Chapter 360: The Domineering Imperial Scions

Chen Yuan’s expression soured.

He had just stolen Ming Chong’s kill, and now someone had stolen his. It felt a bit like turnabout was fair play.

Everyone recognized the two who had just made a move.

The powerfully built Daoist with an incredibly tough physique was Zhong Li from the True Martial Temple.

The noble, sword-wielding young master was Ji Man of the Celestial Bright City’s Ji Family.

Everyone present was rather surprised, wondering why Zhong Li had teamed up with Ji Man.

At the same time, more than thirty other Martial Artists arrived from behind. Most of them were from lesser powers subservient to the Ji Family. Only one of them was also a prodigy from the Hidden Dragon Rankings: Xiao Jing of the Langya City’s Xiao Family, ranked sixteenth.

The Xiao Family of Langya City was not ranked very high among the Eight Great Noble Families, even lower than the Murong Family.

When the Human Race first established its Great Unification Dynasty in ancient times, the ancestors of the Xiao Family were the number one Noble Family of the court, excelling in both civil and martial pursuits, their fate tied to that of the nation.

And the ancestors of the Celestial Bright City’s Ji Family were the Royal Family of that first Human Race Dynasty. So, strictly speaking, the Xiao Family lineage had always been a vassal force of the Ji Family.

This was indeed the case. After the Dynasty later fell, the Xiao Family continued to follow the Ji Family’s lead.

In the beginning, the Xiao Family didn’t even qualify to be one of the Eight Great Noble Families. Although they possessed a Divine Artifact Demon Soldier, they were almost incapable of creating a Divine Artifact Incarnation.

It was the Ji Family who helped them find all sorts of rare materials and supported the Xiao Family’s disciples, which allowed the Xiao Family to be promoted into the ranks of the Eight Great Noble Families.

Therefore, although the Xiao Family was counted among the Eight Great Noble Families, they were, in reality, nothing more than vassals and retainers to the Ji Family.

By now, the great doors of the Longevity Hall had swung completely open, and everyone outside could faintly glimpse the scene within.

Inside was a vast, empty hall. There was nothing enshrined or worshipped within. In the very center lay a massive Array, but it wasn’t an offensive one. Rather, it was an Array designed to gather Vitality Spiritual Qi, though it had currently stopped running.

At the nine core points of the Array stood nine coffins, each covered in Array Pattern Spirit Stones. The coffins alone were priceless.

Just then, the Martial Artists Ji Man had brought with him surged forward, completely blocking the entrance to the Longevity Hall and preventing anyone from entering.

Qingchen frowned slightly. “Brother Zhong Li, Brother Ji, what is the meaning of this?”

Ji Man smiled. “Daoist Qingchen, please don’t be angry. We had already marked this Longevity Hall in the Endless Immortal Palace as our target before we even entered the Heaven-Reaching Tower. There is something inside that an elder with ties to my Ji Family desires, and I must bring it back.”

“I just didn’t expect that despite our haste, we were still delayed on the way, allowing all of you to get here first.”

“However, my Ji Family is reasonable. We will be taking what is in this Longevity Hall, but I have other information to compensate Daoist Qingchen.”

“I have information on three unexplored Daoist Sect ruins within the Heaven-Reaching Tower. I will gift it all to you, Daoist Qingchen.”

Qingchen frowned slightly and looked at Zhong Li.

Although the True Martial Temple and the Yellow Court Temple were both part of the Four Daoist Courts of Taoism, their relationship was average at best, with few connections between them.

‘By the same token, there shouldn’t be any connection between the True Martial Temple and the Ji Family. Why would Zhong Li team up with Ji Man now?’

“And what is your reason, Brother Zhong Li?”

Zhong Li’s expression was indifferent. “The senior who sent Ji Man to find this item also has ties to my True Martial Temple. Therefore, only the Ji Family and I may enter the Longevity Hall to explore.”

“Qingchen, stand down. You cannot contend with us. I’ll owe you a favor.”

A grave expression appeared in Qingchen’s eyes.

The Ji Family of Celestial Bright City was the head of the Eight Great Noble Families. And while the True Martial Temple couldn’t claim to be the head of the Daoist Sects, its strength was undeniable, with numerous disciples and formidable combat power.

‘Just who is this senior who can command both the Ji Family of Celestial Bright City and the True Martial Temple?’

‘Could it be one of the ten supreme experts who stand at the very peak?’

Ming Chong, with his fiery temper, wasn’t thinking as deeply as Qingchen.

He had been the first to arrive at the Longevity Hall, even before Chen Yuan.

‘Our group went through all the trouble of dealing with these Flesh Puppets, disabling the Sealing Array, and fighting the Palace Guardian Divine Generals head-on. And now you show up and declare this place is yours?’ Such arrogance—how could Ming Chong possibly stand for it?

It had always been his Vajra Prajna Temple that acted arrogantly toward others. Since when was it someone else’s turn to act arrogantly toward the Vajra Prajna Temple?

Just as Ming Chong was about to speak, Ji Man said coolly, “Master Ming Chong, I’ve heard that when you were young, you were raised by Elder Xuan Jing of the Vajra Hall. He treated you like his own son, caring for you day and night.”

“But three years ago, Elder Xuan Jing was killed by the Demon Dao Giant Owl, Ji Yuanhai, also known as ‘Three Lives Blood Slaughter.’ I hear you’ve been searching for Ji Yuanhai’s whereabouts ever since, seeking to avenge Elder Xuan Jing.”

“As it happens, my Ji Family has already captured that very Ji Yuanhai. He is currently imprisoned within Celestial Bright City.”

“If you walk away today, I will have Ji Yuanhai delivered directly to your Vajra Prajna Temple after we leave the Heaven-Reaching Tower.”

“Are you telling the truth!?”

Ming Chong’s head snapped up, his bloodshot eyes glaring at Ji Man.

He was an orphan, and even if people called him a Descent Vajra, he couldn’t have survived on air alone to grow so big.

Xuan Jing’s strength within the Vajra Prajna Temple wasn’t considered very high. He only had a Primordial Pill Realm cultivation and, due to a severe injury in his early years, had no hope of ever reaching the Divine Platform Realm.

However, his gentle and patient nature was why the Vajra Prajna Temple had assigned Xuan Jing to care for Ming Chong in the first place.

Over the years, Xuan Jing had cared for him as if he were his own flesh and blood. When Ming Chong was young, Xuan Jing had even gone so far as to beg his own juniors in the Pharmacist Hall to provide more Foundation Establishment Elixirs for his cultivation. Ming Chong, in turn, saw Xuan Jing as his own father.

When he first learned of Xuan Jing’s death, Ming Chong had nearly been driven mad with grief. How could he not be overwhelmed now, hearing news of his father’s killer?

“How could it be false?”

Ji Man laughed. “My Ji Family of Celestial Bright City is an ancient Royal Family. Our words are like imperial edicts. Why would we ever deceive you?”

Ming Chong took a deep breath and said in a low voice, “If I do not see Ji Yuanhai after we leave the Heaven-Reaching Tower, then from this day forward, it is a fight to the death between me and your Celestial Bright City’s Ji Family!”

As soon as he finished speaking, Ming Chong turned and left without the slightest hesitation.

The Longevity Hall was the most central palace in the Endless Immortal Palace, guarded by so many Flesh Puppets and Palace Guardian Divine Generals. Any idiot would know there had to be an ultimate treasure inside.

But for Ming Chong right now, no treasure was more important than his father’s killer.

Having dealt with Qingchen and Ming Chong, Ji Man scanned the crowd. His gaze lingered on Chen Yuan for just a moment before he said coldly, “What are you still doing here? Do you really think you’re qualified to compete with us? All of you, get out!”

Chen Yuan chuckled. ‘This Ji Man really doesn’t see me as a threat at all.’

In fact, Ji Man not only disregarded Chen Yuan, but he hadn’t thought much of Ming Chong either. The only one he couldn’t quite see through was Qingchen, which was why he had spoken to him a bit more politely.

He had given face to Qingchen and Ming Chong, using various offers to make them leave, only because he was wary of the major Daoist and Buddhist sects behind them: the Yellow Court Temple and the Vajra Prajna Temple.

He knew of Chen Yuan’s accomplishments. Even though he had arrived late, he had heard the news of how Chen Yuan single-handedly fought five prodigies from the Hidden Dragon Rankings outside the Heaven-Reaching Tower. But he didn’t give it a second thought.

What kind of existence was his Ji Family of Celestial Bright City?

They were the supreme rulers of the Human Race, the first Royal Family of antiquity, born of the Mandate of Heaven for all humanity!

In the eyes of the Ji Family, being listed among the Eight Great Noble Families by the Jianghu Wind and Cloud Rankings was an insult. How could those other clay chickens and pottery dogs possibly be mentioned in the same breath as the Ji Family?

The Xiao Family of Langya City were merely their servants and retainers. The ancestors of the Cui Family of Celestial Official City had been nothing more than minor officials who observed the stars and read feng shui during the Ji Dynasty.

As for the Murong Family, who also came from a royal line, they were an even bigger joke. At their peak, they had never truly unified the world. They were nothing more than warlords of a breakaway territory. They dared to call themselves a Royal Family?

And the remaining families—the Lu Family of Celestial Water City, the Shangguan Family of Unrivaled City, and so on—were all just country bumpkins in the eyes of the Ji Family, with no real foundation to speak of.

If this was how the Ji Family viewed Noble Families with thousand-year legacies, it went without saying what they thought of Chen Yuan, who came from a plebeian power like the Seven Alliances of the World.

In short, from Ji Man’s perspective, Chen Yuan was not worthy of being offered terms.

Just as Ji Man assumed a Martial Artist like Chen Yuan would weigh the pros and cons and choose to retreat, Chen Yuan suddenly let out a soft laugh.

“What a grand display of power from the Celestial Bright City’s Ji Family. Anyone who didn’t know better would think your Ji Family built this Heaven-Reaching Tower, or that the Endless Immortal Palace is the final resting place of your Ji Family Ancestors.”

“We were the ones who used an Array-Breaking Technique and opened the doors, and the moment you arrive, you block the entrance. With that kind of arrogance, why don’t you just go block the main gate of the Heaven-Reaching Tower? Wouldn’t it be easier to just stop anyone else from coming in at all?”

As soon as Chen Yuan said this, he immediately drew cries of agreement from the Independent Martial Artists present.

Ji Man really had been excessively arrogant.

Besides being somewhat polite to Ming Chong and Qingchen, he treated everyone else as if they were nothing.

They had helped seal away those Flesh Puppets, too. On what grounds should they now just hand everything over to the Ji Family?

Besides, if anyone had the right to claim the Longevity Hall for themselves, it would be Qingchen, Chen Yuan, or Ming Chong. What right did Ji Man have?

“Chen Jiutian! How dare you insult my Ji Family Ancestors! You’re courting death!”

Ji Man was stunned for a moment, then a cold glint appeared in his eyes.

The beings buried in the Endless Immortal Palace were all strange and sinister things. For Chen Jiutian to compare them to his own ancestors was the ultimate insult.

“So what if I insulted them? This is the Heaven-Reaching Tower, where strength is all that matters. Did you think this was the outside world?”

Chen Yuan sneered. “Besides, even in the outside world, how much face do you think your Ji Family really has? So what if you were the first Dynasty of the Human Race? That’s ancient history from thousands of years ago, and you’re still trying to use it to act all high and mighty.”

“If your Ji Family truly had the strength, if you truly possessed the Mandate of Heaven, then why did your nation fall in the first place?”

“In all the generations of Great Unification Dynasties in the Central Plains that followed, why has your Ji Family never once managed to make any of them abdicate in your favor?”

“I hear your Ji Family looks down on the Murong Family, but at least the Murong Family was able to establish a kingdom at their peak. Since your Ji Family lost the world, has any generation of yours managed to reclaim the imperial throne?”

“The Mandate of Heaven left your Ji Family long ago. And yet you still put on this act of being of noble, imperial blood in front of us. It’s utterly absurd!”