A return to the clan

"Father this is nonsense." Liu Xiaohui protested, her irritation was visible, nearly visible enough to hide the irritation of the man that sat in front of her, "This is clearly his way of saying he doesn't want to take responsibility of the family name." 

"I know I wouldn't too if I was supernaturally crippled," Liu Weiwei mumbled out under his breath towards his brother, Liu Junjie, who burst into a short, muffled laughter. 

"Manners, you two." Xiaoyan, the mother to the three commanded, her voice easily echoing within the halls that remained patient, awaiting the arrival of one person, "Darling, perhaps that maid you sent hadn't passes the message." she added, attempting to calm her husband who was slowly growing in irritation. 

Liu Tianlong, a man of few words and undisputed authority, simply remained silent. It would make this the third time in one month that his son would disobey his order, something that no one within the manor dared to do. At first, he had accepted it. He'd known full well about Liu Chen's inability to use supernatural abilities but disobeying him twice after was no more than defiance. 

"Well clearly mother, if it hasn't dawned to you yet, even if you send an army to bring him over he still will not come." Liu Xiaohui budged in, her tone still raised, concerning her mother slightly. 

"If an army actually barged into my chambers and still failed to pull me out, then wouldn't that whole army be deserving of punishment?" Liu Chen comically commented, pushing open the doors to the hall, "Forgive me for arriving late father, I overslept." 

The hall fell silent for a moment as everyone confirmed to see whether the person before them truly was Liu Chen himself. He had locked himself up for longer than anyone had expected to the point where they all believed that nothing could make him come out apart from death itself. 

"Good enough." Liu Tianlong finally spouted out, rising to his feet after releasing a short exhalation. 

He then slowly descended the short flight of stairs from his seat to the flat hall that Liu Chen stood on until he himself was a breath away from his son. 

"I'm glad you came son..." Liu Tianlong mumbled under his breath, audible enough for Liu Chen to hear, "Stand proud and defend your honor." 

The short exchange of words was a way of motivating his son. He knew that he'd given rise to a powerless child but still favored him over the rest, even after the death of his mother. The resentment Liu Chen had received within the family was mostly due to this fact. His new mother, though kind at heart, had given rise to her polar opposites. Greedy offsprings that only sought after the family's influential name. And with Liu Chen alive, that proved to be an issue to them. It was no wonder Liu Chen had locked himself up in his room for a period that no one could recall. 

"Very well then, I'd like to keep this as brief as possible." Liu Tianlong voiced out, striding past Liu Chen and heading back to his seat, "On the matter of wielding the family's authority upon my death do you, Liu Chen allow for the opportunity to be passed to another member of our family?" 

A short moment of silence passed where Liu Chen briefly examined the expressions of those around him. A smile then drew itself on his face before he crossed his arms and shook his head. 

"Absolutely not, father." he voiced out, instantly causing a reaction within the halls. 

"What? You think that you can still have the right to hold leadership of the family?" Liu Weiwei commented arrogantly, an angered expression pasted upon his face. 

"You think this is ancient times when the people without magic still had authority?" Liu Junjie added, his tone equally irritated as he threw those comments towards Liu Chen who barely seemed to care. 

"Silence you two," Xiaoyan protested, her tone now unable to hold back its own frustration. 

The command easily sent the two back to their silenced state within seconds, none of them willing enough to disobey their mother's commands before their very own father. 

"You choose to silence the wrong one mother," Liu Xiaohui budged in, her tone forcing a calmness as she breached the topic, "what good can a powerless scum like him bring to the family if he took over?" 

Her daughters words left Xiaoyan silenced for a moment. She didn't want to let this continue yet if she did, she knew that her children would easily take it that she was siding with Liu Chen. As such, she remained silent, only glancing at her husband who couldn't stand to let such a comment slide. 

"Watch your tongue Xiaohui." Liu Tianlong commented, his voice like a growl that rumbled in a low tone, easily silencing his daughter. 

"No, she's right father." Liu Chen let out, surprising them all. Especially his father who wished to know further about his intentions for agreeing with her. 

"What do you mean by that?" Liu Tianlong questioned, easily catching an interest towards Liu Chen's intentions. 

This was his cue, the perfect moment that Liu Chen had carefully planned through for the past years. As such, he simply showed a slight smile as he faced his father from the elevated angle that he now sat at. 

"Our family is a well-known family father, letting a powerless person take control of it would be fatal to its name," Liu Chen commented, shifting his gaze from his father to his half-sister, "And that is why I chose to not let the powerless take control of this family." 

His words lingered in the air for a moment before anyone even reacted towards them. Once they had all processed what exactly he was saying, a wave of laughter sprung from the children who couldn't help but mock their half-brother for the words he had just spouted. 

"You consider yourself powerful?" Liu Weiwei burst out, unable to hold back his laughter, "You who can't even use magic?" 

The words would have meant something to Liu Chen if it was his past self. His powerless self in the past wouldn't have been able to handle the ridicule, but his current self was past those words. Powerless? In his current state, even the deities would have considered him a threat if they knew of his existence. 

"I know my words can come as simply just plain comments, so may I suggest something father?" Liu Chen spouted out, ignoring the ridicule from his half-brothers. 

"Go on." Liu Tianlong responded, willing to hear out what his son had in mind. It went without saying that he was intrigued as well. The Liu Chen he knew would have already given up the family name and resigned to his chambers without a word, but now he even dared to call his prodigies powerless. There clearly was something more to his intentions. 

"A duel," Liu Chen finally worded out, pointing towards Liu Xiaohui, "between me and her." 

Liu Xiaohui paused for a moment before showing a menacing smile towards him. His suggestion was nothing more than suicide to her, especially since he willingly chose her as his opponent. Among the siblings, it was known that Liu Xiaohui was the strongest, she'd been blessed by a deity at an early age and had proven to be why the Liu clan still held part of its popularity. It was suicide for anyone within the manor to duel her! Yet, knowing this, Liu Tianlong couldn't help but smirk at Liu Chen. Something was clearly not usual, and he liked every moment of it.