Chapter 191: Chaos at the Zhu Manor
.
Although Zhu Rong’s rise was not sothing too concerning in his eyes, that didn’t an he had completely ignored it.
A boy who had only been a simple descendant in the family not long ago, but who in recent tis had shaken everyone, especially after his crushing performance at the exam, which even made several of the family elders doubt the past decisions they had taken.
It was clear that, even if he might not yet be a threat, at this rate he could easily beco one, especially after the treatnt he had received in the past.
No one in the family was blind, every elder knew the cause of that boy’s ridian deformation, sothing that had triggered a chain of reactions within the clan, which eventually decided to take sides and stand with him.
That, inevitably, led to the death of Zhu Rong’s parents.
The elders had chosen to turn a blind eye, since it wasn’t beneficial for the family to continue with that matter, but by doing so, they had ended up completely condemning the young boy, who had been unable to cultivate ever since.
That had placed him at the very bottom of the family, and the rest of his cousins and other mbers had taken advantage of that, tornting him whenever they could.
The only reason the boy hadn’t been eliminated yet was because of an elder of the family, devoted to his parents, who had decided to protect him from the others’ claws.
But he couldn’t do that for long, and in the end, he too perished.
However, fate had it that before dying, he managed to help Zhu Rong enter the academy and stay there much longer than anyone had expected.
By that point, though, no one cared much about him anymore.
He was too young to rember anything, and too weak to do anything even if he did, so everyone stopped seeing him as a threat and instead as a re leftover of the family, lucky to still be alive.
Even ZHu Shen himself never bothered to do anything, and why would he?
He had Zhu Yong, his prodigious son, to take care of, one who had benefited greatly from that entire incident, so much so that even the patriarch had decided to overlook what had happened to Zhu Rong’s parents and focus on him instead.
With his talent, he could surpass anyone of his age and perhaps, with enough ti, reach the Spirit Realm, a stage that he, year after year, realized he himself would never attain.
This led the family elders to support his succession as patriarch once the current one retired.
In short, he was already where he wanted to be, and all he had to do now was sit back and wait for the Zhu family to return to its forr glory, perhaps even surpass it and reach a new level of power.
Zhu Rong’s sudden rise in recent tis had almost shattered that reality for him, but the heavens were with him, for just as that boy had suddenly risen, he had also fallen, and now there was truly nothing left that could threaten the family’s future or his son’s position.
Zhu Shen finally set down the docunts he had been examining, a series of reports regarding the empire’s next moves.
It was clear that after all that had happened, and the discovery of those creatures within the cocoons, the empire had already been put on high alert, and it wouldn’t be long before the Emperor decided to take action.
This docunt was one of those reports, and from what he read, a eting had already been organized in the imperial capital to discuss how to deal with this problem.
After his own trip to the secret realm, he understood the horror of those creatures. And though he wasn’t sure if both were the sa thing, that strange energy that perated that place, the one that seed to have corrupted those beings,
had set off several alarm bells among many, which had led to this eting in the imperial capital.
He himself couldn’t go there, but given his status, he could at least follow what was happening to so extent.
Just as he was about to take the next docunt from the pile, he froze.
His hand stopped midair as his whole body suddenly went cold and began to tremble, an instant, crushing fear overwhelming his entire being, and he wasn’t the only one.
Everyone in the Zhu family manor felt a strange, disturbing pressure envelop the entire area, forcing many to the ground involuntarily.
They couldn’t understand what it was,they just felt it was the right thing to do, instinctively realizing that, for no reason in the world, should they dare lift their heads.
It threw many into confusion, causing panic to spread everywhere, they didn’t know what it was or where it ca from. But not everyone was lost in confusion.
The mont this presence descended, several streaks of light shot out from all parts of the Zhu family manor, quickly filling the skies above it with figures flying at full speed, all converging toward a single point.
Such a scene was impossible to ignore, even ordinary servants, who were already on the ground struggling to stay conscious, could still see, with effort, several figures appearing one after another and heading toward the manor gates.
That only made everyone more confused and anxious.
"H-hey, isn’t that the Third Elder? I heard he went into seclusion to cultivate months ago and wouldn’t co out for at least a year or two, why is he already out?" said one of the young disciples training in the manor’s training grounds,
still sitting on the ground and struggling to breathe properly, as if even its body no longer dared to inhale too much air.
"I-I don’t know... even the other elders have co out, heavens, I even saw the First Elder rushing toward that direction just now,
Just.. what in the world is happening?" said another one next to him, in the sa condition.
Just like them, many others witnessed the sa and were equally in turmoil, but none of that mattered to all those who, the mont they felt that aura, had imdiately rushed toward the manor gates, interrupting whatever they were doing.
Whether in the bath or indulging in the pleasures of the flesh, no one wasted a mont.
Barely a minute after it all began, the entire manor had descended into chaos, and all the most important figures were already gathered at the entrance, faces pale and uncertain, signaling the guards to open the gates.
Everyone stood in silence, expectation and doubt plain on their faces, and how could it be otherwise? After all, they knew very well what kind of aura this was.
It wasn’t sothing one released intentionally, it was sothing that naturally surrounded one’s body once they reached a certain level of power.
It was the aura of soone who had transcended mortal limits and stepped through the gate leading to the Spirit Realm.
In other words, a figure of that level had appeared at their manor, and for that reason, no one dared show even the slightest hint of disrespect.
They had no idea who it was, but that didn’t matter. What mattered now was confirming the person’s identity and understanding why such a figure had co here in person.
The guards at the gates were cultivators of the third and fourth stage, though that wasn’t much within this manor, it indirectly showed the family’s high status.
Even so, they now struggled, their bodies trembling instinctively as they forced themselves to move forward and open the gates.
As they did, all the elders, including Zhu Shen and his son, were already there in a group, preparing to personally receive the figure.
The two of them weren’t at the front; both stood beside a single man, an old looking figure who still kept his back straight, as if easily defying the weight of his years.
With long white hair tied back and a flowing white beard, his sharp brown eyes seed to hold the weight of a lifeti.
He stood before everyone else, and none dared utter a word, how could they, when the man before them was none other than the patriarch of the Zhu family,
Zhu Tao.
He had been cultivating behind closed doors in recent years, all in preparation for his breakthrough to the Spirit Realm.
He had been stuck at the peak of the fifth stage for many years, but only recently had he made so progress, finally closing a bit more the gap that separated him from the spirit realm.
He was certain that, with a little more ti, he would soon be able to attempt his breakthrough and ascend to the Spirit Realm.
Among all the family mbers, he was the only one at that stage, and for that very reason, he had been preparing to hand over his position to his eldest son.
He knew that his breakthrough would take ti, and even longer to stabilize his new cultivation base, so during that period, his son would lead in his stead.
He had been preparing him for this for a long ti, and with the elders supporting his son, he had no worries and had already begun to prepare for his own ascension.
But today, out of nowhere, he had to interrupt everything and rush out of seclusion, finally showing himself to everyone after so long, all to welco a being whose very existence he had been striving to reach.
All of them stood stiffly, feeling the pressure growing heavier and heavier as the gates slowly opened, and finally, after what felt like an eternity to everyone, the gates opened.
And when that happened, the figure that had arrived at the manor was finally revealed.
The mont it did, everyone’s eyes widened in disbelief as they looked toward the familiar yet sohow changed young figure walking through the gates of the Zhu family manor.
Reviews
All reviews (0)