Chapter 953: Trial of the Two Elders
Jian Chen’s sudden return stunned the ancestor of the Taihong clan slightly, but he returned to his senses quickly. He laughed aloud and said, “Speak of the devil. I wonder if the ruler has been well on his trip to the Octoterra Divine Hall?”
Jian Chen and Nubis stood five meters away from him. Jian Chen looked at him calmly and said, “I have no need to tell you about these matters. Tai Dou, the five years are up now. It’s about time we put an end to the matter between us.”
Jian Chen had immediately agitated the other experts of the Taihong clan because he called the ancestor’s name directly. A Ninth Heavenly Layer Saint Ruler pointed at him and called out, “How dare you call the ancestor directly by name! Are you sick of living? Why don’t you hurry up and apologize? Considering the fact that your Turtle clan will soon become a subsidiary of the Taihong clan, I’ll forgive your disrespect if you apologize.”
Currently, everyone from the Taihong clan’s group had begun to treat the Turtle clan as a subsidiary of their own clan long ago. Although Jian Chen was a ruler, he was still not worthy of any respect in their eyes. Because to them, the Turtle clan was full of people with tough defense but weak attack. They could not pose much threat.
Jian Chen’s eyes grew cold, but before he could do anything, Nubis had already charged at the person in the form of a golden streak. Before he could even react, Nubis used his hand to impale the Taihong Clan’s expert through the chest, digging out his bloody heart.
“Argh!” the person shrieked miserably. He was filled with agony. Although it was not enough to end his life, the pain of having his heart dug out was unbearable.
Nubis crushed the heart in his hand as he stared at the person coldly. “This is what you get for insulting my brother. Next time, I, the great Nubis, will be taking your life.” Nubis was cold and did not show any respect toward the Taihong clan.
The atmosphere immediately became stifled after what happened. Everyone gathered their attention on Nubis’ bloody hand, immediately revealing deep dread.
The second and third elders were also shocked by Nubis’ ruthlessness. He definitely was both extremely powerful and courageous to dig out someone’s heart right before the ancestor of the Taihong clan.
What shocked them even more was Nubis’ strength that he had suddenly exploded with. It was no weaker than their own strength.
Tai Dou turned pale-white. He could not tell Nubis’ strength before, and never thought that he would suddenly move against one of his clansmen. This was why he had been careless, allowing Nubis to injure one of his people right before him.
“Sire, you do talk big. Show me just what you are capable of to act so brazenly before me,” growled the ancestor. Sharp killing intent immediately appeared in his eyes.
“Tai Dou, I am your opponent.” Jian Chen blocked Nubis and stared emotionlessly at the ancestor.
Tai Dou’s politeness had already completely disappeared. He sneered, “Fine then. Ruler of the Turtle clan, let me subdue you first before I teach that arrogant brat a lesson.”
Jian Chen sneered as well, “Tai Dou, don’t forget about our agreement. If I lose this battle, then the Turtle clan will belong to your Taihong clan, but if you lose, it will be the other way around.” Jian Chen took to the skies as soon as he finished speaking.
“Alright, if I lose, my Taihong clan will devote themselves to the Turtle clan. But ruler of the Turtle clan, do you really think I can lose?” Tai Dou was filled with confidence. He knew Jian Chen’s strength extremely well. Even if he had entered the Octoterra Divine Hall, it was impossible for him to be at more than the 14th Star. At most, he would be at the peak of the14th Star. He refused to believe that Jian Chen had reached a level where he could go toe-to-toe with himself in these five short years.
In order to not injure the people of the clan, Jian Chen and Tai Dou took the battlefield several dozen kilometers away. They stopped above a mountain range, while a number of experts from both clans hurried over to watch from the surroundings.
“Ruler of the Turtle clan, I won’t bully you, so I’ll give you ten moves. Go ahead,” Tai Dou said arrogantly as he hung in the air with his arms crossed.
Nubis could not help but laugh aloud when he heard everything that Tai Dou had said. Nubis said, “Jian Chen, you hear that? He said he wants to give you ten moves first. You can’t disappoint him.”
Jian Chen’s lips curled with scorn as he looked at Tai Dou with some disdain. “Tai Dou, you still don’t have the right to receive ten moves from me. I only need a single strike from my sword to heavily injure you.” As he spoke, a vast presence surged from Jian Chen. It was the power of a Third Heavenly Layer Saint King. At the same time, the Emperor Armament also appeared in his hand. It began to shine brightly with dark light, flooding the surrounding space with an aura of destruction. It formed a tremendous pressure on the surroundings, causing drastic changes in the expressions of the observers.
In that moment, everyone’s gaze toward Jian Chen underwent some changes, including Tai Dou. Their eyes were filled with deep fear and disbelief.
Jian Chen raised the Emperor Armament with his right hand, and it immediately began to radiate with a towering sword Qi. He directly chopped out from several hundred meters away, shooting out a powerful sword Qi in the form of a black streak of light. It flew toward Tai Dou.
Tai Dou became unprecedentedly stern. He could clearly sense the power of the strike and did not dare to hesitate at all. He immediately forced out all his power, using World Force to condense a three-meter-wide circular shield to block the incoming sword Qi.
Boom! As soon as the shield came into contact with the sword Qi, it shattered loudly while the sword Qi continued onward with no decrease in force. It continued toward Tai Dou, passing through his chest.
“Argh!” Tai Dou howled painfully. He could no longer remain in the air, falling out of the sky and slamming heavily into the ground.
Everyone became stunned with this, especially the small group of people from the Tai Hong clan. They were all absolutely dumbfounded. Tai Dou was the most powerful person in their clan, yet he had just been defeated so easily with a single strike. They struggled to believe that this unimaginable matter had just occurred.
The experts of the Turtle clan, including the second and third elders, all became wide-eyed as well. They stared in disbelief, all struggling to accept that this had happened.
The ancestor of the Taihong clan was a 16th Star expert, yet he could not even receive a single attack from the ruler of the Turtle clan. They all felt deeply shocked.
Jian Chen descended and arrived before him. “Do you give in?”
Tai Dou was pale as he stood up with difficulty. He looked at Jian Chen, still shaken badly, while deep dread lingered in his eyes. He said gloomily, “I’ve lost. From today onward, my Taihong clan will belong to the Turtle clan.”
“Let’s return then,” Jian Chen said to Tai Dou. Afterward, he signaled to everyone else, returning to the Turtle clan.
The ruler’s victory over the ancestor of the Taihong clan spread through the entire clan very quickly, causing them all to leap in joy. Triumph was present everywhere, but there were even more people who discussed just what strength the ruler now possessed.
The upper echelon of the Turtle clan gathered in the hall with the people of the Taihong clan and Jian Chen. Jian Chen sat on the throne as he stared downward sharply. He possessed an aura that could not be denied.
“Tai Dou, tell everyone what relationship the second and the third elder have with your Taihong clan. Why do they always speak for you?” Jian Chen stared fixedly at Tai Dou below.
The expressions of the two elders changed when they heard that. They immediately knew that Jian Chen was about to take action against the two of them. They could not help but regret that they had once opposed Jian Chen in everything. But it was all too late now.
The second elder immediately stood up to explain, “Ruler, please do not make baseless assumptions. Correct, the two of us have indeed done a few things that made the ruler unhappy, but we were completely thinking for the clan regarding the matters with the Taihong clan. We had no other intentions. It was impossible for us to contend with the Taihong clan with our strength back then. If we waged war, the Turtle clan would suffer greatly for sure.”
“The second elder is right. When we gave in to the Taihong clan before, we were completely thinking of the Turtle clan. We had no other intentions. Please look into the very details of this, ruler. Please do not put innocent people in the wrong,” the third elder explained as well. They no longer dared to speak to Jian Chen like before, now possessing much more courtesy.
Jian Chen paid no attention to the two of them and asked Tai Dou, “Tai Dou, explain what this is all about. I hope you do not lie, because you should know the consequences.”
Tai Dou hesitated slightly before standing up from his seat. He clasped his hands toward Jian Chen and said, “Replying to the ruler, the second and third elders have been bribed by our Taihong clan several years ago, and have already reached an agreement with our Taihong clan. As soon as the grand elder passed away, they would immediately lead the Turtle clan to become a part of the Taihong clan.”
“What! The second and third elders were actually spies. They’re traitors of the Turtle clan!” Discussions immediately broke out in the hall. All of them were greatly shocked.
“You lie. Ruler, don’t listen to Tai Dou’s lies. He wants us to turn on each other and get the Turtle clan to infight.”
“Tai Dou is lying. You cannot believe a single word of his.”
The second and third elder began to quibble, unwilling to admit it even upon death. They knew what type of punishment was in for them if they were convicted.
The Turtle clan had existed for many, many years. It possessed an extremely strict set of rules, and the outcome for betrayal was recorded clearly within it.
Tai Dou pulled out a piece of beast leather and said, “Ruler, this was the agreement my clan had with the elders back then. The soul imprints are still present on it. It’s definitely true.”
Jian Chen waved his hand and the beast leather immediately flew into his grasps. Once he read the entire thing, his face immediately sunk. He tossed it to the people below and said, “Everyone have a look!”
The beast leather was passed along through everyone. Soon enough, everyone had read it, and they all revealed ugly expressions soon after.
The second and third elder both paled, while despair flooded their eyes.
A Saint Ruler walked up at this moment and clasped his hands toward Jian Chen. “Ruler, I am the elder in charge of the law. The second and third elder have been working with outsiders and should suffer the punishment for treachery. They cannot be forgiven, and should be put to death on the spot.”