Time slowly turned back to a few days ago.
Gray Cloud Town, Cheng Clan Residence.
An extremely powerful aura suddenly spread out from the deepest parts of the Cheng Clan Residence. It was a very terrifying aura, so much that an intense feeling of fear rose within the heart of even an elite in the ninth layer of Element Gathering Tier like Cheng Wen Kun.
Yet Cheng Wen Kun did not feel anxious at all. Instead, an overjoyed expression appeared on his face and he actually started to wave his hands and dance around, "Third Uncle has broken through! Hahaha, Third Uncle has broken through! Ling Clan, you people were so arrogant before, but you would never have thought that my Third Uncle has been in seclusion all this while, breaking through to Gushing Spring Tier!"
His expression turned grim all of a sudden, and he declared, "From now onwards, there will be no more Ling Clan in Gray Cloud Town!"
"Hahahaha!" A bout of loud laughter was heard, and a thin old man was taking big strides into the Main Hall. Waves of terrifying power continuously spread out from his body as he approached. This was because he had just broken through, and so had not yet managed to completely control his own power.
He was Cheng Wen Kun's Third Uncle, Cheng Ji Yu, a martial arts maniac. He was already acclaimed as the top elite martial artist of the whole Cheng Clan years ago, yet did not have much interest in having power over the clan. Instead, he had kept himself in seclusion to break through to Gushing Spring Tier. Even in their own Cheng Clan, many clansmen had all thought that he had long since died.
And his hard work had paid off, for he had successfully broken through to Gushing Spring Tier. This was the strongest level of existence in the whole of Gray Cloud Town, more than enough to sweep away all opponents with his overwhelming might.
"Greetings, Third Uncle! Congratulations, Third Uncle!" Cheng Wen Kun half-knelt on the ground, his face filled with overwhelming joy.
"En, rise!" Cheng Ji Yu raised his hand. His eyes turned away from Cheng Wen Kun, and he said, "Call Xiao Yuan and the others back. I have not seen them for quite a few years."
"Third Uncle, Xiao Yuan, he… he's dead!" Cheng Wen Kun said, choking with grief.
"What!" Cheng Ji Yu suddenly slammed a hand onto the table. "Peng," this table made of excellent sandalwood instantly turned into broken pieces. His furious eyes widened, and he said, "Who has killed my grandson?"
Cheng Xiao Yuan was Cheng Ji Yu's direct grandson. He had also inherited the latter's talent, and as a result, was taken in as a disciple by the Stone Wolf Sect. Not even Cheng Hao or Cheng Xiang had this kind of talent. [1]
"That little bastard from the Ling Clan, Ling Han!" Cheng Wen Kun immediately said.
"Pa!"
Cheng Ji Yu's hand rose and fell quickly, giving Cheng Wen Kun a slap. He sneered, "Then what are you doing, still sitting here? Why did you not come see me with the head of that little bastard?"
Cheng Wen Kun did not dare to have any feelings of anger. In front of a powerful warrior of Gushing Spring Tier, he wouldn't be able to raise even a single finger. He quickly knelt, and said, "How could I not want to avenge Xiao Yuan? It's just that there is an elder from Stone Wolf Sect supporting him, I can't touch him!"
"An elder from Stone Wolf Sect?" Cheng Ji Yu's eyes narrowed slightly. All the Elders of Stone Wolf Sect were in Gushing Spring Tier while he himself had just broken through to this tier. Whoever that Elder was, it was impossible he would be able to match him in a battle.
But very quickly, he gave a humph, and said, "At most, that little bastard must have curried a bit of favor with that Elder. Even if I killed him, that Elder would never think of declaring a blood feud with me."
"Let's go. Come with me and we will immediately charge towards the Ling Clan Residence. Since he dared to kill my grandson, then I will slaughter every clansman of the Ling Clan in exchange!"
Cheng Wen Kun was of course overjoyed. He had been afraid that Cheng Ji Yu would fall back, but thanks to the death of Cheng Xiao Yuan, Cheng Ji Yu was overwhelmed with rage, so much that he had no fear for even an Elder of Stone Wolf Sect.
Practically the whole Cheng Clan moved out, all of them bursting with killing intent as they made their way to the Ling Clan Residence.
Moving so pompously through the streets of course attracted the attention of the smaller clans in the town, as they all came out to observe the spectacle.
"What's the matter with the Cheng Clan?"
"Could they be about to start a war with one of the clans?"
"Aside from the Ling Clan, what other clan is worthy of such a big movement from the Cheng Clan?"
"That can't be true, can it? The power of the Ling Clan is practically equal to the power of the Cheng Clan, and if a war sparks up between these two great clans, both sides would only suffer. The Cheng Clan couldn't be so foolish, right?"
"No, no. Don't you guys know that the Cheng Clan is not having a good time lately? I heard that their main source of income has received an all-out suppression from the Ling Clan, and now, they can't even afford to pay the salaries of their servants."
"Yes, yes, yes. I heard about that too. Lately, many of the servants and guards of Cheng Clan have all secretly ran off."
"Are they in such a terrible condition? Then no wonder the Cheng Clan is going all out now. Otherwise, they'd be wiped out by the Ling Clan in the future. At least, if they made a gamble now, there could be a chance of victory for them."
Cheng Wen Kun heard the discussions from around him, and could not stop a cold smile from appearing on his face. Going all out? How could that be? They now had a powerful warrior of Gushing Spring Tier fighting on their side, and they were going to wipe out the Ling Clan!
Going all out? Only the Ling Clan needed to do that, but it would all be pointless effort. One finger of a powerful warrior of Gushing Spring Tier would be enough to suppress all resistance.
The Cheng Clan advanced like a great flood while the townspeople followed behind them to watch the ensuing show. This was a great battle between the two Great Clans. If anyone of them missed it, they'd definitely regret it for life.
Very quickly, they set out from the town's east side and arrived at the west side, which was where the Ling Clan Residence was located.
With such a big commotion, it of course caused a disturbance within the Ling Clan. Ling Dong Xing had just returned, and he immediately stepped out, with his clansmen behind him.
"Ling Clan Head, long time no see," Cheng Wen Kun raised a hand, and all the clansmen of the Cheng Clan halted their steps. He smiled at Ling Dong Xing, his face filled with smugness because very soon, this old rival of his would be kneeling down in submission in front of him.
Ling Dong Xing frowned. They had obviously come with bad intentions! He raised his voice and said, "Brother Cheng has brought so many people here, are you here to make a demonstration?"
"Hahahaha!" Cheng Wen Kun laughed loudly, before suddenly stopping. He said in a deep voice, "That's right, I'm here today to make a demonstration! Ling Dong Xing, immediately order the members of your clan to surrender, and I can consider killing a few people less!"
"Cheng Wen Kun, have you gone mad?" Ling Dong Xing asked coldly. This was a humongous joke.
"You think I'm joking with you?" Cheng Wen Kun laughed coldly.
"Are you not?" Ling Dong Xing asked back.
"Of course not!" A cold voice declared. An old man with a tall, thin figure left the ranks of the Cheng Clan and passed Cheng Wen Kun by, his face filled with killing intent.
"Yi, who's this old man?" Those who had gathered around to watch the spectacle were all curious about the identity of this mysterious old man.
"Was there such a person in the Cheng Clan? It looks like his status is not beneath Cheng Wen Kun's."
"I've got it, he's Cheng Ji Yu!" An old man suddenly gasped in surprise. "Everyone said that he has long died, I never thought he's actually still alive!"
Ling Dong Xing of course recognized Cheng Ji Yu, though the latter now looked much older than he had last seen him. He raised his clasped hands in Cheng Ji Yu's direction as a sign of respect to someone from the generation before his. But the issue now concerned the pride of the two clans, so naturally, he would not give in easily. He said, "If the Cheng Clan insists on battle, there is no member of the Ling Clan that is afraid of death!"
"Heng, you think you're worthy of standing as an equal with my Cheng Clan?" Cheng Ji Yu stretched out a hand, and pressed down on Ling Dong Xing, "I'll put you down first!"
"You've gone too far!" Ling Dong Xing raised his palms in a counterattack. He had been praised as the top genius in the whole of Gray Cloud Town in the past, and so of course possessed exceptional power. As his palms moved, more than ten images of palm strikes could be seen, and the attacks were extremely fast.
"How could a firefly be worthy of competing with the moon over which is brighter?" Cheng Ji Yu's finger extended, and there actually appeared a gigantic palm about the size of a millstone which pressed down on Ling Dong Xing.
"Origin Power given form, Gushing Spring Tier!" Ling Dong Xing gasped in shock, his face immediately turning pale. He finally understood where the Cheng Clan got such confidence from.
Cheng Ji Yu had actually broken through to Gushing Spring Tier!