Chapter 594 – Soul of the Battle Clan

Old Vulture was quiet for a moment, then he shook his head and said, “Ming’er, you don’t understand my intentions. I know Lei Zhen’s temper well. He is forcing the whole Battle clan towards death. I must stop him so that the Battle clan has a chance to live! Lei Zhen is no longer suitable to be the clan leader. I have already spoken to Zhao Danchen—the next clan leader will be you, Lei Ming!”

Lei Ming trembled. Being made clan leader was a huge temptation to him.

“Father, please elaborate on your plan,” Lei Ming said respectfully, bowing.

“Our side must win two rounds to win the bet. However, Zhao Danchen has told me that the Battle clan will never win. And if the Battle clan loses, with Lei Zhen’s personality, he will surely lead the whole clan to fight to their deaths. But take a look at the Martial Alliance! The Battle clan is not fit even to carry the shoes of the Martial Alliance. When that happens, the entire clan will surely die. Not just Lei Zhen, but even we will become the criminals who wronged generations of clan members!”

Lei Ming nodded and said, “I understand, Father. This means that as long as Lei Zhen dies the Battle clan loses the bet, with me as the new clan leader and you being the only Second Earthly Martial Stage cultivator here, we will submit to the Martial Alliance. That way, you, me, and the Battle clan will continue to exist perpetually!”

Old Vulture’s gaze traveled from outside the window to Lei Ming, whom he studied for a while, then he said, “Little brat, you’ve become much smarter. You’re right. When Lei Zhen dies, his friends will likely leave, and we’ll have fewer people causing problems. Then our mission to keep the clan alive will succeed. You must remember that because we are protecting the clan, we are in the right. Lei Zhen and the others are the criminals!”

Was that really the case? Lei Ming’s heart was confused too. He knew that he and his father were the only ones in the Battle clan who didn’t see death as coming home. The others could not wait to die and bring the Martial Alliance down with them.

“Father, if we do this, will the clan members think that we are cowards? That we are being spineless, and we would have embarrassed our ancestors?” Lei Ming asked carefully.

Old Vulture chuckled coldly and said, “They’re idiots, so let them say what they want. We were the ones who kept them alive. One or two years down the line, they will eventually fall to their knees in front of us, praising our noble act! Therefore, Lei Zhen is an obstacle to the livelihood of the clan. He must die!”

When he said the word “die,” cracking sounds came from Old Vulture’s fist.

“Father, Zhao Danchen didn’t get to kill Lei Zhen today. What do we do now?” Lei Ming asked anxiously.

Old Vulture let out chilling laugh that even sent chills down Lei Ming’s spine.

“Tomorrow. Tomorrow, Lei Zhen will enter the Lightning Pool, which is in the forbidden area. No one else will be able to enter, and the only person nearby will be the escort who led him to the entrance. I will not accompany him tomorrow, and when they ask about it, you will tell them that I am cultivating to prepare for the final fight. Then I will slip into the forbidden area on my own. When Lei Zhen passes by, I will kill him! Afterwards, you and the rest of the people will rush in, and you will put the blame on Zhao Danchen!” Old Vulture explained slowly, though he grew more emotional towards the end.

Lei Ming took a deep breath and nodded. “Father, this is the perfect plan! When Lei Zhen dies, the clan will have to choose a new clan leader. With you present, I will surely be the most suitable candidate. And when Lei Zhen’s friends see that Lei Zhen has died, they will surely leave the Battle clan to fight the Martial Alliance! Then we will swoop in! The Dragon clan will never be a match for the Martial Alliance. And when the three duels happen and the Battle clan loses to the Martial Alliance, we will fulfill the promise and pledge our loyalty to the Martial Alliance. When that happens, the Martial Alliance will surely reward us generously!”

Lei Ming burst into laughter.

“You fool!” Old Vulture suddenly slapped him across the face.

“Father, why?” Lei Ming was stunned.

“What do you mean by ‘the Martial Alliance will surely reward us generously?’ You must remember that we are not doing this for our own selfish benefit! We’re doing this because we don’t want to see Lei Zhen destroy the accumulated effort the clan has put in over thousands of years! Our ancestors will cheer us on!” cried Old Vulture with a wild look in his eyes.

“Yes ... Yes ...” Lei Ming nodded quickly.

Will the ancestors really cheer us on?

He wanted to ask this question very badly

If all the Battle clan’s warriors become servants to the Martial Alliance, would that really be better than death? If that happened, the Battle clan would end up like the Wind God Sect or worse, because they did not have a Third Earthly Martial Stage master protecting them.

These questions were buried in Lei Ming’s heart.

Looking at the excited old man, Lei Ming clenched his fists tightly and told himself,

He’s my father and he has lived a longer life than me! He surely knows a lot more than I do, so doing as he says must be right!

***

Dawn came quickly.

Long Chen had spent the entire night cultivating. After many rounds of practice, Long Chen was much more familiar with the Soul Dispersing Claw and the Willow Step. After familiarizing himself with them, he started to continue cultivating the Second Earthly Martial Stage.

He practiced according to the Earthly Martial Fist Manual, trying to comprehend the punching technique of the Second Earthly Martial Stage. After Long Yue and Huangfu Fengchen helped him enter the Earthly Martial Realm, progressing further was much easier. Due to the heaven meridian point and his other qualities, cultivation was easier for Long Chen in the Martial Realm.

“The pulse of the earth comes in one wave after another. Reaching the Second Earthly Martial Stage requires one to fit two pulses of the earth in an attack. In that case, one attack would actually contain two attacks, making it much stronger ...”

Long Chen still could not break through this last obstacle.

As for the cultivation of essence, Long Chen had consumed the beast blood of the Black Water Viper right after his breakthrough. After using Blood Transmutation, the blood had turned into his essence and was being stored in his Martial Veins and Martial Meridians.

He had enough essence to break through to the Second Earthly Martial Stage, but he lacked comprehension of the theory.

This was not something easily achieved overnight, so Long Chen was not impatient. He slowly halted his punches and then opened the door. Xiaolang rarely entered the Primordial Realm these days, and when Long Chen was cultivating, he also studied his own attack techniques. He was much more hardworking than before.

Long Chen opened the door because Lei Zhen and the rest had passed the front of his room. Everyone else had arrived too, and when they saw Long Chen come out, they quickly called him over.

“The Lightning Pool is in the forbidden area, which you guys can’t enter. If you all really want to send me off, you can send me off at the entrance,” said Lei Zhen.

The Running Thunder Blade was a blade technique only the clan leader could cultivate, and it had to be done in the Lightning Pool. However, the Lightning Pool was dangerous, and someone had to stand guard outside the entrance. If the cultivator inside was in trouble, at least someone would be alerted.

“The lightning also has a paralyzing effect. If I am unable to withstand it and cannot get myself out, it doesn’t matter whether you’re allowed inside or not— just carry me out of there! If I’m left in there for too long, I’ll die, haha ...” Lei Zhen said with a grin.

Everyone gave a rare chuckle. Jian Chen thensaid, “Second Brother Jiang also needs to cultivate for the coming battle. Let me guard the entrance, then. If you can’t withstand the lightning, just call for me.”

“Thank you, Third Brother,” Lei Zhen said gratefully.

Everyone soon arrived in front of the forbidden area. It was actually a deep valley surrounded by a dense forest. There was strict security around this area. Long Chen even discovered naturally formed seals that could not be broken unless the cultivator was past a certain level.

Entering the Lightning Pool was a solemn ritual to the Battle clan. Lei Zhen had long prepared the altar and incense to pray to the ancestors before entering.

All the significant clan members had to attend this important ritual, so the other seven Battle Kings had arrived to kneel and pray to the ancestors. When it all ended, Lei Zhen asked Lei Ming, “Brother Lei Ming, why isn’t Old Vulture here today?”

Lei Ming took half a step back, unable to hide the strange look on his face. But he quickly hid it, took a deep breath, and said, “My Father is worried about the bet and is focused on cultivation now, hoping to help the clan when the time comes. That’s why he’s not here.”

Lei Zhen froze and said, “This is an urgent time, so I’m not going to press further regarding Old Vulture’s absence. However, remember to tell him that all cultivators at the Earthly Martial Realm must be present during the next ancestral prayer.”

Lei Ming nodded and said, “Alright, I understand.”

Lei Zhen did not think much about it and turned to the Dragon clan. “Everyone other than Third Brother may leave. I’m going in.”

Jiang Wuya nodded. “We’ll head back after you enter.”

Lei Zhen smiled. Everyone watched as he entered the deep valley. When he completely disappeared, the Dragon clan members and the Battle Kings prepared to leave.

Long Chen noticed a small detail. He had been watching Lei Ming while they watched Lei Zhen leave. When Lei Zhen disappeared, there was a malicious look on his face.

Yesterday, Long Chen had sensed that Old Vulture’s reaction had been strange. Today, when Lei Ming talked about Old Vulture, Long Chen had paid attention too. Due to yesterday’s suspicions, he naturally felt that Lei Ming’s response was strange. When he saw Lei Ming’s expression plus his explanation that Old Vulture was absent because he was cultivating, Long Chen felt like there was something wrong.