Chapter 15 : Chapter 15
Chapter 15: The Despairing Su Clan, the Soundless Duel
Meanwhile,
the Mangshan Su Clan naturally also received the news that the Li family was about to come calling.
Su Bai, the Second Elder temporarily presiding over clan affairs, gathered the senior members of the Su family to discuss countermeasures.
“The Supreme Elder has entered death seclusion and has yet to emerge. The Family Head and Fourth Elder went to the prefectural city and still haven’t returned. What does my Su family have left to resist the Li family with?”
The Su family’s Third Elder said with a face full of despair.
The other senior members of the Su family also sighed endlessly.
Seeing that morale within the clan had sunk so low, a sense of helplessness rose in the Second Elder’s heart.
“No matter what, my Su family will not stretch out our necks and wait to be slaughtered. Even if we die, we will bite a chunk out of the Li family first.”
Su Bai said through gritted teeth.
“Everyone, this is the most dangerous moment my Su family has faced in the two hundred years since its founding. We must prepare for the worst. Seventh Elder, take the family’s remaining sparks and leave by the small mountain paths. Go quickly. If the Su family cannot endure, then you must change your names, leave Shenglong Prefecture, and go far away!”
Everyone immediately voiced their agreement.
Only the Seventh Elder shot to his feet in anger.
“What? Do you all take me for some coward afraid of death? If anyone is leaving, then you go. I won’t!”
“Old Seventh, at a time like this, don’t act on impulse!”
Su Bai rose to his feet and roared in anger.
“No one said you fear death, and I know you do not. But the rest of us are all old relics already. Even if we don’t die, we don’t have many years left anyway. You are different. You are still young. The family’s last sparks still need someone to protect them. Do you understand now?”
The Seventh Elder stood there, stunned on the spot.
“What are you still standing there for? Get out, now!”
Su Bai kicked the Seventh Elder hard in the leg and shouted furiously.
That kick sent the Seventh Elder stumbling, nearly losing his footing.
He cast a deep look at everyone present, clenched his teeth, then turned and walked away without looking back.
At the sight of this, the Second Elder finally let out a breath of relief.
Then he said, “Everyone, the Su family’s retreat path has now been arranged. There should still be half an hour left. If anyone has unfinished business, go and settle it at once.”
The pessimism in Su Bai’s words infected the others.
“The mighty Mangshan Su Clan... how has it fallen to this?”
The Fourth Elder said with tears streaming down his face.
Thinking of the family’s impending destruction, several of the elders began to sob quietly.
“You’re all a bunch of old bones already. Must you still behave like women? Isn’t it shameful?”
The Second Elder shouted in rebuke.
“Second Brother, we’re not crying for ourselves. We’re crying for the family.”
Su Bai opened his mouth, but in the end he only slumped back into his chair in defeat.
“We are all sinners of the Su family.”
........
“And before the very end has even come, you’ve already put on these dead-man faces. Who exactly are you showing them to?”
A voice rang out coldly and abruptly.
The Su family elders all lifted their heads sharply, only to see an old man slowly walking in from outside the hall doors.
Everyone instinctively rubbed their eyes.
“It’s... it’s the Supreme Elder! The Supreme Elder has emerged from seclusion! My Su family is saved!”
Several elders cried out excitedly.
But when they saw the pale complexion on Su Changqing’s face, a bad premonition rose in all their hearts.
Under the eager gazes of the crowd,
Su Changqing let out a sigh and shook his head.
“Heaven did not grant my wish. I failed at the last step.”
Yes—Su Changqing’s breakthrough had failed.
Not only had it failed, it had also damaged his vitality, leaving him with only a few days left to live.
In the end, he was not the protagonist.
Hearing this utterly despairing news, everyone instantly felt as though the sky had collapsed. All spirit was drained from them at once, and they became like walking corpses.
But then Su Changqing changed his tone, and a sliver of hope rekindled in their eyes.
“Though I did not succeed in breaking through, dealing with a Li Xingge who has only just entered the Qi-Blood Realm is still more than manageable. By the way, where is Su Zhe?”
Only then did Su Changqing realize that, at such a critical moment involving the life and death of the clan, Su Zhe, the Family Head of the Su family, was nowhere to be seen. That was something Su Changqing could not tolerate.
At the mention of Su Zhe,
Su Bai gave a bitter smile.
“A while ago, Myriad Treasures Pavilion held an auction. The Family Head took Old Fifth to the prefectural city, hoping to buy a Qi-Blood Pill for the family. But they still haven’t returned.”
Su Changqing’s expression froze.
After a long while, he sighed.
“I know him. He is most likely already doomed. It seems even heaven does not favor my Mangshan Su Clan.”
The faces of everyone present turned deathly pale.
The Grand Elder was dead.
The Family Head, too, was likely doomed.
The Supreme Elder had failed in his breakthrough and had little time left.
The decline of the Mangshan Su Clan was already set in stone. And that... was still the best possible outcome.
“Since matters have come to this, there is only a desperate battle left to us. Su Bai, let us go and meet this young man who has made my Mangshan Su Clan suffer so bitterly.”
.......
Half an hour later,
Li Xingge and his force finally arrived at the foot of Mangshan.
What he saw there left him somewhat surprised.
At the foot of the mountain, the forces of the Mangshan Su Clan stood ready in full formation.
“Family Head Li, the Mangshan Su Clan has been waiting here for quite some time.”
A hearty voice laughed aloud.
Then Li Xingge saw an old man in purple robes slowly step out from the crowd opposite them.
The instant that purple-robed old man appeared, Li Xingge’s attention locked onto him.
Though he had never met him before, Li Xingge knew exactly who he was.
“Supreme Elder of the Su family, this junior greets you.”
Li Xingge cupped his hands through the air.
Looking at Li Xingge—handsome, spirited, and brimming with vigor—
even Su Changqing had to admit that he truly was a qilin child.
“So in the end, our two families have still come to this step.”
Su Changqing said with some emotion.
“If the Su family had not pressed so bitterly against us, why would our two families have had to meet blade against blade?”
Su Changqing offered no answer to Li Xingge’s words.
If their positions were reversed, if the Su family had fallen into disaster, then the Li family likewise would never have missed the chance to kick them while they were down.
Unfortunately, man proposed, heaven disposed. The Li family had produced a Li Xingge, and thus everything had ended in failure.
“I have long heard of Senior’s great name. Today, let this junior ask for your guidance.”
A blazing desire for battle ignited in Li Xingge’s eyes.
Ever since breaking through to the Qi-Blood Realm, every enemy he had faced had been nothing but a one-sided crushing.
Now, at last, he had the chance to fight a cultivator of the same realm, and he had looked forward to it for a long time.
He wanted to know where his limit truly lay.
“That is exactly what I wish as well. Let me see for myself the brilliance of the Li family’s qilin child!”
Su Changqing laughed boldly.
The moment those words fell, a chill flashed through his eyes, and it was as though he had become another man entirely.
Su Changqing’s aura erupted without reserve, pouring out like a storm of wind and rain. It was a suffocating pressure.
The strength of a veteran Qi-Blood Realm cultivator needed no questioning.
Naturally, Li Xingge was unwilling to fall behind. He immediately released his own aura in return.
The auras of the two men were like two surging torrents, crashing violently together in the air. Even the slightest shred of pressure leaking from the clash could easily tear a Physical Body Realm expert to pieces.
The forces on both sides hurriedly retreated, watching this duel of auras from afar.
This silent contest continued for a long while, until Li Xingge and Su Changqing both took a single step back at the same time. Only then did it come to an end.
The two exchanged a glance, and in each other’s eyes there was only wariness.
The silent contest had ended.
The true duel was about to begin.