Chapter 60 - 58: Matriarch Qin’s Attitude, Everyone’s Confusion and Shock

Chapter 60: Chapter 58: Matriarch Qin’s Attitude, Everyone’s Confusion and Shock

Many young men and women voiced their inner thoughts, and complaints arose from all sides. Some even glared at Jiang Hao, fuming with exasperation.

"Qin Fan, what is your cultivation level? What right do you have to be our leader?"

"What is the Lord City Lord thinking? Why let him take this leading role?"

"I know! It’s him, it must be him. He definitely exploited the Patriarch’s guilt towards him to fight for this position, wanting a bigger share of the communal resources in the ancient ruins."

"Young Master Qin, are you trying to get everyone killed? Do you not know your own worth? As an ant who only knows how to rely on the Lord City Lord’s guilt and pampering, what right do you have to be the leader of our Fifth Camp?"

Many members of the Qin City genius teams couldn’t help but speak up. This concerned their future survival in the ancient ruins, and they simply couldn’t sit back and do nothing.

It wasn’t just the young men and women of the Fifth Camp who were agitated and indignant; the genius teams of the other four camps were also wearing looks of utter astonishment.

Qin Ye, standing on the stage, looked ashen. Clearly, he was also unaware of the Qin Family higher-ups’ final decision.

It wasn’t just them; countless Qin Family elders and experts who were in the dark about the underlying reasons were stunned for more than ten seconds before instantly erupting into an uproar.

"Patriarch, we object!"

"We object as well. Lord City Lord, how can this matter be treated as child’s play? This is a decision concerning their life and death! How can Qin Fan be allowed to lead the Fifth Camp? We firmly object."

"Qin Fan only possesses the strength of the Unity Realm Second Layer. Even in the Fifth Camp, he is practically at the bottom of the barrel. How could the Patriarch let him and Yuan’Er lead the Fifth Camp?"

"Shi Ming, I absolutely cannot agree with this decision. This is treating lives as a joke."

One after another, the Qin Family elders voiced their opposition. Those who had children in the Fifth Camp were particularly agitated.

Seeing the Qin Family elders speak up, the youths of the Fifth Camp braved themselves to chime in, despite their fear of the City Lord’s oppressive aura.

"Lord City Lord, the Fifth Camp doesn’t want Qin Fan! We want Young Master Qin Ye!"

"That’s right, we don’t want Qin Fan, we want Qin Ye! We implore the Lord City Lord to reconsider."

"Patriarch, Qin Fan is merely a Cultivator at the Unity Realm Second Layer. He’s not even as good as me! How can he take on the role of leader?"

Facing the countless doubts and objections, Qin Shiming’s expression remained unchanged. "This matter has been decided. It is a joint choice made by myself and the core Elders, and it will not be changed."

After Qin Shiming finished speaking, he gazed at the young men and women of the Fifth Camp and sighed inwardly, "You will all understand in the future. The strength of the Fifth Camp is not weaker than any other camp."

However, as soon as his words fell, countless Qin Family experts boiled over even more, their voices of opposition echoing endlessly.

"Grand Elder, Elders, the Patriarch is eager to protect his son out of guilt, but could it be that you Supreme Elders also...?"

Seeing that all the core Elders of the Qin Family kept their mouths shut, everyone’s hearts sank.

Qin Shiming, the current helmsman of the Qin Family, truly controlled the Elder Council. In their eyes at this moment, it was glaringly obvious that those Elders were intimidated by the Patriarch’s pressure and didn’t dare to step forward.

Watching this scene, Qin Ye slowly closed his eyes, a million times unwilling in his heart.

In the crowd, Jiang Hao slightly furrowed his brows. He had never thought of traveling with the Qin Family, much less expected Qin Shiming to make such an arrangement. However, one thing was certain: by making him the leader of the Fifth Camp, Qin Shiming clearly intended to skew the distribution of the communal resources won in the upcoming Prodigy Hegemony in his favor.

Little did they know, in the eyes of Qin Shiming and the others, Jiang Hao was precisely the candidate who could lead the Fifth Camp to obtain more opportunities in the Prodigy Hegemony.

Just as everyone was riled up, a beautiful silhouette suddenly tore through the air and arrived.

"Fan’Er?"

The newcomer’s first glance was unexpectedly directed at Jiang Hao in the crowd. This beautiful silhouette was none other than Matriarch Qin, Nalan Feiyan.

Seeing Nalan Feiyan’s arrival, the crowd instantly felt as if they had grasped a lifesaving straw and immediately spoke up in succession.

"Lady of the House, please uphold justice for us!"

"Feiyan, you came just in time. Please persuade Shi Ming! He’s gone mad, completely mad! To think he actually made Qin Fan the leader of the Fifth Camp—this is completely disregarding their lives!"

The current Nalan Feiyan was no longer what she used to be in the Qin Family. Relying on the Foundation Establishment Pills provided by the Pill Storage Tower, she now held considerable sway even within the Qin Family’s Elder Council. Seeing Nalan Feiyan hurry over, everyone saw a glimmer of hope.

"This is great! I heard that Madam Qin has always disliked that Qin Fan. With Matriarch Qin here, our Fifth Camp has hope!"

"Not only that, Matriarch Qin is also Young Master Qin Ye’s aunt. She will definitely make Qin Ye assume this leadership role."

"Lady of the House, you must uphold justice for us!"

Amidst the crowd’s wild rejoicing, a smile broke out on Qin Ye’s face, as if he could already see the scene of his aunt fighting tooth and nail for his leadership position. After all, a leading role was not merely a symbol of status, but more importantly, a key to future resource allocation.

In the crowd, even Qin Xiangying, who was within the Fifth Camp, smiled bitterly. "Given mother’s disgust for Qin Fan, I’m afraid father’s decision is going to backfire."

Atop the high platform of the Martial Arts Arena, Qin Shiming also couldn’t help but furrow his brows slightly. If Nalan Feiyan strongly opposed it, the final decision really might be swayed.

However, just as everyone finished recounting the sequence of events and looked on with eyes full of expectation for Matriarch Qin to lead the opposition, Nalan Feiyan finally spoke.

Her eyes looking toward Jiang Hao were still laced with the lingering shock of countless terrors, but standing mid-air, she spoke slowly, "I agree with Shi Ming’s decision. Fan’Er, these brothers and sisters of Qin City’s Fifth Camp will be entrusted to you and Yuan’Er."

RUMBLE!

As soon as these words came out, the entire Qin Family Martial Arts Arena was dumbfounded.

Qin Ye stared blankly at his aunt, his eyes brimming with bewilderment. Even Qin Shiming was slightly taken aback, quite surprised by this turn of events.

"Th-The Lady of the House isn’t opposing it?"

"The Lady of the House actually agreed? How is this possible?"

The entire Qin Family was instantly cast into utter shock. Little did they know, in the eyes of their Lady of the House, that youth in white had long since become entirely different.

In the crowd, even Qin Xiangyuan was frozen in place, doubting several times if she had heard incorrectly. To think that her mother, who had always itched to drive that illegitimate child out of the Qin Family, was actually standing on his side?

But before Qin Xiangyuan had a chance to react, Qin Xiangying spoke up as well.

"Father, Mother, I also agree that Brother Qin Fan and Yuan’Er should lead the Fifth Camp together. I believe we will all return alive."

Following Qin Xiangying’s words, the entire Martial Arts Arena instantly fell deathly silent. This scene was entirely different from what they had imagined. Why was even Matriarch Qin taking the side of that illegitimate child?

Meanwhile, the hundreds of terrifying figures who had been paying attention to this scene were also slightly surprised, a hint of interest flashing in their eyes.

"Interesting, how interesting. Patriarch Qin and Matriarch Qin are actually letting a Unity Realm Second Layer Cultivator act as a leader in the Prodigy Hegemony. It seems this kid might truly possess something special."

"I’m becoming more and more interested in this young man that the Young Miss thinks so highly of."

"Let’s just see his performance in the Prodigy Hegemony."

Nalan Feiyan’s declaration caused the entire Martial Arts Arena to quiet down significantly. Qin Shiming also seized the opportunity to assign Qin Ye into the Fifth Camp.

Upon learning that Qin Ye would also be in the Fifth Camp, the youths of the camp finally accepted the reality, albeit reluctantly. However, when they looked at that youth in white, their eyes were filled with disdain, contempt, and unyielding defiance.

Little did they know that before long, that youth in white would be the sole hope for the entire Fifth Camp’s survival in the ancient ruins.

After all the arrangements were settled, all of Qin City plunged into a state of busy preparation. Qin City’s genius teams were also ordered to make preparations. In three days, the Qin Family would dispatch a large number of experts to personally escort them to the ancient ruins that were about to open.

When the time came, the new generation of prodigies from the entire Celestial City’s Earth Realm would enter. This would serve as the first major trial for all the Qin Family’s direct descendants in the Prodigy Hegemony.

That night, Jiang Hao found Qin Shiming and explained his intention to leave, only to be politely refused.

After repeated deliberations, Qin Shiming and Zhang Tiesheng believed it would be much safer for Jiang Hao to remain hidden within the Qin Family’s faction and rise to prominence under the identity of Qin Fan. This was also Gu Qingyan’s idea; otherwise, she wouldn’t have dispatched so many experts to garrison Qin City and watch over the Qin Family.

"Child, your uncle knows what you are thinking. You don’t need to have any misgivings. Even if you are exposed one day, it won’t be that easy for the Celestial Sword Sect to shake our Qin Family while we are under the Young Miss’s protection.

"Rather, child, your uncle has a favor to ask of you.

"The Prodigy Hegemony is fraught with deadly perils. The Qin Family has made quite a few enemies in the Celestial City’s Earth Realm, though I’m not worried about their counterattacks.

"The only thing I cannot put my mind at ease about is Yuan’Er and the others in the Prodigy Hegemony.

"That girl Yuan’Er possesses a talent that is simply too formidable and invokes dread. The Qin Family’s mortal enemies will not let her survive the Prodigy Hegemony.

"Child, consider this your uncle begging you. I hope you can stay. Remain in the Qin Family for now, work together with Yuan’Er, and bring her back safely."

Faced with Qin Shiming’s genuine display of emotion, Jiang Hao fell silent and ultimately chose to tacitly agree. If he didn’t know about Qin Xiangyuan’s predicament, he might have insisted on leaving. But now that he was aware of it all, he truly couldn’t just stand by and watch her die.

Time slowly flowed by. In the blink of an eye, three days passed.

On this day, a deafening RUMBLE shattered the tranquility of the Celestial City’s Earth Realm.

Under the Qin Family’s arrangements, five massive arks slowly ascended into the sky from Qin City, packed full with the Qin City genius teams.

Watching Qin Xiangyuan, Qin Xiangying, Qin Ye, and Jiang Hao on the fifth ark, Nalan Feiyan felt a complex mix of emotions. Qin Shiming had already told her the lie that Jiang Hao was the number one genius of the Qin Family throughout history, though he still kept his lips sealed tightly regarding Jiang Hao’s true identity.

Even so, Nalan Feiyan had changed her previous views. Never in her wildest dreams did she expect that the young man she found so displeasing to the eye would ultimately turn out to be the benefactor of her Nalan Family. And now, the safety of her two daughters was inextricably tied to that very youth.

"Rest assured, they will definitely return safely," Qin Shiming softly comforted his wife, gently holding her in his arms.

At this moment, the couple seemingly shed the majesty of the Patriarch and Matriarch; all that remained was the worry of a father and mother for their daughters.

As the five Qin City arks slowly flew out of Xingyue City’s Earth Realm under the protection of countless Qin Family experts, countless arks belonging to various clans could also be seen taking to the air amidst the vast, boundless void.

On a certain ark, two peerlessly elegant young men instantly locked their gazes onto the genius teams aboard the five great Qin City arks, cold sneers successively curling upon their lips.

"Lin Tai, pick a team. Once we enter the ancient ruins, it’s either they die, or we perish," one of the young men with a terrifying aura spoke nonchalantly, traces of killing intent flashing in his eyes.

The other, a gloomy and cold young man, replied with eyes full of amusement, "Defeating them one by one is the best strategy. Let’s just..."

As he spoke, his moving finger abruptly pointed toward one of the Qin Family’s arks. "...Let’s start with this one. Naturally, we should start by crushing the weakest link."

It was glaringly obvious that the moment the Qin Family’s genius teams appeared, they were targeted by hostile forces. Lin Tai and his companion were not stupid either. They didn’t choose to confront the other four camps of the Qin Family, but instead opted for the genius team that only had a single peerless prodigy holding the fort.

However, the team that the two of them deemed the weakest in the Qin Family was none other than the one Jiang Hao belonged to—the Qin Family’s Fifth Camp!