Limitless Ascension: Strength Amid Adversity – Chapter 587

“Clan Leader, let me explain, these are good people—they saved me and my sister, and…”

“Enough!”

Before Gou Ziqing could finish, the Old Clan Leader interrupted him angrily.

The Old Clan Leader tremblingly pointed his cane, his face filled with sorrow, “Boy, have you forgotten the ancestral teachings left by our clan? That was a bloody lesson! Because of that incident, our clan nearly faced extinction!”

“If it weren’t for our ancestors sacrificing themselves to protect the clan’s retreat, the Tengu Tribe would have long vanished from history. I thought the younger generation would learn from our mistakes, but instead, you defy the ancestral teachings! Are you trying to make our Tengu Tribe repeat the same mistakes?”

The Old Clan Leader grew more agitated with each word, eventually coughing violently, his gaze towards Gou Ziqing filled with disappointment.

“Child, are you trying to hurt us gravely?”

“How could you, with your foolish dog brain, think to bring outsiders here?”

“It’s over! Our location is exposed!”

The clan members were outraged, all criticizing them.

Faced with the overwhelming accusations, Gou Ziqing and his sister turned pale.

“Clan Leader, I, Gou Cuihua, am willing to take the punishment for my children. Do whatever you want to me, they are still young and were merely misled!”

Gou Cuihua rushed forward, hair disheveled, kneeling before the Old Clan Leader with tears streaming down her face.

“Mom, please get up!”

Gou Ziqing and Gou Qianyi felt a sharp pain in their hearts and rushed over to help her up.

“Don’t touch me! You don’t realize how grave your mistake is! Mom is atoning for your sins!”

Gou Cuihua wailed, feeling as if the sky had fallen.

The siblings had defied the ancestral teachings, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call them public enemies of the clan. As a mother, she loved her children dearly and had to offer her life as compensation, hoping the clan would forgive their faults.

“Take them away first and deal with them later!” the Old Clan Leader commanded, striking the ground with his cane.

“Yes!”

Several Tengu Tribe experts in beast skins, their expressions as tough as iron, moved to forcibly take the siblings.

“I won’t accept this! I did nothing wrong!” Gou Ziqing shouted in anger, resisting fiercely and surprisingly managed to break free, forcing several Tengu Tribe experts to stagger back.

The clan members looked astonished at Gou Ziqing’s display of strength.

A flicker of surprise crossed the Old Clan Leader’s eyes.

After years of decline and being oppressed by outside cultivators, the Tengu Tribe had barely any room for growth, resulting in a generally low cultivation level.

Reaching the Immortal Sovereign realm was already considered a top expert in the tribe. If one reached the Immortal King level, they would be the unquestionable leader of the clan.

In such backward territories, this level of expertise could barely allow them to get by.

But unfortunately, they were in the resource-rich West Ze Immortal Domain, with masters everywhere and powerful figures all around. Moreover, the Tengu Tribe was particularly unique, targeted by the Tian Shui Han Family, and now they were in a worse situation than ordinary demon clans!

At this moment.

Seeing the boy single-handedly push back several clan experts, the Old Clan Leader was still quite astonished.

With his keen insight, he could tell Gou Ziqing was at the Profound Immortal level, but his strength exceeded that of ordinary Immortal Sovereigns!

With such talent, if fully nurtured, he could achieve even greater heights!

Unknown to the Old Clan Leader, Gou Ziqing had consumed a massive amount of Immortal King-level flesh and had refined all the energy, resulting in a dramatic transformation within him.

Though he wasn’t at the Immortal Sovereign level, his strength had already surpassed most. He had leapfrogged into the ranks of top-tier geniuses cultivated in prestigious sects.

After all, the Tengu Tribe’s status among demon clans was high for a reason.

Firstly, their barking had a mental influence effect and far surpassed the movement speeds of most beings.

Most importantly, they possessed a certain devouring ability to strengthen themselves by consuming demon flesh.

Take an ordinary demon clan, for instance; they could only eat a tiny bit of that Immortal King-level seafood feast before bursting, or else they might literally explode!

But the Tengu Tribe didn’t have that trouble; they had a significant advantage here.

For example, Gou Ziqing, with his initial Profound Immortal cultivation, consumed a large amount of Immortal King-level flesh and his cultivation spiked to the peak of the Profound Immortal level.

Thus, the Tengu Tribe’s innate gifts were indeed strong, but external oppression had brought them to their current state.

Seeing Gou Ziqing struggle fiercely, the Old Clan Leader let out a cold snort and raised his hand, pressing down, manifesting a solid white dog paw onto him.

“Ugh,”

Gou Ziqing, burdened, fell to his knees, pain etched on his face.

The Old Clan Leader’s cold voice rang out: “Will you yield? Do you acknowledge your mistake!?”

To be fair, he genuinely wanted to protect this child because he held the potential to reach the heights of their ancestors.

Therefore, he only wanted to save face, allowing the boy to recognize his mistakes before nurturing him properly.

But then.

Gou Ziqing absolutely refused to back down, gritting his teeth, “I did nothing wrong! I’m helping the Tengu Tribe!”

“You!”

The Old Clan Leader was exasperated.

“Clan Leader, Cle’Er was just confused in a moment of folly; I’m willing to take his punishment!”

Gou Cuihua broke down in tears, begging as she knelt beside him.

“Hmph, it’s all your fault for not teaching your child properly!” The clan members were equally furious, believing that Gou Cuihua, as a mother, also had her share of responsibility.

Just then, a clear voice cut through, “Are you all done causing a scene?”

As soon as the words left his mouth.

Ye Junlin appeared beside Gou Ziqing, waving his hand casually.

Bang! The white dog paw pressing down on Gou Ziqing was instantly shattered by a surge of power.

“What?!”

The Old Clan Leader felt as if struck by lightning, his eyes wide with shock.

By his understanding, someone capable of such a feat had to be at least an Immortal Emperor-level powerhouse.

“F-Fellow, I’m sorry…” Gou Ziqing felt deeply ashamed, thinking he made his benefactor look foolish.

Ye Junlin said, “You did nothing wrong; they misunderstood you.”

“What do you intend to do? My clan’s temple is small and cannot accommodate such a great Buddha!” the Old Clan Leader said warily, his inner tension palpable.

This silver-haired youth gave him an unfathomable feeling.

If he intended harm against the Tengu Tribe, it would be a catastrophic disaster.

An Immortal Emperor-level powerhouse could easily subdue the current Tengu Tribe!

Ye Junlin tossed a golden dog-head token and casually stated, “I was entrusted by a senior from your clan to help you appropriately, and this was given to me as a token. See if you recognize it.”

The Old Clan Leader caught the golden dog-head token and, upon closer inspection, his eyes widened in disbelief, his pupils shaking, revealing a look of incredulity on his face.

“This… this is…?”

The clan members exchanged puzzled glances, having never seen such a dog-head token. They only felt it resembled the one the clan leader wore.

“You don’t think this human deliberately crafted a fake to trick us, do you?” a self-righteous clan member whispered.

Unbeknownst to him, the Old Clan Leader snapped back, “Shut up! What do you know?!”

The man was left trembling in fear, hurriedly lowering his head.

“The legend… it was actually true…” The Old Clan Leader’s nose tinged with bitterness, his eyes welling with hot tears as he held the golden dog-head token, feeling it weighed more than a mountain.

“Legend?” The clan members seemed to recall something, their expressions filled with disbelief as they breathed more heavily.

“This token represents the greatest honor of our Tengu Tribe, and in our history, there has only been one recipient!”

“He was the legendary prodigy of our clan, rumored to have followed a being beyond the Immortal Emperor realm and was given an important mission!”

“During that time, our Tengu Tribe reached its peak, wielding unprecedented influence among demon clans; even Immortal Emperors had to treat our tribe with utmost respect and dared not offend us!”

“As for his name, our clan still possesses exact records—it’s referred to as…”

“Sky Devouring Hound Sovereign!!”

As he spoke, the Old Clan Leader shed two hot tears, his entire aged body trembling, not out of fear, but from overwhelming emotion.