spiritual Qi almost solid.

The Gongsun Household head stood at the front, an eager smile on his face. He bowed deeply to Ouyang Yu, who sat upright in the seat of honor. "Lord Ouyang, you have returned home in glory. Our four families, the Gongsun, Zhao, Li, and Chen, pooled what we could and prepared a few humble gifts as a small token of our sincerity."

"In the affairs of the Tianlan Ruin Realm from now on, we hope Your Excellency will look after us and put in a good word for us before the young lord."

The other family heads chimed in, though their eyes kept straying toward Ye Wenting, the expressionless guardian at the side.

Ouyang Yu's gaze swept over the mountains of Spirit Stones. A perfectly measured, faintly greedy smile appeared on his face as he brushed his fingers lightly over the edge of a chest. "Gentlemen... you are too courteous. How could I possibly accept this?"

"Of course you can!" the Gongsun Household head immediately replied, beaming. "Your Excellency has labored tirelessly for the Tianlan Realm. This is a small token of our appreciation, and it is customary besides."

Ouyang Yu pondered for a moment before finally nodding with apparent reluctance. "In that case, I shall accept it on his behalf.

"It seems you gentlemen are also respectful and obedient. So long as you make up the unpaid taxes, Tianlan will remain peaceful and prosperous, with nothing amiss..."

Ouyang Yu turned to Ye Wenting and asked,

"What do you think, Guardian?"

Ye Wenting sneered inwardly, though his face wore an expression as warm as a spring breeze. He even sent the Gongsun Household head a covert message to put him at ease.

He smiled and said,

"The Transport Commissioner has considered everything thoroughly. Peace and happiness will naturally follow. This is excellent, the best possible outcome."

Seeing this, the Zhao, Li, and Chen family heads who had accompanied the Gongsun Household head felt greatly reassured. They exchanged glances, each seeing the others' relief and satisfaction.

It seemed Ouyang Xiong's suggestion was best after all. Present a lavish gift-who in the world didn't love money? This Transport Commissioner knew what was good for him.

Now that he'd taken the money, things would be easy. This Transport Commissioner was nothing special after all.

"Then we shall take our leave. As for the Attendants, we shall do our utmost. We hope Your Excellencies will help cover for us..."

The Gongsun Household head discreetly put away the image-recording stone inside his robe, then bowed alongside the three family heads and spoke with a smile.

Ouyang Yu nodded and exchanged a smile with the guardian, Ye Wenting.

The Ruin Realm, once gripped by panic over the investigations, returned to peace and prosperity as the family heads spread the news. Everyone seemed content and at ease.

But when the ten-day deadline arrived,

a hand made a gentle tearing motion above the Ruin Realm guardian's residence, and the Great Void split open.

Then four incomparably powerful presences abruptly descended above the Tianlan Ruin Realm guardian's residence. Their pressure enveloped the entire residence like a prison.

Even an ordinary Purple Mansion cultivator would feel his spiritual power grow sluggish under that pressure, to say nothing of ordinary cultivators.

"The Ye Clan Punishment Hall is here to investigate the traitors of the Tianlan Ruin Realm!"

The leader wore the black robes of a Punishment Hall elder. His face was rugged and old-fashioned, and his eyes were cold as ice. He was none other than the Ye Clan's Seventh Elder, Ye Zhanyan.

He was at the Purple Mansion Peak, placed particular importance on the Ye Clan's dignity, enforced strict laws, and was charged specifically with punishments.

Three Punishment Hall elders followed behind him, their presences equally chilling. The presences they released showed that they were at least at the Purple Mansion Late Stage.

The entire Tianlan Ruin Realm fell deathly silent in an instant.

For a time, the news spread like wildfire.

Ouyang Yu immediately signaled Ye Wenting.

At Tianlan's seven great families.

The Gongsun Household residence, a secret chamber.

Ouyang Xiong burst in, flustered, and rebuked the six family heads who were enjoying themselves as they watched the Gongsun Clan's song and dance.

"You lot are no good at getting things done, but more than capable of making a mess! The main clan has sent people! Why else would the Ye Clan Punishment Hall suddenly descend? Ouyang Yu and Ye Wenting must have deceived us. They can't be trusted. I'm afraid they mean to make us pay for their crimes with our lives!"

The Gongsun Household head finally awoke as if from a dream. His face turned deathly pale. "But didn't I follow your advice? I gave them Spirit Stones and prepared lavish gifts. Hadn't I taken care of them? Besides, Ouyang Yu accepted them..."

"That's right, that's right."

"How could he take the money and not do the job? Damn that Ouyang Yu..."

"Money?" Ouyang Xiong scoffed, though a strange light flashed in his eyes. "Ye Wenting and Ouyang Yu may have trouble saving their own skins. Who knew the Ye Clan would be so ruthless?

"As things stand, there's only one thing to do: since we've started, we might as well see it through! I've already contacted people from Great Jin."

"Experts from the Great Jin Sima Clan should already be outside the realm. We only need to open a gap in the formation, and we'll succeed. If we don't rise up now, when will we? Are we really going to surrender without a fight and let our entire families be executed?!"

"But... if we rise up in such haste, what chance do we have of winning?" the Sun Household head's voice trembled.

The past few days, he had felt somewhat reassured, with leverage in hand... and had forgotten his worries entirely.

"Chance of winning?" Ouyang Xiong abruptly drew the sword at his waist, its Sword Qi chilling. "We strike from within while they attack from without-that's our chance! I've made preparations in secret and can open the Ruin Realm's formation. As long as we join forces to hold them off for a while, once Great Jin's experts enter, it will be time for our Tianlan to stand on its own."

The family heads were tempted, but there was still hesitation in their eyes.

Seeing this, Ouyang Xiong continued to urge them on.

"There are seven of us Purple Mansion cultivators. Even with the guardian, the Punishment Hall has only five. Though there is a gap in cultivation,

"they still won't be able to capture or kill us in an instant.

"Hold on for a while, and once the experts from Firmament Heaven and Great Jin arrive, it remains to be seen who will win."

He swept his gaze over them, his eyes as fierce as a wolf's. "Gentlemen, do you want your names struck from the genealogies and your lineages wiped out, or will you fight for a future of your own?!"

Fear and ambition grew wildly in the secret chamber.

They recalled the Ye Clan's suffocating authority, the consequences of their families' bloodlines being slaughtered to the last, and the wealth accumulated over a century about to vanish in a single day.

The last trace of hesitation in the six family heads' eyes gave way to desperate madness.

"Rebel!"

"Fight them!"

But one of the family heads still had some clarity of mind. After a sudden moment of thought, he spoke solemnly to Ouyang Xiong.

"Ouyang Household head, your cultivation is the strongest among us. If there's a chance, we'll open a path of survival for you. Take a few descendants of our families and escape!"

"That's right, Brother Ouyang. Our families' bloodlines and inheritances must not be destroyed in a single stroke."

"Exactly, Brother Ouyang. The outcome of our alliance with Great Jin is still uncertain. We must leave ourselves a way out."

Ouyang Xiong pondered for a moment, seemingly thinking it over.

Then he nodded with difficulty.

"I, Xiong, will not fail the trust you brothers have placed in me. But I wonder whether your descendants have already received your families' inheritances. If... something unexpected happens, I'm afraid I..."

Seeing this, the family heads gritted their teeth and each took out a storage ring, handing them to Ouyang Xiong.

"These contain our families' core cultivation methods, the locations of our secret stores of resources, and the inheritances of the family heads."

"Big Brother Ouyang, we're counting on you."

"The affairs of our families are all in your hands, Ouyang."

"We'll hold them off for you for a while, Brother Ouyang."

At this, the Gongsun Household head let out a roar, fully displaying his Purple Mansion Middle Stage cultivation. The other five family heads did the same.

"Then I'll be going."

Ouyang Xiong cupped his hands in salute, tore open the Great Void, and headed for the family heads' residences one after another.

The family heads then each took out a communication jade talisman and crushed it.

From every family, dozens of unfamiliar, powerful presences emerged. The deathsworn and guest elders maintained by the six families joined forces and charged toward the guardian's residence and the Transport Commissioner Office, the symbols of Ye Clan rule.

The Ouyang Household's cultivators moved as though no one stood in their way and actually opened the great formation that sealed off the Ruin Realm.

In an instant, heaven and earth split open.

An immensely powerful force descended upon the realm. It was a figure, dressed in white purer than snow, standing with a sword on his back.

Misty rain veiled his face, but his bearing was magnificent, like an immortal descending to the mortal world.

An innate arrogance regarded all under heaven as nothing. At the rise of a thought, dust suddenly billowed.

The cultivators of the rebelling families thought help had arrived.

Their morale soared, and their battle cries shook the heavens as they charged at the Ye Clan cultivators.

Fires flared everywhere, spells flew in all directions, and the explosive thunder of spiritual power rang out without end.

"Slay the Ye bandits and welcome Great Jin!"

"Tianlan wins its freedom today!"

"Slay the rebels today and avenge a century of hatred!"

The rebellion surged with tremendous force. In what seemed an instant, the entire Ruin Realm was shaken and plunged into chaos.

Before the guardian's residence, Ye Wenting acted decisively, gathering cultivators to resist step by step. Yet there was not a trace of panic on his face, only cold indifference.

The Gongsun Household head and the Li Household head joined forces and attacked. The combatants became locked in battle, heaven collapsing and earth splitting as Divine Abilities tore a spatial rift through the air.

Inside the Transport Commissioner Office, Ouyang Yu calmly straightened his robes, turning a deaf ear to the battle cries outside.

He respectfully presented a Jade Slip recording the wealth of the various families to Ye Zhanyan, the Punishment Hall's Seventh Elder.

"Elder, everything is here."

Ye Zhanyan took the Jade Slip and examined it for a moment, then waved a hand behind him.

"Understood. In this matter, your Ouyang Household and that lad Wenting have both rendered great service."

"Go. Put an end to this farce."

With those words, the three Punishment Hall elders turned into streaks of light and rushed out.

The clamor outside the residence stopped abruptly, as though someone had seized it by the throat.

The three Punishment Hall elders who had just emerged cupped their hands in salute, their eyes filled with shock.

Jiangnan's clouds and mists were rich with rain; for a hundred years, he had stood supreme, sword in hand.

At this moment in Tianlan, all living beings bowed, and Purple Mansion cultivators lowered their heads.

Half the Gongsun Household head's body had been cut away. His eyes were full of terror, his Dao heart shattered.

A blade of sword light lingered in the Li Household head's chest, refusing to disperse. He lay on the ground, whimpering.

As for the others.

Spiritual rain fell from the sky, and gusts of Clear Heng Radiant Wind blew, along with all kinds of clear winds and turbid winds.

They were splendid and bright, clear and turbid indistinguishable.

The ground was also covered with fragments of all manner of spiritual objects and rare treasures, extraordinarily strange, as well as various Dao foundations...

The spiritual atmosphere was chaotic, and the concentration of Spiritual Qi had greatly increased.

It was a wonder: heaven and earth giving back after the deaths of so many Purple Mansion and Foundation Establishment cultivators.

After this, the Tianlan Ruin Realm would surely flourish in the coming year. All manner of geniuses would spring up like bamboo shoots after rain, but who knew how many heroes and how many ambitious overlords would emerge?

And how many would reach Foundation Establishment, and how many Purple Mansion?

High above the clouds sat a figure in white, toying with a token bearing the character "Jin."

One figure in white weighed down upon all living beings.

Among all the heroes under heaven, who dared contend with him?

Who in Yunlan was worthy of wearing white?

Only Fengyi, the Purple Mansion Five-Method Grand True Person.

The sharpest sword of the Cloud Mist Ye Clan.

His illustrious name struck terror into all who heard it, whether in Cangxuan or the many great Ruin Realms. None dared contend with him.

Inside the Transport Commissioner's residence.

"I didn't expect the young lord to persuade Fengyi to come..."

"Not the young lord. It should have been the old master who sent him..."

Seventh Elder Ye Zhanyan spoke to himself.

"Go. Tell your uncle Ouyang Xiong to bring everything here."

"I obey."

Ouyang Yu knelt on the ground, trembling. His heart was somewhat uneasy, but he was even more relieved.