Chapter 682 - The Unpopular One
Edited by Ea and NZRose
The known Grandmasters in the world today, together with the new Grandmaster Lin Xuanzhi: there were only ten in total, respectively in the Divine Clans and the top sects. Several Divine Clans had no Grandmasters, such as the Divination Emperor or the South Sovereign’s clans, but no one dared to look down upon them just because they didn’t have any Grandmasters.
After all, the strength of a clan was reflected in all aspects.
However, if there was a Grandmaster in the clan or sect, it was natural that the organization would be more confident.
In fact, no one could tell how many Grandmasters there were in the Nine Lands. After all, the real great powers had entered seclusion and disappeared many years ago. No one was sure whether they had fallen or just secluded themselves from the world.
The Grandmasters mentioned today were all ones who had shown their Grandmaster Stage cultivation in front of others and people who had been confirmed to still be alive. As a new Grandmaster, it was natural to go to the Grandmaster Holy Alliance to make an oath.
The so-called Grandmaster Oath was the oath made by the Grandmaster in front of heaven and earth, and the contract concluded with heaven and earth.
Once someone reached the Grandmaster Stage, if there was a fight, it would often collapse the mountains and overturn the seas; just a wave of their hands would destroy the cities between the floating clouds. Everything would wither and the harm would be comparable to natural disasters. Therefore, even if all living beings envied and yearned for the Grandmaster’s power, they were also afraid of such existence.
Therefore, when it was not a last resort, the Grandmaster must not interfere with the mundane affairs lower than their cultivation realm.
If Grandmasters wanted to spar with each other, they must go to an uninhabited island or desert with n.o.body living within ten thousand miles. If the grudge between them wasn’t extreme hatred from having their wife, son, city, or sect destroyed, then Grandmasters weren’t allowed to kill, or else they would be destroyed by the heavens.
The restriction on Grandmasters made the Nine Lands stable for tens of thousands of years.
However, these were the rules of the human world, but they didn’t count in the Demon Realm.
The Demon Realm had seven domain masters and three Demon Venerables. It was said that their cultivations were comparable to the Grandmaster Stage.
Lin Xuanzhi took a turn on his way to the North Land with Hai Kuanglang and others to go to the Grandmaster Holy Alliance and set down the Grandmaster’s Oath deed. The process did not take much effort, but the subsequent constraints would be relatively large.
It’s just that Lin Xuanzhi never did things like bullying the weak, so he never did care about such vows. Leaving the Grandmaster Holy Alliance, Lin Xuanzhi caught up with Hai Kuanglang and the others traveling northward, and he officially returned to the team.
There were only Hai Kuanglang, Zhan Fengting, Yan Tianhen, and Lin Xuanzhi at this party. Because they were thousands of miles away to the north, the four rented flying birds, and every few cities they pa.s.sed by, they would get a new one, so as not to get stuck midway.
In Yan Tianhen’s words: We are kind and generous, unwilling to kill.
A few days pa.s.sed in a flash, and the North Land was in sight.
The North Land was a very strange place. When you reach the border, you could see the overwhelming yellow sand and rugged rocks, which look barren and desolate, especially the place in the far north, close to the demon realm. It was half dark and half light for tens of thousands of miles. Although there were high mountains, there were no green trees; although there were plains, there were no flowers and plants. In the end, not even sand wanted to go there anymore, leaving only large tracts of b.l.o.o.d.y rivers and strange rocks and walking corpses.
Demons were born from this, and human beings stopped their tracks here.
The North Land’s fortress had always been garrisoned by the Purple Emperor’s Heavenly Capital Yan family’s va.s.sal family, the Ling family. There was also a fief belonging to the Yan family. Of course, if someone didn’t make a fortune in this place, then they would be buried in this place. It depended on the ambitions and powerful methods of the people who chose to live here.
Obviously, King Zhen was a man with both means and ambition. Back in those days, King Zhang was very powerful. King Ye had just lost his position as the first successor and was banned from stepping outside the Royal Heavenly Capital. King Zhen — Yan Huaizhen had nothing but a few old, weak, sick, and disabled men. He came here alone by relying on the sacrifices of his many death guards.
The front line of the North Land had always been defended by the Ling family. The Ling family had powerful generals in each generation. They were the first people who were stationed in the North Land’s border with the demon realm. Although they obeyed the orders of the Purple Emperor’s Heavenly Capital, they also directly obeyed the Emperor. They could treat any Prince except the Emperor with contempt.
What’s more, before Yan Huaizhen came: no royal family had come to the North Lands’ fief for many years. The Ling family’s army naturally rejected them.
But they didn’t expect that King Zhen would be able to subdue the genius general of the Ling family who never interfered in worldly matters: Ling Chigu. This was also a legend.
Although the area around the North Land was barren and bitter, the more the party went towards the central region, the more it was a water village.
The Longyao clan liked water, so the Dragon Palace was full of winding corridors and waterside pavilions, and even more than half of them were built on the lake.
Even half of Sata City, where the Dragon Palace was located, occupied thousands of miles on Lake Mia, which was backed by the mountains. Lake Mia meant “the most beautiful crystal” in the dragon language.
As the Divine Clan closest to the Demon Realm, the Longyao clan were naturally famous for their bravery and good warfare. As soon as they stepped into Sata City, Yan Tianhen and the others felt a strong aura belonging to the Dragon clan–
“They seem to be ready to draw knives and kill people at any time,” Yan Tianhen said with emotion as he looked at the rows and rows of uniformly dressed soldiers patrolling on the wide avenue in the city.
The soldiers were all heavily armored and heavily armed with weapons and equipment. They were all burly and tall, and their steps fell neatly on the ground, making a banging sound, which sounded extremely shocking.
Hai Kuanglang also said with some pride, “The Longyao clan could be regarded as the most powerful family in terms of combat power. These people who have lived in the North Lands all year round have gradually become like this in the process of fighting against the demons after being baptized by wind and frost.”
“But how come those princes of your Longyao clan look a little delicate?” asked Yan Tianhen.
Looking at Longyao Lingheng and Longyao Lingguang, each of them looked like a young master of the mortal world. Their clothes were not dusty, and their faces were as white as jade. They didn’t look weathered like the patrolling soldiers at all.
Hai Kuanglang said, “These soldiers were all recruited from the Northern border. They are replaced by a new group every ten years. The Longyao clan rules the North Land by magic and doesn’t specialize in martial arts. In fact, most of these people are martial arts cultivators. Of course they would look quite different from the Longyao clan.”
Yan Tianhen nodded thoughtfully. “The Longyao clan sure is very good at making the best use of everything.”
Hai Kuanglang said, “Although I don’t want to admit it, to be honest, the Longyao clan is quite wise.”
Yan Tianhen looked around and said to Hai Kuanglang, “s.h.i.+xiong, anyhow, you are a prince of the Longyao family. You have come back to Sata City from thousands of miles away, but why did no one come out to welcome you?”
Hai Kuanglang slightly hooked his lips and said, “If I can give them a big surprise, then why should I tell them in advance that I’m going to return?”
Yan Tianhen: “…”
Hai Kuangang hooked an arm around Yan Tianhen’s shoulder, smiled at him very evilly, and said, “Why s.h.i.+di, don’t you want to see the sudden change in the faces of those people?”
Yan Tianhen replied sincerely, “Not just want to — I really want to.”
Then they looked at each other, and they laughed treacherously at the same time.
Hai Kuanglang had not been welcomed by the Longyao clan for a long time. This was all about what happened in the past; rather than voluntarily leaving home, it was better to say that he was helpless and desperate to leave the Longyao clan. Outsiders were not very clear about what happened, and the Longyao clan also kept their mouths shut, as if they were afraid that if they said it, it would bring shame to the whole family.
Hai Kuanglang… From the fact that his surname was Hai but not Longyao, we could already see how his relations.h.i.+p with his family was.
Yan Tianhen had also heard some gossip about Hai Kuanglang. It was said that he broke up with his family because of his mother, but who was his mother? Some outsiders say it was a concubine of the Dragon Emperor. Some said it was a woman in the mortal world the Dragon Emperor met by chance, and some said it was the princess of the Dragon clan who had died on the way to her wedding many years ago.
The fact was that no one knew except the core members of the Longyao family and the people involved.
Naturally, Hai Kuanglang wouldn’t be unaware of it, but no matter how curious Yan Tianhen was, he would never say a word or ask more about any gossip that would poke others’ sore spots.
It was originally a very serious matter to select and establish the crown prince. In particular, the Longyao family, who were extremely concerned about inheritance, would decide the successor with great solemnity several years in advance, after several years of compet.i.tion and experience, as well as the secret a.s.sessment of the elders of the family. Finally, they would consider the purity of the dragon bloodline’s inheritance inside their bodies and settle on a successor.
This time, due to the holy edict from the ancestors of the dragon family, the dragon family changed its previous cautious style and hurriedly sent a letter to all clan disciples who were qualified to inherit the throne, calling them all to partic.i.p.ate in the election of the crown prince.
As for Hai Kuanglang, although he had not been in the family for many years, according to the genealogy, he also had the right to inherit the throne, so the Longyao family naturally had to give him this qualification.
“In fact, if not for the Dragon Ancestor’s holy edict specifically stressing the need to gather all disciples with dragon bloodline to enter the Dragon tomb for the test, those old people would never tell me about it. But this time, not telling me would bring great disaster to the Dragon family,” Hai Kuanglang raised his eyebrows and said playfully.
Yan Tianhen touched his chin and smiled. “What I like most is the way they despise you but can’t kill you.”
He and Hai Kuanglang shared a smile again.
Zhan Fengting smiled and said with some worry, “You will probably suffer a lot of humiliation again when you return to the Longyao family this time.”
Hai Kuanglang said with great disdain, “Humiliation? It’s just a few harsh words. Are they going to fight me? Even if they attack, I’m still not afraid. After all, after so many years, I’m no longer the waste who could be bullied wantonly but couldn’t fight back.”
Zhan Fengting took Hai Kuanglang’s hand and gently pinched it. “Little Lang is not a waste, even when he was young.”
He still remembered the little dragon who knew he was no match for those disciples, but nevertheless tried his best to stand in front of Zhan Fengting to protect him. Finally, he was beaten back to his original form and almost couldn’t be saved.
When Hai Kuanglang came back to Sata City, he was always in a state of mania and wanted to beat people. After all, this was the territory of the Longyao family, and it was also the place where he was forced into exile and suffered humiliation. He would never forget those humiliations.
However, Zhan Fengting could always easily appease his anger and calm his mood.
Hai Kuanglang also mischievously scratched Zhan Fengting’s fingers with the tips of his fingers. He leaned in his ears and whispered, “I’m especially not a waste on the bed. s.h.i.+xiong, do you want to give it a try?”