The elder knew he made a mistake even before Yun Shuqing screamed. The young man in front of him had no backing, but the young mistress of the clan still favored him. He restrained his might and attacked with power equal to the peak of the Body Tempering Realm, but it was more than enough to kill.
Wouldn’t he also be buried if the boy died? his head would roll!
Everyone knew the miss was cold on the surface but stubborn and valued friendship. When the Silver Clan attacked the Bright Clan, determined to wipe them out, she disobeyed the patriarch, rushing to the scene and forcing the Cloud Clan to take a stand.
When the cultivators of the Silver Clan wanted this boy, she refused to give in, almost dragging everyone into the war and becoming guilty of treason against the overlord. If the White Clan and their prodigy didn’t come over the matter wouldn’t have ended easily.
When the elders objected to bringing this boy here, the miss threatened to leave the family. The patriarch almost died on the spot. The greatest prodigy of the Cloud Clan, leaving the family over trash at the fourth layer that would never wake up?
Over their dead bodies!Their ancestors would kill and leave them without burial.
The elder softened his attack at the last moment, and another palm met the attack halfway. Rage overtook Ming Ren as he thought about his family and clan.
The Bright Clan, expelled from their rightful home a second time. The shame of present and past together already reached his limit, and now this old man came out of nowhere and attacked him.
The battles at the Bright Scripture hardened his resolve and tempered his abilities. He was no longer the young man of fourteen years but a cultivator who lived through hell and beyond.
The elder used no spiritual energy outside of his attack, and he was also a common cultivator with no true element or rare energy. Ming Ren revolved the Qi inside his body and activated the Divine Light Dragon physique, meeting the elder’s attack with his own palm.
Crash!
The impact pushed the elder back but Ming Ren crashed into the wall, breaking to the other side and flying a few meters. His body flew like a rag doll before landing on the ground, spurting a mouthful of blood.
The elder became pale as a clean white sheet, ‘Ended, my life has ended…’
Yun Shuqing also trembled in despair. She shuddered at the thought of Ming Ren dying and feared the wrath of her elder sister. Others might not, but she knew how much Shufen liked Ming Ren.
All the servants around froze on the spot. What the hell happened? Was that a person… flying?
The other elder at the peak of the Spirit Sea Realm rushed over and checked an unconscious Ming Ren’s pulse, sighing in relief. The guilty elder relaxed seeing his response.
“Uncle, you… you’re so brave…” After knowing Ming Ren only fainted, Yun Shuqing poked his sore spot.
“Y-youngest mistress… p-please, d-don’t tell your elder sister…” A solemn cultivator at the peak of the Spirit Sea Realm trembled and almost fell on his knees begging. Yun Shuqing looked away, also angry at this uncle.
“He is not in danger. Let’s bring him to the patriarch,” the other elder said.
Not in danger? A boy at the fourth layer withstood an attack at the peak of the Body Tempering Realm? What kind of luck was that?!
*
An unconscious Ming Ren escaped to the dreamland. He stood alone in a sea of blood, wearing a solemn white robe.
“Hehehehehe… mighty Divine Monarch, all feeble and weak. How about giving me control of the body? I’ll slaughter everyone who dares to cross my path,” a shrouded transient veil covered the figure, blocking Ming Ren from seeing who or what it was. Whether his voice belonged to a man or a woman unknown.
Divine Monarch? Was he talking about him?
“Don’t look at me with those eyes… we’re already one, your enemies are my enemies, right? So, let your anger out, burn this world, burn them, and eat their souls. If you do, you will avenge your mother!”
“Mother isn’t dead!” Ming Ren screamed at the top of his lungs.
“HaHaHaHaHa… that’s it, this anger! This is what you need! RELEASE ME!”
But he knew that thing couldn’t be trusted.
“Fool! Death would be a good dream for your mother! In the world of cultivation, there’s a lot worse than death!”
Ming Ren’s eyes exploded with fury but he restrained himself. His mother was still alive and well, he knew it somehow. He would not give in to that demon. Closing its eyes, the figure twisted its face in disgust.
“Someday, you will need me,” he grinned before disappearing.
**
*Splash*
A bucket of cold water landed on Ming Ren’s face, waking him up. Metal shackles and chains connected to the ceiling suspended his arms in the air. A middle-aged looking man stood in front of him, hands behind his back. His gaze pierced the boy and an air of superiority filled the room.
Spiritual energy formed a thin layer around his body, a method used by cultivators to protect themselves from sudden harm or poisons that entered through the skin. Normally only those at the half-step into the Spirit Gate Realm could maintain such precise control and not run out of Qi.
Ming Ren recognized the man in front of him as the Cloud Clan’s current patriarch, Shufen’s and Shuqing’s father, Yun Jie. He didn’t belong to the same generation as the bright clan’s patriarch, but the same as his father’s. A talented man worthy of leading the clan.
“Good strong body,” the man praised. Ming Ren withstood a powerful attack, “A pity your talent is so poor.”
He never expected this boy to wake up. Yun Jie received information his body seemed to have been frozen in time due to a treasure of the Bright Clan, and it would be impossible for him to wake up again. He would eventually wither and die.
“Heh, at least I’ve kept my dignity, could you say the same, uncle?” A calm person like Ming Ren also had limits. He already understood his current predicament. The Cloud Clan had no intention to treat him well. Hanged by the wrists and in some kind of interrogation room, their attitude was clear as the sky, no reason for him to be amicable.
Yun Jie showed no unhappiness as he knew his actions well. From the side, a man in his twenties approached Ming Ren, hitting his face.
“Be careful of what you say, trash!” This man resembled both Shufen and Shuqing.
“Lin Xue, restrain yourself,” Yun Jie reprehended with little vigor.
Ming Ren spat some blood and laughed, “Solemn Cloud Clan, you lost your ancestor’s face.”
Yun Lin Xue wanted to hit him again but his father raised the hand to stop, “As long as you promise to disappear and take an oath not to talk to Shufen again, I will let you leave.”
Ming Ren understood the reason the Cloud Clan treated him like that had to be his relationship with Shufen. She risked everything to help him. He had no backing, talent, or future, but she still cared a lot about him. It was enough for people to gossip and slander, making the clan worry about her image and state of mind.
The crazy young mistress of the Cloud Clan took liberties with some trash. No matter how pure their relationship was, people would tarnish it.
This bothered Yun Jie enough to do anything in his power to stop it. His daughter was a dragon, fated to soar through the skies. She cared too much about this boy, enough to throw everything away. How could he bear the thought?
Ming Ren shook his head, “I owe her too much. No matter what, as long as she wants to see me, I, Ming Ren, will always be her friend.”
They would not let him leave either way. Someone would find a reason to kill him and get rid of the problem at its root.
Yun Shufen and Bai Xun were his best friends. When almost everyone else gave up on him, they didn’t. When the Bright Clan was attacked, Shufen was there. He didn’t know everything and that Bai Xun was also there, but he already owed them too much.
Yun Lin Xue lost his temper and spat at his face, displeasing even his father. But this time the patriarch said nothing, “You bastard from the Bright Clan, do you even match to be her friend? Trash like you? Do you have any idea what we can do to you?”
“Do whatever you want with me, but spare me your ugly mutt, that’s true torture.”
“…You!” Yun Lin Xue roared in anger but stopped since his father didn’t make a move.
Yun Jie sighed before getting up to leave, “At least your mouth is truly talented. I take no pleasure in this. I consider myself your father’s friend, but my daughter comes first. Lin Xue, do it cleanly, do not underestimate him. I’ll deal with Shuqing.”
As if still hesitating, Yun Jie stood by the door for a bit but never turned back.
Yun Lin Xue grinned before circulating spiritual energy outside the body. His cultivation was at the fourth layer of the Spirit Sea Realm. An almost invisible purple energy within his body leaked outside. Mental energy. A form of rare energy linked to perception and intelligence.
The Cloud Clan didn’t carry the same name as the province by mere coincidence. Although only a fourth-ranked power now, its history began with the country itself. The royal family highly regarded one of their ancestors and thus named the province after him. Once upon a time, they ruled the Cloud Province as overlords.
In Bluecloud City, the White Clan specialized in hunting beasts and warfare. The Silver Clan in blacksmithing. The Bright Clan had no special characteristics aside from its spirit garden and pills. The Cloud Clan, however, specialized in illusions, mind attacks, and formations.
Yun Lin Xue started several hand seals, taking advantage of a formation set up around the room that amplified his mental power. His eyes turned pure white, and soon Ming Ren found himself immersed in an illusion.
Yun Lin Xue wanted to destroy Ming Ren’s mind, turning him into a vegetable. The patriarch didn’t need to do it since Lin Xue’s means were the best for the task. Vicious and unforgiving.
Ming Ren found himself bound to floating shackles, this time full of blades and twisted nails around. They didn’t budge no matter how hard he pulled.
“Welcome to my dimension,” Yun Lin Xue was quite pleased with himself, “You offended me before, so I will treat you nicely, you trash.”
The blades traveled through Ming Ren’s body, hacking his flesh. The nails dug deep into his skin. Yun Lin Xue waited for the satisfaction of his victim’s screams…
…But they didn’t come.
He frowned and made a thousand microneedles appear in the air, piercing through Ming Ren’s eyes.
… But the screams still didn’t come.
‘Is his mind already broken…?’ Just as he pondered whether his victim was gone, extreme piercing laughter echoed through this fake world.
“HahAHHhaAHAhahAHAhAHAAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA,” Ming Ren couldn’t contain himself anymore.
This fool challenged him to a mental battle!