Chapter 1001: The Battle of Words

“You’re the one who’s gonna die!”

Singshou roared furiously as his body was similarly rising up into the air. The dark fog billowed and the black machete formed its own shadow to powerfully clash with the sword light head-on.

“Who are you?”

However, Singshou’s face drastically changed. Just as his voice left his mouth, a sword light flashed lightning-fast from his bottom left. He was unable to dodge it as it penetrated his left lower ribs. The sword then continued sweeping at his ribs, cutting off several.

“Lightning…”

Tang An appeared all of a sudden as an undetectable tiny lightning bolt came after the sword light and drilled Singshou’s body. At the moment his body stiffened, the immortal sword exited his body and slashed his neck.

Puff…

The sneaky strike led to insta-kill.

Tang Guang was dumbfounded. He just made his intentions clear regarding this fight! Why did his sister, Tang An, still move and attack his target? His fury erupted as he watched the decapitated body of Singshou fall from the air, furiously shouting, “Who the hell told you to strike him, An?!”

The black-suited Tang An appeared out of thin air and glared back at Tang Guang coldly. Then she indifferently said, “It’s Grand Master’s intention to kill him. He was an enemy that must be neutralized; he doesn’t wish for you to temper yourself at this time. Grand Master said he’ll find you the opponent you need later, but now is the time to kill the enemies in order to help Singluen take over the patriarch seat of the Dark Shaman Clan.”

Grand Master’s order?!

Tang Guang’s anger froze instantly. After a long while, only then did he shake his head and let out a bitter smile. He floated down to Tang Xiu’s front and spoke with a dry smile, “That was a good opportunity for me to whet myself, Grand Master. I even had a feeling that I’d have a breakthrough once I killed that guy.”

“There are important things I need to do; I don’t have the time to waste here,” replied Tang Xiu lightly. “I just told you through An that I’ll give you the well-matched opponent you need, didn’t I? But now is not the appropriate time for that.”

Tang Guang heaved a deep breath and respectfully said, “I understand, Grand Master.”

Tang Xiu nodded in response and looked at the group of Dark Shaman Clan experts whose complexions were now extremely ugly, staring with dread and fear. He said in a deep voice, “13 Shaman Guardians, you should’ve understood power clearly. You guys won’t be able to stop us, so know your limit and give way! Otherwise, I don’t mind resorting to slaughtering you all in your own home!”

At this time, the 13 Shaman Guardians were in shock due to the situation before them. They were Singshou’s seniors who had helped instruct his cultivation. Later on, Singshou surpassed their cultivation levels, making them no longer necessarily his match even if all of them cooperated in fighting him. And yet, how come he just got killed like that?

They were all the top soldiers and the most loyal warriors of the Dark Shaman Clan, but it didn’t mean that they were not afraid of death. The death of Singshou sent a chill down their spines as thoughts to retreat filled their minds.

The dozens of guards all looked frightened and retreated backwards. In just a few seconds, they had already paced back in front of the 13 Shaman Guardians. Should any of them shout to retreat, they would very likely run and hide far away immediately.

The captain of the 13 Shaman Guardian quickly conversed with his comrades. After a short while, he then shouted, “These people are courting their own death by entering our site, so we shall fulfill their wish. Everyone, retreat back into the clan and wait for the order to fight back!”

In that instant, more than 20 people quickly ran and entered the Dark Shaman Clan’s land.

Disdain flashed in Tang Xiu’s eyes as he issued an order, “Let’s head inside! No need to be merciful if you encounter any resistance!”

At this time, Singluen had already rushed back to Tang Xiu’s side. He glanced at Singshou’s dead body, causing him to unceasingly shiver inwardly. He had never been close to Singshou and even feared the fella a bit. But seeing that this guy unexpectedly died in by the hands of Tang Guang and Tang An sent a chill to his heart.

He already knew how powerful Tang Xiu’s individual prowess was. He was aware that the collaboration of Tang Guang and Tang An was not necessarily enough to contain Tang Xiu. But the collaboration of the two people was enough to kill Singshou. Does that mean Tang Xiu has the ability to kill his father? If his father vehemently refused to step down from his position as the clan patriarch, will he issue an order to slaughter all the members of the Dark Shaman Clan?

Suddenly, a pang of regret filled his heart. He regretted letting his own anxiousness and eagerness lead to wolves getting into his own house. If Tang Xiu were to order to annihilate the entire Dark Shaman Clan, he would then become the sinner for his clan’s demise.

“Tang Xiu…,” amid his worries and restlessness, Singluen called out.

“I know what you wanna say, Singluen.” Tang Xiu raised his hand to interrupt him and said indifferently, “You can rest your worries! I did say that I’d resort to slaughtering in your home, but I won’t carry it out. Just chill out. It’s all to make us meet your old man smoothly, that way nobody else in your clan needs to die and you can become the patriarch. Besides, you can take advantage of this opportunity to weed out those who are hostile to you, no?”

“No, I can’t do that.” Singluen shook his head.

His response made Tang Xiu narrow his eyes. He let out a vaguely smiling expression and immediately floated upward, flying towards the Dark Shaman Clan lightning-fast.

Inside the ancestral hall, Singtuo held back his killing aura while his eyes kept sweeping to the gate of the ancestral hall. He had been waiting for the news of Singshou’s return. As long as Singshou was able to keep out the enemy at the gate, this issue would naturally be solved. But if he couldn’t stop them and were even defeated, that would mean that the battle between the clan and the other party was inevitable.

Whoosh…

A figure flickered and instantly bolted into the interior of the ancestral hall. It was the captain of the 13 Shaman Guardians, looking pale and reporting with a bitter face as he came in front of Singtuo, “Singshou was killed, Patriarch. We can’t stop them; they started the slaughter when they came. They’ll be here soon.”

Singtuo’s complexion enormously changed, a look of disbelief evident on his face. He even doubted his ears.

‘Singshou just died? How can this be?’

‘Even father vouched that the present Singshou is very formidable and that he’s comparable to me, didn’t he? But how could he be killed by the enemy?’

Singtuo glared at the Shaman Guardian captain and densely shouted, “What rubbish are you talking about? I know very well of Singshou’s power! I’m not even necessarily his match now, and yet you’ve just told me that the enemy killed him? Tell me clearly, what the hell happened out there?”

“This subordinate speaks the truth, Patriarch. Singshou has been killed by the enemy. But it was because of the despicable move from the enemy. Originally, Singshou fought with an enemy who’s equal in strength with him, but an assassin suddenly appeared and sneakily struck him, leading to his death.”

The white-haired old man looked Singtuo with disbelief, “What did you just say though, Patriarch? You said that Singshou was much stronger than you? But how is that even possible? You’re the first expert of our clan!”

“He’s right. Singshou was indeed more powerful than present-day Singtuo. If Singshou had a few more years, even I wouldn’t be able to defeat him, which means that our enemy this time is very powerful.” An old man suddenly emerged out of thin air and interjected in a heavy voice.

“You are…”

“The old Patriarch!!!”

“Oh God! Are my eyes deceiving me? Didn’t the previous Patriarch pass away a decade ago? But he… H-how come he’s back to life again?”

“You’re right. It’s the old Patriarch. What the hell is going on here?”

“…”

Several high-level clansmen of the Dark Shaman Clan couldn’t help but exclaim in shock. Two of them even ran in front of the old man, wanting to confirm that they were not hallucinating.

“I know that you all will be confused due to my appearance here,” said the old man faintly. “I can only tell you that I didn’t die a decade ago. I didn’t want to manage all the minor affairs in the clan anymore, so I faked my death and have been cultivating in seclusion since. I wouldn’t have appeared before you all if it weren’t for this crisis that can possibly lead to our clan’s demise.”

The white-haired old man excitedly said, “You’re still alive, old Patriarch! That’s great. I’m sure that we can defeat the enemy under your leadership no matter how powerful they are.”

“Tsk, tsk. Bragging so early, huh?”

Tang Xiu’s figure appeared outside the ancestral hall as he glanced over at the dozens of top-level clansmen inside with a look of contempt.

However, Singluen, who followed behind him, was instantly petrified upon seeing the old man’s face. If it wasn’t for Tang Xiu who poked him, he would’ve stood in a daze for a very long time.

“What’s the matter?” asked Tang Xiu in a whisper.

Although Singluen had sobered up from his shock, fear had already swallowed his heart. He had calculated literally everything, but he ruled out the possibility that the previous patriarch, his own grandfather, was still alive. More so that judging from his aura, the old man seemed to be even more powerful than a decade ago.

Had he known that his grandfather was still alive, he wouldn’t have dared to collude with Tang Xiu, nor would he had dared to covet the patriarchal seat, even if he obtained 10,000x more courage.

“Uh, i-its… h-he’s my grandfather.” Singluen’s voice was shivering a bit while looking at Tang Xiu with a bitter expression.

“Is he very powerful or something?” asked Tang Xiu.

“He was already the first expert of the Dark Shaman Clan decades ago. His power became more unfathomable more than a decade ago. With him becoming so strong, the clansmen originally thought that the clan would become more and more powerful and that it wouldn’t take long for us to catch up with the Celestial Wizard Clan. Every one of us never expected that he would just suddenly pass away; none have seen him since. It turns out… he… he faked his own death.”

“Heh, no matter how strong he is, he’s still weaker than me!” sneered Tang Xiu. “Well, the previous measure I prepared before was truly a wise move. Otherwise, we would’ve ended up paying a very painful price, even if it can finally help you sit on the Dark Shaman Clan’s patriarch seat.”

Singluen’s face shifted and he hurriedly asked, “What arrangement did you prepare, Mr. Tang? Can you really help me to be the Dark Shaman Clan’s patriarch even though my grandfather is still alive?”