CHAPTER 263: CHAPTER 263: CAN’T AFFORD

Xia Mian squinted her eyes, obediently walking over.

However, as soon as she slightly bent her waist, before her knees could touch the ground, one of the ancestral tablets on the altar wobbled and fell to the ground with a thud.

Xia Liang’s brows furrowed immediately, and the Great Elder quickly picked up the fallen ancestral tablet, blew the dust off it, and exclaimed, "Oh my ancestor, what do you mean by this? The young lady is an extraordinary genius, able to recognize her ancestry, something our Divine Master had wished for a long time! Don’t cause trouble!"

After speaking, the Great Elder casually returned the ancestral tablet to its original position.

Xia Mian squinted her eyes; though she found this incident a bit strange, she didn’t take it to heart and continued bending her knees downward.

This time, a gust of wind blew in from outside, and again, two more ancestral tablets fell from the altar.

Xia Liang’s brows furrowed even tighter.

Xia Mian blinked, turned to look at Xia Liang, and said, "Look, it seems the ancestors of the Divine Clan don’t want to recognize me."

As soon as Xia Mian finished speaking, all of the ancestral tablets on the altar fell down.

The noise clattered on for a full five minutes.

Xia Liang’s eyes widened; he was dumbfounded.

What is going on?

"Ancestors, don’t you acknowledge my granddaughter?" Xia Liang’s face darkened, and he questioned the pile of tablets on the ground with displeasure.

The Second Elder wiped the sweat off his forehead and planned to pick up the ancestral tablets.

Before he could move, the Third Elder stammered, "Second Brother, you... you... look!"

The Second Elder followed the direction pointed by the Third Elder’s finger, and saw that the tablets of the ancestors of the Divine Clan had fallen to form the character "免" (exempt) on the ground.

"Does this mean the young lady is exempt from such courtesy?" exclaimed the Third Elder in disbelief as he looked at the "免" character formed by the tablets on the ground, feeling his worldview shatter.

"Hahaha..." Xia Liang laughed heartily, with incomparable pride and contentment, "Ancestors, I understand what you mean! Since you cannot accept Mianmian’s bow, then let Mianmian be exempt from it!"

Xia Liang waved toward Xia Mian, and she slowly straightened up.

The three elders, overjoyed, began to put the ancestral tablets of the Divine Clan back in place.

This ancestor recognition ceremony was so disruptive, even the ancestors of the Divine Clan dared not accept a bow from Xia Mian...

The three elders, while restoring the tablets to their places, contemplated whether Xia Mian’s identity might be more complex than just being a young lady of the Divine Clan.

The section of Xia Mian recognizing her ancestry concluded amidst the sound of the ancestral tablets clattering to the ground.

Xia Liang puffed out his chest, once again bowed to the ancestral tablets, and said, "Ancestors, the future development of our Divine Clan depends on Mianmian."

With that, he straightened up, glanced at Xia Mian, and tapped her on the forehead.

After this action, Xia Mian felt as if something had been added to her body.

"This is the soul stone of the Divine Clan," Xia Liang explained. "With this, people of the Divine Clan can sense each other."

Xia Mian nodded and then followed Xia Liang out of the Ancestral Hall.

Standing at the entrance of the Ancestral Hall, looking at the Divine Clan members beneath the steps, Xia Liang’s gaze swept across the crowd, and he cleared his throat before saying slowly, "From now on, Xia Mian is the young lady of our Divine Clan. Seeing Xia Mian is like seeing me; anyone who disrespects Xia Mian will be expelled from the Divine Clan immediately!"

Xia Liang had said these kinds of things before, but at that time, Xia Mian had not yet paid homage to the ancestors or recognized her ancestry.

So, the impact was far less shocking than now.

After entering the Ancestral Hall of the Divine Clan, she was truly a member of the Divine Clan. Coupled with Xia Liang’s importance placed on her, anyone daring to provoke Xia Mian in the future would be courting death!

After announcing Xia Mian’s status as the young lady of the Divine Clan, Xia Liang wasted no time using a secret technique to send this news to the Hundred Families of the Mystical Sects. In his message, Xia Liang added a special note, saying offending him, the Divine Master, could still allow survival, but offending Xia Mian would lead to certain death!

Although the Hundred Families of the Mystical Sects were very unhappy with Xia Liang’s attitude, they had recently suffered a defeat in a war against the Divine Clan and naturally did not dare to oppose Xia Liang head-on.

However, as for Xia Mian, the Hundred Families of the Mystical Sects were unanimously curious and sent people to investigate everything about Xia Mian.

While the Hundred Families of the Mystical Sects began to swarm in search of information about Xia Mian, she was already planning to leave the Divine Clan with Gu Zhi and head to the Mystical World.

Gu Zhi, dressed in mourning clothes, had slightly red and swollen eyes. Having lost Qin Shuang, she was deeply saddened, but she didn’t want Qin Shuang’s sacrifice to be in vain. Qin Shuang wished for her to return to the Xuanmen Gu Family, so she would return to the Xuanmen Gu Family.

Even though the Xuanmen Gu Family, like the current world’s Gu Family, was a pit of fire, she had no choice but to traverse it herself.

"You are unfamiliar with the Mystical World. I’ll have Weizhang accompany you!" Xia Liang thought deeply and called Xia Weizhang to accompany Xia Mian as she was about to leave the Divine Clan.

After a few days, Xia Weizhang appeared more mature and composed. Upon seeing Xia Mian, he gave a slight smile, "Cousin, we meet again."

Xia Mian nodded in acknowledgment toward Xia Weizhang, "This time, I’ll trouble you."

She was indeed unfamiliar with the Hundred Families of the Mystical Sects; going to seek them out haphazardly, she wouldn’t know how long it would take.

With Xia Weizhang as a guide, it would obviously be much more convenient to find them.

Xia Weizhang gave a gentle and refined smile, "Cousin, there’s no need to be so polite."

The Divine Clan would eventually belong to Xia Mian. Building a good relationship with her now could only benefit and not harm him.

After counting manpower, Xia Mian and her group prepared to set off.

Utilizing the space-time traversal technique once more, Xia Mian was already quite adept.

In the span of a few breaths, they arrived once again in the Mystical World.

Unlike the Mystical World they had visited before, this time they arrived in a small town.

A small town as bustling as the current world. If Xia Mian didn’t know that her time-space traversal magic was correct, she would have almost thought she had returned to the current world.

The town was full of worldly bustle, with the cries of vendors and the sounds of bargaining.

The only difference from the current world was that people here wore ancient robes.

Thus, Xia Mian and Lu Zechuan’s attire appeared somewhat unconventional here.

From time to time, curious glances were cast at them, but soon those eyes shifted away.

Living in such a world, they had long understood one thing: one must not judge by appearances, and curiosity killed the cat.

Xia Weizhang looked around, squinting slightly, and said softly, "This is Gubei Town of the Mystic Sect, considered a small trade exchange town where many like to exchange goods. It is about thirty miles from the Xuanmen Gu Family."

After pausing, Xia Weizhang tentatively said, "If your friend is not in a hurry, we can stay here for a day or two to see if we can find some rare cultivation resources."

Xia Mian didn’t speak but turned to look at Gu Zhi.

Gu Zhi frowned expressionlessly, "Why are you looking at me? Stay if you want!"

She had never heard of the Xuanmen Gu Family before; any sentiments toward it were nonexistent, let alone a sense of urgency to return.