The vast majority of the people in the room felt that this upstart branch head had no chance whatsoever, but they were all hoping he would put up a fight. The many younger talents in the room were eager to see how powerful their Clan Leader was, as the majority had never seen him fight. They were eager to see how strong such a person was that even the mighty Great Elder Xie wouldn’t dare to battle with him. The Great Elder was quite violent and many here were familiar with how terrifying she could be. She got into fights all the time, and since they had seen her strength they were really curious of what would stop her from fighting.

The Great Elder of Xie locked eyes with Sage for what seemed like an eternity, but actually only amounted to half a minute. Then she abruptly broke eye contact and turned to face the Jinxi Patriarch. She looked at the old man with a confident smile and nodded her head, “The Xie formally issues the challenge. Would you like to accept it, or just directly step down instead? I promise we Xie will not treat the Jinxi any worse than they’ve treated us in the past.”

There was a wave of gasps and exclamations as the Great Elder confirmed that the challenge was official. There were many who were wondering what exactly she could be thinking. Was this Lang Sheng a secret weapon that was only now revealed? Was he even from the Lang Clan?

There were many hushed discussions about whether this was a very well laid trap, or a foolish mistake, but in truth the decision was far simpler. For Great Elder Xie she didn’t yet have the confidence to face the Jinxi Patriarch directly. The two of them were constantly chasing treasures to keep increasing their power for the last few decades. For her, being unable to issue another challenge for a decade wasn’t really an issue, she was merely risking the reduction in resources. It would be troublesome if Lang Sheng failed, but she accepted for one reason: the current look on the Jinxi Patriarch’s face.

The old man had lost his calm. The Jinxi Patriarch had always tried to keep a calm and placid exterior, like a transcendent expert that was showing them all great favor by gracing them with his presence. Yet, at this time, his act was ruined. All those in the room, the higher ups of the clan, were all treated to the twisting of his features. The rage in his eyes as not only was his position challenged, but he was also insulted at the same time. Everyone in the Clan knew how the Xie had been heavily punished in the last few decades for challenging the Jinxi’s decisions time and time again. They all knew that the old man was approaching the end of his lifespan and that he wanted to suppress the Xie to such an extent that they wouldn’t attempt to take over once he was gone. To treat the Jinxi as they’d treated the Xie was actually a provocation.

With the challenge officially delivered, there was only one more decision to be made: who would the Jinxi nominate as their own champion? Surely this Lang Sheng had no chance against the Jinxi Patriarch, but the next strongest person in their faction was Jinxi Po. He was a Nascent Soul of the third stage, which was quite powerful, but they’d all just seen him attack Lang Sheng without any effect. Would they finally get to see the Jinxi Patriarch fight?

“The challenge has been formally placed by the Xie Faction. Do they choose to nominate the Lang branch head as their champion?”

As this question was asked the Jinxi Patriarch looked over to the Great Elder Xie and she nodded her head before he continued, “In that case, the challenge shall commence three days from now on the Clan Dueling Grounds.”

He spoke with an official tone to make that announcement, but immediately afterward his voice dropped to a more sinister bent and gazed over at Sage, “You should get your affairs in order. I will send you to the underworld in three days' time, just as you wish.”

This time, the Patriarch didn’t give Jinxi Po any chance to look foolish. He loudly clapped his hands, “The council meeting is now over.”

Nobody dared to interrupt this time and everyone rapidly dispersed. They were eager to spread the news and there were so many things they wanted to talk about that they didn’t dare to say in the presence of the Jinxi Patriarch. As for Sage he left the Chong Clan ‘Hall’ and returned to the Xie faction area with the Great Elder. He followed her into the same large room they’d talked in before and formations came to life to protect them from eavesdropping. The Great Elder suddenly abandoned her refined demeanor and suddenly laughed loudly.

“Che-Haha, that was all worth it for the look on that old fossil’s face! You really surprised me, you little punk! Why didn’t you tell me you were planning to challenge him? I didn’t realize you were so eager to die. I thought you wanted to be our ally, if I knew you were suicidal we could have issued the challenge at a public Clan event.”

She seemed to be daydreaming about having tens of thousands of people seeing the twisted look on the Jinxi Patriarch’s face. That fake calm the Patriarch always had drove her crazy. At least that’s how Sage saw it. Since she could never hold in her rage, then that man always pretending to be calm must piss her off to no end.

But wait: aren’t opposites supposed to attract?

He quickly dispelled that idea, since it would likely earn him a deep enmity with the Great Elder and he much preferred to have her as an ally. If he could beat the Jinxi Patriarch and ensure that the Xie took over the Chong Clan then it would be far easier to get the Chong Clan to support him in his revenge on the Fu Clan. Especially since the Fu Clan was already supposed to be the enemy of the Chong Clan. Taking action against them would surely be a good demonstration of an improved Chong Clan.

“I don’t have any death wish. I’ll defeat that decrepit old cricket and you will reform the Chong Clan. Now, I certainly don’t expect the Clan to suddenly turn honorable and righteous, but at the very least they shouldn’t kill others over the sake of an internal conflict and also not abandon their own for benefits, or the lack thereof.”

The Great Elder looked at him curiously, wondering if he had a screw loose. Was this man delusional, or was he really as powerful as he claimed to be? She said as much.

“What makes you think you can defeat that mummy?”

“All those thousands of years of experience might seem intimidating to others, but in my opinion it only shows how weak he is. He’s almost ten thousand years old and yet he still can’t break through that final barrier to face heavenly tribulation.”

Sage didn’t realize he was also insulting the Great Elder, as she was also many thousands of years old, but her face merely twitched. She held herself back from raging at him, at least this once. She didn’t want to accidentally injure him when that important battle was only a few days away.

Only, she didn’t realize that Sage was actually insulting himself. The Soul Clone had already spent a few thousand years training, yet it also didn’t make much advancement in his understanding of the laws. The difference was that Sage was quite confident in the tactics he had developed during his long life. He was always the weak and untalented one, so he was quite adept at using unusual ways to increase his combat power. Even if his cultivation had stagnated, he was still quite confident he could face the Jinxi Patriarch that was only three stages stronger than himself.

A half-saint? Is that so impressive?