Chapter 58: Facing Up Against Zhou Yuntian
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Under the orders of the Lord of the main branch of the Zhou family, Zhou Yin was the first to approach the huge stone carving in the wall. After doing so, that towering four to five meters tall stone carving’s hollowed-out eyes shot out two radiant beams of light.

Upon witnessing such a display, plenty of elders who were present in the huge palace were completely shocked. Some elders who were sitting on a jaded chair stood up and stared completely at Zhou Yin who was standing next to Zhou Yan at the moment.

“Yes indeed, truly a magnificent Qi Column with amazing natural gifts, twin Qi Columns each with two segments!”

That young lad with an aging gaze nodded delightfully, then proceeded to shift his gaze toward Zhou Yan. At the same time, Zhou Yan too was staring at the Lord of the main branch of the Zhou family

“I know about your matters, as long as you have value, to us, the main branch of the Zhou family would be willing to make any significant sacrifices!

“Show off your great potential Zhou Yan, as long as you’ve presented a spectacular display of power, your father’s problem would be significantly easier to take care of.”

A young lad spoke calmly, as there were hints of deliberate temptations in his words.

Zhou Yan’s Qi Column was completely covered with the purple lightning coil, as he had intended to keep his true potentials hidden from anyone.

Hence, whatever the Lord had spoken to him, was solely intended to test him.

With a slight twitch in his heart, without too drastic of a change in expression, Zhou Yan stared at the Lord of the main branch of the Zhou family and exclaimed, “My Lord, I shall do my best!”

“Very well, you may begin!”

Hence the young lord with an aging gaze silently nodded at Zhou Yan, as a gesture of courtesy.

Thus, Zhou Yan did exactly what Zhou Yin did moments earlier, he poured his detection skills into the stone carving, however, this time, the stone carving had seemingly trembled as both the hollowed-out eyes began to glow brightly!

Furthermore, through the hollowed-out eyes, two extremely blinding rays of light instantly shot out of both eyes. This blinding radiant light was ten times brighter than the light that had shot out from Zhou Yin’s test earlier!

“Excellent! Such pure energy from the Qi Columns!”

“Truly a perfect grade!”

“Amongst all the twin Qi Columns, this was indeed the best quality!’

“Such an astounding genius!’

…

Zhou Yan’s current display of power shocked every single person present!

It was also at this moment that stone carving had seemingly come in contact with something seemingly forbidden and in that instant, it completely crumbled into dust.

This was a high-tier assessment rock carving, and in that moment, it had actually crumbled into nothingness!

This was completely beyond their imagination! However, it was all due to that fact alone, the extent of how amazing Zhou Yan’s natural gift was, was completely beyond the realm of their imagination!

“Yes indeed Zhou Yan, your natural gifts, truly are spectacular. It is without a shred of doubt that your natural gifts were the best in the entirety of our family!”

The youthful Lord of the main branch of the Zhou family spoke with utmost confidence and certainty without hesitation.

“My lord, Zhou Ying was born with the Heavenly Spiritual Blade’s core, based on her natural gifts, she should be slightly better than Zhou Yan. Although, Zhou Yan’s Qi Column was better than Zhou Ying. However, Zhou Ying’s situation though…”

Elder Xing spoke hesitantly, however, he had sought out the truth from facts by the way he had spoken.

This time, Elder Xing had not sided with anyone, since it was him who had discovered it firsthand, hence, he was able to collect even more talented genius pupils.

Any elders in any family would never ignore this fact.

“I am aware of this fact, however, Zhou Yan’s innate enlightened ability was impeccable, and it was possible for this young lad to be in possession of an extinct Blade’s Core, the ‘Imperial Soul Blade’s Core’. That was due to the fact that this peculiar assessment rock was only capable of opposing the Imperial Soul Blade’s Core. Hence, both of these people, the natural gifts they possessed were impeccable!”

The youthful lord spoke in a comforting tone whilst smiling.

“Imperial Soul Blade’s Core?” *Long ago in a galaxy far far away*

Every single elder including Elder Xing had an immediate drastic reaction upon hearing such a revelation. Their entire expression changed drastically, as they glanced back at Zhou Yan once more, their gaze looked odd.

Zhou Yan, on the other hand, was slightly confused by exactly what this ‘Imperial Soul Blade’s Core’ they were talking about.

He knew that ‘Imperial Soul Blade’s Core’ had close ties to his soul, perhaps none was aware of the secret of his soul, and it was impossible for anyone to detect it…and what kind of Blade’s Core would this Imperial Soul Blade’s Core be?

Zhou Yan was puzzled and he had somewhat of an idea on his own. However, he was uncertain what kind of potential such a Blade’s Core would hold since, the Imperial Soul Blade’s Core might actually be fake.

However, at this very moment, the young lad had made no attempts to deny it.

“Zhou Yan, I need you to stay calm, I shall explain your father’s situation to you in a brief moment.”

That youthful lord stared at Zhou Yan with a compassionate gaze, however, the pride of a lord remained.

“Yes, I as your pupil understand.” Zhou Yan’s gaze had hints of deep contemplation, however, he had immediately nodded his head.

“As you may know, to any major family, in order to keep it’s glory perpetually, huge volumes of resources are something one can never lack.

“And this resource, especially under the situation of a Blade’s Specter or a Blade’s Heart, a spectacularly pure soul of a maiden is perfect, however, a soul like this would be a rare thing to find, and often it was one of those inhumanly talented, genius maidens.

“Within the bloodline of our family on the other hand, if that pupil had been crippled, and if that pupil was deemed a genius, we may extract that pupil’s soul, to be refined in flames, with the help of scholars who specialized in Swordplay Alchemy, spells and smelting to forge a holy artifact which was infused with a Blade’s Specter.

“Your father had once committed an unforgivable crime to the members of our Zhou family, this had resulted in the death of a maiden that was known to be a genius, truly spectacular figure nonetheless.

“And now, that maiden’s brother had become a genius himself, and since your father had awakened his Blade’s Heart, however, it was him who had crippled himself in order to repent for his sins, this had given our family a brand new Blade’s Heart…then, this itself would very much benefit our family’s future development indeed.

“Although his soul had been extracted, and was being refined in flames, however, to any member of our family, we often leave behind a sliver of hope for resurrection before the very last second, this is done to prevent any better contributions to occur.

“Hence, you may cease your worry for your father, since you are in possession of such incredible natural gifts, then I shall personally aid your father, I will sacrifice ten percent of my own training to reunite his soul and his body once more.

“This way, even if he were met with any future complications, this would cause a mutation to occur for his ascension into the realm of the Blade’s Heart once more.”

Although the youthful lord was calm as he spoke, however, through his eyes, it seemed he had hidden away his entire life behind the shroud of his eyes, these were indescribably complicated indeed.

However, every word that was spoken by this lad was incredibly sincere.

Thus, Zhou Yan’s initial nervous heart had calmed down. He had assumed it would be a complicated process. However, it seemed to him at this very moment, this debacle would be an easy fix.

“Step forward Zhou Yuntian.” The lord of the main branch of the Zhou family spoke while he glanced over to the terrifyingly menacing young lad clad in black battle armor.

“Yes, my lord.”

That prideful young lad in black spoke with respect as he approached Zhou Yan’s side.

“That Heaven-Fiend Blade that belonged to Zhou Yan’s mother, I need you to hand it to him.” The lord of the main family suddenly spoke after contemplating for a brief moment.

Upon hearing such a statement, that young lad frowned and said, “My lord, please forgive me for I am unable to comply with such an order! This Heaven-Fiend Blade, if the lad Zhou Yan wanted it, he may take it from me with his skills!

“If he doesn’t even have such a skill, then he would be unworthy of any resources the family owns!”

Zhou Yuntian cackled coldly.

Zhou Yan frowned as he stared at Zhou Yuntian with a cold glare and said, “My father’s Heaven-Fiend blade, how did it end up in your hands?”

“Oh, then we shall talk about your mother as a prime escort from a brothel!”

Zhou Yuntian had a sinister gaze as he mocked Zhou Yan with his words.

“Then, that would mean your sister doesn’t even remotely come close to an escort right? Or else, why would my father abandon your sister?”

Zhou Yan snapped back at him with a vile insult immediately.

A strong wave of bloodlust exploded from Zhou Yuntian. However, this wave of bloodlust was immediately negated by the Lord’s Blade’s Menace that was unleashed from his eyes.

“The benefits of the family should always come first for any matters within our family. Any minor squabbles can be excused, however, one is not allowed to destroy the natural gifts of a genius!

“The both of you are the most amazing geniuses in our family, you both may fight one another, may resent one another, but remember, you both may never cripple another’s training progress nor natural gifts, you both are even forbidden to murder one another. Do you both understand?”

At this very moment, as the lord of the main family spoke, he sounded incredibly serious. As he spoke, none would dare oppose him since every single person could feel the tense wrath from his tone!

“Yes, my lord!”

Zhou Yuntian had a bitter look on his face as he stared with pure resentment toward Zhou Yan, those gazes were inhumanly maddening.

It was obvious that anything that tied to his sister would be his bottom line, and that line should never be crossed.

However, Zhou Yan feared nothing as he glared at that man who had once beaten his father and had forced his father to kneel while his father coughed out blood. This humiliation was done intentionally.

“Hmph, the better one’s natural gifts are, the progress to any attributes would be even more difficult! I shall wait for you to prove your abilities! You shall remember what you had spoken today!”

Zhou Yuntian’s expression was incredibly bitter. However, he was holding back the flames of his wrath.

Zhou Yan smirked as his gaze was filled with manic pride.

“Don’t you dare act so pridefully this early even though you are in possession of a twin Qi Column, this was not an impressive natural gift to begin with!”

It seemed Zhou Yuntian had thought about plenty of things as after a manic fury flashed across his eyes, he seemed more confident than he initially was!