At this moment, in the Su Mansion estate.
A secluded courtyard located not far from the main hall.
A young man, appearing to be around eighteen years of age, sat cross-legged on the ground, hot steam evaporating out of his body, causing the temperature in the room to increase by several degrees.
With sword-like eyebrows and prominent cheekbones, he had the appearance of a handsome young man from a prominent family, his exposed upper body having clearly defined, strong muscles and an overall broad frame.
He was the son of the Su Mansion Lord and the young master of the Su Mansion, Su Yang.
More than 3 years ago, he was known as the undisputed number one genius in Lingshan County, possessing First-Grade Talent and having attained the Third Stage of Body Tempering Realm at the age of fifteen, with great hopes of achieving the Innate Realm, the first in the Su Family for nearly a century.
However, unexpectedly, he seemingly lost his talent and regressed in his cultivation, becoming a mortal utterly devoid of any power. No matter how many rare herbs or pills he consumed or how he cultivated, he couldn't advance in his cultivation at all.
This gradually led to him losing his reputation as the number one prodigy of Lingshan County, and because his father had expended considerable resources for his condition to improve, even he as the Su Mansion Lord was nearly stripped of his position as the family head by the elders.
The elders were reasonable, no matter how great Su Yang's talent was, he couldn't cultivate at all at that time. Wasting so many resources on him, it was better to cultivate some other members of the family with low talent, as they at least yielded strength for the family and could become future pillars.
No matter how powerful the Su Mansion Lord, Su Yuan, was as a peak Meridian Cleansing Realm expert.
In the end, even a peak Meridian Cleansing Realm cultivator couldn't fight against several late stage Meridian Cleansing Realm cultivators, that were the Su Mansion elders, alone.
The difference between minor realms in the early stages of Immortal Cultivation wasn't too vast, only a major realm difference could be considered a chasm that only those ultimate prodigies seen once in a thousand years could cross.
Thus, not only was Su Yang replaced by Su Xun as the young master of the Su Mansion, but he was even secretly disdained and bullied by the lackeys of Su Xun.
However, he completely broke down when his fiancée and childhood friend of over ten years came two weeks ago, intending to publicly humiliate the Su Mansion and break off their engagement.
Su Yang, unable to swallow his pride, vowed that he would defeat her on the land of her own sect, the River Cloud Sect, in 3 years time.
On that day, due to his emotional turmoil, the remnant soul of an old expert Alchemist called Yan Shen slumbering in his ring given to him by his deceased mother awakened, and he learned the reason why he was unable to cultivate and even regressed in his cultivation base.
It was because Yan Shen used his cultivation base to recover very little amount of his conscious, enough to awaken and temporarily communicate with him.
At first, he was furious. His years of hard work were gone just like that, he had been humiliated and disdained for the past 3 years.
But then, Yan Shen offered to accept him as his disciple in exchange for him to reshape his physical body, passing on his legacy, including an unparalleled cultivation technique called the True Flame Sutra, which could grow stronger the more flames born of heaven and earth, that were, Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, he absorbed and assimilated with himself.
At one point, he could even forge an acquired constitution, known as the True Flame Treasure Body, impervious to all flames in the world, the strongest Alchemist constitution that appears only once every ten thousand years.
Hearing all of this, Su Yang's worldview was shattered, and putting aside all past grievances, he took Yan Shen as his master.
Even if he didn't absorb any exotic flame, with the help of Yan Shen's unparalleled alchemy skills and guidance as a supreme expert, Su Yang managed to cultivate to the Second Stage of Body Tempering Realm in less than 2 weeks, and was even preparing to break through to the Third Stage of Body Tempering Realm right now.
The reason he was able to beat Su Xun into a pulp was because his combat power far exceeded his peers in the same realm due to the superior techniques and arts bestowed upon him by Yan Shen, allowing him to fight two or three minor realms above his own at the moment!
After years of darkness, he finally had a chance to turn the tide and make all those who wronged him pay a huge price, how could he slack off in his cultivation?
With his current cultivation speed, he could undoubtedly break through to the Meridian Cleansing Realm within 3 years and even go further, what was there to fear from a mere River Cloud Sect?
Yun Qingxue, just you wait, the humiliation I have suffered, I'll return it a thousandfold to you in three years!
Su Yang's will was firm, his path to invincibility already visible in his eyes, and the first step on this path was the Lingshan County Annual Talent Conference!
...
At the same time, Wu Mansion.
In the main hall of the Wu Mansion, there was a pin drop silence. Several figures sat in two rows, yet none dared to utter a single sound, their combined presence extremely suffocating.
In a raised platform at the very back of the hall sat a middle aged man, his face emotionless and eyes as cold as ten thousand year old ice.
He was the Lord of the Wu Mansion, Wu Jingyuan.
He was also the father of the Wu Mansion genius who was crippled by Su Yang 3 years ago, Wu Zhao.
"So, that brat Su Yang has really recovered his talent. What do all elders think about this?"
At this moment, Wu Jingyuan's voice, cold and merciless, echoed through the grand hall.
All the elders tensed up simultaneously, how could they not understand the implications hidden in his words?
Immediately, they began to speak up one after another.
"Naturally, we have to avenge the young master and cripple Su Yang for what he did three years ago!"
"We have tolerated the Su Mansion longer than we should have, a single Lingshan County isn't enough to be divided up by four super powers, it is time for the Su Mansion to vanish in the long river of history!"
"Without an Innate Realm expert protecting them, how could they be worthy of being one of the three great mansions of Lingshan County? Do they think it's still the Su Mansion from 200 years ago? Truly arrogant!"
Although most of these elders' words came from the bottom of their hearts, it was more so because they were afraid.
Not of Wu Jingyuan. He was merely at the peak of Meridian Cleansing Realm, around as strong as the Su Mansion Lord, and they could suppress him with their combined might.
Rather, they were afraid of Wu Jingyuan's grandfather, the supreme elder of the Wu Mansion currently in seclusion, a true Innate Realm powerhouse and the backbone of the Wu Mansion!
The reason the three great mansions were called that was because they had Innate Realm powerhouses overseeing them!
Aside from the County Magistrate's Mansion, which had several Innate Realm experts and the mysterious Ji Mansion which had more than one Innate Realm powerhouse, the Wu Mansion also had that old figure from over a hundred years ago, almost at the end of his lifespan.
The Su Mansion was already the weakest of these four powers the moment its last Innate Realm figure passed away decades ago, and countless other forces were vying to replace its position.
The only reason they could hold on till now was solely because of the marriage alliance between the Su Mansion and the Baiyun Prefecture Yun Family, established by that deceased Innate Realm expert of the Su Mansion and another Innate Realm powerhouse from the Yun Family.
Now that it had been broken, there was no need for the Wu Mansion to stay passive anymore!
The reason the Wu Mansion was established was because Wu Jingyuan's grandfather and the Innate Realm expert of the Wu Mansion had made a severe mistake, leading the Wu Family from Baiyun Prefecture to exile him, and the condition to return was to produce a capable Innate Realm cultivator for the family within a hundred years.
With the cultivation of Wu Zhao, who had the most potential to achieve the Innate Realm, being crippled by Su Yang, they had lost this chance to return to the Wu Family.
Even Innate Realm powerhouses had no way to allow someone to cultivate again once their cultivation had been crippled, so the Wu Mansion had no reason not to completely destroy the Su Mansion!
Just then, sounds of footsteps came from outside the hall, causing everyone to momentarily pause and fix their eyes on the entrance.
A young man, seemingly around 15 or 16 years of age, entered the hall. His long hair were tied neatly into a pony tail, his face youthful yet also tinged with a hint of arrogance, making him look quite unapproachable at a glance.
He was the second son of Wu Jingyuan, Wu Liang.
Entering the hall, he cupped his fists as he bowed, "Greetings, family head. Greetings, elders."
Wu Jingyuan's expression softened ever so slightly. Although Wu Liang wasn't a genius like Wu Zhao, only possessing Second-Grade Talent, he was still his son, nonetheless.
"Speak, why did you come here at such a time?"
Wu Liang looked up, a calculating glint flashing past his eyes as he answered.
"Father, I have done as you instructed and informed Ji Haotian of the upcoming auction in 3 days."