Chapter 78: Pedestal
Lian Chengyu looked at Yi Yun with a scathing look.
“I just need a few days to recover and when that happens, I’ll make sure I’ll get revenge for what happened today! I want to let you know what it means to lead a living death!”
If he had been overwhelmed by an expert, it would be no matter. But now, a person who seemed weaker than him was provoking him and undermining his authority; yet because of his injuries, he could not do anything about it. How could he not be angry?
“Yi Yun!” Lian Chengyu said with reluctance. However, Lian Chengyu knew that he could not do anything. If he fought with Yi Yun, even if he won, it would affect his chances at the Kingdom’s selection that was days away, and that was not a price he was willing to pay.
“My Lian tribal clan has suffered for hundreds of years in the Cloud Wilderness. Our ancestors ate grass roots and tree barks as they slowly developed our clan into what we are today.”
“Finally, in my generation, I have practiced martial arts for a decade and never slacked off in my cultivation, even during the famine years. The only reason was to bring the Lian tribal clan out of the wilderness and into the city, letting the tribe prosper!”
“But now… Just as I have invested all of my assets into saving the tribe, you come out here to spread rumors, to bewitch the people and falsely accuse me. Do you want the people of the Lian tribal clan to live forever in misery?” Lian Chengyu’s words were spat right back at Yi Yun, creating a public debate.
Lian Chengyu and Yi Yun stuck to their own arguments.
Yi Yun said that Lian Chengyu had refined desolate bones that contained toxins, causing the deaths of the people, while Lian Chengyu said Yi Yun was framing him! Both sides were diametrically opposed to each other!
However, in this debate, the people undoubtedly believed in Lian Chengyu; after all, Lian Chengyu had extremely high standing in the Lian tribal clan, while Yi Yun was just a child.
Hearing the speech, Yi Yun could guess the sentiments of the tribe members, and could not help recall a fable from Earth.
During the primitive periods, a group of cavemen worshipped a shadow. The shadow could grow bigger and smaller. It looked like a god, so the cavemen would worship the shadow every day.
However, a clever caveman did not believe in ‘god’. With great effort, he managed to climb to the top of the cave one day. He then realized that the god the people worshipped was just the shadow of a rock being cast by the sunlight.
The clever caveman told his tribe the truth, he did not want them to worship the shadow, because it was just the shadow of a rock and not a god.
In the end, no one believed the clever caveman, but they became scared. The clever caveman was eventually burned at the stake because of his blasphemy against the god. After that, the cavemen carried on worshipping the rock’s shadow.
Yi Yun felt that his current situation was exactly that of the fable.
He was the clever caveman, while Lian Chengyu was the shadow.
The current Lian Chengyu who was trying to save the tribe, had cut all the roads of retreat and had managed to “successfully break through” into the Purple Blood realm, was a god in the Lian tribal clan!
Everyone, be it the Lian tribal clan upper echelon, the members of the warrior preparation camp or the commoners, had all placed their hopes on Lian Chengyu, hoping he will bring change into the tribe, leading them out of poverty and hunger.
People who lived in hardship would tend to be religious. They needed an emotional support, allowing them to escape from reality and believe in a brighter future. Only then, would they have the courage to keep living.
As for Lian Chengyu, he had undoubtedly taken that spot. He was the tribe’s leader, and an idol for many youths in the tribe. He was the perfect dream lover in all the girls’ hearts.
As long as Lian Chengyu passed the Kingdom’s selection, he would be the savior of the Lian tribal clan!
As for Yi Yun, he was just a twelve year old child. He didn’t have much prestige or authority, so it was difficult for him to topple Lian Chengyu.
Besides, Yi Yun had no evidence. Even if he did, it was likely that no one would believe in him because if Lian Chengyu was toppled, it was tantamount to shattering the poor people’s spiritual hope, telling them that they would forever live in darkness. Who would allow that?
If Yi Yun hadn’t maimed Zhao Tiezhu, and used his strength to stand his ground, he would have been burnt at the stake by the angry crowd like the clever caveman.
Seeing that the people were clearly on his side, Lian Chengyu was pleased. The only thing that annoyed him was that, even with the support of the people, he still could do nothing to Yi Yun.
“Yi Yun, I acknowledge you as a genius, and you have acceptable talent for martial arts. It was probably some fortuitous event that allowed you to get to this stage!”
Lian Chengyu emphasized the word fortuitous, because he was extremely jealous of Yi Yun. What gave Yi Yun the right to have a fortuitous event, but not him?
Although he was jealous, Lian Chengyu had to act as though having a fortuitous event to obtain increased strength was not showing one’s true strength. It meant that only by taking a short cut could you reach this stage, but I had worked hard using my own strength to obtain it.
Lian Chengyu’s meaning was quickly understood by his henchmen. They said, “No wonder. This kid could beat Zhao Tiezhu, it’s because he took a shortcut!”
“He may have eaten some treasure, but I heard that with these treasures, although it can quickly increase your strength, your fundamentals will be shaky, and you will eventually meet a bottleneck. It’s like pulling up a seedling in the mistaken hope of helping it grow!”
The henchmen gave a look of understanding, of course their boss was the strongest, and as for Yi Yun’s strength, it was just short-lived. Besides, Yi Yun wasn’t that strong, he had only defeated Zhao Tiezhu, and that didn’t count for anything.
The crowd was swayed as they felt the reasoning of these henchmen reasonable. This was the only way they could understand how Yi Yun’s strength had increased by leaps and bounds.
Lian Chengyu carried on, “To be able to reach this stage, it was not easy indeed. I’ll pardon you, so you should join hands with me, to work hard together to make the Lian tribal clan prosper!”
Lian Chengyu said it with dignity.
Lian Chengyu’s henchmen and the idolising fans in the crowd began to cheer.
“Young master Lian understands the principles of right and wrong and the tribe is really fortunate to have him!” Some people clapped and shouted with joy.
“Young master Lian is so magnanimous, Yi Yun discredited Young master Lian, but yet Young master Lian didn’t blame him, he even wanted to put Yi Yun in an important position. If Yi Yun knew any better, he should assist Young master Lian.”
The talk on the ground was easily swayed, what’s more, the words of the henchmen were totally reasonable.
After all, Lian Chengyu had broken into the Purple Blood realm, so passing the Kingdom’s selection was a sure thing.
As for Yi Yun, although his talent seemed good, he had not practiced martial arts for long and obtained such strength from a fortuitous event. He was roughly at the third state of Mortal Blood, so it was unlikely he would pass even if he participated in the Kingdom’s selection.
In the future when Yi Yun grew up, if he was willing to help Lian Chengyu, he would be a great help to Lian Chengyu, allowing the Lian tribal clan to take off.
These were the thoughts of the majority, however, Lian Chengyu and Yi Yun had no such thoughts…