When Li Fan uttered the words “My master isn’t pleased”, it essentially forced Nie Beichuan to resign. No matter whether he was willing to or not, he would have to give up the position of clanmaster.
Li Fan intentionally glanced at Nie Donghai when he told the Nie clan elders to choose a new clanmaster, which was a clear implication.
Clan elder Nie Feiyun, a dedicated supporter of Nie Beichuan, had a deathly pale face. His expression froze and he didn’t dare to say a single word in refutation.
The eldest clan elder, Nie Yaozu, secretly heaved a sigh. He turned to Li Fan and said, “We’ll do as the sectmaster wishes, and choose a new clanmaster.”
Face indifferent, Li Fan waved his hand and said, “Clansmen fighting in front of their own clan; what kind of image does this make of you?” He indicated for all the Nie clan members to return to the clan.
“Sorry for our poor manners,” Nie Yaozu responded on Nie Beichuan’s behalf, and instructed the Nie clan members to get inside.
Meanwhile, Nie Beichuan seemed to have lost his soul and was dragged away from the clan gate by his third brother Nie Nanshan.
It was only a moment before all the Nie clan members went inside, leaving only Nie Tian, Nie Donghai, and Nie Qian at the gate.
“Mr. Pan, Master An, shall we speak inside?” asked Li Fan.
Pan Bai and An Rong also understood that it wouldn’t be appropriate if they got into a fight with Li Fan in front of the whole lot of civilians. Therefore, they both nodded and followed Li Fan into the Nie clan.
“Mr. Nie, let’s go in,” Li Fan said to Nie Donghai. “Shall we? I hope you’ll give it some serious consideration before making your decision on whether or not you’ll be leaving the Nie clan to join the Spiritual Treasure sect.”
“Of course,” Nie Donghai replied.
Soon, they all followed Li Fan and Jiang Lingzhu into the Nie clan.
Seeing them leave, the crowd of onlookers lost their interest and gradually dispersed.
However, the series of incidents that had happened at the main gate of the Nie clan were exaggerated and spiced up as they rapidly spread.
Before long, all of Black Cloud City knew about the Cloudsoaring sect and the Spiritual Treasure sect’s fight over Nie Tian.
As a result, the name Nie Tian became known all over Black Cloud City.
Pan Bai from the Spiritual Treasure sect personally came for Nie Tian, and was even willing to bring Nie Donghai and Nie Qian back to the sect.
Meanwhile, the Cloudsoaring sect forced Nie Beichuan to abdicate and hinted for the Nie clan to make Nie Donghai the clanmaster again. Not only did they completely ignore the collapse of the mine, they even broke a sect rule that had been around for decades by admitting Nie Tian before he reached the ninth level of Qi Refining.
For decades, never had a child of the three clans in Black Cloud City received such grand treatment.
Neither Nie Tian’s mother, who was widely acknowledged as an extremely talented youngster, nor An s.h.i.+yi from the An clan received such a sensational reception when they were admitted.
Many had suspicions in their hearts, not understanding what extraordinary talent the seemingly ordinary Nie Tian had demonstrated that made the Cloudsoaring sect and Spiritual Treasure sect openly fight for him.
“Nie Tian’s cultivation talent is really that outstanding?”
Inside the Yun clan...
Having received the grievous news about Yun Song’s death, Yun Zhiguo emptily dragged himself back into his room.
Inside, Yuan Qiuying had already learned from her informants about the odd things that had happened in front of the Nie clan gate.
“Song’er died in the Green Illusion dimension. How come that brat didn’t?!” Yuan Qiuying seemed to have gone mad, as she smashed all of the vases and jars in the house.
Face haggard, Yun Zhiguo stared blankly at her as she went out of control.
“Good-for-nothing! Everyone from the Yun clan is good-for-nothing!” Yuan Qiuying stormed to his side and started to throw punches and kicks at him while yelling, “Yun Zhiguo! If you don’t have Nie Tian and that s.l.u.t Nie Qian killed, I won’t forgive you for the rest of my life!”
Yun Zhiguo stared at Yuan Qiuying, who was baring her fangs and brandis.h.i.+ng her claws like a crazy shrew. Suddenly, intense regret filled his heart.
He regretted that he had divorced Nie Qian and married the shrew, under the pressure from his clan.
Without Yuan Qiuying, the Yun clan and the Nie clan would still be friends, and he wouldn’t have had to endure this woman’s abuse on a daily basis.
Only until now did he finally realize how good Nie Qian had been to him.
Deep down, he knew that Nie Tian would eventually choose one of the two sects, and his future path of cultivation would be bright and promising.
For Nie Tian, Pan Bai personally came, and Jiang Zhisu broke the rules that the sect had adhered to for decades. All of this signified that there was definitely something special about Nie Tian.
The Nie clan would inevitably reverse their misfortune because of him. If the Yun clan ever dared to make a move on the Nie clan in the future, it would undoubtedly attract retaliation from the Cloudsoaring sect.
“Wrong... I couldn’t have been more wrong...” he moaned inwardly.
Meanwhile...
Li Fan and Pan Bai were sitting in the Nie clan’s great meeting hall, exchanging words gracefully with teacups in their hand.
Pan Tao stood next to Nie Tian. With a low voice, he said, “Nie Tian, whatever the Cloudsoaring sect can offer you, the Spiritual Treasure sect can also offer you. Others don’t know about your special talent, but I do. If you go to the Cloudsoaring sect, you might not be able to make the best use of your talent. You might as well join the Spiritual Treasure sect, so that we brothers can fight side by side again.”
Nie Tian rubbed his head and forced a smile onto his face. “About that... let me thank you first. But too much is going on, and I’m still muddle-headed right now. Let me think about it.”
“Pan Tao!” Jiang Lingzhu moved over and gave him a fierce glare. “What are you saying to him?”
After that, she turned to Nie Tian and said, “My father already gave his consent. All of the problems with your clan will be solved. After all, the Nie clan has a close connection with the Cloudsoaring sect. Don’t let Pan Tao mess with your head.”
Confused, Nie Tian asked, “I don’t understand why your father is willing to break the rules for me.”
He and Pan Tao had communicated a lot in the Green Illusion dimension, therefore it was understandable that Pan Tao knew about his abilities and thus persuaded his father to come to Black Cloud City for him.
However, he only displayed his strength once in Jiang Lingzhu’s presence, by forcing Yu Tong to retreat.
He didn’t feel that it was possible for Jiang Lingzhu to persuade her father to break the rules just because of this.
He had a hunch that Jiang Zhisu harbored an ulterior motive, which was why he was making an exception for him.
In fact, Jiang Lingzhu also harbored certain suspicions. “I also don’t know why he made an exception for you. However, it was truly my father’s wish. You don’t need to worry about that. Since my father has spoken, there definitely won’t be a problem.”
Nie Tian smiled wryly and said, “I need some time to think. Plus, I want to see what my aunt and grandfather think.”
Although the three of them were also in the great hall, there was a distance between them and the grown-ups. Furthermore, there wasn’t place for them to sit, so they could only whisper to each other while standing.
In the main seats, Li Fan and Pan Bai had been chatting about the monumental events which had taken place in the Green Illusion dimension, as well as the decisions that the four sects had made regarding the revenge that they were about to take on the Blood sect and the Ghost sect.
Nie Donghai and An Rong didn’t say a word, but rather listened attentively the entire time.
Nie Tian and the others were growing impatient by the time they finally ended the pleasantries. Li Fan and Pan Bai exchanged a glance, and then Li Fan said, “About Nie Tian’s issue, how about we let them decide?”
Pan Bai smiled and nodded. “I agree.”
Only until then did Li Fan turn to Nie Donghai and say, “Mr. Nie, about what happened before... because of what happened to my junior martial sister, some sect elders were discontent with the Nie clan, and the things that they did were a bit excessive. However, the Nie clan and the Cloudsoaring sect have worked together for so many years. We know each other. I can’t promise you too much, but I can a.s.sure you that in the future, the Cloudsoaring sect will definitely be fair and impartial towards the issues in the Nie clan!”
With these words, Li Fan halted for a moment, his expression becoming solemn and serious.
“Also... If Nie Tian chooses to join the Cloudsoaring sect, I guarantee you that the treatment he’s going to receive will be completely different from Nie Xian’s and Nie Han’s.
“Someone living in the mountain behind Cloudsoaring Peak had set his mind on Nie Tian, and wants to take Nie Tian as his disciple.”
Upon hearing these words, Jiang Lingzhu couldn’t help but exclaim, “Ahhh?!”
Nie Donghai was immediately enlivened, and ecstasy spread out all over his face. Without waiting for anyone else to say anything, he hastily nodded his head and said, “Sure! Sure! You can take Nie Tian to the Cloudsoaring sect any time!” He seemed to fear that Li Fan might take back his words.
Even Pan Bai’s expression slightly changed after hearing Li Fan’s words.
He gazed deeply at Nie Tian, and then looked over towards Pan Tao, as he realized that his son was every bit as good as he was when it came to judging talent.
For the person in the mountain behind Cloudsoaring Peak to make such a decision meant that there had to be something uncommon about Nie Tian!
It was also at that moment that he realized it had become certain that Nie Tian would step into the Cloudsoaring sect.
However, he didn’t feel frustrated.
He knew that even if Nie Tian didn’t choose the Spiritual Treasure sect, after everything that had happened, Nie Tian would still be grateful towards Pan Tao.
If there were no mishaps, under that person’s guidance, Nie Tian would skyrocket in the Cloudsoaring sect.
As long as Nie Tian could remember what Pan Tao had done for him, his trip would be worth it.
“Nie Tian!” Nie Donghai said loudly. “What are you waiting for? Thank Uncle Li!”
Nie Tian bowed and said, “Thank you, Uncle Li.”
Li Fan laughed. “I’ll give you three days. After three days, I’ll take you to Cloudsoaring Mountain.”
“I understand.”