Zhao Ying, Zhao Ling

Kingdom of Qin was a small kingdom in the wastelands. The strongest being in the entire kingdom was the reigning emperor, who was at the middle stages of golden core realm. The imperial capital was home to 8 great clans and several minor clans. Great clans were the ones who had either a peak foundation establishment ream backer or in case of top three great clans, they had an early golden core realm expert. Not to mention several early and mid-foundation establishment experts. Similarly, the minor clans which numbered in tens were ones with a foundation establishment realm expert at its helm. The Zhao clan was one of these minor clans with an early foundation realm ancestor at their back. It was not a very big clan with only 60+ adult members and several children.

Today in the Zhao clan a great event was taking pace. Grand elder of the Zhao clan, Zhao Ling was going to break through the foundation establishment realm. Even the old ancestor was alarmed. He immediately issued some orders and then went back in closed door cultivation. If it was someone else who was breaking through, Zhao Lin would have been overjoyed and would have relaxed, but Zhao Ling was narrow minded, his vision was low and he was arrogant and vile. If the clan falls in his hands the situation would be disastrous. Thus it didn't lower any pressure off him, instead it increased his worries. In front of Zhao Ling's courtyard, Zhen Qi was gathering at an alarming rate. It was the signs of someone breaking through in Qi cultivation. People were gathering outside the courtyard. Many elders were standing there clearly divided into two groups. First group contained 16 elders while the second only 6. This disparity was too great. The group of 16 had hay faces and they were gloating at the 6 who were standing together. The group of six were indignant as recently when the news of grand elder's breakthrough came, half of their faction members had joined the other one. Needless to say that these six were loyal members of the clan leader faction and also a group of men who knew that for the benefit of the clan what should be done while the bigger faction was of grand elder. They knew that once the grand elder broke through he would go as far as to kill them to attain the control of the clan. They were helpless and indignant. If not for the clan leader, who was adaptable and decisive at the same time, the Zhao Clan who despite being weak, controlled some lands, would have been wiped out in a night. Unfortunately, the clan leader had no successor, thus his status was not that great compared to the grand elder who had an outstanding descendant in the form of Zhao Kun. This lead too many elders and disciples choosing the camp of the great elder while weakening the can leader's authority. Over the years Zhao clan which was slowly rising up in strength was stagnated in its growth. Zhao Ying, the clan leader of the Zhao clan was the second strongest individual of the clan, first being the foundation establishment realm ancestor, Zhao Lin, who was 185 years old and was nearing an end to his life span, and thus neglected the clan and was in closed door cultivation to break through in order to increase his life span. This does not mean that he didn't care about the clan. It was because he knew that with his fall the clan would be devoured whole, so he had no choice but to remain behind closed doors. Zhao Ying was once a great genius too. He reached the peak of body tempering at the age of 20 and entered into foundation establishment realm at 30. Compared to others he was way ahead the same generation disciples of imperial capital. If we take the world into calculation then well, he was a trash. But in its own layer even a snake is equal to a dragon so he was revered as the greatest rising star of the Zhao clan. Unfortunately his rise was not welcomed by many. They secretly plotted against him and heavily injured him. For some reason they didn't kill him, instead they destroyed his established foundation thus crippling him. From then on Zhao Ying became an ordinary person who was doomed to remain in the body tempering realm. Although his foundation was destroyed, he was still stronger than any peak body realm expert and his lifespan was equivalent to the foundation establishment initial stage expert, thus he was chosen as the clan leader. From then on he dedicated his all in the betterment of the clan. One day he learnt about Zhao Yun and his talent from his subordinates. He saw hoe and also a way for the Zhao clan to rise. He immediately ordered his men to bring the child to the main clan. He made sure that the child could peacefully and one day become an expert who breaks away from mediocrity and fulfil his dream of traveling the world. The more he saw the child progress the more he liked him. Because his foundation was destroyed and he had severe internal injuries, he had become incapable of reproduction. He was ridiculed and humiliated for the reason. But his strength was enough to deter those. In his younger years, he was a dazzling star and many beauties threw themselves at him. He had three wives to be whom he was going to be married to soon but just before the wedding he was injured and his incapability to reproduce was also made public by some malicious schemers. The brides-to-be were from Ling, Tian and Su family of the capital. Ling and Tian family were of the same level as the Zhao family while the Su family was one of the 8 major families. Due to his talent the higher ups of the Su family had agreed to the marriage but after the incident, they decided to pull the marriage off. Similar decision was made in Ling and Tian family. The women of the two families readily agreed. The man in question was a wastrel now and had no future so how could they marry him. It was the young woman Su Wan from the Su family who went to the extent of fighting her elders and leaving the clan just to marry Zhao Ying. She left the comfort of her clan and took care of the man who was in the brink of despair. She pulled him out of his depression and helped him to become a great clan leader. The current grand elder Zhao Ling was a cousin of Zhao Ying. He had always lusted after Su Wan's beauty and this was one of the reasons he was hostile to Zhao Ying. Earlier his strength and standing was both below his thus he remained under control, now that he was going to break through, no one knows what he would do and they felt pity for their clan lord.

The Six elders sighed resignedly. The momentum in the sky was beginning to recede as a proof of successful breakthrough. They all knew that the grand elder would be making an appearance soon. Many disciples of the clan were in gloomy mood. Zhao Kun was exceedingly arrogant and condescending. He would often bully others and sometimes he went as far as to kill someone over a spilled glass of water. The grand elder had always shielded him from all those crimes and even encouraged him to be domineering. They knew that now that the grand elder was breaking through, their life in the clan is going to be miserable. There were some disciples though who were extremely happy. They were Zhao ken's followers. They were the one who did the dirty work for the guy and gained some benefits from it. Now they saw the breaking through of the grand elder as a huge opportunity. The entire clan was bustling some were happy some sad and regretful.

In a silent courtyard, Zhao Fan and Guan Rou were watching the commotion with worry. They knew that the grand elder was a narrow minded and petty person and he was jealous of their son's talent. They were not worried about themselves but their son.

In another courtyard, a handsome man who appeared to be in his 20's and a beautiful woman who was similar in age and had a noble air around her were standing together watching the commotion. The man appeared calm and indifferent but the woman beside him was fidgeting and was deeply worried. She looked toward the man and a gentle loving look flashed through her eyes. She said, "Brother Ying, Wan'er is blessed to have you as her husband and I was very happy all those years. I hope to accompany you to the after-life after that fellow makes a move."

The man's calm and indifferent face crumbled into a sad smile. He held the woman's hand tightly "Wan'er it is me who is blessed to have you. I'm not afraid to die. The life of a cripple is so hard that even death is better. I'm just worried about that child Yun'er... Sigh… not only have I harmed you by marrying you I harmed that child as well."

Hearing this distressed look appeared in the woman's eyes. She was also a genius but to be with her husband she destroyed her own cultivation and became a cripple. This was her love and her answer to her clan. Unfortunately the man always blamed himself for harming her causing her heart to ache in pain. When she thought of Zhao Yun, a gentle look appeared on her face, but it was soon replaced by the feeling of defeat and hopelessness.

The man and woman were Zhao Ying and Su Wan. They knew that what awaited them after this breakthrough was most probably death, after all even though Zhao Ling wanted Su Wan it was not like she would go with him. She would rather die with her husband than to get humiliated. They were crippled anyway, not anyone can understand the pain of having a great potential but not being able to improve. For them death was a kind of release but the child Zhao Yun was not even 16 yet and he would die with them, this was what pained them the most.

Soon the momentum completely receded and calm returned. Everyone looked towards grand elder's courtyard and waited for him to emerge. Zhao Ying and Su Wan exchanged a glance and sighed. They left their place and went to the grand elder's place. After all they were the leaders of the clan and they had to go. It was just that their steps were heavy and full of sadness. Seeing such a site everyone even a few on grand elder's side sighed inwardly.

Creak

With some noise the door to the courtyard opened and a figure emerged.