"Grand Uncle, Second Grandpa forced me out. You can't get angry at me." Luan replied quickly, almost reflexively.
Baldeen was one of the few who had the heart to discipline him when he was younger.
A flicker of that old childhood fear of the man's anger surfaced in Luan.
"What is that big head thinking?" Baldeen muttered.
The furious young man who was standing next to Baldeen had lost a bit of his fury as surprise clouded his eyes.
He knew who Luan was, who in the clan didn't?
The thirteenth son of the current chief of the Khan clan who had suddenly fallen sick, and had episodes of madness.
That same person was standing before him.
A lot of the outer clan disciples of the Khan clan and even the younger generation, held respect for the direct lineage, those whose name began with 'L'.
They were all talented and hardworking people. Trying their best to elevate the status of the clan as a whole.
However, when it came to Luan, they had no such reverence for him. They just knew that he was a mischievous son of Khan who didn't know what was good for him.
Seeing Luan's rough look, the young man's opinion of Luan being a good for nothing solidified in his mind.
However, he was curious about one thing, since when did this young master of theirs recover from his sickness.
"What happened here?" Luan asked once again, ignoring the looks he was getting from those who had been paying attention to his family's side.
None of them recognized him.
Many wondered who he was, but as soon as they sensed his cultivation, they lost interest.
Quite a few people had already began climbing the stage. All of them had to show a token before they were allowed up the stage.
Baldeen suppressed his frustration once again and responded. "I'm not sure. We were standing here one minute and the next, Dex fell to the ground."
Looking at the young man Qi Condensation cultivator, Luan noticed the boy's veins bulging out as though they wanted to pop.
He was unconscious, and his skin pale. Everyone could tell that he was injured but they couldn't tell how.
Weird.
Luan reasoned as he used his sixth sense to observe the boy. On his neck, Luan could sense something unusual. He couldn't see it per se, but his sixth sense ability to identify possible danger gave him the sensation that he came across some danger.
After a moment's investigation, Luan pinpointed the source. He bent down and pretended to check Dex's pulse from his neck.
When in truth, he had grabbed a hair-like 2 inches needle, so thin and inconspicuous that one would think it was Dex's hair.
The moment he pulled his hand away, he removed the needle from the young man's neck, causing his eyes to fly open as he gasped, sucking in a ragged breath.
Baldeen's face showed a rare trace surprise and wonder. What did he do?
Even the young man standing next to the elder couldn't help but be surprised.
"Luan?"
"Grand Uncle, I think someone hit this boy with a poisonous needle." Luan handed the almost invisible needle to him.
"This level of craftsmanship," Baldeen muttered and his gaze suddenly turned towards a certain direction. This needle was something that spirit senses would struggle to notice.
A group of nobles wearing green robes and laughing amongst themselves. These bastards!
Once again, a hot wave of anger washed over him, but what else could he do but endure? At least Dex is still alive. We might have to forfeit the Qi Condensation spot after all.
Baldeen sighed and wondered once again. How had Luan found the needle?
He was certain that the young man hadn't broken through to Foundation Building stage, in other words, he didn't have a spirit sense yet.
"Elder," Dex managed to say as he forced himself to sit up. "What happened?" He was confused. The last thing he remembered was glaring at a rival of his and the next thing he knew, he woke up gasping for air.
"Nothing Dex, you'll have to drop out of the competition, you've been poisoned."
"What!?" He exclaimed but that came at the cost of him vomiting a mouthful of blood.
"Take this pill quickly and stabilize your condition." Baldeen handed a brownish pill to the young man. He had avoided feeding him anything previously because he couldn't tell what was wrong with the boy.
"There should be a regulatory body around here, right?" Luan suddenly asked.
His question earned a sigh from his Grand Uncle. "Yes…"
"I see…"
Normally, such sneak attacks wouldn't be tolerated in a gathering of this nature, and yet, it was allowed to happen here.
If this wasn't a blatant evidence of corruption, Luan didn't know what was.
"Grand Uncle, do we have any replacements for this guy here?" Using his walking stick, he gestured toward Dex.
"Not really, I brought other disciples but Dex is the only one at the peak of the Qi Condensation stage. The rest are all late-stage Qi Condensation realm cultivators."
"Then I'll take his place." Luan uttered, earning himself looks of contempt from his Grand Uncle and outer clan disciple.
"This is a battle royal type of competition. You won't be able to endure till the end. Moreover, we're a target to many of the noble families here." Baldeen explained.
"So I heard, but Grand Uncle, they are the least of my worries. As a son of Khan, I cannot let our family be mocked like this."
With a vigorous tap of his cane in the ground, Luan unintentionally casted a subtle and yet, palpable aura that reframed him in the eyes of the onlookers, forcing a doubtful reassessment.
When did he became a person that values honor? Baldeen thought. Nonetheless, he began considering Luan's participation.
He did survive the ambush of two Foundation Building cultivators, he should be able to take care of himself, right?
Not only was he considering this, he began thinking of the consequences if Luan got hurt because of his decision.
"Baldeen," A familiar voice was transmitted into his ears. Belan, what are you also doing here!? This time, Baldeen felt like he was at the verge of experiencing a stroke.
"Let him represent us for Qi Condensation battle."
Feeling blood rushing into his head, Baldeen agreed. "Fine! But don't blame me if you get hurt. And forfeit immediately if you can't handle it anymore." He handed a black palm-sized token to Luan.
Either way, the token was going to waste.
"Thank you, Grand Uncle." Luan accepted it with a nod. It was at this point that he paid a bit of attention to the second participant from his clan.
"Grand Uncle," He called out. "Why don't we have any participants for the Purple Mansion battle?"
"The clan has a surplus of Foundation Building cultivators and we lack the resources needed to support their breakthrough, rather than sending Purple Mansion cultivators to the Secret Grotto, it would be more profitable for us to send a Foundation Building cultivator in." Baldeen obliged. "We have very few Purple Mansion cultivators left in the clan and we can't afford to send them out now."
Luan nodded in understanding.
Aethelgard was a unique Secret Grotto. The realm of a cultivator determined where they would appear in the grotto. It was a place with levels.
Where those in the stronger cultivation realms were restricted from descending lower levels. However, those from the lower levels were free to explore as far they possibly could.
With barely any restrictions.
However, most people would choose to explore the Foundation Building and Purple Mansion levels. There were still many regions on these levels that haven't been explored.
In other words, there were a lot of treasures in there.
As for the higher levels… a matter to be spoken about in the future.
"Sully here is the strongest Foundation Building cultivator the clan currently have on ground." Baldeen pointed at the young man.
"Greetings, young master." Sully nodded his way and Luan returned the gesture.
"All Qi Condensation cultivators participating should quickly come on stage!" A Golden Core cultivator announced, drawing Luan's attention his way.
"That's one of the referees. He's also from one of the Donglin noble clans." Baldeen said.
"I don't suppose he'll play fair."
"That would be the right mindset to work with. Be careful of the Chu, Lin, Fu, Han noble clans. Out of all the nobles of Donglin, they're the ones who have continuously suppressed our clan. They might gang up on you."
"I hope they do." Luan's lips curled into a smile.
"Don't be arrogant young master, the family's name is on the line." Sully said, catching Luan off guard.
An outer clan disciple that he was older than was reprimanding him in front of his grand uncle. Yes, Sully's cultivation was higher than his, but based on familiar rankings, Luan's rank was above the young man's own.
Baldeen coughed and slapped the back of Sully's head. "Sully is my adopted son." He added.
Luan couldn't help but chuckle. He wasn't angry at the young man or anything of the sort, he just wondered where he got the audacity from.
Does he think I'll embarrass my family?
"Well, we'll find out whether I'm arrogant or not in a few minutes." With confident steps, and his walking cane, Luan went up the stage…