Facing the elders, who were bristling with righteous indignation, Yue Qingshan sneered.
"Elders, you are all prominent figures of our Yue Family. Have your eyes grown blind alongside your old age? Tell me, what exactly did Mingkong do wrong? She did absolutely nothing wrong. She merely stated a single condition! Could that... possibly be a crime?!"
His final retort directly interrogated the elders, silently accusing them of being muddle-headed, unreasonable old fools.
Though he avoided using explicit slurs, his contemptuous tone made his meaning clear to everyone present.
Flames of fury flushed the elders' faces red. They were senior figures of the Yue Family, accustomed to honor and respect, and certainly not used to being berated by a wet-behind-the-ears youth.
"Enough!"
The First Elder spoke up suddenly, his voice thick with cold displeasure. Yue Qingshan's harsh words had implicitly lumped him in with the rest.
The senior elders understood the core reality: Yue Mingkong had indeed only spoken a single phrase, but would the Ye Clan care about such technicalities?
The Ye Clan held absolute power over their lives, and the Yue Family lacked the standing to resist. Yue Qingshan was simply too young, driven by rash arrogance, so the First Elder held back from lowering himself to argue with a child.
"That is enough, Yue Qingshan. Watch your tongue, lest you force me to show no mercy."
It was a blatant threat, signaling that the First Elder's patience had worn paper-thin.
A talented younger generation brought fresh blood and renewed hope to a clan, but that did not grant a novice free rein to act insolently before his seniors.
In the Immortal World, true leverage came only from absolute power. Here... the strong ruled supreme.
"First Elder, you...!"
Yue Qingshan opened his mouth to contest the threat, but upon meeting the First Elder's sharp, stern glare, his defiance vanished instantly.
He knew full well that the First Elder was the strongest cultivator in the clan, an authority to whom even the Patriarch deferred.
Yet bitterness burned fiercely in Yue Qingshan's heart. Was this matter truly meant to end so pathetically? Yue Mingkong remained under house arrest, and he was denied permission to even visit her.
Clenching his fists until his knuckles turned pale, a radical resolve took root within his mind.
'Mingkong! Don't worry, I will definitely rescue you! Worst comes to worst, we can flee to the ends of the earth together!'
Just as silence settled over the hall, a thunderous roar echoed from beyond the gates.
"The Envoy of the Ye Clan has arrived!"
The moment those words rang out, absolute silence fell over the hall. The air froze instantly.
For days, everyone in the family had been tossing and turning in dread, consumed by anxiety over how the Ye Clan would handle the situation.
They were like sheep awaiting slaughter, powerless to do anything but wait.
Now that the Ye Clan had finally sent a messenger, heavy apprehension weighed on their chests regarding what terms would be exacted.
"The Ye Clan!"
Feeling the oppressive atmosphere around him, Yue Qingshan clenched his fists tighter, a cold glint flashing across his eyes.
Deep down, he felt nothing but disdain. Ye Yun was merely relying on his formidable family background; without it, he was certainly no superior to Yue Qingshan.
The Ye Clan loomed over Yue Qingshan's head like an immovable mountain, fueling his resentment, yet he dared not openly provoke them.
Patriarch Yue Feng stood up and addressed the surrounding elders.
"Let us go! Elders, follow me to receive the Envoy of the Ye Clan. We must not be negligent in our courtesy."
The group departed the main hall, heading toward the grand entrance of the ancestral estate.
After a moment of internal hesitation, Yue Qingshan gritted his teeth and trailed behind them. He wanted to see firsthand how the Ye Clan intended to settle the score.
If the Ye Clan intended to harm Yue Mingkong, Yue Qingshan was prepared to break her out and flee to the edges of the world. Dying together as tragic lovers was a sacrifice he was willing to make.
Once he grew powerful enough, he would return to settle the debt; with his innate talent and supreme potential, ascending to the Supreme Realm was an absolute certainty.
Meanwhile, at the entrance of the Yue Clan's ancestral grounds...
Clad in an immaculate black robe and wearing a stark black mask, the Envoy of the Ye Clan stood silently like an icy statue.
An aura of terrifying chill emanated from his body. The surrounding servants dared not draw near, retreating into the distance in sheer terror.
Most of the servants were ordinary mortals, so when confronted with the chilling aura of a powerhouse from the Ye Clan, hiding was their only choice.
Before long, a crowd of Yue Family members gathered at the gate, none daring to show even a hint of disrespect before the Ye Clan Envoy.
"What kind of order do you think the Ye Clan Envoy is bringing this time?"
"Who can say for sure? But it definitely concerns the Young Master of the Ye Clan."
"Sigh! It's all because of Yue Mingkong. Why did she have to state such an unreasonable condition? That is the Young Master of the Ye Clan! Now that such a disaster has struck, the entire family is dragged down with her!"
"Exactly! To be favored by the Young Master of the Ye Clan is a monumental honor! Yet she actually rejected it! That is a blessing countless women dream of and can never obtain!"
...
Discontented murmurs echoed among the clan members, placing all blame on Yue Mingkong.
In their eyes, if Yue Mingkong had not proposed that condition, Ye Yun would not have rushed his breakthrough and suffered qi deviation, nor would the Yue Family be walking on thin ice.
Yue Feng, the elders, and Yue Qingshan—who followed closely behind—heard these bitter whispers as they arrived.
Yue Qingshan glares icy daggers at the clan members deflecting blame onto Yue Mingkong. Disgust flared within him. These people only knew how to scapegoat an innocent woman.
Yue Mingkong had merely spoken a single sentence and done nothing wrong, yet she was forced to bear the burden of their cowardice.
Stepping to the very front, Yue Feng bowed deeply with cupped hands and asked respectfully, "Honorable Envoy, please forgive Yue Feng for his late arrival. May I ask what instructions you bring?"
The black-masked Envoy of the Ye Clan did not even spare Yue Feng a direct glance, uttering coldly, "I am here to deliver the decree of the Clan Patriarch."
He possessed every right to look down upon Yue Feng; to him, a minor clan patriarch was nothing more than an insignificant ant.
Upon hearing that it was a decree directly from the Clan Patriarch of the Ye Clan, Yue Feng immediately dropped to one knee.
The elders behind him followed suit without a moment's hesitation, kneeling on one knee.
As for the gathered clan members, seeing their Patriarch and elders kneeling left them no choice—they all dropped to their knees in unison.
In an instant, the entire field held only a single standing figure... Yue Qingshan.
While everyone else knelt on one knee, he remained standing defiantly in place.
Observing this sight, a freezing, deadly gleam surfaced within the eyes exposed behind the Envoy's black mask.