"Oh, if it is not Tianheng. I heard you lost to a student from some backwater academy."
Zane Drake had just entered the gates of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan when an ill-timed voice suddenly rang out. It belonged to his older cousin, Darius Drake.
"Darius Drake, that is not some backwater academy. Uncle Ethan teaches there. I lost to Uncle Ethan's student!" Zane snapped back fiercely.
"Uncle Ethan?" Darius blinked. Within the clan, only those who had inherited the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, the clan leader, the elders, and their descendants had the Drake surname. He knew all of them, and none of them taught outside the clan.
Then Darius suddenly remembered someone.
"You cannot mean that waste Ethan Drake, can you?"
As the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's designated successor, Zane had been forced to cultivate when he was young. Back then, only his uncle Ethan had treated him well. Because of that, even though Ethan had become what he was now, Zane did not despise him the way the rest of the clan did.
But apart from Zane, everyone else in the clan looked down on Ethan. In the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, where strength ruled everything, weakness was an original sin. Worse still, Ethan was the son of the current clan leader, yet he was that weak. His Martial Soul had even mutated into a dog. In a family that possessed the so-called number one beast Martial Soul under heaven, that was a disgrace. Even in any other famous family, it would still be shameful.
When Zane heard Darius call Ethan a waste, he defended the image of the kind uncle in his mind and shouted, "Darius, enough! Outside the clan, he is a famous Master. He is the number one authority on Martial Soul theory today, and he taught a genius who defeated me at twelve years old. He is not a waste!"
Darius still showed no respect to this younger cousin who had already been chosen as the clan's future leader. After all, the future was the future. Once Zane actually became clan leader, Darius would give him the attitude that position deserved. But right now, Zane was still his younger cousin. Since when did an older cousin have to fear a younger one?
"Heh. But I heard some rumors. A few days ago, that waste seems to have offended Spirit Hall's current Saint Son. Forget everything else. Even in Thunder Academy, where I study, there are students who want to speak up for that Saint Son. The things that fellow invented have had too much influence."
At this point, Darius's expression turned serious.
Ever since Wu Ling's Soulcraft devices had gone through several rounds of upgrades over the past few years, ordinary items that did not require Spirit Power and inexpensive small-scale Soulcraft devices had become wildly popular among common people. In Thunder Academy, even many talented commoner students carried one or two Soulcraft devices. As for students with both talent and family backgrounds, there was even less need to explain.
To be honest, Darius had secretly bought some himself. He had to admit, they really were convenient.
In short, Ethan Drake's actions might not have provoked the anger of the people, but they were close. Many of Wu Ling's supporters had even declared that if they met Ethan, they would beat him up.
Thinking of that, Darius suddenly remembered that the incident had happened at Zane's academy.
"Right. If I remember correctly, this happened at Polaris Royal Academy, did it not? You are at Polaris Royal Academy. Do you know anything about what happened behind the scenes?"
Hearing Darius's question, Zane's expression did not change. In truth, he was already thinking about what to say.
During that period, he had just lost to Tang San and had been fighting in the Great Spirit Arena to sharpen himself. By the time he heard that something had happened at the academy and prepared to return, he received a letter telling him to go back to the clan first.
Even though he did not know the truth of the matter, he still insisted on defending his uncle.
"Hmph. It must have been that person who provoked my uncle first. My uncle is a scholar. How could he provoke someone else?"
After saying that, Zane no longer intended to keep arguing with Darius. He raised his foot and walked toward the clan hall. He wanted to ask why the clan leader had called them back. If there was nothing important, he planned to leave and visit his uncle.
Darius followed him. Zane was the designated future clan leader, so of course he had the right to meet the current clan leader. As Zane's older cousin and one of the clan's top young talents, Darius also had the right to meet him.
As he followed, Darius continued, "Tianheng, do you think we were called back because of this? Maybe the clan leader is afraid Spirit Hall will use the matter as an excuse to retaliate against us, especially against talented clan members outside, so he had us return."
Zane's steps paused.
He had not thought that way before, but after hearing Darius say it, a bad feeling suddenly rose in him. His brows tightened, and he quickened his pace. Seeing Zane react like that, Darius's expression changed as well. The smile on his face disappeared, and he followed Zane toward the clan hall in silence.
"What? The clan leader is still in seclusion? Then who sent the letter? The letter clearly had the clan leader's seal on it!"
When Zane heard the servant's words, his expression changed sharply. Even Darius, who stood beside him, looked startled.
"No. I am going to ask the clan leader myself."
Then Zane pushed past the servant and tried to force his way toward the clan leader. But before he could move any farther, a pale golden barrier spread at visible speed and covered the entire Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
Zane and Darius's faces turned extremely ugly.
"Damn it!"
They immediately rushed toward the barrier as fast as they could. When they arrived, many people were already attacking it. The two of them joined in, but their strikes landed on the barrier without even causing a ripple.
On a hill outside the barrier, Stephen Drake, the current second-in-command of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and Scarlet Pyre's father, stood with several trusted followers. He looked at the clan members trapped inside the barrier, then turned away without the slightest hesitation.
"I am sorry, brother. For Scarlet, and for myself, this is all I can do. In the end, blame that worthless son of yours for offending someone he never should have touched."
"Spirit Hall! What is the meaning of this?"
A bright, resonant voice suddenly rang out alongside a dragon's roar. It burst from the clan leader's residence. The man who emerged was Torin Drake, the current leader of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and a level-ninety-six Titled Sage.
The next moment, Golden Crocodile Sage appeared not far in front of him. Sensing the vast Spirit Power radiating from Golden Crocodile Sage, Torin's expression became solemn.
"Junior, I mean nothing in particular. I simply hope you will wait here for a while."
At that exact moment, Wu Ling was sitting in the guest room of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, chatting and laughing with Alistair Jewel.