Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather Chapter 1703 - 1039: The Struggle for Authority Approaches (2)

"What did he say?"

Yang Qingyu thought for a moment, then said, "He said he doesn’t want to get dragged into some unnecessary trouble."

She had actually wanted to put it more tactfully, but was afraid that if she phrased it too gently, Lin Qihe would misunderstand, so she repeated it according to Yang Zhenshan’s meaning.

Lin Qihe fell silent for a short while. He understood what Yang Zhenshan meant. The Unpredictable Ghost Sect was not a power that was easy to provoke. Now that he was already a mortal enemy of the Unpredictable Ghost Sect, there was no need for Yang Zhenshan to get himself mixed up in everything.

Besides, Yang Zhenshan was already helping him by agreeing to this transaction. With what he had offered, he simply couldn’t match the value of the Purple Flame Crystal Stone.

In truth, this transaction also carried a hint of threat.

The meaning was: if you don’t trade with me, then don’t blame me for going crazy.

As the saying goes, a barefoot man isn’t afraid of someone wearing shoes. Right now, he was the barefoot one, while the Yang family was naturally the one wearing shoes.

He was also out of options. With the Lin family destroyed, he was already all alone. Although he had luckily formed his Core, he had no resources in hand at all, nor any channels to acquire them. At this point he was nothing but a penniless wretch.

This was also why he had brought a pile of junk to trade with the Yang family.

"I understand. This time I’ll count it as owing Yang a favor," Lin Qihe said.

Hearing this, Yang Qingyu secretly let out a breath of relief. "Senior, you’re too polite."

Lin Qihe looked at Yang Qingyu, and a trace of gentle emotion unexpectedly flashed through his deep eyes. He gazed at Yang Qingyu and said, "Thank you for this. This old man will give you a small gift."

As he spoke, he took out a black bead and set it on the tea table. Without waiting for Yang Qingyu to respond, his figure disappeared.

Yang Qingyu stared blankly at the spot where he had vanished, failing to react for quite some time.

"Senior, senior, senior~~"

She called out several times. Seeing that Lin Qihe really seemed to have left, she finally stepped forward and picked up that black bead.

The bead was only about the size of a wooden seed, its whole surface smooth and flawless, a lustrous jet-black color.

"What is this?"

"It seems to be a Magical Treasure."

Yang Qingyu examined the bead, thought for a bit, and still chose to send her Spiritual Sense into it.

The instant her Spiritual Sense touched the bead, her entire consciousness suddenly sank, and she fell into a faint.

When her consciousness cleared again, she found that she was actually in a chaotic space.

All around was a hazy gray; she could see neither sky nor ground.

Where is this place?

Yang Qingyu was somewhat panicked, but after all, she was someone who had seen the world. She only panicked for a brief moment before calming down and starting to study her surroundings.

She discovered that she existed here in the state of a Divine Soul, and within the surrounding space there seemed to faintly drift a great deal of Divine Soul Energy.

She tried using her Divine Soul to absorb that Divine Soul Energy, and at once felt her own Divine Soul become much more substantial.

The next instant, she understood what this was.

A Magical Treasure!

And a Divine Soul–type Magical Treasure at that.

Once she understood what it was, she began refining this Magical Treasure.

After she finished refining this Divine Soul–type Magical Treasure, she completely understood what kind of treasure it was.

The Soul Gathering Pearl!

It could collect Soul Power between Heaven and Earth, condensing it within the bead and transforming it into the purest Power of Divine Soul.

The owner of this treasure could have their Divine Soul enter the Soul Power Space, absorb the Power of Divine Soul, and strengthen their own Divine Soul.

This was an auxiliary Magical Treasure, specialized for assisting in Divine Soul cultivation. Its function was very single-purpose, but it was extremely useful for Yang Qingyu.

No wonder Lin Qihe had called it a small gift.

It truly was a small gift. To Lin Qihe, this Magical Treasure was almost useless. A Golden Core Cultivator’s Divine Soul had already reached the level of Divine Dao Intent; pure Power of Divine Soul held little use for them.

Moreover, Immortal Cultivators focused more on the quality of the Divine Soul rather than its raw power.

A Magical Treasure like the Soul Gathering Pearl was actually more useful to Ghost Cultivators.

Of course, it was also extremely useful to Yang Qingyu, because her Spirit Rhinoceros Sensing Scripture likewise emphasized Divine Soul cultivation. With this Magical Treasure, her cultivation efficiency would increase by at least twenty percent in the future.

In the private room, Yang Qingyu happily played with the Soul Gathering Pearl in her hand. She hadn’t expected that just running this errand would net her such a treasure.

"I wonder who this senior really is. It seems this senior has run into great trouble, otherwise the Patriarch wouldn’t refuse to meet him."

"I hope this senior can overcome his current crisis."

Yang Qingyu offered her blessing with great sincerity.

...

The very next day after Yang Qingyu met with Lin Qihe, a massive Flying Boat a hundred zhang long descended over the eastern part of the Wanhua Mountain Range.

The bone dragon Flying Boat stretched a full hundred zhang, its entire body formed from the gray-white skeleton of a Jiao Long. Between the bones clung dark cyan phosphorescence, as though remnant souls flowed within.

The prow was a complete Jiao Long skull, its giant maw agape, jagged fangs like broken swords bared in uneven rows. Two blood-red Crystal Stones were set into the upper jaw, reflecting a ferocious light like beast pupils under the illumination.

The vertebrae linked together like a great bow, forming the main spine of the Flying Boat. On each bone segment stood triangular bone spurs, the tallest reaching three zhang. Rusted iron chains coiled around the spur tips, their ends hung with skull wind chimes. The ribs on both sides flared outward like unfolded giant fans, the bone plates bound together with Netherworld glue to form dozens of arched cabins. The bone walls were cut with portholes, covered in semi-transparent Jue Xiao, through which the dim yellow glow of lamps inside could vaguely be seen.

The deck was pieced together from flattened breastbones, their surfaces polished smooth and engraved with non-slip scale patterns. A hundred prison cages hung beneath the ribs on both sides, their frames woven from tail vertebrae as thin as finger joints. Now and then, a ghostly green soul fire flickered within the cages.

There was no doubt that this terrifying bone dragon Flying Boat belonged to the Unpredictable Ghost Sect.

Inside the Jiao Long skull at the prow was a spacious hall. Dark cyan Evil Qi condensed upon the cranial vault above the hall. The roots of the teeth along the walls formed shelves holding Soul Crystal Lamps, their eerie blue flames lighting the bone patterns. The floor, polished smooth lower jaw bones, gleamed faintly, while a long table made of vertebrae stood in the center. The eye sockets’ brow bones served as windows, with chains of finger bones as latticework.

Sitting before the vertebrae long table was a figure shrouded head to toe in a black robe, only a pair of ghostly blue eyes visible beneath the black hood.

This figure was An Wusheng, Hall Master of the Soul Control Hall of the Unpredictable Ghost Sect.

"Hall Master, we’ve already entered the range of the Wanhua Mountain Range. Where do we go next?" A Cultivator likewise dressed in a black robe stepped into the skull hall and asked.

An Wusheng lifted his head, revealing a pallid face. "Yu Yuan, where do you think we should start?" he asked.

Yu Yuan was the Director of the Yin Corpse Department of the Soul Control Hall, and also a Golden Core Cultivator.

"The Demon Court," Yu Yuan said.

An Wusheng shook his head. "Right now, we can’t come into conflict with the Demon Court."

"Why?"

"Because we didn’t come here just to find the culprit who destroyed the five Blood Pools."

Yu Yuan’s eyes seemed steeped in blood, even his pupils a dark crimson. He sat beside An Wusheng, pondering. "Hall Master, you mean...?"

An Wusheng grinned, a few traces of ferocity twisting his pale face.

"The Wanhua Mountain Range is a land where spirits gather, breeding Ten Thousand Demons. All these demon beasts are excellent Corpse Ghost material."

Yu Yuan started, sensing a madness he had never seen before.

"Hall Master, if we do this, the Wanhua Demon Court will probably fight us to the death."

"So what? Do you think we can’t fight them?" An Wusheng said with a light laugh.

A grave look appeared on Yu Yuan’s face, crisscrossed with bloodlines.

"Are we really going to do this? Has the Sect Master agreed?"

He was still uneasy. This was no small matter; it could very well spark a great war.

In the past, although their Soul Control Hall had also established Blood Pools in various places, their targets were always Loose Cultivators or small forces, and they rarely provoked Golden Core Cultivators or Demon King Level existences.

But judging by An Wusheng’s tone now, this was targeting the Ten Thousand Demons of the Wanhua Mountain Range!

How many Demon Kings were there in the Wanhua Mountain Range?

To be honest, no one could give an accurate number, because within this vast mountain range lurked who knew how many ancient monsters.

Some rumors might not be true—but they might not be false either.

"What do you think?" An Wusheng countered.

Yu Yuan hesitated. He felt the Hall Master probably wouldn’t hide something like this from the Sect Master, but thinking of An Wusheng’s wanton, unrestrained nature, it didn’t seem impossible that he would stir up trouble behind the Sect Master’s back.

An Wusheng’s lips curled up, as if they were about to split all the way to his ears.

"The struggle for power and authority is coming. We ought to make preparations in advance."

Yu Yuan shuddered all over when he heard this.

"The struggle for power and authority? It’s really coming?"

"It should be."

"Should be?"

"Yes. Perhaps it has already begun, perhaps it will take some more time, but no matter what, it will come in the end."