Three days later, inside the Wang Family ancestral hall — the clan assembly.
Wang Yan sat in the chief seat, glancing at the young Wang Chen now occupying the position that originally belonged to the Great Elder on his right. The Great Elder himself was now sitting to Wang Chen's right, leaving Wang Yan puzzled.
Wang Yan pondered for a long while, unable to understand why Wang Chen was present.
Looking at Wang Chen with curiosity, he thought to himself, "I'll just wait and see what kind of trick the Great Elder is planning this time."
Wang Yan completely dismissed Wang Chen as a mere boy, assuming he was nothing more than the Great Elder's pawn.
He had absolute confidence in his own strength and believed that no matter what schemes the Great Elder came up with, he could easily resolve them.
Thus, Wang Yan simply sat quietly, saying nothing to question why Wang Chen was attending this solemn clan assembly. Instead, he let the elders under him speak freely.
Meanwhile, Wang Chen sat in the Great Elder's seat, casually surveying his surroundings.
Two days prior, after subduing the Great Elder with his overwhelming strength, everything had become much simpler. With the Great Elder's persuasion, the Third Elder, Seventh Elder, and Eleventh Elder all came to support him.
Then, the group went on to convince Wang Chen's granduncle, the Eighth Elder, Wang Xiaoming.
At that point, half of the twelve Wang Family Elders supported Wang Chen. With half their support, they could jointly nominate a new patriarch at the clan assembly.
As long as Wang Chen defeated the old patriarch, Wang Yan, he would become the new head of the Wang Family.
Wang Chen looked at the memorial tablets lining the ancestral hall, the gathered elders, and the current patriarch, Wang Yan. His expression was calm—completely lacking the reverence or restraint most juniors would show before the clan's leaders.
Such an attitude immediately drew the displeasure of the six elders who were unaware of Wang Chen's true strength.
In their eyes, only Wang Family elders—each a Soul Saint or stronger—were qualified to attend the clan assembly. How could a mere junior have the right to sit among them?
Even if Wang Chen was the most talented genius of his generation, talent was just potential. Power was another matter entirely. What right did he have to attend a clan assembly?
What angered them even more was that Wang Chen, a mere youth, was sitting in the Great Elder's seat, above all the other elders.
The Second Elder, Wang Yan's most trusted ally, saw Wang Chen sitting above him and immediately erupted in fury.
"Wang Chen, you're just a junior! What right do you have to sit here at the clan assembly? Get out—right now!"
Then he turned to the Great Elder and scolded,
"Wang Lu, how could you let a brat sit in the Great Elder's seat? What kind of example is this?"
But Great Elder Wang Lu, having been completely convinced by Wang Chen's strength and talent, now regarded even the Great Elder's seat as beneath him. In his view, only the Patriarch's seat was barely worthy of Wang Chen.
The Ninth Elder, seeing the Second Elder taking the lead in attacking, quickly followed up with mockery.
"I think the Great Elder's gone senile. He's no longer fit to serve in his position.
Great Elder, why don't you step down and let the Second Elder take over, so you can spend your remaining years in peace?"
Immediately, several elders who sided with Wang Yan began loudly criticizing both Wang Chen and the Great Elder.
Hearing their words, the Great Elder merely smiled coldly and said nothing.
Inwardly, he thought, "Bark all you want now—soon enough, you won't even be able to speak."
The Great Elder then exchanged glances with the Third, Seventh, Eleventh, and Eighth Elders—Wang Yuan, Wang Xiaoming, and the others—all of whom nodded slightly.
The opposing elders noticed this exchange and felt uneasy.
"What's going on? Are they forming an alliance? Surely they're not planning to go against the Patriarch? Even if the six of them join forces, they're no match for him."
Just as they were puzzled, the Great Elder suddenly said in a deep voice,
"At this clan assembly, I, as the Great Elder, formally nominate Wang Chen as the new Patriarch of the Wang Family."
As his words fell, the Third Elder, Fifth Elder Wang Yuan, Seventh Elder, Eighth Elder Wang Xiaoming, and Eleventh Elder all echoed in unison,
"We second the nomination."
With six elders jointly nominating him, the Second Elder and his group were left dumbfounded, mouths agape, eyes wide with disbelief.
They had thought the Great Elder's alliance was to challenge the Patriarch's authority—never had they imagined it was to nominate a new Patriarch!
And not just any new Patriarch—but a boy under fifteen!
Now it all made sense—why Wang Chen was here, and why the Great Elder had let him sit in his seat.
So this was their plan: to make Wang Chen Patriarch?
Absurd! Ridiculous! Wang Chen was just a child—what strength could he possibly have? Unless Wang Yan himself stepped down, how could this boy hope to compete with him?
Even Wang Yan himself was stunned for a moment, unable to process what he had just heard.
Had the Great Elder lost his mind?
To think he'd propose that a not-yet-fifteen-year-old become Patriarch! Did they truly believe Wang Yan would hand over his position simply because Wang Chen was his great-grandson?
He had many great-grandsons—what made this one so special? The idea was laughable.
The Second Elder suddenly jumped to his feet, pointing angrily at the Great Elder's faction.
"Madness! You've all gone insane! Have you even heard yourselves? What qualifications does Wang Chen have to be Patriarch of the Wang Family?!"
Just as the others were about to join in on his outrage—
Wang Chen slowly rose from his seat.
In that instant, his Soul Emperor-level soul power, Contra-level spiritual power, and unshakable will fused together and burst forth like a tidal wave, crashing toward the seated Patriarch, Wang Yan.
It was none other than the Sovereign's Domination Combat Technique!
This technique, infused with Wang Chen's own will, radiated an overwhelming, imperious aura—as if declaring that no one else in the world was worthy to stand as his equal.
The entire hall fell silent.
Wang Chen swept his gaze across everyone present and said calmly,
"I, Wang Chen, will be the new Patriarch of the Wang Family."
Wang Yan stared at Wang Chen in shock.
He hadn't expected the boy's strength to be so immense. From soul power alone, Wang Chen was clearly at least a Soul Emperor.
He knew Wang Chen's exact age—still under fifteen. For someone so young to reach such a level was beyond comprehension.
What shocked him even more was the faint sense of danger Wang Chen gave him—a rare feeling he hadn't experienced in decades.
Wang Yan had always trusted his instincts; it was precisely that sharp intuition that had guided him to his current position.
Meanwhile, the other elders stared at Wang Chen in utter disbelief.
A Soul Emperor?
When did the Wang Family ever produce such a monster?
Before the Second Elder and the others could recover from their shock, Wang Yan spoke again, his tone calm but his eyes dark.
"Chen'er, you've truly surprised me.
But this Patriarch's position—I can give it, but you cannot take it."
Wang Chen smiled faintly.
"Then I'll take it by force."
As soon as he spoke, silver-white soul tool armor appeared on his body, and a sharp Windbreaking Spear materialized in his hands.
Wang Yan narrowed his eyes.
"Then let's see if you have the strength to claim it!"
As his words fell, Wang Yan's eight soul rings flared, and a set of pitch-black soul tool armor appeared over his body—the Dark Demon Armor.
This was Wang Yan's pride and joy, nearly equivalent to a ninth-level soul tool. With its amplification, Wang Yan could crush the Great Elder in three punches and had almost no rivals within the Contra realm.
He attacked at full force—without a trace of mercy for Wang Chen's youth. Clearly, he understood the principle: even a lion uses its full strength when hunting a rabbit.
In the next instant, Wang Yan's figure blurred, breaking the sound barrier with explosive speed. Within a blink, he appeared before Wang Chen and struck with a blade-hand toward his neck.
But before the strike could land—
Wang Chen's figure vanished completely. The blow sliced through empty air.
Wang Yan's expression remained calm.
"Interesting… a teleportation-type soul skill. Quite rare."
He spread out his spiritual power like a net, instantly locking onto Wang Chen's position.
Outside the ancestral hall, Wang Chen stood waiting.
"The hall's too small," he said. "Let's fight somewhere open."
Moments later, both figures disappeared from the hall and reappeared in a wide open field—the Wang Family's internal training grounds.
All twelve elders followed closely behind to witness the duel.
Now standing face-to-face, Wang Chen and Wang Yan locked eyes.
Facing the peak-level Contra that was Wang Yan, Wang Chen decided not to waste time probing.
After his battle with the Great Elder, he had a clear understanding of his own strength and the power of Contra-level experts.
Without using secret arts, with six ten-thousand-year soul rings and the Sovereign's Domination Technique, he could easily defeat Soul Saints—and even spar evenly with weaker Contras like the Great Elder.
If he used the Ring Tempering Secret Technique, he could overpower weaker Contras completely.
But Wang Yan was different—a peak Contra, with immense combat experience and deep mastery of soul tools. Against him, even Ring Tempering wouldn't be enough.
So Wang Chen decided to unleash his most extreme secret technique—his final trump card.
Ring Explosion!
A technique even more terrifying than Ring Tempering—its power multiplied, but at the cost of immense strain and damage to both the user and their soul rings.
By detonating a soul ring, a soul master could release its full, unrestrained energy—at the cost of risking permanent injury or even death.
Looking at the twelve elders gathered around, and at the once unreachable patriarch before him, Wang Chen's mind flashed through memories of his entire life within the Wang Family—
His carefree childhood, his excitement at awakening his martial spirit, the anxiety when the family became entangled in the imperial struggle, his cautious youth walking on eggshells… and his current calm confidence.
From this day onward, he would stand at the very peak of the Wang Family—commanding all beneath him.
Wang Chen swept his gaze across the arena and declared clearly,
"Three moves. If I cannot defeat you within three moves, I will not claim the Patriarch's position."
Hearing this, even the elders who supported Wang Yan were left speechless in awe.
Win or lose, Wang Chen's sheer confidence and talent had already convinced them.
The Great Elder and his allies, meanwhile, had complete faith in Wang Chen. Though three moves sounded insane, with Wang Chen, the impossible often became reality.
Wang Yan snorted coldly.
"Even a Titled Douluo wouldn't dare claim they could defeat me in three moves.
If you can truly defeat me within three, then the Patriarch's seat will be yours—I'll follow your lead from that day forward!"
As soon as he finished speaking, his eight soul rings blazed, and from his Dark Demon Armor burst forth a massive black dragon, roaring as it lunged toward Wang Chen.
The power it radiated was so overwhelming that even a Titled Douluo would need to treat it seriously.
Wang Chen looked at the dragon and shouted one word—
"Explode!"
His six soul rings flared in pairs, each set detonating one after another.
He didn't dare detonate all at once—the sheer force would have torn his body apart. Even detonating them in sequence caused his meridians to swell to three times their size.
If not for the Gold of Life tempering his body to extraordinary resilience, his meridians would have burst instantly.
Feeling the destructive power surging through him, Wang Chen gripped his spear tightly.
A torrent of soul power burst from his body, converging on the spearhead. The surrounding space distorted, forming tiny black cracks.
First strike— the black dragon's head shattered!
Second strike— the Dark Demon Armor crumbled!
Third strike— Wang Yan was gravely wounded, coughing blood, and collapsed!
The three thunderous strikes echoed like heaven's wrath. Wang Chen's Windbreaking Spear, unable to withstand the immense force, disintegrated into dust—vanishing completely.
A new Patriarch of the Wang Family was born.
At that moment, deep within Wang Chen's soul, the Black Book quietly began to change...