"The Family Head is back, and his aura is even stronger than before..."
"Family Head, we’ve all been waiting for you to return..."
The elders were laughing and crying, all the bitterness of the past years surfacing in their flustered excitement.
Qiu Hui was also quite moved. He briefly recounted what he had been through since leaving the family and solemnly introduced his two Couple Brothers to everyone.
Learning that Qiu Hui had found a young mate, the elders were a bit taken aback. But one look at Feng Yu and Little Jing—both handsome and imposing—and they could tell these were not people to be trifled with.
"Good, good, it’s good that you’re back!" The elders quickly recounted the outrageous things Qiu Luo had done over the past two years. "If you hadn’t come back any later, the Qiu Family would have ceased to exist."
"Unifying the Yongchang Continent is no easy feat. Our Qiu Family doesn’t have that kind of ability. We only ever wanted to develop steadily in this prosperous age, cultivating generations of outstanding successors and putting down deep roots in Changping.
Who would have thought Qiu Luo’s ambition was so great that he was actually coveting the title of Beast King of the entire Yongchang Continent!"
Qiu Hui let out a cold laugh. Back then, Qiu Luo had been certain he would never return. And even if he did, with his Dantian destroyed and his superpower rendered useless, he would be completely unfit for the position of Family Head.
That was why Qiu Luo hadn’t bothered to hide his intentions at all. He had watched as Qiu Hui was captured, and he had even personally destroyed most of Qiu Hui’s Dantian.
In Qiu Luo’s own words, his favorite thing was to give people a tiny sliver of hope, like dangling a carrot in front of a donkey beast—forever reaching for something it could never have.
Moreover, Qiu Luo had also admitted that he was the one behind the old Family Head’s sudden, violent death.
Qiu Hui’s eyes turned cold as he watched Qiu Luo stroll in slowly, his hands clasped behind his back. "Family Head of the Qiu Family, long time no see."
By now, Qiu Hui had already concealed most of his aura. He had even used the Cultivation Technique Little Jing taught him to adjust the Beast Pattern on his neck to the First Level.
So when Qiu Luo came in, the first thing he did was glance at Qiu Hui’s neck. Seeing only a single green stripe, indicating the First Level, the heart that had been in his throat finally settled.
He strode in with a smile and sat in the head seat. Raising an eyebrow with great interest, he looked at the males beside Qiu Hui, utterly stunned by the two of them, especially the one with cold, pale skin, dark blue hair, and dark green eyes.
"It has been a long time. Did you find yourself a buyer and secure your position with your young mate? Or did you make some kind of concession, offering up the Qiu Family on a platter in exchange for your Couple Brothers helping you reclaim your honor?
Just these two outsiders?"
Qiu Hui’s lips curled into a smirk. "Yes, that’s right. If I remember correctly, to become the Family Head of the Qiu Family, one only needs to gain the support of eighty percent of the clan members and defeat the current Family Head to take his place?"
Qiu Luo nodded, smiling. "Correct. The premise is who is the Family Head and who is the challenger. You’re not going to tell me you plan to do it with that pitiful cultivation of yours, are you?"
Qiu Hui ignored him and turned to ask the elders, "Elders, how many in the clan still support me? Father’s passing was sudden, and I failed to protect the Qiu Family. This time, I will definitely restore the family to its former status and prosperity!"
The elders exchanged a look. "Qiu Hui, we Striped Tiger Beastmen have never been ones to easily submit to others, let alone resort to stalling tactics.
Qiu Luo wants to use our Qiu Family as a betrothal gift and hand it over to the Bai Family. More than ninety percent of the clan members disagree. Therefore, you have the support of ninety percent of the clan."
It could be said that everyone had been suppressed for so long that they had finally seen a glimmer of hope. Even the elders could no longer bear it, let alone the ordinary clan members.
Before the elders could even summon them, the clan members all rushed over upon hearing the news, wanting to see what Qiu Hui’s cultivation was really like. Did the Qiu Family still have a chance to remain independent, instead of becoming a subordinate family to the Bai Family?
But the Level of the Beast Pattern on Qiu Hui’s neck was too low, and everyone felt a sense of disappointment and indignation. Then, someone suddenly shouted, "Ah, Qiu Hui’s cultivation is rising!"
Everyone stared intently and was overjoyed. Indeed! The Beast Pattern on Qiu Hui’s neck shot up from a single green stripe of the First Level to three stripes, then condensed into a single cyan stripe, then grew another three... finally stopping at the Peak Sixteen Level, exactly the same as his cultivation before he left.
Just when everyone thought that was the peak, the Beast Pattern unexpectedly continued, stabilizing at two blue stripes. This meant Qiu Hui was also a Seventeenth Level Beastman.
Qiu Luo felt the immense pressure, and his face changed drastically. "Peak Seventeenth Level? How is that possible!"
’Wasn’t Qiu Hui’s Dantian crippled?’
’How could he have been gone for two years and progressed as if he had been cultivating the whole time? After all, advancing past Level 15 was incredibly difficult. The higher one’s cultivation, the difficulty of training would increase tenfold, twentyfold, even several dozenfold.’
’How could Qiu Hui possibly have advanced an entire Level?!’
"Why would it be impossible? Can’t you feel it?" Qiu Hui directed all of his pressure at Qiu Luo alone and asked coolly, "Are you going to return the position of Family Head that you stole from me now?
Or do you need me to challenge you, break your limbs, and destroy most of your Dantian?"
Qiu Luo was completely immobilized; just trying to stand up required immense effort. How could he be foolish enough to accept a challenge when he knew perfectly well that Qiu Hui was filled with hatred and rage!
He simply propped himself up with his hands and sneered, "Qiu Hui, you shouldn’t have—you really shouldn’t have—come back to provoke me now that you have a bright future ahead of you. I won’t go easy on you this time."
With that, Qiu Luo shuffled out step by step, not mentioning the challenge at all.
The elders and clan members paid Qiu Luo no mind, instead asking with concern, "Qiu Hui, are you really alright? Qiu Luo has definitely gone to the Bai Family to call for reinforcements."
The Long Tusked Elephant Beastmen were one of the few Beastmen on the Yongchang Continent with almost no natural enemies. Moreover, the Bai Family was the former Royal Family, and their current Family Head had been enfeoffed as a king of a different clan by the Beast King.
But they still acted as they always had. They might not be willing to form a marriage alliance with the Striped Tigers, but they would absolutely not permit the Striped Tiger Beastmen to act so arrogantly.
Thus, just as Qiu Hui had settled in and undergone the ceremony to become the Family Head once more, Qiu Luo returned in a rage, bringing members of the Bai Family with him to settle the score.
"Qiu Hui, if you have the guts, fight my people in the arena. If you win, my fiancée has said that she will return all the shops, lands, and residences she previously took from the Qiu Family.
But if you lose, then you’ll get kicked out of the Family Head position, and I’ll continue in the role. And the Qiu Family will become a subordinate family to the Bai Family, providing them with resources!
Do you dare to accept?" Qiu Luo asked, tilting his chin up smugly.
Qiu Hui laughed coldly. "Why wouldn’t I dare? But if I win, we’ll have to add one more condition: I get to cripple you and make you a slave to the Bai Family."
Qiu Luo glared at him in anger. ’He couldn’t possibly win,’ he thought. After all, the Bai Family was once the Royal Family, and its members were powerful, their strength built up with mountains of resources. How could a mere Qiu Hui possibly shake them?
"Fine. Best three out of five," Qiu Luo agreed hastily, without a second thought, afraid that Qiu Hui might refuse.