Chapter 58: Finally Awoken

"Finally, I think I see why you treat Xian Ran the way you do. No wonder your Lingyun Sect can't get anywhere," one elder sneered, his voice laced with disdain.

" 'Secrets?' What secrets? The Xian family has nothing to hide," the great elder growled, his face turning darker.

"No secrets? Ha! Spare us the pretence. There's clearly something going on here. How did your Xian family suddenly gain such rapid development? You have an abundance of Nascent Soul realms that are superior even to what we see in sects like Lingyun. It's astonishing! And what's the deal with that thundercloud hovering over your clan?""

The other elder sneered, crossing his arms with a condescending grin.

"Let's face it, if the Xian family hadn't discovered some special opportunity, how could you have, in secret, raised so many influential people?"

Sarcasm dripped from his words as he continued. "So you really thought that you could fool us into coming here as guests? Tsk, tsk. You must really have believed that we would fall for such a trick. Otherwise, you'd be in a much tighter spot convincing us to come here.".

The members of the Lingyun Sect were afraid of targeting the Xian family head-on. They were apprehensive about the mysterious golden energy orb the Xian family owned-an artifact whose capabilities they didn't grasp fully. So they decided to use deceit as their strategy instead. If not for the message sent out by Xian Ran, they probably wouldn't have come just because of Lingyun's reputation.

Now that we, the upper echelons of the Lingyun Sect, have you elders of the Xian family at our mercy, you have a choice to make. You can either give us the secrets of your family or face dire consequences. Do not wait for us to discover them ourselves; by then, it will be too late for regrets! That was what Pengfei said, his voice grave and authoritative.

Xian Wu sneered. "You think you will be able to uncover our secrets? What makes you think you can discover a thing without us? Even if we weren't standing here, would you have the guts to enter our territory of Xian family? Do you remember that we have many powerful beings within the spiritual vein realm; do you have the arrogance to test us?

Just then, the bravado of Xian Wu was knocked by a swift and brutal punch from Han Zhen on his abdomen. "How dare a prisoner himself speak so arrogantly!" he retorted.

"Do you know why you're still breathing? It's because, for now, you're of value to us. Eventually, I'll take you and your fellow elders back to the Xian family, and they'll have no choice but to comply!" Han Zhen's voice dripped with menace.

"But," he said coldly, "to stress the severity of the situation, I think it would be prudent to chop off a few of your heads as a warning to the rest!"

"Now we're talking! Let's get on with it!" Pengfei agreed eagerly, nodding in approval.

"Master, Grandpa, let me handle this!" Han Pu exclaimed, jumping up with wild look in his eyes.

"All right, that's it now," Han Zhen said with determination, putting total trust in the ability of his grandson to get the job done. He pressed a long knife into Han Pu's hand. The Lingyun Sect had only a few knives remaining, but it was a third-grade spiritual weapon—more than enough for the particularly awful task he was placing upon Han Pu.

"Hmph! A kid like you understands nothing about how to wield a sword!" sneered Xian Wu with contempt in his voice.

"Why are you so excited? If that's how you feel, I could offer to perform a little 'surgery' on you," Han Pu replied with a chilling smile, recalling how Xian Wu had previously threatened him.

"So what if you do? You're just a kid! What can you possibly do to me?" Xian Wu responded, his arrogance evident as he eyed Xian Ran, whose condition appeared to be worsening.

Taking advantage of the situation, he challenged Han Pu one more time: "Come on, try! I'm just waiting for you to slip up!"

Han Pu spluttered, raising his long knife in his hands, getting ready to chop his opponent. But at that moment, bright aura struck Han Pu's back like crashing waves, throwing him forward, where he ground on the earth.

"Who dares attack me?" he thundered with anger and confusion etched across his face. However, as he turned around, his expression changed to that of pure disbelief. "You? Xian Ran?"

He faced Xian Ran, whose features had completely transformed. His eyebrows, hair, and pupils were all bright scarlet. A mystical bloodline ran between his brows. Chains that had bound him lay shattered at his feet. He was cradling the two disciples who had accompanied him-these two were dead, their necks broken.

"What? How did you recover your practice?" Pengfei's surprise was clear. "That poison could freeze the bones of even those in the Soul formation realm! It should have taken days for anyone at your level to recuperate from it!"

Before anyone could respond, Xian Ran left vision and immediately reappeared right in front of Pengfei with fiery red eyes. Anger blazed in blood-red eyes as he swung into a powerful punch to Pengfei's abdomen. The blow spewed blood from Pengfei's mouth, and his body shot through the air with a collision against the adjacent wall.

"Get him!" one of the elders shouted in recovery from their surprise and hastened to retaliate against Xian Ran.

But to Xian Ran, they were nothing more than just obstructions on his way. He fought brutally efficient, punches that splattered blood onto the floor and crashed into one elder's skull with one single blow, his brains exploding out of the head. He hit another elder into his own torso with another blow, a terrible looking, gruesome spectacles that sent the rest of the elders of the Xian family into reeling in horror.

"What's happening? Did he wake up his body? That can't be the case!?" The astonishment on the face of the big elder told the story of trying to rationalise this bloodbath.

"It is, so it seems. He really has awoken his body and retaken his cultivation. But this is far worse than I thought it would be!" Xian Wu furrowed his brows as he watched Xian Ran transform into a whirlwind of violence. The question gnawed at him: was there no cost to this power?

No time for doubts. With Xian Yue around, all would be taken care of. The thought gave him a sense of comfort.

Blood splashed everywhere in the room as Xian Ran rampaged through the elders with savage ferocity. He yanked his hand from an elder's chest, pulling out his heart, still pounding, as a trophy. He grinned wickedly and crushed it in his fist, staining his hands with what was left.

"Halt! Xian Ran, stop this lunacy or I finish them off!"

Han Pu's voice shouted above the noise, his knife now up to the throat of Xian Wu.

Xian Ran paused at Han Pu's warning; his red eyes were on him as Han Pu felt icy chilliness trickle down his spine.

"Playing it over-kill, boy! You are not handling any blade like this, liar!" Xian Wu laughed mockingly and tried to let Han Pu break his conviction.

"Shut up! If you don't want to meet your end, then I suggest you back off!" Han Pu retorted, panic seeping into his voice as he observed Xian Ran's monstrous transformation.

To Han Pu's shock, the pressure felt upon his long knife was of being pinched between Xian Ran's fingers. With a loud crack, the third-grade spiritual weapon snapped in that room.

"You you!" Han Pu stammered, his body trembling with fear. He stepped back further realizing he could never find any match for the newly awakened Xian Ran.

That was enough! Xian Wu thundered, with authority once again fueled by the chaos. Xian Ran is awakened; the purpose of being here is accomplished!

Finally, it's time for action! The remaining elders triggered the spiritual energy to be released and break free from their chains.

With a resounding crunching sound, the chains that bound them were broken apart, sending pieces of metal flying all over the floor everywhere. Then, things changed; now, the tidal wave reversed as the Xian family's secrets began to spill out.

They would fight, not for survival alone but for honor and future for their family. The elders were ready, united with one aim, each of them ready to face what lies ahead in the impending battle.

This version of the rewritten piece does not alter the crux of the former but explains in greater detail motivations, feelings, and their response by the characters to bring it to life and make it more interesting.