Limitless - Chapter 621
Chapter 621: Shang of the Eastern River
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
With the unpredictability of the ever-changing times, who dared to guarantee that their clan would remain in power forever? Who dared to guarantee that that they would always be above the rest?
The ancestor of the Shang clan had successfully suppressed the Qu, Dong and Bestial clans.
But then after that he had been shut away in his own clan for thirty thousand years!
It had to be said that this was a man of great strategy and wit, with thoughts that ran deep.
In these thirty thousand years, regardless of how the Qu, Dong and Bestial clans had tested, challenged and even almost wiped out the main members of the Shang clan…… the Shang ancestor had never appeared even once.
Finally, the three clans thought that their opportunity had come!
They began to gather in strength, raring to completely annihilate the Shang ancestor.
But the moment their large army had crossed the river, the Shang ancestor had reappeared.
With the irresistible force of a thunderbolt, he was ruthless to the extreme!
He completely destroyed the united armies of the three clans!
The ancestors of the three clans, along with higher beings of the Ancestral realm, all sustained serious injuries.
They were forced to retreat in escape.
After that, the three clans had all sustained great physical damage. Though they weren’t close to collapsing yet, but they had all been injured in some way.
The Shang ancestor disappeared again for yet another fifty thousand years after accomplishing this feat.
This time, even the Bestial clan, who were allies of the Qu, did not dare to think of attacking the Shang clan.
And if the Bestial clan did not send soldiers, the Dong clan naturally would refuse to too.
Consequently, the Qu clan would be left alone without any ability to actually start anything.
As such, they decided to work on improving themselves in secret.
This decision to go under the radar lasted millions of years!
In the end, the Qu clan was so low-key that they backed down from the challenges of the newly powerful clans within this territory.
It seemed as though there was not a single worthy talent in all of the Qu clan.
It was only then that the ancestor of the Shang clan finally rested easy.
He left his clan secretly to embark on a solitary journey in search of Dao, disappearing from this territory.
Eventually, after many years, the Qu clan finally revealed their true power in the face of hostile forces all around. They sent a batch of top-notch talents they had kept hidden within the clan for millions of years in a simultaneous attack!
They faced eight clans in one attack!
The eight newly influential clans which had gradually come into power over the past millions of years were all flattened overnight.
And woe unto their clans.
Indeed, only the ancestors, the weak, women and children were all that were left of these eight clans.
Even a few exceedingly talented children had mysteriously died during this one battle.
This was a premeditated move – the Qu clan had long figured out every single detail.
Thanks to this one battle, the Qu clan was now within the sights of many cultivators throughout this territory.
It was only then that they realised that the Qu clan on the west side of the river……had never been weak all this time!
The only clan they truly feared was the Shang clan!
Despite their sudden rise, the Qu clan did not make any moves to antagonise the Shang clan.
As a result, there was a brief period of peace within this vast territory.
And it was as such for tens of thousands of years.
But at a grand celebration held by the Qu clan tens of thousands of years ago, an ancestor had taken the opportunity to stealthily send a clone to cross over to the east side of the river. He had then secretly caused the deaths of several of the Shang’s clan’s greatest talents!
The Qu ancestor had done all this under considerable risk as well. If……the Shang ancestor was still around, he would definitely attack the entire Qu clan!
Beyond having members of the clan be implicated, the entire Qu clan could be annihilated completely.
So, before he had embarked on this mission, the Qu ancestor had sent away a group of talented young people in secret to a place that no one other than him knew about!
He had instructed the guide of those young people to hide the truth from them in the event that anything untoward happened to the Qu clan. If that happened, they were to remain in hiding there and slowly cultivate their power.
They were only to be told after millions of years!
One day, they’d definitely be able to rise again.
It could be said that the ancestor was taking a gamble then!
But it was a gamble that had paid off for him, naturally.
Without their greatest backing, and without those talented few, the Shang clan began to grow weaker.
The Qu clan had pulled many tricks to harm those of the Shang main line.
But a key point was also that the efforts of some members of the inner Shang clan had secretly facilitated the Qu clan’s attempts on the lives of these main line descendants.
That was why as of today, Shang Guan Mu was the only top talent who was the most closely related to the Shang ancestor by blood.
If there was only one such descendant left……How could they just let him die so easily?
Cleanse his soul!
His soul had to be cleansed!
Seal away the core essence of his soul such that he would forget everything.
And then meticulously cultivate him, such that he would become even greater!
And when the time comes, he would be sent to deal with the Shang clan!
It would only be enough when he had exterminated his entire clan!
Only then would the Qu clan be happiest.
Only then would they have true revenge!
…
…
Chu Yu took Shang Guan Mu along with him as he travelled back to the Shang clan on the east side of the river.
As he got closer to his clan, the expression on Shang Guan Mu’s small face grew increasingly complicated.
It was a mixture of nervousness, anticipation and what seemed like fear towards something.
Chu Yu glanced at him and spoke, “What are you afraid of? We are returning with nothing to hide. We’ll take your mother and little sister with us and leave.”
But Shang Guan Mu only let out a long sigh.
Chu Yu thought he was still unwilling to let go of his clan, given his position as a main line descendant.
Shang Guan Mu then spoke softly, “Master, I’m afraid that my mother and little sister will suffer.”
“Is there really no one in your clan who will stand up for the three of you?” Chu Yu asked.
Shang Guan Mu gave a bitter smile that looked out of place on his boyish face. “Well, there is someone. I have a grand uncle who has been protecting us all along. But he is only one person, and……he has a big clan to take care of too. I can’t always be troubling him.”
As he spoke, Shang Guan Mu looked at Chu Yu and said, “The clan is too big. Though we may not be as influential as we used to be, there still are as many people as there were before. When the main clan was powerful, the branch clans and the servants naturally didn’t dare to cause any trouble. But now that the main clan has weakened, those people……are also naturally indignant about their positions in the clan. That’s why in my clan today, the main clan has long lost their control over the rest.”
Along the way, Shang Guan Mu had told Chu Yu that he really was the young master of the Shang clan on the east side of the river.
He was a young, talented hero – a young cultivator of the Saint realm. No matter where he went, he was considered a respectable figure.
But in reality, his situation was desolate, and he was to be pitied.
“No matter, I’ll be here for you from now on.”
Chu Yu patted his head and said, “We’ll pick up your mother and little sister, then go to my pocket dimension. You’ll meet my two wives and the rest of the clan there.”
“That place……must be a heaven on earth.” Shang Guan Mu’s face was one of hopeful anticipation.
Having endured endless suffering and stress since childhood, this young master of a large clan didn’t even dare to be overly hopeful about the future – a far cry from the bold, vivacious young man he should have become.
Chu Yu didn’t say anything further and sped on with him.
At the same time, he was happy to give the young man pointers on his cultivation and answer any questions he had at any moment.
Very quickly, a large river appeared before the two.
Chu Yu had heard Shang Guan Mu mention this river before. But only upon seeing it did he truly comprehend just how big this river was!
This river was named the Milky River by the Shang clan.
Only people from this solar system and a rare few from other parts of the universe understood the meaning of this name.
The river was named after the Milky Way galaxy of the human realm.
The Milky Way galaxy was a vast galaxy with great sentimental value to the Village of Dao. That was because the Village belonged within the Milky Way.
But in view of the entirety of the human universe, the Milky Way galaxy seemed almost insignificant.
The same could be said for this Milky River situated within the heavens!
For those who lived within this territory, this river……was absolutely huge! It was so wide that one could not see the other end – it was many times vaster than the oceans on Earth.
It was a river with roaring waters.
In some parts of the river, the waves could even rise up to over ten or twenty meters!
But in view of the heavens in its entirety, even this great river was but an insignificant river basin.
“Once we go past this river, we’ll be at my home.” Shang Guan Mu said softly.
“Let’s go!”
Taking Shang Guan Mu along with him, Chu Yu reappeared on the other side of the great river in a flash.
To normal people, this was a river that almost seemed like a divine punishment in how difficult it was to cross. But to a cultivator like Chu Yu, it was but a matter of intention to cross this river.
An impressive mountain range appeared before Chu Yu’s eyes.
This mountain range was about ten million miles away from the Milky River.
Right beneath the mountain range were fertile plains.
It was a place bustling with life – all sorts of flora and fauna flourished here in great numbers.
Colourful butterflies that measured two to three metres wide fluttered about. Not very fearful of humans, these butterflies flitted about around the two, at a distance that was neither very far nor very near.
Chu Yu had to give the Shang ancestors credit – it was truly a wise choice to build up a clan here.
The Shang clan was situated right at the foot of that mountain range. On that expanse of land were dozens of cities that communicated freely with one another. That……was the Shang clan on the east side of the river.
Despite losing much of their influence, their territory was still a sight to behold.
It was only that the large watchtower which had overlooked the entire territory was no longer as well-manned as it had been in the past.
This clan was slowly reverting into a clan like any other.
Perhaps after many more years, they would completely regress into normal humans who lived in the heavens.
“My house is in the innermost city. That city is the one that only descendants of the main line have the right to live in. But now…” Shang Guan Mu shook his head and refused to speak further.
Chu Yu looked at him and asked, “Have you thought this through?”
Shang Guan Mu nodded, “I have. This place no longer belongs to me. Even if I get it back with the help of Master’s power, what use would it be? Perhaps after a short while things would still lead to this. Even if I can hold things back along the way, but what would happen when the time comes for me to leave? Would it not just be a repeat of this?”
“As long as you’ve decided!” Chu Yu nodded.
“I’ve decided. Master, actually I really envy you!”
“Envy me?”
“Yes. With your parents, wives and even good friends, you have a loosely-knit small clan. If you don’t seek to build a large clan, then you will never face the problems that mine does.” Shang Guan Mu mumbled. “Tussling over having the upper hand, internal divisions and strife, plotting against each other……it’s so tiring to be in a large clan!”
“That’s not necessarily always the case, but there must be a good leader to head the clan.” Chu Yu said.
But then, he suddenly thought of the Dragon.
Scholar Feng Jian!
He had a sudden realisation: The Dragon had seemed unreliable from beginning to end, but that sect of his, which didn’t even have a proper name, was still able to carry on perfectly well.
Of course, that could be attributed to him always being there for the sect. But, a larger reason lay in the real manager of the sect.
As of now, he was leader of an incredibly powerful sect. Even if he delegated all the work to others, there were some things that he had to be clear about as well.
He could go without caring about these things, but he could not be clueless about them.
With Shang Guan Mu, Chu Yu finally reached the city in which the talents of the Shang main line lived.
As Shang Guan Mu wished, no one was alerted to their presence, and the two rushed straight to his residence.
But the greatest characteristic of cultivators was their powerful divine sense.
When they were nearing this city, Shang Guan Mu’s expression had changed slightly.
Without waiting for a reaction from Chu Yu, he had sped up all of a sudden and disappeared into the city.
After a beat, Chu Yu had locked onto the place Shang Guan Mu sensed earlier as well.
His brows furrowed slightly as well.
“Bloody hell!” He cursed silently.
As he thought, he casually waved a hand and tacked a talisman of invisibility onto Shang Guan Mu.
