"And you're still smiling? Are you truly looking down on our Chu Heavenly Clan?"
"Lord Hanpeng, I implore you—punish this man immediately. Expel him from our Chu Heavenly Clan and make him suffer the full weight of our punishments."
"Otherwise, if everyone in our clan acts as he does, where is the order in any of that?"
Chu Haoyan's grandfather spoke up.
"Lord Hanpeng, please punish this man and restore justice for our two Grand Elders."
After his words, the elders who knelt on the ground voiced their support in unison, demanding that Chu Hanpeng punish Chu Youyuan.
"Very well, then—bring your clan's rules down upon me. Today, I'd like to see who among you dares to punish me."
Chu Youyuan suddenly swept his sleeve and stood there with his hands clasped behind his back, unmoved.
"Disgracing our clan—this man truly deserves death. Today, I will rid the Chu Heavenly Clan of this menace on its behalf."
"Let us join hands and eliminate this treasonous clan-traitor."
At that very moment, Chu Zhiyuan and Chu Haoyan's grandfather actually rose into the air, weapons in hand, and charged toward Chu Youyuan.
With Chu Hanpeng hesitating to act, the two of them had taken the initiative.
Chu Hanpeng did nothing to stop them.
Chu Youyuan had gone too far—his actions had stirred the collective fury of the clan.
The only reason Chu Hanpeng had held back was out of respect for the Clan Chief, since Chu Youyuan had always been the Clan Chief's trusted confidant.
But now that Chu Zhiyuan and Chu Haoyan's grandfather had made their move, Chu Hanpeng saw no reason to intervene.
The fact that he himself refrained from personally striking Chu Youyuan was already lenient enough, let alone stopping those two.
If he tried to intervene now, he would only deepen the outrage, and countless members of the Chu Heavenly Clan would turn against him.
In the blink of an eye, the two Grand Elders had closed in on Chu Youyuan, and their weapons were aimed straight at his vitals.
The old woman made no move to interfere. She did not know Chu Youyuan at all, and though she too had wanted to stand up for Chu Feng's sake, her temperament meant she would never lift a finger to save this Chu Youyuan.
She simply did not care whether Chu Youyuan lived or died—she cared only about Chu Feng's life.
But what left everyone most bewildered was that, facing the assault of two Grand Elders, Chu Youyuan merely stood in place with his hands behind his back, not moving a muscle, as though fully prepared to let their blades strike him down.
Before anyone could react, the two weapons had already arrived before Chu Youyuan's vitals. They were on the verge of piercing in—and once they did, with the strength of those two Grand Elders, Chu Youyuan would be dead without question.
Hummm— But in that very instant, something astonishing happened. The two Grand Elders' weapons halted right before Chu Youyuan's robes, frozen as though bound by invisible chains—unable to advance even a fraction of an inch.
"What?"
In that moment, the two Grand Elders exchanged bewildered glances, their faces full of confusion.
It was not only them who were confused—even Chu Hanpeng and Chu Xuan Zhengfa wore the same puzzled expressions.
Hummm— And in the next instant, a vast and overwhelming aura erupted from within Chu Youyuan's body.
Now the truth was clear to everyone. They finally understood why two Grand Elders, both Second Rank Venerables, had been unable to so much as wound Chu Youyuan.
The aura Chu Youyuan now released was that of a Venerable—one so powerful that even Chu Hanpeng was far, far beneath him.