Eternal life begins with saving my clan

"Hmm. Hmm. I agree. With the look and strength of our young master, how could mortals dare to compare with him?" another elder added.

"Hmm…. But I don\'t understand why Young master went to such lengths to get the Spirit Comms. The prize of the Spirit Comms is even equal to the reward for the top rank. I don\'t see how that benefits our clan at all," the oldest of the elders said with a slight irritation.

The City Lord\'s wife looked at the old man without any change in her expression before looking at her son.

Ye Zhen, dressed in well-fitting blue with his hair tied in a bun, looked at the old man and asked, "Please, can you tell me what I should have focused on?"

Everyone turned to the old man, waiting for his explanation.

The old man cleared his throat and began slowly, "The Hidden Dragon Battle Tournament is about to begin. It happens only every ten years. That should be our focus. Everyone should not forget how our clan became the lord of the city."

He paused, and he looked at the faces in the room for a couple of seconds before he continued.

"If we fail to reach a satisfying ranking in this tournament, I don\'t think our clan can keep the position of the City lord. The Prefecture lord won\'t hesitate to discard us for being useless."

"And if anyone from the city has a higher rank than us, our fate would be even worse."

"Are you saying with my strength in the Early Foundation Building realm, I will lose to an ordinary Qi Refinement warrior?" Ye Zhen asked with a frown.

Before the old man could respond, he continued to show his displeasure.

"Before I came back, I didn\'t hear of anyone in the younger generation in the Foundation Building realm. Two out of the people that may give me a little concern had been killed on the Southern Sea. And others, they were still in the Qi Refinement realm. With all this, you\'re still doubting my strength."

At the end of his sentence, his voice had risen a couple of octaves. He was already shouting.

The hall descended into an abrupt silence as no one expected their calm and peaceful Young master to let loose of his emotion in front of the elders.

His mother had a slight worry on her face. She tried to diffuse the tensed atmosphere but wasn\'t sure of what to say or whom to support.

Should she support her son, it would irk the displeasure of the old man. And if she supported the old man, it would result in the displeasure of her son.

Reaching an impasse, everyone looked at each other with bated breath. Ye Zhen maintained his stoic expression, glaring at the old man while the old man didn\'t have any expression on his face.

Finally, his mother couldn\'t allow it anymore and prepared to break the silence.

"Elder…"

"Madam, you don\'t need to speak on his behalf," the old man cut her off sharply.

The old man didn\'t have any change in his voice. His countenance was calm and stable.

He turned and looked at Ye Zhen and spoke.

"The clan sent you to join the top ten clans in the prefecture to boost your chance of getting stronger quickly. In the clan, how many people of your age are in the Foundation Building realm?"

Ye Zhen didn\'t expect such a question and his expression froze for a moment.

All eyes were on him, waiting for him to speak. Quickly, he recovered and adjusted his expression.

"10."

"Are they stronger than you or not?"

He bit the edge of his lips, and his expression turned ugly, still, he answered truthfully.

"They are stronger than me."

"Good. Now, let\'s see the bigger picture. That is for the tenth rank in the prefecture. What about the ninth to the first rank, how many people do you think would be stronger than you?"

The old man said slowly, his voice didn\'t fluctuate as he was saying the cold bitter truth.

Everyone in the hall sucked in a cold breath and looked at Ye Zhen and saw him grinding his teeth.

He wanted to defend himself but didn\'t know what to say. However, the old man was not yet done.

"What I just said was only for Zizhu prefecture. Zizhu is under the 36th state. Do you know how many prefectures under the 36th state? 18. Do you now understand how terrifying and deadly this tournament is?"

"With your current unstable foundation, how will you compete with those that have been in the early stage 1 for years, solidifying their foundation. Hmm?"

This time around, Ye Zhen didn\'t even have the courage to get angry. The cold bitter truth pierced his soul, shattering his pride.

The old man saw the hidden sadness in Ye Zhen\'s eyes and said.

"Young master, I\'m not looking down on you or not commending your effort. I am proud of what you have achieved, but times have changed."

Hmm!

Everyone looked at the old man as if they were looking at another person entirely.

\'Did he knock his head against the wall?\' they thought.

The old man saw the confused and stunned expression on their faces but didn\'t care and continued.

"Do you know how your father was injured and what happened?"

"Yes," Ye Zhen nodded.

"You only know your father fought with a powerful expert, right?"

He nodded.

"Wrong," he shook his head.

Everyone was shocked with their eyes widened. Even the City Lord\'s wife was confused.

"He was attacked by a phantom deadly sword that appeared out of thin air."

Gasped.

They were flabbergasted, reeling in shock and confusion.

"That wasn\'t all. The Ding clan, Wei clan, Xue clan, and the leader of the Crimson Jade Pavilion were attacked by the same phantom sword. Each of them lost a portion of their body, with their cultivation regressing to the peak of the Foundation Building realm."

"Terrifying, right?" he asked still maintaining his serene expression.

No one had the strength to respond as they were stunned to stupor. They couldn\'t believe what they were hearing. A Phantom sword almost killed all the most powerful experts in the city, with them even losing their cultivation.

What would happen if it was the real sword?

They sucked in a cold breath and shivered.

"If that was it, I won\'t be panicking right now. The terrifying part is…"

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