Chapter 1679: The Power of the Dark Hall
Upon hearing the loud shout, the immense conference hall of several hundred people immediately became even more excited and exhilarated, with some even holding their breath!
Even Duanmu Mian rarely stood up personally from the Family Head chair, looking towards the outside.
Outside the conference hall, an elderly man of lean stature, dressed in tight black clothing, directly walked in.
With the naked eye alone, one couldn’t see anything unusual about him, yet he naturally exuded a powerful aura and oppressive presence, walking with a dragon-like stride and a tiger-like confidence, looking down upon everything!
Behind him followed four middle-aged individuals, three men and one woman, also in tight black clothing, resembling attendants.
"Second Young Master!!!"
Hundreds of people shouted in unison, their eyes filled with eagerness!
Duanmu Chunqiu nonchalantly nodded, looking down upon everything, and directly headed toward the Family Head chair.
Duanmu Mian stepped down from there, laughing heartily, "Second Brother, long time no see!"
"Eldest Brother!"
Duanmu Chunqiu cupped his fists.
Within the entire Duanmu Family, he regarded only his elder brother, dismissing others as trivial.
"I’ve brought back all the forces of Dark Hall; are your preparations on your end complete?" Duanmu Chunqiu asked.
"Almost done, can’t you see I’m holding a mobilization assembly for everyone? Everything is ready save for your timely arrival, and now you’re back..." Duanmu Mian was visibly delighted.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let’s set out directly to Jiangdong! Dark Hall trains soldiers for a thousand days to use them in one moment, precisely for such affairs, and now, with just a word from you, Eldest Brother, would we dare not to go through fire and water?!"
As those words fell, the four middle-aged individuals behind him immediately cupped their fists, and said in unison, "Family Head, we are prepared to set forth, awaiting your orders!"
Duanmu Mian hesitated for a moment, "Second Brother, isn’t this a bit too hasty? I haven’t completely deployed everything yet, and with so many people involved, there also needs to be a unified procedure for moving out, without startling the locals too much..."
This was the difference between him and Duanmu Chunqiu.
Duanmu Chunqiu was a martial artist, with a fiery temperament, not letting enmity last overnight.
While Duanmu Mian, as the Family Head, had to meticulously plan and consider everything, seeking stability.
In essence, he tended to look ahead and backward a bit more, not wanting things to go awry.
"Deployment?"
Upon hearing this, Duanmu Chunqiu sneered, "Eldest Brother, do you really expect those clan members to lead idle people to Jiangdong with you? What role can they play, and given the current status of the Duanmu Family in the Capital City, do we need to put on such a façade? Besides, you know that the boy is a Martial Artist, and for Martial Artists, numbers of people are meaningless; sending too many is instead like adding fuel to fire, becoming a burden!"
"Then what do you mean?" Duanmu Mian asked with an unpleasant expression.
"It’s simple, by having me lead Dark Hall, that’s sufficient!"
Duanmu Chunqiu said, "For Dark Hall, handling such matters is a walk in the park; eradicating a small pest, I even think it’s using a sledgehammer to crack a nut! And at worst, even if Dark Hall truly fails, calling upon ten thousand people is still ineffective; the Duanmu Family will surely be sapped at the base, leading to decline!"
Duanmu Mian pondered again and again, knowing full well the truth in Duanmu Chunqiu’s words.
If Dark Hall were to fail, then the Duanmu Family would essentially be finished too; in today’s era, families without powerful martial force protecting them are mere shells, open to oppression from others without any power to resist.
But if he were to let Dark Hall go like this, he was truly unwilling, for if the gamble was lost, the Duanmu Family couldn’t bear the consequences...
"Eldest Brother, what are you hesitating about? If you’re still not assured, then I can establish a military order; if Dark Hall doesn’t handle this matter well, neither I nor they deserve to return alive!" Duanmu Chunqiu said coldly.
"Second Brother, you mustn’t say such things; the Duanmu Family still relies on you and me to support it!"
Duanmu Mian was startled, hurriedly saying, "Then fine; since you’re so confident, I have nothing to say either. Anyway, this battle for the Duanmu Family is inevitable! We can only await your and Dark Hall’s performance!"
Duanmu Chunqiu nodded, saying no more, "Eldest Brother, just arrange the transportation; six vans will suffice for me."
"Six vans?" Duanmu Mian hesitated again upon hearing this, "Second Brother, how many people are you planning to take?"
"No more, no less, forty people."
Duanmu Chunqiu sneered, "These forty, even within Dark Hall, are elites among elites! Besides me, there are eight in the Primordial Transformation Realm, twelve in the Spirit Void Realm, and twenty in the Absolute Peak Realm! Our fighting strength is robust enough to annihilate a small to medium-sized country; what more could be said of that small pest in Jiangdong?!"
Eight in Primordial Transformation, twelve in Spirit Void, twenty in Absolute Peak!!
When Duanmu Chunqiu revealed these numbers, not only Duanmu Mian but all present at the Duanmu Family were astounded!
For all these years, with Dark Hall under Duanmu Chunqiu’s control, no one truly knew the internal affairs. Now, hearing Duanmu Chunqiu speak, everyone realized that Dark Hall was already powerful to this extent, that Duanmu Chunqiu didn’t even regard those below Absolute Peak when going out for affairs!
"Wonderful! Second Brother, you have truly been invaluable to the family, though you didn’t tell me, I didn’t know you had accumulated so much powerful strength for the family, hahahaha!"
Duanmu Mian finally felt at ease at this point, laughing heartily!
After all, in his view, no matter how sinister Jiang Feng could be, it was impossible for him to suddenly become a match for these forty people; with eight in the Primordial Transformation acting together, they could annihilate seventy or eighty percent of countries globally, right? Only major countries or intermediate countries could resist somewhat.
"Second Grandfather!"
At this time, the previously hidden Duanmu Zhe, who hadn’t dared to show himself in the crowd, suddenly stepped forward and smiled at Duanmu Chunqiu, "Let me accompany you on this expedition; I must witness the demise of that remnant for myself, so I can return and report victory to my Eldest; he’s waiting for my triumphant return!"
Duanmu Chunqiu looked at this third-generation designated successor of the Duanmu Family and rarely showed a smile, patting Duanmu Zhe’s head, "Are you not afraid? After all, that remnant has also committed quite a few notorious deeds."
"Not afraid!"
Duanmu Zhe shook his head, smiling, "If I had any concerns before, they were genuine, but after what you said, Second Grandfather, with so many strong experts from Dark Hall moving together, what do I have to fear? I await to see you, Second Grandfather, restore your pride and vent my anger!"
"Hehe, alright. Then follow along."
Duanmu Chunqiu nodded, "This way, you’ll be able to relay information to the family in a timely manner and answer to Ying Zheng. I initially intended for Dark Hall to be cultivated to match the Ying Family, without needing to rely on them, but now it seems unrealistic, at least in my lifetime, insurmountable! So Second Grandfather will give you an extra grand gift, allowing you to stand tall before Ying Zheng!"
Ah, it turns out Duanmu Chunqiu harbored such ambition, training Dark Hall to enable the Duanmu Family to rival the Ying Family!
Yet now he had neither the time nor opportunity left, he could only resign himself!
"Thank you, Second Grandfather!!"
Duanmu Zhe was immensely excited, filled with anticipation for the bliss of revenge!