Chapter 381: Conspiracy
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
In the Meng Clan’s seating area above the fighting ring, one by one, the members of the Meng Clan looked with gloomy expressions at Qin Xiaoyou. A genius maiden had actually appeared from the Huo Clan. For them it was indeed beyond what they had expected. They had initially thought that the Huo Clan was gradually declining, but now it seemed that was not the case.
The person at the helm of the Meng Clan, Meng Hongbo, asked sullenly, “It seems that the girl is called Qin Xiaoyou. How is she related to the Huo Clan?” Yesterday, in the Huo Clan house, he had lost his image, so he naturally bore no good feelings for the Huo Clan. He directly considered the Huo Clan as a rival clan. Now that the Huo Clan was becoming more and more prosperous, it naturally did not sit well with him.
“We don’t know. We have never heard of this girl before. She seems to have suddenly appeared in the Huo Clan.” A Meng Clan elder shook his head. His eyes had an incredulous look. It stood to reason that the Five Aristocratic Families were familiar with each other. Each had a good approximate measure of the other. However, the Huo Clan’s performance this time had surprised them. Not only did Huo Changxing, who had returned from overseas, have Cultivation at the pinnacle of the Qi Nucleation realm, but an unknown girl had popped out of nowhere. Both were so extraordinary.
“If Meng Guo had not died, with his Cultivation, he would certainly not be any worse than this girl. D*mn it.” Another middle-aged man clenched his fist. His face was contorted, and his eyes were full of hate. He was Meng Guo’s birth father. He had always been proud of Meng Guo’s talent, but he never imagined that such an incident would occur. One could imagine the blow to him.
He could not wait to tear Mo Wen to shreds. However, with the protection of the Huo Clan and the Wang Clan, he could not do anything.
“Don’t worry. We will get our revenge sooner or later, and not just on the brat Mo Wen. The Wang Clan and the Huo Clan will face the consequences,” Meng Hongbo said with a cold expression. His eyes were filled with a sinister look.
The other members of the Meng Clan looked at each other. The clan leader had said it so decisively. Could it be that there was a plan? If it truly happened, it would be a huge incident that would shake up the Capital’s ancient martial arts world.
In the Qin Clan’s spectator seats, the looks on the Qin Clan’s members’ faces were even more entertaining than those of the Meng Clan’s. Qin Xiaoyou was a member of the Qin Clan, but she was fighting for the Huo Clan, making her the enemy of the Qin Clan. One could imagine how they all felt.
“That b*tch. This is practically a rebellion. Could it be that she doesn’t know who her ancestors are?” A Qin Clan elder slammed his fist onto the table. His anger was not small. Not long before, Qin Xiaoyou had just beaten a Qin Clan genius in the challenge ring. For the Qin Clan, that was naturally humiliating.
A girl abandoned by the clan had actually come back to humiliate them.
“Don’t make yourself sound so righteous. Back then, you did all those things behind the backs of the Eldest Great Grandfather and the rest of the clansmen. Otherwise, how would this have happened? Maybe back then, if our Qin Clan had treated that mother and daughter better, the end result would have been completely different,” another member of the Qin Clan said, coldly mocking him. Clearly he was at odds with the person who had spoken before. Within aristocratic families, there were always internal disputes. It was a normal thing.
“Since it has come to this, you don’t need to make sarcastic comments. That b*tch is nothing good in my opinion. With her current talent, if she is allowed to continue to grow, it will be hard to guarantee that she won’t be against the Qin Clan and do things to retaliate against us. As I see it, we should find an opportunity to eliminate this girl. That is the best solution.” The person who had spoken just now did not argue with the other Qin Clan member because he knew that after doing such a thing, they were indeed at fault. They had assassinated Qin Xiaoyou’s father, Qin Yi, and took away all of their family assets. With such great hatred, it was meaningless as to whether they were kind to the mother and daughter.
“What you say makes some sense. This girl indeed should be killed. Otherwise, she will be a threat to the Qin Clan in the future. She is already not considered a member of the Qin Clan. You don’t need to worry about feelings.” The other person also nodded in rare agreement with the previous person’s point of view. After all, the talent that Qin Xiaoyou displayed made them jealous. To feed a tiger at one’s detriment was a huge taboo. Whether an aristocratic family could continue for hundreds of years was not just dependent on whether they had profound strength.
“You all don’t need to worry. Those that go against the Qin Clan won’t live long.” The Qin Eldest Great Grandfather gave the few clansmen a glance and nodded slightly with a content look. Ruthlessness and decisiveness were qualities that a manager of the clan needed to have. If they were indecisive and hesitated over love, they would certainly be unqualified to be leaders.
“Elder, you mean to say…” A few Qin Clan members with authority felt surprised upon hearing this. They all looked at their clan elder. His words just now were not simple. Reading between the lines, they could guess the meaning behind his words.
The Qin Eldest Great Grandfather said coldly, “You all just watch. Anyone who goes against the Qin Clan will not be hopping around for long. As for the girl… Hmm, it is indeed a pity. However, since it has come to this, then we do not need to hold onto any feelings. Anyone who is a threat to the clan, regardless of who it is, has only one outcome. Kill without mercy!” A chilling aura emanated from his body, causing the surrounding air temperature to suddenly plummet. The few people who sat beside him could not help but shiver. The chill that was born from deep within the heart made everyone uncontrollably develop a sense of fear.
No one knew when it had begun, but the Eldest Great Grandfather’s Yin Qi seemed to be getting thicker and thicker, as if it were freezing. Many a time, the clansmen did not dare to approach their own Eldest Great Grandfather. Compared to the kindness he had before, the difference was like day and night.
A short, sneaky-looking, middle-aged clansman said, “Eldest Great Grandfather, the girl is easy to deal with. She only has Cultivation in the Sea of Qi realm. She has yet to completely develop, and certainly won’t be able to compare to Qiao’er, who is in the Qi Nucleation realm. Later on in the fighting ring, maybe we will have the chance to eliminate her.”
“Oh! What do you mean?” The Qin Eldest Great Grandfather looked at that person. His eyes twinkled, seemingly having thought of something.
“That’s right, Qin Qiao has Cultivation in the Qi Nucleation realm. No matter how high the Cultivation the girl has in the Sea of Qi realm, it is impossible for her to be Qin Qiao’s opponent. If we can arrange for the girl to encounter Qin Qiao in battle, then the result…” The short middle-aged man laughed sinisterly. The Qin Clan had Qin Qiao. He was a figure who could contend for the top of the Ten Finest Talents. Would he be scared of a girl? The two of them were a realm apart in Cultivation. The difference in their ability could not be overcome.
Another member of the Qin Clan couldn’t help but ask, “You mean to say that we should act during the Martial Arts Symposium and order Qin Qiao to kill that girl?”
“That’s right. We should eliminate this hidden danger as soon as possible, lest we have sleepless nights over this,” the short, middle-aged man said plainly.
“Murdering someone in the challenge ring, is that okay? Previous Martial Arts Symposiums forbid killing. If we do so, it will stir up a controversy,” a 50-year-old elder said out of concern. Doing so would be publically breaking the Martial Arts Symposium’s rules.
The short middle-aged man said as he laughed coldly, “What are you afraid of? It will just be an accident. In the fighting ring, accidents are very common. What’s more, it is not like it has not happened before. Even if we kill the girl, so what? With our Qin Clan’s current power, even if they know that the Qin Clan intentionally did so, who would dare accuse us? Don’t forget that our Qin Clan now is no worse than the Bi Clan. Even if the Bi Clan wanted to target us, they would have to think carefully.”
The clan’s Eldest Great Grandfather had successfully broken through to the Embryonic Breathing realm. Now among the Qin Clan, who wasn’t filled to the brim with confidence? Who was afraid of anyone? After all, the current Qin Clan was no longer like it had been in the past. Before, they might not have dared to do things, but it did not mean they did not dare now.
“I like people with courage and insight. I’ll give you an order. During this Capital Martial Arts Symposium, do whatever you want to do daringly. Because soon, the entire Capital’s ancient martial arts world will be our Qin Clan’s world.” The Qin Clan Eldest Great Grandfather nodded at the short, middle-aged man. He seemed to be very pleased with him. Being overly-cautious was not the Qin Clan’s style. Before, they had feared no one. Now, it was even more so.
Upon hearing this, the surrounding Qin Clan members of authority immediately understood. At the same time, they secretly felt a sense of joy. They knew that their guess before was correct. Next, there would most likely be a huge incident. Although the Eldest Great Grandfather did not tell them, they had some intuition. After all, being born in the Qin Clan, they would know some things more or less.
“During the next Ten Finest Talents competition match, if that girl gets ambitious and aims to take the top three, she will surely encounter Qin Qiao. When that happens…” The short, middle-aged man laughed maniacally. Even if during the first few battles Qin Qiao did not encounter the girl, he would certainly encounter her in the semi-finals. He believed that with that girl’s ability, she would definitely not give up taking the top three.
…
After the morning, the batch of Ten Finest Talents had already been chosen. The ten most outstanding youths in the Capital’s ancient martial arts world were as eye-catching as before. After a meal, everyone was talking about them, and all conversations revolved around the ten young talents.
Among the ten talents, the Five Aristocratic Families alone had already claimed six titles. Among them were the Bi Clan and Qi Clan with two each, the Wang Clan with one, and the Huo Clan with one. Only the Meng Clan, because of the Meng Guo’s death, had no representative among the ten talents. For one of the Five Aristocratic Families to actually not have one of their younger generation appear in the ten talents was a rare occurrence in the many years the Martial Arts Symposium was held.
The other four titles were taken up by the disciples of the other aristocratic families below the Five Aristocratic Families. The younger generation of the small ancient martial arts aristocratic families had almost all been eliminated. From here, it could be seen that an ancient martial arts practitioner’s talent was very important, but resources for practice were equally important. Small aristocratic families lacked resources. Even if a talented clansmen appeared, it would be hard for the clan to develop them.
Among this batch of ten talents, the one most discussed was naturally Qin Xiaoyou. She was this year’s largest dark horse, defying everyone’s expectations. Who would have thought that an unknown maiden could actually win a spot as one of the ten talents.
Therefore, this did not just result in derailing the clans who intended to strive for the ten talents. At the same time, it caused many people who were betting on the proceedings to suffer horrible losses. The bets that resulted in bankruptcy because of the unexpected outcomes could not be counted on one hand.
After the morning’s Ten Finest Talents Competition ended, the afternoon consisted of a battle for the rankings among the ten talents. This battle wouldn’t go unnoticed, because the Capital’s ancient martial arts world’s ten most outstanding geniuses would be competing to see who was the most capable and talented among them.