Chapter 1181: Ancestral Pond
Xiang Yangxuan was a cultivator of considerable strength. As a fifth-stage Heaven Battling Realm cultivator, he wouldn't have much trouble defeating Xiang Shaoyun. Thanks to his saint soul, Xiang Shaoyun was able to barely withstand the oppression, but he was still having a hard time.
Unlike earlier when he had just arrived at the clan, he no longer had access to the power left from his previous life. It was too hard for him to face Xiang Yangxuan with his actual strength.
"Answer! Am I right?" questioned Xiang Yangxuan with a look of pleased arrogance.
Xiang Shaoyun narrowed his eyes and spat coldly, "Nonsense!"
"Everyone, you see this. He is only a tiny Soul Foundation Realm cultivator. He was only able to defeat the first elder previously by relying on the ancestor's power that had momentarily attached to his body. Without that power, what is he? I say we strip him of his inheritance and give it to someone more talented," said Xiang Yangxuan, finally making his true goal known.
His words caused many eyes present to ripple with greed. This was quite a tempting suggestion. After all, Xiang Dingtian was someone in the Rebirth Realm. If one could obtain his memory inheritance, one might be able to reach the same realm as well.
"Done speaking?" asked Xiang Shaoyun calmly.
"What other excuse do you still have?" asked Xiang Yangxuan.
"Why do I need an excuse? Are you going to kill me and snatch my memories? Come give it a try. I won't mind killing someone as unfilial as you first," said Xiang Shaoyun coldly. He pushed the strength of his saint soul to the maximum and stirred his bloodline power. A resonance was formed with the blood essence in his blood-soaked robe, once again gaining the strength of the Rebirth Realm.
This blood-soaked robe contained Xiang Dingtian's blood essence and the emotions of the person he loved most. The period of 10,000 years with the two had transformed the robe into some sort of god-grade item. With the affinity between the robe and Xiang Shaoyun, it could unleash a strength of considerable level. Of course, it was nowhere near as powerful as earlier when Xiang Shaoyun had directly borrowed the strength of his previous life.
Xiang Yangxuan was given a fright. He could sense the terrifying aura coming from Xiang Shaoyun's body while his own energy withered away.
"Y-you're only acting so brave because you're borrowing the power of the ancestor's robe. If you're really that great, take the robe off and fight me fair and square!" said Xiang Yangxuan.
"Do you have shit for brains? If I was as old as you, I could stomp you to death without lifting a finger," said Xiang Shaoyun with derision. "You think I'm only relying on the inheritance to activate the robe? How did someone so stupid reach your level of cultivation? You're so stupid you should just kill yourself and get your sorry life over with."
Xiang Yangxuan felt so humiliated that he wished he could have a hole to hide in. But since he had already started this conflict, he couldn't let it end so easily.
"Elders of the clan, I have a way of proving if he is really our ancestor. If he manages to get through the test, I will not doubt him ever again," said Xiang Yangxuan instead of wasting more time arguing with Xiang Shaoyun.
"What idea do you have?" asked Xiang Youjing.
He also wanted to know for sure if Xiang Shaoyun was really Xiang Dingtian's reincarnation.
"Let him go for a wash in the ancestral pond. If he can leave safely, I will believe that he is the ancestor reincarnated," suggested Xiang Yangxuan with a cold smile.
"Ancestral pond's baptism?" Everyone present wore complicated looks when they heard his suggestion.
"Ancestral pond? That place still exists?" asked Xiang Shaoyun with astonishment.
The Xiang Clan's ancestral pond was a bizarre place the first patriarch had created. Only someone with an absolutely powerful Xiang Clan bloodline could undergo a baptism in the pond. Anyone who survives the baptism would obtain the ancestral lightning bones and possess the strongest battle physique a Xiang Clan member could possess. Someone with such a physique would also gain the potential to enter the Rebirth Realm.
Historically, very few people had been able to enter the pond. Only the absolute geniuses of the clan would be granted entry, and those who could survive were even fewer in number.
Rather than calling the pond a place of baptism, it would probably be more apt to call it a graveyard. In the last 10,000 years, not a single person had been able to survive the baptism. In fact, the most recent baptism survivor was Xiang Dingtian. From his previous life's memories, Xiang Shaoyun seemed to remember that the place had ceased to exist.
"The ancestral pond has naturally continued existing. I wonder...do you dare to accept the trial?" asked Xiang Yangxuan.
"Hehe, why not? It won't be my first time, anyway," said Xiang Shaoyun with a smile.
Although the ancestral pond was terrifyingly dangerous, he would obtain great benefits if he could survive the baptism.
The others were flabbergasted to see Xiang Shaoyun's complete lack of worry.
One of the old men asked, "You're really willing to enter the pond?"
"Of course. I naturally need to do something to convince people of my identity as the little ancestor," answered Xiang Shaoyun nonchalantly.
"Very well. Let's get going. If you can really survive, the clan will accord you the treatment an ancestor deserves," said Xiang Youjing.
"Good. Let's go. I don't have the time to talk nonsense here," said Xiang Shaoyun loftily as he threw Xiang Yangxuan a provocative glance.
Xiang Yangxuan inwardly sneered as he thought, Nine out of ten will die in the pond. Even with Xiang Dingtian's inheritance, you won't be able to survive.
Xiang Yangxuan had been hostile to Xiang Yangzhan since young. As Xiang Shaoyun was Xiang Yangzhan's son, he naturally didn't wish to see Xiang Shaoyun become their little ancestor. Life would become harder for him if he let it happen.
The group headed to the clan's forbidden zone.
The ancestral pond was located at a sealed place that could only be opened when eight Heaven Battling Realm experts worked together. The so-called pond was, in truth, a sealed lightning pond that could temper one's bones into true lightning bones and grant one the strongest physique.
Apart from that, the pond also contained the willpower of the first ancestor. If one failed to withstand the tempering of the lightning and willpower, one would die.
When the group lifted the seal, a tunnel appeared before them. A purple radiance flickered from within the tunnel, which was leaking an incredibly oppressive aura.
Beyond the tunnel was a purple sea of lightning. The sea contained the purest lightning energy that the first patriarch had confined to one place, transforming the area into a place to temper lightning bones.
"Enter. If you survive this, you will be able to leave by yourself. If you can't, you know what will happen," said Xiang Youjing with a complicated look in his eyes.
The others were also looking at Xiang Shaoyun with complicated expressions. They really wanted to see him leave alive, but a tiny part of them also wished that he wouldn't leave the pond alive. The two emotions were in contradiction with each other.