Protect Our Patriarch

……

"Great-grandfather, what do you think? Should I take him as my master?"

Wang Anye's adorable face showed a hint of hesitation and confusion.

You see, he was happily attending the Clan School today, immersing himself in the sea of knowledge, when suddenly his great-grandfather grabbed him and jumped off a cliff...

Now, out of nowhere, a remnant soul appeared, claiming to want to take him as a disciple...

Although a talking storage ring sounded very tempting, it all felt too sudden. He needed to ask his great-grandfather's opinion.

Wang Shouzhe pondered for a moment and looked at Ji Wuchen. Despite his old age, Ji Wuchen had an immortal-like demeanor, not appearing to be a person of the demonic path. However, in this era, many people had a righteous appearance but a dark heart. One couldn't judge by appearances alone.

Especially for an old monster who had lived for one or two thousand years. If they wanted to pretend, it would be easy for them to put on an extraordinary facade.

Wang Shouzhe wouldn't judge a person by their appearance, but missing such a good opportunity would be a pity. It was better to investigate further.

"Late Divine Realm, eighth layer," Ji Wuchen was stunned but answered truthfully, "I am proficient in swordsmanship and formations, and I have mastered a sword formation technique that allows me to defeat the strong with the weak and fight against many with few."

"What caused your downfall here?" Wang Shouzhe continued to ask.

"This is a long story..." Ji Wuchen's expression darkened, and a sense of sorrow arose in his heart. "My wife, Fu Hongye, was ambushed and killed by Chao Qianbo of the Red Moon Demon Dynasty on the battlefield of the Immortal-Demon War. To avenge her, I infiltrated the Demon Dynasty alone to assassinate Chao Qianbo. Unfortunately, the Demon Dynasty was fraught with dangers. After overcoming countless difficulties, I finally succeeded in the assassination but was pursued by the experts of the Demon Dynasty. By the time I escaped to this place, I was already at the end of my rope."

"Knowing that my time was short and I couldn't return to the Immortal Dynasty, I set up a concealment formation here, relying on soul parasitism with my life-bound sword and merging with the sword spirit to barely maintain a bit of consciousness and survive until now. To this day, I don't even know how many years have passed."

"Do you intend to possess my great-grandson's body by taking him as your disciple?" Wang Shouzhe asked.

"My soul has already merged with the sword spirit, essentially becoming a spirit artifact. How could I still possess someone?" Ji Wuchen shook his head calmly.

"Then do you want my grandson to seek revenge on the Demon Dynasty once he achieves great success?" Wang Shouzhe asked again.

Hearing this, Ji Wuchen was silent for a moment, then sighed, "If I said I had no such intention, you wouldn't believe me. But the main reason I turned into a sword spirit to preserve my consciousness was not for revenge but to ensure that my master's lineage would not end with me."

"As for revenge... When I infiltrated the Red Moon Demon Dynasty alone, I didn't expect to come back alive. Being able to kill my enemy and avenge my wife, I have no regrets. As for the rest..."

At this point, he paused and then smiled freely, "In the future, if there is an opportunity, Anye can use this sword to kill a few more people from the Demon Dynasty, which would also relieve my heart's hatred."

His words made sense, and Wang Shouzhe nodded in approval.

But he didn't stop there and continued to ask questions.

One question after another, he asked for a full quarter of an hour without finding any flaws.

Finally, he asked, "One last question. My wife is skilled in a soul-searching technique. If you are willing to cooperate, I will support Anye in inheriting your legacy."

"Otherwise, you know. With Anye's talent, he won't have trouble finding a Divine Realm master in the future."

"Soul-searching?" Upon hearing these words, Ji Wuchen's soul fluctuated violently, showing obvious resistance, "No, no, even if I am just a remnant soul, I will not lose all my dignity."

At the mention of soul-searching, Old Jiang's soul also trembled, and his remnant soul body quivered slightly, as if recalling some terrible past. Although Wang Shouzhe was very cunning and terrifying, compared to that person, he was still a "nice guy."

"In that case, the matter of Anye taking you as his master will be put on hold." Wang Shouzhe cupped his hands slightly and said apologetically, "Although I trust you about eighty to ninety percent, Anye is my direct great-grandson. Without complete certainty, I won't let Anye take such a risk."

Wang Shouzhe believed that as the Wang Clan continued to grow and develop, every clan member would be able to realize their potential without being overshadowed.

Especially someone like Wang Anye, a direct great-grandson who was also set to marry the daughter of Commandery Prince An. His future potential was limitless.

Ji Wuchen was full of disappointment. He had thought that taking a disciple was his choice, but after being questioned and tested, he was still rejected.

However, with his pride, if he had to cooperate with a soul search to qualify as a master, he would rather dissipate and let his lineage fade into history.

Throughout history, many schools had risen and fallen, and countless lineages had faded into obscurity. His was not the only one.

"By the way, didn't Senior Ji say he was the spirit of a treasured sword?" Seeing the stalemate, Lu Xiaoxiao suggested, "Why not let the sword recognize its master directly? As long as Anye can control the sword, he can control the spirit artifact, and my cousin Shouzhe can be at ease."

High-level spiritual treasures often considered the possibility of birthing a spirit artifact during their creation. Therefore, artifact refiners would add inscriptions to control the spirit artifact, ensuring that the owner could still fully control the treasure even if a spirit artifact was born.

Otherwise, if a disobedient spirit artifact turned on its owner, what value would the treasure have? How could artifact refiners continue their business?

"In that case, it might be a feasible solution." Wang Shouzhe looked at Ji Wuchen and said, "Although this method doesn't guarantee absolute safety, with some caution, it should be manageable. If Senior is willing, this is my final offer."

Ji Wuchen pondered for a moment and finally sighed, "This sword is called [Years], a well-known Divine Realm spiritual treasure in the Immortal Dynasty. It is also the heirloom treasure of my lineage, known for its dual mastery of sword formations. If this treasure is passed to Anye, I, Ji Wuchen, as the spirit artifact, have no objection to recognizing him as my master. Besides, I have the responsibility to pass down my master's lineage."

Although the first reason was somewhat far-fetched, combined with the latter condition, Ji Wuchen had no choice but to bow his head under the circumstances.

Moreover, Anye seemed to be a simple and unpolished jade, with the potential to elevate his lineage to new heights in the future.

Hearing this, Wang Shouzhe nodded inwardly.

Ji Wuchen was far more reliable than Old Jiang, making him a suitable master for Anye.

Anye, being a direct great-grandson, was not convenient to send to the academy or to take another master like Shouye. If he could inherit a legacy in this way, it would be a good choice.

Moreover, having an elder in the family was like having a treasure. Divine Realm ancestors had lived long and experienced much. The knowledge and experience they possessed were invaluable.

Although Ji Wuchen couldn't back his disciple like Tianhe Daoist, his presence would make Anye's future path smoother, with limitless potential.

Subsequently.

Under Wang Shouzhe's supervision, with Old Jiang overseeing and the watchful eyes of over ten Celestial Realm ancestors from the family and in-laws, the Divine Realm spiritual treasure [Years] successfully recognized its master.

Although Anye's spiritual imprint on the sword was weak, it was enough to control the life and death of the spirit artifact.

The inscriptions on the Divine Realm spiritual treasure were specifically designed to bind the spirit artifact's consciousness. With a single thought, the inscriptions would activate and annihilate the spirit artifact.

However, this would have side effects. Without the spirit artifact, the power of the Divine Realm spiritual treasure would significantly decrease until a new spirit artifact was born after a long period.

After recognizing his disciple as his master, Ji Wuchen felt somewhat humiliated and chose to hide within [Years], silently guarding Wang Anye.

However, [Years] was a Divine Realm spiritual treasure, and with Wang Anye's mere Qi Refining Realm third layer cultivation, not to mention unleashing its power, even normal control was difficult.

After all, using any grade of magical or spiritual treasure required a certain level of spiritual strength. Without sufficient spiritual strength, one couldn't even control it, let alone use it in battle.

Otherwise, wouldn't a Lingtai Realm cultivator become invincible with a magical or Purple Mansion spiritual treasure?

Similarly, Wang Anye's current spiritual strength was insufficient to control the Divine Realm spiritual treasure.

For now, he could only rely on the spirit artifact to drive [Years] for attack or defense.

However, the remaining soul power of the spirit artifact Ji Wuchen was very limited. Once exhausted, it would take a long time to recover, so it was best used only in critical moments.

Ji Wuchen's greatest role now was not in combat but in using his thousand-plus years of cultivation experience to guide Wang Anye's cultivation and assist him in breaking through to the Celestial Realm as quickly as possible.

Only after reaching the Celestial Realm could Wang Anye refine the Divine Realm spiritual treasure [Years] into his life-bound sword.

This way, he could barely unleash part of its power. To fully unleash the power of [Years], Wang Anye would need to reach the Divine Realm.

Thus, the weapon problem for this kid was solved for life, and in the best possible way.

Moreover.

Ji Wuchen also gave Wang Anye his only other inheritance besides the sword, the [Boundless Treasure Ring]. Although the resources stored inside had been consumed during Ji Wuchen's escape, the spiritual treasure-grade storage ring itself was priceless.

"Great-grandfather, once I retrieve the items from the Endless Abyss, I'll give the ring to you." Wang Anye, full of filial piety, said to Wang Shouzhe, happily playing with the Boundless Treasure Ring.

"Uh..."

Wang Shouzhe broke into a cold sweat.

Could this brat stop mentioning this in front of everyone? As a dignified great prodigy and clan leader, using a hand-me-down storage ring from his great-grandson was embarrassing if word got out.

But embarrassment aside, the [Endless Abyss] was a top-tier storage ring that was hard to come by even with money.

And since they were family, it wasn't a big deal. In the past, many ordinary families, lacking financial resources, often had elders eating the leftovers of their children.

Additionally, after breaking the formation, there were other valuable gains.

Hidden beneath the concealment formation was a medium-sized top-grade earth-element spiritual vein. Although its coverage was not large, it could still cultivate over a thousand acres of top-grade spiritual fields.

In the short term, it wasn't as valuable as the Boundless Treasure Ring, but as a fixed asset that could generate continuous economic benefits, its long-term value was immeasurable over ten, a hundred, or a thousand years.

Even Wang Shouzhe, who was accustomed to seeing great gains, couldn't help but smile. He immediately allocated a hundred acres, dividing them equally between the Lu Clan of Changning and the Gongsun Clan of Changning.

These two were his maternal clans, and their descendants had increasingly close marital ties. They also contributed to the development. Supporting and nurturing them well would make them the Wang Clan's most steadfast allies and a great help in the future.

"Thank you, Cousin Shouzhe. You're so good to me."

Lu Xiaoxiao smiled happily, wanting to kiss her cousin but lacking the courage. Instead, she grabbed the innocent Wang Anye beside her and gave him a big kiss, pretending he was her cousin Shouzhe when he was young.

"Haha~" Ancestor Mang laughed heartily, "Following Shouzhe's lead is always rewarding. I just tagged along, and I got such great benefits."

Ancestor Mang knew that Wang Shouzhe always took good care of the Gongsun Clan and remembered Ancestor Mang's care for the Wang Clan in the past.

In short, everyone was very satisfied with the gains this time.

After finishing this "dungeon," the pre-expansion clearing operations continued.

The specific mode was as follows: First, multiple Celestial Realm ancestors formed teams to jointly kill high-level fifth and sixth-order fierce beasts and clear their nests. Then, teams composed of the core forces of each clan at the Lingtai Realm would clear the nests of third and fourth-order fierce beasts.

In the third step, the younger generation of the Wang Clan, leading family guards and soldiers, would conduct a grid-style clearing, eliminating the scattered first and second-order fierce beasts.

At this stage, the Wang Clan's engineering team could enter the outer regions to start basic construction work, such as building bridges, clearing waterways, and constructing defensive works in narrow areas.

Of course, this was a long process with a vast amount of work. It couldn't be rushed and had to be done step by step.

……

While the Wang Clan was conducting a grand clearing operation in the outer regions.

Guilong City was also bustling with excitement.

The story of Wang An'nan being beaten to tears by his cousin, the great prodigy Miss Liyao, spread like wildfire throughout Guilong City, becoming a hot topic for families to discuss over meals.

Guilong City, White Cloud Tower.

Now the most popular "internet-famous" restaurant in Guilong City, White Cloud Tower was bustling with customers even without a scheduled great prodigy battle. Every private and public seat was filled, and a long queue formed outside.

Despite having to share thirty percent of the revenue with Miss Liyao, which caused him some minor frustration, the Commandery Prince of Heng was counting money until his hands cramped from smiling too much.

"Miss Liyao's suggestion was excellent." In a private room, the Commandery Prince of Heng, who had made a fortune, personally poured tea for Wang Liyao. "Hosting prodigy invitation battles and ranking battles during the breaks between great prodigy battles was a stroke of genius. It satisfies the 'middle class' who can't afford to watch the great prodigy battles, keeps the excitement alive, and makes everyone accustomed to paying attention to White Cloud Tower."

The "middle class" in the Commandery Prince's words were not ordinary civilians but at least direct descendants of fifth-grade families or direct descendants of sixth-grade families in Guilong City.

Ordinary people wouldn't even have the courage to approach within thirty meters of White Cloud Tower, let alone dine there.

"Your Highness flatters me. It's just a small trick." Wang Liyao lifted her veil and drank her spiritual tea calmly.

She would never call him "Uncle Heng." The age difference was too great, and it was too embarrassing.

The Commandery Prince of Heng didn't mind her refusal to change her address. It didn't matter what she called him as long as he recognized her as his niece. The most important thing was that this niece could bring him endless wealth.

"By the way, do you know what happened to Wang An'nan after he went back?" The Commandery Prince of Heng asked mysteriously, looking very knowledgeable.

"Most likely, he was beaten again and then carried over to apologize to me." Wang Liyao said calmly.

In fact, this great prodigy trial battle was all part of her father's plan, including choosing White Cloud Tower and timing it with the Big Eater contest finals. All the details were orchestrated by Wang Shouzhe.

Otherwise, according to Tianhe Daoist's plan, Wang Liyao would have entered the capital when she reached the mid-Celestial Realm, around the fourth layer. However, Wang Shouzhe learned of this and personally went to Longzuo Academy to find Tianhe Daoist, stopping the plan and delaying it until now.

As for Wang An'nan, even if the Commandery Prince of Heng hadn't invited him, her father had plans to provoke him into participating and give him a good lesson.

This was one of her father's pre-set plans. Regardless of Wang An'nan's actions, there were follow-up plans for him.

In other words, Wang An'nan's "beating" was inevitable.

However, only a few people knew about this series of plans. If the Commandery Prince of Heng knew it was all planned, he might regret sharing hundreds of thousands of revenue with Liyao.

And if Wang An'nan knew, he might be so angry that he would vomit blood and be bedridden.

As a result.

The various possible reactions of the Daqian Wang's Clan were all within Wang Shouzhe's predictions. Of course, the most likely scenario was what Wang Liyao described.

"Wow, niece, you're impressive." The Commandery Prince of Heng was quite surprised, "Do you have spies in the Duke of Dingguo's mansion?"

As they were talking, a servant reported from outside, "Your Highness, Miss Liyao, the head of the Duke of Dingguo's mansion, Wang Yuchang, is here and has sent a message requesting to see Miss Liyao, saying he is here to apologize."

"This is... quite fast~" The Commandery Prince of Heng's expression changed slightly, then he understood, "It's no wonder. The Duke of Dingguo's mansion has been silent for too long, and they haven't produced a great prodigy for hundreds of years. Their strength is almost at the bottom among third-grade families. If they can connect with Miss Liyao, they can greatly enhance their family's prestige. How could they miss such a good opportunity?"

"Please invite Master Yuchang in." The Commandery Prince of Heng smiled, "I heard that the current head of the Yuchang family is a clever young man. The Duke of Dingguo's mansion has improved under his management. It seems he is indeed very clever."

With the Commandery Prince's status, he didn't need to greet Master Yuchang personally. If it were a Divine Realm ancestor from the Wang Clan, he would have to go to the door and greet them politely.

Not long after.

On the black iron arena, just after a prodigy ranking match ended, several Celestial Realm family guards dressed in Wang Clan uniforms carried a stretcher onto the stage.

Such a scene naturally attracted countless attention.

"Hey? The one on the stretcher looks like the famous Wang An'nan..."

"It's not just looks like, it is him... I remember Wang An'nan left walking, but now he's so badly injured? Is the Wang Clan bringing him here to confront Miss Liyao?"

"Sigh~ This time, Miss Liyao was indeed a bit reckless. Although she comes from the same Wang Clan, she is from a sixth-grade family. The Duke of Dingguo's mansion, however, has a Divine Realm ancestor. Being humiliated like this, they probably can't swallow their pride."

The murmurs from the audience below were like gusts of wind, reaching Wang An'nan's ears. Even in his state of despair, he couldn't help but feel his face burning with shame.

He, Wang An'nan, had lost face on a grand scale this time. He felt he had let down his ancestors. He wished he could faint and escape this living nightmare.

"Slow down," the head of the family, Wang Yuchang, said with a face as dark as ink, walking behind the stretcher with his hands behind his back. "Let everyone have a good look, and let this brat suffer a bit more."

"Yes, Master."

The Wang Clan's guards obeyed, slowing their already slow pace to a crawl, even taking detours and walking three steps forward and two steps back.

This only intensified the murmurs.

Wang An'nan, half-lying on the stretcher, endured the scorching gazes from all directions. The words of the crowd felt like poison, making him wish for death.

In the past, Wang An'nan was the apple of his family's eye, a beloved grandson and great-grandson.

Now?

He had become a tool to appease Wang Liyao.

It seemed that as long as Wang Liyao was happy, his family would gladly break not just two of his legs but three if necessary.

What's so great about being a great prodigy? Wang An'nan thought, feeling wronged and sniffling, tears of sorrow streaming down his face.

Finally, they reached the arena.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Wang Yuchang stepped forward, his face stern and serious, and glanced in the direction of the Commandery Prince of Heng's private room.

Just as everyone thought he was about to speak out in anger.

Wang Yuchang cleared his throat, suddenly putting on a smile, and his deep voice rang out, "Liyao, our family’s Wang An'nan, that unfilial brat, dared to disrespect his elders and speak arrogantly. I have already ordered your cousin Shida to personally break his legs."

"What?"

This unexpected turn of events caused an uproar. Many people's faces went blank for a moment.

The Duke of Dingguo's mansion wasn't here to demand justice but to apologize?

But that wasn't all.

Wang Yuchang turned on the stage and sternly said to the person behind him, "Wang Shida, as they say, 'If a child is not taught, it is the father's fault.' Wang An'nan's arrogance and disrespect are also your responsibility. Kneel and apologize to your Aunt Liyao!"

As his words fell, a middle-aged man in luxurious clothing stepped out from the crowd behind him, head lowered, and walked to the side of Wang An'nan's stretcher.

Just as he was about to kneel with a thud.

Suddenly.

A graceful figure descended from the highest private room of White Cloud Tower, raising a delicate hand. An invisible force lifted Wang Shida, preventing him from kneeling.

At the same time.

Her clear, indifferent voice rang out, "Master Yuchang, please don't do this. Our Changning Wang Clan has not yet acknowledged kinship with your esteemed family, nor have we verified the records of our lineage. I, Wang Liyao, cannot accept being called Aunt."

Wang Liyao's voice was cold and distant, carrying a sense of detachment.

Wang Yuchang and Wang Shida's hearts sank, both feeling that things were not going well. They couldn't help but cast reproachful glances at Wang An'nan on the stretcher.

……