Chapter 542: Conflict Begins
Zhong Wang, who was seated beside Huai Wang, noticed the change in his expression and smiled faintly. "I can see that your fear of Yun Qinghong is genuine. To be frank, I find it truly incomprehensible."
"I won't deny it." Huai Wang said coldly, "The most at ease I ever felt was during those years when he was crippled. But then, without any warning, he recovered completely—like a thorn suddenly driven into my heart... I feel that Yun Qinghong has already seen through what I plan to do at this grand ceremony. When the time comes, he will definitely make a move."
"Since you hold Yun Qinghong in such fear, you must be well-versed in his nature. Then, from your understanding of him, do you think it's possible for him to align himself with us?" Zhong Wang asked in a slow voice.
Huai Wang's breath caught, and he shook his head. "Absolutely impossible."
"Since you already know it's absolutely impossible, why waste the emotional energy, clinging to this non-existent hope, trying to win him over?"
Huai Wang remained silent.
"If Prince Huai is truly afraid that Yun Qinghong will cause trouble, it's quite simple." Zhong Wang curled his lips and sneered. "Just make sure that he won't even have the qualifications to speak in a little while—wouldn't that be fine?"
The moment Zhong Wang said this, Huai Wang instantly understood what he intended to do. After a brief silence, he slowly nodded.
Zhong Wang smiled, shifted his gaze, and moved his lips slightly, condensing sound into energy to send a message to someone at the edge of the seating area, then gave him a meaningful glance.
Yun Che had absolutely no interest in the reports these lords were making. After pondering for a long while, he suddenly asked Yun Qinghong, "Father, back then, when they united to push public opinion and pressured Xiao Yaohou to severely punish our Yun family, all seven of the Guardian Clans across from us must have had a hand in it, right?"
Yun Qinghong said nothing, but slowly nodded.
Yun Che furrowed his brows and said, "In the Centennial Ceremony, it's a tradition for the Guardian Clans and the various princely mansions to perform on stage and even engage in duels. This time will be no exception. If I'm not mistaken, the Commandery Princes across from us will definitely seize some opportunity to bring this up, and the method of dueling will most likely be the eastern seats against the western seats."
"Huai Wang will do this." Yun Qinghong said calmly. "An opportunity like this, which can severely dampen the morale of Xiao Yaohou and those of us who refuse to lean toward him, how could he possibly pass it up? Otherwise, it would be a waste of the seating arrangement he deliberately set up."
"It just depends on what excuse he'll use."
Amidst the calm, the ceremony had already passed one hour. According to the original plan, this grand ceremony was to last at least three days and three nights, and it had only just begun.
At that moment, as the Southern Pacifying King, who guarded the southern frontier, finished reporting on the century's major events and was just sitting down, a young Commandery Prince of relatively low status suddenly stood up from the eastern corner.
Xiao Yaohou glanced at him and said indifferently, "Chu Commandery Prince, do you have something to report?"
"Yes!" The one addressed as Chu Commandery Prince quickly left his seat and stepped forward. As he spoke, his voice was noticeably trembling. "There is something that has been weighing on this prince's heart for a long time. But it is a matter of great importance and might even displease some esteemed individuals, so this prince is uncertain whether it should be spoken."
Xiao Yaohou's jet-black pupils narrowed, and her voice was piercingly cold. "Since you're uncertain whether it should be spoken, then don't speak it. Withdraw!"
"..." Chu Commandery Prince felt as if a knife had been thrust into his throat. The words he had been preparing for most of the day, which were about to leave his mouth, could no longer be uttered. His face flushed crimson... By saying "uncertain whether it should be spoken," he had only intended to cushion and preface his next words. He never expected that Xiao Yaohou would not take the cue to let him speak, but instead shut him down with a single sentence.
His face twitched a few times, and he could only respond with a "Yes," retreating in utter embarrassment.
"What an idiot!" Huai Wang snorted coldly from the center of the eastern seats.
Just then, another person stood up not far to the right of Chu Commandery Prince's seat. Judging by his attire, he was also one of the princes. He cupped his hands and said in a loud voice, "Reporting to Xiao Yaohou, this prince also has something to say! This matter has also been buried in this prince's heart for a long time. Speaking it will also displease and even incur the resentment of some esteemed individuals. However, this matter concerns the reputation of our Huan Yao Royal Clan and even the future of the Huan Yao Realm. Even if this prince incurs hatred, he must speak."
"Oh, is that so?" Xiao Yaohou's eyes were like a night sky dotted with stars. "Then let this empress hear exactly what great matter Prince Xiang has to speak of!"
Prince Xiang gritted his teeth slightly and said with a stern expression, "This prince earnestly requests that Xiao Yaohou remove the Yun family from the ranks of the Twelve Guardian Clans and replace them with a force that has greater strength and qualifications!"
"Whoosh——"
The moment Prince Xiang said this, the entire hall erupted in an uproar. No one had expected that the "great matter" Prince Xiang spoke of would be so earth-shattering!
The Twelve Guardian Clans were the twelve clans that had followed the Founding Emperor Yama to unify the Huan Yao Realm. They were the supreme pinnacle of the entire Huan Yao Realm, an exalted existence akin to sacred ground. And the Yun family, for the past ten thousand years, had been the foremost among the twelve clans, the most favored by the Emperor Yama's lineage—until they suffered the calamity of the Tian Xuan invasion a century ago, leading to their rapid decline in the last hundred years. Although this Prince Xiang was also a Commandery Prince, his status within the royal clan was low, and his mansion's power was far from comparable to any of the twelve clans. And yet, here he was, standing before Xiao Yaohou, before the twelve clans, before all the heroes of the realm, demanding that the Yun family be expelled from the Twelve Guardian Clans!
It was as if a thunderbolt had been thrown out of nowhere.
Xiao Yaohou's eyes narrowed sharply. The entire Yun family was furious. Yun Qinghong, however, showed little reaction, but the others were not as composed as he was. Grand Elder Yun Waitian suddenly stood up, disregarding the fact that this was the ceremonial venue, and roared with curses, "Bold madman! What do you think you are, to dare utter such outrageous words!"
To everyone's surprise, Prince Xiang remained composed and said calmly, "Grand Elder Yun, please mind your words. Don't let the entire realm know that the people of your Yun family possess such poor cultivation."
Yun Waitian sneered coldly. "My cultivation is only for those I deem worthy. A dog that abandons righteousness for profit, forsakes its ancestors, and runs to serve others does not deserve my cultivation."
Yun Waitian's words were indeed vicious enough. Prince Xiang's face, which had been calm, instantly turned the color of pig liver. His lips trembled with rage. "Yun Waitian... you... you... you go too far!"
"It is you who goes too far!"
"Enough, you two, stop this war of words," Huai Wang stood up at this moment. The Yun, Mu, Tianxia, Yan, and Su families were already highly suspicious that Prince Xiang's sudden shocking declaration was instigated by Huai Wang. His standing up now only confirmed it beyond doubt.
Huai Wang, not waiting for Xiao Yaohou to speak, said with a genial smile, "Prince Xiang, the Yun family has been one of the twelve Guardian Clans of the successive Emperor Yama for ten thousand years, with great merit and toil. Yet you suddenly petition Xiao Yaohou to remove them from the Guardian Clans. You must at least provide sufficient reasons."
Prince Xiang quickly replied, "If this prince did not have ample reasons, how would he dare speak recklessly on such a major matter. And the idea of removing the Yun family from the twelve clans is not only this prince's thought; eight or nine out of ten of those this prince knows also agree! The reasons are naturally abundant, and every one of them is known to all under heaven."
With Huai Wang standing up to support him, Prince Xiang's confidence undoubtedly increased severalfold. He spoke eloquently: "As a Guardian Clan of the Emperor Yama, the bare minimum they should possess is enough formidable strength! At the very least, they should have an invincible high-level Emperor Lord! Back then, the Yun family had the most high-level Emperor Lords among the twelve clans, unmatched by any other. However, a hundred years ago, all eleven of the Yun family's high-level Emperor Lords perished on the Tian Xuan Continent! Now, the Yun family does not even have a single high-level Emperor Lord! The strongest in the entire clan, Supreme Elder Yun Jiang, is only at Level 6 of the Emperor Lord Realm."
"It is known to all that the hallmark of a top-tier force in the Huan Yao Realm is possessing a high-level Emperor Lord, but the Yun family has none! A Yun family like this can no longer even be considered a top-tier force. What qualifications does it have to be one of the twelve Guardian Clans directly under Xiao Yaohou? What ability does it have to protect the lineage of the Emperor Yama?"
"You are mistaken," Huai Wang shook his head. "The great calamity that befell the Yun family a hundred years ago was merely the consequence of King Yun Canghai's impulsive actions. Although the Yun family currently has no high-level Emperor Lord, given the Yun family's foundation, if enough time is granted, perhaps they will have one in the future."
"No! Absolutely impossible!" Prince Xiang shook his head decisively. "What determines a clan's future is the strength of its younger generation! But in Demon Emperor City, who does not know that the current younger generation of the Yun family is unbearably weak! There are fewer than five Overlord Xuan Realm experts under the age of thirty in the entire family, and the highest cultivation is merely at the mid-stage of Level 2 of the Overlord Xuan Realm... Oh, I heard there was a half-decent Yun Xinyue, but unfortunately, she has already died."
"With a Yun family like this, what future do they have? What qualifications do they have to occupy the Guardian position? If such a clan can guard the Emperor Yama, then wouldn't it make the Emperor Yama's lineage lose all face and become a laughingstock to the entire realm!"
"Silence!!" At the mention of "Yun Xinyue," Yun Waitian felt as if a knife had been stabbed into his heart. Trembling with rage, he said, "The reason the younger generation of my Yun family is so weak is precisely because they were plotted against by some villains and forced to bear heavy burdens. Otherwise, with my Yun family's foundation and our Arcane Firmament Power, we would not be inferior to anyone!"
Prince Xiang sneered. "Grand Elder Yun's words have reminded this prince. Indeed, what Grand Elder Yun said is the second reason! And that is the sin of the Yun family!"
Prince Xiang pointed at the Yun family's seating area and shouted loudly, "Xiao Yaohou has been on the throne for a full hundred years, yet she still cannot receive the Golden Crow inheritance in the Jinwu Thunder Flame Valley... Why is that!! Does your Yun family not know?!"
"You!!" Yun Waitian's body shook violently. This was the greatest weakness of his Yun family. Though he was extremely enraged, he was speechless. A hundred years ago, the Emperor Yama Seal was lost because of the Yun family, and the Samsara Mirror was also lost because of the Yun family... This was an indisputable fact.
"Your Yun family lost the Emperor Yama Seal, preventing Xiao Yaohou from awakening the Golden Crow bloodline and obtaining supreme divine power... It is all because of your Yun family! The Samsara Mirror is a supreme treasure of heaven and earth passed down by the Founding Emperor Yama. The previous Emperor Yama trusted your Yun family profoundly and entrusted it to your care, yet you lost it... And lost it on the Tian Xuan Continent, the land of your mortal enemies! You have not only failed the previous Emperor Yama and failed Xiao Yaohou... but also failed the ancestors of the Emperor Yama lineage!"
"With such strength and such heinous sins that outrage heaven and earth, Xiao Yaohou allowing you to retain the name of Guardian Clan for a full hundred years is already the utmost benevolence! But does your Yun family still have the ability, the qualification, or the face to remain in this Guardian position?!"
This Prince Xiang's words were extremely sharp, his tone indignant and passionate, and every sentence struck the core of the issue. The heroes from across the realm in the hall felt an increasing sense of agreement with his words. No wonder Huai Wang had chosen him to take the lead.
Clap clap clap clap...
A sound of applause rang out. Zhong Wang stood up, clapping as he did so, and said with a grave expression, "Prince Xiang, well said indeed! The Yun family's sins are grievous, and their strength has greatly declined—this is known to all. As for them still remaining among the Guardian Clans, I initially did not think much of it. But upon hearing Prince Xiang's words, I feel as if I have heard a morning drum and evening bell. Truly, given the Yun family's current strength and the great crimes they have committed, they absolutely cannot continue to bear the responsibility of guardianship. Otherwise, they will indeed bring shame and loss of dignity upon the imperial clan, causing the entire realm to mock! With the Yun family's crimes, Xiao Yaohou merely cutting off their resources for a hundred years is far too merciful. Expelling them from Demon Emperor City outright would not be excessive!"