---
A Visit in Shadows, The Chan Clan's Arrogance
The moment Ye Ling left the Ye Clan's Patriarch chamber, his expression became calm and cold. His Heaven-tier mask shifted slightly, hiding even the faintest trace of emotion.
With the air of a ghost drifting through the night, he walked silently through the shadowy streets of Tianyao City, the city that bore witness to the rise and slow decay of the once-glorious Ye Clan.
Though Ye Clan had fallen far from its former strength, no one dared to mock them openly. Their legacy still echoed across the city—an ancestral inheritance rooted in ancient times, with countless secrets no one had yet unraveled. But over the years, the hungry eyes of rival clans, hidden sects, and ambitious cultivators had turned toward that slowly crumbling tower of history.
And among them, the most daring was the Chan Clan.
In the past, they had always remained low-key, content with their position in the city's middle ranks. But recently, the Chan Clan's luck had turned.
Their patriarch, Chan Gu, stumbled upon a powerful spiritual herb in the wilderness—a rare Red Flame Heavenly Lotus—and used it to break through the bottleneck that had trapped him for over a century.
Now, he stood proudly in the Core Formation Realm.
That slight leap in cultivation—only a realm above the Ye Clan's leader, Ye Tian—meant nothing on paper… but in reality?
A Core Formation expert could crush ten Peak Foundation Realm cultivators without effort.
The Chan Clan now dared to act in the open.
Their pressure on the Ye Clan increased by the day. They had begun cutting off business ties, harassing Ye Clan caravans, and even sending shadow operatives to sow discord. And worst of all—there were rumors of them plotting to seize parts of the Ye Clan's ancestral land.
Tonight, Ye Ling would pay them a visit.
---
Tianyao City – Chan Clan Manor
It was just past midnight. The Chan Clan Manor stood tall, its walls lined with arrays, its entrances guarded by tightly rotating shifts of disciples clad in black robes and light armor.
Lanterns lit the corridors, casting dancing shadows on the floor.
The mood was tense. Everyone was on alert. War loomed like a sword over the manor.
But none of that mattered to Ye Ling.
Under the cover of night and cloaked by his Great Dao Concealment Technique, Ye Ling walked right past the outer patrols. His spiritual energy was carefully folded in on itself, invisible even to divine sense. He stepped into the manor like a breeze, never alerting a single soul.
He walked through garden courtyards and long stone corridors. No door blocked him. No formation detected him.
Because his cultivation—Nascent Soul 9th Stage—was the highest in the entire city. Even the Chan Clan's newly advanced patriarch couldn't dream of sensing him.
Eventually, he reached the central building of the compound.
Within a wide meditation hall, surrounded by glowing talismans and protective runes, sat Chan Gu, the current patriarch of the Chan Clan.
He was a man in his late sixties, but with the aura of a rejuvenated tiger. His eyes were sharp, his breathing steady. Spiritual power curled around him like a coiled serpent. He sat cross-legged, eyes closed, clearly in the middle of adjusting to his newly gained Core Formation Realm.
Ye Ling didn't immediately enter.
He stood outside, silently observing the man through his divine sense.
This man… was ambitious.
His aura was aggressive. His mind, filled with thoughts of expansion, conquest, and glory. In his spiritual sea, images flashed—blueprints of taking over Ye Clan's ancestral land, marrying a Ye Clan genius to bind bloodlines, plundering the Scripture Pavilion…
Greed.
Greed. And recklessness.
Ye Ling's eyes narrowed behind his mask.
"He's already planning how to divide the Ye Clan, and hasn't even mastered his new realm…"
How amusing.
He stepped forward at last. Silent. Not even the air shifted.
Yet the moment Ye Ling crossed the protective runes of the chamber, Chan Gu's eyes snapped open.
"What—?!"
The world seemed to freeze.
Chan Gu's breath halted.
Before him stood a figure bathed in an aura so overwhelming, so unearthly, that he nearly suffocated on sight alone. The man was tall, draped in a cosmic cloak that seemed to consume light. His face hidden beneath a mask that reflected endless stars. His presence… was like an Immortal descending from the heavens.
Even though Chan Gu had just broken through to the Core Formation Realm, at this moment, he felt like a child standing before a mountain.
"Who… who are you?" he said, his voice trembling.
Ye Ling didn't answer immediately. He walked forward slowly, his footsteps making no sound.
Only after reaching the center of the room did he speak, voice low and calm.
"I come on behalf of the Ye Clan."
Chan Gu's pupils shrank.
"The Ye Clan?" he frowned, "Impossible… there's no one like you in that ruined sect."
Ye Ling chuckled faintly beneath his mask.
"That's what you believe. And that belief will be your undoing."
"You broke through your realm with luck," he continued, "But now you think yourself king of this city."
"You threaten a legacy clan that once nurtured this land. You dare to plot against ancestral inheritance. I've seen your ambitions, Chan Gu. And I'm here to give you one chance."
"Withdraw. Cease your schemes against the Ye Clan."
Chan Gu's expression turned hostile, but he hesitated.
This mysterious man… wasn't someone he could provoke casually.
"What if I don't?" he asked cautiously.
Ye Ling paused, his eyes hidden behind the heavenly mask glowing faintly.
"Then the next time we meet, the Chan Clan will have no patriarch."
A silence so cold and heavy fell that the candle flames in the room flickered and died.
Before Chan Gu could respond, a violent pressure descended like a world crashing down. He collapsed onto the ground, coughing blood, unable to resist the weight of Ye Ling's spiritual aura.
Just as suddenly as it appeared, it vanished.
And when he raised his head—
The immortal-like figure was gone.
---
Outside the Manor
Ye Ling stepped into the night sky, cloaked by darkness. His body shimmered and vanished, soaring across the city at impossible speed using Void Steps.
Tonight's visit was only a warning.
A final warning.
If Chan Gu dared to continue down his greedy path, then Ye Ling wouldn't spare even the foundations of his clan.
Because now, he wasn't the Ye Clan's discarded son.
He was its hidden protector.
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