Chapter 215 - 212: Sudden Change
"Heh. What a joke. The young master of the Shen Family... runs faster than a rat the moment things get serious..."
In the Qi Family’s Treasury,
in a dark corner,
the Qi Family Grand Elder clutched his bleeding chest, using a crumbling wall to laboriously pull himself to his feet.
His face, disheveled and caked in blood, a picture of wretched misery,
was twisted in a sneer.
’I had planned to give up more than half of our family’s wealth in exchange for shelter. Then, we could have continued on under the Shen Family’s banner.’
’At least the Qi Family wouldn’t be hunted to extinction after losing all its top experts.’
’But I never imagined...’
’...that arrogant bastard who looked down his nose at everyone. He talked a big game, shouting slogans that could shake the heavens,’
’but the moment someone appeared, he ran faster than a rabbit!’
’The Qi Family...’
’...is finished!’
Pushing aside thoughts of the pretentious fraud,
the Qi Family Grand Elder heaved a long sigh.
’I know full well...’
’...that after losing our last hope of protection, the Qi Family cannot possibly survive a siege by these three powers.’
’They’ll even join forces to hunt down anyone with a single drop of Qi Family blood!’
’They will eradicate us, root and branch! Total annihilation!’
At this, a storm of complicated feelings churned within him.
When he was a boy,
the old Ancestor was still alive,
and he had lived through the Qi Family’s most prosperous era.
Back then,
the Qi Family’s name as a Soul Emergence Clan commanded submission from all quarters. We were universally revered.
When the disciples of the Qi Family went out,
they were a cut above everyone else, met with looks of awe and reverence wherever they went.
For those wretches, merely kneeling before one of us, spouting a few words, and playing the fool to earn a smile was an honor they could brag about for the rest of their lives!
When the old Ancestor celebrated his great birthday,
even the great Immortal Cultivation Noble Families from Qing City sent representatives to offer their congratulations.
Even the famed prodigies from the greater Immortal Cultivation Realm—arrogant geniuses at the peak of Qi Introduction, rumored to have the greatest hope of breaking through to the Soul Emergence Realm—
had to swallow their pride, bow before our Ancestor, and shower him with smiles and endless flattery...
Back then,
the Wolf Fang Gang, the Mountain Alliance Association, the White Cloud Sect... they were nothing more than dogs leashed by our Qi Family.
In fact, they were just a few among our many lapdogs.
There were many other dogs,
but the old Ancestor had them put down before he passed.
Their assets were absorbed into our family’s holdings, becoming part of the foundation that nurtured our descendants.
It was only because those three were far enough away and knelt fast enough, handing over their entire legacies and more than eighty percent of their yearly income...
...that the old Ancestor spared them. He merely found a flimsy excuse to kill a few of their Qi Introduction Ninth Layer cultivators as a warning.
That was the only reason they were allowed to survive.
When the Ancestor was still alive, when the Qi Family was at its zenith,
what were those three families worth?
Nothing! They were merely the descendants of wretches who survived only because they were quick to kneel!
’But what a pity...’
’In the end, the old Ancestor still misjudged them.’
’Those wretches, more fawning and servile than dogs, were all secretly nursing wolfish ambitions, constantly plotting to turn on their master.’
’And so today, that lingering threat from the past has brought this catastrophic doom upon the Qi Family.’
’No,’
’perhaps the old Ancestor knew. He knew those three despicable families were biding their time, harboring ungrateful, treacherous thoughts.’
’That must be why he found excuses to kill off their Ninth Layer Realm Cultivators, to leave the Qi Family with three defanged, tamed dogs to command.’
’Perhaps the old Ancestor trusted in the wisdom of his descendants, believing they could handle those three dogs.’
’After all, the most threatening Ninth Layer Realm Cultivators had been eliminated.’
’We held their legacies in our hands.’
’They were bound by iron chains,’
’so what if they bore a grudge?’
"Ancestor, your plan was so thorough, so perfect... but alas, your descendants were unworthy!"
Memories flashed through his mind, and the Qi Family Grand Elder sighed.
He gasped for breath, leaning on the wall as he staggered down the dark corridor, inching his way toward the deep darkness ahead.
His vision swam with black spots.
’Ever since the old Ancestor died, we lost his stabilizing presence. The family was torn apart by internal power struggles...’
’Worse yet, the one who rose to power through compromise between the factions was a man of great ambition but little talent. He was easily goaded into confronting the Wu Family...’
’...which led to our devastating losses and, at the same time, loosened the chains on those three other families...’
’Who is there to blame?’
’We can only blame ourselves. We, the descendants, lived too peacefully, too comfortably under the old Ancestor’s protection.’
’Even after the Ancestor passed away, we maintained the arrogance of a Soul Emergence Noble Clan. We kept looking down our noses at everyone, never bothering to lower ourselves to take a real look at the world, forgetting just how cruel the Immortal Cultivation World truly is...’
’By the time we finally woke up,’
’it was already too late.’
The Qi Family Grand Elder dragged his grievously wounded body through the gloomy corridor.
Only the whisper of his shuffling feet echoed in the silent passage.
Scenes from the past flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern.
He saw the prosperity of the Ancestor’s birthday, when roads were paved for miles with silk and gold thread. He saw the sorrow after the Ancestor’s passing, and the bitter power struggles that tore the family apart...
In his life,
he had witnessed the Qi Family’s journey from its most glorious peak to its decline, and now to its imminent destruction... He had seen far, far too much.
Now, at the end of it all,
he didn’t feel much fear of death.
Perhaps he had simply lived long enough.
’But,’
’I can face my own death with calm,’
’but I can never calmly accept the destruction of the Qi Family—especially not at the hands of those three dogs who turned on us!’
A monstrous wave of resentment was the only thing propping up his shattered body, giving him the strength to make it this far.
"Heh heh heh... It seems you have made your decision!"
A sinister, cold voice emanated from the depths of the darkness, carrying a dreadful chill.
It felt as if one were facing the gloomy, frigid Eternal Underworld itself, where countless resentful souls writhed in agony. The sound alone made one’s body tremble and grow cold against their will.
"That’s right. I have decided!"
"The Qi Family has an unbroken lineage of four hundred and twenty-one years, ever since our founder first stepped into the Immortal Cultivation Realm! We even produced a Soul Emergence Ancestor! How can we just vanish into obscurity like this?!"
"Hahaha! Let’s raise some hell!"
"Let them all be buried with my Qi Family!"
The Qi Family Grand Elder cackled madly, his hand reaching for an iron door at the end of the darkness.
With a sudden surge of strength, the barely-maintained seal finally gave way, shattering with a deafening crack!
BOOM!!!
Instantly,
the iron door exploded into pieces,
and an endless black tide erupted like a flood, engulfing the Qi Family Grand Elder in a flash!
In a heartbeat,
the Qi Family Grand Elder’s body withered within the black tide. He became like a mummy weathered for millennia, all of his Vitality drained away, until he finally disintegrated into dust that scattered on the wind.
As his consciousness faded,
he heard a faint voice echoing through the darkness:
"As you wish..."