“Patriarch, someone’s breached the sealing barrier!”
“And they’ve injured our clansmen!”
The branch clan members cried out in alarm.
As those words rang out, two figures streaked through the air, landing beside the Wuma Heavenly Clan’s patriarch among the main branch.
It was, of course, Chu Feng and Bai Liluo.
Their arrival made even the branch clan patriarch, Wuma Yantian, furrow his brow—let alone the other branch clansmen.
Moments ago, they’d stood lofty and godlike, but now unease crept onto their faces.
After all, Bai Liluo radiated the aura of a Ninth Rank Venerable.
That power outstripped their patriarch by a full rank.
They all understood what that meant.
Trouble had arrived.
“I underestimated you. To think you’d call in such reinforcements,” Wuma Yantian said, his gaze on the main branch patriarch thickening with killing intent.
“Are those two the patriarch’s hired help?”
“The patriarch had a plan all along!”
“We’re saved! We’re saved!”
Wuma Yantian’s words sparked wild joy among the main branch clansmen—a sensation of escaping death’s jaws.
A Ninth Rank Venerable—enough to take on the entire branch clan.
The sudden turn left many weeping with relief. The cries echoing through the sea of people didn’t lessen—they grew louder.
Before, they’d wept in despair. Now, it was hope.
But neither branch nor main clan knew that even the Wuma Heavenly Clan’s patriarch was bewildered.
He’d sought aid from other forces, yes, but none had replied—let alone offered help. He’d long given up hope.
Now, two strangers appeared out of nowhere, one a peak Venerable powerhouse. It stunned him as much as anyone.
He mentally ran through every possible ally who might assist them.
But none matched these two.
“Branch clan, don’t push too far,” Chu Feng called out, his voice altered so even the patriarch and Wuma Shengjie couldn’t recognize it.
“Who are you to meddle here?” Wuma Yantian demanded coldly. Though Chu Feng and Bai Liluo’s arrival troubled him, he showed no fear.
“My identity doesn’t matter. What matters is your actions—they defy all reason and justice,” Chu Feng replied. “The main branch agreed to your shameless demands, and you still want to wipe them out? Are you even human?”
His words struck a nerve, igniting Wuma Yantian’s fury. Pointing at Chu Feng, he roared, “You mongrel, who’re you calling the branch clan? Who’s the branch here?”
“We’re the true line! If anyone’s the branch, it’s these wastes—not us!”
His voice thundered, brimming with killing intent. He was truly enraged.
“The branch is the branch. Face reality—don’t delude yourselves,” Chu Feng retorted. “If you weren’t the branch back then, why bother oppressing the main clan now? It’s just old grudges festering into revenge. When the main clan was strong, they never bullied you this badly—never thought to exterminate you. Look at what you’re doing today—it’s the difference between good and evil. In terms of heart alone, you branch clansmen fall far short of the main clan. No wonder you’re the branch and they’re the main. That’s the reason, isn’t it?”
The main branch clansmen nodded inwardly.
Chu Feng had voiced their very thoughts.
In their heyday, they’d suppressed the branch clan out of necessity, but still treated them as family.
Not like this branch—bent on annihilation.
The branch clansmen, though, grew livid.
Especially Wuma Yantian. He stood, fury etched across his face, his killing intent surging. A heavenly thunder rune blazed on his forehead.
With it, his aura leaped from Eighth Rank Venerable to Ninth Rank.
“I don’t know who you are, but for that arrogant rant, I’ll take your miserable life today,” Wuma Yantian snarled, the air turning frigid with his intent to strike.
“Wait.”
A voice cut through—Bai Liluo’s.
Her words startled everyone, even Wuma Yantian, who’d been poised to attack Chu Feng in his rage. He halted abruptly.
They’d all heard it—a girl’s voice.
Not just any woman—a child’s voice.
And they felt it came from the shorter figure.
No one had expected this diminutive stranger to be a girl.
Was she disguising herself, or was she truly a child?
The question gripped everyone, Wuma Yantian included.
If it was a disguise, fine.
But if she was really a child—a child with peak Venerable cultivation?
No such prodigy existed in the Ancestral Martial Starfield.
If she was an outsider, what kind of backing did such power imply? The thought alone was terrifying.
Who’d dare cross her?
“This has nothing to do with you. Leave now, and I’ll let it slide,” Wuma Yantian said. Though he sensed this Ninth Rank Venerable might be extraordinary, he masked his unease with bravado.
“You’ve misunderstood. I just wanted to warn you about something,” Bai Liluo replied.
“What?” Wuma Yantian asked.
“I’d advise you not to touch him. If you dare, this girl will beat you so bad even your grandma won’t recognize you,” Bai Liluo said sweetly.
