CHAPTER 260: 260- UPDATED*

Fang Yuan and Fang Lian drifted silently in the void aboard a flying boat, watching the Feng Clan elders dispute among themselves.

None in the Feng Clan could detect them, after all, their strongest expert had only reached the Nascent Soul Realm.

To the Feng Clan, the void might as well have been a myth.

Unlike other clans, the Fengs lived in hiding.

Their domain lay within Mount Skyhowl, a forbidden mountain.

The mountain brimmed with rare herbs and exotic treasures, yet also prowling beasts fierce enough to terrify even Nascent soul cultivators.

Records had even claimed Skyhowl housed sentient beasts one could communicate with.

Fang Yuan’s thoughts wandered.

He remembered the Lin family’s gift on his thirtieth birthday, the Blossoming Thunder Orchid.

Their words echoed faintly in his head, plucked from the peaks of Mount Skyhowl.

He scoffed softly, then dismissed the thought. Best not to badmouth them, not when the Lin family was now a subsidiary clan of the Fang’s now.

"Master, do we still wait?" Fang Lian asked quietly.

Fang Yuan tore off a bite of bread, chewing without hurry. "Let’s wait for the opportune moment."

Lian nodded and kept her gaze forward, watching events unfold below.

After a moment she muttered, "That elder must have truly hated the old man’s mother."

"Probably," Fang Yuan replied with a faint nod. "I’m curious why though."

Together they continued their silent vigil as the Feng Clan gathered.

Then came the voice of the clan patriarch, booming with authority:

"The Fang clan has birthed the newborn who is prophesied to be the reincarnation of the Thunder Immortal God. We must eliminate their clan and sacrifice the boy to our god, Yinglong.

Yuan Sheng, are you willing to atone for your mistakes and carry out this task? If you retreat without putting your neck on the line this time, your family is as good as dead."

Rage erupted from Yuan Sheng’s throat. "Old man Lishen! Don’t you dare threaten me! Have you forgotten who put you in that seat?"

The patriarch’s reply was cold and cutting. "Yes, yes... but I give you no permission to question me right now. I ask only this, is it yes, or is it no?"

Yuan Sheng roared, voice trembling with fury. "I was a fool to have trusted you!"

He spat onto the ground, defiant even as his body shook.

"The Fang Family has a Hollow Spirit Realm cultivator. Do you think the entire Feng Clan combined can kill such a monster?"

Feng Lishen turned with a sneer, his tone dripping with mockery.

"Looks like you truly hate your parents. I can’t say I’m surprised."

His hand flicked dismissively. "Kill them."

"Wait! I’ll do it! I’ll do it!" Yuan Sheng screamed, desperation tearing through his voice.

Lishen’s lips curled into a smile, sharp as a blade. "Good dog. But you took too long. Now, choose which one to save, your father, or your mother?"

A few elders stepped forward, trying to calm the storm.

"Clan Head, don’t you think you’re going too far?" one asked carefully, bowing his head.

"Yes, Elder Sheng has defied the council more than once, but he is still a bona fide Peak Nascent Soul master. A pillar of our clan."

Murmurs rippled from the back.

"Tch, the Patriarch still hasn’t gotten over how Yuan Sheng’s mother rejected his proposal..." one elder whispered, not quite low enough.

Another snorted under his breath. "It’s not just that. He’s jealous Yuan Sheng’s talent outshone his own from the start."

The words cut through the hall, and though no one dared look at Feng Lishen directly, tension thickened like a storm about to break.

Bang!

The Patriarch’s palm slammed against the armrest of his throne, the sound cracking like thunder. Spiritual pressure exploded outward, rattling the pillars of the hall.

Several elders staggered back, coughing blood as the force pressed them down.

"You dare!" Feng Lishen’s eyes burned like molten coals as his voice boomed. "Whispering like rats

in my hall? Questioning me?"

He rose to his feet, robes snapping in the storm of his qi.

"Yuan Sheng’s mother was a harlot who thought herself above the clan! And as for talent—" he sneered, eyes drilling into Yuan Sheng chained below, "—what good is wasted talent when it turns against its own bloodline? Trash remains trash!"

His fury shook the rafters, silence swallowing the chamber after his roar.

Yuan Sheng threw his head back and laughed, the sound jagged, like broken glass.

Blood dripped from his lips as he glared up at the Patriarch.

"Trash?" he snarled. "Say what you want about me, Lishen, but you’ll never change the truth, my mother rejected you because she saw through you. A petty, jealous coward hiding behind the clan’s throne!"

Yuan Sheng pressed on, eyes burning with defiance.

"You hate me because I remind you of what you’ll never be! You call me trash, but it’s you who wasted your years scheming in shadows, too afraid to stand against true strength! Fang Yuan will come for us all, and when he does, remember this face, remember the man you called trash coming back risking his life to warn you!"

Crack!

Feng Lishen’s palm smashed across Yuan Sheng’s face, blood and teeth spraying across the floor as the old man’s body whipped sideways, chains rattling from the force.

The Patriarch’s voice dripped with venom as he growled, "Enough."

The hall fell into a suffocating silence after the strike.

Yuan Sheng slumped in his chains, blood dripping steadily from his split lips, yet his words still lingered in the air like poison that refused to fade.

For a long while, no one spoke.

The crackle of torches against the stone walls was the only sound, and even that seemed too loud.

Finally, an elder shifted uncomfortably, his voice low and grave.

"Patriarch... what if his words hold truth? If the Fang clan truly shelters a Hollow Spirit Realm cultivator, remaining here on Mount Skyhowl may spell our end. Perhaps... we should consider relocating."

Another elder, older still with clouded eyes, nodded slowly.

"The herbs of this mountain have made us strong, yes, but they will not shield us from destruction. The boy with the thunder immortal birth is no small matter either. But to sacrifice him may only invite retribution beyond our means. Relocation may be a wiser option."