Death… and me

It's your turn to act on the stage… then it's my turn.

Ao Tian Xing and Chu Yang had been performing this play in that manner. It was naturally Ao Xie Yun's turn to put on a show now.

What Ao Clan's six geniuses had done during these days was finally exposed under Ao Xie Yun's indictment.

Ao Tian Xing became angry. His chest throbbed wildly. He almost spat out a mouthful of blood with 'blurgh' sound.

He angrily screamed, "Capture this group of bastards for me!"

He had finally found a justification for Ao Clan's purging.

Or, it could be said that this great purging's climax which had been planned by Ao Tian Xing himself had finally come.

Six-hundred people of the Ao Clan had come out this time… Almost all of the Emperor Level Experts had come out. However, the ones that belonged to Ao Tian Feng and the other traitors weren't more than fifty.

Moreover, all the main personalities were present in each group.

Destroy the leader, and the gang will collapse!

The remaining captured people in the clan wouldn't make any move as long as these people remained with their hands tied and waited to be captured.

Arresting them all was as easy as blowing off wind.

These people also knew that they had already lost. They almost didn't oppose it. Only Ao Tian Feng and the others cussed a few times. But then, they were knocked down on the spot.

"Xie Yun, how we're going to deal with these people depends on you now." Ao Tian Xing squinted, and looked at his own son. It was hard to tell what he felt at that time. He just sighed, and said, "They are all your uncles."

Ao Xie Yun hesitated a bit.

It was quite obvious that his father was testing his heart.

To put it bluntly… Ao Clan's purging should've been done by Ao Xie Yun. But, his father had done all this. There was no doubt that his father had been very brutal in tempering him regarding his future growth.

Ao Xie Yun hesitated for a long time. And, the looks in his eyes changed irregularly. Ao Tian Xing firmly fixed his eyes on his son, and waited for his reply.

Chu Yang coughed.

Ao Xie Yun finally summoned his courage and said, "May I dare to ask father… would these uncles have been good towards us father-and-son if you and I had been defeated and captured today?"

Ao Tian Xing's eyes lit up, "Very good!"

He was gratified. He said with a little heartache and contradiction in his heart, "One can't have womanly compassion while dealing with important things. It's cruel if brothers destroy each other, but this is how you survive. He'll kill you if you don't kill him!

"You don't need to have any intolerance or take pity on him since he has already started to deal with you. It's because he isn't your relative now. One should never allow oneself to be shackled by blood ties."

Ao Tian Xing slowly instructed, "Your heart will be strengthened after you've passed through such a tragedy even if you-yourself will be oblivious to it. But, all the culprits that'll die at your hands are your own blood relatives in the end. So, it'll be hard to avoid your inner demon! Therefore, an ordinary successful leader won't be able to reach to the peak of his cultivation. It's because he would have to conduct a lot of unnecessary massacre and crafty plots and machinations in the process to get to the leading position. This all can make his conscience shaky. And, it would also become his biggest barrier. You must especially pay attention to this point.

"Therefore, our Ao Clan always makes sure to find excuses and play tricks. And, we've always done it like this. We don't set into action as long as they don't deal with us.

"We don't know how to prevent accidents before they occur. And, we also don't know how to strike first, and gain the upper hand… We work by our own rules! We may deceive others or ourselves. But, we would always have a reason behind it. You can at least comfort yourself later with an excuse that you're not the instigator if it isn't in your control."

Ao Tian Xing deeply sighed, "It's because it would always be them who had initiated the fight no matter who wins or loses. So, we'll be calm at heart thinking of this. It won't be serious even if we feel guilty.

"Therefore, I had intentionally sent them this time… so that I could give them a reason to set into action against you and give us a reason for purging them."

Ao Xie Yun slowly said, "Father, weren't you… weren't you afraid…"

"Afraid that they'll kill you? No! You can't be killed so easily!" Ao Tian Xing casually said, "But, it would explain that you deserved it if you had died like this. And then, I would've cancelled the purging plan. Then, I would've handed over the authority to the next generation."

Ao Xie Yun was stunned by this reply. He truly didn't know that his father had so much faith in him!

"It's because you're different from us!" Ao Tian Xing said in a low voice, "You're the first man to appear in our Ao Clan in more than a thousand years who doesn't need to worry about life and death!"

Ao Xie Yun suddenly felt dizzy.

[First man in more than a thousand years who doesn't need to worry about life and death?]

[What does it mean?]

"Do you know we are surnamed Ao?" Ao Tian Xing seriously asked.

Ao Xie Yun felt like laughing. However, he didn't do so in the end.

[Why are we surnamed Ao? Do you need to ask this? Our ancestors were surnamed Ao. Could it be that we could change this surname at our will?] But then, he didn't dare to laugh as he saw the serious look on his father's face.

He had no other choice but to ask, "Then… why are we surnamed Ao?" He didn't know whether to laugh or to cry while speaking this sentence.

"It wasn't until a thousand years ago that our Ao Clan found a place to live here. We've established our home here. We had been just a tiny clan at that time." Ao Tian Xing looked at Chu Yang.

Ao Xie Yun immediately came to a realization. He then hurriedly said, "Brother Chu isn't an outsider. Father, you don't need to be wary of him."

Ao Tian Xing sighed, and deeply looked at Chu Yang. Chu Yang lightly smiled, and said, "Brother Ao is having a conversation. So, I might as well step back for the time being," he stood up as he said this.

"Hold on." Ao Tian Xing held out his hand, and stopped him. "The future world belongs to you youngsters. Minister Chu, stay here, and be a witness. We never know what might happen in the future."

Chu Yang touched his nose. He forced a smile and stayed without having a better option. He thought in his heart, [You had been abstaining from me just a while ago. And, you're the one insisting me to stay now… Is there something wrong with this Clan Lord of Ao Clan?]

"Our ancestors had unintentionally discovered that there was an incomparably huge Dragon's vein deep under the manor of our Ao Clan after they had established our home." Ao Tian Xing lowered his voice.

Chu Yang was immediately dumbstruck. His eyeballs almost popped out of his head.

He wasn't shocked because of the Dragon's vein. But, he recalled that Tan Tan had said the same thing to Meng Luo when Tan Tan had been pretending to be Young Master Ye. He had said, [There's an incomparably huge Dragon's vein in Ao Clan!]

But, Tan Tan hadn't come to know anything at that time. He had only been talking without thinking.

So, how could Chu Yang have imagined that the words that Tan Tan had been saying just to brag shamelessly and shoot off from his mouth would also come out from this Clan Lord's mouth?

Chu Yang almost fainted in a moment.

[Oh God!]

[You're not playing with me, right?]

Ao Xie Yun was obviously shocked as well, "Dragon's vein?"

"Shush!" Ao Tian Xing seriously said.

Ao Xie Yun opened his mouth, but was unable to say anything.

"And, there was a huge treasure buried in this Dragon's vein!" Ao Tian Xing sighed, "But, it was unfortunate that we couldn't take it out."

Chu Yang groaned in his throat. His eyeballs almost pounded on the ground.

He had just one thought at this moment, [I'll catch Tan Tan, and interrogate him. I'll check whether this guy is a fortuneteller.]

It was because Tan Tan had said the same thing back then, [There's a great treasure buried in the Dragon's vein of Ao Clan. And, it needs the pure blood of the direct descendent of Ao Clan to open it.]

It was overlapping again now…

"Great treasure is buried? And, we can't take it out?" Ao Xie Yun anxiously asked, "Then… how can it be opened?"

Ao Tian Xing felt a sense of loss, and sighed. He said, "Pure blood of our clan is needed to open it…"

Chu Yang was flabbergasted. He sat down on the ground.

[Motherfu*ker!]

[My fu*king god!]

"Minister Chu, what happened to you?" Ao Tian Xing jumped in fright.

"No… nothing…" Chu Yang stood up, and patted his buttocks. He then rubbed his temples in a daze with his other hand. [Oh God! This is nuts!]

[Tan Tan had said all that as if he had been talking rubbish without thinking. I couldn't have expected that there would come up a justification of his lies after such a long time.]

Ao Xie Yun immediately became distressed. "You couldn't open it. So, I'll also be unable to open it. Wouldn't we just stare blankly and helplessly at it?"

"Wrong! It's true that we can't open it. But, you hopefully can!" Ao Tian Xing seriously said.

Chu Yang started to get dizzy again. Tan Tan had also said that Ao Xie Yun could open it…

"I can open it?" Ao Xie Yun was obviously confused. [I have the blood of my father. And, my father himself can't open it. So, how can my blood open it?]

"Yes! You're the only one who has appeared after a millennium in the Ao Clan who can probably open the treasure." Ao Tian Xing earnestly said.

Chu Yang and Ao Xie Yun became dizzy at the same time…

It's just that both of them had different reasons to be dizzy.

"We unintentionally found a secret technique only until later. Then, we got to know… it was the wheel of fate that our Ao Clan had come and settled here." Ao Tian Xing said.

"Wheel of fate?!" Ao Xie Yun foolishly asked.

"Yes. That's because, we discovered that our Ao Clan possessed the bloodline of the ancient dragon race after we examined the methods of the secret technique that had been passed on!"

Ao Tian Xing said in an excited voice, "This explains why we got the surname Ao! It's because the dragon race is collectively called Ao!"

Ao Xie Yun took big mouthfuls of heavy breaths. He then opened his eyes wide like copper bells. They were filled with an incredulous look.

"And, the treasure buried and sealed inside this Dragon's vein belonged… to the Dragon Race!" Ao Tian Xing said word by word, "Moreover, it also includes god knows how many years of lifetime savings of the Master of Nine Tribulations Sword!"

[Buried treasure! Lifetime savings of Master of Nine Tribulations Sword!]

Chu Yang also began to pant as if he almost choked. He then opened his eyes wide like copper bells. His eyes were filled with an incredulous look. Tan Tan had blurted out at that time, [There's a treasure in there. Moreover, the treasure belongs to the Master of Nine Tribulations Sword…]

Chu Yang soundlessly groaned.

[Oh heavens! Strike me down by a lightning. I can't believe it. I can't bear what I'm seeing and hearing today; especially when I relate it with that day. My heart is about to explode…]

Ao Xie Yun hadn't gone through that all. So, he seemed comparatively calm. "But, that doesn't explain that I can…"

"You can!"

Ao Tian Xing said with confidence.

"Our ancestors couldn't recover the Dragon Race's bloodline for these many years. But, you're completely different from us!" Ao Tian Xing had a proud look in his eyes. "Do you know about the abnormality that your left foot has?"

"Abnormality?" Ao Xie Yun suddenly shook all over, "Father, you mean…"

"You have something strong growing firmly on the arch of your left foot since the day you were born…" Ao Tian Xing's eyes were sparking… His eyes were blazing, "… dragon scales!"

….