Chapter 904: Returning to the Turtle Clan
Boom!
With a violent rumble, the fingers completely condensed out of energy collided with the sword Qi shot out by the twins. It immediately erupted with a terrifying residual energy which shook up the surroundings. It caused space to tremble.
The rain of blood had already disappeared, knocked far away by the violent energy. However, the ground below was dyed red, already covered by the blood from the grand elder’s death.
“How dare you foreigners! You’ve killed an elder of my Sea Goddess Hall. I will not be letting you go,” an old voice boomed from behind. It was filled with anger, crushing down with a terrifying pressure.
The expressions of the twins and Li Fengxing immediately changed abruptly when they felt the terror of this pressure. Although they could not see the person, they had already understood that he would be far beyond what they could handle.
“The person is at least equal to hall elder.” Li Fengxing became stern. Without any hesitation, he turned around to flee, no longer bothering with Jian Chen.
Every single moment counted when fleeing away from an expert like that. Any hesitation could result in being caught up. At that time, even if they did not die, they would suffer quite a lot. The hall’s mission was very important but their lives held even more importance.
“He’s come quite quickly. It’s at least a Ninth Heavenly Layer Saint King or maybe even an expert at Great Perfection. Let’s go.” The twins had also become stern, unwilling to stay for even an extra second. They turned around and fled, disappearing into the horizon in the blink of an eye.
Jian Chen was intoxicated by sorrow. He raised his head to look at the blue sky while his face was filled with grief.
The giant turtle shell had already disappeared from the sky and the grand elder’s familiar figure was gone too. The only thing that remained without dispersing completely was a will. It was the grand elder’s will before death, filled with regret and concern.
The grand elder’s soul had been wiped out. Even his corpse did not exist anymore. All that was left was a ground full of blood and countless shattered pieces of palm-sized shell pieces.
“Grand elder,” Jian Chen’s voice was filled with sorrow. He had not met the grand elder very long ago but he had sacrificed his life in order to save him. His soul had been dispersed without even leaving behind a corpse. It was a tragic outcome.
What the grand elder had paid was something he was unable to pay back even with his entire life. His soul was lost, without any way of recovering it. Even the origin energy of Radiant Saint Force did not possess the power to revive him.
Although the origin energy could revive the dead, this could only happen if their souls remained and their bodies were in good shape. The grand elder currently fit none of these criteria.
A figure quickly arrived before Jian Chen. He was an old man who seemed to be in his twenties and was the hall elder that had hurried over from the hall. It was elder Hong.
The elder stared at the ground full of blood with a sunken face while killing intent flickered in his eyes. He said coldly, “The Serpent God Hall and the Heaven’s Spirit Hall are becoming bolder and bolder. They actually killed one of our elders. It’s a pity that I’ve come too late.”
Elder Hong floated before Jian Chen. He looked at the sky and gave out a deep sigh. “The grand elder may be dead but he’s unable to truly rest. His will remains.”
Elder Hong grabbed at the empty space. The will that floated around in the surroundings quickly condensed, before forming the grand elder’s hunchbacked figure. He was as faint as a shadow.
“Grand elder,” Jian Chen could not help but cry out when he saw the grand elder’s figure. His voice was filled with grief. He knew that this had only been condensed from the grand elder’s will and would disperse very quickly. It would not exist for very long.
“I’ve been useless, unable to protect my ruler. The thirty thousand year’s of hope for the clan has disappeared.” That was the message in the grand elder’s will. It was his final thought before death, filled with great amounts of regret. That was the reason why it could form a will.
“Don’t worry grand elder. I will definitely revive the Turtle clan. This is my oath to you,” Jian Chen said to the grand elder’s will. His voice was filled with determination. He needed to fulfill the grand elder’s final wish as he had died for him.
The grand elder’s will slowly dispersed, disappearing with the wind. From then onward, he had left the world forever.
Jian Chen stared blankly at the empty space, without coming to his senses even after a very long time. A while later, he slowly fell to the ground, picking up every single piece of the scattered shell fragments with trembling hands. This was the only thing the grand elder had left behind. He wanted to treat it as the grand elder’s body and bring it back to the clan, before burying it properly.
“Sigh.” Elder Hong sighed deeply as he watched this from the sky. He did not leave and instead stuck around to wait for Jian Chen to collect all the shell pieces.
Xie Wang quickly began to help out too, collecting every single piece of the scattered shell fragments with Jian Chen.
The two of them spent a total of seven days before they picked up all the pieces. Jian Chen stored them in a Space Ring.
“Jian Chen, come back to the hall with me,” elder Hong finally spoke after waiting for seven days.
Jian Chen shook his head gently and said, “No, elder Hong, I don’t want to return for now. I want to go to the Turtle clan to bury the grand elder.”
Elder Hong pondered in silence for a while before replying, “Alright then. I’ll devote some effort into paying attention to the movements of the two other halls in this period of time to prevent them from sending other experts. If you encounter any troubles within the Sea Goddess Hall’s territory, just present the medallion from the hall master.” With that, elder Hong turned around and left.
Jian Chen and Xie Wang also left after elder Hong’s departure. They directly made way for the tribe of the Turtle clan.
The second and third elder were currently discussing something secretive in the Turtle clan. They had cast down a powerful barrier in their surroundings, isolating their voices from outside.
“Second elder, the situation doesn’t seem too great. A ruler of our Turtle clan has actually reappeared after thirty thousand years. That’ll ruin our plans,” the third elder said gruffly.
The second elder nodded sternly. “Problems occurring in the nick of the moment are indeed not beneficial for us. It’s fortunate that this ruler is not strong, so the two of us can suppress him for some time. However, the grand elder has already left with him. It’ll be difficult for us to assassinate him with the grand elder by his side.”
“If he does not die, the Turtle clan will end up in his control sooner or later. We need to contact the Taihong clan and get them to follow through with the plan as fast as possible,” the third elder said gruffly.
At this very moment, the second elder’s expression changed. He waved his hand and canceled the barrier, speaking toward the outside, “Didn’t I say to not disturb us unless it’s important?”
“Reporting to the second and third elder, the ruler has returned,” a heavy voice sounded from outside.
“What? He’s come again?” Both of their expressions changed slightly as they looked at each other before walking out in unison.
Currently, Jian Chen stood emotionlessly in the huge, central square of the tribe as he held a Space Ring. Xie Wang stood to his side, a step away, observing the surroundings cautiously.
Around the two of them had already gathered a great group of people. There were so many, to the point where it boxed them in. They were all members of the Turtle clan and they all looked toward Jian Chen. Their faces were filled with doubt or excitement but no one held any hostility.
“I feel a weird pressure from him. It seems to be the Ruler’s Qi. Is he really a ruler?”
“Is he really a ruler of our Turtle clan?” The ruler of our clan has finally returned…”
“Thirty thousand years, a whole thirty thousand years. We’ve finally waited up till the appearance of the ruler…”
“It’s time for us to regain our former glory…”
The surrounding clansmen all discussed excitedly or with mixed emotions. A few of the older members had even been moved to tears.
“The second and third elder have arrived.” A loud voice sounded from the crowd. All the people shuffled as they formed a path. The two elders walked in from outside with long strides, while a group of Saint Rulers followed behind them.
“Why have you returned? Where’s the grand elder?” The second elder stared directly at Jian Chen. His tone was not very kind.
“The grand elder’s dead.” Jian Chen’s voice was extremely heavy.
The two elders became stunned at the same time. They asked in disbelief, “What did you say? The grand elder’s dead?”
The surrounding clansmen broke into an uproar when they heard that. They all revealed expressions of disbelief.
Jian Chen said nothing, passing over the Space Ring in his hand to the second elder carefully. The second elder accepted the ring with suspicion and looked through it. The moment he saw what was inside, his expression changed greatly, now replaced with sorrow.
The third elder seemed to realize something when he saw the second elder’s change in expression. He immediately became stern, snatching the Space Ring from the second elder’s hands to look through it. He then became filled with grief as well.
“Just how did the grand elder die?” The third elder asked sorrowfully.
“The grand elder was killed by Li Fengxing of the Serpent God Hall and Zhou Tianzi and Zhou Yunzi of the Heaven’s Spirit Hall to save me,” Jian Chen said with a deep voice.
“What! So you were the one who was responsible for his death?!” The second elder became furious, yelling at Jian Chen as he pointed a finger at him.
“I was responsible for the grand elder’s death. But it has already happened. We should give him a proper burial,” said Jian Chen.
The two elders looked at each other and said nothing. They immediately began to hold a dignified funeral for the grand elder.
Soon afterward, the news of the death of the Turtle clan’s grand elder was spread everywhere. It caused quite a large disturbance in the territory of the Sea Goddess Hall. After all, the grand elder was a 15th Star expert, as well as an elder of the Sea Goddess Hall. His death was an extremely disturbing piece of news.
Hundreds of thousands of kilometers away from the Turtle clan, three middle-aged men sat with their legs crossed in a grand and extravagant castle.
“We’ve just received the news that the grand elder of the Turtle clan has died. There’s no one to stop us now. Send the order down, prepare for action.” A blue-robed, long-haired man said gruffly.
“The grand elder may be dead but a ruler has actually appeared from the Turtle clan. Fortunately, he’s not very strong so he can’t stop us. However, it’s for the best if our clan, the Taihong clan moves quick. We can’t give the ruler time for growth.” This time, the speaker was a black-robed, skinny man.