"Azure — Azure Ripple blade!" The first elder stammered out in surprise. The Li clan's library had a recording of the Azure Ripple Sword, so naturally, he was able to recognize it at once. But how was the precious sword that could only recognize someone of the Li clan as its owner land in the hands of this foreign girl?
"What? The Azure Ripple blade?!" Everybody else was now also shocked. Their tone made Claire sneer disdainfully.
"You bunch of trash. Do you think it's only because I have the Azure Ripple blade that I'm able to overpower you all?" Claire smiled coldly and threw away the sword casually. A giant flame sword materialized in her hand. She laughed, "Why don't I massacre the Li clan and kill you all today?"
Everybody's blood ran cold hearing this. It was the first time they had seen someone mold flames! And although the young girl was smiling, she gave them a incomparably ruthless and cold aura. She wasn't joking around. Also, she had such power! She had the power to kill everybody there!
The terrifying Qi Claire emitted made their terrified incessantly. A murderous aura spread, filling the entire main hall. Nobody dared to move thoughtlessly. The man who was either dead or barely alive was a warning to them. He had only said a few words to end up like that! Who exactly was this terrifyingly powerful girl?
"Patriarch, Patriarch!" the first Elder spoke hurriedly, pleading. Now he wasn't calling him Mingyu or Li Mingyu, but calling out Patriarch respectfully.
"Patriarch, save us. Second Miss, save us. You are also members of the Li clan. Will you just watch on as an outsider kills us?!" the third Elder begged, his voice shaky.
"She isn't an outsider." Li Yuewen coldly humphed. Her sentence made everybody freeze.
Li Mingyu was also shocked. He whipped his head towards Li Yuewen, not understanding why Li Yuewen chose to spill it at a time like this. Was it the right time? Even Claire herself didn't know yet.
Claire also paused. What did she mean by that?
"She is Aunty Rui's child and has the Li Clan's blood. The fact that the Azure Ripple blade accepted her as its owner isn't strange at all. Also, she will be the one to participate at the tournament two months later. I believe that none of you dare to say you are more powerful than her," Li Yuewen said calmly.
The main hall started heating up.
Claire frowned at Li Yuewen, completely confused.
"You mother's true name was Li Ruihuan, our father's younger sister. In order to marry your father, she left our clan," Li Yuewen said to Claire in a low voice. Her voice was clearly filled with resentment towards Claire's father.
Claire stared at Li Yuewen with shock, but Li Yuewen was serious. Claire knew that she wasn't lying. Suddenly, she understood why the Li siblings had always given her a faint feeling of familiarity and warmth. This was why! In other words, Mother was from the Li clan, but left the clan and country because she fell for Father? Mother renounced her entire clan for Father? That was the reason why Li Yuewen was so resentful towards her father. So Li Yuewen was her cousin*? And Li Mingyu too? Claire's head spun. Such a change in identity was too much to absorb at once.
"She's Li Ruihuan's daughter?" The first elder's expression turned unsightly. His ton was filled with deep hatred and disdain. Everybody else also had similar expressions. That woman had abandoned her entire family, thrown away her cultivation and power, and married into another country just for one man. And this girl was actually her daughter. Now that they looked more closely, they did seem to look similar.
"No! How can we let that woman's child represent our Li clan?!" the second Elder immediately protested. His disdainful address "that women" revealed great loathing.
"Haha, you've got something against my mother?" Claire raised her sword towards the second Elder and sneered. No matter what, Claire wouldn't allow anybody to disrespect her warm and gentle mother!
"That woman destroyed her cultivation base just for a man. She's already banished from the Li clan! She doesn't have the face to return, which also means you don't have the qualifications to represent our Li clan! Even if there was nobody left in the Li clan, there's no need for the daughter of a traitor to represent us!" the first elder roared.
"Shut your bird beak." What Claire said next not only made the first elder's face grim, everybody else's expressions darkened too. She spoke unhurriedly, neither fast nor slow. "Represent the Li clan? What a joke. You think that the Li clan is so prestigious that I would want to represent you? Take a look at your thick face. How revered is it? Listen up, you trush. I'm only participating in the tournament for Cousin Li Yuewen and Cousin Li Mingyu. It has nothing to do with your Li clan. If you feel unwilling, then you can challenge me to a fight. If I lose, you can just go participate in the tournament yourself. But if I win, you will pay with your life. I will not be merciful any more." Near the end, Claire's voice was incomparably icy. Her ruthless voice pierced through their ears, pierced through their hearts. On the other hand, hearing Claire calling them cousin, Li Yuewen and Li Mingyu felt warmth surge in their hearts.
"You!" The first elder gnashed his teeth with clenched fists, wanting to curse out. But facing a wave of boiling hot energy, he swallowed back his words. The rest were also furious yet to cowardly to speak. The overbearing and ruthless girl could take their lives and without even blinking! Practically a heartless monster! A demon! Li Ruihuan had actually given birth to such a terrifying daughter!
"Am I being unreasonable?" Claire sneered, knowing what the first elder was on the verge of saying.
Before the first Elder replied or anyone else spoke, Claire dispersed her flame sword and crossed her arms. She tilted her head as she watched everybody, spitting out each and every word clearly. "So what if I'm being unreasonable? So what if I'm forcing you weak people? If you feel unsatisfied, then go out and cultivate. Then when you become stronger than me, you can also oppress the weak. Right now, you're just like dogs with tails in between your legs.
Unreasonable! Unreasonable! Everybody clenched their fists, but not a single person dared to say it out loud. Because one needed power to speak out!
Li Yuewen raised a brow slightly, but her heart throbbed with warmth. This girl was completely different from her mother, so vile and evil. But she liked it, she liked the vile aspect of the girl, haha! She felt so good. These old things had never been insulted like this before. Today was the day they would experience humiliation.
Li Mingyu's expression was complex. His heart was filled with joy, but also worry.
"The sky is bright now. Beat it, do what you're supposed to do. What, have you not had enough?" Claire gave a cold humph and stepped forward two steps, materializing the flame sword again. The golden flame sword ignited more intensely than before, its boiling aura making their hearts shudder.
The moment Claire had stepped forward, they had hurriedly backed away. Their expressions were completely fearful. Currently, in their hearts, the girl was an unpredictable devil! Able to take their lives away at any moment!
"Alright, disperse," Li Mingyu said quietly. "Act as if today never happened. I hope our Li clan will never experience infighting again."
They left quickly, all with differing expressions. The heavily injured man on the ground was also carried away.
In the blink of an eye, the main hall was tranquil. Everybody had left. Only they three were left, along with Jean, who was waiting at the entrance.
Li Yuewen turned stiffly, surveying the main hall. Seeing the terrifyingly messy hall, she whipped around and grabbed Claire's through, saying angrily, "You damn brat, I'll murder you! Look at what you've done. Do you know how much this place costs?! We're broke right now, broke!"
"It's just a bit of money, you can get money easily." Claire started sweating. Just then, she was only thinking of shocking the old things, how would she be able to consider this?
"Pay up, pay up!!" Li Yuewen was still angry.
Li Mingyu stopped her. "Alright already, Li Yuewen, stop shaking with anger. Claire still hasn't recovered yet."
Only then did Li Yuewen let go, letting Claire go frantically and immediately.
"Claire, what happened? How did you wake up so quickly? What happened to the two little things who were trying to form a contract with you?" Li Mingyu's mind was filled with questions.
The moment he raised the topic, Claire revealed a soft yet proud smile.
Li Mingyu blinked. He didn't see wrong, the always emotionless Claire was currently smiling proudly!
"I contracted both of them." Claire smiled widely. One other thing she couldn't tell them was that the master-servant contract had been altered into an equal contract. The relationship she had with White Emperor and Black Feather was like a triangle, and she was even at the higher tip of the triangle, controlling and balancing the contract's powers. Relatively speaking, she had a slight advantage. At the very least, it wasn't a master-servant contract any more!
"What? You've contracted two beasts now?!" Li Mingyu cried out with astonishment, his gaze filled with shock. To his knowledge, whether or not it was a high level or low level beast, a person could only contract one beast! It was supposed to be impossible to contract two beasts, but now Claire had done the impossible. Although the identity of the two little magic beasts were still unknown….
"Yes." Claire turned and looked towards White Emperor and Black Feather, who were crouching on Jean's shoulders, a faint trace of a smile on her face. Equal contract, haha. If she continued working hard, she would definitely become their master one day. Claire also knew clearly that the reason why the contract was altered into an equal contract wasn't because of her own power, but because of her luck. She was only able to restrain the two because of their infighting, thereby altering the contract into an equal contract. Claire was amazed; she had already broken through to the Treasured Lotus style's seventh level but she was only barely able to alter the contract into an equal contract. Then just how powerful were White Emperor and Black Feather?