Even when Shang Xia counter-attacked earlier, he had his mind on something else.
Only when he flung their weapons away did he realize that she was trying to establish her dominance in the Shang Clan by using him as an example.
He didn’t know what happened twenty years ago, and the elders in the clan were reluctant to reveal anything to him. As time slowly passed, Shang Xia no longer bothered to press for an answer.
Even though he had heard the names of his various uncles before, it was the first time he was learning of Shang Jian’s existence!
He wasn’t the only one. Among the later generation disciples of the Shang Clan, many of them didn’t know they had an elder called Shang Jian.
That was also why his relationship with the rest of the members of the clan was pretty estranged. Regardless, his sense of belonging towards the Shang Clan still remained. That was also why the older generation of the Shang Clan was more accepting towards him compared to those in Shang Xia’s generation.
It was a pity the sense of belonging died with him. His children didn’t feel the same way towards the Shang Clan. The feelings were mutual as the members of the Shang Clan found them a little foreign too.
Tossing their sense of belonging to one side, Xu Huizhu and her children’s desire to be accepted into the clan was real. They had been wandering cultivators for as long as they could remember, and the feeling of joining a family was something they yearned for. It was too bad their sense of pride caused them to act in such a way towards Shang Xia. They felt that in order to be accepted and respected in the family, they would have to show off their strength!
One could argue that their method was correct, but the fact was that they had chosen the wrong target to establish their prestige!
Shang Bei and Shang Dong were both in the Martial Extremity Realm. As twins, they had a special set of techniques that would allow them to borrow each other’s strength to display frightening combat abilities. It was a shame they couldn’t even display it in front of Shang Xia. They were defeated in a flash!
Seeing as their plan was destroyed by the other party and her children had suffered some grievances at the hands of Shang Xia, Xu Huizhu couldn’t hold herself back anymore.
The moment she drew her sword, Shang Xia realized why he had found it familiar before. It was similar to Shang Jian’s sword! The only difference was that it was a little shorter.
As the blade left its sheath, the air around Shang Xia solidified. He knew that no matter where he ran, he wouldn’t be able to avoid the sword.
From the feeling he was getting, Shang Xia felt that she was at least at the large completion stage of the Martial Intent Realm.
Even so, Shang Xia wasn’t bothered by her superior cultivation. It wasn’t the first time he fought a Martial Intent Realm cultivator at the large completion stage. To put it bluntly, he even killed a few of them.
Her cultivation was higher than Shang Xia, but when it came to sword techniques, she was far from Shang Xia who had comprehended seven sword intents! After she drew her sword, Shang Xia noticed that there was a serious flaw in her technique despite the power contained in it.
He started to hesitate. He didn’t know if he should straight up defeat her, or if he should show her the flaw in her technique. Even though he didn’t like the way she and her children were acting, she was still an elder in the clan.
Shang Xia was able to act as he pleased against Shang Dong as they were both from the same generation. If he defeated Xu Huizhu, people might perceive his actions as disrespectful regardless of the reasons behind them.
He was probably the only Martial Extremity Realm cultivator who could be thinking about so many things when up against a Martial Intent Realm cultivator.
Just as he was about to draw his Jade Creek Sword, a light flashed through his eyes. He closed the Embroidered Cloud Case that contained the sword.
“Hold it right here!” A commanding roar came from the skies and a frosty light descended to suppress the sword light surrounding Xu Huizhu’s blade.
“Old man, your son and daughter just got bullied by him and you’re stopping me?!” Xu Huizhu glared at the newcomer as she tried to break free from his restraint.
“Enough! Do you think we haven’t embarrassed ourselves enough? You’re threatening to bully someone of the younger generation with your superior cultivation!” Shang Jian was clearly enraged. He, who had always been a man of few words, said so much this time. He increased the pressure on Xu Huizhu and forcefully suppressed her sword light.
No matter what, they had been together for quite some time now. She could feel that there was a reason behind his action and she quickly regained her calm. However, she didn’t forget to shoot him a glare before calling for Shang Dong and Shang Bei to leave.
From the time she drew her sword, Shang Xia hadn’t been flustered at all. He merely stared at them calmly as the events unfolded.
Only after watching his wife and children leave did Shang Jian turn to face Shang Xia.
He didn’t know what to say.
Luckily, or unluckily for him, Shang Xia was too lazy to hear it even if he did have an explanation for what happened.
Unwilling to make the situation more awkward than it already was, Shang Xia nodded to indicate his understanding before turning to leave.
Shang Jian watched as Shang Xia got further away and he opened his mouth several times but no words came out. He eventually chose to remain silent.
“This kid might not know what happened in the past, and he doesn’t seem to care at all. Haha. From a certain perspective, his attitude reflects most of what the younger generation of our Shang Clan thinks.” Shang Ke appeared out of nowhere and approached Shang Jian.
Staying silent for a moment, Shang Jian muttered softly, “I understand.”
Surprisingly, Shang Ke shook his head in response. “You might not fully understand. You left for more than 20 years! Our clan awaited your return for so long, and your third uncle’s lack of insistence to pursue the matter of you running away from home gave you a proper reason to return. However, that can only provide you with a reason to return. It cannot change how the other members of our Shang Clan look at you. In their eyes, Shang Bo had to lower his head for a youth who didn’t know better. How do you think they feel after learning that? Shouldn’t you know better who was wrong?”
After speaking, Shang Ke chose to leave. Only Shang Jian remained where he was standing motionless as thoughts ran through his mind.
Compared to the flurry of emotions rushing through Shang Jian’s mind, Shang Xia couldn’t be more at ease.
To him, everything that happened earlier was akin to a joke. He seemed to have taken the role of a spectator as he watched everything unfold around him earlier calmly.
He didn’t feel a trace of rage when Xu Huizhu drew her blade against him earlier, and it seemed as though something about him changed.
“Can this actually be considered a breakthrough in the state of mind?!” Shang Xia muttered. Ever since he entered the grand completion stage of the Martial Extremity (Yin Yang) Realm, he discovered the state of having an Ethereal Mind. He discovered that entering that state was commonplace for him now.
Shang Ke once told him that being in that state would be beneficial for him to congeal his divine sense, and it seemed as though he was starting to be able to control when he entered such a state.
When he finally returned to his courtyard, he decided to craft another rank two talisman when he heard hurried banging outside his door.
“Sixth brother, open the door! I’m Shang Fu! Let me in!”