Lani was surprised for a moment. As the First Elder’s a.s.sistant, she naturally knew some things about the clan. She clearly understood the situation with the Buda clan and hadn’t thought that this time the Buda clan would suddenly break off the engagement.

Lani knew that this matter was important, therefore she didn’t say anything more about it to Stern and instead said, “Alright, I’ll immediately inform the First Elder.” Then she turned around and entered the doors opposite the sofa.

Soon, Lani came back out. She smiled while saying, “Stern elder, the First Elder asks for you to go in.” Stern stood up, adjusted his clothes, and expressed grat.i.tude to Lani. He then pushed past the doors and entered the room.

The room was magnificent. Inside stood two bronze incense burners with lit incense sticks. The carpet on the floor was thick and a map hung on the wall. Under the map was a fragrant red-wooden table, upon which a thick stack of doc.u.ments were placed.

Behind the desk was a seated old man that looked to be around seventy years of age with neatly combed hair. Right now, he held up a brush, poised to write on a doc.u.ment. This person was precisely the First Elder of the Purcell clan, Kaiser Purcell2.

Stern didn’t dare to disturb the elder. He carefully walked to the front of the table and positioned himself on the left side.

A moment later, Kaiser placed the brush in his hands down and looked up at Stern, saying, “Well, sit down Stern. I heard that a Buda clan member wanted to break off the engagement?”

Stern bowed and answered, “Stern has seen the First Elder. Yes, Green came earlier. He had come to break off the engagement.”

Kaiser nodded and said, “How do you see it?”

“The people we sent over to the Black Waste are dead, killed by Green,” stated Stern. “With Green and Meirin’s skill, they possibly hid Adam, escaping unharmed into the mountains when a magic beast tide occurred. There shouldn’t be much remaining of the slaves and commodities they brought. When Green came earlier, he was on foot, not on a horse or carriage. Later on, he went to a cheap hotel. It seems like he doesn’t have much money in his hands. Also, this time, Meirin didn’t appear, probably to protect Adam3 in the Black Waste. Green probably knew that this time, if they didn’t break off the engagement, then we wouldn’t be polite. Thus they came to break off the engagement and looked for me in order to ask to withdraw it.”

Kaiser sat in the chair with his eyes closed, quietly listening to Stern. After Stern finished, Kaiser looked uneasy, not knowing how to react.

Stern clearly knew the First Elder’s temperament. He was greedy, l.u.s.tful, prideful, sinister, and cold. When all these words were used to describe him, it was obvious that he wasn’t a good person.

But this person had dominated the Purcell clan for fifty years. His henchmen could be found in every corner of the clan. Because of this, the Elder’s a.s.sembly now had more power than the Clan Lord. In the face of such a person, Stern dared not overstep even a little.

Kaiser kept quiet for a moment before asking, “How was Green’s att.i.tude?”

Stern truthfully replied, “His att.i.tude is very bad. He taunted this subordinate again and again. It didn’t look like he came to break off the engagement, but to demonstrate this att.i.tude.”

Kaiser nodded his head and said, “I will keep you posted on our decision. But we have to teach him a lesson; he must know that the Purcell clan can kill whomever they want to kill. When mocking a Purcell clan person, there will be a price to pay.“

Stern listened to the words of Kaiser and with a low voice, he said, “Yes, but First Elder, I found out that Green’s rank seems to have increased. Now, he seems to have reached the peak of Rank Eight. I fear that it wouldn’t be good to offend him.”

As soon as Kaiser heard Stern’s words, his eyes shoved open and gleamed as he said, “Really? Green has really reached the peak of Rank Eight?”

Stern was shocked from Kaiser’s look, but he still respectfully replied, “Yes, this subordinate didn’t feel wrong. He is indeed at the peak of Rank Eight.”

Kaiser’s eyes looked more cold. He spoke with a soft voice, “It seems that this time, not dealing with them won’t be good. Stern, go back to the Grand Duke’s Mansion and stall him. I will go to the Clan’s Consecration Hall4 and request the enshrined deity to act.”

Stern held his breath. He was very clear that the clan’s wors.h.i.+p was divided into many types, but that the enshrined deity he referred to was the Guardian Deity5. This person’s rank was truly representative of a G.o.dly character as they were the Rank Nine experts of the Purcell clan, an actual Pseudo-G.o.d existence.

Stern hadn’t expected for Kaiser to even ask for the presence of a Rank Nine deity, thus he stammered and said, “Th, this. First Elder, do we really need to request Sir Guardian Deity just to deal with the puny Buda clan?”

Kaiser stared at Stern and said, “Fool, Green is now a Peak Rank Eight and most likely would be a Rank Nine deity expert soon. Right now, we shouldn’t have to give face to the Buda clan. You said he will leave us alone after this? What is easier, dealing with a Peak Rank Eight expert or pleasing a Rank Nine deity? This time, we must ask the Guardian Deity to move. Attack and kill Green who is in our sights, then deal with Meirin and Adam within the Black Waste to completely remove the threat.”

Stern felt cold as he understood what Kaiser meant. He couldn’t help but feel ashamed and bowed his head. “First Elder’s vision is really great, your subordinate is really unknowledgable. This subordinate will immediately look for Green.” After bowing, he withdrew from the First Elder’s room.

The First Elder stood up, fixing his clothes as he murmured, “Ah, a really big trouble. So many problems happening at the same time.” Then he walked out.

Lani stood outside, looking at Stern as he left, then turned back to the First Elder and quickly greeted him with a bow. “First Elder, what are your orders?”

Grand Elder looked at Lani and said, “Immediately convene a meeting with all the elders. Arrange the carriage now, I’ll be going to the Consecration yard.” Lani stared, then immediately complied. She went on the desk and pulled on a rope.

After pulling the rope, a burst of bell sounds came immediately. Soon, the entirety of the building heard the sound of the bells. Lani then followed the First Elder who walked out.

What Lani pulled was the Purcell clan emergency convening bell. Upon hearing the sound, even the Clan Lord should arrive in the conference room of the Elders Court along with the other hundred elders. This bell was what the Purcell clan Elders Court used and was handed down from generation to generation. Unless there was a very big problem, one couldn’t use this bell.

Lani dared to use this bell because of the First Elder’s words. Afterwards, she prepared the carriage that would leave for the Consecration yard. He had only spoken a simple sentence, but Lani had been the a.s.sistant of the First Elder for a long time; she understood what the First Elder had meant.

The Purcell clan gave a lot of dedications. They did so for anyone with at least a strength of Rank Eight without exception. Their status wasn’t low, but rather high. The Greater Elders and the Elders were the ones who can give them a task if something happened. If the order was good, they could follow it. Otherwise, they don’t even have to dedicate themselves to the Elders Court.

There was only one who could make the First Elder personally come out and leave to pay homage directly from the Elders Court. This was the Guardian Deity of the Purcell clan, a Rank Nine deity.

To make the First Elder ask and please a Rank Nine deity to resolve a matter wouldn’t be a small thing, right? Using the bell at this time wouldn’t be wrong at all.

The two went to a conference room on the fourth floor which was the biggest conference room of the Purcell clan. This conference room was divided into several steps, wherein the highest seat was reserved for the Clan Lord. The next level of seats were for the three greater elders, while all the other elders sat around the conference room. The entire conference room had only one place for pa.s.sing in and out of, which was a five meter square s.p.a.ce placed in the middle. There was a table placed that allowed an elder to preside over the people in the area.

The First Elder arrived at the conference room early, as the other elders had not arrived yet. He walked silently towards his seat and closed his eyes.

Soon, bursts of footsteps could be heard, a sign that the other elders of the Purcell clan had arrived. These elders looked at the Grand Elder’s seat and saw him waiting for them there. They were afraid to speak out of turn and immediately went to find their seats quietly.

Kaiser didn’t seem to hear these sounds as he still sat with his eyes closed. Then a heavy pair of footsteps could be heard. All the elders in the room stood up and saluted the man in the door, saying, “Clan Lord Wanan”

Kaiser then opened his eyes and looked towards the door of the conference room. Standing there was a tall man, about two meters. He had a body like a mountain, a face with a full beard, and a look similar to an ordinary male lion that radiated fierce power.

He wore a navy blue n.o.ble’s suit and held a scepter about a meter long. Walking slowly, this man was the Grand Duke of the Purcell clan, Evan Purcell6.

The First Elder’s big eyes flashed. Standing up and facing Evan, he bowed slightly and greeted, “Clan Lord Wanan.”

Evan returned the courtesy and said, “The First Elders is too polite. I don’t know why the great bell was used by the elder to convene everyone. What has happened?”

The First Elder said with a low voice, “Please sit, Clan Lord.”

Evan nodded. He went to his seat and sat down, the other elders following after.

The greater elders were seated on the left and the right side of the First Elder. They were the clan’s Second and Third elders. Both of them looked to be sixty years old. One was fat and the other was thin. One wore black while the other was in white, both wore elder’s attire as they sat there looking at the First Elder.

The First Elder looked into their eyes, sneering in his heart as he knew that these two were looking for trouble. If he made a single mistake, they would surely catch it. But the First Elder wasn’t worried. He believed that he had made the right decision and wouldn’t be at fault.

Notes:

- This chapter was MTL'ed. Please leave a comment for constructive criticisms and advice. Thanks.

- Please support the author if you love this novel.

- Please check out the Editor's footnotes, thanks.

1 神供奉 - Shén gòngfèng. 神 is G.o.d or deity while 供奉 can mean enshrined. More on why we chose enshrined later, next chapter. The reason for Deity is because Rank Nines are not actually G.o.ds in the strongest version of the term. However, they still have a G.o.dly status so Deity was chosen. ↩

2 凱撒 - Kǎisǎ. The best name equivalent is Kaiser, which is the German word for Emperor. When 凱撒 is placed in front of a name, it becomes a t.i.tle. Another option is Caesar, the t.i.tle for the Roman Emperor, but the p.r.o.nunciation just doesn’t fit. The Caesar in Julius Caesar is the slightly different 凱撒. ↩

3 Raw says “Zhao Hai”, but the Purcell clan shouldn’t know that Zhao Hai = Adam. Thus, replaced with Adam.↩

4 家族的供奉堂 - Jiāzú de gòngfèng táng. Jiazu is Clan, Gongfeng tang would be consecration hall. 供奉 can mean wors.h.i.+p, consecrated, or dedicated. Consecration was used as the hall was more known for being a sacred area than an area for religious wors.h.i.+p. 堂 means hall or court.↩

5 守護神 - Shǒuhù shén. Has a variety of cool versions such as Patron Saint or Divine Protector. Guardian Deity fits more due to their function as a very difficult to move guardian of the clan. Divine Protector placed too much “holy” aspect to the name.↩

6 As you may have noticed, he seems to be referred to by two different names. You had Clan Lord(家主) Wanan and Grand Duke(大公) Evan. 家主萬安 - jiāzhǔ wàn ān is his name with Jianzhu(家主) meaning Clan and Wanan(萬安) not really having a meaning. On the other side, 依萬凡賽爾 - Yī wàn fán sài ěr is his name then converted to Evan(依萬) Purcell (凡賽爾). If you notice, the 萬 character is in both names, the ending of Evan and the beginning of Wanan. What does all of this mean? No idea.↩