Chapter 1013: Yuan Cangming and the Sense of Danger

In the Cangming Elysium of the Eastern Nuanyuan Continent of the Azure Flame World…

Ever since Yuan Cangming, the old ancestor entered the Martial Void Realm several years ago, he hadn’t appeared in front of others. He would be in secluded cultivation in the Elysium most of the time and even when he did leave, he would appear above the heavenly screen. Most of the time, he would stare into the sea of stars in a daze.

One fine day, he appeared above the heavenly screen again and stared into the distance and his eyes glossed over.

Experts who received the news that he had appeared hastily ran over to greet him.

“Old Patriarch!” The high-level experts of the Cangming Clan seemed extremely moved when they saw him again. It felt like they were in awe that he had finally emerged from seclusion.

Yuan Cangming snapped back to reality from their greetings, but he seemed to be in a really bad mood. Glancing at all of them, a deep frown formed on his face. “Why are you the only ones left? Whatever. What is the progress of the task I gave you?”

The clansmen looked at each other and Yuan Cangyuan, the current patriarch of the Cangming Clan coughed lightly, “Old Patriarch, after you ascended to the next level, everything has been progressing smoothly. The 4 Continents have been working together and even the Southern Yanlin Continent whose strength had been affected the most have contributed a good portion of resources only found there. We managed to craft a few flying ships that can travel through the vast sea of stars…”

“I don’t need you to tell me all these things that I already know!” Yuan Cangming growled and interrupted Yuan Cangyuan. “Tell me… Why haven’t the people of the Western Wenchen Continent and Northern Chihuang Continent come?!”

Yuan Cangyuan hesitated slightly. Only when he noticed Yuan Cangming’s gaze on him again did he hastily add, “They don’t seem to believe your judgment… They are unwilling to participate in the expedition through the vast sea of stars and they aren’t willing to look for the so-called Land of Star Origin.”

“Preposterous!” Yuan Cangming snorted coldly.

The might of a True Immortal was on full display at the moment and the clansmen of the Cangming Clan were unable to straighten their bodies. Panic quickly set in.

“Old Patriarch, please calm down!”

They yelled in unison.

Those clansmen who were present came from the same generation as Yuan Cangming. After Yuan Cangming sealed himself off in the Elysium back then, they thought that they would have the final say in the Cangming Clan.

They didn’t expect Yuan Cangming to actually break through to a new realm. Not only did he regain his authority in the Cangming Clan, but he could even decide on matters regarding the Azure Flame World!

“Get them to see me right now!”

His words caused the expressions of his fellow clansmen to change.

How could they hide their reactions from a True Immortal? Noticing the looks on their faces, Yuan Cangming growled, “Hmm?”

Their bodies trembled uncontrollably and eventually, one of the plump cultivators standing at the back yelled, “We’ll carry out your order immediately!”

As soon as he spoke, he sped off at a speed unthinkable for someone his size. Those who reacted in time revealed a look of annoyance and Yuan Cangyuan was the only one who had an expression of utter fear plastered to his face.

Not too long later, more than a dozen streaks of light emerged from different parts of the heavenly screen and raced to Yuan Cangming’s location.

When the light around them finally dissipated, more than 10 Martial Dipper Realm experts arrived before Yuan Cangming along with the plump clansman.

“Reporting… Senior Brother, other than the Yanlin Clan, everyone with authority from the other continents has been gathered!” The plump cultivator reported respectfully. Any sort of power in the Azure Flame World that had the ability to call themselves a large faction naturally had an expert in the Martial Dipper Realm.

“We greet True Immortal Cangming!” None of them seemed to bear ulterior motives as they looked extremely obedient.

Originally, Yuan Cangming wanted to teach them all a lesson and scare them, teaching them why he was called a True Immortal! However, their actions caused him to rethink his actions and he glanced at Yuan Cangyuan who looked extremely uncomfortable at the moment.

“I recall telling all of you about the threat that we might face where we would be invaded again by foreign cultivators… I also remember telling all of you about how we should construct flying ships to venture into the depths of the sea of stars to look for the Land of Star Origin. All of you agreed to support the cause with all your might back then but decided to back out now. Are you choosing to disobey my orders? Do you think that my sword has been too merciful in recent years?”

A dangerous air emerged from Yuan Cangming as the might of a True Immortal was on full display. He didn’t restrain himself and flexed his strength.

Those Martial Sages couldn’t say anything in the face of such overwhelming strength.

Seeing as he achieved his goal, Yuan Cangming retracted his aura and he stared at one of the stronger experts before him. “Chen Baixing, you are the patriarch of the Chenwu Clan in the Western Wenchen Continent. What do you say?”

Chen Baixing bowed respectfully and lowered his gaze while speaking. “True Immortal, it’s not that we were unwilling to follow your orders. We received news that you had given up on the matter and that was why we chose to slow down…”

The words barely left his lips when the other Martial Sages behind him quickly added, “Yeah, that’s right! We also heard the same. That is why…”

“If not for someone leading the way, we wouldn’t have done it!”

“Why would we send disciples of our clan to explore the vast sea of stars after spending so much to nurture them…”

“...”

“Shut up!” An enraged cry stopped them from speaking further, and Yuan Cangyuan turned to glare at them. His expression had been twisted in fury and he scolded them angrily, “How dare all of you go against the True Immortal’s orders?! From what I see, you’re just unwilling to part with those resources and are unwilling to get your disciples to find a way out for our world in the vast sea of stars!”

It was fine if Yuan Cangyuan didn’t say anything. Now that he had spoken, the light in Yuan Cangming’s eyes deepened slightly while staring at him

Chen Baixing maintained his gaze, but another expert of the Chenwu Clan behind him added, “Patriarch Yuan, you can’t say that. One of your direct descendants was supposed to join the exploration but when my nephew went to look for him to start the exploration, your direct descendant claimed that the old patriarch no longer cared about the matter! Since it’s a matter of our word against yours, why don’t we call them over to verify the truth?”

One of the leaders of a faction in the Eastern Nuanyuan Continent added, “Yeah! According to our agreement, my sect was supposed to shoulder a portion of the resources required to craft a batch of flying ships. However, someone dumped me with a whole other bunch of tasks. When I tried getting to the bottom of the matter, they said that my sect needed to shoulder more responsibilities to hasten the creation of flying ships! From what I know, that didn’t happen! Not only did we not hasten the production of flying ships, instead, we produced them at a slower pace compared to 2 years ago! The resources we provided can only be produced by my sect and your Cangming Clan! According to the original agreement, we only needed to produce a third of the resources required and you would do the rest!”

Yuan Cangyuan flew into a rage and interrupted him before he could continue. “Didn’t we slow down the production process because your sect was unable to keep up the output of resources?!”

The expert who spoke earlier wasn’t trying to pick a fight and he tried to put it as nicely as he could, but after hearing what Yuan Cangyuan said, he was instantly angered. “Why the hell did your Cangming Clan decrease your output by half then?! Heh, my sect isn’t even worth a fart in our Eastern Nuanyuan Continent, but your Cangming Clan is the largest entity in our continent! How can you guys not keep up with the output?”

“Do you know that we’ve been the ones who carried the heaviest burden of crafting the flying ships?!” Yuan Cangyuan tried to explain himself.

“Yeah, originally, you guys took on the bulk of the pressure.” A faint voice came from the crowd. One of the Martial Sages from the Northern Chihuang Continent spoke up, “Your Cangming Clan is the greatest power in our Azure Flame World to begin with. Of course you would bear the greatest pressure and shoulder the most responsibilities. However… How much responsibility do your Cangming Clan actually bear now?”

Yuan Cangming, who seemed to just notice the person who spoke, suddenly revealed a smile. “Brother Zhang, you’re here too.”

Zhang Shihu took a step forward and cupped his fists while sighing, “True Immortal Yuan, you truly have amazing insight into the future and I greatly respect you. I had always been willing to lead my disciples to carry out the tasks you have allocated to us, alas…”

Other Martial Sages quickly chipped in. “Yeah! We were suddenly called upon to produce a lot more resources than we agreed upon and there were some that weren’t even produced by us!”

“My sect was forced to send another 2 Martial Ancestors to explore the vast sea of stars and it was said that they went over to take the position of a certain clan…”

“Brother Hong, why don’t you just say that they went over to replace disciples of the Cangming Clan?”

“When I went to ask a certain elder of the Cangming Clan, they said that it was True Immortal Yuan’s idea…”

“Hmph!” Yuan Cangming could no longer bear to listen to what they were saying and he snorted to stop all of them from speaking further. “Yuan Cangyuan, are they telling the truth?!”

Yuan Cangyuan was a powerful Martial Sage, but when Yuan Cangming’s gaze landed on him, he felt cold sweat forming on his forehead and his throat seemed to have locked itself up. “Senior… Senior Brother, this… This… No, what they’re saying…”

“Enough! There’s no need to say anymore.” Yuan Cangming shifted his disgusted gaze away from Yuan Cangyuan and he turned to another expert. “From this day onwards, you are no longer the patriarch of the Cangming Clan!”

“Yuan Canghao!”

The plump Martial Sage felt a chill running down his spoke as he quickly took 2 steps forward. “Senior Brother!”

“Starting now, you’re the patriarch of our Cangming Clan!” Yuan Cangming growled.

“Huh?!” Yuan Canghao’s fat trembled as he looked completely flustered.

“Enough. It’s decided.” Yuan Cangming turned to look at the Martial Sages who gathered. “From now on, Yuan Canghao will take charge of the plan and allocate the tasks and contributions properly. The disciples of the Cangming Clan will also take part in the exploration. What do all of you think about this?”

Chen Baixing and Zhang Shihu glanced at each other before quickly looking away. They replied in unison with the rest of the Martial Sages. “We understand and we will do everything in our power to make it happen!”

…

Everyone eventually left and Yuan Cangming was the only one left above the heavenly screen.

“It’s not enough… We don’t have enough time!” Yuan Cangming muttered to himself. “I can feel your presence… You came to my Azure Flame World at least twice, and you’ve been observing us through the void…”

“Fuck!” Yuan Cangming’s aura twisted and his calm demeanor was nowhere to be seen. His expression turned vicious and he snarled, “Why can’t I leave the Azure Flame World?! If I could, why would I need to rely on these groups of worthless flies to look for a way to live?!”