Chapter 538 – The Twelve Families
There was no doubt that Mu Yubai was a prideful person. This was the first time in his life that he had wanted to become sworn brothers with someone else, and he was even willing to lower his own seniority to do so with someone who was in his early twenties. If he were to still be rejected, it would mean that he would have lost all the face that he had earned in his life thus far.
Therefore, since he had already said it, he had to get this brother! It had to happen no matter what!
Yun Qinghong, Mu Yurou and Xiao Yun’s faces changed drastically. One month ago, Mu Yubai said he wanted to become sworn brothers with Yun Che, and although they thought that their ages weren’t really suitable, there were no major problems. Now, however, knowing that Mu Yubai was Yun Che’s blood related uncle, if it really were to happen… it would become a huge joke.
Yun Che laughed awkwardly, and said: “Of… Of course it’s not that I’m not unwilling. How about this, if senior still wants to become sworn brothers with me after today’s Grand Ceremony, I would definitely not refuse.”
“Good!!” Just as Yun Che finished speaking, Mu Yubai quickly shouted in reply, as though he was afraid Yun Che would go back on his word. He valiantly continued: “A real man never goes back on his word! I, Mu Yubai, will never go back on anything I say, even in death! We will go through the ceremony tomorrow, whoever goes back on his word would be the son of a turtle! All of you are going to be witnesses!”
“This…” Xiao Yun scratched his head, as he looked away, not daring to look at Mu Yubai.
“Hohoho…” Yun Qinghong laughed in a weird and shady manner.
Mu Yurou grinned until her eyes became two lines: “Big Brother, this is what you said yourself, none of us forced you to.”
The three weird expressions caused Mu Yubai to have a sense of unease. He stared widely and asked in caution: “What’s going on? Are you guys hiding something from me?”
“Enter your seats quickly, the ceremony is going to start in an hour. Today is not the day for you to fool around. Already nearly two hundred years old and you still haven’t given me a grandson, what kind of man are you? Hmph.” Mu Feiyan said with disdain as he walked with big strides towards the Mu Family seats.
The word “grandson” immediately silenced his three sons. They moved behind the old man, not daring to even utter another word. Mu Feiyan had three sons and one daughter, but even though his daughter had married Yun Qinghong, his three sons were still single until now, not providing him any signs of the arrival of a grandson. Whenever Patriarch Mu becomes angry at home, it was because of this matter nine times out of ten. This was also why he had not yet given the Patriarch position to Mu Yubai.
He could only blame his three sons whose fear of marriage was etched deep within their bones. Normally, they were casual and unrestrained, but when they thought about being controlled by a woman when they got married, they would shrink away. The fact that Mu Yubai was persistent about making Yun Che his sworn brother was a sign of just how “carefree” a person he was. As for the responsibility of giving Old Man Mu a grandson, the three brothers always pushed around the responsibilities. Many times, Old Man Mu would get so enraged that he would beat up the three brothers… Even so, not one of them had gotten married.
“The Under Heaven Clan has arrived!”
The Under Heaven Family was led by Patriarch Greatest Ambition Under Heaven and Yun Che could see Unparalleled Under Heaven in the group. Slightly behind him, he could see Number One Under Heaven. There was also Number Three Under Heaven and Number Six Under Heaven whom he had met three months ago, and the others elves who were in line with them were probably Number Two Under Heaven, Number Four Under Heaven and Number Five Under Heaven. At their center was the elf girl who caused Xiao Yun’s bottom to leave the seat with a scraping sound as he said agitatedly: “Seventh Sister… It’s Seventh Sister!”
As a clan of the elven race, not only did the Under Heaven Family possess eye-catching long ears and diaphanous wings, a distinct aura of nature energy could be felt emanating from their bodies. When they arrived, it seemed as though a cool breeze had just blown through the entire hall, causing everyone to feel refreshed.
Seeing where the Yun Family were seated, Greatest Ambition Under Heaven was stunned for a moment. When he went past the Yun Family seats, he nodded towards Yun Qinghong, but did not say anything. Number One Under Heaven also nodded towards Yun Che.
Number Seven Under Heaven secretly stole a glance at Xiao Yun before lowering her head and biting her lips. She had not seen him for three months and in three months, the thing she understood the most was that her chance of meeting Xiao Yun was become slimmer and slimmer…
The Under Heaven Family seats were adjacent to the Mu Family seats.
Xiao Yun’s eyes followed Number Seven Under Heaven, and only when she sat down did he look away. His eyes were not focused, he was lifeless, and his face covered with dejection. Yun Che looked at his expression, and sighed silently. He knew Xiao Yun’s eyes were downcast… He was not Yun Qinghong’s real son, and the fact that he was from the Profound Sky Continent was already a given. This caused the original obstacles between him and Number Seven Under Heaven to increase tremendously.
The backgrounds of the two of them… were of two completely different worlds.
“Given up already?” Yun Che asked with a faint smile.
Xiao Yun shook his head: “I would never be willing to give up on Seventh Sis, but now I… Now I… really don’t know what to do.”
“Then don’t think about this for now. A favorable turn of events often happens when one least expects it to.” Yun Che said with a smile before his tone turned more serious: “Xiao Yun, the Twelve Families are almost all here, give me a brief introduction of them, especially the leaders and the elites of the young generation.”
“Ohhh, alright!” Xiao Yun nodded. The Twelve Families were the strongest existence in Illusory Demon Realm, so their leaders and the rising stars below the age of thirty-five were naturally names that shook the world. Xiao Yun, having been Yun Family’s Young Patriarch for the past twenty years was naturally familiar with these people.
He pointed directly opposite at a seat that was labeled with the word “Xiao” and said: “That is the Xiao Family of the Twelve Families. Their original form is the Howling Heaven Pegasus and their Family profound skill allows them to control tempests. Their Patriarch is Xiao Xifeng and rumor has it that he is in the second level of the Sovereign Profound Realm. For the young generation, the strongest is also their Young Patriarch, the person in blue, standing beside Xiao Xifeng… His name is Xiao Donglai, and even though he is twenty-five this year, which is two years younger than Yun Xinyue, he is at the same profound level as Yun Xinyue, fourth level of the Tyrant Profound Realm.”
Yun Che nodded, remembering every word he said.
Xiao Yun pointed to the seats on the right of the Xiao Family which were labelled “Jiufang”: “That is the Jiufang Family. They are of the demon race and their original form is the Nine-Headed Flood Dragon. Their family profound art is a frighteningly deadly poison technique and they have a very deep relationship with the Helian Family. There would be marriages between the families nearly every generation. The current Patriarch is Jiufang Kui and the person beside him is Young Patriarch Jiufang Yu. He is thirty this year and his profound strength also seem to be in the fourth level of the Tyrant Profound Realm… However, it is rumored that he possesses a rare innate Flood Dragon Poison, the ‘Nine Emperor Venom Body’, that only appears within the Jiufang Family once every four thousand years. If one is poisoned by it, it is said that even a low level Monarch would find it hard to dispel.”
“The Lin Clan is a clan of human-demon hybrids. Their Patriarch is Lin Guiyan and the strongest of the young generation is the person sitting directly being Lin Guiyan… Lin Hanchuan, twenty-nine years old, fifth level of the Tyrant Profound Realm.”
“Nangong Family, human race. They are called the strongest sword users of the Illusory Demon Realm and use dual blades as their main weapon. Their Patriarch is Nangong Zhi and strongest of the young generation is the youngest son of the Eighth Elder —— Nangong Yan.”
“The Chiyang Clan has arrived!”
A loud shout interrupted Xiao Yun’s narration. Yun Che turned to look at the main door where a scarlet family was entering while bringing along a heatwave.
Members of this family were fully dressed in red, and even their hair and eyebrows were scarlet. As they entered, the temperature rose drastically. Some of the weaker profound practitioners who hailed from more distant regions, who were on the weak side were caught off guard as their skins burned with a burst of acute pain. Only when they hurriedly channeled their profound energy did they barely withstand it.
“That is the Chiyang Family, their original form is the Scorching Sunfire Dragon! They are a race of true dragons and are very strong. Their combined strength only loses out to the Helian Family and the Su Family. They possess the Scorching Sun Dragon Body and the speed at which they practice profound cultivation and learn profound skills is much faster than normal humans and demons. Their current Patriarch is Chiyang Bailie and the strongest of the young generation… Err, it’s that girl.”
In the direction Xiao Yun pointed, Yun Che could see a young woman standing beside Chiyang Bailie. She looked pretty, was tall, had scarlet hair, and a tinge of scarlet came from her wheat colored skin.
The most eye-catching thing about her were the scarlet colored tight leather clothes that she wore. The scarlet leather shirt was short and wrapped around her voluptuous breasts, yet it revealed her flat stomach and navel. Her shorts were an even shorter pair of red tight leather waist pants that only barely held her butt and completely revealed her slender long legs. Hanging on the pants was a coiled scarlet whip, and unorganized lines of fire flickered about continuously upon it… It only took one look to evidently see that this was not a normal artifact.
This wild and hot look immediately drew the gaze of countless young men; each one of them eyes shone brightly, salivating. However, it was obvious that she was already used to this kind of attention as she walked with her head held high; the elegance and pride clearly shone on her face.
“This appearance is too bold. If my wife dares to dress like this, I would definitely divorce her.” Yun Che said with a crooked mouth, then immediately added: “If it’s only to show me alone, then it would be different.”
“Cough. She’s called Chiyang Yanwu, it is said that her affinity with fire is almost equal to her ancestors from the ancient era. Her talent is frightening and although she is only twenty-four, she is already at the peak of the fifth level of the Tyrant Profound Realm, about to advance to the sixth level. However…” Xiao Yun lowered his voice and continued: “This Chiyang Yanwu has a reputation in Illusory Demon Realm for being very prideful and it’s said that no man has made her look at him straight in the eye before.”
“Among the Twelve Guardian Families, there is actually a family whose strongest practitioner in the young generation is a woman, this is interesting.” Yun Che rubbed his chin and said.
“Actually, it is not only the Chiyang Family that has a female as their strongest in the young generation.” Xiao Yun pointed to the family who was labelled “Bai” and said: “That is the Bai Family who are also of the demon race. Their original form is the Cloud-winged White Tiger. Their Patriarch is Bai Yi and the strongest of their young generation is the girl on his left —— Bai Jie, thirty years old, fifth level of the Tyrant Profound Realm.”
“Oh.” Yun Che nodded gradually, before his brows twitched: “Er, Bai Jie?”
“Eh? Does Big Brother know her?” Xiao Yun asked in shock.
“No, no. I definitely don’t.” Yun Che shook his head: “It’s probably the first time I’ve heard that name, but why do I find it so familiar… Never mind, tell me about Helian Family.”
Author’s Note: Twelve Family Seating Arrangement:
East (North to South): Helian, Chiyang, Bai, Nangong, Lin, Jiufang, Xiao.
West (North to South): Su, Under Heaven, Yan, Mu, Yun.
SummerRain Note: The Xiao (啸) Family of Illusory Demon’s Twelve Families is a different character from Xiao Yun’s Xiao (萧).
OverTheRanbow Note: Regarding the ‘Bai Jie’ thing at the end, there is a mature adult novel named “少妇白洁“, or “淫荡少妇之白洁”, aka “Lustful young milf Bai Jie”. Mars Gravity basically made a reference as a joke, don’t worry about it being significant to the plot or anything haha.