August 17, 2017
The couple, one gifting a sword, the other candidly talking about succession, quickly caused an uproar in the Birthday Banquet Hall.
Although it seed incredibly unbelievable, it appeared that... this couple, in charge of the family, truly intended to hand over the family’s power to Shen Qingming — this fourteen-year-old girl who had yet to officially return to the family!
The Cyan Cloud Li Family has always been known for defying conventions and being unconventional, and the previous Patriarchs over the centuries have all been eccentric... But Li Fengyun and his wife’s move was truly shocking!
Especially the cultivators from the branches in Lingshan City and Heaven-Reaching City were particularly doubtful, finding it hard to believe what they were seeing.
"Just what kind of plans are they making, handing the position of Patriarch to a fourteen-year-old girl, is this so kind of new-style performance art from the family’s main courtyard?"
"I believe they are serious, otherwise, there would be no need to choose this timing and venue."
"But wasn’t it said earlier that Qingming had already left the family?"
"...What’s the intention behind this? Even if they truly favor Shen Yue’e’s daughter, is it really necessary to pass on the position this early? She’s only 14! Li Fengyun himself was 33 when he received Li Tianya’s sword, and even changed his na to Fengyun, which was shocking at that age."
"I also can’t figure it out. The succession in our Cultivation Family isn’t like the Three Academies’ headmasters, which have age limits. To say nothing of Li Fengyun having only been in charge for a decade, so Past Patriarchs lived long, worked for hundreds of years, and outlived their sons yet refused to step down."
"Could it be that Fengyun, like his father, encountered a problem in his cultivation? Uncle was just a centenarian in his pri at their wedding, but due to the Inch and Mile injuring his Primordial Spirit, his mind grew confused and he felt unable to manage affairs, forcing him to pass the position. Now that Fengyun and Lu Xin are acting so hastily, could it be they faced a similar situation?"
As soon as this suspicion arose, the discussion inside grew even louder, countless concerned eyes turning to Li Fengyun and Lu Xin.
Li Fengyun, being watched by so many, felt sowhat uncertain and quietly asked Lu Xin, "What’s happening now? Why is everyone looking at like I’m sick? I rember the last ti I was looked at this way was in Shen City, because I rejected Shen Yueying’s advances, and people suspected my potency..."
Lu Xin had completely given up resisting, not bothered to speak a word to her foolish husband.
Seated at the sa table, Zhao Yan was covering her face, feeling both amused and exasperated. These two truly deserve to be a loving couple, even their foolish actions are so synchronized, causing the situation to spiral out of control in just a few words. Watching from the sidelines, she was unable to intervene. With the situation as it is, even an outsider like her couldn’t help but resign herself to watching this play out while feeling a sense of pity for Lu Xin.
With the main protagonists silent, the gossip in the hall quickly evolved into the realm of absurdity, with all sorts of bold speculations being presented, and within a few sentences, they bore the label of certainty.
"Speaking of passing succession early, why is it not Li Wushuang but Shen Qingming? Though the Li Family has never favored male heirs, having many precedents of female Patriarchs. By all criteria, Wushuang doesn’t lose out to Qingming. In terms of lineage, sister-in-law Lu Xin is a rightfully wedded wife, but Yue’e insistently entered the family as a concubine. In terms of talent, although Wushuang is far from his father’s brilliance, he’s above average, whereas Qingming only showed excellence before age ten, and has since remained silent... Why Qingming, not Wushuang?"
"...Speaking of this, I have a bold guess. Could it be that Wushuang is only an adopted child and doesn’t truly inherit the Li family’s bloodline?"
"What!?"
"After all, look at how sister-in-law is! Can you imagine her having a child? Doesn’t it feel like a cri?"
"..."
"Moreover, it’s said Big Brother Fengyun has only loved one woman his whole life. Back in Shen City, when other won approached him, he showed no basic physiological response."
"..."
...
Just as things were descending into chaos, Shen Qingming finally sighed and stood up.
"Sorry, may I say a few words."
The girl’s voice was light, but as she began to speak, the noisy chatter in the Birthday Banquet Hall quickly quieted down, dozens of pairs of eyes began closely watching Shen Qingming.
"I really appreciate that you are willing to trust and hand over this sword to , but I can’t accept it." The young girl paused and said seriously, "Because I am not qualified yet."
Lu Xin opened her mouth to speak but was preempted by Shen Qingming: "Besides, while we’re at it, I have a few more things to say."
After she finished speaking, Shen Qingming took a deep breath, her eyes instinctively turning toward Wang Jiu, who already knew what she was going to do and gave her a thumbs-up.
Shen Qingming nodded, closed her eyes, and reaffird her resolve without any hesitation.
She then slowly began to speak, her voice not loud but unwavering.
"First, I want to apologize to everyone. During this period, I’ve been willful and caused a lot of trouble at ho, I am truly sorry."
After saying this, the others present were sowhat confused, but Lu Xin couldn’t help covering her mouth with her hands, her eyes wide in disbelief.
Before today, she had repeatedly imagined the scenarios after eting Qingming. Considering how bad their relationship had been, Lu Xin had speculated that Qingming might make things difficult for her maliciously, or even speak harshly. But she never imagined that Shen Qingming would actually say... sorry.
The girl didn’t kneel while apologizing, but she bowed deeply, her head hanging low, her hair almost touching the ground.
After a while, Shen Qingming slowly lifted her head and continued, "For the past few years, I’ve actually hated this family. I thought after Mother passed away, there would be no one here who would truly love , after all, Father is like that, and Lu... Mother has that kind of personality. I felt like I had no one in this vast family, and it seed I had no place to stand. At first, I could still comfort myself by diligently cultivating, but when I failed to break through the Wind Barrier and fell into a bottleneck, pressure surged over like waves from all directions, and I gradually began to lose my ntal balance. I thought the whole world was my enemy, every word they said was a mockery of , and everything they did was harmful to ."
"Looking back now, although Mother’s actions during that ti were indeed problematic, over those years, there were too many signs indicating she didn’t intentionally want to harm —as the matriarch of the family, if she truly wanted to ostracize , how could I have left the manor so freely and moved to Shen Garden? But during those years, I never considered these things, only harboring a deep hatred for everyone at ho, curling up in my own little world, unwilling to open up."
"Two years ago, I left the manor and moved to Shen Garden, and then childishly established my own household, changing my surna to Shen. All along, I’ve insisted on these ridiculous things with the mindset of a victim, persuading myself that I was forced, I had no choice, I was a victim and that justified all my actions. It wasn’t until later when soone scolded face-to-face that I realized how unreasonable I had been, how much tolerance from others was hidden beneath my absurd actions. And with such a state of being, how could I have the right to inherit Father’s Wind and Cloud Immortal Sword?"
At this mont, the room was already silent, with only Shen Qingming’s gentle voice echoing. Lu Xin stood at the front, her posture upright, expressionless. Yet her eyes had long beco slightly teary.
Shen Qingming said, "Now I think I should thank the person who scolded so sense into , but honestly, it’s really hard for soone to admit their own mistakes. So truths are obvious, yet we unconsciously turn a blind eye to them. So not only did I not thank her at the ti, but I even hit her... I should apologize for that. Later, when I got ho, I pretended to forget what she said. Fortunately, I finally ca up with a way to persuade myself to face everything calmly and take responsibility."
Upon hearing this, Lu Xin couldn’t help but ask, "What way?"
Shen Qingming looked at her and chuckled lightly, "I told myself that as long as I said all those things earlier, the pressure would all be on you."
"!?"
"Now I truly feel a lot more relieved, and the absurd things I did in the past don’t seem so embarrassing when I think about them. So, thank you for listening to . I will also listen carefully to what you have to say next, I’m looking forward to it." After saying this, Shen Qingming once again bowed sincerely to Lu Xin, but there was a playful smile on her face.
anwhile, dozens of gazes around them unmistakably shifted to Lu Xin.
Shen Qingming’s heartfelt confession had ended, and indeed it was Lu Xin’s turn to speak.
Lu Xin felt as if she couldn’t catch her breath, and all the scripts she painstakingly prepared—over a hundred of them—were now reduced to ashes along with the Golden Crow Fla in her Divine Sense.
This damned girl had set such a devious trap for her! She really was Shen Yue’e’s daughter, carrying that venomous nature in her blood!
For a mont, thousands of mythical beasts rampaged in Lu Xin’s heart, but in the end, her composure as the matriarch gradually cald her down, and she first thought of what to say.
However, just as she was about to speak, there ca the sound of two light footsteps landing at the entrance of the hall.
Though faint, the sound carried an undeniable, astonishing aura that instantly seized everyone’s attention.
Everyone turned their gazes to the hall entrance and saw that cultivator who had descended from the sky riding on sword light. The person was tall and imposing, with long hair flowing freely down to the shoulders, except for a strand of white hair on each temple, the rest was jet-black and glossy. Two neat mustaches at the corners of the lips resembled sharp swords, looking vigorous and spirited, with facial features bearing a seventy to eighty percent resemblance to Li Fengyun.
It was none other than the previous patriarch of the Li Family, now a reclusive hermit in the shadows, Li Tianya!
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