Chapter 251: Chapter 248: The Clan Elders’ Decision

"This trick again?"

The white-light form of Nangong An looked extremely familiar to Mo Qi.

Back when he killed Zhang Cheng at the Earth-level Spiritual Ore, Zhang Shao had appeared in this very same manner and left an aura imprint inside his body.

But the imprint was gone now.

His main body had subdued the Heart of the Dragon Vein and could borrow the Dragon Vein’s power from Within the Pass.

The aura imprint Zhang Shao had placed stood no chance against the Dragon Vein.

"Liu Hui, it’s you!"

Nangong An’s eyes were wide with fury, his rage soaring to the heavens.

Liu Hui was still holding Nangong Jie’s head. Nangong An’s appearance stunned him for a moment, then he reacted as if facing a powerful enemy.

He instantly completed his Dragon Transformation, kicked Nangong Jie’s head until it exploded, and flashed in front of Mo Qi protectively.

Jin Sanpang also trotted over, shouldering his hammer, to stand off against Nangong An.

"It’s fine. He’s just an Energy projection. He has no combat power."

Mo Qi pushed the two of them aside and sized up Nangong An.

This was his first time meeting Nangong An.

"Ah Jie! My Ah Jie!" Looking at Nangong Jie’s headless corpse, Nangong An let out a long, grief-stricken cry.

His gaze swept over Mo Qi and the other two one by one.

"Die! All of you will die! You will all be buried with my Ah Jie!"

Once a family’s legacy reaches a certain scale, the position of Patriarch is no longer limited to being passed from father to son. Instead, it goes to the most capable.

The interests involved are no longer as simple as those of a single household, but extend to an entire branch of the clan.

Whichever branch the Patriarch hailed from would become the main branch of the family, naturally reaping the most benefits.

Nangong Jie was the hope for Nangong An’s branch to control the Nangong Family. His death meant that for the next several hundred, or even a thousand years, the main branch of the Nangong Family would have nothing to do with him.

This was something Nangong An could not accept under any circumstances.

Although he didn’t know how Nangong Jie, with his Vajra Realm Cultivation, had died, he would not spare anyone related to the matter. They would all suffer his thunderous retribution.

"So you’re Nangong An?"

Mo Qi looked at Nangong An, slightly surprised.

Although the perception of his External Incarnation wasn’t as good as his main body’s, it was still formidable.

He could clearly perceive that the Vitality Power within Nangong An’s body was incredibly rich—so much so that it could be described as terrifying.

But this Vitality wasn’t perfectly compatible with him. Instead, it had become a constraint, constantly draining his origin source.

’If I’m not mistaken, this bizarre situation must be caused by that perverse Cultivation Technique of his.’

’No wonder he needs pure women of special constitutions to serve as Furnace Cauldrons.’

"I am Nangong An!" Nangong An looked coldly at Mo Qi and asked, "Who are you?"

"Qin Daye."

Nangong An’s pupils contracted sharply.

’Qin Daye?’

’Isn’t that the target he’d ordered Nangong Jie to kidnap?’

’With Nangong Jie’s strength, he shouldn’t have fallen here!’

Now that his identity was confirmed, Mo Qi lost all interest in further conversation.

He took a step forward and, before Nangong An had time to think too much, threw a punch and shattered his projection.

Before the projection shattered, Mo Qi’s voice rang in Nangong An’s ears.

"Remember, I, Qin Daye, killed Nangong Jie. You, and your entire branch behind you, should prepare for death!"

At that same moment, deep within the Nangong Family compound, the real Nangong An received the feedback the instant the projection shattered.

"Damn you! Damn you! Qin Daye, if I don’t kill you, I swear I’m not human!"

"Someone, sound the clan horn for me! Someone has brazenly killed a disciple of my Nangong Family and challenged our dignity! I request a Council of Elders’ Judgment!"

The Council of Elders’ Judgment was the highest-level meeting, one that only the family’s decision-making echelon was qualified to request and attend.

It was generally only convened for major events, such as changing or confirming the Patriarch, or when the family faced a matter of life and death.

As Grand Elder, Nangong An had personally sounded the clan horn, so no one dared to be lax. Upon receiving the news, everyone rushed over immediately, and Nangong Yi was no exception.

After a round of pleasantries, Nangong Yi, as the Patriarch, began to preside over the meeting.

"Grand Elder, for what reason have you convened the Council of Elders’ Judgment?"

Nangong An’s face was filled with hatred as he said in a low voice, "Nangong Jie was maliciously murdered in the Imperial Academy, and his head was cut off. The aura imprint I left on him was activated. When I appeared, not only was the killer unafraid, but he even threatened to annihilate the entire Nangong Race!"

He had changed Mo Qi’s words from "annihilate his branch" to "annihilate the Nangong Race."

By doing this, he successfully diverted his personal grudge with Mo Qi onto the entire Nangong Family.

Sure enough, after hearing Nangong An’s account, everyone present slammed their hands on the table and rose to their feet, their fury uncontrollable.

Even Nangong Yi couldn’t suppress the rising tide of his anger.

Although he and Nangong An did not get along, personal conflicts seemed insignificant in the face of major family matters.

"What audacity! Who is it? Who dares to treat our Nangong Family with such contempt?"

"Hmph, has our Nangong Family been too low-key these past few years? For someone to even utter words like annihilating our race!"

"That little fellow Nangong Jie was killed? Who’s the murderer? This debt must be repaid in blood!"

"Not only must it be avenged, but we must use thunderous methods to crush them, to intimidate those overreaching whelps and show them that our Nangong Family is still one of the Empire’s hegemons!"

"Grand Elder, tell us, who is the murderer?"

"Yes, even if it was the disciple of some old monster, we will make the Imperial Academy hand him over!"

Nangong An was very satisfied with everyone’s attitude. This was precisely why he had convened the Council of Elders’ Judgment.

To use the family’s power to kill Liu Hui and Mo Qi.

As long as the family got involved, the Qian Family would have to think twice if they still wanted to protect Liu Hui and the others.

Everything was developing perfectly according to the script he had written.

"There are three killers: Liu Hui, Jin Sanpang, and Qin Daye!"

After a pause, Nangong An added, "All three of them are new disciples at the Imperial Academy this year."

After speaking, he sneered inwardly: ’Qin Daye, I’d like to see how you plan to annihilate my branch!’

He failed to notice that when he uttered the name "Qin Daye," the expressions of the many powerful figures present all turned strange.

Nangong Yi’s anger vanished in an instant, replaced by a face full of suspicion.

’Qin Daye said he wanted to annihilate the Nangong Family?’

’What a joke. The man is a Blessed One, for crying out loud!’

Others might have only heard about the Blessed One and never truly met one.

But he, Nangong Yi, had personally witnessed Li Shimu verify the Blessed One’s identity!

He had even witnessed the "bizarre" request the Blessed One had made.

’Let me ask you, would a person who wasn’t even tempted by the throne, a person who willingly "wasted" his request on pardoning Jin Quan, really spout such nonsense about "annihilating the Nangong Race" for no reason?’

’The man just arrived, he’s only been at the Imperial Academy for a few days. If some idiot with no eyes hadn’t provoked him, would he really be bored enough to go and try to destroy our Nangong Family?’

’There’s only one explanation: Nangong Jie brought this upon himself and provoked someone he shouldn’t have.’

’Nangong An exaggerated and lied about the situation.’