A Martial God's Bloodline

The situation spiraled out of control, with several enforcement elders exchanging glances with stewards.

On one side was the authoritarian Third Elder, while on the other was Fourth Elder who had just returned from his journeys. Both were members of the Council of Elders. One ordered the apprehension of Li Ye while the other prevented them from doing it. It thus made those enforcement elders unsure of whether they should do it or not.

"Didn't you hear me! Apprehend the clan traitor Li Ye!"

As soon as Li Huangran made that decree, he soared down from the stands and instantly formed his hand into a claw. The huge claw covered the sky! It was the Yellow Rank Intermediate Hawk's Talon Technique!

Li Huangran's execution heightened the power to greater heights, even when compared to an ordinary person wielding Yellow Rank Advanced techniques!

"Li Ye! You won't be able to escape today! Why don't you just be obedient and surrender!"

Under Li Huangran's impending grip, a moment of hesitation flickered in Li Ye's eyes. His resistance would surely give traction to the accusations, and he would definitely be unable to escape punishment even if he was completely innocent.

If he did not resist capture, he could only imagine what might happen to him once Li Huangran got a hold of him.

"How dare you!"

As he hesitated, he heard a loud shout, following which a steadfast figure stood before him. It was Li Hounian!

"Fourth Brother! Move aside!"

Li Huangran demanded angrily after seeing Li Hounian blocking his way.

"Don't think about it! I will destroy whoever that dares to lay a hand on my nephew today!"

As soon as that statement was made, Li Ye's body trembled slightly and his heart was moved. He was well aware that Li Hounian's then behavior would have a certain impact on Li Ye's status within the clan.

Although both of them were elders, it was obvious that Li Huangran was more unshakeable than Li Hounian. Li Hounian, protected Li Ye without any hesitation!

"Fourth Uncle!"

Li Ye gritted his teeth. He wanted to launch an attack and perhaps even fight alongside Li Hounian in front of him!

"Don't do it, Li Ye! If you can't help it and make a move, your Fourth Uncle won't be able to help you. You'll fall into the trap of these goons!"

"But Fourth Uncle ..."

"Listen to me! You must not do anything! Let your Fourth Uncle handle this!"

At that point, Li Hounian had already exchanged blows with Li Huangran. One move sufficed to display the greatness of their might! Li Huangran's Hawk's Talon Technique was smashed with a single punch. If Li Hounian did not hold himself back from striking once he gained the upper hand, Li Huangran would be in serious trouble.

Although the two had only fought for a short time, many people at the scene noticed that Fourth Elder—who travelled and journeyed for many years—clearly was a cut above Third Elder.

"Good! Good! Good!" The sour-faced Li Huangran turned to look at the stands. He narrowed his eyes and stared at Li Hounian for a long time before saying the word 'good' three times in a row. Then, he said in an incredibly icy tone, "Fourth Brother, it seems that your efforts these years are successful. I'm very happy for you, Fourth Brother! "

Perhaps it was Li Hounian's unwavering guarding of Li Ye that made Li Huangran hesitate. He glanced across the crowd quickly and saw everyone's expressions. For a moment, he felt put on the spot and unable to gracefully extricate himself from the situation.

"Third Elder, I think it would be better to just take the lid off this matter. Now that Fourth Elder has undertaken the responsibility to prove it, perhaps it is better to put a close on this for now. How about letting the Council of Elders make a decision after the conclusion of our annual year-end tournament?"

All of a sudden, someone spoke. Everyone looked over and their pupils contracted immediately.

Li Mo! He was the most formidable one among the clan's three great prodigies! His strength was rumored to surpass even that of some elders. No one had ever forced him to take them seriously, and no one could withstand more than ten of his moves.

Although he was merely one of the clan's disciples, Li Mo's status was even higher than that of ordinary elders.

He voiced his opinion in order for Li Huangran to have an excuse to withdraw from the situation. He then heard a snort, followed by silence—that was considered a tacit acceptance of Li Mo's suggestion.

Li Hounian gazed intensely at the less-than-twenty-year-old young man. Those earlier words seemed to be an attempt to mediate with Third Elder, but after careful consideration, Li Nounian noticed the malicious intentions contained therein!

It was clear that Li Hounian had been drawn into the trap. Once Li Ye is found to be suspicious of something, Li Hounian must be involved in it somehow too!

Despite hearing Li Mo's ill-will, Li Hounian did not object.

"Fourth Uncle, I'm sorry to burden you."

Li Ye felt very apologetic, but Li Hounian remained unmoved. With a shake of the head, he patted firmly on Li Ye's shoulder and whispered, "Relax, be brave, and do your thing. Remember, I'm backing you up in this family! If anyone wants to lay a hand on you, it'll be over my dead body! "

Those short and simple sentences moved Li Ye tremendously.

Li Hounian was a man of few words. Li Ye remembered him to be habitually silent, to the point where the original 'Li Ye' was quite fearful of his own uncle. On that day however, the man seemed to have a bigger heart than his appearance let on—it was just that he did not talk much usually.

After that interlude, Li Ye sat deservedly on the seat reserved for the eighth-placed disciple. In addition to Li Xuan who came before him, Li Ye became the second biggest dark horse at that time.

"Is this Li Ye really the same uncultivable piece of trash from that year?"

"He even defeated Li Gei, the eighth-placed inner disciple. If this is considered trash, then all of us are even worse than trash!"

In that short span of time, many began conversing privately about Li Ye.

Countless people took a keen interest in the young man. He was expelled from the family after being labelled trash in the past, but then came back to prove himself resoundingly with his own strength.

People soon felt that the subsequent assessments were going to be a bore.

After all, the rest of the outer disciples' battles felt dull, since everyone had already gone through Li Ye's ups and downs. Not even a dark horse among outer disciples—one who challenged an inner disciple and succeeded—could attract much attention.

"Li Yu kept a very low-profile before this. He originally had only peak Level Five cultivation, but all of a sudden, he had a breakthrough to peak Level Six. He even learnt two Yellow Rank Intermediate battle techniques."

That last person who challenged an inner disciple and succeeded looked rather plain, but the final result was better than that of Li Datou. Li Yu slotted himself in twenty-third place, thereby making it into the inner disciples' standings.

Once the last challenger failed, the final result among outer disciples was produced.

"Outer disciples, you may stay within the family to cultivate in the coming year. Another assessment will be made after one year!"

In the end, there were only five people who successfully made it to become inner disciples. Two of them were peak Level Six and it was no surprise that they were successful. Another one was Li Yu, who had earlier concealed his own strength and was one of the surprises.

"Li Datou's natural-born divine power propelled him into the inner disciples even though he was peak Level Four. If not for the freakish Li Ye, Li Datou would definitely be the biggest dark horse the clan has seen in a century!"

Some elders, stewards, and inner disciples paid great attention to the earnest-looking young man. Some elders even said they wanted him as their apprentice! Many inner disciples were jealous because of that!

Although inner disciples ranked higher than outer disciples, not everyone had the chance to be an elder's apprentice!

"Goodness me, there are elders who want to accept him as an apprentice! This Li Datou must have generations and generations worth of **** luck!"

Within the Li clan, everyone knew that only those who have reached Martial Spirit Level Eight could become elders. As it was known, Levels One to Three were the foundation, while Level Four to Six were considered true martial cultivators. Those on Level Seven and above could be considered a Martial Master! 

The gap between martial cultivators and Martial Masters were analogous to that of martial cultivators and ordinary people.

Peak Level Six was ubiquitous within the Li clan, but those who could break through to Level Seven were far and few in between! Level Eight, for that matter, was several times stronger Level Seven!

Level Seven were considered Martial Masters, while a Level Eight cultivator was considered an Eminent Master! As for those on Level Nine, they were considered Grandmasters in the eyes of most ordinary people! For those who had not achieved the Innate Sovereign Level, Grandmasters  were the most powerful!

Being able to let a master open his apprenticeship shows that this talent of Li Datou is really very good.

Unfortunately, it came as a surprise when Li Datou refused, perhaps due to his extreme earnestness! The elder who offered was thoroughly displeased and walked away.

"Idiot! How could he waste such an opportunity!" Many people laughed secretly at him. However, in that split second when everyone mocked Li Datou, Li Ye was the only one who noticed a glimmer of radiance in the young man's eyes.

"This kid is definitely not as silly as he looks!"

Li Ye trusted his own judgement. At the same time, Li Datou seemed to have sensed Li Ye's gaze and flashed a silly smile in return.

Although the challenge to obtain an inner disciple's position was done, the year-end tournament was far from over.

"Well then, in accordance with precedent over the past years, it is now a scramble between all thirty of you inner disciples. Each of you has three chances to challenge the person before him. The winner will replace the loser's ranking, and the loser will move down one ranking! So on, so forth!"

That was considered the highlight of the clan. It could be said that the clan's future depended highly on the inner disciples. For many years, that was the key to the Li clan's unwavering status in Wu Prefecture City.

When the enforcement elders finished speaking, they could immediately sense a strong fighting spirit exploding forth from the inner disciples.

Many people have awakened from their half-dream, resembling alert lions that displayed their sharp teeth.

"Inner disciples receive different levels of treatment, so different in fact, that it reaches polar opposite levels even!" Seeing those lit-up eyes, Li Ye could profoundly feel the sadness of belonging to such a huge clan.

Due to the sheer number of descendants, it was impossible for the clan to take good care of everyone. An individual had no choice but to give it his all to attract the clan's attention and enjoy better cultivation resources!

A quick glance at everyone revealed that all twenty who were outside the top ten had a surge of fighting spirit. After all, the gap between them was not that large and they were all peak Level Six. Everyone mingled harmoniously with each other under normal circumstances, but on that day, their combativeness could literally hit one in the face.

"Who wants to go first?"

Ordinary enforcement elders were no longer hosting that event. On the contrary, it was Li Xuanji!

Possibly another expletive. The raw text was as such. Readers may interpret it as they wish.武师 – translated as Martial Master.大师 – translated as Eminent Master. It can also be translated as Great Master but we used the word Eminent so it is more easily distinguishable from a Grandmaster.宗师 – translated as Grandmaster.