Enemies Chapter 2: An enemy of a past life, kneeling in this one

Chapter 2: An enemy of a past life, kneeling in this one

Translated by Jouissance of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Addis

Yet he couldn’t, he wouldn’t, because Chu WuQing was his blood relative, and he was also the gold to Zhen Jun ¹ of the Murderous Sword, Chu HuanZhi’s dragon. The entire AnYang Realm knew that the Chu Clan’s Clan Head loved his son more than his own life.

Chu WuQing smiled in delight. His older cousin was a prodigy amongst prodigies who was looked up to by all his peers. When had he ever gotten so low, apart from that time when he was defeated by the protagonist?

Chu WuQing drew his foot back, satisfied, and stepped into his shoe, not forgetting to mock the other as he did. “It seems like you, my dear older cousin, really can’t even match up to a mortal servant.”

However, his foot had only just touched his shoe when Chu WuJuan caught his ankle.

Not just catch, but he captured and imprisoned Chu WuQing’s ankle in his grasp!

His pale, delicate fingers were wrapped around Chu WuQing’s ankle like steel bands. Chu WuQing couldn’t pull away at all!

“Young Master…” Chu WuQing’s voice held a hint of frosty rage, like razor-sharp knives that sliced open skin, yet he was still inclined ever so casually, elegantly, against the headboard of the intricately carved sandalwood bed. He looked down at Chu WuJuan coldly, like a king gracing his kneeling subjects with his presence. “What do you think you’re doing?” Had he finally had enough and decided to tear off that false mask of submissive generosity?

Silence.

Chu WuJuan’s expression didn’t change in the slightest, his dark eyes still like water. He gazed at Chu WuQing for a moment, the fingers of his right hand gripped the cuff of Chu WuQing’s pants, slowly pushing it up to his leg.

His pants were white as snow, but that was nothing compared to the soft skin that was revealed. Just the slightest touch of that tender, smooth skin would send one’s heart into overdrive.

When Chu WuJuan stopped, Chu WuQing’s lower leg had been thoroughly exposed to the air.

Chu WuJuan’s lips suddenly curved upwards, eyes shining as he spoke with sincerity, “WuQing, you’re my clan brother. An older brother taking care of his younger brother is how things should be. No matter how well a servant does, how can they ever match up to a relative’s care, love, and protection?” As he spoke, he carefully covered Chu WuQing’s foot with his sock, his movements gentle and tender, his expression natural like nothing had happened. After he was done, he caught Chu WuQing’s foot with his hand and started massaging. 

As Chu WuJuan massaged Chu WuQing’s foot, a sliver of pure Spiritual Energy flowed from his fingertips into Chu WuQing’s body, even making Chu WuQing’s entire Spiritual Foundation brighter.

“In the future, you should let me do these things for you. How can a mortal servant be worthy of attending to my cousin?” Chu WuJuan said nonchalantly, yet a certain darkness flashed in his eyes.

Chu WuQing had intended to humiliate Chu WuJuan, yet it was quickly neutralized, turned into a show of tender care and love from an older brother. He had even given Chu WuQing a chance to step off the stage without escalating things for them both. If Chu WuQing were wise, he’d know that it wouldn’t be a good idea to get on Chu WuJuan’s wrong side and take a step back, saving his own image and boosting Chu WuJuan’s.

What a silver-tongued, calculating young master.

“Sure.” Chu WuQing arched an eyebrow condescendingly, smiling as he decided, “Then, in the future. I’ll leave all this to you, my dear cousin.” He would never take these words just as a courtesy, instead of forcing the other to make good on his words. He wanted Chu WuJuan to attend to him just like a real servant, to become like a subordinate.

Most importantly, he wanted everyone to see how Chu WuJuan, Young Master of the Chu Clan, was willing to fall so low and become nothing more than an attendant.

He was curious if Chu WuJuan could still call this brotherly love so nonchalantly after attending to him day after day.

How amusing.

Chu WuQing stood up, his mood lifted. His LiuYun Divine Robes appeared on his body, dressed impeccably.

Disappointment surfaced in Chu WuJuan’s eyes, but when they stepped out of the door, he heard, “In the future, you should dress me as well.”

With the door open and no array to prevent people from scanning the area with their Divine Sense, everything that had happened had basically been seen.

Yet, in the end, it didn’t count as anything more than spying. Spying wasn’t nearly enough. Public humiliation was more direct.

As expected, the oppressive, tense atmosphere took a sudden turn with his words. Everyone turned to look at Chu WuJuan in disbelief. 

Those gazes held such complicated emotions, some disappointed, some angry, others with barely repressed hostility and coldness…

But did they dare? They didn’t. So long as they were in the Chu Clan, they couldn’t disrespect the main family of the Chu Clan. Otherwise, they would be breaking clan rules and would be punished harshly!

How dull and cowardly. If only someone challenged Chu WuQing, then he could establish his superiority and bask in the escalation of the clans’ helpless desperation.

At this thought, Chu WuQing couldn’t help but lick the corner of his lips. The very idea excited him.

Chu WuQing turned his head to glance at Chu WuJuan. “Let’s go,” he ordered as if he couldn’t see the displeasure of the crowd and made to leave with a swagger in his step.

Chu WuJuan replied, “Your older brother, I have some things to deal with at the moment. You go ahead, XiaoDi, I’ll catch up.”

Did he want to stay behind to play his victimized act a little more? How unfortunate. If the Chu Clan’s successor could lack anything, it wouldn’t be pride. Playing the victim was a game for the weak.

Overwhelming superiority and dominance. That was the Chu Clan’s style. He was confident that this had planted some measure of doubt into their heads.

He wondered if any of Chu WuJuan’s followers would decide to sacrifice themselves for their precious successor and try to kill him?

Chu WuQing nodded slightly and went ahead.

Once Chu WuQing’s figure disappeared from the YuXian Pavillion, the fragile mask of calm was broken, the air razor-sharp with tension.

“Chu WuJuan, I can’t believe that your true face is so despicable. How dare you, how could you do that to Chu WuQing?” Someone cried out.

“Cut the chatter. So what if he’s a successor? Someone so horrible isn’t worthy of being the Clan Head of the Chu Clan. The Patriarch’s been tricked by that disgusting false mask he wears. If someone who has impure intentions to other members of his own clan became the next clan head, our AnYang Chu Clan is sure to be run into the ground,” Another person added.

“Exactly, I can’t believe he’d be so shameless as to do that to WuQing ZuDi ²…”

Everyone unsheathed their swords and summoned their Magic Artifacts, launching an attack on Chu WuJuan, who stood near Chu WuQing’s doorway.

An imposing web of spells flew at Chu WuJuan amidst cursing and insults of the seemingly righteous.

“Useless.” The word was spoken softly, but it struck everyone’s hearts like lightning.

Before they could even react, a bolt of lightning descended. All those spells and weapons and artifacts were obliterated like fragile paper.

This battle had barely lasted three seconds, and it had already ended in a show of overwhelming superiority from the other side.

The crowds, scattered and knocked down, widened their eyes in disbelief. They knew Chu WuJuan was strong; otherwise, their Void Comprehension Patriarch wouldn’t pay him so much attention and decide that he would be the successor of their generation.

However, they had never expected that Chu WuJuan would be this powerful.

It was a one-sided battle, both in terms of sheer power and spirit.

Chu WuJuan waved a hand, causing the mess from the battle to disappear into his storage bag. “Can’t let XiaoDi see,” his tone became uncharacteristically gentle as he said this, but this gentleness sent a chill down everyone’s spines. “I never knew that the Chu Clan’s successor was bound by morals.” Chu WuJuan flicked his sleeves and stepped over them. “You should all be grateful that your family names are Chu.”

What if it wasn’t so?

They couldn’t help but rub their still intact necks.

****

The Chu Clan’s ancestral hall, the ChangLe Holy Palace, sat in the very center of the Chu Estate. Like the needle that held the seas calmed ³, it presided over the entire clan.

Here lay the ancestral tablets ⁴ of their predecessors. A powerful spell formed from the dying breaths of each ancestor was sealed in each tablet, and only the succeeding line of the main branch of the Chu Clan could unseal them. 

It was because of these tablets that even in the hardest most trying times the Chu Clan had been through, other sects and clans didn’t dare to push them too hard in case they decided to enact mutually assured destruction.

However, these tablets that allowed the Chu Clan to survive trial after hopeless trial didn’t manage to stop Lin Yi.

Chu WuQing would forever remember that day. Tablet after tablet cracked and shattered, and the shades of their predecessors, who usually only existed in legend, all appeared.

The shockwaves caused by the shades of such powerful cultivators caused even the very fabric of space itself to crack, whirlwinds cutting through the skies of the AnYang Realm. However, those shades, filled with the last desires and energy of the now dead, became nothing more than a tasty snack for Lin Yi, empowering his soul and cultivation base.

How could he let Lin Yi take advantage of the Chu Clan’s ancestral tablets? He might as well take them all for himself.

Chu WuQing attempted to lock his divine sense onto the tablets. He could feel the pulse of spiritual energy on the tablet, resonating with the blood in his veins, the blood of the main family. However, it wasn’t nearly enough to unseal these tablets. He’d need to become the successor first.

Once all the Chu Clan disciples of this generation had gathered, the Grand Elder of the Chu Clan, the Diviner Grand Elder that seldom came out into public anymore, appeared in front of them.

The Peak Nascent Soul Stage Grand Elder no longer took on any responsibilities in the clan to work on advancing to the next stage of cultivation, especially not to do something so trivial as come and meet these young disciples, the strongest of which was barely at Foundation Establishment.

With this, everyone’s excitement rose, and at the same time, they realized that they must’ve been summoned here for something huge.

“Something has happened in the Lower Realm we hold trials in.” The Chu Clan Grand Elder’s voice was set in a solemn tone. “The elder who has been guarding this Lower Realm for the past hundred years was repelled from the Lower Realm two hours ago. The Lower Realm put itself into lockdown, only allowing those under Golden Core Stage inside.”

Ever since it was discovered five thousand years ago, the Lower Realm they held trials in, able to generate peak grade spirit stones, had been a priceless treasure to the Chu Clan. Every hundred years, they would send a Nascent Soul Stage Elder to guard it.

In these five thousand years, nothing had ever happened. How come it decided to act out now?

“As this has to do with the peak grade spirit stone, we have notified the Patriarch. The Patriarch has ordered me to divine this event. It’s not possible to say exactly what the heavens have in store, but it is possible to obtain a vague idea. Everything points to a grand Opportunity, something that might even be able to change the Chu Clan’s position for the better entirely.” At this point, the excitement started leaking into the voice of the experienced Grand Elder of over eight-hundred years in age.

The younger Chu Clan disciples below were even more excited. The Chu Clan was already the unofficial leader of the AnYang Realm. A grand opportunity to change the Chu Clan’s position for the better… That could only mean becoming a part of a Higher Realm!

The Grand Elder continued. “The Patriarch has already sealed all mentions of this Opportunity from leaking to outsiders. However, as time passes, the other large sects and clans are bound to feel it, too, so you must prepare carefully beforehand. When the Opportunity arrives in three years, the entire cultivation world’s under Golden Core Stage talents will pour in. You might be brilliant, but that’s only in the AnYang Realm. The prodigies in the Higher Realms experience even crueler competition. They stand out, one in a billion, and enjoy even more abundant resources. Their strength is beyond that you can dream of. Never underestimate them. This time, there’s no need to hand in the peak grade spirit stones you find. Whoever manages to obtain them, whether by finding them or taking them from another, it’s theirs. I hope that they can help you in this conflict. The Patriarch hopes that it will be one of AnYang Chu Clan’s disciples that will obtain this opportunity.”

The grand elder’s words had everyone perked up, blood roaring in their veins. If they could obtain that opportunity, they would definitely become the core of all core talents in the clan and even overtake those of the Higher Realms.

Maybe they would even be taken in as a disciple to the currently in-seclusion Patriarch.

Chu WuQing was the odd one out.

Chu WuQing knew that this so-called opportunity was the legacy of an Ancient True Immortal, and what would give the protagonist his peerless cultivation method.

Also, to make it satisfying enough and create suspense, the protagonist was ambushed in the last trial to inherit the legacy, almost being overtaken by another.

Yet, in the end, this cultivation method would only accept the protagonist, or rather, only the protagonist’s bloodline! So long as the protagonist was there, other people didn’t have a chance. This considerable war was no more than a stepping stone for the protagonist to help him become the strongest cultivator of all those under the Golden Core Stage.

Through this, the protagonist became the new owner of the True Immortal’s abode, obtaining a life-saving pocket dimension.

An opportunity to change the Chu Clan for the better? In your dreams.

However, there were plenty of other good things in the trials to inherit the True Immortal’s legacy. Apart from the things that would inevitably become the protagonist’s, he should be able to get quite a few other treasures.

At the thought of being able to steal the protagonist’s treasures, or make it even more difficult for the protagonist to obtain the legacy, Chu WuQing could feel his heart leap in excitement.

After all, he was the one who knew everything that would happen.

On the fifth floor of this immortal’s abode, there was an item called God’s Spirit. This item was useless to the protagonist, but after many years, he gave it to the female lead, allowing the female lead’s three spiritual roots to be reborn as a single aberrant spiritual root, paving the way for her to stand at the protagonist’s side and ascend to the heavens with him.

If he could get his hands on that, he would be able to challenge Chu WuJuan.