Chen Bonan's face turned ashen, his wary eyes locked on the Great Elder. He never would have imagined that the Great Elder would personally intervene, much less so quickly.

"Chen Yunqian, you know why I'm doing this! We cannot let the feud from twenty-eight years ago go unavenged!" Chen Bonan said coldly, taking a deep breath.

"You're just courting death," the Great Elder, Chen Yunqian, said, his hands clasped behind his back as he strolled into the courtyard. "To attempt the impossible is simply foolish."

"And pinning your hopes for revenge on a worthless whelp is naive to the extreme."

"You are a direct descendant of the Chen Clan royalty, after all. How could you be so foolish?"

"Hmph!" Chen Bonan mocked. "If you think so little of Chen Yang, then why would you bother to intervene personally, Great Elder? Could it be that you're afraid? Afraid that Chen Yang will turn the tables and storm the Chen Family?"

THUD.

With a gentle wave of his right hand, Chen Yunqian sent Chen Bonan and the other three men flying several meters, where they crashed to the ground on their knees. Though some of them were thirteenth-rank cultivators, they were completely powerless before the Great Elder.

"He is indeed impressive, but he is far from qualified to threaten the Chen Clan royalty," Chen Yunqian said indifferently. "His achievements are merely a product of our clan's Bloodline Power. There's nothing to be proud of."

"Is that so? Then allow me to ask you, Great Elder, in the entire younger generation of the vast Chen Clan royalty, how many can surpass him?" Chen Bonan sneered, his lips twisting into a ferocious grin.

"It's pointless. No matter how monstrous his talent, if he dies prematurely, he is nothing but a pile of dust."

Chen Yunqian sat on a nearby chair and dusted the hem of his long robe. "The only reason you were left alive until now is because the Chen Family had been in a weakened state. Now that the Clan Leader has achieved a new level of strength, there is no longer any reason to keep you around."

"Weakened... heh..." Chen Bonan laughed, his voice thick with rage. "If you hadn't launched your rebellion twenty-eight years ago, causing devastating losses to our clansmen, the Chen Family would still be the head of the four great royal clans!"

"You people are the traitors, the disgrace of the Chen Family! In the future, your own descendants will curse your names and nail you to the pillar of shame!"

SLAP!

A single blow from Chen Yunqian sent Chen Bonan flipping through the air several times before he crashed heavily to the ground.

"It is not your place to judge us."

It was true. The internal strife from twenty-eight years prior had caused the Chen Clan royalty to fall from their position as leader of the four great royal clans. They had been treading on thin ice ever since, warily watched by the other three. Fortunately, the Clan Leader's recent breakthrough in strength had begun to improve their precarious situation.

"I was going to kill you outright to settle this once and for all. But seeing how much faith you have in that little bastard... perhaps seeing him die before your very eyes will finally make you give up all hope?" Chen Yunqian stroked a few whiskers, a meaningful smile playing on his lips. "That way, you can die in peace."

"Come, take them all away!"

"Yes, Great Elder!" the middle-aged men waiting at the gate replied in unison.

However, just as they stepped toward Chen Bonan, something happened.

Suddenly, the specialized Compasses on both Chen Yunqian and Chen Bonan began to spin rapidly, letting out a faint whirring sound. In moments, the needle on each Compass steadied, pointing in a specific direction.

Chen Yunqian pulled his out, and a smile touched his lips as he saw where it pointed. This type of Compass was unique to the Chen Family, its sole purpose to sense the location of the Ancestral Sword. This reaction could only mean one thing: the Ancestral Sword had been drawn.

"I thought the weakened magnetic sense would make him difficult to find, but it seems I worried for nothing," Chen Yunqian said, his smile widening. He turned to Chen Bonan and asked earnestly, "Tell me, why would that little fellow draw the sword? He surely knew about its magnetic properties. Is he just curious, or is he challenging us?"

Chen Bonan's eyes nearly split with fury, and he clenched his teeth so hard they threatened to shatter. Why? Why did you have to draw the sword?!

If Chen Yang had stayed hidden and evaded this sweep from the Great Elder, our deaths would have meant little. There would still have been a chance. But now... it's over. It's completely and utterly over.

Yes, Chen Yang's talent was astonishing, his power immense. He had stepped into the Ten Thousand Phenomena Senluo before the age of thirty. But Chen Yunqian... this Great Elder of the Chen Clan royalty, the primary executioner from twenty-eight years ago, his cultivation was so profound he had long ago reached the realm of Work into Sky Reaching. Even Chen Bonan couldn't fathom the true depths of his power. To put it bluntly, for an expert like that, killing Chen Yang—killing a Ten Thousand Phenomena Senluo cultivator—would be effortless.

Of all the times to draw the sword... why now?

"Ahhh!" Chen Bonan tilted his head back and let out a desperate, piercing howl.

I thought dawn was at hand, but in an instant, all hope was extinguished. The sudden, devastating plunge from hope to despair seemed to hollow him out, draining all his energy and spirit.

"Despairing already?" Chen Yunqian slowly stood, brushing his robes. "How much more despair will you feel when you watch him die with your own eyes?"

"The light of a firefly trying to rival the splendor of the Bright Moon? How utterly laughable!"

"Take them away!"

…

After building for what felt like an eternity, the rain finally began to fall. The spring rain was as fine as silk, and before long, a faint mist rose from the river's surface.

A small skiff drifted on the water, leaving a long ripple in its wake as it moved slowly toward the center of the river. Yang Hu rowed while Chen Yang stood at the bow. The Ancestral Sword was stuck into the boat's hull, abandoned to the patter of the rain.

"Boss, the Great Elder of the Chen Clan is surely powerful. You must be careful," Yang Hu said as he rowed, a current of worry running beneath his excitement.

His concern was not unfounded. The fourteenth rank was incredibly strong, but above it lay the Three Realms, and beyond them, the Saint Realm. It was rumored that a master of the Saint Realm resided right beneath Cangyun City itself. Therefore, it was always wise to be cautious.

"I'd actually like to taste defeat for once," Chen Yang said. He reached out, caught a raindrop on his fingertip, and flicked it away, startling a flock of waterbirds. "I just hope he doesn't disappoint me."

Yang Hu smiled faintly. This man had fought his entire life and had truly never known defeat. If someone were to finally best him, their name would undoubtedly go down in history.

They stopped the boat in the middle of the river. Chen Yang sat on a small folding stool, skillfully took out a fishing rod, baited the hook, and cast his line into the water.

The bait was cast. Now, the big fish should be on its way, shouldn't it?

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