ACTING PATRIARCH

Luo Jianshan had long arrived at the training grounds when Luo Tian first arrived but he waited within the crowd to see what would happen.

He couldn't see exactly what was happening because of the thick crowd but he could tell that people were fighting so he waited and hoped someone would beat up Luo Tian.

When he heard the panic in the crowd he knew something was wrong so he immediately rushed to the scene.

" What is going on!" He shouted out as he revealed himself.

Disciples cleared a path for him as he walked with his head held high. Luo Jianshan truly didn't expect what he saw next.

In his wildest dreams he never expected something like this would happen.

"Well if it isn't Acting Patriarch Jianshan." He heard the one voice he truly wished he would never hear again.

It was Luo Tian, he had a smile on his face that couldn't be called a smile because it clearly had hidden intentions behind it.

Luo Jianshan was fuming at the sight in front of him. His younger brother Luo Xiaoshan was screaming in pain on the floor as his profound energy leaked out of his dantian and his right hand was broken and his nephew Luo Yue was in a worse condition as all the profound energy in his dantian was already depleted and his arm was severed.

"Who did this!" Luo Jianshan was struggling to keep his cool.

He was always a calm and calculation person but watching his brother slowly becoming a waste he struggled to maintain his regular demeanor.

Juewang and Xue'er who were watching from a few meters away walked to Luo Tian's side in case he would need their support since they knew how dangerous what he just did was.

Even if it was in his right to do it since they actually broke the rules by scornig him and threatening to kill him they were still the Acting Patriarchs relatives so who knows what might happen.

"Ah that would be me Acting Patriarch!" Luo Tian shouted to him so that he knew exactly who it was.

Luo Jianshan had an ugly look on his face as he saw who was responsible for it.

He didn't expect it to be Luo Tian, not even a cell in his body thought it would be him.

"Luo Tian? how could you have done this are you not wasted?" Though he clearly could feel the profound energy of a 6th rank Pupil in his body he wanted confirmation since it could just be an artifact of some sort.

Luo Tian was using a skill Juewang taught him on how to hide his true cultivation from anyone as long as they are not 2 realms above him meaning that currently he could hide his true cultivation from anyone even in the Profound Spirit realm.

Luo Tian smiled at him, though it looked innocent to everyone Luo Jianshan could tell what it meant. Luo Tian was screaming to him that he was back!.

"This young master met a great senior who restored my dantian so I could cultivate once again. As you can already tell Acting Patriarch I have profound energy." Luo Tian emphasised the Acting Patriarch status very much the whole time.

Though Jianshan was irritated by it but he didn't have time for that.

He was questioning how Luo Tian became so powerful so quickly, even if his dantian was restored somehow it should take him years to reach such a cultivation.

Luo Jianshan clenched his fists which were hidden in his robes. " Why did you cripple a Great Elder of our Clan and a promising genius?"

Even though Luo Jianshan was enraged he wouldn't act blindly.

He was the Acting Patriarch meaning his position could be lost at anytime if he acted wrongly and acting against the current young master of the clan without justifiable reason was one of the things that could get his position lost.

"Ah about that, Acting Patriarch I was delivering punishment to people who sullied the name of the Young master of the clan, publicly threatened to beat and kill me and publicly condemned me for taking my rightful place as the Young master saying I wasn't qualified. The fact that I was condemned as the Young master is already a serious offence worthy of being crippled since it counts as an act of treason. Before my father passed he swore in front of all the great elders and ancestors that I was the Young master and that no one was able to abolish my status thus it means they publicly went against something sworn to our ancestors. Furthermore they threatened to kill me publicly in front of all the disciples and lastly they both publicly humiliated me. All of the above give me more than enough reason to end their lives if I so wished however I was merciful and allowed them to live the rest their lives just as I had been as a cripple. I'm sure if you asked the disciples present for details they would truthfully answer since lying and framing the Young master of the clan is an equally serious offence which warrants crippling and maybe even death." Luo Tian slowly explained so that Jianshan and the crowd could sink in every detail of his reasoning.

Everyone in the crowd visibly shuddered hearing that Luo Tian put them on the spot. They could only hope Jianshan didn't ask them about what happened otherwise they would be greatly conflicted as to which side to support.

Luo Jianshan grit his teeth so hard that crunching sounds could be heard.

Luo Tian's reasoning was too solid for him to find any loophole to try take revenge with at this moment.

He knew that since Luo Tian stated the risk involved with lying about what happened here none of the disciples would dare to lie about it.

Considering what he said Luo Tian had the right to cripple every single one of the disciples that were present but he didn't so Luo Jianshan knew that Luo Tian was directly targeting him.

He waited until he was offended greatly then used the rules of the clan so that Jianshan couldn't possibly touch him.

"I understand. You are indeed right they violated the clan rules and went against the ancestors wishes. I thank you for sparring their lives." Luo Jianshan could only wait for the hunting contest to kill Luo Tian so he sucked it up.

He didn't believe that Luo Tian was already had the power to kill someone at Profound Master realm since he was only at the 6th Profound pupil level.

It would not be possible to accomplish that in such a short time so he guessed he must have used some kind of one hit artifact that ceippled Xiaoshan.

He intended to have his son deal with Luo Tian during the contest since he needed to get rid of him as fast as possible and this was the quickest.

Moreover he needed to get rid of Luo Tian if he wanted to become Patriarch. The position of Acting Patriarch was always a thorn in his heart.

"I hope that during this hunting contest, you're as powerful as your mouth, my future Luo family Patriarch." Luo Jianshan said as he picked up the bodies of the two cripples and left the training grounds.

--Meanwhile in 3 corners of the city--

South side of the city, the Zhu family.

"WHAT?! HE CRIPPLED LUO YUE?!"

"Old Three, how could he actually become so strong again?!."

"The once arrogant genius had now become a crazy person, this was all the internal conflicts of the Luo family. The current Luo family is similar to the current Luo Tian it won't be long before they too will disappear from the Jade Mountain City…"

"Patriarch, do we need to prepare anything for this?"

"No need, there's no need for us to interfere with this situation. Old Three, try have Zhu Mei grasp onto Luo Lin. I need to use this connection to control the whole Luo family in the future. Once we gain all the territories of the Luo family, the Jade Mountain City will become our Zhu family's. Hahaha…"

"Interesting, very interesting. Old Four, secretly keep an eye out on those two Zhou and Song families. If there are any signs of trouble or movement, immediately let me know."

--In another area.

Western side of the city, the Zhou family.--

"Death is truly imminent for Luo Tian. He actually dares to participate in the hunting contest and cripple a great elder and his son, isn't that equivalent to digging his own grave? He must have used some kind of artifact."

"Once Luo Tian dies, Luo Jianshan will certainly use this chance to officially become the Patriarch. But will the other Elders of the Luo family also use this chance to rise up?"

"The Luo family has been very peaceful these few years because of Luo Tian's existence. We can say he has a very unique existence. But after this incident, Luo Jianshan will definitely get rid of him. Once Luo Tian dies, this will break the balance of the Luo family and internal conflicts will bound to rise."

"Patriarch, what if Luo Tian doesn't die?"

"Doesn't die?"

"Patriarch, I think Luo Tian has to die because this will create a chance for our Zhou family…"

Zhou Tai narrowed his eyes and mumbled, "That kid Luo Tian has to die, it looks like this time I'll have to stir up the muddy waters of the Luo family."

On the surface of the Jade Mountain City, the four major families look like they live in harmony and don't mess with each other. But they have been secretly fighting for decades and no one has come out on top.

Each of the four major families had always wanted dominance to occupy the Jade Mountain City.

The power of the Luo family has gradually lessened these several years, giving the other three major families a glimmer of hope.

As long as they can grab the Luo family's territories and bring it into their fold, then dominating Jade Mountain City will be a matter of time!

--North side of the city, the Song family.--

Song Yannan was frowning as he was lost in thought.

He raised his head and asked again "You really personally saw Luo Tian breakthrough Xiaoshan's technique and cripple him in a single move?"

"This disciple personally saw it. He even used the rules of his clan to defend himself so that the Acting Patriarch could not take action against him for crippling his brother and his nephew. Luo Tian also said that he met a strong mysterious elder who healed his dantian that's why he could cultivate." A youth wearing the clothing of the Luo family disciples answered in a serious manner.

On the surface he was a disciple of the Luo family while he was actually a member of the Song family.

Each of the families would have these types of spies in each other's rank.

Song Yannan's eyebrows wrinkled up before he asked "How many levels do you think Luo Tian's strength has been increased by?"

The youth was thinking for a while before saying "This disciple doesn't know, Luo Tian released an overbearing pressure when he first fought Luo Yue which made it immpossible for any of us to move even a finger even though he was focusing it on Luo Yue which made him piss his pants and kneel to Luo Tian, even now when I think about it I shiver and the lightning and ice skills he displayed are so powerful I've never seen them before."

"His aura was extremely overbearing that it can make you kneel if he focuses on you and ice and lightning skills that are very powerful?" Song Yannan's eyebrows wrinkled a bit more before he waved his hand,

"You can go back for now. Housekeeper Liu, go to the accounts room and give him 100 silvers as a reward for his efforts."

The youth's was extremely happy and immediately cupped his fists, "Thank you Patriarch."

After the youth left, Song Yannan's expression became normal again and lightly asked "What do you all think?"

There were five other people in the main hall they were the Song family's five Elders.

"Big brother, I wonder how powerful that senior he met was to be able to heal a dantian. Luo Tian must have been lucky but I wonder how he could increase his strength so much so fast?"

"I have secretly monitored him and noticed the kid would endure all insults, ridicules, and beatings. However for the past days he has been acting strange, he would disappear and would not return for many hours, every time he came back he would look much more handsome and his aura became more refined but it was still very 0weak."

"Patriarch, no matter what, Luo Jianshan will definitely not allow him to continue living since he crippledhis family members. Once Luo Tian dies, the balance in the Luo family will be broken. Luo Jianshan wants to smoothly become the Patriarch but most likely some other Elders will have different opinions and infighting might even happen. This can be considered an opportunity for the other major families, so Luo Tian's death could break up the balance between Jade Mountain City's four major families."

"Those two Zhu and Zhou families have been looking forward to such a day. Big brother, we also have to make our own preparations."

Song Yannan wasn't really paying attention to the continued discussions in the main hall his mind was focused on wondering what kind of power did Luo Tian gain in such a short time.

A 3 year old child would know the consequences of cursing out an Elder, so how could Luo Tian not know? Was he not afraid of death?

Song Yannan felt that current Luo Tian was no longer like he was in the past, something was definitely up.

Immediately…

The eyes of Song Yannan changed as he then made the most difficult yet quickest decision of his life. "Old Five, secretly enter the Luo family's hunting grounds and protect Luo Tian in the shadows. When necessary, you can reveal your identity to him."

Afterwards, Song Yannan took out a porcelain vial and said "There are 10 Spirit Tranquility pills here that you can use as a precaution."

"Patriarch, you…?"

"Why are you protecting that kid Luo Tian's life? Once he dies, the Luo family goes into chaos and that's beneficial for our Song family. As for those two Zhou and Zhu families, their current strength is not our opponent so why should we be afraid of them?"

Everyone present couldn't understand Song Yannan's move.

Song Yannan lightly smiled, "You all believe Luo Tian will die, but what if he doesn't die? He endured what regular people couldn't, he endured suffering that regular people couldn't. The current Luo Tian is no longer the previous one. Just keep watching, this kid will give you all a big shock."

Just as they were about to end their meeting. "I'm honoured Patriarch Song Yannan believes in me so much."