Chapter 34: The Eight Clan Leaders
Blood Battle Valley.
“Whoosh!” Emmanuel was swiftly darting through the Blood Battle Valley. The other warriors in the valley couldn’t help but look at Emmanuel in confusion as he flew away in a hurry.
“Isn’t that Emmanuel, an elder of your Azure Dragon clan? Why is he in such a rush?”
“I don’t know. Maybe something urgent came up.”
The warriors in the Blood Battle Valley started discussing among themselves.
At this moment, Emmanuel couldn’t care less about others’ gossip. A fire seemed to be blazing in his heart. Rage filled his entire mind as he charged straight to his father ‘Furhan’s’ residence.
“Bang!” He violently pushed open the door.
Furhan, who had been sitting quietly in the room sipping tea, looked up in shock. “Emmanuel, why are you here?”
Emmanuel didn’t say a word. He immediately turned back and ‘creaked’ the door shut.
“Thud!” Emmanuel dropped heavily to his knees, both knees slamming hard against the ground. Even the sturdy floor cracked open.
“Emmanuel, what is this?” Furhan quickly stood up.
“Father!” Emmanuel shouted in grief and anger.
“What exactly happened?” Furhan sensed something was wrong.
“I… my water-type divine clone is dead! It’s all because of Linley! Because of him!!!” As Emmanuel spoke, his body trembled slightly. “Because of him, he deliberately didn’t act first, and later he split off from me!”
“Your water-type divine clone is dead?”
Furhan felt his mind go blank. His son had only two bodies—one was the water-type divine clone, the other was the wind-type divine clone. The wind-type divine clone’s strength was very ordinary, with no fusion of profound mysteries whatsoever.
His son didn’t even have the chance to refine a water-type divine spark and restore his strength.
“Tell me exactly what happened. Explain clearly.” Furhan urged.
“Yes, Father.”
Emmanuel, filled with fury, finally found someone to vent to. He immediately began to recount the details, but as the story came out of Emmanuel’s mouth, it twisted—making it seem as if Linley had deliberately set him up.
Inside a side hall on the fifth floor of the Azure Dragon Palace.
The Grand Elder was sitting cross-legged on a cushion, quietly cultivating. Suddenly, the Grand Elder frowned and opened her eyes. “Why are those two here?” She immediately stood up and walked toward the main hall.
“Grand Elder!” Furhan’s voice rang out.
Then, Furhan and Emmanuel entered the fifth-floor hall.
“What’s the rush? What is it?” The Grand Elder scolded coldly, displeased.
“Grand Elder, Emmanuel’s water-type divine clone is dead,” Furhan said urgently.
“Oh?” The Grand Elder was startled and looked at Emmanuel. “Emmanuel, weren’t you and Linley carrying out a mission together? And both of you had a drop of Sovereign’s power.”
“Thud!” Emmanuel knelt heavily.
“Grand Elder, Linley and I encountered three Seven Star Fiends. Those three were extremely powerful, and one of them was Elder Bro from the Ashcroft family,” Emmanuel said quickly.
The Grand Elder’s expression changed. “Him… given his status, he should have a drop of Sovereign’s power.”
“But even so, if both you and Linley had used Sovereign’s power and joined forces, even if Bro had Sovereign’s power, the two of you working together should have been able to escape,” the Grand Elder said.
“Linley stood by and did nothing!”
Emmanuel continued, “At the critical moment when I was in danger, he didn’t act at all. Later, a powerful figure suddenly appeared, forcing Bro to temporarily stop attacking. That figure drove Bro away. I thought I was safe then. Linley said he had something to discuss with that figure and told me to leave first.”
“I didn’t suspect anything at the time, so I left alone. But who would have thought…” Emmanuel grew anguished. “Grand Elder, as soon as I left, I was ambushed and killed by Bro. It must have been Linley’s doing! He must have secretly communicated with Bro via divine sense, telling Bro to ambush me. Otherwise, why would Bro turn back to attack after leaving?”
The Grand Elder frowned upon hearing this.
“Linley’s earlier refusal to act does show he had ill intent toward you. But whether Bro’s ambush was the result of Linley colluding with him via divine sense is uncertain,” the Grand Elder said in a low voice. “Although Linley didn’t act, you weren’t dead at that point. Your death came from Bro’s ambush, so it can’t be pinned on Linley.”
“Grand Elder!” Emmanuel grew anxious.
Although the Grand Elder was his grandmother, she was too rigid and cold. Even her own son, ‘Furhan,’ had to address her as ‘Grand Elder.’
“Grand Elder, think about it. If Linley truly had no intention of causing Emmanuel’s death, how could Emmanuel’s water-type divine clone have died?” Furhan pressed urgently. “Why didn’t he return with Emmanuel? Why did they have to split up? Even if he needed to talk, why couldn’t he let Emmanuel wait nearby?”
“And Bro—after being driven off by that mysterious figure, how dare he turn back to attack? It must have been Linley’s collusion,” Furhan insisted.
They forgot one thing—
Bro, using Sovereign’s power, could detect movements through it.
“Grand Elder.” Furhan grew frantic.
The Grand Elder looked at Emmanuel.
“Thud!” Furhan knelt heavily and cried out, “Mother!!!”
The Grand Elder’s body trembled. Since she had made Furhan address her as Grand Elder, how many years had it been since her own son had called her ‘Mother’?
“Mother, I have only one son, Emmanuel. With his water-type divine clone dead, his wind-type divine clone achieving great success would take tens of millions of years! Mother, your grandson’s future has been ruined by that Linley. How can you not see that…”
As he spoke, tears even appeared in Furhan’s eyes.
The Grand Elder felt a tightness in her chest.
If she wanted to punish Linley, with a slight bias, she could indeed find grounds to do so.
“Mother!!!” Furhan urged desperately.
The Grand Elder looked at the two kneeling before her—one was her son, the other her grandson. She let out a long breath and said in a low voice, “Child, get up.” The Grand Elder was reserved in her emotions, always giving the family a cold, ruthless impression.
But…
She was still a mother. Deep in her heart, there was a soft spot. She wasn’t made of stone.
Furhan and Emmanuel were overjoyed.
“Mother, Linley’s divine clone is still in the Heavenly Sacrifice Mountains. We can interrogate him now,” Furhan said quickly. “Our Azure Dragon clan should be united. But Linley did this. Even if it’s not a capital offense, he should be severely punished.”
“Yes, he should be severely punished.”
Emmanuel also chimed in, “And as a junior, why does he have the right to possess the ancestor’s Coiling Dragon Ring? That ring should belong to you, Grandmother. Even if you don’t need it, it should go to Father.”
The Grand Elder remained silent.
“Mother, shall we summon Linley here?” Furhan pressed.
Linley’s true body and wind-type divine clone were still out fighting, while his fire, water, and earth divine clones were all in the Heavenly Sacrifice Mountains. They could be interrogated.
“What’s the rush?”
The Grand Elder glanced at them. “Even if we punish him, are we going to punish the clone? Linley’s true body hasn’t returned yet.”
Furhan and Emmanuel immediately understood.
“Right, we shouldn’t interrogate him now. If we interrogate the clone and scare the true body into fleeing, it wouldn’t be worth it,” Emmanuel said quickly. In Emmanuel and Furhan’s eyes, Linley’s clone was far less valuable than his true body.
After all…
Most powerful beings had multiple bodies, with varying strengths. The strongest one was the most important.
At the border of the Azure Prefecture, four of the eight great clans were located there.
The leader of the Ashcroft family, which had moved from the Underworld, was currently discussing matters with Bro’s water-type divine clone, since Bro’s death-type divine clone was still on its way back.
“Bro, you said that person had a Sovereign artifact?” The clan leader’s eyes glowed crimson, and his eerie green-black hair reached down to his calves. Two green snakes coiled around his ears, staring at Bro across from him.
This man—
The leader of the Ashcroft family, the patriarch of the Nether Serpent clan! The most powerful expert of the Nether Serpent clan.
“Yes, Father. It was a fire-type Sovereign artifact. Very terrifying,” Bro said respectfully. “He also asked me to deliver a message to you. He said he didn’t kill me out of respect for you. If we ever dare to move against Linley in the future… the consequences are for us to imagine.”
“Hmph. Arrogant.”
The clan leader snorted coldly.
“His Sovereign artifact is fire-type, so he must be a messenger of a fire-type Sovereign,” the Nether Serpent clan leader mused. He then barked, “Come with me to the Bolin family.”
“Yes, Father.”
Immediately, the Nether Serpent clan leader led Bro toward the neighboring Bolin family.
The Four Divine Beasts clan was led by the ‘Azure Dragon clan,’ while the eight great clans formed a temporary alliance, currently led by the most powerful among them—the ‘Bolin family’ from the Celestial Realm.
Bolin family, Light Hall.
The Light Hall’s ceiling was a hundred meters high, with pillars emitting a soft white glow standing throughout the hall. At this moment, only Bro stood respectfully below, while above on the dais sat eight people.
These eight were the leaders of the eight great clans!
To be precise, four were present in person, while the other four were ‘puppet clones’ of the clan leaders from the other end of the Azure Prefecture. These puppet clones, or death puppets, contained a trace of consciousness.
Placing a puppet here allowed for unified discussions.
Bro respectfully recounted the entire battle process, then said, “That’s everything!”
From above came the murmurs of the eight clan leaders.
“Renars, your clan has always been in the Infernal Realm. You should be most familiar with the experts here. Have you ever heard of Pussero?”
“Pussero? I’ve never heard of such a person in the Infernal Realm.”
“Regardless, he possesses an offensive Sovereign artifact, so he must be a Sovereign’s messenger!”
“What’s so great about a Sovereign’s messenger? If he dares to act arrogantly toward our eight great clans, we can just kill him if pushed. As long as we don’t strike first, the Sovereign behind him won’t blame us!”
Bro, listening below, was secretly shocked.
But he also knew that among the eight clan leaders, seven were Sovereign’s messengers. The last one, though not a messenger, possessed a Sovereign artifact and was the strongest of the eight.
After all…
The leaders of the Four Divine Beasts clan also had Sovereign artifacts.
If the eight great clans dared to confront the Four Divine Beasts clan now, how could they lack sufficient strength?
“When will I get a Sovereign artifact?” Bro wondered inwardly. But he also understood that even without Sovereign artifacts, the eight clan leaders were extremely powerful. It was precisely because of their immense strength…
that the Sovereigns valued them and granted them artifacts.
In Bro’s mind…
The eight clan leaders were figures high above. Indeed, Sovereign’s messengers were naturally exalted.
“Don’t make unnecessary enemies!” A slightly hoarse rebuke came from above. “That Pussero is not worth worrying about. What I’m suspicious of is another person.”
“Bro.” The voice came from above.
Bro immediately bowed.
“I ask you, when you saw Linley, you thought he was a Demigod? You didn’t sense any aura of a Highgod at all?” The hoarse voice inquired.
“Yes, not at all. When I probed with my divine sense, I only sensed a Demigod,” Bro replied.
The hoarse voice continued, “Hmm, I know Bro’s strength well. His soul cultivation is already extremely high… For someone to conceal their strength so that even Bro couldn’t detect it—there are only a handful in the entire Infernal Realm. If Linley were truly that powerful, killing Bro would have been easy.”
“But he didn’t. In fact, it was Pussero who saved him.”
“I suspect that Linley himself is a Demigod! The reason his soul defense is strong is because he possesses a soul-defense artifact!” the hoarse voice said.
“He’s a Demigod? Patriarch Bolin, don’t joke around,” someone immediately retorted.