Chapter 570: Unbelievable
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The effect was almost immediate as many of the people present felt as if a weight was lifted off their shoulders.
“Gah! What the hell? Feels like someone just removed a boulder off my back…”
“If this guy is just a guardian elder…I do not want to imagine how strong the rest of these guys can get…”
“Xiao Liu, how the hell did you manage to withstand that pressure? It felt like being sat on by an elephant!”
“Y’all remember that I’m built weird after cultivating my formula, right?”
“Oh yeah…”
Once his senses were retracted as well, the Gate Elder proceeded to make a series of hand signals to the guards manning the door behind him.
From what Zhen Liu could tell, one was obviously a sign to open the door, judging how some of the guards immediately got to work turning some cranks that appeared to be used to keep the door shut, while the other was…unknown. Whatever it was, it caused some of the guards to develop perplexed looks as one left the area to handle whatever that hand signal meant.
Regardless of the meaning of those hand signals though, the gate opened after a few minutes of waiting on the Zhen branch clan’s end.
There was no fanfare or announcement accompanying their arrival, then again, their circumstances for their arrival was rather unusual.
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‘Huh…not gonna lie, I was kind of expecting having to need to fight my way through and maybe punch through this door…correction, I was kind of expecting have to summon you guys to kick ass and take names while I have to fake being a genius puppeteer…that or abuse the fact that y’all can turn into aether armor and armaments…or maybe go for broke and reveal to the world that I am significantly more dangerous than they could reasonably threaten…’
[Well now I’m just disappointed we didn’t get to do that,] Hurricroak commented, [it has been too long since we last fought proper Aether warriors and not ravenous beasts or a predecessor gone haywire. I kind of miss the predictability of human fighters.]
[Never say never, Hurricroak,] Nepherage comforted, [If that young lady from the other night was any indication of the quality of disciple here in the main clan, we may very well have to show them the meaning of humility…without having to disguise as humans no less.]
[I…don’t…think…it’ll…get…that…violent…,] Frosttusk added, [we’re…just…here…to…make…ammends.]
[We’ll see Frosttusk, we’ll see.]
[To be completely fair,] Razorstella interjected, [I was kind of hoping that something like that did happen. I want to pay this jolly looking motherfucker back for murking my zakos…]
‘And once again, I am now questioning the ethics of me being able to create insta-grunts out of random knick-knacks, that are explicitly meant to die on risky missions…wait, is this how vegans feel about ranches?’
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Zhen Bao stood by as he watched Zhen Shi and his descendants pass the gate and enter into the Willow Manor proper, his eyes flicking between each member with his gaze resting on particular members every now and then until the last of them had made it in. Once they were all through, Zhen Bao gave a signal to close the gate once more.
Normally, this would be the part where he would leap back onto his nesting spot and go back to relaxing…not this time. Instead, he just stood there, looking vigilant and stern as he continued to stare at the gate.
As he continued to stare though, the guardsman that he sent off to perform a task via hand signal had finally returned, with a gourd of wine and a book.
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With the items in hand, Zhen Bao returned to his post above the gate and proceeded to sit down into this favorite guard chair.
‘Now do I start drinking the wine now, or do I wait until after I find the right entry…,’ Zhen Bao thought to himself as he stared at the gourd and the familial records in hand.
He weighed his two options before deciding to place the gourd nearby as he began to read up on Zhen Shi’s descendants, well, whatever information they had on hand about the guy and his descendants.
‘Read through the records now, drink horribly later.’
Over the many decades of Zhen Shi being a person of interest to the Zhen Clan of Roaring Tide, multiple assassins and bounty hunters had tried their absolute best to take down Zhen Liu, only for those attempts to go up in literal blazes of smoke.
However, not all was lost per defeat and foiled scheme.
The bounty hunters and assassins of the Zhen Clan had always managed to contribute a bit of knowledge about Zhen Shi’s branch before biting the dust or quitting due to being unable to handle the pressure.
Therefore, the main clan managed to compile a fairly accurate record of both Zhen Shi and the many, many bastard children and grandchildren that he had now in modern day. However, it should be noted that the last time it was updated with any new information about Zhen Shi and his offspring was at least a year ago, so it was very likely that any information he can pull up in a regards to the Zhen Clan’s current abilities and breakthrough was nonexistent…almost.
The information provided by one Zhen Wang and his grandson was added recently, but it wasn’t that much different from the rest of it.
‘Grandchildren, grandchildren…ah ha! Found it.’
Once he found the right section of the book, Zhen Bao proceeded to flip it open and began to skin and read in earnest. There were a few things he wanted to confirm.
‘Zhen Hai and Zhen Yue…most talented of the scions of the branch clan…only managed to breakthrough to Aether Master in the last few months after stagnating for years, yeah that tracks…,’ Zhen Bao thought to himself as he read over their files.
Zhen Bao then read over the entries for the rest of the scions, confirming once more that their respective descriptors and power match what was on their records…that is until, he checked on the records of one named, “Zhen Liu”.
And that’s when he started getting a little… frightened.
‘Seriously? Fucking how?’
Because what he read did not match up with what he felt in the slightest.
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Name: Zhen Liu.
Gender: Male.
Species: Human (Tider/Stomper mix)
Cultivation: N/A.
Threat Level: N/A.
Value as a hostage: None.
Details:
The Fourth Young Master of the so-called branch clan, a strange disappointment among their ranks.
Born with above average aether capacity, but has precisely zero aether channels in which to use them. He is also incompatible with any known aether formula currently in the branch clan’s possession.
Weaker than a child, easy to deal with.
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‘There’s no fucking way this is actually the latest entry on those guys,’ Zhen Bao thought to himself, ‘because that kid…wait…’
Just as he was about to disparage the record keepers about their inability to update their books, he saw a loose piece of paper poking out of covers in the very back of the one he was reading.
Once he noticed this, he pulled it out of its hiding spot so that he could get a better read of it.
As it turned out, it was a more updated version of Zhen Liu’s entry, albeit, it had a big ole “pending” label on it.
‘This…yeah, this is definitely more accurate…’
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Name: Zhen Liu.
Gender: Male.
Species: Human (Tider/Stomper mix)
Cultivation: Master(?) Could be higher.
Threat Level: High.
Value as a hostage: Probably die for being able to do so.
Details:
The Fourth Young Master of the so-called branch clan is a fucking monster in sheep’s clothes.
Born with above average aether capacity, but has precisely zero aether channels in which to use them. He is also incompatible with any known aether formula currently in the branch clan’s possession.
However, a recent development allowed the man to control aether puppets and use them as a means to channel the aether arts he is unable to use himself.
On top of that, his physique is able to withstand the might of a major Ethereal aether art wielded by an Aether Master, while also giving him the strength to just punch as hard without reinforcing it with aether.
Proceed with caution, someone will die if they to do anything.
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‘…pending due to exaggerating details of the original report…okay…’
Once Zhen Bao finished reading the entry, he uncorked the gourd of wine and began to chug.
He had a feeling it was going to be a long, long day.
‘Please don’t let anyone do anything stupid…’
