Chapter 1583 — The Origins of the Ancient Lineages

After offering his greetings, Feng Tianlin settled into his seat. Feng Tianhu's gaze toward him carried a glint of venom, though it vanished in an instant. Still, Feng Tianlin caught a chill from it.

He could only smile ruefully. He and his third brother had never gotten along. Ever since their eldest brother had left, open and covert struggles between them had been countless. But there was nothing to be done about it. When their eldest brother was still around, their father had long ago named him as the next head of the Feng family and had even arranged a marriage alliance with a powerful clan. It could be said that the eldest brother becoming the future head of the Feng family was the natural course of things.

But later events drove their eldest brother away from the family, leaving the position of family head vacant. Relying on the strength of the clan his marriage alliance had brought, Feng Tianlin barely managed to edge out his third brother and claim the title of young master. But the distance between young master and family head was still a long road, and he could not afford to let his guard down.

Especially after his third brother's son, Feng Nitian, mastered the Heaven-Defying Divine Art. His third brother, Feng Tianhu, had already been carrying himself as though he were the next head of the family. The reasoning was obvious: Feng Nitian would be the talent to shoulder the Feng family's future generation. If Feng Tianhu did not become head, then who would?

While Feng Tianlin was secretly growing anxious, he was powerless to change the situation. But now, this unexpected development had occurred!

From Feng Tianlin's personal perspective, it was a matter for celebration. But from the Feng family's long-term interests, it was not so simple. The emergence of Feng Nitian would change the Feng family's standing at the ancient level.

Until now, the Feng family had only been considered a minor presence among the ancient clans, not even a match for the Dark Night Palace. Although the Feng family had more Heaven-stage experts than the Dark Night Palace, the Palace was a genuine ancient sect, situated on sacred mountains along spiritual veins, with members capable of receiving ancient inheritances.

A family like the Feng family, however, was different. They had merely obtained treasures or cultivation manuals from ancient ruins. Other ancient sects and clans, by contrast, had not only secured treasures and manuals from such ruins, but had actually built their sects or families right on top of them.

In truth, the so-called ancient sects and ancient clans were not truly ancient, nor had they been passed down since time immemorial. They had merely discovered the ruins of genuine ancient sects, established themselves on those ruins, seized the treasures and cultivation manuals within, and after centuries of continuity, become what were called ancient sects.

Such ruins were mostly built upon sacred mountains and spiritual veins, where the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was dense, making cultivation far more convenient. Some ancient ruins even allowed disciples with suitable physiques to receive power inheritances from the primordial age.

For that reason, the status of these ancient sects and ancient clans was clearly above that of ordinary ancient sects and families.

This was also the reason the Dark Night Palace had fewer Heaven-stage experts yet held no lowly position. The Feng family, for all its four Heaven-stage experts, was in the end just a clan with no real heritage to show for it.

It was not that the Feng family did not want to build upon an ancient ruin. The problem was that by the time they had discovered such a ruin, thousands of years of change had left it in ruins, its spiritual energy long since dissipated. What is more, a town or even a city had already been built on top of it, making it utterly pointless to establish the family there.

Precisely because of this, if Feng Nitian had truly mastered the Heaven-Defying Divine Art, the Feng family's standing would soar overnight. The Heaven-Defying Divine Art was an ancient cultivation technique, and its power was incomparably immense.

The old master of the Feng family entered the conference hall with a dark expression, his steps hurried. He walked to the seat of honor and sat down, surveyed everyone in the hall, and finally let his gaze settle on the faces of Feng Tianlin and Feng Tianhu.

He was naturally well aware of the open and covert struggles between these two brothers. But aware or not, he had not stopped them. As long as they did not cross his bottom line, he was happy to watch the next generation grow through competition. Without competition, an overly comfortable life would lead the Feng family to decline.

But what was happening now had clearly exceeded the old master's bottom line. Still, he was not certain whether Feng Tianhu was behind this scheme. After all, colluding with the Ice Palace to pull something like this off was no small feat. Never mind a mere young master like Feng Tianlin — even if the old master himself came forward, the Ice Palace might not grant him any face.

"Everyone knows what happened to Nitian. What do you all think?" the old master asked, his eyes moving between Feng Tianlin and Feng Tianhu.

"Father, Nitian is the hope of our Feng family. Now he has been reduced to a cripple. The enemy who did this is an enemy of our Feng family unto death. This debt will be repaid!" Feng Tianhu declared passionately. Though he had not examined Feng Nitian carefully earlier, even a cursory glance had been enough for him to conclude that the boy was beyond saving.

Ordinary Meridian-Piercing Pills would no longer have any effect on him. Such a pill could only repair a small fraction of the damaged meridians within the body. For someone like Feng Nitian, whose meridians had all been severed and whose hands were gone as well, it was utterly useless.

Even if a fifth-grade pill, a top-grade Meridian-Piercing Pill, existed, it could only repair damaged meridians. The hands blown off in the explosion could not be regrown. Without hands, it was impossible to ever practice the Heaven-Defying Divine Art again, because its techniques required forming several hand seals before execution. Without hands, what hand seals could possibly be formed?

"We haven't even identified the enemy yet. What vengeance?" The old master frowned and turned to Feng Tianlin. "What did the people from the Ice Palace say?"

"Nothing at all. Given the Ice Palace's rules, it is impossible for them to reveal who carried this out. So I think we should wait until Nitian's emotions have stabilized and let him speak for himself." Feng Tianlin paused, then added, "However, even if we do learn who the enemy is, I would not advise seeking revenge."

"Second brother, what do you mean? Not seek revenge? Nitian has been crippled, and you still don't want revenge? Are you even his real uncle?" Feng Tianhu's anxiety flared at once upon hearing Feng Tianlin's words.

"First of all, anyone who could do this to Nitian is certainly no ordinary person," Feng Tianlin said calmly. "That means the power standing behind this person cannot be underestimated. Nitian is already done for. If we go back for revenge on top of that, do you think the Feng family is really so strong?"

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