Chapter 1712 — The Quarrel Begins

"The name of 'great clan' is abolished, starting today. I take it none of you have any objections?" Wei Zhao asked, looking at the heads of the several great clans present.

"None!" Liu Zhenhu was the first to voice his agreement, for he knew that the whole notion of great clans, of whether one was a great clan or not, was now worthless. What had happened today would soon spread far and wide, and the Yu family, once the leaders and arbiters of the great clans, would become a thing of history — and a laughingstock.

These great clans had all been established by the Yu family back in the day. With the Yu family dead, what great clans were there left to speak of? The families close to Wei Zhao would remain formidable even without the name of great clan, while those families that had opposed him — the three that had just walked out, for instance — were destined never again to enjoy their former glory, even if they still bore the title.

"Naturally I have none. The era of the Yu family is over, and old relics like us should step aside and make way for the young. From now on, the Wu family's affairs will be decided by Chentian. This old man will devote himself single-mindedly to his cultivation..." Wu Gonggao was an old fox. He knew his grandson had already acknowledged Wei Zhao as his leader, so no matter whether the Wu family remained a great clan in the future or not, it would not come out the loser. Thus Wu Gonggao voiced his approval of Wei Zhao's words outright.

"I have no problem with it either!" Chen Kuanglan said immediately. "The Chen family will be handed over to Yutian as well."

"I hear you and my Yang Huaijun were once teammates? Then there's even less to discuss — the Yang family naturally agrees as well!" Yang Daocha declared his stance too.

"So you're Shanshan's boyfriend? Then we're family, and there's nothing more to say. Shanshan is in your care from now on, and we of the Song family hope you'll lend us your support as well!" Song Xiangwen was even craftier. From the moment Wei Zhao had entered the meeting room together with Qiu Lingshan, he had more or less guessed at the nature of their relationship.

"That's not right, is it? Old Song, he's plainly my Jingyi's boyfriend — how did he become your Shanshan's?" The Sun family patriarch would have none of it the moment he heard Song Xiangwen's words. Previously, he had been most displeased that Sun Jingyan had gone and found herself a boyfriend out in the world on her own. Though he had heard that her boyfriend was a lone cultivator and a skilled hand of the Profound rank, he had only consented to let Sun Jingyan bring Wei Zhao to meet him on the condition that Wei Zhao agreed to marry into the Sun family as a live-in son-in-law.

But now the Sun patriarch had met Wei Zhao — and met him under these circumstances. As for all that talk of a live-in son-in-law, he no longer cared to bring it up. Even a fool could see how sought-after Wei Zhao was, and how great his value was to these families!

Every clan was now currying favor with Wei Zhao, and he had plainly become the new core of the great clans in place of the Yu family. So the Sun patriarch was not about to be outdone either.

Earlier, he had wanted Sun Jingyan to look over the young talents at the great clan assembly — and wasn't Wei Zhao precisely such a young talent? Here he was, right before their eyes!

"How could that be? Shanshan, tell me — is this Young Hero Wei Zhao your boyfriend?" Song Xiangwen asked Qiu Lingshan.

"Jingyi, the boyfriend you spoke of — it's him, isn't it?" the Sun patriarch countered, refusing to yield.

As for the parties concerned, Qiu Lingshan and Sun Jingyan both flushed. In truth, neither of them was Wei Zhao's girlfriend: Qiu Lingshan was still in the midst of pursuing him, while Sun Jingyan's claim had been pure pretense. How were they supposed to answer?

"I'm the one who's Brother Arrowhead's little wife!" Shen Yushu spoke up. "And anyway, Brother Arrowhead already has three wives — two first wives and two little wives! The two of you squabbling back and forth — what's the point? They're still just in the queue!"

"What?" Song Xiangwen was stunned, and so was the Sun patriarch.

They had no idea why Wei Zhao was called Brother Arrowhead, but the person Shen Yushu meant was almost certainly Wei Zhao. And he already had four wives? Their own granddaughters could only wait in line?

At that thought, Song Xiangwen's brow furrowed. How could a granddaughter of the Song family be someone's concubine — and have to queue up for even that? The Sun patriarch was of the same mind, and he eyed Sun Jingyan with some suspicion.

"Ah, it's good to be a family with a grown granddaughter of marriageable age. I'd like to marry my granddaughter to Wei Zhao, but I don't have one!" Wu Chengtian, the Wu family patriarch, suddenly sighed.

His words were a revelation that woke them from a dream — Song Xiangwen and the Sun patriarch snapped back to their senses at once! Of course! Wei Zhao was a skilled hand of the Earth rank, an existence on par with the finest of the hidden clans. For their granddaughters to marry him as concubines would be no loss at all!

And by the looks of it, Wei Zhao had plainly become the strongest power among the great clans now that the Yu family was gone! Though he was but one man, he was by no means alone and unsupported! He had several underlings, and every one of them was an heir to some clan!

"Queuing is queuing — but we'll still be ahead of your Sun family in that queue!" Song Xiangwen said hastily, terrified that he might lose even the chance to queue.

"And why should you be first? Our Sun family is no worse!" The Sun patriarch was not pleased.

"All right... the two of you old patriarchs, stop quarreling for now!" Wei Zhao smiled wryly. Had he really become such a hot commodity all of a sudden? But he had not come here to seek a bride — he had come to cultivate his own power! So Wei Zhao raised a hand to stop the two from arguing and said, "Shanshan, Jingyi, and I are all very good friends. As for matters of the heart, let nature take its course; we won't discuss that here. What I want to say today is this: the great clans are abolished, but I intend to establish a cultivators' association, and I'd like to invite your families to take part. I wonder how you clan heads feel about that?"

"I've already said it — the Wu family will be run by Chentian from now on, and I won't be involved!" Wu Gonggao declared at once. Whatever Wei Zhao proposed, he would approve! Wu Gonggao was no fool: Wu Chengtian had gone from a mere skilled hand of the Yellow rank to his present strength, peak of the late Profound rank and a master of both inner and outer cultivation. If that were not Wei Zhao's doing, he himself would not believe it!

So the Wu family had reaped the benefits, and naturally it approved of Wei Zhao's decision with both hands.

Yet in the eyes of Wu Chendi, standing behind Wu Gonggao, a flicker of disappointment passed. Ever since Wu Chengtian had revealed his strength at the peak of the late Profound rank, he had been disappointed again and again. The gap between him and Wu Chengtian was too great — he would never catch up.

But he was not reconciled to it. Why should Wu Chengtian be so lucky? He had met a leader as good as Wei Zhao — where had his strength come from? Why should all the good things fall to Wu Chengtian alone, from childhood on, whether in the Wu family or outside it?

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