Arc 2 Part 28
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Xie Yu's face suddenly changed.
Looking at the array in front of him, he was filled with not only anger, but also barely-concealed fear.
He hadn't expected that his family, the one that raised him, could go to such lengths.
For the resources in Su Zui's hands, they even launched their protective array.
The Xie family, more prosperous than its current state, inherited the home protection array for hundreds of years, continuously maintained by its members. It was not inferior to the top-tier families. Once the array was activated, even an ant wouldn't be able to crawl out.
The family was proud of this.
Because triggering the array consumed a huge amount of energy every minute, it was only initiated for major events that threatened the foundation of the family.
Even if used against those long-established masters in the spiritual world, it would more than suffice, let alone against two juniors like them.
Although Xie Yu knew that Su Zui was very powerful, Su Zui was but young and not as mature as him. The protective array wasn't something one or two people could easily disrupt.
This time, he had implicated Su Zui.
It was all his fault, thinking about making Su Zui their guest, and persistently persuading him. Otherwise, Su Zui wouldn't have decided to come.
All this trouble, it was all his fault!
Before his parents passed away, they had urged him not to harbor resentment towards his family. Hence, over the years, he had diligently adhered to their teachings, not intentionally considering the others in a negative light.
But the evil in human nature far exceeded his imagination.
His naivety had not only harmed him but also put Su Zui, who had helped him, in trouble, which left him feeling defeated and ashamed.
Xie Yu stood still, his face changing unpredictably.
For a moment, he was tempted to confront his family, but under their roof, he was cautious. Fearing his anger might put Su Zui in more danger, he swallowed it down.
His hand, gripping the strap of his backpack, tightened to the point that veins popped visible on his hand.
The patriarch of the Xie family leisurely sipped his tea, enjoying the sight of Xie Yu's distressed expression.
The gloom he felt because his son was admonished in front of him finally began to lift.
He took a breath of relief seeing Xie Yu's discomfort and turned to look at Su Zui, hoping for another mental victory.
However, to his surprise, despite the large array in front, the young man's face was unexpectedly calm.
Su Zui lazily raised his eyes to look at the array in front of him, then let his gaze drop again, his fingers idly fondling the phoenix spirit jade at his neck.
In his heart, he secretly thought it was a pity.
The array was indeed remarkable but without the ability to refine and carry it, it was of no use.
The patriarch of the Xie family froze for a moment at Su Zui's relaxed demeanor.
However, he soon concluded that Su Zui was pretending to be calm. After all, their family's array, even if some old monsters from the Tao were here, they may not be able to retreat intact.
With a grin that did not reach his eyes, he said to Su Zui, "It's still early, why don't you consider it carefully, Mr. Su?"
Su Zui, finding the array useless, didn't even bother to respond. He looked directly at Xie Yu and asked, "Do you genuinely wish to dissociate from the Xie family?"
Xie Yu nodded firmly.
"Okay," Su Zui said, "Then swear it now."
Xie Yu's heart, consumed by rage and regret, skipped a beat.
Swear?!
In the Tao world, there are generally two ways to sever ties with one's family.
One is through the head of the family initiating a ceremony in the ancestral hall, where under the witness of the ancestors, they would erase Xie Yu's name from the family tree. There is room for reconsideration with this method as the name could be written back, in case of regrets.
The other is to swear an oath to heaven to break away from the family, and following the oath, the name automatically vanishes from the family tree and can never be added back. This method offers no way back, and unless absolutely necessary, very few choose to take such a definitive step.
The expression on the patriarch of the Xie family also stiffened.
Previously, he had assumed that the elder was only threatening Xie Yu by verbally suggesting a severance of relationships.
He had heard that Xie Yu had obtained a great opportunity in the Mystic Realm of Wan Tian and had undergone a complete body transformation. He simply couldn't bear to let go of such a promising individual.
Looking into the future, when his own son, Xie Huai, inherits the Xie family, the timing would be just right for a matured Xie Yu to serve under his son.
Just as he was about to reprimand, Xie Yu had already agreed, "Okay."
His only ties with the Xie family were his deceased parents. Now that the Xie family had pushed him to this point, there was no need for him to stay in such a family any longer.
Su Zui's expression lightened a bit, and he immediately started recruiting, "I'm not taking advantage of your plight. But if you're willing, you're welcome to join our Su family."
Xie Yu: "..."
What did he mean by "taking advantage of one's plight"? The two of them were clearly in bad luck together.
Despite the precarious situation, Xie Yu felt less tense watching how relaxed Su Zui was.
He nodded, "I certainly would. You have helped me so much. As long as it doesn't involve murder and arson, I'm willing to do anything."
Although saying these things now were meaningless, whether they could leave the Xie family was still a question.
As the two of them were happily discussing amongst themselves, the patriarch of the Xie family turned pale with fury, "Xie Yu, you dare!"
Did these two consider him as air?!
Indeed, they treated him as if he were non-existent.
After Xie Yu agreed with Su Zui, he didn't even acknowledge him, and immediately severed his ties with the Xie family.
The Xie family patriarch wanted to stop him, but Su Zui casually threw a talisman that halted him momentarily.
Xie Yu quickly made his vow, groaned, and a trickle of fresh blood seeped out from the corner of his mouth.
This method was ruthless, causing some damage to his own body. However, now that his foundation has improved, it was no issue.
From this point onward, he and the Xie family were completely severed.
Xie Yu felt a sense of unprecedented relief in his heart, not even minding the churn of blood in his chest.
Su Zui, on the other hand, was very concerned. He was still hoping for Xie Yu to work for him, so he quickly fetched a bottle of medicinal pills, "Quick, take this. Don't leave trouble for later."
Xie Yu was indeed a precious asset for his future plans.
The patriarch of the Xie family had nearly fainted with anger, "Betraying the clan is the most outrageous act. Your parents would be ashamed of you from the underworld!"
Xie Yu, while taking the medicine with a cold face, completely ignored him.
Su Zui, however, addressed him, asking, "Didn't you just ask whether the Xie family is a place where I can come and go as I please?"
He was in a good mood today, speaking more conciliatory than usual, and he quickly answered thoughtfully, "Yes, I can come and go as I please."
With that, he conjured hundreds of high-grade thunderbolt talismans.
Though they were high-grade talismans, some were of a divine grade. Gathered in such a large number and arranged according to an ancient formation, their effectiveness multiplied over a dozen times, attracting thunderclaps in a mere few seconds.
The Xie family patriarch was on the verge of bursting with rage. At this point, he realized Su Zui's power was far more terrifying than he had imagined.
"Xie Yu, you are betraying your family and ancestors!"
"Stop... stop now!"
However, no matter how the Xie family members protested, the purple thunderbolts rumbled towards them. A few bolts cracked open the protective formation around the Xie's household, followed by several crackling sounds as the array shattered completely.
Thunderbolts, having shattered the formation, now turned their terrifying might on the Xie family members.
________________________
The news about the Xie family's fruitless endeavor of resource snatching followed by the destruction of their protection array, as well as the injuries the patriarch and several elders had sustained, quickly spread.
The damage was considerable. The destruction of the protection array damaged the prestige of the Xie family by half. All the capable members of the family were injured, specifically by thunderbolts. This kind of injury would seep into the bone and be difficult to remove completely, substantially decreasing the fighting strength of the entire Xie family.
Without exaggeration, the Xie family won't be able to recover in at least the next decade.
Rumors were flying all over the place, with some even describing Su Zui as a cruel person who dealt such ruthless blows to the Xie family.
Su Zui didn't care much about these words and even intentionally allowed them to spread wider. He hadn't been very discreet in the small, confined space he inhabited. Besides the Xie family, there must have been many others aiming at him as well. Being labeled as dangerous, he found himself relishing the tranquility.
As for himself, he had much to do.
After leaving the Xie's residence, he took advantage of the ongoing holiday, took Xie Yu back to the Su family's residence and added him to the family genealogy.
He also mentioned this to his father.
A genealogy is somewhat different from the normal identification paperwork of people. His father, heavily influenced by socialism, had long since abandoned outdated tribal notions. The addition of another name to the family genealogy didn't greatly stir his emotions. After Su Zui explained that it was to carry on their family's inheritance traditions, his father didn't object and instead started asking questions about the inheritance traditions.
Actually, Su Zui did not necessarily need to return to the old residence just to add someone to the genealogy.
There was another objective he had in mind — the protective array of the Su residence.
The formation had been neglected for a long time and was broken. He wanted to take it the last time he visited, but since it was beyond repair at that time, he had set it aside.
This time, after reaping numerous benefits in the confined space, he managed to repair the protective formation of the Su residence quite smoothly. He now carries it with him all the time, finding it more useful than high-grade magical tools.
________________________
"Su Zui, Meng Qingzhi has transferred."
After the National Day holiday, Su Zui noticed that Meng Qingzhi was missing from their class.
Xie Yu, who was well-connected, quickly found out why and filled in Su Zui with a low whisper. "He collected so many magical artifacts in the small enclosed space that others surely wouldn't want to suffer that disadvantage. Before school started, he was ganged up on by a group of disciples from the Mystery Door. Though Meng's family is influential, he wasn't the most talented among them. The family didn't want to anger everyone because of him, so Meng Qingzhi was forced to apologize and then transferred."
It wasn't certain where he had gone.
Logically speaking, Xie Yu should also lose his school slot because of his conflict with the Xie family. However, the Xie family was too scared after the severe shots from Su Zui, they didn't dare to cause trouble for him. Thus, he continued his schooling.
"He brought it upon himself."
Su Zui commented without much care, and then forgot about Meng Qingzhi.
His task this time was unrelated to the protagonist. He listened to the gossip just for a bit of amusement and didn't genuinely care.
He was busy anyway.
After school started, Su Zui began using his spare time to teach Xie Yu the technique of monster taming.
Xie Yu had used the honey from Qin Yuan's bees to cleanse his muscles and marrow, making him somewhat favorable to spiritual beasts, so he was quite suitable for this kind of monster taming technique. Su Zui considered this before he bothered to coax Xie Yu over.
By now, he had no intentions of initiating any beast-taming contracts.
Initially, it was because of the black cat's obstruction, but in fact, his own resolve wasn't that firm either. Otherwise, he wouldn't have given up after one stop.
His personality was a bit indifferent. Unless necessary, he was not particularly keen on establishing a relationship with other creatures.
After all, his task didn't explicitly require him to tame beasts. Anyone else from the various clans could do it just as well.
Su Zui closed the textbook and looked directly at Xie Yu with his deep black eyes, asking concernedly, "How's your study of the techniques? Should we try it out tonight?"
This was the hope of their entire family.
Xie Yu was a bit nervous. "Try... try it out?"
He had never heard of the Su family's beast-taming technique, but as soon as he came into contact with it, he understood its value.
It was precious and unique, and required very specific physical conditions - no wonder it had been lost for so long.
Could he really master this technique? Xie Yu couldn't help but feel some doubt.
But seeing Su Zui's "Give it your all, kiddo, our clan's hope is on you" expression, he was too embarrassed to refuse.
As it turned out, Su Zui's judgment was pretty accurate.
On his first attempt, Xie Yu was successful in taming a low-level spiritual beast.
Even though it was a low-level beast, being able to succeed on the first try was an extremely rare feat. Even according to the records in the ancient books of the Su family, not all those with spiritual bones could succeed on their first try.
Su Zui was very satisfied and taught Xie Yu with even more dedication. By the time the year-end Tao Exchange Meeting began, Xie Yu was already capable of taming mid-level spiritual beasts.
Xie Yu was still somewhat hesitant: "Are we really going to register?"
The Tao Exchange Meeting was an annual gathering of the Tao community.
In addition to the exchange and learning opportunities, there were also sparring matches. It was considered a form of disguised Tao competition.
In the past, he had attended with his family, though he wasn't eligible to participate and could only watch from the sidelines.
Su Zui reassured him, "Don't be nervous, we're just going there to look around."
This was considered one of the most relaxed gatherings in the Tao community. Besides registered Tao families, independent cultivators with certain strength could also participate.
The Su family currently couldn't apply for the qualifying status of a traditional Tao family, so Su Zui registered himself and Xie Yu as independent cultivators.
He wanted to take Xie Yu to this grand event for two reasons. First, the entrance requirements were low; second, significant things that had great impact always happened at this gathering.
In the original book, Meng Qingzhi also attended. He had first made his name known in the Fan Tian small secret realm, and this conference was the second place where he became famous.
The trajectory had changed this time. Meng Qingzhi had gained fame in the small secret realm, but it wasn't a good reputation. It was uncertain if he would still appear at this gathering.
As it turned out, the power of the plot was still stubborn.
Su Zui and Xie Yu happened to be on the same flight as the Meng family, and after landing, Su Zui immediately spotted Meng Qingzhi among the Meng family's group.
Meng Qingzhi appeared somewhat gloomy, and it seemed that he was somewhat excluded by his peers in the Meng family. However, the fact that he arrived showed that he still belonged to the group of young people being groomed by the family.
Despite the incident that angered everyone last time, the Meng family was still willing to bring him to the gathering, which indicated that Meng Qingzhi did have some skills.
Xie Yu muttered incredulously, "Are the Meng family crazy? They're still supporting him after everything?"
Su Zui responded with a noncommittal "Mm" and casually looked away.
As long as Meng Qingzhi didn't provoke him, Su Zui couldn't be bothered to pay attention to him.
However, as he turned his gaze away, it suddenly stopped.
In addition to Meng Qingzhi, he saw another familiar figure, still surrounded by a group of people, like the center of attention.
This time, the man was wearing an ancient-style robe, his long hair tied back. There were many people from the Tao community attending the event, so the ancient attire was not uncommon. He and his clothing matched well, making his appearance not at all jarring. On the contrary, because of his handsome face and outstanding temperament, it was particularly refreshing.
Seemingly noticing Su Zui's gaze, the slender, deep black eyes slightly turned, as if inadvertently meeting Su Zui's gaze.
Su Zui's eyes widened, "…"
This Qing Luan was back!
Su Zui thought to himself, there was no way that fake cat would leave so easily, he was waiting here.
Even though he could fly, he had to take a plane; this was too far-fetched…
The true Qing Luan was thinking the same.
Looking at his boss who, for some unfathomable reason, insisted on taking a plane to attend the Tao gathering, the whole bird was plunged into mystery.
Surely, a small spell could solve the issue, he didn't understand why his boss needed to take a plane and appear in front of everyone.
Didn't the phoenix dislike humans and prefer less contact?
________________________
Author's Note:
Phoenix: Who? Who said that? It certainly wasn't me!
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