Chapter 580 - 579: The Brewing Storm
The old saying goes that one shouldn’t air their dirty laundry in public, so the matter of Qin Ya showing up at the Yanx Family’s door and forcing them to hand over another hundred Kings didn’t spread and cause any major stir.
But secrets have a way of getting out. The matter couldn’t be hidden from the major powers in the main city, such as the Dongmen Family, the Sima Family, and the Venerable Mansion.
Noble Families like the Dongmen and Sima looked on with some contempt, but they didn’t publicize it. This kind of thing, damaging the reputation of a Noble Family, could easily lead to a major war.
"Hmph, that Yanx Tian is really useless. He couldn’t even handle a young brat like Qin Ya and just handed over a hundred Kings so easily."
"Hilarious. A great Noble Family, forced like that. The Yanx Family is really regressing. It’s utterly contemptible."
"If that Qin Ya dared to be so audacious with my Dongmen Family, I’d break his legs myself and teach him who he can and cannot afford to provoke."
"For Qin Ya to be able to force Yanx Tian to send out another hundred Kings... for this young man to achieve such a thing, tsk tsk, his methods are anything but simple."
The various prominent powers had mixed reactions to the matter. Some looked upon the Yanx Family with disdain, while others admired Qin Ya...
Then, two days later, the Venerable Mansion released a list.
It was a ranking of the military forces provided by each of the major powers.
The Yanx Family was at the very top of the list, having provided a total of one hundred and twenty Kings and over a thousand Celestial Human Martial Artists—accounting for half of the Yanx Family’s total strength.
What was surprising was that, besides the Yanx Family, the forces provided by the other powers were pitifully small. Most contributed only ten or twenty Kings; even the two great Noble Families, the Dongmen and Sima, only provided twenty or thirty Kings.
Compared to the Yanx Family, the difference was night and day.
The moment this list was released, it immediately caused a stir.
One must understand, exterminating demons was a righteous cause. The Yanx Family had sent out one hundred and twenty Kings, contributing so much, yet the two superpowers of the main city, the Dongmen and Sima Families, had only sent a few Kings. It was truly shameful.
But out of fear of the two great Noble Families’ power, people only dared to speak in private and didn’t dare to openly criticize them. For a time, a seed was quietly planted in the hearts of the masses.
The various Noble Families were somewhat surprised; they hadn’t expected the Venerable Mansion to do such a thing.
But few of them took it to heart. It was, after all, just a list.
Inside the Ninth Inspectorate, Qin Ya looked at the list in his hand and smiled faintly. He turned to Bi Xiaoyu at his side and said, "Xiaoyu, you can proceed with the matter I assigned you."
"Yes, Young Master."
Not long after, Martial Artists all around the main city began to incessantly discuss the matter of the forces provided by the Dongmen, Sima, and other Noble Families. Their words were often filled with slanderous intent.
"Tsk tsk, the Dongmen Family, the Sima Family, the Li Family, and the others are really living carefree lives, aren’t they? The Venerable Lord is working his heart out to lead the crusade against Demon Heart Valley, conscripting soldiers in the city, but these Noble Families? They just feign compliance. It’s truly disheartening."
"Exactly! Even the Yanx Family put in so much effort, but the Dongmen and Sima Families only sent a few people. They weren’t even willing to part with a single Era-Defining King. Damn, it makes no difference whether they’re involved or not."
"Yeah, the Yanx Family was really impressive this time."
"Sigh, a couple of my brothers and I heard about the Venerable Mansion’s campaign against the Demon Race a few days ago and eagerly went to sign up. Even we Loose Cultivators are doing this much, but these famous Noble Families with nearly a thousand years of history have done nothing. How are we supposed to seek refuge with them in the future?"
"Exactly! I have a friend who’s an Era-Defining King. He wanted to pledge allegiance to the Dongmen Family a few days ago, but now he’s not going. Instead, he’s gone to the Yanx Family. Tsk tsk, what a great decision that was."
"That’s right. A Noble Family that does nothing like this is worse than useless."
Remarks like these began to surface everywhere. At first, they were only discussed in small circles, but as the controversy grew, they spread throughout the entire city within just two days.
The reputations of the Dongmen, Sima, and other such powers were in tatters.
The businesses under their name—chambers of commerce, guild halls, beast-fighting arenas, and so on—were repeatedly sabotaged. The scale of their losses, both overt and covert, was simply unimaginable.
In contrast, the few powers like the Yanx Family that had contributed significantly to the conscription effort gained considerable renown. The Yanx Family, for instance, not only saw the revenue from its businesses in just two days reach what it would normally make in a month, but also had many experts flocking to join them. According to statistics, a full ten Era-Defining Kings had joined them so far.
This turn of events threw the major Noble Families into a complete uproar.
"What’s going on? Why have our chambers of commerce been sabotaged by ten different groups of people in just two days? Where the hell did those people come from?"
"They’re all ordinary Martial Artists, not acting under anyone’s orders. They claim they couldn’t stand our inaction and said we were profiting from the war with the Demon Race. They said they came to cause trouble out of righteous anger."
"What? The disciples of our Dongmen Family have been maliciously attacked ten times in just two days, and they get berated by countless people every time they go out on the street? Heavens, what has our Dongmen Family done to deserve this?"
"Dammit, who orchestrated this whole show, dragging so many of our Noble Families through the mud? It’s despicable! The Yanx Family was clearly just strong-armed by Qin Ya, so how did they suddenly become the righteous ones?"
"Holy shit, ten Era-Defining Kings joined the Yanx Family in two days?"
"A conspiracy! This is a conspiracy targeting all the Noble Families!"
"Damn it. The mastermind behind this is unimaginably cunning to use the pressure of public opinion against us. While sending more troops to the Venerable Mansion now can resolve this public outcry, our image has already been set in people’s minds and will be difficult to reverse. If we don’t send troops, our reputations will be utterly ruined."
"No matter what, we’ve lost this round."
The great Noble Families were deeply worried and utterly hated the mastermind behind the scenes. This poisonous plot to ruin their reputations was truly terrifying.
And right at the peak of this turmoil, something else happened.
A Law Enforcement General carrying out conscription duties was on patrol when he saw a disciple of the Dongmen Family forcibly snatching a valuable treasure from someone. The general couldn’t stand by and watch, so he stepped forward to intervene, only to be sent flying by a powerful blow from that person.
He was... killed on the spot!!
This incident focused all the public outrage squarely on the Dongmen Family. It was like a storm cloud, compressed to its limit, finally bursting into a furious tempest!!
"Despicable, despicable!"
"Not only has the Dongmen Family failed to contribute in the slightest to the demon-slaying cause, but they also act like tyrants in the city and have now killed a Law Enforcement General! It’s too much! No, we can’t let this stand. The Dongmen Family must pay the price."
"Do they really think the main city belongs to their Dongmen Family, acting so wantonly? No, we absolutely cannot let them continue like this! Everyone, let’s unite! We must make the Dongmen Family answer for this!!"