Chapter 237: Iron Father and Son, Secrets of the Sixteen Kingdoms
An elder with a slightly thickening waist examined at the corpse on the ground with a furrowed brow, remaining silent for a long while.
This person was Elder Iron’s father, one of the four esteemed elders of the Precious Tree Sect, Iron Long.
“Father, say something!” Elder Iron became a bit anxious when he saw his father’s continued silence.
“Iron Can, this person is your brother-in-law?” Iron Long asked.
“Yes, why else would I bring his corpse back for you to look over if he wasn’t Xiaoqian’s brother?” Elder Iron’s full name was Iron Can.
“This person wasn’t killed by a human. What killed him should’ve been a spirit creature, and a very bloodthirsty one at that.” Iron Long sighed. “And, look, Yang Zhao didn’t have the ability to fight back at all when he was devoured. When did such a strong spirit creature appear in the Skylaurel Kingdom?”
“Who knows?” Iron Can was quite dispirited. “Father, do you think this spirit creature is strong? How strong is it?”
Iron Long’s ire rose. “I didn’t see it for myself, how would I know how strong it is? Since Yang Zhao was an earth spirit realm practitioner and couldn’t fight back at all, then it must be much stronger than Yang Zhao. Iron Can, why were you so bored as to make a trip to a mundane kingdom instead of training? Do the ordinary affairs of the mundane world hold that much attraction for you?”
Iron Can had lost some face after this lecture from his father. “Something had happened to Xiaoqian’s brother, so I had no choice either. Who doesn’t know that Yang Zhao is my brother in law? If I didn’t put in an appearance after something happened to him, people would laugh at me! Everyone would think that I’m a coward, that I couldn’t protect my own brother-in-law. I can lose face, but you’re a heavyweight of the Precious Tree Sect, so I can’t let you lose face.”
Iron Long snorted, “You’re always full of random crap. I warned you, you should act decisively and swiftly if you make a move. Don’t always go about creating trouble for me.”
“I wanted to do that, but I was almost killed by someone else.”
“What?” At the end of the day, Iron Long was still someone who sided with his son. He couldn’t help but ask further when he heard Iron Can’s words.
“Who else is there? That old fart Ye Chonglou! Pretending that he’s all that because of his seniority, he’s ruined my plans twice already! Father, wouldn’t you say that this old man is like a stone in the latrine pit, smelly and stubborn? He actually dared erupt into open hostilities with me this time over an ordinary youth. He didn’t give me the slightest bit of face when I brought up your name. Can it be that you, a vaunted esteemed elder of the Precious Tree Sect, doesn’t measure up to a mundane old fart like him? This is truly infuriating. I’m truly incensed when I think of this matter!”
“Ye Chonglou?” Iron Long’s brow faintly creased when he heard this name.
“Father, this old man Ye doesn’t give you the slightest bit of face.”
Iron Long’s face sank slightly as he heard this name again. “With his seniority, why would he make trouble for you?”
“It’s because of that Eastern Kingdom brat called Jiang Chen! I don’t know what he’s fed the old man, but the old man defended him this time at the cost of making enemies out of our house. Father, he’s a mundane wandering practitioner. How is he a match for our sect?”
Iron Can’s choice of words and the meanings held within were all designed to enrage his father and rouse his ire.
Nevertheless, Iron Long had the benefit of his years and wouldn’t easily be led astray by his son’s words. Besides, he also knew what kind of personality his son had.
“It isn’t that the sect isn’t a match for him, but that Ye Chonglou hasn’t ever made trouble for the sect. It can even be said that he has a cooperative relationship with the sect, but he’s never been willing to enter the sect. Otherwise the position of esteemed elder within the sect may not even be your old man’s!”
Iron Long was still a bit fearful when he spoke of Ye Chonglou.
“Father, you’re simply being too self deprecating and putting others on a pedestal!” Iron Can was completely unwilling to accept this. Ye Chonglou had been so cocky that he really wanted his father to put in an appearance and ruthlessly take the old man down a peg.
“Iron Can, you can plot against anyone you want, but avoid offending Ye Chonglou if you can. It’s not that your father is afraid of him, but that there’s no need to make such a strong enemy. If he really becomes our enemy and lodges a complaint against us with the sect head, our Iron family will be undoubtedly crushed by the sect head.”
Where there were people, there would be conflict.
Where there was conflict, there would be struggles and fights.
Although the Precious Tree Sect was a hidden sect, it was unavoidable that struggles between factions would arise.
Iron Long was the head of the Iron family and sect head Xie Tianshu was the head of the Xie family. They were unequivocally the two large powers within the Precious Tree Sect.
Iron Can was rather depressed when he heard his father’s words, “This means that we have to just lie down and take this?”
“What business do you have holding a grudge against Ye Chonglou? With his level, there’s no point in you bearing ill feelings towards him. Even I don’t wish to fight him, don’t you think you’re being ludicrous? Would you have come back so easily if he really wanted to suppress you?”
Iron Long started lecturing, “Remember, don’t be a fool. You can’t afford to offend Ye Chonglou. If you really offend the old man, he won’t think of giving even your father face if he wants to move against you.”
Iron Can was dumbfounded, “No way? He won’t give face to even you, father?”
“You idiot!” Iron Long said ill temperedly. “He didn’t even give face to Xie Tianshu in the beginning. Xie Tianshu invited him to join the sect and offered many incentives and benefits. The old man turned him down.”
Iron Can was stunned. Was something wrong with Ye Chonglou’s brain?
He’d even turned down an invitation from the head of the Precious Tree Sect?!
Could it be that the attraction from a mundane kingdom was stronger than that from a sect?
“Father, just what’s with this Ye Chonglou? What reason does he have to turn down our sect?”
Iron Long laughed wryly, “You’re asking me? Exactly who should I go ask then? Regardless, him not joining the sect is good for us. Just make sure not to offend him in the future.”
“Then Yang Zhao’s death is in vain?” Iron Can was unwilling to accept this.
“What does Yang Zhao’s death have to do with Ye Chonglou? You don’t understand the old man. If he really wanted to destroy Yang Zhao, a single slap would’ve been enough to do the deed.”
“Even if it has nothing to do with Ye Chonglou, it definitely has something to do with Jiang Chen! Can I not antagonize Jiang Chen simply because Ye Chonglou is protecting him?”
“Can’t you use your brain for once? As long as he stays within the Skylaurel Kingdom, Jiang Chen will bump into our sect sooner or later. Then, there will be plenty of opportunities to suppress and take down Jiang Chen. Not to mention, even now you only need to find the right excuse to take care of Jiang Chen. Ye Chonglou isn’t related to Jiang Chen and he won’t be able to say anything then.”
“Heh heh, father is definitely the wisest. I’ve heard that Ye Chonglou wanted to take Jiang Chen as a disciple, but Jiang Chen didn’t agree. Isn’t this Jiang Chen just as weird as that old fart?”
‘What? You say that brat turned down the old man’s offer? Hahaha, what goes around comes around! He rejected the Precious Tree Sect, and someone else rejected him as well. Such is karma!” Iron Long also started laughing.
“Humph. Jiang Chen must’ve turned down that old fart because he wanted to enter the sect. I’ll have plenty of chances to take care of him if he wants to enter the sect!”
Iron Long nodded. “You’ve finally seen the light. The four great sects will be holding the selection of the geniuses soon. The scale of this year’s selection will be quite impressive as it’s the once in every sixty years.”
“Once every sixty years?”
“Yes, since they wish to unearth all the geniuses within the sixteen kingdoms, the level of this year’s selection is quite high. Iron Can, if you have the spare effort and time to kick up a fuss in the mundane world, why don’t you spend more time on finding young geniuses? Don’t think that you’re set for life just because you were born into the sect and were made an elder because of my influence.”
Iron Long really wanted to fling a stern slap over his son’s face when he saw his nonchalant attitude towards the situation.
He had to say, this son was a source of some disappointment to him.
However, as disappointed as he was, Iron Can was still his son.
“Iron Can, do you think that your life is wonderful as an elder of the sect? Are you satisfied that you can summon the winds and rain and walk around with abandon in the mundane kingdoms? Do you have no further goals in this life?”
“Father, I’m trying quite hard as well!”
“Trying hard?” Iron Long laughed coldly. “You try hard everyday between the legs of women, aren’t you?”
“Um…” Iron Can was quite depressed. “Father, I don’t understand. My performance isn’t that bad, is it? I haven’t lost face for you, have I? Why do you always demand that I do this or that?”
“Ai, Iron Can, there are some things I haven’t told you because I didn’t want you to worry. It’s right if you think that our Iron family has incredibly power and strength within the sect, but what you don’t know is that even our sect is not without any worries. This world is vast, and there are many practitioners out there. Although our sect is at the pinnacle of existence within the sixteen kingdoms, we’re only a small backwater in the greater picture of things.”
“Father, you simply think too much! Even if we’re a small backwater, we’ve lived quite well and peacefully these past couple hundred of years. What, can we not live just because we’re a small place?”
Iron Long’s irritation grew when he saw his son’s completely indifferent mentality, completely exasperated at his offspring’s failure to live up to his expectations.
“You hopeless good-for-nothing, there’s no hope for you!” Iron Long was so angry that his face was purple. He huffed, “I haven’t told you many things because they’re classified. Since you are content to muddle along in ignorance, I’ll tell you then!”
“What is it?” Iron Can’s thoughts raced when he saw how serious his father’s tone was. He didn’t dare treat things lightly anymore.
“Why do you think the selection this time is so important?”
“Why?” Iron Can really didn’t know.
“Why do you think that the four great sects, factions that have always been at odds with each other, would set aside their differences and combine efforts to identify the geniuses of the kingdom?”
“Father, stop asking me the questions and just tell me why? Please speak straightforwardly!”
“The reason is simple, because our sixteen kingdom alliance has been left far behind in the dust. Our existence has become lower and lower in this world. Our own kind is about to give up on us and we’re about to be downgraded to the level of desolate wilderness.”
“What does that mean? Father, what does it mean that our own kind is about to give up on us and we’ll be downgraded to desolate wilderness?”
“What does it mean?” Iron Long revealed a trace of a bleak and ghastly smile. “The region that we live in is called the Myriad Domain and is considered to be human territory. There are multiple factions in it. There are strong empires and enduring dynasties within it, as well as alliances of weak kingdoms such as us. Our sixteen kingdom alliance is amongst the weakest and smallest amongst all the factions in the Myriad Domain. But whether we’re strong or weak, we all belong to the human faction within the Myriad Domain and have received its protection. But if our alliance continues to weaken and cannot meet the Myriad Domain’s requirements, we’ll be naturally abandoned and lose the Domain’s protection. In this regard, our sixteen kingdom alliance will be thoroughly discarded by the powers within the human faction and become a land of desolate wilderness!”
“A land of desolate wilderness? What does that mean?”
“That means humanity have given up and exiled us. Once our land is labeled as desolate wilderness, that means the humans that live here won’t be under the protection of the human faction. At that point, we will become the target of attacks from alien races!”