Declining Family

Listening to the discussions of the younger members of the family.

The patriarch and the last three elders of the clan sighed deeply.

Finally, one elder couldn’t hold back and cursed:

“You idiots!”

“If we could leave, we would have left long ago.”

“The clan’s planes are all under control.”

“Traveling by land is even more impossible.”

“Besides, the elite forces of the Martial Arts Guild are all stationed to the west.”

“But that’s not the biggest problem.”

“Our biggest dilemma right now is that we’re constantly being watched by the Swallowing Sky Club.”

“Wherever we go, it will spark a massive battle and attract the Guild’s attention.”

“Unless we can fly, there’s simply no way to reach the Western Continent.”

One by one, the young men looked at the speaking elder in despair.

“Do we really have no other options?”

“Why don’t we split up and escape separately?”

“There are just too many people from the Swallowing Sky Club.”

...

The patriarch of the Ye family looked down at the younger generation and couldn’t help but sigh heavily.

A vague realization was forming in his heart.

“The Ye family is finished!”

“Among all the descendants, none are capable of greatness.”

“Even if we immigrate and receive preferential treatment in the Western Continent, decline is inevitable.”

Just then.

The doors to the Ye family headquarters’ conference hall were suddenly pushed open.

A cool, crisp, and commanding female voice echoed through the room.

“Since you know you can’t escape, then just stay here!”

One of the Ye family elders immediately stood up, his gaze icy as he stared at Su Yan.

“Who are you? How did you get in here?”

Su Yan curled the corner of her mouth into a mocking smile.

“Of course, I walked in.”

“As for who I am, even if I told you, you wouldn’t know.”

“But you definitely know my father.”

“His name is Su Yuanshan!”

Su Yuanshan!

The name immediately stirred memories among the Ye family elders.

Twenty years ago.

A man who shocked the entire Great Xia.

The underground emperor of East Sea City, Su Yuanshan.

Known as the unrecognized justice.

He almost controlled the order of East Sea City’s underworld.

A man full of legend.

Dozens of reckless sons from the nine great families had died at his hands.

He had his own set of rules for living.

He didn’t even give face to the nine great families.

Moreover, he used his powerful Star-Absorbing Technique to take on three Martial Sovereign-level experts head-on.

He rose to fame overnight.

Known as the “Martial Saint Unrivaled, Number One Under Heaven.”

The Ye family immediately coveted Su Yuanshan’s cultivation method.

A technique that could devour others’ energy and blood to rapidly strengthen oneself.

Who wouldn’t be tempted?

But they dared not confront Su Yuanshan directly.

So they came up with a clever plan.

When cooperating with Su Yuanshan, they kidnapped his wife and daughter.

Forced Su Yuanshan to surrender and hand over the Star-Absorbing Technique.

Then they killed him.

They recalled that Su Yuanshan’s wife and daughter were also eliminated afterward.

So who was this enchanting woman in front of them?

The Ye family elders stared hard at Su Yan and asked again:

“Su Yuanshan’s daughter is already dead. Who exactly are you?”

Su Yan smiled.

“I survived thanks to your family’s ‘genius’.”

“They sold me to my uncle for ten million.”

The patriarch’s eyes widened as he looked at the three elders.

The elders all turned to look at a middle-aged man standing in the corner of the conference room.

“What’s going on here?”

The middle-aged man shuddered violently.

He lowered his head, unwilling to meet the eyes of everyone present.

Nervously, he said:

"She must be an imposter."

"Back then, I sold Su Yuanshan’s daughter to organ traffickers."

"They said they wanted the girl’s kidneys."

The patriarch of the Yelü family was so furious he wished he could crush this idiot on the spot.

One of the elders couldn’t help but curse angrily:

“Are you out of your damn mind?!”

“Ten million just for kidneys? Don’t you think the price sounds a little too high?”

The middle-aged man kept his head down, too afraid to speak.

By now, he realized he had been blinded by money at the time.

But deep down, he still tried to justify himself.

“You can’t blame me for this. I didn’t even know the buyer behind it was their uncle!”

“I’m naturally gifted, but I’m not valued in the family.”

“So I had to find my own way to gather resources for cultivation.”

“That was a temptation of a full ten million—who could resist?”

“My yearly allowance in the family isn’t even close to a million.”

“To secure my own future in martial cultivation, I had to earn and save capital myself.”

“Although most of that money ended up spent at the club.”

“But that was to clear my mind and focus.”

The patriarch of the Yelü family never imagined that the family’s downfall would come at the hands of such a useless fool.

Then he looked at Su Yan and said:

“Could it be that you’re the leader of the Tun Tian Club?”

“The senior members of the Tun Tian Club are all former subordinates of Su Yuanshan, right?”

“Even so, do you really think you can destroy the century-old foundation of the Yelü family?”

Su Yan sneered:

“It won’t be me who destroys the Yelü family’s century-old legacy.”

“It will be you yourselves.”

“A family once renowned as martial saints, now reduced to coveting others’ martial arts techniques.”

“From that day on, the fate of the Yelü family was sealed.”

An elder slammed the conference table in anger and shouted:

“Arrogant!”

“Today, you’ll never leave here alive.”

“Kill her!”

At the command, everyone in the huge conference room surged toward Su Yan.

Facing these petty Karami.

Su Yan smiled faintly and activated the Star Absorption Technique.

Dozens of Yelü family members simultaneously used the Star Absorption Technique to counter her.

Su Yan pretended to be overwhelmed, allowing them to latch onto her with the absorption technique.

At the same time, she unleashed the Northern Darkness Divine Skill.

Before they could celebrate, they realized not only could they not absorb Su Yan’s vital energy,

Their own energy suddenly spiraled out of control, rushing back toward the hands holding Su Yan.

One of them screamed in terror:

“How is this possible?!”

Su Yan mocked:

“You’re all just freeloaders.”

“All the Yelü family remembers is the Star Absorption Technique?”

“Has the family’s signature martial art truly been abandoned?”

Her words struck the patriarch of the Yelü family like a thunderclap.

He suddenly realized a terrifying truth.

Ever since the Star Absorption Technique appeared,

Almost no one in the family bothered to diligently study the original family martial art.

Everyone was addicted to the easy pleasure of rapidly boosting their cultivation with the absorption technique.

But the flaws of the Star Absorption Technique were glaring.

At first, it allowed strength to soar at an incredible pace.

But absorbing too much vital energy caused severe backlash.

Once hitting a bottleneck, one could only stop and slowly digest the energy inside their body.

And this process was excruciatingly long.

In contrast, the fastest way to truly improve one’s cultivation is to practice proper martial arts techniques.

The Absorbing Star Technique can only serve as a supplementary skill; it cannot be the main focus.

Once someone has experienced the Absorbing Star Technique, no one is willing to bother putting effort into the family’s traditional methods anymore.

The old ancestor of the Ye family sighed heavily.

At this moment, he finally understood.

This was when the family truly began to decline.