Chapter 231: Peng Clan [1]

Peng Tianyuan was once considered the greatest hope of the Peng Clan.

The clan had placed enormous expectations on his shoulders, believing that he would lead them to heights their ancestors had never achieved. When he reached twenty years of age, he had already entered the Golden Core Realm, a feat that earned him endless praise and admiration.

Wherever he went, people recognized his talent. The elders regarded him with pride, the younger generation looked up to him, and even cultivators from other clans had heard of his name.

Back then, Peng Tianyuan had every reason to be proud of himself.

A few years earlier…

Peng Tianyuan was walking through the market paying little attention to the surrounding crowds when suddenly, someone bumped into his shoulder.

He stopped and turned around, his brows furrowing as irritation flashed across his face. However, after noticing the number of people around him, he suppressed his anger and decided to let the matter pass.

It was only a trivial collision. There was no need to make a scene over something so insignificant.

Without saying anything, he continued walking.

Yet before he could take more than a few steps, the same young man circled around and deliberately walked straight into his path, forcing him to stop.

Peng Tianyuan’s expression darkened.

“What are you doing?” he asked, his voice carrying a trace of displeasure.

The young man looked him over before suddenly revealing a look of recognition.

“Oh, aren’t you the genius of the Peng Clan?” he exclaimed, as though he had only just realized who stood before him. “I’ve heard plenty of stories about you. Since we’ve met, why don’t we have a spar?”

Peng Tianyuan stared at him for a moment.

Is this fellow insane?

He had no interest in entertaining some stranger who had deliberately obstructed his path. Even if the young man genuinely wanted to challenge him, there were proper ways to issue a challenge.

“I have no time for this,” Peng Tianyuan replied before stepping around him. “Find someone else.”

He expected the matter to end there.

However, the young man moved again, blocking his path once more.

Peng Tianyuan’s patience began to wear thin as he turned toward the persistent stranger.

Before he could speak, the young man began listing one alleged crime after another, speaking loudly enough for the surrounding pedestrians to hear.

He accused Peng Tianyuan of bullying weaker cultivators, abusing the Peng Clan’s influence, and committing various other misdeeds.

With every accusation, more people began turning their attention toward them.

Peng Tianyuan’s expression stiffened.

He had never seen this man before, yet the stranger spoke as though they had a longstanding grudge.

And judging by the way the young man continued piling on accusations without giving him a chance to respond, it was becoming increasingly clear that this supposed spar had never been his real intention.

The young man was deliberately making a scene and he had chosen him as a target.

Peng Tianyuan’s expression darkened as the young man continued shouting accusations, drawing more and more attention from the surrounding crowd.

He had no intention of entertaining this ridiculous spectacle, but allowing a stranger to publicly tarnish his reputation was another matter entirely.

He took a step forward, meeting the young man’s gaze with a cold expression.

“You seem awfully confident in everything you’ve said. Are you certain you’re willing to bear the consequences of making these accusations against me?”

His voice was calm, but the warning behind his words was unmistakable.

Peng Tianyuan had no intention of letting this matter end with a few careless words. If the young man wanted to challenge his reputation in public, then he would make sure the fellow understood exactly what that entailed.

Yet the young man showed no sign of hesitation.

He nodded firmly before straightening his back and announcing, “My name is Lin Shuxuan. I pledge upon my family’s honour that everything I’ve said is nothing but the truth!”

Peng Tianyuan’s expression remained unchanged, but his thoughts immediately shifted.

The Lin Clan? What are they doing here?

The name itself was not particularly impressive. The Lin Clan was, by all reasonable measures, an obscure family with little influence beyond its own territory.

If there was one thing that had made the clan noteworthy in recent years, it was the marriage of its current patriarch into the Su Family, a Rank Eight clan.

That marriage had attracted considerably more attention than anything the Lin Clan had accomplished on its own.

News of the affair had spread throughout the surrounding Rank Nine clans, reaching even those who had never paid the Lin Clan any attention before.

Some were jealous of the connection, others quietly investigated how the Lin Clan had managed to secure such a marriage, while the rest simply regarded it as an interesting piece of gossip.

The Peng Clan belonged to the first group.

Peng Tianyuan knew this well enough. The two clans occupied neighbouring cities, with Azure Willow City and Southwatch City separated by only a relatively short distance.

The Lin Clan’s sudden connection to a Rank Eight family had naturally caught the attention of his elders.

They wanted to know how it had happened.

Was the Su Family particularly fond of the Lin patriarch? Had the Lin Clan offered something valuable in exchange? Or had they simply stumbled upon an opportunity that other families could only dream of?

The Peng Clan had yet to find a satisfactory answer.

And now, a young man claiming to be from that very family had appeared before him, publicly accusing him of various misdeeds and swearing upon his family’s honour that his words were true.

Peng Tianyuan narrowed his eyes slightly.

Lin Shuxuan…

The name stirred a vague recollection. He had heard it somewhere before, although he could not immediately remember the details.

Rather than reveal his uncertainty, he studied the young man more carefully, searching for anything that might help him understand the situation.

“Lin Shuxuan?” he asked, keeping his voice measured. “Are you the son of Lin Zhengli and Su Qinghe?”

The young man nodded without hesitation.

“That’s right.”

Peng Tianyuan’s heart sank slightly.

He had initially assumed this was merely some reckless fool looking for trouble. But if the young man truly was Lin Zhengli’s son, then the situation was no longer so simple.

The Lin Clan might be insignificant in terms of strength, but its connection to the Su Family could not be dismissed. Picking a fight with this young man in front of a crowd could invite consequences that extended far beyond Southwatch City.

Worse still, Lin Shuxuan had already made his accusations in public and pledged his family’s honour to their truth. If Peng Tianyuan acted carelessly now, he might give the Lin Clan precisely the excuse it needed to make this affair bigger than it should be.

What exactly is this fellow trying to accomplish?

Peng Tianyuan kept his expression composed, refusing to let his growing suspicion show.

He had no intention of admitting guilt to accusations he had not even been given a proper chance to answer. But neither would he allow himself to be dragged into a trap simply because a young man had decided to make a spectacle of him.

For the moment, he decided to hear what Lin Shuxuan had to say.