Hei had been planning to make a spectacle in the Wu Clan for a long while now and this internal competition was the perfect stage to do so.

"Mumu. What is your family name?"

Hei had never asked Xiulan what her last name was. He just knew her as Lady Xiulan and Mumu.

"It's Shao."

"Shao huh?"

Hei was slightly surprised at the name. One translation of this word was, 'to bake'. He felt that it suited Xiulan perfectly.

"Alright. Now, what's the patriarch's name?"

"It's Wu Dong."

The maid jumped in and answered.

"OK."

With the necessary information in hand, Hei prepared to make his move. He would wait for Wu Dong to do whatever he came here for, before executing his plan.

"Our Wu Clan has produced several talented juniors this time."

Wu Dong spoke. The audience was silent.

"As you all know, the 5-sect summit is approaching. In just three years, all those under 20 years of age will have the chance to participate in the summit and be taken in by one of the five sects."

Wu Dong paused after saying this.

"Our Wu Clan has been second to the Fang Clan for far too long! This is our time to rise above all others and take our rightful place!"

Excitement was building up in the audience. They also wanted to be the first clan of Spring Leaf City.

"And so, as a reward for the outstanding youths who will be representing our Wu Clan in 3 years, we will be providing twice as many cultivation resources as were being given before."

-Cheering.

The audience started cheering. Especially the youths below 17 years of age. They all had a chance to participate in the 5-sect summit and become a sect member.

"Eh? Sects? Why was there nothing about this in the books?"

"It looks like the information we had access to was very limited."

Hei and Bai were surprised by this news. They didn't know anything about any sects. Most of the information was on the geography and not necessarily the powers that existed throughout the lower continent.

"It sounds interesting. Going to one of these sects will definitely give us access to more information than we could obtain here in the Wu clan."

Bai was intrigued. She thought joining a sect would be a good idea.

"That's true, but there are always shady things going on in these sects. The information will come at the price of inconvenience."

From what Hei had read in his previous life, he knew that there was always something that goes wrong in these sects. He was debating whether it was worth the trouble.

"What other way do we have to research higher cultivation realms?"

"Ah. You're right. I guess we'll have to go through a little trouble, but don't worry. Your brother will protect you till the very end."

Hei said this as he rubbed Bai's head.

"Brother!"

Bai puffed out her cheeks.

"The top four of the competition will receive the additional prize of being able to practice the clan's best arts. This extends to Wu Tianlan who has shown great potential."

Wu Dong continued.

"Tianlan is the greatest."

"Mm. It seems like we were wrong about him."

"Maybe there was something wrong with the measuring stone."

The audience's tune switched after Wu Dong included Tianlan in the rewards. They were now viewing his as another of the young talents.

"Ho? You want to change things now? Too late! What kind of value do you think your Wu Clan holds, that someone would immediately forget about the past and happily become part of the team?"

Hei was not pleased at all. This was quite shameless.

"Look! Big Brother seems to be agitated."

Bai noticed Tianlan clenching his fists.

"Looks like it's time to shake things up a little. Do you want to play Little Bai?"

"Mm."

Bai said with a bright smile. She didn't know exactly what Hei was planning, but she knew she wanted in.

"Mm. Let's let Tianlan kick it off."

...

"CUT THE NONSENSE!"

Tianlan shouted this out.

He waited for the crowd to quiet down before he said:

"When have I ever been part of your Wu Clan? Now that I have attained some success on my own, you want me to accept with gratitude? Don't make me laugh!"

Tianlan was feeling the same way as Hei. It wouldn't be easy to let the past go and act as if nothing had happened. They were long past the road of amicability.

"Oh?"

Wu Dong was visibly angered. He rose to his feet and looked Tianlan down.

Tianlan started to feel immense pressure weighing down on him.

As his legs were about to give out, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Well said, Brother."

Hei had appeared by Tianlan's side. Bai was also there and the three stood together facing Wu Dong.

"The infamous Wu Clan patriarch, Wu Dong. I've been wanting to meet you for a while now."

Hei said this with a calm voice and a smile on his face.

"Presumptuous! You shall address the patriarch with respect!"

An elder near Wu Dong shouted out. He was visibly enraged.

"Oh?"

Hei turned to face the elder. He narrowed his eyes and raised his head slightly.

"I don't remember asking for your input. Why don't you take a seat and shut your mouth?"

Hei then turned back to Wu Dong casually shooing the elder away.

The audience was stunned. What on earth was happening today? The trashes had come out to play and they weren't holding back.

What surprised them the most was that the elder said nothing from that point forward.

"Shameless Scoundrel Wu Dong. Kidnapper Wu Dong. Scumbag Wu Dong. I don't know. Which one do you think fits best?"

Hei turned to his siblings and asked this with sincerity.

"Well, I think shameless scoundrel has a nice ring to it."

Tianlan answered after some serious thought.

"I like scumbag myself."

Bai had also made a decision.

"How rude of us. We should also ask the person in question. So, Scumbag Wu Dong. Which title do you think fits best?"

-Grumble.

Tianlan was complaining under his breath about how Hei always prioritised Bai in everything. Why did you even ask me then?

Not only was the audience stunned, but Wu Dong was also hard-pressed to respond.

First of all, ever since Hei had arrived, his suppressive force had been negated. He was unable to apply pressure to the three.

Secondly, how was an adult supposed to respond to the mocking words of a small child?

"Scumbag Wu Dong it is then."

Seeing that there was no response, Hei decided to move things forward.

"We three juniors of the Shao Clan came to witness the strength of this number two clan of Spring Leaf City and I must say, we are quite disappointed."

"Mm. To think that the Wu Clan's juniors were so weak."

"That's right. There was only one worth mentioning."

The three continued to speak as if they were having a private discussion, but everyone in the audience could hear them.

"Shao Clan?"

Wu Dong noticed these particular words that Hei had said.

"That's right, Scumbag. Our Shao Clan is quite new to Spring Leaf City, so you may not have heard of it. We just established it about 20 seconds ago."

Hei said this with a cordial smile.

"Come to think of it, I heard about a marriage between yourself and our Shao Clan's Little Princess. Needless to say, that marriage is now annulled."

"That's right. We can't have our Shao Clan tied to shameless scoundrels."

Tianlan was unwilling to let his chosen title fade away.

Xiulan and the maid were shocked.

The maid now regretted bringing the three here. She should have just let them be.

Xiulan wasn't expecting this to be the 'fun thing' Hei had mentioned.

The three could see the veins on Wu Dong's face bulging.

Hei made an exaggerated motion of realisation. He dropped his fist onto his palm.

"Ah! How could I forget? You must be feeling indignant that we are leaving after having taken advantage of your Wu Clan for so many years."

Hei then started waving his hands and shaking his head.

"We already knew that it would come to this, so we prepared a gift to show our appreciation."

Hearing this, Wu Dong and the audience were all surprised.

"In front of me, you will see all of the cultivation resources that the Wu Clan has given us, paid back a thousand-fold."

Hei pointed to the empty ground in front of him. All of a sudden, from his storage space that he had forgotten about... Nothing happened.

"This..."

The audience was stunned. What cultivation resources? There's nothing there!

Seeing the confused looks in the crowd, Tianlan spoke up.

"There is no mistake here. These are all of the cultivation resources we have been given multiplied by 1000."

"That's right. No one can refute this point."

Bai also spoke.

"Enough!"

Wu Dong raised his voice. He had had about enough of this.

"Who are you raising your voice at? Shut up and sit down, Scoundrel."

Hei wasn't interested in Wu Dong's nonsense.

"You are being disrespectful."

"That's right."

"It looks like you need to be taught another lesson."

"Do you dare to face us alone?"

All of a sudden Wu Lixue, Wu Jian, Wu Lin and Wu Hua got on the stage.

"Oh? These clowns again."

Hei looked at the four before turning back to Wu Dong.

"It looks like those raised by a scoundrel become no good themselves."

"That's enough of your nonsense."

Wu Lixue rushed forward to attack Hei.

Tianlan was about to step in to stop her when he heard Bai's voice.

"Leave this to me, Big Brother. I've been meaning to get even on Brother's behalf."

Bai had remembered the state her brother had come home in after he had gone to retrieve her doll.

"This... Little Bai, I already let it go. There's no need for payback."

"I want to do this, Brother."

Seeing the earnest look in Bai's eyes, Hei couldn't tell her no.

"... Okay then. Have fun."

Bai stepped forward and blocked Lixue's path.

"Full of yourself."

Lixue was offended. Even though she was slightly scared of Hei, the same did not hold true when it was Bai.

Lixue immediately launched a palm at Bai, who responded by deflecting it and getting up close.

Bai then launched a palm at Lixue's abdomen. It struck solidly, and Lixue was unable to continue fighting.

After this, Bai grabbed Lixue by the arm and threw her forcefully in Wu Dong's direction.

"Nice."

Hei was glad Bai had done this. He was also planning on launching people at Wu Dong. Coincidentally, Bai had the same idea.

Seeing this, the other three became apprehensive. They tried to retreat, but Tianlan blocked their escape.

One by one they were beaten then thrown like sacks of potatoes.

After venting her frustrations, Bai skipped back to Hei. Tianlan joined them.

It was now Wu Dong and four of his children in the stands. The audience was shocked into silence.

"Now, where were we? Ah, right. Our Shao Clan has provided the appropriate compensation. From this point forward, our Shao Clan and your Wu Clan have no relations."

Hei said this as he stared at Wu Dong.

"My Wu Clan never had such ungrateful juniors."

"Ungrateful?"

Tianlan shouted out. What did they have to be grateful for?

"Calm down Tianlan, we have won."

Hei said this then turned to Wu Dong.

"You said it yourself Scumbag Wu Dong. My Shao Clan and your Wu Clan have no relations."

Hei turned to walk away. Tianlan and Bai followed.

"Ah! There's one more thing."

Hei turned back to say his last point.

"There is a deep grievance between my Shao Clan and your Wu Clan. I believe you should know what it is. I will give you this chance to apologise of your own free will."

Hei waited for a response.

"My Wu Clan has nothing to apologise for."

"You!"

Tianlan was enraged again. Hei placed his hand on Tianlan's shoulder, then turned back to Wu Dong.

"Very well, you have made your choice. The gates to the heavens were wide open, but you chose instead to barge your way into hell."

Hei wasn’t too surprised by Wu Dong’s response. In fact, he preferred it this way.

"Knowing your Scumbag nature, you will probably send people to harass us. Let me give you fair warning. Of the Wu Clan members, if we see one, we cripple one!"

Hei had remembered the request he had heard on the day he was born. If what was to be returned was indeed branded Qi, he could kill two birds with one stone by destroying the cultivations of Wu Clan members.

"Mumu and... the maid. We walk!"

Hei turned back again and started walking. Tianlan and Bai followed. Xiulan and the maid exited the stands and joined up with them as they all left the venue.

The entire Wu Clan was silent. This situation was just too unheard of.

Wu Ning was watching with interest.

"This..."

The maid was speechless. How did a fun martial arts competition turn into this?

"Mumu. It's finally time to go home."

Hei turned to Xiulan. He was happy to be fulfilling one of her wishes.

"Mm."

Xiulan smiled and rubbed Hei's head.

"Let's go home."