The First Glimpse of His Strength; Heading for the Heaven-Suppressing Ancient Tablet
When Yuan Zhexian finished speaking, his eyes erupted with even more brilliant light. He raised his head and looked at the sky. A beam of golden light shot from his Double Pupils into the heavens, and the sky instantly dimmed as an immensely powerful pressure descended. A gigantic eye with Double Pupils appeared in the sky, gazing down like the eye of the Heavenly Dao looking upon all things, utterly indifferent. The five sequences on the platform and the clansmen watching the challenge all felt like ants. If those Double Pupils looked at them for even a moment longer, they would drop dead on the spot.
"Annihilation with One Glance." Yuan Zhexian spoke softly, and the enormous Double Pupils in the sky shone like stars. Dazzling blue light illuminated the entire training ground. The tremendous pressure bursting from the eyes made everyone present feel as though countless mountains were weighing down on their bodies. The spectators outside the arena could barely breathe, while the five sequences on the platform had already dropped to one knee, struggling to hold on. Sweat dripped ceaselessly from their bodies onto the ground.
Crack... As the pressure continued to mount, the surrounding space shattered like glass.
"Shattering space... no... impossible... Only experts in the Samsara Realm can shatter space, right? The divine son is only at the Peak of Body Tempering! How is that possible? Could his combat strength already rival someone in the Samsara Realm?"
Of course, Yuan Zhexian's combat strength did not rival that of the Samsara Realm. This was an ability of the Double Pupils, which possessed the power to split heaven and earth. Fully developed Double Pupils could even bring an entire world into being, let alone tear apart space.
Yuan Zhexian took a step forward. The Double Pupils in the sky unleashed another wave of immense pressure upon the five sequences. Pfft... All five spat out a mouthful of blood. He took another step, and the pressure left them all gravely injured, sprawled every which way across the training platform. Yuan Zhexian then said, "You are all gravely injured already, yet I have not even used a tenth of my strength."
"Hiss... He hasn't even used a tenth of his strength, and the five sequences can't fight back anymore. The divine son is far too terrifying..."
"Of course. If he didn't have that kind of strength, how could he be worthy of being our clan's divine son?"
"As expected of our clan's divine son. He truly is unparalleled through the ages, with none before him and none to come after. With the divine son here, our clan will surely shine with utmost glory in this era and sweep aside everything in its path."
The crowd below the platform was beside itself with excitement. The more they talked, the more worked up they became, as though they had been injected with chicken blood...
On the platform, Yuan Zhexian looked at the five gravely injured sequences and murmured, "If I take one more step, then after today, the Yuan Clan will go from ten sequences to five. Tell me, should I take another step?" His lips curled up slightly, revealing a smile that looked harmless to humans and animals alike. When Yuan Zifeng and Yuan Yan'er saw this from outside the arena, they immediately felt that someone was about to suffer. Every time Yuan Zhexian smiled like that, someone was bound to suffer.
The hearts of the five sequences tightened, and cold sweat streamed down their faces. To them, Yuan Zhexian's smile was even more devilish than the demons of the dark forbidden zones.
Am I going to fall here today?
"Of course, if you submit to me and follow my lead in all things, I will let bygones be bygones," Yuan Zhexian continued before anyone could react.
"I... I... we are willing to submit to the divine son!" The five sequences no longer carried a trace of their initial unruly bearing. Each of them was thoroughly miserable. They had lost the wife and the soldiers too: they had wanted to establish their authority over the divine son, but not only had they failed, they had even submitted to him.
"Zifeng, Yan'er," Yuan Zhexian called to the two outside the arena. They appeared on the platform in an instant and bowed. "Yes, divine son. What are your orders?"
"I leave these five to you. The divine son's palace is short of hands, and these five are just right. The men can clean the main hall, water the flowers, and plant trees. The women can clean the rooms, wash the clothes, and fold the bedding."
"Huh..." The crowd below the platform exclaimed, "No way. The divine son is treating the five sequences like servants? Unbelievable. It's simply too unbelievable."
"All right, this matter is settled. Everyone, disperse. You five, follow Zifeng and Yan'er to the divine son's palace. I have to go to the ancestral grounds now."
With that, he vanished in a flash of golden light.
Before Yuan Zifeng and Yuan Pojun's duel, the Lineage's Ninth Ancestor, supreme clan elders, clan elders, and Yuan Zhexian's grandfather, Yuan Xun, had already arrived. They had been hidden in the void, watching everything.
"Hahaha! The divine son is only five years old, yet he can already overpower the five sequences without even using a tenth of his strength. Looking through the entire Yuan Clan—no, the entire Nine Heavens and Ten Lands—I'm afraid no one can compare to this divine son," one clan elder said.
"The divine son's natural talent is unparalleled, unprecedented since time immemorial and unmatched through the ages. In this great era, he will surely lead the Lineage to a higher dimension. Perhaps he can even lead the entire clan to ascend as immortals," another clan elder said.
A supreme clan elder pondered for a moment, then stroked his beard and said, "The divine son's natural talent truly is unmatched through the ages, but I fear some petty villains and old undying monsters may strike from the shadows."
"They dare! Competition between peers depends on each person's own means, and if he loses, so be it. But would the divine son lose? What kind of Nine Heavens and Ten Lands joke is that? Impossible," a supreme clan elder said.
Yuan Zhexian's grandfather then said, "But if anyone of the older generation is shameless enough to strike from the shadows, I will kill that person, destroy their Dao lineage, and then extract their soul and burn it with netherworld fire until it is reduced to nothing but ashes."
"Indeed. If anyone dares to reach a sinister hand toward the divine son, our clan will see them annihilated, even if they flee to the ends of the earth," another supreme clan elder said.
The Ninth Ancestor, who stood nearby, spoke up. "I will have Tian Yi accompany and protect the divine son. As for me, I will no longer remain asleep in this era. I shall protect the divine son's Dao in this era."
"With the Ninth Ancestor protecting the divine son's Dao, nothing can possibly go wrong for him. Sorry to trouble you, Ninth Ancestor," everyone said with slight bows.
"All right, the matter here is settled. You may all leave." As he spoke, a spatial tunnel appeared beside him, and the Ninth Ancestor stepped into it.
The forbidden zone of the ancestral grounds...
The Ninth Ancestor had just emerged from the spatial tunnel when he saw Yuan Zhexian arrive. Smiling, he spoke.
"Zhexian, you handled this matter well. Our clan may be a forbidden Lineage, but even a towering tree must grow its tender leaves one by one. Being sequences of the Yuan Clan has already made them feel above others, proud and arrogant. Arrogance is poison; it will only bring about a faster demise. But what they do not know is that beyond every person is someone greater, and beyond every heaven is another heaven. Where the Yuan Clan can see them, the Lineage can protect them. But what about the places we cannot see? Who will protect them there? The Heaven-Suppressing Ancient Tablets have now appeared, and the successors of the major powers have emerged one after another. Even emperors' offspring and ancient freaks have appeared. This is a golden age. You must shoulder everything that concerns the Yuan Clan. Do you understand?"
"I understand. No matter how powerful the successors of the major powers are, I am invincible. In this era, I will sweep aside everything in my path and lead the Lineage to greater heights." As he finished speaking, the Double Pupils in his eyes flashed. Divine radiance streamed from his Supreme Bone, and Chaos Qi swirled around him. His presence was intense. He could hardly wait to meet the peerless heavenly geniuses and monstrous talents of the ages in this golden age.
The Ninth Ancestor spread his left hand, and a piece of ancient jade appeared in it. He said, "This ancient jade contains spiritual power I have sealed within it, as well as my soul imprint. The jade will activate the spiritual power when you are in the greatest danger. The manifestation of my spiritual power can shield you from attacks up to the ninth level of the Quasi-Emperor Realm. The soul imprint will allow me to sense your location. Once you crush the ancient jade, I will immediately sense where you are and can then teleport through space and time to your side. Remember, you may use it only when your life is in danger."
"The Heaven-Suppressing Ancient Tablets appear only in a golden age. 'When a great era dawns, the path to emperorship appears.' A Heaven-Suppressing Ancient Tablet will appear in each of the Nine Heavens of the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, in a random location. It will then rank the top hundred in each heaven based on their combined values across three realms. Finally, the nine tablets of the Nine Heavens will merge into the Heavenly Dao Ancient Tablet, ranking the top thousand in the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands. This time, Great Origin Heaven's Heaven-Suppressing Ancient Tablet has appeared within the territory of the Sun Imperial Dynasty in the Northern Region. Take the sequences the Lineage can spare with you. A clan elder will accompany you this time."
"One more thing!
"Tian Yi!" the Ninth Ancestor called softly.
"Here."
A man in a black robe, appearing to be in his forties, appeared soundlessly before the Ninth Ancestor in the ancestral grounds and bowed. Yuan Zhexian immediately used his Double Pupils to examine him, but it was like a stone sinking into the sea: he could not fathom the man's depths.
"Zhexian, this is Tian Yi. He is at the Great Sage Realm and will protect you on your travels from now on."
"Tian Yi greets the divine son," he said, glancing at Yuan Zhexian and bowing.
"Senior, there's no need to be so courteous. Sorry for the trouble from now on."
"You are too courteous, divine son. This subordinate will do everything in his power to protect you."
"Tian Yi, if the divine son suffers the slightest injury that was within your power to prevent, you need not return. Do you understand?"
The Ninth Ancestor looked at Tian Yi as he spoke solemnly.
"Yes, Ninth Ancestor. This subordinate will absolutely do everything in his power to protect the divine son, even at the cost of his own life."
"Good!"
"Go, Zhexian. I will be waiting for you to claim the top spot on the Heaven-Suppressing Ancient Tablet."
"I will not disappoint you, Ninth Ancestor." Yuan Zhexian and Tian Yi then left the ancestral grounds.
The Ninth Ancestor looked toward the three jade coffins in the deepest part of the ancestral grounds and smiled. The three coffins then shifted slightly.