CH 22
Chapter 22 – Those Who Know Are Wise, Those Who Do Not Invite Disaster
Ceremony
Within the Ruyang Region, in Jiangdu City, a grand occasion that might only happen once every few hundred years was taking place! It had already been a few hundred years since the Ruyang Region produced a Xiantian. Plus, the Ruyang Region was located in a corner of the You Province, and was poor and barren. It was never a place that attracted much attention, but today it was unusually bustling with noise and excitement.
There was a vast crowd in the central plaza of Jiangdu City. In the last few days, a massive stone platform had been hastily built, and in the middle of it was a statue of the Bai Clan’s great original ancestor.
On the stone platform, seated in the highest, most respected position, was an old man, who was none other than the envoy from Youyang. The seats around him were all empty.
There were guards near the entrance points, and they would occasionally call out loudly, announcing the names of those arriving. Peals of delighted, surprised cheers would burst out from the crowd every time they did so.
“Lord Zhao from the Yecheng Region has arrived!”
That announcement was followed by the entry of the Xiantian transcendent presiding over the Yecheng Region, Zhao Huichun. As he was led by the Bai Clan to the seats of honor, his expression was calm and indifferent. But when he saw the elderly envoy, he smiled and saluted him. “Respectful greetings to the Esteemed Envoy.”
The elderly envoy returned his greeting. Even though he was an envoy from Youyang City, he still had to have a certain level of courtesy towards these Xiantian martial artists, who were exceedingly rare beings.
“Lord Gao from the Gaoyang Region has arrived!”
“Lord Guo from the Lin’an Region has arrived!” This was the old ancestor of the Guo Clan who once presided over the Ruyang Region, Guo Nansu.
Previously, he made use of an accumulated favor from 100 years ago to invite Daoist Lord Qingxin to assist him with breaking through to the Xiantian realm. He found the Ruyang Region too poor, so the clan migrated to the Lin’an Region to take over as the local tyrant.
The Xiantian martial artists from the surrounding regions had all arrived, and among the highest seats of honor there were only two remaining seats. One of those two seats was supposed to belong to the clan who presided over the Region.
However, the ranking of this seat left the people puzzled. According to established tradition, the one presiding over the clan should be higher in ranking, and the Bai Clan should be after.
But at this time, the Bai Clan had a Xiantian transcendent martial artist who possessed impressive might, yet the clan presiding over the Region, the Xu Clan, did not have a Xiantian martial artist, which created a somewhat awkward situation.
The small aristocratic families continued to steal glances at the two seats as they speculated.
“The presiding clan of the Ruyang Region, the Xu Clan, has arrived!”
Xu Chaoyang brought along around 10 people from the Xu Clan as he entered the plaza.
“Elder Brother Xu, you’re finally here. The other clans that preside over their respective Regions have already all arrived,” Bai Fanyu said, welcoming him with a smile.
When Xu Chaoyang looked up at the seats of honor, his pupils constricted. Sitting there were 3 Xiantian martial artists, exerting an impressive amount of pressure over the whole plaza. Dignity was apparent in their every movement.
After waving his hands, he walked up there. Having presided over the Region for 10 years, his prestige was unrivaled. While the Bai Clan was outwardly compliant but inwardly opposed to their rule, they still had to give the Xu Clan their due respect.
He greeted those three parties who presided over their own respective Regions, as well as the envoy. They all gave rather indifferent-sounding replies.
Xu Chaoyang secretly breathed a sigh. The strength of the Xu Clan was clearly insufficient, otherwise how could these people ever dare to treat him with such an attitude?
Only the Guo Clan’s Guo Nansu opened his mouth and said with a smile, “Chaoyang, after our Guo Clan migrated, it seems that you’ve ruled over the Ruyang Region quite well, haven’t you?”
Guo Nansu was considered his senior in terms of their respective family hierarchies, and was far older than him to the point that he could even be considered his grandfather. He was still a Xiantian realm transcendent, but a hint of sarcastic irony could be heard in his words.
Xu Chaoyang replied with a salute, “Thank you for your praise, Elder Guo.”
Guo Nansu simply laughed again and didn’t say anything more.
Xu Chaoyang had just taken his seat, but he suddenly felt the pressure of qi weigh upon him like a mountain. The clear qi was so profound and heavy to him that he could hardly resist it.
When he raised his head, he saw a youth making his way over with a lofty, unyieldingly proud expression on his face. His body was recklessly giving off clear qi as he revolved his Shangqing Qi secret method, suppressing him with his qi that was at the Xiantian transcendent realm.
“Bai Xiuyu? What are you trying to do?” Xu Chaoyang asked, anger flashing across his face. He tried to revolve his own Astral Qi to resist the pressure.
The other Xiantian martial artists didn’t react. They were only surprised at the fact that Bai Xiuyu managed to successfully cultivate the Shangqing Qi secret method.
The elderly envoy was holding in a smile, as if he was trying not to sneer mockingly at the situation that was taking place. To him, it was as if they were a bunch of domesticated dogs. If the dogs helped to watch over the house and acted as entertainment from time to time, that was good enough. But if the dogs didn’t listen, or were disrespectful to their owner, they would become nothing more than braised dog meat.
This envoy clearly knew about the Dao Palace, and he even knew about the matter regarding Xu Disheng. But he didn’t tell the Bai Clan the entire truth.
“Lord Xu, these are the seats for Xiantian martial artists. Although you’re temporarily in control of the Region, you’re just here to fill the seat,” Bai Xiuyu didn’t bother to mask his arrogance, placing himself on the social high ground to talk disdainfully to Xu Chaoyang.
Bai Xiuyu was not Bai Fanyu. As a Xiantian martial artist, he didn’t give Xu Chaoyang a shred of face for being the one who presided over the Region. His words didn’t leave any room for courtesy.
Although Xu Chaoyang ruled over the whole Region, the Bai Clan had always been compliant on the surface, but in secret, they were opposed to their rule. Upon arriving in Jiangdu City, which was essentially the Bai Clan’s base camp, Xu Chaoyang didn’t think that Bai Xiuyu would be this brash right away!
Everyone from the Xu Clan that was seated below him wore angry expressions. Xu Qingcheng, who was wearing a white dress, was among them. She immediately stood up and shouted, “Bai Xiuyu! Patriarch is the one appointed by His Excellency the Prince to rule over the Region. How could you dare to be rude to him! Are you disobeying the Prince?”
When Bai Xiuyu heard what she said, he hesitated a bit. Xu Qingcheng was too sharp-tongued. He didn’t want to be labeled as someone who committed offense towards the Prince in front of so many people.
He dispelled the qi surrounding him and stepped aside. He put on a fake smile and said, “Lord Xu, as you please.”
He then shot a sidewards glance at Xu Qingcheng, his desire for her in his heart became even more intense.
Xu Chaoyang released his breath and slowly sat back down, feeling rather sullen. When he once again thought of his grandson who had entered the Dao Palace but had never been heard from since then, he let out a sigh in his heart.
He then looked over at Xu Qingcheng and felt a bit better. These previous years, Xu Qingcheng had received the full support of the Xu Clan’s resources, and now she was already half a step from the Xiantian realm. Once she broke through and became a Xiantian realm martial artist, the Xu Clan would no longer have to be this passive.
Bai Xiuyu took his place in the end seat of the seats of honor, clear qi flashing through his eyes from time to time. It wasn’t clear what he was thinking about.
The Ruyang Region’s Jin Clan, along with some other smaller clans had filed in one after the other in the meantime. Bai Fanyu, seeing that everyone was more or less here, revolved his Astral Qi to amplify his voice so it would reach the entire plaza. “Since the 200 years that our Bai Family became enfeoffed as the Bai Clan, we have finally produced a Xiantian realm transcendent. With the power to suppress a whole Region, living up to the ancestor’s name!”
The sea of onlookers erupted into loud cheers.
Xu Chaoyang’s expression was ugly. Bai Fanyu’s words had crossed the line. What was “the power to suppress a whole Region” supposed to mean? What was that supposed to make the Xu Clan, who actually presided over the Region?
With this act, the Bai Clan was letting the surrounding clans and powers know that the Bai Clan now had a Xiantian transcendent, so they couldn’t be insulted lightly.
According to the old rules, the envoy from Youyang City was supposed to officially announce the edict from the You Province. If they were not to migrate, they were supposed to replace the Xu Clan as the presiding clan and rule over the entire Region.
But at this moment, that elderly envoy was just sitting there, not doing anything, as if this matter had nothing to do with him.
The three Xiantian martial artists from the surrounding Regions exchanged glances. They could all see the puzzled look in each others’ eyes.
The Xu Clan had no Xiantian, but the Bai Clan had a Xiantian transcendent. And yet, the clan ruling over the Region remained unchanged?! But there wasn’t any other aside from Bai Xiuyu, with his exceptional Grade 5 Dao Channels, who could become a Xiantian transcendent.
At this moment, their expressions all changed greatly, as if they had thought of something. They all directed their gazes toward Xu Chaoyang.
Could it be that the Xu Clan has some kind of special position?
Speaking of special circumstances, there was one vague piece of news that came to their minds. But these people all belonged to other Regions, so their information wasn’t that accurate.
Only the old ancestor of the Guo Clan, Guo Nansu, thought of something in particular, and muttered inwardly to himself, “Could it really be that that Grade 2 child from 10 years ago actually joined the Dao Palace…?”
As he continued to ponder, he looked over at Bai Xiuyu, whose face was still full of arrogance, and shook his head. In the past, when Daoist Lord Qingxin first came to the You Province, Guo Nansu’s ancestors previously had a good relationship with him. That was why Guo Nansu was very clear that among the 11 Provinces, the Dao Palace in the You Province was just the tip of an enormous iceberg.
“Now, to offer rites to the great ancestor!” Bai Fanyu signaled for the entirety of the Bai Clan to come forth. Bai Xiuyu walked down from his seat of honor and stood behind Bai Fanyu. There were also the Elders of the Bai Clan that almost never showed their faces, and all kinds of collateral relatives and branch families. In total there were more than 300 people, and they all stood in an orderly fashion upon the stone platform as they began to offer rites to their great ancestor.
At this moment, there was a merchant caravan coming from Youyang City, slowly making its way into the Bai Clan’s Jiangdu City.
Ceremony
Within the Ruyang Region, in Jiangdu City, a grand occasion that might only happen once every few hundred years was taking place! It had already been a few hundred years since the Ruyang Region produced a Xiantian. Plus, the Ruyang Region was located in a corner of the You Province, and was poor and barren. It was never a place that attracted much attention, but today it was unusually bustling with noise and excitement.
There was a vast crowd in the central plaza of Jiangdu City. In the last few days, a massive stone platform had been hastily built, and in the middle of it was a statue of the Bai Clan’s great original ancestor.
On the stone platform, seated in the highest, most respected position, was an old man, who was none other than the envoy from Youyang. The seats around him were all empty.
There were guards near the entrance points, and they would occasionally call out loudly, announcing the names of those arriving. Peals of delighted, surprised cheers would burst out from the crowd every time they did so.
“Lord Zhao from the Yecheng Region has arrived!”
That announcement was followed by the entry of the Xiantian transcendent presiding over the Yecheng Region, Zhao Huichun. As he was led by the Bai Clan to the seats of honor, his expression was calm and indifferent. But when he saw the elderly envoy, he smiled and saluted him. “Respectful greetings to the Esteemed Envoy.”
The elderly envoy returned his greeting. Even though he was an envoy from Youyang City, he still had to have a certain level of courtesy towards these Xiantian martial artists, who were exceedingly rare beings.
“Lord Gao from the Gaoyang Region has arrived!”
“Lord Guo from the Lin’an Region has arrived!” This was the old ancestor of the Guo Clan who once presided over the Ruyang Region, Guo Nansu.
Previously, he made use of an accumulated favor from 100 years ago to invite Daoist Lord Qingxin to assist him with breaking through to the Xiantian realm. He found the Ruyang Region too poor, so the clan migrated to the Lin’an Region to take over as the local tyrant.
The Xiantian martial artists from the surrounding regions had all arrived, and among the highest seats of honor there were only two remaining seats. One of those two seats was supposed to belong to the clan who presided over the Region.
However, the ranking of this seat left the people puzzled. According to established tradition, the one presiding over the clan should be higher in ranking, and the Bai Clan should be after.
But at this time, the Bai Clan had a Xiantian transcendent martial artist who possessed impressive might, yet the clan presiding over the Region, the Xu Clan, did not have a Xiantian martial artist, which created a somewhat awkward situation.
The small aristocratic families continued to steal glances at the two seats as they speculated.
“The presiding clan of the Ruyang Region, the Xu Clan, has arrived!”
Xu Chaoyang brought along around 10 people from the Xu Clan as he entered the plaza.
“Elder Brother Xu, you’re finally here. The other clans that preside over their respective Regions have already all arrived,” Bai Fanyu said, welcoming him with a smile.
When Xu Chaoyang looked up at the seats of honor, his pupils constricted. Sitting there were 3 Xiantian martial artists, exerting an impressive amount of pressure over the whole plaza. Dignity was apparent in their every movement.
After waving his hands, he walked up there. Having presided over the Region for 10 years, his prestige was unrivaled. While the Bai Clan was outwardly compliant but inwardly opposed to their rule, they still had to give the Xu Clan their due respect.
He greeted those three parties who presided over their own respective Regions, as well as the envoy. They all gave rather indifferent-sounding replies.
Xu Chaoyang secretly breathed a sigh. The strength of the Xu Clan was clearly insufficient, otherwise how could these people ever dare to treat him with such an attitude?
Only the Guo Clan’s Guo Nansu opened his mouth and said with a smile, “Chaoyang, after our Guo Clan migrated, it seems that you’ve ruled over the Ruyang Region quite well, haven’t you?”
Guo Nansu was considered his senior in terms of their respective family hierarchies, and was far older than him to the point that he could even be considered his grandfather. He was still a Xiantian realm transcendent, but a hint of sarcastic irony could be heard in his words.
Xu Chaoyang replied with a salute, “Thank you for your praise, Elder Guo.”
Guo Nansu simply laughed again and didn’t say anything more.
Xu Chaoyang had just taken his seat, but he suddenly felt the pressure of qi weigh upon him like a mountain. The clear qi was so profound and heavy to him that he could hardly resist it.
When he raised his head, he saw a youth making his way over with a lofty, unyieldingly proud expression on his face. His body was recklessly giving off clear qi as he revolved his Shangqing Qi secret method, suppressing him with his qi that was at the Xiantian transcendent realm.
“Bai Xiuyu? What are you trying to do?” Xu Chaoyang asked, anger flashing across his face. He tried to revolve his own Astral Qi to resist the pressure.
The other Xiantian martial artists didn’t react. They were only surprised at the fact that Bai Xiuyu managed to successfully cultivate the Shangqing Qi secret method.
The elderly envoy was holding in a smile, as if he was trying not to sneer mockingly at the situation that was taking place. To him, it was as if they were a bunch of domesticated dogs. If the dogs helped to watch over the house and acted as entertainment from time to time, that was good enough. But if the dogs didn’t listen, or were disrespectful to their owner, they would become nothing more than braised dog meat.
This envoy clearly knew about the Dao Palace, and he even knew about the matter regarding Xu Disheng. But he didn’t tell the Bai Clan the entire truth.
“Lord Xu, these are the seats for Xiantian martial artists. Although you’re temporarily in control of the Region, you’re just here to fill the seat,” Bai Xiuyu didn’t bother to mask his arrogance, placing himself on the social high ground to talk disdainfully to Xu Chaoyang.
Bai Xiuyu was not Bai Fanyu. As a Xiantian martial artist, he didn’t give Xu Chaoyang a shred of face for being the one who presided over the Region. His words didn’t leave any room for courtesy.
Although Xu Chaoyang ruled over the whole Region, the Bai Clan had always been compliant on the surface, but in secret, they were opposed to their rule. Upon arriving in Jiangdu City, which was essentially the Bai Clan’s base camp, Xu Chaoyang didn’t think that Bai Xiuyu would be this brash right away!
Everyone from the Xu Clan that was seated below him wore angry expressions. Xu Qingcheng, who was wearing a white dress, was among them. She immediately stood up and shouted, “Bai Xiuyu! Patriarch is the one appointed by His Excellency the Prince to rule over the Region. How could you dare to be rude to him! Are you disobeying the Prince?”
When Bai Xiuyu heard what she said, he hesitated a bit. Xu Qingcheng was too sharp-tongued. He didn’t want to be labeled as someone who committed offense towards the Prince in front of so many people.
He dispelled the qi surrounding him and stepped aside. He put on a fake smile and said, “Lord Xu, as you please.”
He then shot a sidewards glance at Xu Qingcheng, his desire for her in his heart became even more intense.
Xu Chaoyang released his breath and slowly sat back down, feeling rather sullen. When he once again thought of his grandson who had entered the Dao Palace but had never been heard from since then, he let out a sigh in his heart.
He then looked over at Xu Qingcheng and felt a bit better. These previous years, Xu Qingcheng had received the full support of the Xu Clan’s resources, and now she was already half a step from the Xiantian realm. Once she broke through and became a Xiantian realm martial artist, the Xu Clan would no longer have to be this passive.
Bai Xiuyu took his place in the end seat of the seats of honor, clear qi flashing through his eyes from time to time. It wasn’t clear what he was thinking about.
The Ruyang Region’s Jin Clan, along with some other smaller clans had filed in one after the other in the meantime. Bai Fanyu, seeing that everyone was more or less here, revolved his Astral Qi to amplify his voice so it would reach the entire plaza. “Since the 200 years that our Bai Family became enfeoffed as the Bai Clan, we have finally produced a Xiantian realm transcendent. With the power to suppress a whole Region, living up to the ancestor’s name!”
The sea of onlookers erupted into loud cheers.
Xu Chaoyang’s expression was ugly. Bai Fanyu’s words had crossed the line. What was “the power to suppress a whole Region” supposed to mean? What was that supposed to make the Xu Clan, who actually presided over the Region?
With this act, the Bai Clan was letting the surrounding clans and powers know that the Bai Clan now had a Xiantian transcendent, so they couldn’t be insulted lightly.
According to the old rules, the envoy from Youyang City was supposed to officially announce the edict from the You Province. If they were not to migrate, they were supposed to replace the Xu Clan as the presiding clan and rule over the entire Region.
But at this moment, that elderly envoy was just sitting there, not doing anything, as if this matter had nothing to do with him.
The three Xiantian martial artists from the surrounding Regions exchanged glances. They could all see the puzzled look in each others’ eyes.
The Xu Clan had no Xiantian, but the Bai Clan had a Xiantian transcendent. And yet, the clan ruling over the Region remained unchanged?! But there wasn’t any other aside from Bai Xiuyu, with his exceptional Grade 5 Dao Channels, who could become a Xiantian transcendent.
At this moment, their expressions all changed greatly, as if they had thought of something. They all directed their gazes toward Xu Chaoyang.
Could it be that the Xu Clan has some kind of special position?
Speaking of special circumstances, there was one vague piece of news that came to their minds. But these people all belonged to other Regions, so their information wasn’t that accurate.
Only the old ancestor of the Guo Clan, Guo Nansu, thought of something in particular, and muttered inwardly to himself, “Could it really be that that Grade 2 child from 10 years ago actually joined the Dao Palace…?”
As he continued to ponder, he looked over at Bai Xiuyu, whose face was still full of arrogance, and shook his head. In the past, when Daoist Lord Qingxin first came to the You Province, Guo Nansu’s ancestors previously had a good relationship with him. That was why Guo Nansu was very clear that among the 11 Provinces, the Dao Palace in the You Province was just the tip of an enormous iceberg.
“Now, to offer rites to the great ancestor!” Bai Fanyu signaled for the entirety of the Bai Clan to come forth. Bai Xiuyu walked down from his seat of honor and stood behind Bai Fanyu. There were also the Elders of the Bai Clan that almost never showed their faces, and all kinds of collateral relatives and branch families. In total there were more than 300 people, and they all stood in an orderly fashion upon the stone platform as they began to offer rites to their great ancestor.
At this moment, there was a merchant caravan coming from Youyang City, slowly making its way into the Bai Clan’s Jiangdu City.
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