Begins

"Father, are we going to hunt one or two bulls today?!" a young man, around 17 or 18 years old, asked his father.

"Son, we have enough for two months. We can eat these bulls and sell them, and we will still have enough for around two months. We are only hunting to keep ourselves active and our resources full. Even hunting one bull would suffice. We can return in 2 to 3 days to hunt another one."

The man who replied was around 40 years old. He was leaving the village with his son to hunt moonbulls. The young man was a rank 1 peak stage cultivator, while the middle-aged man was merely a mortal.

"This boy lacked the resources needed to cultivate and had to support his family with his father, so he couldn't cultivate properly and failed to break through to rank 2 even after many years."

"Father, when do you think Mother will be able to walk properly?"

"I don't know, son. We tried every medication we could afford, but she didn't improve. We can only hope that your younger sister has enough talent to easily reach rank 3. That way, we might be able to heal her with cultivation methods."

"But there's still a year left before she turns fourteen and can awaken her aperture. We also don't know if she'll have enough talent when she does." said the son with a sad face.

This was a family of four. The young man's mother was gravely ill, struggling to stand, let alone walk. His sister, just thirteen this year, was still a year away from being able to awaken her aperture. As the sole earners for their family, the father and son took on the responsibility of supporting the household and managing the young man's mother's medication as well.

"Only if I were a rank 3 cultivator, our family's condition would have been a lot better." said the young man with anger.

"Son, do not be impatient. Be thankful that we are at least able to earn and eat plenty every day. Look at the people who can't even earn and have to beg. Look at the ones who are forced to earn by selling their body, did you ever think about what they go through? Have you ever thought about what would happen to your young sister and your mother if we weren't there for them? So be thankful that you can walk and earn for yourself and your family. Consider this a blessing."

The middle-aged man smiled and tried to teach his son a lesson.

The world was ruthless. When a living being goes out to hunt, it spares no one, be it an animal, or a human. People always looked only down or above them. They never tried to consider how better they were living than many others.

"Let me tell you something. There once lived a man with great prestige. He had the power to do whatever he wanted but chose to be patient as he knew what it was like to feel pain. His family was killed, and his son died in front of his own eyes. Even his newborn baby was not spared. In the end, he was killed by a large army. He stood alone, losing everyone, injured to the point that not even a little bit of his flesh was free of wounds. Do you think our problems are greater than his? Are we enduring more than him? What would you do if this all happened to you?! Be happy that the pain you are having is nothing in front of him." said the man.

Both son and father were looking at each other while having this discussion.

While the middle-aged man was saying this, his head separated from his torso, blood splattered, and his head fell to the side. It slid on the ground for a while before coming to a stop.

The young man's eyes widened; everything turned black and white for a few seconds. Before he could react, the world started to spin around him. Then, it suddenly came to a stop. In front of him appeared his father's tilted head.

The two headless bodies that were standing fell to the ground

…..

Tai Qi was sitting with Zihao De, discussing about the future.

"Brother, how's the tea?"

"It's nice, if I could, I would always drink tea made by your hands." Tai Qi praised Zihao De.

"Anyway, did you get any information from our informants in the Ma clan?" Inquired Tai Qi.

"No, not yet. For some reason, the Ma clan had been quiet as if they accepted their defeat. I also told our envoy to wait for now until we get a warning or something. Anyway, it would be better if the Ma clan just accepted their defeat and left their mountain, this way, our surrounding mountains would be our territory."

It had already been a week since the competition ended, and there wasn't any response from the Ma clan; they didn't even try to send someone for negotiations or anything.

"So, what do yo…"

"Clan leader, clan leader, there's a bad news!!!!!"

While Tai Qi was speaking, someone entered the tent without any permission.

It was worth noting that these tents were not like normal tents, but modified ones. They could be set anywhere without much effort and were very durable, even more durable than normal brick rooms. Thus, they were very common in the cultivation world, but this doesn't mean that they were Ires.

"What happened? Have you forgotten your manners?!" Tai Qi was not at all happy with this. How can someone enter his tent without his permission?

"Please forgive me, clan leader. But, there's an urgent matter requiring your attention. Our clan village was attacked just two hours ago!" It was a servant with rank 3 cultivation.

"What?! What do you mean by that?!! And why are we getting informed only now?!!" Zihao De stood up hurriedly and asked angrily.

Even though there weren't any cultivation methods around these areas to communicate. There still existed Dark Falcons known for their speed. People around these areas trained them to send messages. These falcons could travel 500 miles in an hour. So, it was a matter of a few minutes or even less for a Dark Falcon to reach this place. But it had already been two hours. Of course, Zihao De was going to get angry.

"No master, about that, we suspect that these Dark Falcons might have been intercepted by the cultivators. Even the one that managed to reach us was injured!"

"Who is the one attacking us? Is it Ma clan?" Tai Qi stood up and asked with a serious expression.

He was also in a hurry after hearing this report, but he maintained his composure and wanted to know whatever he could before taking action.

"Yes, clan leader!" replied the servant.

"Zihao De, didn't you say that they were staying quiet? How come this attack happens all of a sudden?!"

"Brother, even I don't know. It might be that they managed to discover our spies in their clan." Zihao De was also confused.

"Very well, then all of us are going back to the clan. Call everyone who is near the inheritance back to the clan as well." Tai Qi ordered the servant.

"Yes, clan leader, I would do so immediately!" after saying this, the servant left.

Zihao De almost understood why Tai Qi ordered the retreat of the elders near the inheritance, but he still had his doubts and asked,

"Brother, do we really need all of the elders and disciples to go back? Leaving this area is fine as there is nothing beneficial here, but still, we do need a fort here to fight from. Also, won't leaving the inheritance place put us at a disadvantage."

"Zihao De, we are attacked by the Ma clan. We don't know anything yet. Even though we were prepared, we never thought that they would really attack us. We don't know what they would do next, putting us at a disadvantage."

"What if I leave for the Clan with a few elders and you get attacked? If you get surrounded, you might as well consider yourself dead. But if I don't leave for the clan and stay here, there's a chance that they will only attack the clan. What then? What would happen if they were collaborating with other clans? Can you imagine it?! Forget about that, even if Ma Wan Liu attacks you guys while I am traveling to the Bai village, you will be at a huge disadvantage. Even if you could hold him off for a little while, are any of you his match? No, right?"

"Right now, we are at a disadvantage. We don't know anything, so it's better to defend the fort we have with all our strength and hold on. Get Yu Ane and Yu Ene ready. Tell them to go with the envoy to the other clans. If needed, tell these clans about the inheritance as well. Besides me, only Yu Ane and Yu Ene have the ability to rival Ma Wan Liu. Even if Wan Liu attacks the envoy, both Yu Ane and Yu Ene can at least get the envoy to the other clans safely. And if the envoy dies, I am sure both of them can handle the recruitment process if the situation calls for it."

"Get a few Dark Falcons ready and send them to the clan to inform them about our strategy. Also, the inheritance hasn't opened yet, so we don't need to worry about it for now. Even though we will be at a disadvantage leaving the inheritance place, we won't incur any losses at least. And, where's elder Shu Ti?"

Asked Tai Qi. He was truly a man worthy of being called a leader. He managed to see through the situation and came up with the most optimal strategy. Even though Zihao De was the strategist of the Bai clan, he needed time to carefully arrange plans and consider every aspect. But a leader needed to make decisions at a moment's notice.

"I am here, clan leader." Shu Ti also arrived by the time Tai Qi finished speaking.

"Elder Shu, I am going with two other elders to the Bai clan. You should wait here with Elder Ziaho De for the others to arrive here from the inheritance place. After that, return to the clan with all the elders, disciples, and servants."

"Yes, clan leader."

After this, Tai Qi left with two other elders for the Bai clan.

/!*****!*****!/