Yu Yuanzhen had a headache.
He ultimately couldn't resist his eldest grandson's 'crying, making a fuss, and threatening to hang himself' routine.
"That's enough, that's enough."
"If not for Sword Wine, how would Tian Heng be cultivating so diligently now?"
Under the inky night sky.
A flash of lightning tore through the heavens.
A figure, harnessing the thunder, streaked across the sky... The Strength Clan was situated on the southern outskirts of Heaven Dou City.
In front of the solemn mansion gate.
Stood a twenty-meter-tall stone sculpture of a Titan Giant Ape.
Inside the mansion, which covered hundreds of acres, the architectural style was bold and uninhibited, with massive stones piled up and columns like a forest.
At this moment.
In the main hall.
Several elders were chattering, their words like daggers.
"Patriarch! I strongly opposed you seeking out Sword Wine back then! Now look, we've created a formidable enemy out of thin air!"
"We understand, Patriarch, that you meant well, wanting to bring Sword Wine into our clan! But if even the Imperial Family, the Ye Family, and the Dugu Family couldn't do it, what makes our Strength Clan think we can?!"
"Alas, this child's monstrous talent is truly rare; it keeps me from eating and sleeping!"
Bang—!
Tai Tan, seated in the main chair, slammed his hand onto the armrest.
The ironwood armrest, harder than fine iron, shattered with a crack, sending splinters flying.
His tiger eyes wide, he swept over the instantly silent hall, his deep voice suppressing his anger.
"So what if this old man fought Sword Wine?!"
"This old man neither crippled him nor severely injured the juniors of those three families!"
"Could it be that just because of this minor conflict, those three families would mobilize their forces to annihilate the Strength Clan?!"
"The foundation of my Strength Clan is right here! Let them come and try if they dare!"
After a suffocating silence.
Someone finally broke the oppressive atmosphere.
"The Patriarch is right, our Strength Clan is not a pushover. As long as the conflict doesn't escalate into a major disaster, it's unlikely those three families would completely turn against us!"
"Right, as for Sword Wine... he still needs time to grow!"
The meeting ended hastily.
Tai Tan, filled with vexation, strode out of the main hall.
Just as he turned the corner of the corridor.
A sturdy figure emerged from the shadows of the wall.
Tai Tan's brows furrowed into a knot.
"Tai Long, what are you doing standing here?"
Tai Long walked out of the shadows, step by step.
"Grandson wants to talk to Grandpa about today's events."
Tai Tan was already annoyed recalling the day's events.
He immediately flicked his sleeve.
"What's there to talk about!"
"There is!"
Tai Long suddenly looked up.
For the first time, he looked directly at his revered grandfather without evasion.
His eyes were bloodshot, his teeth clenched, and his clenched fists trembled.
"You went to Huangdou Academy today, and since it was to recruit Sword Wine into the Strength Clan, why did you use the excuse of seeking justice for me?!"
"Have you considered how I will establish myself at Huangdou Academy after this incident?"
Tai Tan said impatiently:
"There are countless academies in the world; if one place doesn't keep a person, another will!"
"Although today was for recruitment, it was indeed to seek justice for you! My grandson, Tai Tan, cannot be bullied by anyone..."
Tai Long raised his thick arm and wiped his face.
"I was beaten by Sword Wine because my skills were inferior!"
"And I was the one who offended the girl next to him first! I, Tai Long, accept my defeat! I am completely convinced!"
"But Grandpa! Your actions today... I despise them!"
Slap—!
Tai Tan was furious.
He slapped Tai Long, sending him tumbling like a rolling gourd.
Watching his grandson, who was only sixteen this year, struggle several times on the ground before barely managing to prop himself up.
Tai Tan subconsciously took a step forward, wanting to reach out and help him.
However.
His arm lifted halfway.
He ultimately stopped himself and pulled it back into his sleeve.
He suppressed his surging emotions and said coldly:
"If we gain a prodigy, it can ensure the prosperity of the clan for hundreds of years."
"If you can't even see through such a simple truth and my painstaking efforts, you are not worthy to be the heir of the Strength Clan."
"Go to the ancestral hall and reflect on your mistakes facing the wall."
Tai Long stubbornly looked up.
Staggering towards the ancestral hall... Tai Tan returned to his courtyard.
He pushed open the door.
The moment he stepped into the darkness.
His expression changed drastically.
Without hesitation, he turned and rushed out the door.
However.
The next moment.
Blue-white electric arcs erupted without warning in the dim room.
A terrifying force, imbued with the might of thunder, enveloped Tai Tan.
He was completely uncontrollably drawn by that force.
With a "thump."
He knelt heavily before a chair in the room.
On the chair.
An old man dressed in blue attire, with hair and beard disheveled, calmly sipped tea.
Tai Tan, the God of Strength, braced his hands on the ground, veins bulging on his forehead, yet he couldn't even lift his head to look up.
The disdainful pressure was completely gone, replaced only by bone-deep terror.
"Thunder... Thunder Douluo Your Excellency..."
"You... how could you... grace us with your presence..."
Yu Yuanzhen put down his teacup and said faintly:
"You don't know?"
"No... I don't know..."
"Did you go to Huangdou Academy today?"
Tai Tan trembled violently and hastily explained.
"Thunder Douluo Your Excellency, please be aware!"
"I... I did not lay a hand on your grandson, Yu Tianheng!"
"Sword Wine."
These three words instantly silenced Tai Tan.
A chilling, bone-piercing panic finally surged from the depths of his heart.
Sword Wine?!
Those three families haven't even come knocking!
The Patriarch of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan actually came first!
Are Sword Wine and the Blue Lightning Clan also on extremely close terms?!
This Sword Wine... is he truly someone he cannot afford to offend?!
"My Blue Lightning Clan owes Sword Wine a favor."
"Since you injured him today, then... let's exchange injuries."
Yu Yuanzhen pressed his hand casually through the air.
Boom—crack—
Above the sky, lightning flashed abruptly.
Tai Tan spat out a large mouthful of fresh blood, the front of his clothes turning to ash, revealing a scorched wound.
His eyes rolled back.
He couldn't even let out a scream.
He fell straight to the ground, losing consciousness.
"Hmph!"
Lightning flashed beneath Yu Yuanzhen's feet, and his figure vanished into thin air.
Leaving only a faint burnt smell lingering in the air, and wisps of jumping electric arcs.
About half an an hour later.
"Hoo..."
Tai Tan struggled awake from the intense pain.
"No... this is bad..."
"Tonight... there might be others coming..."
Even the Blue Lightning Clan, whose connection to Sword Wine was unheard of, had their Patriarch, Thunder Douluo, personally intervene.
How could the other three families be content to remain idle?
Boundless regret coiled in his heart, but at this moment, Tai Tan had no time to ponder.
He struggled to his feet from the ground, stumbling and rushing out of the courtyard, shouting hoarsely:
"Someone... someone..."
"Give the order... the entire clan... highest alert!"
After shouting these two sentences.
Tai Tan's face was already ashen white as paper.
No!
Why was the clan so silent?
A deathly silence!
In front of the mansion gate.
On top of the twenty-meter-tall Titan Giant Ape stone sculpture.
A slender figure stood with his hands behind his back, the night wind rustling his graying hair.
Amidst his hair dancing in the wind.
A certain invisible, odorless poison, as if alive, quietly permeated the air.
It transformed into thousands of tiny, barely discernible snake-like tendrils, carried by the night wind, silently sweeping through the entire Strength Clan.
In the absolute stillness.
Tai Tan's hysterical shouts suddenly broke the silence.
A cold smile appeared on Dugu Bo's aged face.
Bang—
A faint, soft sound.
His figure suddenly vanished.
Only a slowly dissipating green mist remained in his original spot... At the same time.
Li Dixian's secluded small courtyard.
Bang, bang, bang—!
Bang, bang, bang—!
Urgent knocking suddenly rang out.
Shaking the door frame, which almost fell apart.
"Li Dixian!"
"Li Dixian!"
A panicked voice came from outside the door.
Immediately after.
A figure directly leaped over the courtyard wall and into the yard.
"Li..."
The newcomer was Xue Qinghe.
Her words had just burst out.
A plum was stuffed into her slightly agape mouth.
Her anxious gaze searched in the darkness, then fixed.
Seeing the familiar, unharmed young man in white, her tense emotions suddenly relaxed.
Li Dixian looked at Xue Qinghe in front of him, her hair disheveled and wearing only a thin nightgown, and smiled:
"What are you looking for me for in the middle of the night?"
Tomorrow's update will be earlier... Sorry, dear readers...