Chapter 71: The Six Great Clans

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The return of Ye Xue and Luo Qingyuan, two personal disciples, to the sect caused a minor stir. Soon after, the upper echelons of the Demon Talisman Sect suppressed the matter, and silence fell all around. No one dared to inquire about or discuss the events of the Archaic Secret Realm any longer.

Not long after, the Luo family released word that they had welcomed a new son-in-law of extraordinary talent. This cultivator, named Pang Yue, had formed a Daoist partnership with Luo Qingyuan.

Beneath the rank of personal disciple in the Demon Talisman Sect, whether among the inner or outer sect, this was considered a significant event. Even among the personal disciples, quite a few paid secret attention to the news.

With some probing by the curious, new rumors soon broke out. The Luo family’s new son-in-law was, unbelievably, an elder of another distinguished family—the Xu family! Aside from having won two decisive duels many years ago, this Xu Daoist had no other notable achievements. His cultivation talent was considered mediocre, and he seemed like just another face in the crowd.

No one could have expected that Luo Qingyuan, with her golden core potential, would choose such a partner. The Xu family was completely bewildered and hurried to the Yuan Demon Hall to seek instructions from their patriarch, Xu Wentian, who was in seclusion.

Just then, the Luo family released another message: their son-in-law Pang Yue had applied for the sect’s personal disciple assessment, which the True Demon Hall would soon administer.

The news caused an uproar.

The status of a personal disciple in the Demon Talisman Sect was dazzling—at times, even more renowned than a golden core cultivator, since the latter appeared only once in a century and seemed unimaginably distant to ordinary foundation and qi-cultivating disciples. Below the golden core, the personal disciples reigned supreme. So, every time a new personal disciple candidate emerged, all eyes would be drawn!

All the more so this time, for this candidate seemed to have quite the story.

...

Ming Lake Island.

Water Mirror Pavilion.

Pang Yue and Luo Qingyuan sat across from each other, a tea table between them. Qin Shuyi knelt gracefully to one side, meticulously preparing tea.

The sound of flowing water accompanied the air, like celestial music, trickling gently, and soon the scent of tea wafted from the table. Qin Shuyi bowed slightly, offering Luo Qingyuan a cup of spiritual tea and said softly, “Senior Sister Luo, please enjoy the tea.”

Luo Qingyuan smiled, her beautiful eyes glancing at Qin Shuyi as she accepted the cup. She sipped elegantly, feeling as if she were drinking cool dew, the taste exceptionally pure.

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It was as if sweet rain gathered at the crown of her head, and the sensation brought clarity to her spirit.

She set down the cup and smiled. “I’ve long heard tales of your unrivaled beauty, Shuyi. Now that I’ve seen you, your reputation is well deserved.”

“Senior Sister Luo flatters me. Compared to you, I am but an ordinary woman,” Qin Shuyi replied, her expression serene, neither proud nor humble, as she poured a cup for Pang Yue.

Luo Qingyuan made no comment, her eyes turning to Pang Yue with a half-smile. “I hear you also have a demon beauty as your furnace, a peerless enchantress. Why not invite her to join us?”

“Enough joking, let’s discuss business first,” Pang Yue replied languidly, shifting the topic.

Luo Qingyuan bit her lip, glared at him, then, unable to maintain her stern face, burst into laughter. “All right, I’ll stop teasing you. If you find your furnaces too few, I can find you a few more.”

With that, she glanced meaningfully at Qin Shuyi.

Qin Shuyi kept her gaze lowered, sitting with perfect poise, her slender, graceful figure outlined by her posture.

Luo Qingyuan collected herself and spoke seriously. “There’s a complication with the personal disciple assessment.”

Pang Yue raised an eyebrow. “What complication?”

Luo Qingyuan replied, “The assessment for personal disciples of the Demon Talisman Sect is handled and overseen by the True Demon Hall. Generally, the candidate must battle three current personal disciples in succession and earn their approval to advance.”

“I had used my family’s connections to arrange for three personal disciples, but someone intervened and replaced them with three others.”

Pang Yue frowned. “The True Demon Hall is the sect master’s domain, above the Five Halls of Flame, Wind, Thunder, Ice, and Origin. Who has the authority to alter the assessment arbitrarily?”

Within the Demon Talisman Sect, aside from the Five Halls, there were four other halls of exalted status.

The True Demon Hall belonged to the sect master’s lineage and led all others. The Hall of Enforcement upheld discipline within and executed the sect’s enemies without, being the most ruthless of all. The Hall of Scriptures managed the sect’s inheritances and countless secret arts, mostly occupied by those devoted to studying techniques. The Hall of Merit controlled the treasury and rewards, serving as the sect’s operational hub.

These four halls did not have their own inner disciples or unique inheritances. Instead, they periodically selected inner disciples from the Five Halls to be promoted and groomed as personal disciples.

In other words, within these four halls, aside from the hall heads and golden core elders, all were personal disciples.

Luo Qingyuan sighed. “If my Luo family can use connections to influence the True Demon Hall, so can others.”

Pang Yue snorted. “It must be one of the Six Great Clans, then?”

Luo Qingyuan nodded. “It’s the Ping family.”

“Gu, Huang, Ping, Luo, Meng, Huo… The Ping family’s power surpasses yours, no wonder!” Pang Yue laughed, clearly unconcerned by the Ping family’s interference.

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Of the six great golden core families, Pang Yue had dealt with the Gu family in his early years at sea. He also had dealings with the Meng family, and Meng Zitiao was on friendly terms with him. Now, as a member of the Luo family, only three remained unfamiliar to him.

Among the six, the Gu family was the richest, and their patriarch was said to be immensely powerful. Rumor had it that he lost the contest for the sect master’s seat years ago and left the sect in anger.

The Huang family boasted a golden core cultivator stationed at the True Demon Hall, serving as the vice sect master—a figure of unfathomable strength, making their standing second only to the Gu family.

The Ping family had three golden core cultivators, all serving as elders in the Demon Talisman Sect. One was even the head of the Thunder Demon Hall, his strength ranking among the top five golden cores in the sect.

The Luo family rivaled the Ping family, with their patriarch Luo Zhiyin heading the Hall of Enforcement, her prowess second to none except perhaps the Thunder Hall master. Only in number of golden core elders did the Luo family fall short.

Luo Qingyuan frowned. “In years past, the Luo and Ping families arranged a marriage alliance and betrothed me to a Ping family youth. But he later left to cultivate at the Heavenly Demon Sect and lost contact. The matter was dropped…”

“Who could have guessed that, just as we returned to the sect, he too returned to the Ping family, even earlier than us.”

“He’s the one meddling in this affair.”

Pang Yue was momentarily speechless, then asked, “How strong is he?”

The Heavenly Demon Sect stood even above the Demon Talisman Sect, with an ancient and profound legacy; by comparison, the Demon Talisman Sect was lacking.

“He has already formed his golden core,” Luo Qingyuan said, glancing at Pang Yue. “And his core is of the second grade—he’s become one of the ten new Demon Children of the Heavenly Demon Sect.”

Pang Yue: “…”

...

Mount Zhuoguang.

Within a certain cave-dwelling.

A white-robed cultivator sat quietly on a meditation mat. He appeared only in his early twenties, slender and sharp-featured, his expression icy. His white robe was immaculate, untouched by dust.

Across from him sat a burly man with a rough face and a thick beard, his eyes gleaming as he stared at the white-robed cultivator.

“So, Brother Ning, have you come to a decision?” the big man asked in a deep voice.

Ning Daozhen let out a long breath. “Since Brother Ping has instructed it, how could I refuse?”

The big man grinned wickedly. “You and he are sworn enemies—then you’ll go in the first round. Best to just kill that Pang fellow outright!”

Ning Daozhen smiled faintly. “Brother Ping, your elder brother never said to kill Pang Yue—only… to make him wish for death.”