64: Chapter 64: Manjutan!

One ironclad rule after another fell, heavy blows striking the hearts of every clan elder!

This was simply driving them to their graves!

Stripping them of their financial power, forcing them to risk their lives just like ordinary disciples, and even subjecting them to evaluations?!

This was a blatant trampling of their dignity as clan elders!

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

"Xia Youchu! You are destroying the Foundation of our Xia Family!"

"With such harshness, how can the clansmen accept it?! Are you trying to force the entire clan into rebellion?!"

The clan elders immediately erupted, their faces flushed and necks thick with anger as they vehemently protested. Someone even pointed at Patriarch Xia Yuan, "Family Head! Are you just going to let your daughter fool around like this?! If this continues, the Xia Family will surely perish!!"

Patriarch Xia Yuan had also been startled by his daughter's fierce words earlier, but seeing the intense reaction of the clan elders, his determination to support his daughter only grew firmer.

He knew certain things, though he hadn't fully believed them in the past.

But after witnessing Ling Tian's various performances, he was now utterly convinced!

Taking a deep breath, he stood beside Xia Youchu, releasing his Yuan King Qi without reservation. His voice was resolute and brooked no argument:

"Youchu's word is my word!"

"The Xia Family has been plagued by deep-seated ills for a long time; only strong medicine can cure them!"

"These reforms are absolutely imperative!"

He swept his gaze across the clan elders, his eyes cold. "Who agrees? Who objects?"

"If you find this unacceptable..."

Xia Youchu coldly interjected, her tone carrying a hint of finality, "My father and I can immediately break away from the Xia Family and start a new genealogy! We will take those willing to follow us and establish ourselves elsewhere! As for you... you can cling to this decaying skeleton of a Family and wait to be swallowed up by the Myriad Beast Pavilion or other forces!"

Breaking away from the Family! Starting a new genealogy!

These words were like the final straw, crushing all the lingering hopes of the clan elders!

Only now did they truly realize that the young girl before them and her father, the Family Head, were genuinely prepared to flip the table!

They really didn't care about these clan elders at all!

But without Patriarch Xia Yuan, a Yuan King in his prime, and without the boundlessly promising duo of Xia Youchu and Ling Tian, what would be left of the Xia Family?

Left with only these old fogeys and a scattered mess of clansmen, how long could they hold out?

At the thought of the Myriad Beast Pavilion and other predatory forces, the clan elders finally grew terrified.

Third Great-Uncle's face turned ashen, looking as if he had aged another ten years in an instant. He looked at the resolute Patriarch Xia Yuan and Xia Youchu, and then at the panicked clan elders beside him.

Finally, he let out a long sigh, as if he had exhausted all his strength:

"Forget it, forget it. We shall do as you say..."

Seeing this, the other clan elders also hung their heads like defeated roosters, not daring to speak another word.

"However!"

Third Great-Uncle suddenly raised his head, his gaze locked onto the dusty grey box in Ling Tian's claws, his eyes complex and filled with an indescribable longing.

"We have only one request!"

He pointed at the box. "That box! It must be handed over to the Family! It is an heirloom of the Xia Family and is of immense significance!"

Ling Tian was just pondering how to bite into this rock-hard box when he heard this, and immediately gripped it even tighter.

"An heirloom? Then you must know how to open it? Let's hear it."

Ling Tian asked using his thoughts, looking at Third Great-Uncle with curiosity.

The clan elders exchanged glances, their eyes shifting as they stammered, seemingly harboring some unspeakable secret.

"This... this object concerns a secret regarding the ancestors of the Xia Family. It is not convenient to disclose it to outsiders."

Third Great-Uncle spoke evasively.

"An heirloom? How is it that I, the Family Head, know nothing about this?" Patriarch Xia Yuan's interest was also piqued.

Xia Youchu, however, frowned, as if she had realized something.

"Unwilling to speak?"

Ling Tian tilted his massive dragon head. Seeing their hesitant expressions and obvious reluctance to tell the truth, he instantly lost his patience.

"You won't say? Fine then."

Then, under everyone's horrified gazes, he opened his massive mouth and swept his tongue around it.

"Gulp!"

He swallowed the entire box whole!

"No—!!!"

Third Great-Uncle's vision went black, and he nearly fainted.

The other clan elders also looked as if they had lost their parents, their faces as pale as death.

"Uh, the item inside this kind of box seems to be... the longevity pill?"

Xia Youchu finally retrieved the origin of this box from her memories, her expression changing slightly.

But when she turned her head, Ling Tian had already swallowed it.

Ling Tian patted his belly, feeling the heavy sensation of the box dropping into his stomach. Although he still couldn't chew it, at least it was in his belly, and he could digest it slowly.

He let out a satisfied burp and transmitted his thoughts to the dumbfounded clan elders and the helpless-looking Xia Youchu:

"Alright, you guys go on discussing your grand reform plans."

"I'm going to sleep for a bit to digest this."

Having said that, he actually coiled up and closed his eyes. The Qi around his body began to fluctuate slowly as he started digesting the mysterious box.

Third Great-Uncle and the other clan elders watched the box swallowed by Ling Tian. Although they were grieved, they also felt a slight sense of relief.

Xia Youchu's cold gaze swept over them. The memory fragments of her past life rapidly pieced themselves together in her mind, and the smile at the corner of her lips grew increasingly chilling.

Looking at the despairing yet slightly relieved eyes of these clan elders, she understood everything in an instant.

"So that's how it is."

"No wonder you old, scheming foxes spared no effort to support that dog Great Elder Xia Mingyuan, even tacitly allowing him to collude with the Myriad Beast Pavilion..."

She paused, saying word by word, "It turns out you were being reeled in by the bait of the longevity pill."

The words "longevity pill" exploded like a clap of thunder in the ears of Third Great-Uncle and the other clan elders!

They snapped their heads up, staring at Xia Youchu in disbelief, their eyes filled with utter horror!

How... how could she know?!

This was one of the highest-level secrets of the Myriad Beast Pavilion!

That box was forged from meteoric iron, capable of blocking all forms of detection, and could not be opened without a specific key. How could she possibly know what was inside?!

Patriarch Xia Yuan's pupils also contracted. Although he did not know exactly what the longevity pill was, judging by its name and the reaction of these clan elders, he guessed it was definitely nothing good. He barked sharply, "What on earth is the longevity pill?!"

"Heh, the longevity pill should actually be called the Myriad Beast Pill instead."

"It is a miraculous medicine said to extend one's life. It is the Myriad Beast Pavilion's true trump card, and also the reason why they cannot be wiped out."

"Because there are always some highly powerful, yet death-fearing old fogeys who are willing to pay any price just to live a few years longer."

The clan elders turned deathly pale, their bodies beginning to tremble uncontrollably.

Xia Youchu continued, her tone carrying undisguised sarcasm, "But do you know what the essence of this so-called 'life extension' of the longevity pill is?"

Without waiting for anyone to answer, she continued, "It forcibly converts the consumer's Human Race Bloodline into a half-human, half-beast beast-slave Bloodline! It uses the Bloodline of long-lived beast races to allow humans to drag out their feeble existence!"

"Do you old fogeys want to turn into monsters that are neither human nor beast?!"

"Or do you want to become beast-girls?"

Boom!

The impact of these words was extremely terrifying!

Patriarch Xia Yuan sucked in a cold breath, the killing intent in his eyes surging wildly!

Colluding with the Myriad Beast Pavilion was already a capital offense. If they were further implicated in creating beast slaves—something that crossed the absolute bottom line of the Human Race—the Xia Family would face instantaneous annihilation!

The clan elders were scared to the point of Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering!

They might have been able to quibble with "not knowing" before, but now, Xia Youchu had exposed the very core secret of the longevity pill!

This was no longer just about a single individual; this was high treason!

It was a heinous crime sufficient to have the entire Xia Family uprooted and nine generations executed!

No physical evidence was needed; as long as Xia Youchu reported this news to the Great Xia Dynasty's Law Enforcement Department, those cruel officials would have plenty of ways to make them remember everything!

The Great Memory Recovery Technique was no joke!

Third Great-Uncle's legs gave out, and he collapsed directly to the ground, tears streaming down his old face as he beat the floor, "Foolish! We were so foolish!!"

The other clan elders also fell to their knees one after another, kowtowing like garlic being pounded, stripped of all their previous arrogance and calculation, leaving only boundless terror.

"Youchu! Family Head! Spare our lives! We truly did not know this Medicinal Pill was so venomous!"

"It was Great Elder Xia Mingyuan! It was all Great Elder Xia Mingyuan who bewitched us!"

"We are willing to accept any reforms! We only beg to preserve the Family and save our lives!"

They had completely broken down; all their will to resist had turned to ashes after the appearance of the Myriad Beast Pill.

Now, let alone reforms, even if Xia Youchu ordered them to immediately go to the front lines to join the army as cannon fodder, they wouldn't dare utter a single complaint!

Xia Youchu looked coldly at this group of clan elders making such spectacles of themselves, without a shred of pity in her heart.

In her past life, these people had played a major role in the tragedy of the Xia Family.

"Remember your words today."

Her voice was ice-cold. "If you ever harbor double-mindedness again, bear the consequences yourselves."

The clan elders felt as if they had received a grand pardon, kowtowing repeatedly to guarantee their loyalty.

Thank goodness! Thank goodness the Myriad Beast Pill was swallowed by Xia Youchu's War Beast.

If that thing were still around, they would have truly been caught red-handed!

Just as the clan elders secretly breathed a sigh of relief...

*Retch—!*

A dry retching sound came from the side.

Everyone followed the sound and looked over, only to see Ling Tian, who had been lying down to digest, had raised his head at some point and opened his mouth with a face full of disgust.

"Pui!"

A dark red pill emitting a fishy, sweet odor was spat out directly by him, rolling onto the ground.

Ling Tian even scraped his tongue with his claw in disgust, seemingly wanting to get rid of the lingering taste. "What kind of junk is this? It has a weird smell of livestock, so disgusting!!"

Everyone: "..."

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