Vol. 1 - Ch. 46 - The Clan Leader Goes Mad Again

Given the seriousness of the situation, how could the Clan Chief be absent? It made no sense!

"The Clan Chief?"

The clansman, who had been interrupted in his wailing, scratched his head as if trying to recall where the clan leader was. However, it didn't take him long to remember, and he pointed to a figure in front of him, saying:

"Isn't that him?"

The three of them followed the direction he indicated, and surprise flickered across their faces.

They hadn't noticed it before, but upon closer inspection, there he was---the Clan Chief they had been so desperately searching for!

This realization sent a shiver down their spines. They had only been away from the clan for a few days, and yet such a calamity had unfolded.

Staring at the clan's Divine Tree, which had completely transformed, they were overwhelmed by confusion. What on earth had happened?

Could it be that the Clan Chief had lost his mind?

Ahead, Chen Xingzhen's emotions gradually began to settle. When the clan first migrated to this place, it was his father who led the clan members through countless hardships.

It had taken more than twenty years from the time they left their original home to their eventual arrival at Chaotic Burial Mountain.

During that journey, the clan had lived in various places, only to face numerous obstacles and failures before finally settling and thriving in Chaotic Burial Mountain.

In those two decades, the elder members of the clan had passed away one by one, and Chen Xingzhen himself had grown from a boy of ten to a man of sixty.

As the head of the clan, he bore the weight of countless responsibilities and expectations, leaving him no time to rest.

Whenever he recalled the days of his youth under the guidance of his father and the elders, nostalgia overwhelmed him.

It was this deep-seated emotion that caused his momentary lapse when he saw his father's face in the divine fruit. The sight was so intense that he had briefly forgotten his current status as the clan leader.

However, Chen Tianjing's questioning voice from behind snapped him back to reality. He was the Clan Chief now, and he couldn't afford to behave inappropriately.

Moreover, seeing the images of his father and the clan elders today had somehow fulfilled a lingering wish in his heart.

After regaining his composure as the clan leader, Chen Xingzhen quickly wiped the tears from his face and stood up, his expression now calm and authoritative, as if the weeping elder from moments ago had been someone else entirely.

"Silence!" he commanded, his voice firm and resolute.

The other clan members quieted down as he raised his hand to stop their cries.

He spoke solemnly,

"The Divine Tree is nurturing the divine fruit. This is a critical moment. From today, the Ancestral Hall will be temporarily closed, and no clan member may disturb the Divine Tree! Those who wish to worship the Divine Tree must do so with my permission."

Chen Xingzhen's voice carried the weight of his authority, and after issuing several more orders, he had fully reasserted his role as the clan leader.

The clansmen, still reeling from the sight of their deceased elders, accepted his commands without objection. The encounter with the divine fruits had brought a sense of peace to many, but it also left them with a lingering curiosity.

Yet, with the Ancestral Hall now sealed, there was no way to explore that curiosity further.

At the entrance of the Ancestral Hall, Chen Tianjing and his two companions, who had been gripped by panic earlier, now breathed a sigh of relief.

It was clear that the clan leader had not lost his mind; there was still hope for the clan.

"Tianjing, have you been able to locate the Li Clan?"

Chen Xingzhen asked the three who had just returned, shifting his focus to more pressing matters.

Recognizing the seriousness of the question, the three men quickly reported their findings.

"Clan leader, I traveled southeast for over a hundred miles, but I found no remnants of the Li Clan," one of them said.

"Clan leader, I searched all the way to the northwest and found no trace of the Li Clan either," another added.

Chen Xingzhen listened calmly to their reports, his expression unwavering.

Although the Li Clan had been defeated and fled, they had operated in the Chaotic Burial Mountain for a long time.

He did not believe for a moment that they lacked secret passages or hiding places. Yet, the thorough search conducted by his men had yielded no results, indicating that the Li Clan had other means of concealment.

Even when they had captured and interrogated the abandoned Li Clan members, they had learned nothing.

It seemed Li Yongcheng had kept his plans secret, not even informing his own people, who had been left in the dark and ultimately abandoned.

Only by deceiving their own could they deceive the enemy, Chen Xingzhen thought.

"I have made some discoveries on my side," Chen Qingyu said, drawing the attention of the group.

"After initially discovering the Li Clan's hideout, we only found one path, indicating that the Li Clan had not yet dispersed at that time. So I followed the tracks of the Li Clan members we found a few days ago and finally found some traces at a fork on the road."

"Hmm, Qingyu, go on," Chen Xingzhen encouraged, his interest piqued.

Chen Xingzhen nodded thoughtfully as he listened to Chen Qingyu's report.

"Although the tracks were faint and appeared deliberately concealed, there were still some mistakes. I followed the trail all the way to the Li Clan's hunting grounds within the Chaotic Burial Mountain," Chen Qingyu explained.

Chen Xingzhen's eyes widened with realization. This must have been the reason why, despite sending so many people to search, they had found no clues.

Even though the Li Clan had abandoned some of their members, there were still about seventy people left. The traces of such a large group couldn't be completely erased.

It all made sense now---they had indeed fled to the Chaotic Burial Mountain.

Chen Xingzhen had initially dismissed this possibility because the Chaotic Burial Mountain was notoriously dangerous.

It was home to not only Ferocious Beasts but also snakes, insects, rats, and a maze of treacherous terrain. Even seasoned martial artists would hesitate to venture there without proper preparation.

Though the Li Clan's remaining members were elite, they were still young and lacked experience.

Leading so many clansmen through such perilous territory was no small feat. Reflecting on this, Chen Xingzhen sighed and remarked, "Li Yongcheng is a man of great courage."

"Clan Leader, shall we continue the chase?" Chen Tianjing asked, his voice laced with the deep-seated grudge the Chen Clan bore toward the Li Clan.

Even if the Li Clan had fled, their hatred for them wouldn't fade for a hundred years. Leaving them unchecked could pose a future threat to the Chen Clan.

Chen Xingzhen considered the question for a moment before slowly shaking his head.

"Do not pursue a desperate enemy. The terrain of the Chaotic Burial Mountain is treacherous, and the fierce beasts that dwell there make tracking difficult. Moreover, both Li Yongcheng and Li Cailiang are not only formidable in their martial realms but are also skilled hunters. They likely set traps along the way."

He continued, "Besides, by now, they've probably covered more than half of their escape route. Continuing the chase would put our clan at risk."

Chen Tianjing frowned slightly. "But Clan Leader, are we just going to let them go? We could use the clan's secret passages to enter the Chaotic Burial Mountain and cut off their escape."

Chen Xingzhen smiled slightly.

"The Li Clan is nothing but a defeated army. Even if they manage to take their clansmen with them, what of it? Our Chen Clan has overcome the crisis and now possesses the Divine Tree. Our future development will surpass that of the Li Clan."

He paused, then added, "Moreover, the Chaotic Burial Mountain is full of Fierce Beasts, and in its depths lies the Innate Realm of the Green Wolf. What if they encounter it?"

The mention of the Green Wolf made the three men brighten up. They had almost forgotten about that formidable beast.

With the Divine Tree in their possession, the Chen Clan was destined to grow stronger than the Li Clan ever could.

"Clan Leader, about the Divine Tree..."

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