284: Chapter 284 The Imagination of the Entire Clan

At the break of dawn, in the Xu Family of the Central Province Ancient Imperial Clan.

Ninety-nine floating divine mountains were bathed in pale golden morning mist, as cranes cried out and thousands of auspicious colors shimmered.

On the main square, thousands of young disciples from the Xu Family were facing the rising sun, performing breath-control and Qi Refining. As their blood and energy surged, they converged into a vast pillar of essence that shot straight into the clouds.

Atop the high platform, Xu Changsheng, the Xu Family Clan Chief, stood with his hands behind his back, wearing a dragon-patterned purple-gold robe. His Great Emperor-level pressure was entirely restrained, yet he still exuded an awe-inspiring presence as deep as an abyss. The Grand Elder and other core high-ranking members of the Family stood on either side, their gazes occasionally drifting toward the distant horizon.

Counting the days, it had been several months since the Young Lord headed to the Central Province Ancient Battlefield to wipe out the remnants of the Soul Hall.

Buzz.

High above the Nine Heavens, the clouds were split down the middle as if by an invisible giant sword.

Accompanied by a dull, oppressive boom of breaking air, a ten-thousand-foot-long purple-gold flying boat, its entire body engraved with complex defensive formation patterns, tore through the Void Realm's turbulence and slowly descended over the Xu Family's main square.

At the bow of the flying boat, the battle flag embroidered with the character "Xu" fluttered and snapped in the wind.

"It's the Young Lord's imperial carriage!"

"The Young Lord has returned in triumph from the Ancient Battlefield!"

The thousands of disciples on the square immediately stopped their breathing exercises and looked up in unison, their eyes bursting with unwavering, fanatical faith.

A smile of fatherly relief appeared on Xu Changsheng's stern face. He led the Elders down the high platform to personally welcome him.

The cabin door opened.

Xu Chen, dressed in a black gold-threaded python robe, stepped out of the cabin, his posture as upright as a pine tree. The breeze ruffled his hair as his deep black eyes looked down, fully revealing the peerless elegance of the Young Master of the Imperial Clan.

Half a step behind him followed three graceful figures with distinctly different temperaments.

Hua Jieyu, in a purple dress, exuded a charm that was a mix of innocence and desire. She skillfully held a purple clay teacup, quietly performing her duties as a maid.

Beside her, Shang Qingdai wore a form-fitting black slit dress. Her beautiful eyes, behind the Gold-Rimmed Colored Glass Spectacles, shone with shrewdness and competence. Stepping into this legendary Ancient Imperial Clan for the first time, this business empress suppressed the shock in her heart and maintained a proper demeanor.

On the other side, the blind girl Gong Yu held an ancient zither, her plain white gauze dress fluttering in the wind. Although her eyes were covered with white gauze, it only added to her delicate and pitiful aura, like a secluded orchid in an empty valley.

Xu Chen walked through the air, leading the three women to land steadily in the center of the white jade square.

"We welcome the Young Lord back to the clan!"

Thousands of people knelt on one knee in unison. The wave of sound was almost tangible, causing the surrounding sea of clouds to disperse in layers.

Xu Chen raised his right hand slightly, signaling for everyone to rise.

Xu Changsheng stepped forward and looked Xu Chen up and down. After confirming that his son hadn't lost a single strand of hair, he finally felt completely at ease.

Then, the Great Emperor father's gaze naturally drifted past his son and landed on the three women behind him.

Seeing Hua Jieyu, Xu Changsheng nodded slightly. Then, he looked at Shang Qingdai and Gong Yu. With his sharp Great Emperor's eyes, he saw through the startling Luck and special Physiques hidden within these two women at a glance.

Xu Changsheng laughed heartily and patted Xu Chen's shoulder: "Chener, it seems you've returned with a full harvest from your training in the Ancient Battlefield. Not only did you wipe out a Soul Hall stronghold, but you also brought back two such outstanding daughters-in-law for your father?"

At these words, the Grand Elder and others stroked their beards and smiled, their expressions full of admiration as if the Young Lord were indeed a role model for their generation.

A blush crept onto Shang Qingdai's fair cheeks as she bowed elegantly. Gong Yu nervously gripped her zither strings, her face under the white gauze turning as red as a ripe apple, not even daring to breathe loudly.

Hearing his father's words, Xu Chen felt amused.

He couldn't exactly say that he hadn't stayed in the Ancient Battlefield for long at all, but had instead been accidentally teleported to the Eastern Barrens, where he conveniently wiped out the Myriad Treasures Tower's Tianyin Branch and recruited these two women directly from the chamber of commerce.

Since the entire clan was convinced he had been fighting bloody battles in the dark and terrifying Ancient Battlefield, he might as well go along with it.

Xu Chen pulled back his casual expression and replaced it with one that looked weathered, steady, and restrained.

"Father, you're joking." Xu Chen sighed, his tone carrying thirty percent exhaustion and seventy percent determination. "The depths of the Ancient Battlefield are extremely dangerous, and I did indeed go through several tough battles this time. Fortunately, Luck was on my side. After wiping out the Soul Hall remnants, I found some Opportunities in a Great Emperor's ruin."

Hearing the words "Great Emperor's ruin," the breathing of the Grand Elder and the others became noticeably heavier.

"The Young Lord has a body of immense value; how could you venture into such a perilous forbidden land for just a few Opportunities!" The Grand Elder looked disapproving, but his eyes were full of heartache.

"It's fine. Although the fighting was a bit difficult, what does this bit of danger matter for the sake of the Family's foundation?"

After Xu Chen finished speaking with an air of righteousness, he slowly raised his right hand.

The storage ring, which contained exactly half of the core treasury of the Myriad Treasures Tower's Tianyin Branch, glowed with a dim luster on his fingertip.

He flipped his wrist, and with a burst of spiritual power from his fingertips, he directly unsealed the storage ring's spatial Restriction.

Boom.

A gargantuan object emitting a dazzling light fell directly from the void, crashing heavily onto the hard white jade square. The entire Xu Family main island shook violently at that moment.

It was a crystalline mountain range piled up from a full eighteen million catties of top-grade divine source.

Then, like a flood breaking through a dam...

Hundreds of Saint-tier Magic Treasures emitting terrifying pressure, crates upon crates of perfectly preserved hundred-thousand-year-old extinct immortal herbs, and mountains of rare Artifact Refining divine materials poured down, forming several more small mounds beside the mountain of Divine Source.

A storm of Spiritual Qi, so thick it wouldn't dissipate, instantly swept through the area.

Rainbow-colored droplets of Spiritual Qi condensed in the air, drifting down onto the square. Several Xu Family disciples in the front row who were stuck at the Dragon Transformation Realm Bottleneck merely took two breaths of this thick spiritual mist before the sound of bones cracking echoed from within them, and they broke through on the spot.

Dead silence.

The entire square fell into a silence so profound that even a falling needle could be heard.

The Grand Elder's hand, which had been stroking his long beard, stopped in mid-air. A few strands of his gray beard were snapped off, yet he was completely oblivious, his eyes fixed on the mountain of Divine Source, his pupils contracting violently.

The Second Elder's mouth hung open, and a low, raspy sound came from his throat; he couldn't manage a complete word for a long time.

Even Xu Changsheng, as a Great Emperor, gasped at this moment, his hands behind his back instinctively clenching.

This is what you call getting "some" Opportunities?!

This is clearly stripping the very undergarments off those fallen Great Emperors in the Central Province Ancient Battlefield!

After a brief silence, the Elders' minds began to race, piecing together a tragic and grand picture on their own.

In the depths of the Ancient Battlefield, Evil Qi surged to the heavens, and the grudges of gods and demons ran rampant.

Their own Young Lord, all alone and wanting to spare his Family Elders from worry, had left his maid on the outskirts and charged into the core of the forbidden land by himself.

He must have gone through countless hardships, narrowly escaping death several times, fighting bloody battles for ten days and nights, and slaying innumerable terrifying ancient heroic spirits to forcibly snatch this staggering wealth—enough to buy several top-tier Holy Lands—from a pile of corpses.

The Young Lord's clothes were so neat; he must have been afraid they would be saddened by seeing his blood-stained garments, so he had specifically used a Dust-Cleansing Art to clean up and change into new clothes before entering.

Having imagined this far, the Grand Elder's eyes turned completely red.

"Young Lord..."

The Grand Elder's voice choked up. He took a sudden step forward and bowed deeply to Xu Chen.

"For the sake of the Xu Family's eternal foundation, the Young Lord was actually willing to risk his life and soul to fight to the death against those ancient evils. On behalf of the Xu Family's ancestors, this old man thanks the Young Lord for his great kindness!"

The other Elders also came to their senses, each one emotional with tears in their eyes, as they all bowed down toward Xu Chen.

"We thank the Young Lord!"

The thousands of disciples on the square were even more fired up. Looking at the mountain of resources and then at Xu Chen's imposing back, their admiration overflowed from their chests.

"We are willing to die for the Young Lord!"

The deafening roars shot straight into the sky, and the Xu Family's cohesion reached an unprecedented peak at this moment.

Xu Chen stood there, calmly accepting the worship of the entire clan.

A hint of perfectly-timed exhaustion and indifference hung on the corner of his mouth as he slightly tilted his chin, looking toward the horizon, leaving everyone with the profile of a stalwart figure carrying a heavy burden for the Family.

Only Hua Jieyu, standing behind him, was currently biting her full lower lip hard, her peach-blossom eyes filled with suppressed laughter, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably.

Others might not know, but how could she not?

Where did the Young Lord go to risk his life in the Ancient Battlefield these past few months? He was clearly eating, drinking, and having fun all the way through the Eastern Barrens.

This floor full of top-grade divine source and treasures was all snatched from the Myriad Treasures Tower branch using those unreasonable methods. As for the so-called hardship and tough battles...

Hua Jieyu stole a glance at Shang Qingdai and Gong Yu beside her.

To press the Myriad Treasures Tower's cold business empress onto an office desk and conquer her, and to teach the blind girl zitherist the meaning of ultimate bliss on the flying boat's zither table—how could that not be hard work? How could that not count as a tough battle?

As the Young Lord's most intimate cultivation vessel, Hua Jieyu would naturally keep this secret buried deep inside. She watched Xu Chen's serious back as he fooled the entire clan, feeling that her master was wicked to the core, yet also charming to the extreme.