Xiao Chen’s face sank. He snorted coldly and executed the Thousand Year Flame with his left hand and the Thousand Year Death with his right. Two bright moons soared into the sky from behind him—one scarlet like blood, the other bright like fire.
This formed a wondrous mysterious phenomenon of two moons competing in brilliance. This attack welcomed the attacks of the two old men, forcing them to retreat while vomiting blood. Then, the two old men fled in horror.
Xiao Chen did not give chase. He frowned slightly and said, “What in the world happened in this city? When I mentioned the Su Clan’s name, I got attacked immediately.”
Could it be that something unexpected happened in the past five thousand years?
Did he die?
Xiao Chen quietly entered the city, asked around, and received a completely unexpected answer.
The human-Demon Martial Emperor Su He died five hundred years ago while trying to advance to Sovereign Martial Emperor.
Such an answer truly caught Xiao Chen off guard. This development was even more difficult to deal with than his initial fear of Su He leaving Scorching Flame Island.
The Su Clan, overlord of Scorching Flame Island back then, rapidly declined after Su He’s death.
Right now, the Su Clan was almost at the point of being forced off Scorching Flame Island. The factions that the Su Clan once suppressed now suppressed it, preventing the clan from making any progress.
The Su Clan had already been chased out of Scorching Flame City long ago. Now, they were based in a city on the northwest side of Scorching Flame Island.
Although the Su Clan was still one of the two major factions of Scorching Flame Island, they were in decline. Everyone knew that the Su Clan would not last for long and would soon be chased off Scorching Flame Island by the Wang Clan.
There was a saying that truly applied here, “A man is never happy for a thousand days, and a flower never blooms for a hundred.”
Right now, the largest faction on Scorching Flame Island was the Wang Clan. The two old men who tried to stop Xiao Chen from entering the city were inner clan elders of the Wang Clan.
The Wang Clan’s Clan Head was a half-step Martial Emperor. Aside from him, there were two Consummation quasi-Emperors. In this Scorching Flame Island, where there were no Martial Emperors, the title of strongest did not really mean much.
“Thank you.”
Xiao Chen gave the waiter that told him the information a small reward. Then, he picked up his teacup and entered deep thought.
This was rather problematic. The guardian of the Thunder Emperor’s inheritance had passed away. He did not know whether Su He passed the key on to his descendants or whether he had the key buried with himself.
Xiao Chen put down the teacup and asked, Ao Jiao, what should we do now?
Ao Jiao, who was within the Immortal Spirit Ring, thought for a moment before answering, Let’s go to the Su Clan first and see. Without the key, I will not be able to open Sang Mu’s inheritance, either.
I hope everything will go smoothly.
When Xiao Chen stood up and paid the bill, he suddenly felt a strong aura heading in his direction. This strong aura was accompanied by the auras of the two old men he injured earlier.
This was a total of one Consummation quasi-Emperor and two Great Perfection quasi-Emperors.
Xiao Chen smiled and said, “They really think highly of me.”
Xiao Chen no longer feared facing a Consummation quasi-Emperor at all. He was even confident of defeating someone as strong as that straw-caped old man.
However, there was no need to cause too much of a commotion for now. He circulated the Foundation Returning Art to hide his aura before silently leaving this place.
Not long after Xiao Chen left, three cultivators appeared at the doors of this teahouse.
The person in the middle had purple hair and scarlet eyes. He did not look old in any way. However, the moment he appeared, the noisy teahouse fell absolutely silent.
This startled the manager of the teahouse. What matter could possibly bring out the Wang Clan’s Supreme Elder? Furthermore, he also had two Great Perfection quasi-Emperors with him.
As of now, the Wang Clan was like the local tyrant of Scorching Flame Island. No one dared to disobey it. Normally, the Wang Clan’s people also acted very arrogantly, but no one dared to offend them, either.
The manager quickly ran over and said with a pandering smile, “Senior Wang, what brings you here today?”
The purple-haired, middle-aged man did not say anything. Instead, one of the old men whom Xiao Chen injured asked without any pretense, “Did you see a white-robed youth? He is not a local and looks rather unique; it should be very easy to recognize him.”
“Yes, he left not that long ago.” Seeing this person’s ferocious expression, the manager did not dare to lie.
The expression of Wang Feng, the purple-haired middle-aged man, changed slightly. He said, “Are you sure he left?”
[TL Note: This Wang Feng is making his first appearance here. This name was used twice before, once with the same characters and the other with different characters but the same sound.]
“He really left just now. This little one does not dare to hide the truth.”
Wang Feng muttered, “Strange. If he just left, how could he completely disappear from my perception? I cannot sense such a peak Great Perfection quasi-Emperor at all.
“Could it be that this fellow learned some kind of Secret Technique for hiding his aura?”
Wang Feng nodded and entered deep thought. After a while, he said, “That should be it. This person’s strength is rather impressive. Don’t casually offend him if there is no reason to.”
“However, he seems to have some relation with the Su Clan. Furthermore, he injured us without even batting an eyelid,” one of the old men said carefully.
Wang Feng smiled coldly and said, “I’ll make some time and personally check this out. If he really is related to the Su Clan, I will make sure that he will never leave Scorching Flame Island. If not, I’ll just give him a warning, and that will do.
“The two of you, don’t think that by ruling the areas around this Scorching Flame Island, you are unparalleled in the world.”
After saying that, the purple-haired, scarlet-eyed Wang Feng turned and left with a flash, no longer bothering himself with these two.
The two old men whom Xiao Chen injured earlier glanced at each other, feeling upset.
“Anyway, Old Wang is personally going to make a move. If this brat is really connected to the Su Clan, he will die a sorry death.”
“That is natural. Old Wang is a peak Consummation quasi-Emperor. If a half-step Martial Emperor does not appear, no one is a match for him.”
—
Scorching Flame Island was about the same size as Xiao Chen’s conferred land, Heavenly Star Island, which was the same size as a province in the Tianwu Domain. An ordinary person riding a horse for three months straight would not be able to reach the other end of the island.
However, this distance was not that problematic to a quasi-Emperor, especially to a demonic genius like Xiao Chen.
At midnight, Xiao Chen used only about eight minutes to travel to a city on the northwest side of Scorching Flame Island.
This city was built on desolate mountains. It was where the Su Clan currently had its residence. Compared to the bustle of Scorching Flame City, it appeared quiet and deserted. No wonder everyone looked dispirited.
It looked like this Su Clan was indeed reduced to a miserable state and would be forced out of Scorching Flame Island soon.
Due to his earlier experience, Xiao Chen continued to circulate the Foundation Returning Art this time and moved around silently. Then, he arrived at the City Lord’s Residence without startling anyone.
At this moment, the great hall of the City Lord’s Residence was brightly lit. The Su Clan’s Clan Head and the Su Clan’s elders were all gathered. It looked like they were discussing something.
Without alerting anyone, Xiao Chen silently landed below the roof. As he looked at the room lit up with lanterns, he noticed that all the Su Clan elders had grave expressions. Hence, he could not help eavesdropping on them.
“First Brother, right now, the Wang Clan is being very overbearing. They have also occupied several of our resource islands. We cannot keep going on like this.”
“The Wang Clan’s people are really too domineering. They are simply forcing us to our death. They not only want to chase us out of Scorching Flame Island but also want to occupy all of our resource islands. They intend to break off our roots!”
“First Brother, please make a decision. The ancestral rules can be changed. Right now, the Su Clan is already in a life-and-death situation. I believe that Ancestor Su He will forgive us.”
All the people in the great hall looked at the Su Clan’s Clan Head, who sat in the middle, with burning gazes. They hoped that he would reach a particular decision.
Xiao Chen’s Spiritual Sense swept across and discovered a plain and simple purple key in the hands of the Su Clan’s Clan Head. The Su Clan’s Clan Head showed a conflicted expression like he was in pain.
When seeing this scene, Xiao Chen immediately understood what was going on. After Su He died, he had indeed left the key to his descendant. At the same time, he left his dying will to wait for the Thunder Emperor’s inheritor to appear.
However, now that the Su Clan reached a critical point of life and death, these elders wanted to take the Thunder Emperor’s inheritance. They wanted to use the treasures left by the Thunder Emperor to survive this tribulation and reclaim the position of Scorching Flame Island’s overlord.
How shameless! How could they steal the things that their benefactor left behind?! Ao Jiao scolded as she flushed red with anger in the Immortal Spirit Ring.
Xiao Chen said calmly, Don’t get agitated yet. Let’s see what decision the Su Clan’s Clan Head will come to first.
Xiao Chen was not a bloodthirsty person. However, he would not mind starting a massacre here if the Su Clan’s Clan Head made the wrong decision.
When the Su Clan’s Clan Head looked at his eagers brothers in the great hall, his expression turned complicated.
The Su Clan’s Clan Head knew that these people missed the days when the Su Clan was the overlord of Scorching Flame Island. They could not endure the suffering and humiliation they were experiencing now. He clearly understood how his brothers felt.
However, this was something that the ancestor passed down. Before the ancestor died, he repeatedly gave instructions about it. Hence, the Clan Head did not dare to make a rash decision.
“Don’t mention this matter anymore. The things in there do not belong to our ancestor but the benefactor of the ancestor. If we really take it, how am I to face our ancestor after I die?”
After a moment of silence, the Su Clan’s Clan Head made a decision that disappointed all his brothers.
“Congratulations, you made the right choice.”
“Whoosh!”
Xiao Chen nimbly somersaulted and twisted around, suddenly appearing in the Su Clan’s great hall.
“Who is it?!”
Xiao Chen’s silent appearance startled the group of people in the great hall. Even though the peak experts of the Su Clan had all gathered here, they had not detected his presence prior to this.
The Su Clan’s people sized up Xiao Chen and discovered that he was only a peak Great Perfection quasi-Emperor. However, the aura that he gave off put even more horrifying pressure than a half-step Martial Emperor’s.
The Su Clan’s Clan Head calmly held up his hand and stopped the flustered elders in the great hall. He looked at Xiao Chen and said, “May I ask who you are and why you were listening in on us?”
Xiao Chen looked at the purple key on the table and replied calmly, “I do not have any malicious intent. The person you are waiting for is me.”
The Su Clan’s Clan Head noticed Xiao Chen’s gaze and clutched the key tightly in his hand. His expression turned serious as he said, “I do not know what you are talking about. I am not waiting for anyone. I think you should be mistaken.”
Pretty good. Even at such a moment, he can still remain cautious.
Xiao Chen praised the Su Clan’s Clan Head in his heart. If the Su Clan’s Clan Head changed his expression markedly just because of what Xiao Chen said, displaying extreme shock and revealing everything, Xiao Chen would have looked down on this Clan Head’s determination.
“Haha! You need me to clarify this? I am the Thunder Emperor’s inheritor. The person that Martial Emperor Su He wanted you to wait for is me. That key in your hand is mine.”
Right after Xiao Chen spoke, the group of people in the great hall who suggested opening up the Thunder Emperor’s inheritance all changed their expressions.
Unexpectedly, the descendants of the guardian met with the rightful master of the inheritance, and furthermore, he heard what they said about wanting to take the inheritance for themselves. Their expressions immediately turned into complicated ones.
