"I'MMM BAACKKK!!"

The sound of the Wu Clan's Ancestral building door being pushed opened could be heard along with a loud shout that blasted throughout its main hall.

The voice echoed on the mountain peak where the building was situated and then drifted downwards until it reached the other buildings that were at the foot of the mountain.

All the servants and elders inside the Ancestral building turned their heads toward the deafening sound with surprise, a loud crash even sounded in a room at the back.

One of the servants had been so shocked that the plates she was carrying fell to the floor.

"Yo...Young Ma...Master Longwei please don't that do that again!!"

One of the two guards at the entrance of the main hall spoke with a slight tremble in his voice, while the other look towards the sky with a pale face.

Both of the guards started sweating buckets in fear and panic. Not because the volume of the voice had scared them, but because this mountain was considered to be sacred grounds in the Wu Clan. Only the senior-most elders of the Clan can reside on this mountain peak and each one of them has a high cultivation base.

If it was some other random clan member that had shouted like that here, the guards would have killed that person right then and there so as not to be implicated if an old monster came out displeased. But since it was the young master of the clan, the two guards feared that that old monster who had his meditation interrupted would appear from the sky and slap them to death in irritation instead.

Some of the senior elders in the clan had eccentric personalities, they wouldn't even bat an eye if they kill two guards at the Foundation Building stage. They could just wave it off as the guards' punishment for not doing a good job. It's unfair but such things can happen in the cultivation world. Even with the rules being strict about killing between clan members, comparing the value of two guards that were merely at the Foundation Building stage to an elder who was probably in the Sage Realm was meaningless.

And with the Wu Clan being so big thousands of candidates could replace them. After all, this is the Wu Continent, and judging by its name one could tell that the Wu Clan was the top power on this Continent.

There are numerous other sects and clans on the Continent, but they can't be compared with the Wu Clan, because for a sect or clan to be considered a top power they would have to have a Saint Realm expert.

Going by the cultivation system on the Wu Continent, it's separated into the Qi Gathering stage, Foundation building stage, Core Formation stage, Nirvana Realm, Sage Realm, and Saint Realm.

The majority of those sects and clans would at most have one or two Nirvana Realm experts, while only a few would have a Sage Realm expert.

But, even though the Wu Clan can be considered the top power on this continent, there are other continents with powers that wouldn't lose out in strength with the Wu Clan.

---

At the entrance of the Ancestral building's main hall, a rather handsome youth, who appears to be around fourteen or fifteen, was standing between the two shaking guards, a dark look covered the youth's handsome features.

With a sword strapped to his side in a blue scabbard, he stood there looking heroic while wearing a black cultivator's robe lined with golden embroidery on the sleeves and collar. His smooth, jet-black hair was draped past his shoulders hiding a portion of the 'Wu' character that was stitched on the back with red threading.

The youth strode past the tall golden doors at the entrance and entered the large hall that was tiled with jade green floor tiles.

He looked at the empty main hall and the pillars inside which had carvings of auspicious beasts that, 'to the youth', looked like they were laughing at him.

"No decorations"

"No 'Welcome Back' sign"

"No nothing"

While mumbling under his breath, he walked towards the steps that led to a majestic throne at the end of the hall.

Sitting on said throne was a man who looked to be in his late 30's that had a somewhat similar look as the youth, on his right was an old man in worn-out gray robes standing with his back slightly hunched. The both of them had turned their heads to the entrance when they heard the youth shout.

The man sitting on the throne had a warm smile on his face, but the old man had a deep frown. The volume of the shout had interrupted the conversation the both of them were having.

"Wei'er be mindful and stop causing a ruckus", the man sitting on the throne said with the smile still on his face.

The old man however snorted, and with a heavier reprimanding tone said.

"You little brat where are your manners and etiquette? If you act like this in front of people outside of the clan they'll start saying our Wu Clan is raising a bunch of loudmouths!"

At this time the youth had stopped at the bottom of the steps leading to the throne, and after mumbling some incoherent words under his breath again, he wore a respectful smile while he cupped his fist and greeted.

"Greetings Patriarch father and Grand Elder!".

Seeing the smile on the youth's face the Grand Elder snorted again before turning his head away.

The youth father's smile turned slightly awkward after hearing the Grand Elder's words. He coughed a little before speaking again.

"Wei'er it's good that your back from the 7 Continents Tournament, you should probably visit your brother at the training grounds first. You can report to me about the tournament later".

A glint flash passed the youth's eyes after hearing what his father said. He nodded his head in reply then cupped his fist again before leaving.

After watching the youth leave, the Grand Elder spoke with praise in his voice.

"He was only at the 9th level of the Qi Gathering stage when he left four months ago, but that little brat has already form Spiritual Strength and entered the Foundation Building realm. He's even built three Qi pillars and reached the peak of the early stage, he's only a step away from the mid stage."

"It would have taken someone else at least a year and a half to reach that cultivation level from the 9th level of Qi Gathering, but he did it in four months"

The Patriarch of the Wu Clan nodded his head at the Grand Elder's words.

"Since Wei'er was born with the Legendary Dao Physique his cultivation has no bottlenecks until he reaches the Nirvana Realm, and even then, his cultivation will move faster than other prodigies in his generation. If I wasn't worried about him having an unstable foundation and made him suppress his cultivation at each breakthrough, he would have probably reached the Core Formation stage already."

With the prideful look on the Patriarch's face, you could tell he was proud of his son.

The Grand Elder looked deeply at the Patriarch before casually saying, "The only person who can compete with him is probably that other son of yours."

Hearing the Grand Elder's words, the proud look on the Patriarch's face faltered a little. Clearing his throat, the Patriarch stared at the space that was a couple of steps away from where his son was standing, and with a serious look on his face, he spoke in a solemn tone.

"Elder Sun was there any problems during the journey to the Central Continent?"

As the Patriarch finished speaking the space where he was looking at started to ripple akin to when someone throws a large stone into a calm lake. As the ripples increased a middle-aged man wearing blue robes stepped out of the void, cupping his fist he bowed and greeted the Patriarch and Grand Elder.

"On the way back from the Central Continent there were two midstage Sage Realm experts that were planning an ambush in secret, but I killed them before they got the chance to."

"Did you find out any clues about who sent them?", the Patriarch asks again, his words sounding calm but a tinge of killing intent could be sensed in his voice.

Shaking his head elder Sun answered, "No. They were disguised as rogue cultivators and when I perform a soul search on them their memories about their origins and background were already erased, it also seems like they were being controlled."

Hearing that, the Patriarch's eyes turn cold and the killing intent he was suppressing erupted. An intense and chilling sensation immediately enveloped the main hall, causing the temperature in the room to drop.

"Someone dares to target MY son?!"

Feeling the intense killing intent being released by the Patriarch, elder Sun took three steps back while having a nervous look on his face.

He knew that the Patriarch was very protective of his firstborn son, it was to the point where everyone on the Wu Continent, when seeing his son at auction houses or strolling in the streets with the Wu Clan's guards, would put on big smiles and greet him, all the while keeping their distance not daring to offend him.

And that was because of an incident that happened three years ago during a Martial Arts Competition that's held every 5 years.

This was a competition where hundreds of disciples from the Sage Sects would compete for ten spots, which can give them the chance to enter one of the three lesser Pocket Realms on the Wu Continent.

The Pocket realm is a small dimensional space that not only has rare and valuable treasures, it also contains cultivation grounds suitable for Qi Gathering stage practitioners. In the battle to determine the top ten, the person who gets knocked out of the arena first or becomes unconscious would get the tenth place and the lowest level cultivation grounds. Going by this, the last person standing would be the winner and would get the highest quality cultivation grounds.

Wu Longwei, the firstborn son of the Patriarch was only 11 years old at the time and had just started cultivating for a little over a year. He had decided to enter the tournament, not for the cultivation grounds, but only to temper himself against the Sage Sects' geniuses.

To enter the Competition, one has to be 15 years old or below, and because of that, the highest cultivation base in the Competition was around the peak of the 4th level of the Qi Gathering stage.

So, one could imagine the reaction of the Sects when they saw that Longwei, who only emitted the cultivation aura at the peak of the 3rd level, suddenly burst out with the cultivation base at the peak of the 5th level in the match to determine the top ten.

In less time it takes to make a cup of tea, eight of the nine disciples in the arena were on the floor beaten to near death. Only when the ninth disciple, a prodigy from one of the top three Sage Sects, the 'Crescent Moon Sect', took action, his onslaught halted.

That disciple was actually at the 6th level of the Qi Gathering stage and hid it at the peak of the 4th level, he had intended to shock the crowd and the other Sects by revealing his cultivation and get an overwhelming victory, but Longwei's performance had spoiled that dream of his.

It would have been fine if that disciple had just beaten Longwei to win, but even when the match was decided, that disciple who was angry about Longwei's display continued to attack until elder Sun, who was in hiding close by, had to intervene. Longwei had several of his bones broken and received minor internal injuries.

In his anger, the Patriarch went to the Crescent Moon Sect in person and crippled the disciple's master and his master's master as punishment in place of their disciple/grand disciple. If that disciple's master, master's master hadn't died due to Qi deviation, the Patriarch would have continued down the line.

The other eight Sects that had their disciples almost crippled by Longwei chose to keep silent in the face of the Wu Clan's Patriarch actions.

That incident happened three years ago, and now a power, possibly from another Continent, had secretly sent people to ambush his son.

--

While being indifferent to the source of the killing intent beside him, the Grand Elder spoke in a condescending tone "It doesn't make sense to set up an obvious ambush like this. This is just a blatant provocation from those lowly animals on the Demonic Beast Continent"

After calming down the Patriarch turned to look at the Grand Elder, who in turn looked towards him.

"The Demonic Beast Continent is known for using human cultivators as puppets, and even if it was some other power on a different Continent that's trying to frame them, the lives of two Sage Realm Cultivators aren't worth the price just to only send us a message. Besides, they're the ones with the martial art techniques and spells that specialize in controlling human cultivators"

As the Grand Elder finished his speech the Patriarch fell into deep thought for a while before he turned his head slightly to the left and spoke.

"Tell the Battle Pavilion's Head Elder to increase the number of Nirvana Realm and Core Formation experts at the Continent's border."

Below the steps to the left, a silhouette suddenly appeared and disappear just as quickly. The Patriarch then looked in elder Sun's direction.

"You can leave, and the next time my son leaves the clan his safety is your top priority."

Elder Sun saluted before he took a step back, this time he entered the void and disappeared.

"Are you planning to delay the war? It will eventually happen and the Wu Clan needs stimulation before the main event begins."

"I'm only going to delay it for a couple of years until their cultivation increases to a level where they can participate. At the level they're at now, they won't get the experience they need."

As the Patriarch responded to the Grand Elder, he looked towards the closed doors of the Ancestral building, his gaze seeming to pass through it and fall on his son that was walking down the steps of the mountain. His gaze then shifted slightly as he looked towards the Wu Clan's training grounds to see another youth there.

--

While Longwei was walking down the steps, unaware of his father's gaze, he was in a fit of rage.

"That stupid snake of a brother!! I sent word two days before my return and he didn't even come to welcome me at the Ancestral building. I even embarrassed myself in front of so many people, and got yelled at by that old fart because of him."

Longwei then raised his head to the sky and yelled "Where the hell is my welcome back celebration?!!", afterward he started running down the steps towards the training grounds with a crazed look.

************

*Explanations*

In the Wu Clan, you have two types of elders, the Elders with a capital 'E', and elders with common 'e'. The 'Elders' are currently in charge of the clan, while the 'elders', as the guard said, are the old monsters cooped up in meditation all year around. You could describe them as a hidden resource for their clan, though the Wu Clan probably isn't the only one with those.

~Fun Fact~

The character 'Wu' in Chinese can be translated as 'God-like' or 'the highest.'