CHAPTER 274: CHOOSE!

"Ashen, after revealing your talent and cultivation to everyone, your life will be in danger..."

"I already know..." Ashen replied in a similar serious tone as his uncle.

"As expected from you." Shang Jiao revealed a proud smile as he fixed his gaze on his young nephew.

He then informed. "Ashen, your grandfather, the patriarch, has ordered the clan to allot you two emperor realm cultivators as your guards. I have called you regarding this matter."

"Hmm," Ashen nodded in understanding.

He looked around to sense if any emperor realm cultivator was near them; however, he didn’t find any.

He glanced at his uncle and wondered.

There are no emperor realm cultivators nearby.

Who does he want to allot to me?

What if these emperor realm cultivators turn out to be spies?

Since they would be the ones remaining the closest to me, I need to check them myself.

His uncle smiled, understanding Ashen’s worries.

"Don’t worry, Ashen." He said calmly. "I haven’t chosen anyone yet. Since you have seen the Shang Clan during your stay here, I thought it would be best if you were the one to choose your guards yourself."

He then took out a scroll from his space ring and made it float to Ashen’s hands.

He continued afterward: "This is the list of emperor realm cultivators of the Shang Clan. If you don’t know about anyone, I’m here to tell you. You only need to ask."

Ashen nodded in understanding before opening the scroll and looking at the long list.

Ashen’s pupils enlarged at the length of the list. It had over thirty names, way more than he expected, and it still didn’t have his grandfather’s and his uncle’s names in it.

He felt that he had underestimated the Shang Clan’s strength.

A sacred clan is really at another level.

Ashen commented internally before looking at the list. He recognized around half the names. They were either elders of the clan or ministers holding high positions in the clan.

He pointed at a few names he didn’t recognize and asked Shang Jiao about them.

Shang Jiao was polite in his response, explaining about them calmly.

His answers mainly drifted into two identities of these cultivators.

They were either generals who were sent to the borders of the empire to fight against other empires, or they were cultivators who didn’t have interest in worldly affairs, remaining in closed cultivation until summoned by the clan.

After hearing Shang Jiao’s answers, Ashen came to a realization—that he won’t be able to choose like this.

He asked the question inquiring about the attribute he most cared about when choosing:

"Uncle, if you allow me to ask freely..." Ashen cupped his hands in respect, requesting in a cautious tone, "May I know who is the strongest emperor realm cultivator in the Shang Clan after Grandfather?"

He didn’t have any doubts about Shang Long, the patriarch of the Shang Clan, being the strongest. He just didn’t know who was the second strongest.

Hearing Ashen’s question, a frown appeared on Shang Jiao’s smiling face.

"Sigh... I didn’t want to mention him; however, I can’t lie when it’s the strength he has earned himself." He mumbled in a disgruntled tone, but it was loud enough for Ashen to hear it clearly.

He raised his head, glancing at Ashen before answering, "It’s Shang Wu!"

His tone was hurried, almost as if he wanted Ashen to not hear it.

"Shang Wu..." Ashen mumbled as he scanned the list given to him by his uncle. "As expected, this name isn’t in the list."

Ashen remembered looking at each name, and the name Shang Wu still sounded unfamiliar. He looked at the list just to confirm if he had missed his name mistakenly.

"Uncle..." Ashen cupped his hands and requested politely. "If I may be so bold, may I request you to tell me about him?"

"Sigh..." Shang Jiao sighed in defeat as he replied regretfully: "Even though I don’t wish to, since I’ve already brought up his name, I don’t seem to have a choice."

Just who is this Shang Wu to get Uncle Jiao to act like this?

Ashen wondered internally.

"Listen closely, as I won’t be repeating this ever again." Shang Jiao said firmly.

Ashen nodded to show that he had taken his words to heart.

It was at this moment that Shang Jiao began telling the story of Shang Wu.

"To know about Shang Wu, I’ll have to tell you everything from the beginning."

"Even though our father, Dragon Emperor Shang Long, had multiple children, he didn’t give all of them the privilege of being recognized as his children and as the direct lineage of the Shang Clan."

"Among those countless children, only the most talented and powerful will receive a chance to be acknowledged by him."

"And till today, he only acknowledged four of his children, giving them the identity of his direct bloodline."

"The outside world only knows of these four children as the descendants of the Dragon Emperor."

"I’m one of these four children, as you may have already guessed." He spoke proudly, glancing at Ashen to see his reaction.

However, Ashen only listened intently to each of his words with curiosity without showing much change in his expression.

Disappointed, Shang Jiao continued:

"I, however, was acknowledged at the very last among my four siblings."

"The first to get acknowledged by our father was the second elder brother, Shang Wu!"

"We address each other according to our age. Since Shang Wu is the second eldest in age, he is addressed as such."

"Next, he acknowledged the first eldest brother, Shang Xin, who is the chief general serving at the borders of the empire right now."

"The third to get acknowledged was the youngest of us, our sister and your mother, Shang Celine."

"If you had asked me who the most talented in the Shang Clan was, then I would’ve undoubtedly answered with your mother’s name."

"But due to her young age, she wasn’t able to grow as strong as Shang Wu."

"If she hadn’t stopped her cultivation when you were born, maybe she would’ve become the second strongest by now." Shang Jiao shook his head regretfully.

Though Ashen felt surprised, he didn’t feel sad for his mother.

It was her choice, and only she had the right to decide whether she regretted her decision or not.

Moreover, not everyone’s goal was to become the strongest in the world.

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(A/N - Thanks for reading. ^..^)