Chapter 328: Strength Speaks the Loudest
Time seemed to have stopped.
After speaking her mind, Zhao Yanzi moved back a little out of nervousness.
Zhao Guang's face froze.
He lifted his chopsticks... Bang!
He slammed them heavily on the table, and the utensils on the table jumped up slightly.
Worried, Zhao Hongyu, who sat between them, looking at them nervously.
Zhao Yanzi shrugged her shoulders in fear, but her face was stubborn.
"Zi, stop your nonsense," feeling Zhao Guang's fury, Zhao Hongyu scolded Zhao Yanzi immediately.
Zhao Yanzi gritted her teeth and glared at Zhao Guang across the table.
She had considered the whole thing carefully last night. Since East Ocean Dragon Clan acted so negatively toward Hao Ren, she would rather stand with him.
"You are grounded for ten days; calm yourself down," Zhao Guang said lightly.
Zhao Hongyu was about to say something, but at Zhao Guang's glance, she swallowed her words.
"This is outrageous!" Zhao Guang stood up and walked into his study room; he didn't even eat any food.
Zhao Hongyu frowned and looked at Zhao Yanzi disapprovingly before glancing at Hao Ren helplessly.
"Hongyu, take her to the East Ocean Dragon Palace and hand her to the elder!" Zhao Guang's voice came from the study room.
"Well, let's go then." Zhao Hongyu didn't dare to oppose Zhao Guang. She reached out her hand and patted Zhao Yanzi's head. Then, she grabbed her hand before standing up.
"Mom! What do you mean? I don't want to go!" Zhao Yanzi squirmed and struggled up.
Zhao Hongyu waved her left hand, and a red beam flashed; instantly, Zhao Yanzi couldn't utter a sound.
"Ren, don't worry. Being grounded means ten days of simple meals in the dragon palace." Zhao Hongyu comforted Hao Ren.
Hao Ren knew nothing about Zhao Yanzi's decision, but he knew for sure that breaking off her relations with her parents would make Zhao Guang furious.
Zhao Hongyu pulled Zhao Yanzi out of the door and into the SUV.
Seeing that Zhao Yanzi was going to be sent back to the East Ocean Dragon Palace, Hao Ren blocked Zhao Hongyu.
"Auntie, Zi was just impulsive. You don't have to be so strict, right?" Hao Ren asked.
Zhao Hongyu turned her gaze toward the direction of the study room and said, "We need to let him cool down a bit."
"What about school?" Hao Ren asked.
"I'll call her teacher and ask for sick leave. As to her study, she can do the review in the dragon palace since the final exams are near," Zhao Hongyu said.
"How about I keep her company?" Hao Ren glanced at the defiant Zhao Yanzi and asked.
Zhao Hongyu smiled helplessly. "No need. Being grounded means that she has to stay there by herself. When she misbehaved as a little girl, she was often grounded like this."
She thought for a while and added, "But you can visit her each day."
Zhao Hongyu felt sympathetic toward Zhao Yanzi, but she also understood Zhao Guang. After all, Zhao Guang had been overwhelmed by the situation and would undoubtedly get furious at Zhao Yanzi's sudden provocation.
When Zhao Yanzi was little, she had once burned up down a building in the East Ocean Dragon Palace, and Zhao Guang grounded her for 20 days. Comparatively, the punishment for what she did this time was quite lenient.
As a father, the most painful thing to hear was his daughter saying that she wanted to sever ties with him. Zhao Yanzi only wanted to show her stance, but she had touched Zhao Guang's most sensitive nerve.
Zhao Hongyu brought Zhao Yanzi into the car and drove out of the garage swiftly.
Hao Ren stood at the entrance of Zhao Yanzi's home and saw the light in the study room. After a moment of consideration, he entered the house and walked to the door of the study room.
Zhao Guang was sitting in the chair with a pile of files in front of him; he was still angry.
"Uncle," Hao Ren said in a low voice.
Zhao Guang looked up at Hao Ren. "Take a seat."
Hao Ren pulled out a chair and sat on the other side of the desk across from Zhao Guang.
It seemed that this was the first official conversation between the Dragon King and the Fuma.
"Zi is inconsiderate sometimes. You must not take her words seriously," Hao Ren broke the silence and said.
"She has been making trouble for me since she was born." Zhao Guang gritted his teeth.
"When will the Dragon Tribe Conference take place?" Hao Ren asked.
Zhao Guang shook his head with a bitter smile.
Hao Ren nodded and understood the situation. With the current situation, the East Ocean Dragon Clan couldn't summon all the other parties for a conference to negotiate.
In the past, the West Ocean Dragon Clan had the most significant military force, and the East Ocean Dragon Clan had the greatest financial power; the South and North Ocean Dragon Clans sat on the sides. Every major issue concerning the Water-Elemental Dragon Clan was referred to the East Ocean Dragon Clan for solutions, and the others followed its lead. In everyone's mind, the East Ocean Dragon Clan had been the leader of the Water-Elemental Dragon Clan.
However, the situation seemed to have changed.
Others wanted to be the big boss as well. That was why the West Ocean Dragon Clan tried to suppress the East Ocean Dragon Clan with force. Although the South Ocean Dragon Clan and the North Ocean Dragon Clan agreed to everything the East Ocean Dragon Clan said, they were also secretly trying to gain power and control the Water-Elemental Dragon Clan.
However, the East Ocean Dragon Clan had handled every significant issue of the Water-Elemental Dragon Clan well and had developed a super business group on land first, leaving the others no chance to overthrow them.
The incident with the West Ocean Dragon Clan triggered a change in the South and North Ocean Dragon Clans' attitudes, and they quickly leaned toward the West Ocean Dragon Clan. Seeing the change of the situation, the minor branches such as rivers and lakes also adjusted their strategies accordingly.
These were things that weighed on Zhao Guang's mind, and he didn't think it was a situation that Hao Ren could fully understand. That was why he didn't blame Hao Ren for messing with the West Ocean Dragon Clan; he blamed himself for not making the situation clear to Hao Ren.
From the perspective of Zhao Guang, he knew that some people deserved a beating, but only to some degree.
It was not easy to be the head of a huge clan, especially the clan with tens of millions of members.
The bigger the business, the harder it was to maintain balance. One small mistake could cause a rapid decline in the East Ocean Dragon Clan's position and businesses on land, which they had spent dozens of years developing.
"Ren, you can go now. I need time to think," Zhao Guang said abruptly.
"Ok. Please take care, Uncle." Hao Ren stood up and realized that Zhao Guang looked quite fatigued.
Hao Ren looked up at the bright moon and sparse stars in the sky after he left the house.
"A storm is coming..." Hao Ren thought.
He took out Little White from his necklace and shot into the sky with it.
He planned to return to his dorm for the night, but he changed his mind when he was in the sky. He rode Little White back to Fifth Heaven.
The East Ocean Dragon Clan was wealthy, but its strength was too weak. If it had over 30 Qian-level and Kun-level elders, the South Ocean Dragon Clan and the North Ocean Dragon Clan wouldn't have dared to change sides, and the West Ocean Dragon Clan wouldn't have messed with it.
After all, the world was ruled by those who had strength.
Even if one wanted to win people over with their virtues, they still needed the foundational strength first.
Boom!
Little White broke into Fifth Heaven and dashed toward the Ethereal Summit.
Fifth Heaven in the night was as dark as First Heaven. However, from this height, the stars and moon looked so near that it felt like one could reach out and pluck them.
It this was the case in Fifth Heaven, then what about Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and even Ninth Heaven? With the power of the stars within reach, the process of cultivation would be tens or even 100 times faster!
The Ethereal Summit was still covered in mist and fog, looking more mysterious in the night.
With Little White's demon beast presence still lingering in the valley, there were no sounds of insects or birds; no creatures dared to get within 100 meters of the valley.
In Fifth Heaven were only some small sects; the mid-tier sects were all on and above Sixth Heaven. That was why Little White was still the king of animals in Fifth Heaven! Only the mid-tier and top-tier sects could afford training spirit beasts.
Hao Ren flew into the cave abode he cut out during the day and found that the table and chair were where they had been; nothing was moved.
Little White spread out and lied at the entrance of the cave abode, dozing while guarding the cave for Hao Ren.
"Here!" Hao Ren remembered that he still had some elixir pills in his storage space. He took them out and tossed them at Little White.
Crack! Crack... Little White chewed and swallowed the elixir pills that were rarely seen in the mortal world as if they were beans.
After making sure everything was ok, Hao Ren sat on the stone bed and began cultivating.
The essence intensity in Fifth Heaven was three times greater than that on land, and the essence intensity in this valley was twice of the level outside. The amount of essence Hao Ren absorbed in one hour was equivalent to five to six hours of cultivation on the land.
While the clouds and mist floated, time ticked on.
Two shadows flew about the Ethereal Summit.
"Hehe, Gongzi is cultivating here! No wonder he has been acting mysteriously recently."
"Well, let's patrol for Gongzi. After all, Little White is only a spirit beast cub and can't fight a real master."
"What if some masters come this way?"
"Do you need to ask? Just knock them out and toss them away, my silly little sister."
"Ok. I'll do as you say..."
The two figures talked in whispers while flying to the other side of the valley.
During this whole time, Little White was soundly asleep, oblivious to the two figures in the valley.
At the East Ocean City's train station below First Heaven, Wang Xi, who fought with Hao Ren, was about to get on board with a blue denim bag on his back.
"Cousin, you'll begin the special training when you return home, right?" In a sports shirt, Wang Hui stood behind the fence and asked him.
"Yeah. After coming to East Ocean, I feel like I'm on the verge of breaking through to Xun-level. There's still one month until the general examinations in the Dragon God Shrine. Maybe I can reach it before the exams," Wang Xi said.
"Xun-level? If you work harder, won't you reach Kun-level?" Wang Hui asked immediately.
"It's not that simple. However, if I can reach Xun-level, I can become an official inspector," Wang Xi said with shiny eyes.
"Oh, one more thing," Something occurred to Wang Xi, and he added, "About the man whom I fought last time when we were in the martial arts dojo... You are still not his match. Don't mess with him.
"Ok. I got it," Wang Hui answered.
Wang Xi narrowed his eyes and thought for a while. "He is now at Zhen-level. If I break through to Xun-level, I can defeat him with one hand...... But his techniques are very special... I think he will attend the general examinations in the Dragon God Shrine."
"Then, you must beat him hard!" Wang Hui yelled.
"Humph! I'll show him what strength is! No one can mess with us earth-elemental dragons!" Wang Xi squinted his eyes again and clenched his fist before turning to get onto the train.