**Chapter 44: Xu Clan**
1. What would some Path/Name combinations for Venerables be that you would find really cool? (with paths that had no Venerable yet) e.g., Poison / Refinement Path – Poison Refining Demon Venerable.
2. Do you like to read novels with systems in them?
3. Which is your favorite power system ever? Mine are RI, Hunter x Hunter, and Black Clover.
Discord: 5efZtawZKC
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*30 minutes after the inheritance started*
In a small tent, belonging to the Yu clan, sat a young girl, bound to a chair. She is a rank 1 initial stage Gu master of said clan.
*Sob*
*Sob*
The inside of the tent was dark, with the only source of light being a small candle that stood by the entrance. Nothing could enter from the outside or leave from the inside, be it sound or light.
*Tap*
*Tap*
*Tap*
Hearing something for the first time after being held captive in the tent for 15 minutes, the young woman looked up.
What greeted her was a well-groomed middle-aged man in a white robe. Upon seeing him, the young woman stopped crying, her eyes regaining some hope.
"Elder Xu, please save me, they…"
*Tsk*
The white-robed man clicked his tongue but did not bother to say anything else, as he knew that it would be wasting his time.
…
*One Hour Later*
In a different tent, more inviting, spacious, and overall nicer equipped, sat a dozen men and women with serious expressions, talking with each other in suppressed voices.
*Tap*
*Tap*
*Tap*
Their discussions died down as a certain man wearing a white robe entered the tent, all eyes landing on him.
The astute among them would undoubtedly notice a smell of blood emitting from him.
He did not let himself be pressured by the looks of the Gu masters, as he walked in front of the only man that wore a yellow robe and bowed down.
"I greet the clan leader!" he said in a calm but loud voice.
"You may rise, Elder Xu," said the young man with the yellow robe.
"So, did you figure out why so many of them returned so soon?" asked the old female elder that sat directly to the right of the young man with the yellow robe.
Following the interruption, the young man with the yellow robe shot a glance at the female elder, who, upon noticing her transgression, mouthed: "Apologies, clan leader." Upon which said clan leader focused back on Elder Xu.
He did not have to say anything for him to continue, as a simple raise of his eyebrow was sufficient for the Elder to get the message.
"Reporting to the clan leader: After they entered the inheritance, the immortal explained the rules of the competition…"
"…"
"… and lastly, he gave everyone the option to give up the inheritance!"
"What!"
"How dare they!"
"Ridiculous!"
The information, that their own clan members had given up, voluntarily at that, outraged the elders. A few of them evidently unable to restrain themselves, threw out insults.
"Silence!" said the clan leader, causing all the elders to restrain themselves and the room to return to silence.
"Hmmmm…"
"Tell me about the numbers, Elder Xu. How many of our clan members were eliminated this way? And how do we compare to the other clans?" asked the clan leader, in an almost hopeful tone of voice.
"Reporting to the clan leader: about half of our clan members that participated ended up dropping out."
"This number is almost the same for every clan, with the ones to give up being overwhelmingly rank 1 Gu masters."
"Well, at least that's some decent news…." said the clan leader, before thinking for a moment and continuing.
"It's nothing we can change anyways. Elder Pan, how are the preparations going?"
The young old woman called Pan, who sat at the clan leader's left side, stood up and began to talk.
"As you all know, in case this round of the inheritance ends up being the last. And especially in the case that we are not the final victors…."
Scenes like this could be found in exactly 17 tents on this unremarkable island, with the upper echelons of every clan scheming and discussing amongst and against each other.
…
My name is Xu Long Yi, I am 16 years old and come from the Xu clan on Xu Clan Island. The clan was not the strongest in the Archipelago, but we have a rank 4 clan leader, ensuring us a more or less comfortable life.
By all accounts, my life should have followed a predetermined path, after I awakened with my B-Grade Talent. Cultivate up until I became 18 or 19 years old, then marry a promising young man, one sure to become an elder or even the clan leader.
Then we would have had kids, who would undoubtedly have a bright future themselves.
Alas, fate had different plans…
*Slap*
The young girl slapped herself, seemingly without holding back.
"Hehehe… Who am I kidding… It's not fate, this situation is your responsibility, Long Yi…."
"So deal with it!" she shouted out into the forest at seemingly none, but with a lot of regret in her voice.
To understand her story, we will have to take a look into the past….
*3 hours ago*
"As I am not heartless, I will give you the option to give up right now. There will be no such chance at any point in the future, so choose wisely."
"Anyway, you have 5 minutes to raise your hand if you do not want to participate in this inheritance."
With those words from the Immortal, panic began to set into the masses, myself included.
I had just barely reached rank 1 upper stage before the inheritance started, and now I could see dozens of others with the same or even superior cultivation give up left and right.
My hands were shaking, looking as one after the other people raised their hands and were teleported away…
But deep in my heart, I knew, that I was Unwilling!
Unwilling to just give up!
Unwilling to let this opportunity go!
Unwilling to be ordinary!!!
Thinking about the life I could likely have outside of this, I shake my head and clench my hands, having decided that I would risk it all.
My decision was not an easy one, but was made slightly easier because I just had to do nothing to enforce my decision.
*Swoosh*
I blinked, and as I opened my eyes, I found myself surrounded by trees, deep in the forest of what that immortal called an Immortal Aperture.
*Growl*
*Growl*
*Growl*
My head shoots to the left, where the sound came from. What I saw shook me…
One adult wolf, rank 1, growling and looking at me like a piece of walking meat.
My nervous reactions, that still hadn't left from the immortal's ultimatum like my uneven breathing or trembling legs, became even worse.
"No Long Yi… You have made your bed… " she muttered under her breath.
"Now sleep in it!" she shouted in the heat of the moment.
This might not have been a smart move, as the shout could attract unwanted attention. It did push down her nervousness though, as well as seemingly confused the wolf, that now looked a bit unsure about the attack.
Seeing an opportunity in that, I raise my hands into the fighting stance that I had practiced for about a year in the academy.
*Swoosh*
With the Mantis Step Gu activated, Xu Long Yi darted straight at my enemy.
*Squelch*
*Roar*
My hand dug into the wolf's skull, ripping out its left eye and instantly crushing it.
*Swoosh*
"Ahhhh…." I scream as the wolf jumps at me and bites into my left shoulder.
'No, I need to focus…' I thought, as I quickly start punching the head of the wolf.
Again...
Again...
Again...
And Again…
Until I could remove its maw from my shoulder, as its head became a bloody mess, clearly dead.
…
And now here I am, leaning against a tree, tending to the bloody wound that half an hour ago was my shoulder.
My shoulder hurts, more than anything I have ever experienced, my hand as well, it might be broken...
"Tsk"
Had I been smarter, I would have just used a Gu to kill the wolf after it bit me… Not like it could dodge in that case.
"But like always…. No use…." I could not even finish the sentence, as I lost a lot of my strength. And if I go by my blurry vision, I would guess it has something to do with my blood loss.
"Hmmm… what??" I sat up a bit, focusing on one particular tree about 150 meters from me, as I saw movement there.
And after 5 seconds of astute observation, I slump my shoulders back down, resigned.
"Couldn't it have been a wolf or bear at least?"
"But no… A damn human…."
...….
*POV: Zhen Wei*
I opened my eyes, to find myself in a deep forest. What fascinated me was its age, with a few trees I could see in the far distance being seemingly hundreds, if not thousands of years old.
This led me to ponder what kind of nice things the inheritance would contain, with my thoughts swirling around lifespan Gu…
"Well, only if there are humans or variant humans here…."
I did not let myself be distracted for long, as time waits for no one.
'There is no way I will go and kill 100 rank 3 beasts for each inheritance tip…'
'So either I search and find them myself, or I find other participants… '
"Hehehe, let's go!" I say out loud, before I jump into the tree above me.
*Swoosh*
*Swoosh*
*Swoosh*
Through the leaves and branches, I jump from tree to tree, keeping an open eye for anything that could benefit me.
While doing this, I ignored all kinds of beasts, as most were rank 1 and 2, and would not benefit me in any way.
An hour, that was how long it took me to find something….
And it was not even an inheritance… just some girl at the door of death.
As I observed her from the treetop I was on, I had an idea.
"Hehehe, sometimes my genius is almost frightening…"
With that said, I jumped down and slowly walked in her direction. All the while, I had a friendly smile on my face to make a good first impression.
After the distance between us reached 100 meters, she noticed me. And let me tell you, she did not seem too pleased with that.
I did not care though, as I continued going in her direction, not increasing or decreasing my speed.
After another minute, I stood 5 meters from her, silently looking at her, contemplating if this was a trap.
'Let's think about this…'
'She is a rank 1 Gu master, and judging from her clothes she is from the Xu clan.'
'So far so good, at least not a clan that is our direct enemy…'
'Honestly, I am a rank 3 Gu master… It's just very unlikely that this is a trap I could not make out.'
"Hello there! You seem to need some help…" I said in the most social and friendly tone I could muster.