Flitting forward, he soon found himself where the First Elder was.
“How is it?” the First Elder asked.
“He isn’t!” Zhang Wuchen shook his head.
“He isn’t?”
“I took him to the Blood Reservoir, but there was no reaction at all. I tried testing his Primordial Spirit too, but he was unable to retain the physical manifestation of the Time Quintessence. That should be more than enough to verify that he isn’t a member of the Zhang Clan!” Zhang Wuchen swiftly filled the First Elder in on what he had seen in the Blood Reservoir.
“It seems like I have been thinking too much into it.” The First Elder shook his head as his eyes turned cold. “Since he’s completely unrelated to our Zhang Clan, dispatch someone to challenge him in swordsmanship so as to teach him that there are powers whom he can’t afford to offend. Also, with all the mess that he has made in our Zhang Clan, you must make sure to resolve the issue well. He mustn’t be allowed to leave easily, otherwise what will become of the dignity of our Zhang Clan?”
That young man had destroyed their entrance formation, made the sculptures of their predecessors run amok, and caused the collapse of their guest area. If not for the hint of doubt at the back of their minds, there was no way that they would have allowed the young man to do as he pleased!
The Zhang Clan could not appear weak before others, or else the powers that had chosen to ally with them would lose confidence in their leadership!
“That fellow has tamed the Inferno Qilin. I fear that if we push him too far… he might just cause some mishap,” Zhang Wuchen replied hesitantly.
While that fellow appeared to be a mere Grand Dominion realm cultivator, he had tamed the Inferno Qilin, whose cultivation had reached Saint 9-dan pinnacle. If he really caused an uproar, while the Zhang Clan would be able to suppress it eventually, it would have to pay quite a heavy price to do so!
“Simple.” The First Elder placed his hands behind his back and harrumphed coldly. “Have the inner clan members suppress their cultivation and challenge him with a bet. Force him to remain in the Zhang Clan and devote his entire life to serving it. Since he has taken away our clan head’s saint beast, how can we allow him to walk away just like that? And if he loses the bet fair and square, we will also be able to explain the matter to Yang shi.”
It was true that master teacher clans were bound by principles and rules, but that did not mean that they were foolishly honest people.
Putting aside those destroyed buildings, just talking about the Inferno Qilin itself, the Zhang Clan had devoted unimaginable resources over the prior three years in order to tame it—just the fact that they had brought in 9-star beast tamers one after another should make that very apparent. How could they simply gift it to Zhang Xuan just like that?
Not to mention, it was obvious that the young man had come with the intention of challenging the Zhang Clan!
Honestly speaking, if not out of deference for his identity as Yang shi’s direct disciple, they would have had him captured and forcefully retained!
“You’re right.” Zhang Wuchen looked at the First Elder and asked, “Who will be a suitable candidate for dealing with him then?”
For a clan to continue growing stronger and stronger and eventually reach the top, they had to resort to underhanded means from time to time. There were simply some problems that could not be resolved otherwise, so this was something that could not be helped.
The First Elder pondered for a moment before nodding. “Zhang Xu, Zhang Heng, and Zhang Qin should be fine. Their understanding of swordsmanship has reached a decent level, and their strength is formidable for their level. It shouldn’t be too difficult for them to deal with a Grand Dominion realm lad.”
“Very well. I’ll instruct them to challenge Zhang Xuan later on,” Zhang Wuchen replied. “How is the preparation for the Clan Assembly coming along? When will it be held?”
The reason they had gathered all of their outstanding clan members and the experts of every occupation was to conduct their Clan Assembly. Since most people had arrived, it was about time to hold the Clan Assembly.
“We’ll be conducting it once day breaks. As you know, this involves the marriage with the Luo Clan, so we can’t afford to have any hiccups!” the First Elder said as a glint flashed across his eyes.
“I understand. Just that, the young prodigy is still missing to date, so…” Zhang Wuchen said hesitantly.
“Like I have said, we’ll be using this Clan Assembly as a platform to conduct a tournament, and the person who finishes in first place will marry the little princess of the Luo Clan in place of our young prodigy. There’s no time to be wasted, or else things might just spiral beyond our control!” the First Elder said grimly.
“I guess that’s the only way around it.” Zhang Wuchen nodded. Clasping his fist, he bowed deeply and said, “I’ll make arrangements right now. However, I think challenging Zhang Xuan should still come after the Clan Assembly. Otherwise, Zhang Xu and the others could be disadvantaged during the tournament.”
“Alright, I’ll leave it up to you to determine the specifics.” The First Elder nodded before falling silent.
…
While they were discussing Zhang Xuan, the man himself had already returned back to his residence. While he was making his way in, he saw a human silhouette heading his way.
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The human silhouette clasped his fist and greeted, “Teacher!”
It was Zhang Jiuxiao.
“What are you doing here?”
“I heard of the commotion that you’ve caused,” Zhang Jiuxiao replied with a bitter smile.
This teacher that he had just acknowledged caused turmoil like there was no tomorrow. He had been causing a ruckus ever since he arrived at the Zhang Clan, and if not for the First Elder holding everyone back, someone might have just assassinated him by now.
Hearing those words, Zhang Xuan waved his hand to signify that it was nothing before asking hurriedly, “Why is your clan in such a hurry to conduct the Clan Assembly?”
Without a doubt, the reason the Clan Assembly had been brought forward was because of Luo Ruoxin. However, that was all he knew at the moment.
Even now, he still was not too sure just what kind of despicable plan the Zhang Clan was hatching this time around!
“I just finished looking into the matter. It seems like there’s only one reason the Clan Assembly has been brought forward—it seems like the clan is intending to hold a selection to select another person from the younger generation to marry the little princess from the Luo Clan,” Zhang Jiuxiao replied.
“Select another person to marry the little princess?” Zhang Xuan’s eyebrows leaped up in astonishment. With his fists tightly clenched, he asked, “What about your young prodigy? Isn’t he supposed to be the little princess’ fiancé?”
“Based on rumors that have been going around, the young prodigy has gone missing. No one knows where he is. However, with the marriage with the little princess of the Luo Clan coming right up, there’s no time to be lost. Thus, the elders decided to find the most outstanding talent of the younger generation in the Zhang Clan to take his place and marry her.” Zhang Jiuxiao revealed all that he knew about the matter.
“Screw this!” Zhang Xuan felt blood rushing to his head, threatening to take his sanity away.
It was already shameless for them to force a marriage on Luo Ruoxin, and now, they were even randomly finding a replacement for the young prodigy just because the latter willfully went missing.
Had they ever considered the Luo Clan’s feelings before doing this? What did they take Luo Ruoxin to be?
“How can they take the marriage with the Luo Clan so lightly?” Zhang Xuan roared in fury.
This was truly the most ridiculous thing that he had ever heard! How could the Zhang Clan even think of finding someone to replace the young prodigy in the marriage? Was this not a complete lack of respect for the other party?
“It seems like the Zhang Clan has no choice in this either. I’m not too sure about it, but it appears that there’s something much more important tied into this. In any case, one thing is for certain. The Zhang Clan is determined to go through with this marriage, and they won’t allow anyone to foil it!” Zhang Jiuxiao said.
“When will the tournament be held?” Zhang Xuan asked with a livid expression.
Zhang Jiuxiao clearly felt a cold killing intent leaking from Zhang Xuan’s body, and he shuddered slightly in fear. A bad premonition suddenly surfaced in his head, and he hurriedly exclaimed in horror, “Teacher, there will be many experts at the tournament! You mustn’t act recklessly! Otherwise… I fear that you might be placed in a precarious situation!”
He knew the personality of his teacher very well; obstinate and fearless, never hesitating to go through with whatever he believed in despite the risks. Back in the Qingyuan Empire, he had also stood against the emperor and a vice pavilion master without any hesitation.
However, the Zhang Clan could not be placed on the same level as the likes of the Qingyuan Empire. As the number one Sage Clan, the Zhang Clan was one of the strongest powers on the Master Teacher Continent. If his teacher interfered during the tournament, the Zhang Clan would not allow this matter to be resolved peacefully.
Not even a Saint 9-dan pinnacle expert would be able to survive the wrath of the Zhang Clan.
Knowing what Zhang Jiuxiao was thinking of, Zhang Xuan replied with a sinister smile, “Rest assured, I won’t be the one causing trouble. The one who will be causing trouble is you!”
“Me?” Zhang Jiuxiao was taken aback.
“Indeed. I want you to participate in the tournament and win the champion seat!” Zhang Xuan waved his hand grandly.