Even the faces of these elders frowned upon remembrance.
It wasn't because they knew Luan, rather, they were aware of how problematic his father was. Tailang Khan had been the bane and thorn in the side of many of the noble clans of Donglin.
That man was the major cause of their fear of the Khan clan rising into nobility and taking over their territory.
He was very protective of his children and wives, to the point that he would have no regard for those above him if his family was hurt.
Tailang's protective nature was another reason why these nobles did what they could to send the man the qualified members of his clan to war.
If his children are killed by the Myriad Races, then his wrath and vengeance would be directed at those races.
Apart from their little nudges, what has his vengeance got to do with them?
Moreover, it was highly likely that the man would die there. With him gone, the Khan family was sure to decline until they were no more.
This was how all of them reasoned.
All of them attributed Luan's audacity to his father's reputation.
"When the elders are talking, the younger ones should put their fingers in their mouths and let their ears listen. Didn't your mother teach you anything?" Chu Wei reprimanded.
"And when the wise shit, the foolish should eat their shit so that they can be enlightened," Luan replied, using the same tone Chu Wei used.
Upon hearing his response, the crowd's jaws dropped.
Even Baldeen almost stumbled.
This was the Luan he knew, yes, not the calm and refined person he had been watching for the past week. But where did the young man get the confidence to speak to people stronger than him this way?
Contrary to his thoughts, Baldeen's mouth opened into a smile.
This was a slap to Chu Wei's face.
I can't believe this fucker that's barely reached three centuries is trying to play who's older with me. Should I just kill him? Ugh! I don't have the strength to… Luan ranted internally.
His mother and Liana were triggers to him, he wouldn't have entertained giving a response if it were his father who was mentioned.
Quite frustrating.
"Insolent brat! I'll help your mother teach you a lesson about manners!" Chu Wei's face was green from embarrassment and anger.
He had never been spoken to in such a way by a weaker person.
Seeing the old man flare up, Baldeen rose to the air and blocked his path. "Stall this old fool for me," Chu Wei said to the other around him.
But before they could move, an even more powerful aura descended on the arena, causing the faces of Chu Wei & co to twist in fear.
Following the appearance of this aura was Belan.
"Belan! How can that be? How are you at the Nascent Soul stage?! When did you break through!?" Chu We asked, unable to believe what he was seeing.
"How is that any of your concern?" Belan replied as he looked away in another direction.
Several powerful cultivators appeared in the direction Belan looked, a dozen of them. Most of them gave off similar auras that matched Belan's own.
"So you guys have been here since, and you let your clan's rat disrupt the peace of this competition?"
This son of Khan didn't speak as if he were talking to his equals, rather, he looked down on them.
And they too didn't say anything, in reply. They either had a look of disbelief written on their faces or they frowned.
These people were the current clan heads of the twelve noble clans of Donglin.
"Chu dog, do you have an explanation for this?" Belan waved his hand and the corpse of an old man, dressed in yellow robes which had been stained with blood, appeared in his grasp. "If you pretend that you don't then I'll really go crazy here. Since we all want to disregard the rules of the competition, I wouldn't mind joining in." He added.
Just when everything was looking as if it was about to go haywire, another man appeared, a middle-aged-looking man in blue uniformed robes and with a small plaque hanging on his waist.
"We greet the Royal Inspectorate!" The nobles, members of the Khan family, and the crowd, chorused at the same time. Showing utmost respect to this individual.
This was the overseer of the Donglin region, a representative of the Emperor.
Normally, people of his rank weren't allowed to involve themselves in the politics of the region they were overseeing, but this was a competition under the umbrella of the Imperial Palace, he couldn't let things stray further away.
The arena became silent as the Royal Inspectorate glanced over them. His gaze finally rested on Belan. "Congratulations on your breakthrough, Belan. Your clan's rise to greatness is but a few steps away."
He spoke softly, but everyone heard his voice clearly.
"I thank the Royal Inspectorate," Belan responded. His former fury was nowhere to be found.
The Royal Inspectorate nodded his head, "I am aware of everything that has happened. I was planning on dealing with this myself, but I noticed that you were already on it. As an apology for my seeming negligence, and as a congratulatory gift, I'll return the money used to purchase the token to your clan."
"Your generosity is well appreciated, Royal Inspector." Belan bowed. He raised the corpse in his hand and a spark of fire enveloped the body, burning it to ashes in seconds.
He had done so to spite the nobles behind.
"Now that we've settled this, let the competition continue. Note that no nonsense outside of the rules will be tolerated at this point." The man warned as his figure slowly vanished with the wind.
It took a few seconds for the crowd to readjust their emotions. None of them could have possibly thought that things would escalate like this.
Many of them were still trying to make sense of what happened and who the man Belan burnt was. Also, they began gossiping amongst themselves about how the Khan clan will be coming for revenge soon.
Perhaps the mantle of Donglin will soon be passed on to them.
The referee reorganized himself and got on the stage, activating a formation that repaired every damage the stage had incurred, before announcing the commencement of the competition.
The next round was the one for Foundation Building cultivators… it was Sully's turn.
Luan stepped aside, finding a place to sit and watch the rest of the competition unfold, while his mind kept replaying the moment the Royal Inspectorate appeared.
The frog tried prying into my body with his spirit sense from afar. And he was shameless to do it so openly. Does he think that I'm easy to offend with no consequences?
Others might have been respectful to the man, but Luan was not. Nor did he particularly have any sort of fear for the position the man held.
Refunding our money as an apology and a congratulatory gift? He sneered at the recollection of those words.
Luan wasn't even paying attention to the competition anymore. An hour went by and the second round was done.
Sully had managed to secure a position for himself.
The third round was even more chaotic, as Purple Mansion cultivators could cause more destruction to their surroundings. But it also didn't take long for the round to end.
At the end of the competition, it was announced that everyone who had earned an entry token should gather at Donglin in 13 days. The 14th will be when they venture into Aethelgard.
The sun had already set by the time the Khans left Donglin, already on their way back to their territory.
Nobody had spoken a word and they were already halfway through the journey. Almost everyone had their eyes on Luan as he was seated casually on his horse, with his cane balanced on his lap.
"Eld—I mean young master. Did you…" Crane started, but paused. His curiosity had been eating at him for hours now.
"Out with it, Crane," Luan replied without looking at the young man.
"Was it that scripture that taught you how to form a sword qi?"
This was the only explanation Crane could think of. After all, he had seen many of the items Zhen produced do the unthinkable over the years.
At the mention of a scripture, the ears of everyone perked up, even Baldeen and Belan paid more attention.
"Yes… and no. I spent a bit of time ruminating on a question from the scripture, and eventually, I found an answer."
His response leaned more toward enlightenment.
"Let me see the scripture," Belan said and Luan wasted no time handing it over to him.
As they moved, the old man studied the skimpy book and then finally, he sighed, handing the book back to Luan.
"The words within this scripture seem to be profound… and yet, at the same time, so simple. It almost feels like it's fake." Belan pointed out.
Luan welcomed his opinion with a laugh. "I thought the same when I first saw it… But a particular question kept on pestering me until I could properly answer it."
"Which of them?"
Belan had seen several questions in the scripture.
"Have you held a sword before?" The moment Luan uttered these words, there was an invisible power within his tone that seemed to ring bells in the minds of everyone.
All of them seemed to have a vision with them holding a sword and dying with the sword beside them, Belan and Baldeen were no exceptions.
The entire vision lasted two seconds, however, their hearts yearned for more. It was as though that question had almost granted them enlightenment.
All of them wanted to hear more of it. They wanted to hear what Luan's answer was to the question, however, the young man said nothing about his answer.
"Luan, where did you get this scripture?" Belan asked with trepidation. Such a scripture was up for sale?
No, no. More importantly, where had Luan found the money to purchase such a treasure?
Even the famous Sky Sword sect of the Human Realm, one of the 7 Sects, would surely treasure a scripture like this, right?
"I bought it off an interesting individual in the market... well, I basically got it for free." Luan could tell what his elders were thinking, it's just that, he couldn't be bothered by it.
He had bought the scripture, not stolen it.
After explaining to them that it was Crane who took him to meet Zhen, it was the young man's turn to do some explaining.
"Then, that man knew the worth of this scripture?" Baldeen asked, scared that the scripture might be a ticking bomb waiting to blow up in their faces.
What if it was stolen from a great power and it is tracked to their doorstep?
"I don't think Old Zhen is aware of the scripture's full capability. I asked him for a body cultivation technique, and he recommended this to me."
"Luan, don't let anyone know about this. And for the rest of you, come meet me later, I'll have your memories about the scripture sealed." Belan warned.
"Sure, sure." Luan chuckled.