Despite the Lightning Emperor’s Palace’s chaos, the rest of the Central Divine Mountain went about its business as usual. It seemed outsiders didn’t know the Xiao Family was facing imminent, grave internal conflict.
Xiao Yan carried the seal of family head. He wore an emperor’s robes, and his body crackled with electricity. He glared oppressively at the crowd, especially those on the verge of taking action. “If any of you dare move, I’ll use my status as family head to exile you from the family.”
In the face of this level of threat, no one dared move. Even though Xiao Ting had announced that Xiao Yan had been dethroned, the past hundred years were enough to instill a healthy respect and fear of Xiao Yan in the family’s hearts.
Furthermore, Xiao Yan’s trusted confidantes had locked onto Xiao Ting’s allies with their divine senses.
This was no longer as simple as who got to sit upon the throne. It seemed that today, the Lightning Emperor’s Xiao Family would undergo an earth shattering transformation.
From his spot atop the family head’s throne, Xiao Ting watched all this play out, his expression grave.
Some time later…
“Ha ha ha!” He laughed out loud and nodded despite himself.
His laughter attracted everyone’s attention, and it put those who stood by Xiao Yan on edge.
Xiao Ting had abdicated voluntarily, but he was still the strongest expert of the Xiao Family.
“Xiao Yan, as your father, your growth over the past hundred years has truly gratified me,” praised Xiao Ting. He smiled and pointed at the palace. “What are you trying to do? Do you want to seize my throne and incite a rebellion? Has spending a hundred years as family head gone to your head? Now you want to rob your old man of his place?”
Xiao Yan’s lips quivered. He still remembered what Xiao Ting had taught in his youth.
The Xiao Family had always been loyal to the God Race. They were the sharp sword with which the gods fended off demons and yao.
But this current Xiao Ting was strange and foreign. He hadn’t just allied himself with other races; now, he wanted to lead the rest of the family into betrayal as well.
“Father!” Xiao Yan shouted, practically begging. His eyes were full of confusion. Others might not know what that shout or that confused look implied, but Xiao Ting did.
“It seems you already know. Did Xiao Hu tell you?” asked Xiao Ting flatly.
These words truly, irrevocably, and irrefutably confirmed Xiao Ting’s betrayal, with no room left for misunderstandings.
Xiao Yan’s eyes flashed as he stared intently at his father, his thick brows knitting together. “Why? Tell me, why?”
He didn’t care about the seat of family head. If Xiao Ting hadn’t tried to seize it at a time like this, he would have happily given it up.
But now…
He couldn’t just hand the Xiao Family over to Xiao Ting. He couldn’t let the Xiao Family’s countless millennia of glory crumble in his father’s hands. He couldn’t let the generations to come curse them throughout eternity as traitors to their realm.
Even now, Xiao Yan hoped Xiao Ting would come to his senses. So long as he changed course, Xiao Yan could pretend nothing had ever happened.
“Are you questioning me, the true Lightning Emperor? Hand over the family head’s seal like a good little boy!” The implied threat was obvious to all who heard it.
An oppressive atmosphere filled the room, so intense that those present didn’t dare so much as breathe too loudly.
Xiao Yan gnashed his teeth and gazed at his father in distress. Finally, distress gave way to disappointment.
“There’s no way,” he said, dashing his father’s hopes. Xiao Yan shook his head and laughed. “You’ve gotten old. You’ve long since abdicated your throne to me, so there’s no reason for you to retake your former position. Under my leadership, the Xiao Family has maintained its limitless glory, so don’t worry about the family. Go back and enjoy your retirement.
As he spoke, he locked eyes with his father.
“Impudent! Xiao Ting narrowed his eyes, and when he spoke, his voice was raised. “Xiao Yan, everything you have, I gave you. I can take it back whenever I please. Anything I give you is yours… anything I don’t give you, you’ve stolen. Understand?”
“Understood.” Xiao Yan let out a long sigh, then gazed down at the family head’s seal. After one final look, he put it back into his spatial ring. The next moment, his aura seemed to surge. He looked up…. “Then I’ll just have to keep stealing.”
“Good! Good! I, Xiao Ting, have an excellent son!” Xiao Ting’s face went purple with rage. He nodded at his unrelenting son and “praised” him through gnashed teeth, then waved to his followers. “Seize them!”
Whoosh!
The room instantly split into three groups: the first was those who were unsure of the situation and those who wanted to stay neutral. The others either allied themselves with Xiao Yan or Xiao Ting. These two groups stared daggers at each other.
From the look of things, it seemed Xiao Ting had a bit of an advantage.
Everyone on Xiao Ting’s side was an elder. From their status to their cultivation, they were far more impressive than Xiao Yan’s confidantes. After all, Xiao Yan had had only one hundred years to raise up his forces.
Before long, Xiao Yan and his followers were surrounded. Everyone took at their weapons and glared at each other.
“This is just perfect. It seems these are the followers you’ve cultivated for yourself. They’ve all come out into the open, which will save me the trouble of weeding them out one by one.”
Back on the throne, Xiao Ting’s eyes flashed with sharp currents of electricity. Two bolts shot forth, slamming into the entryway and shutting it tight.
The room was instantly dark as night. Their only light was crackling electricity. Beneath its eerie glow, the former Lightning Emperor looked as sinister as could be. “People of the Xiao Family, heed my commands! Stamp out the rebels!”
When those who’d planned to stay neutral saw this, they were stunned. Especially when they saw Xiao Ting’s terrifying glare. Their hearts thudded violently in their chests.
Was the Xiao Family about to become a river of blood?
Crack!
Just as Xiao Ting and Xiao Yan’s allies were about to fight, someone pushed open the tightly sealed palace door.
Blinding light streamed into the room. Beneath that intense, eye-catching radiance….
They saw a veiled woman.
However, the light shining through the crack was so dazzling, no one could tell who she was.
Once the door was open just enough to let a single person through, it stopped moving. The woman faced away from the light, then stepped into the hall. The light shining through the half-open door lit the palace floors as she slowly walked right up to the center of the room.
Everyone was stunned, from Xiao Ting to the recently surrounded, trapped Xiao Yan. Their eyes all widened in shock.
“Xiao Yan is your last and only son, yet you’re in such a rush to kill him? If you do this, how can you face your Junior Apprentice Sister Zhao Shiyu?”
“You….” Still clutching the sides of his throne, Xiao Ting’s hands quivered inexplicably.
The veiled woman laughed faintly and said, “Xiao Ting, your life has been an awful failure, hasn’t it? But then, I’m in no mood to waste words with you.”
A hint of disdain flashed across her face. She looked away, then turned to Xiao Yan. “Let’s go!”
