Chapter 7

"Ridiculous!"

Seeing his grandson lying heavily wounded on the ground, Nie Beichuan could no longer hold back and suddenly rushed out. A flash of lightning, and Nie Beichuan was already by Nie Hong's side. He squatted down, lifted Nie Hong, and placed his large hand on Nie Hong's waist and chest.

Nie Hong felt a warm current of spiritual energy flowing through his chest, and his pain immediately lessened. He couldn't help but cry out in a委屈 (grieved) voice, "Grandpa..."

Nie Beichuan raised his head, his eyes dark and sinister, and glared at Nie Tian, who was still in a daze, sensing the unknown power. "Rascal! The clan doesn't prohibit fighting, but who gave you permission to use such vicious means?"

Before Nie Tian could react, Nie Beichuan cast a venomous glance at Wu Tao, who was extremely embarrassed, and shouted, "And you? As a guest elder in the arena, what have you been doing here?! You clearly saw Nie Tian trying to kill, why didn't you stop him immediately? Did we recruit you to just eat for free?"

"This..." Wu Tao could only bitterly smile.

"Second Uncle, it was Nie Hong who wanted to hurt me first. It has nothing to do with Mr. Wu," Nie Xian, unable to bear it, tried to defend Wu Tao.

He had seen everything clearly. When Nie Hong was about to strike Nie Tian's heart, he knew that Wu Tao had asked Nie Beichuan with his eyes, but Nie Beichuan remained silent, clearly not intending to stop it.

Later, when Nie Tian suddenly burst forth, seemingly regaining divine power, everything happened too quickly for Wu Tao to have time to stop it.

Nie Xian, after all, was still young and impulsive. He knew it wasn't good to speak up for Wu Tao, but he couldn't get over it in his heart.

"When did it become your turn to speak?" Nie Beichuan coldly snorted and glanced at Nie Xian. "Who do you think you are? You are just a collateral descendant of the Nie family. If you want to have a say in the family, wait until you truly break through to the ninth level of Qi Cultivation and enter the Lingyun Sect!"

With these words, Nie Xian's young face suddenly showed anger.

But after careful thought, he still forced himself to hold back, knowing that, as Wu Tao had said, he indeed lacked the clout in the Nie family before becoming a disciple of the Lingyun Sect.

Especially since Nie Beichuan was very likely to replace Nie Donghai as the head of the Nie family within one or two years.

Many young Nie family members, who still had a sense of justice, originally planned to speak up like Nie Xian and tell the truth of what they had seen. But seeing that even Nie Xian, the most powerful and promising among them, was intimidated by Nie Beichuan's aura and dared not speak further, they all reluctantly fell silent.

"Second Uncle, it was Nie Hong who challenged me. He was the first to violate the clan rules and attack my vital points," Nie Tian, who had just come to his senses, seemed to understand the current situation and stood up straight, shouting with righteous indignation.

"Grandpa, I was just trying to scare him, I didn't intend to seriously injure him!" Nie Hong, gritting his teeth, glared at Nie Tian and argued, "I had already held back my strength before it hit his chest, trying to stop. I never expected him to take advantage of my moment of hesitation and suddenly attack me with malicious intent!"

"Shameless!"

Most of the Nie family children watching were inwardly calling out, secretly despising Nie Hong's distortion of the facts.

They all saw clearly that Nie Hong's eyes were filled with excitement and joy in his final strike, showing no intention of holding back.

Nie Hong had intended to severely injure Nie Tian to wash away the humiliation of being defeated by him for years. He was clearly giving it his all, how could he have given up halfway?

"You know very well what you intended to do!" Nie Tian shouted.

"Shut up!" Nie Beichuan sternly interrupted Nie Tian and then coldly looked at Wu Tao, saying, "The process is not important. The result is that Nie Tian disregarded the clan rules and used vicious means to harm Nie Hong. Mr. Wu, as a guest elder of the Nie family, how should Nie Tian be punished according to the clan rules?"

"Exile to the Lingyun Mountain mine for three years," Wu Tao softly replied, his heart full of bitterness and helplessness, his eyes filled with regret.

"Nie Tian is only ten years old!"

"Exiling a ten-year-old to the Lingyun Sect's mine for three years will ruin him. His cultivation progress is already slow, and another three years in the mine will likely leave him with no hope of being favored by the Lingyun Sect."

"Ten years old, exiled to the mine for three years, Nie Tian is really finished."

"Yes, he will have no hope of reaching the ninth level of Qi Cultivation before the age of fifteen and being accepted as a disciple by the Lingyun Sect."

"It's not that simple. People die in the mine from time to time. Nie Tian is only ten years old, and if he spends three years in the mine, I doubt he will survive!"

"That's too harsh, isn't it?"

"..."

The young Nie family members, who had been too afraid to speak, now burst out in protest upon hearing the punishment, even those who had never liked Nie Tian.

"Are you all so excited? Do you also want to be exiled to the mine for three years like Nie Tian?" Nie Beichuan asked calmly.

The indignant young Nie family members fell silent upon hearing this, their faces showing anger they dared not express.

"Go ahead, three years, so what!" Nie Tian defiantly shouted.

"Mr. Wu, handle it according to the clan rules!" Nie Beichuan said calmly.

"Second brother, Nie Tian is still young, is this really necessary?" Nie Donghai, who had rushed down from the stone platform, finally arrived.

In the past, upon hearing Nie Beichuan's punishment, he could have leaped down and landed in the square instantly.

But now, he had to walk down step by step, taking a lot of time and effort to arrive before the situation worsened.

"Head of the family," Wu Tao respectfully said.

"Grandpa."

"Grandpa, it's good you're here. You must uphold justice."

"Grandpa, we all saw it, the facts are not like that."

Many children, seeing him arrive, breathed a sigh of relief and began to call out.

Nie Beichuan frowned slightly and said seriously, "Brother, every family has its rules, and every country has its laws. Even if Nie Tian is young, even if you are the head of the family, the family rules... cannot be broken."

"I am no longer the head of the family," Nie Donghai said softly.

Upon hearing this, everyone in the arena was stunned.

Nie Beichuan also looked puzzled, but his eyes clearly showed a hint of joy. "Brother! What do you mean?"

"I am tired and no longer have the energy to manage the Nie family. You know my condition. Before, I wanted to use the family's power to seek justice for Qian'er and Jin'er, so I was reluctant to step down." Nie Donghai looked dejected. "But now I have thought it through and decided to give up. From now on... the Nie family is up to you, Second Brother."

"Brother, how can this be? You are still respected in the clan, I..."

Nie Donghai waved his hand to cut him off and said firmly, "I have made up my mind. Tomorrow, I will explain to all the uncles and grandfathers. I believe they will understand."

"Is that so." Nie Beichuan drew out his words, feigning sincerity. "If Brother insists, I will not persuade you further. Brother, rest assured, I will take Qian'er and Jin'er's matters to heart. I will treat them as my own children and do my best to seek justice for them."

Nie Donghai looked at him deeply and nodded. "Nie Tian is still young, I hope..."

"Fine, for Brother's sake, I will not pursue this matter further," Nie Beichuan smiled.

"Then it's settled." Nie Donghai, exhausted in body and mind, turned to Nie Tian and said, "Follow me."

With that, he led the way out of the square, his back filled with the melancholy of a hero in his twilight years.

Wu Tao and the young Nie family members, watching him walk away, knew in their hearts that the era of Nie Donghai's control over the Nie family had ended today.

Nie Tian said nothing, silently following behind Nie Donghai, his face grim.

Just as he was about to disappear from the square, he paused, turned to look at the spirited Nie Beichuan, and clenched his fists tightly.

At ten years old, he was already old enough to understand that Nie Donghai's decision to step down today was all for him.

...