Chapter 193: Undercurrents Brewing In Secret
Translator: KurazyTolanzuraytor Editor: Lucas
"Hey! Brothers, have you all heard? That Duan Ling Tian, whose name was spread and gave rise to much discussion a while ago, has broken through to the Origin Core Stage!"
"I’ve known of this news since a few days ago. I have a distant cousin who’s at Paladin Academy."
"Forgive my disrespect, brother, you’re actually the cousin of a Paladin Academy student!"
"Don’t mention it…."
"Then brother, do you know that just this morning, that Duan Ling Tian returned to the Duan Clan and acknowledged his ancestors?"
"There’s such a thing?"
"Hehe! A distant cousin of mine is a Duan Clan servant girl. Allegedly, the display was rather grand."
"Didn’t that Duan Ling Tian refuse to return to the Duan Clan before?"
"That’s all history…And not worth mentioning!"
Within a restaurant in the Imperial City’s inner city, two young men were chatting and became acquainted with each other.
And presently, similar conversations were taking place throughout the Imperial City inner city….
Duan Ling Tian, the youth who stepped into the Origin Core Stage at the age of 18, and the publically acknowledged number one genius within Paladin Academy. Now he had an extra title of a Duan Clan direct descendant disciple added on.
In the eyes of the people within the Imperial City, it was sufficient to call Duan Ling Tian one who was favored by the heavens, and his current status even surpassed Duan Ru Feng all those years ago….
...
The Su Clan Estate.
Within a spacious courtyard, an old man raised his hand and the stone table within the courtyard shattered with a crack before crashing onto the ground.
"Grandfather, what’s happened?" A young man whose complexion was slightly sickly pale walked out from within his room and looked questioningly at the old man.
"Tong, why have you come out? Your injuries haven’t healed, and you need to rest more." The old man looked at the young man, and a strand of guilt flashed within his eyes.
"Grandfather, has something happened?" Su Tong’s face sank.
Streams of light spiraled within the old man’s eyes as he forced out a smile. "Nothing happened, don’t overthink things…."
"Grand Elder!" However, right at this moment, the Su Clan’s Patriarch, Su Bo Ya, paid him a visit, and Su Bo Ya looked at the old man who was the Su Clan’s Grand Elder as he walked into the courtyard.
"Patriarch." Su Nan and Su Tong bowed to Su Bo Ya.
Su Bo Ya looked at Su Nan as he slowly said, "Grand Elder, I presume you’ve heard of the matter of that Duan Ling Tian returning to the Duan Clan and acknowledging his ancestors, right?"
Su Nan’s face sank as he nodded.
"What?!" Su Tong’s face went ghastly pale. That Duan Ling Tian actually returned to the Duan Clan and acknowledged his ancestors?
At this instant, he only felt the sky go dark, and only darkness was left before his eyes….
In the past two days, he’d heard of the news regarding Duan Ling Tian’s break through to the Origin Core Stage. He was shocked towards Duan Ling Tian’s peerless natural talent, and his heart was filled with resentment.
He wished for nothing more than to hack Duan Ling Tian into pieces!
However, as far as he was concerned, even if Duan Ling Tian’s natural talent in the Martial Dao was strong, he didn’t have any strong background, and thus it wasn’t difficult for his grandfather to take revenge for him. But now, the news of Duan Ling Tian returning to the Duan Clan was undoubtedly like a thunderbolt that dropped out of the clear sky, striking Su Tong until he felt like it was difficult to breathe.
An 18-year-old Origin Core martial artist wasn’t anything great because if he was unable to mature, then everything was in vain. But once an 18-year-old Origin Core martial artist was branded with the brand of the Duan Clan, he would undoubtedly receive an extra layer of a life-saving talismans. The Duan Clan would absolutely not allow anything to happen to a genius martial artist like Duan Ling Tian!
"Grand Elder, the Duan Clan’s Patriarch, Duan Ru Hong, has already spoken with me about Su Tong’s matter… He’s willing to hand over a restaurant under the Duan Clan within the outer city to our Su Clan. That restaurant will be handed to your family. How about it?" Su Bo Ya looked at Su Nan as he slowly spoke.
"Patriarch, what does that Duan Ru Huo want? He wants us to put down the enmity with that Duan Ling Tian?" Su Nan’s face sank as he spoke in a nearly howling voice.
"Grand Elder!" Su Bo Ya frowned and his voice went slightly colder. He was the Patriarch of the clan, but this Grand Elder actually dared to shout and howl before him. Where would he put his face?
"Patriarch." Su Nan came to his sense and said apologetically, "I was just furious for a moment earlier, I hope the Patriarch can forgive me."
"Humph!" Su Bo Ya’s cold and indifferent gaze swept past Su Nan. "Grand Elder, the reason I came here today, besides notifying your family to go take over that restaurant… The other reason is to give you a reminder. In the future, at the very least don’t go looking for trouble with that Duan Ling Tian; otherwise, if anything were to happen to your family because of this, the clan won’t stand forward for you."
What?! Su Nan’s face went gloomy, and Su Tong, who was beside Su Nan, had a face full of rage.
What the Patriarch said at the end was undoubtedly indicating the Su Clan’s standpoint, and the meaning was if he and his family were to look for trouble with Duan Ling Tian, then the Su Clan would isolate them.
"Patriarch, my family members are still direct descendants…You’re isolating us just for the sake of Duan Ling Tian? I wonder if this is the intention of the Patriarch, or the clan’s intentions." Su Nan’s face was gloomy, and as he finished speaking, there was a vague questioning tone within his voice.
"Presumptuous!" Su Bo Ya’s face went grim.
"Grand Elder, you actually dare go against your superiors!" Right at this moment, a group of people flowed in from outside the courtyard. They were precisely the group of Su Clan elders.
"You all…." A bad premonition arose within Su Nan’s heart when he saw all these people appear.
"Grand Elder, you mustn’t misunderstand the Patriarch, as what the Patriarch said earlier is something that we unanimously approved and agreed upon." The corners of the Su Clan’s second elder’s mouth curled into a sneer.
Su Nan’s face sank, and his gaze swept past all of the Su Clan elders present before he said, in a low voice, "What that Duan Clan paid for the matter with my grandson probably isn’t just simply a restaurant, right?"
"Exactly! The restaurant in the outer city is only the Duan Clan’s compensation to your family. What the Duan Clan compensated our Su Clan is a yearly place in the recommendation quota into Paladin Academy…."
"In other words, the Duan Clan will provide one out of their original five places in the recommendation quota to our Su Clan. In this way, our Su Clan and the Duan Clan would similarly have a yearly recommendation quota of four." The second elder didn’t deny it.
"What generosity of the Duan Clan!" Su Nan’s face sank and turned pale, as he finally understood what happened.
"Patriarch, fellow elders, if there isn’t anything else, then Su Nan won’t be entertaining you…." Su Nan took a deep breath, and his tone had an unapproachable intent mixed within.
He understood that the milk was already spilled, and this matter wasn’t something he could alter anymore!
Su Bo Ya’s brows knit, and he shook his head before leaving with the group of Su Clan elders.
"No…I won’t accept this…Grandfather, I won’t accept this!" Su Tong’s face was deathly pale. He held his head in his hands, grabbing onto his hair until it seemed like a mass of loose rags, and unceasingly shook his head, as he was unwilling to believe that all this was real.
"Pu!" Meanwhile, Su Nan’s face flushed and a mouthful of blood forcefully came out of his mouth. This was blood he spat from being enraged by the Su Clan’s higher-ups.
"Tong, don’t worry… Even if I have to risk abandoning our family, Grandfather will still take revenge for you! You’re the one and only descendant of our family, but since your future’s been destroyed, then our family doesn’t have any future to talk about!" Su Nan’s eyes flickered with a cold night, and his face was filled with ruthlessness and malice.
Within the audience hall of the Fifth Prince’s estate.
The Fifth Prince’s face slowly went gloomy as he heard the white-browed old man’s report.
"Wasn’t that Duan Ling Tian rather strong-willed? He returned so easily to the clan that abandoned him so many years ago?" Fifth Prince’s pupils constricted, as the matter of Duan Ling Tian returning to the Duan Clan slightly exceeded his expectations.
"Your highness, my guess is that upon seeing Duan Ling Tian being able to break through to the Origin Core Stage at the age of 18, the Duan Clan looked favorably upon Duan Ling Tian’s future, and thus made heavy promises that tempted Duan Ling Tian," the white browed old man slowly said.
"Humph! To think that I thought he was an unyielding person in the beginning." The Fifth Prince’s voice was filled with disdain.
"Cousin!" Right at this moment, a red figure flashed into the audience hall.
The icy-cold expression of the Fifth Prince’s face instantly melted and he lightly smiled. "Little girl, you are in such a rush. Is there something the matter?"
The person who entered was precisely Tong Li.
Tong Li’s face sank. "Cousin, I heard that Duan Ling Tian returned to the Duan Clan… Is this true?"
"Yes, I’ve just heard from Senior Bai as well." The Fifth Prince nodded.
"Then… My revenge, does it mean I can’t have it anymore?" Tong Li’s eyes emitted a trace refusal to accept it, and her face was filled with unwillingness.
"Li, don’t worry, even if that Duan Ling Tian has the support of the Duan Clan, your cousin won’t let him off… However, your cousin needs to give the matter further thought."
The Fifth Prince continued, "Didn’t you say the other time that a female student within Paladin Academy bullied you a few days ago? I’ll ask Senior Bai to send a few people to you, and you can go deal with her."
Tong Li’s eyes shone. "Thank you, Cousin!"
Within a spacious courtyard house’s rear courtyard, Duan Ling Tian was comfortably lying down on a deck chair with closed his eyes and was bathing in the sun.
Li Fei, who had an angelic face and devilish figure, sat beside him and helped him massage his legs….
"Little Fei, a little bit higher…Right, there….Oh, comfortable!" Duan Ling Tian heaved a sigh, and his face revealed a satisfied smile.
"Young Master, open your mouth." Ke Er, who was gentle like water, sat on the other side of Duan Ling Tian and placed grapes that had their skins peeled into Duan Ling Tian’s mouth.
Duan Ling Tian ate grapes as he enjoyed the massage and felt his entire body easing up. He had really spent these last few days comfortably like a god.
"Young Master, was it fun when you went to the Duan Clan to acknowledge your ancestors this morning?" Ke Er asked, with a tone that had a trace of curiosity mixed within.
Duan Ling Tian slowly opened his eyes when he heard what she said. He noticed that Li Fei was looking at him as well. "What fun would there be? It was nothing more than a formality…."
Li Fei smiled as she said, "Aunt Rou looked rather happy."
"Of course, Mother had been waiting for this day for god knows how long… This time it can be considered as fulfilling Mother’s desire." Duan Ling Tian nodded.
Besides paving the road for himself, the matter this time had one more reason, and that was his mother. Otherwise, even if the Duan Clan’s Patriarch were to personally request it of him, it was unlikely that Duan Ling Tian would be willing to return to the Duan Clan.
That clan that was icy-cold and indifferent like a block of ice, even though Duan Ling Tian had already returned to the clan and acknowledged his ancestors now, he didn’t have any sense of belonging to the clan, and at most it was just a relationship of mutual advantage.