After successfully tying all eight knots, Shao Xuan practiced a few more times before combining the knots together.
While Shao Xuan was practicing his knots at the foot of the mountain range next to Eagle Mountain, a solemn atmosphere filled the air at the Yi family's residence in the Royal City on the other side of the sea.
After so many years of development, the Yi family had split into many branches. The main branch was the Yi family's main branch, which was the branch that held the most power. At this time, almost all the members of the main branch of the Yi family were in seclusion. In the Royal City, there were usually a few high-profile people who made their presence known. But now, not a single member of the main branch of the Yi family was hanging around outside.
There were many people standing around the walls of the Yi family's residence. They were all slaves and members of the main branch of the Yi family. Other than them, no one else could even dream of getting close.
Since three days ago, the street in the Royal City that was used for fortune-telling had become empty. Many caravans and trading teams who were unaware of the situation had come here to try to divine their fortunes or predict other things. But to their surprise, they found nothing. They didn't dare to go directly to the Yi family to look for them. Anyone with half a brain could tell that something was wrong. Even if they were curious, they could only watch the Yi family's residence from afar.
In fact, it wasn't just the caravans and trading teams who had traveled all the way to the Royal City. Even some of the Yi family's youths, who were unaware of the situation, looked around curiously from time to time after they were assigned tasks. The members of the main branch of the Yi family rarely came to the main branch of the Yi family. But this time, all the members of the Yi family were on the move.
"Father, why does everyone look so nervous? What are those people from the main branch trying to do? I heard that they are going to fight someone? Who are they going to fight with? "a youth from the main branch of the Yi family asked his father.
If it was in the past, when his father heard someone mention the people from the main branch, he would definitely say some sarcastic words. The people from the main branch usually ordered the people from the side branches around and did not have a good attitude. It was just that they did not dare to vent their accumulated resentment, so they only talked about it in private. But at this time, the boy's father frowned, his eyes filled with worry. Hearing his son's question, he looked up and said sternly in a low voice, "Shut up! Keep an eye on the surroundings. Kill whoever dares to barge in at this time! "
Hearing his father's attitude, the youth nervously swallowed his saliva. He knew that this time was different from the past and the situation was likely quite serious. But since his father didn't want to say more to him, he didn't dare to ask. Looking around, he whispered, "Yes!" Then he closed his mouth tightly and didn't make another sound.
Nearly a hundred people were gathered in a large courtyard in the center of the Yi family. They were all members of the main bloodline, and they were all rather powerful members of the main bloodline. One-third of them were known as Masters in the Royal City. No matter how arrogant they usually were or how pretentious they were outside, here, they were all obedient students, sitting in their seats obediently.
Whether it was the people sitting on the cushions in the center of the courtyard or the people from the other main bloodlines standing around, they all waited in silence. It was this kind of waiting that made the atmosphere more solemn. This kind of suffocating pressure could be felt even by the people outside the Yi family.
The sky also became gloomier than before.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps came from afar. They were fast, but they didn't sound rushed or anxious.
As soon as they heard the footsteps, the people in the courtyard who were still in a daze immediately calmed down.
There were eight people in total. The three people standing at the front were all white-haired old men. These were the elders of the Yi family who usually didn't care about worldly affairs. They were the truly senior and powerful elders of the Yi family, and they would only appear when it was truly a matter of life and death.
Behind the three elders was the head of the Yi family. In the eyes of the tribesmen, he was the leader of the family. This kind of person usually had the final say in the Yi family. Not many people dared to talk back to him. But now, he was only the fourth in line. The three elders in front of him were his great-grandmother, and the other two were also very senior. When one of the elders called him, he bowed slightly and respectfully walked over to listen.
"Not everyone is here yet?" asked an elder with cloudy white eyes without looking at the courtyard. Although he couldn't see, it didn't affect his perception of the outside world. Sometimes, he could even see more than the average person.
"Most of them are here. Only a few who were out on missions couldn't make it back in time. Yi Zong and Yi Qi are still on another continent, but they should be ready by now," replied the head of the Yi family.
"Mm." The elder wasn't angry because of this. After all, those who were out on missions could still participate in the battle.
"Let's do the divination!" said the white-haired old woman standing next to the head of the Yi family.
The other two elders nodded. The head of the Yi family said loudly, "Let's do the divination!"
This was something the Yi family did every time there was a major event. The so-called divination was to take out the precious item left behind by their ancestors. It was a tortoiseshell. The tortoiseshell was engraved with orange-red words and lines. The words weren't common words, but runes that only the Yi family could understand. The lines vaguely formed the totem of the Yi family. On the other hand, the tortoiseshell was completely white without any patterns or engravings.
Inside the tortoiseshell, in the space between the tortoiseshell and the tortoiseshell, there were a total of eight polished bones of different shapes.
"Who's going to do the divination this time?" asked an elder.
The white-haired old woman twirled the walking stick in her hand. "I did the divination for the last family meeting. This time, it's Yi Tuan's turn."
The cloud-eyed elder didn't say anything. He walked forward and lifted the tortoiseshell with both hands, then returned to his seat. The three mats at the front of the courtyard were for the three of them.
After sitting down, Yi Tuan placed his right hand on the tortoiseshell's back. The tortoiseshell was bigger than his palm. Normally, he wouldn't have been able to grab it. But now, the tortoiseshell seemed to be glued to Yi Tuan's palm. Yi Tuan shook his wrist. The bones in the tortoiseshell jumped with a clatter. When he raised his hand, the tortoiseshell didn't fall down. The bones didn't fall through the cracks either. Instead, they continued to jump inside the tortoiseshell.
Flames appeared. An arc of fire appeared in front of Yi Tuan. Crimson and white flames rose on the other side of the arc. Three long shadows appeared behind Yi Tuan.
Yi Tuan reached his tortoiseshell hand towards the fire. As the tortoiseshell approached the fire, the bones in the tortoiseshell jumped even more violently, making more urgent sounds.
"Crack crack crack —"
The cracking sound drowned out the bones in the tortoiseshell. Orange-Red cracks appeared on the tortoiseshell's belly.
When the cracking stopped, Yi Tuan retracted his hand and looked at the cracks. He had lost his eyesight but that didn't stop him from seeing the cracks. The more he looked, the more serious his expression became, the more worried his eyes grew.
Yi Tuan passed the tortoiseshell to the other two elders. Their expressions weren't much better than Yi Tuan's.
"Looks like the Yi family is in for a tough battle," said Yi Tuan.
In fact, the results of the cracks were worse than what Yi Tuan had said. It wasn't a tough battle, it was a battle to the death! But there was a chance of survival in death. But that chance was full of variables.
The three elders knew this. But they couldn't say the results of the tortoiseshell now. They didn't want to waver before the battle.
Sighing almost imperceptibly, Yi Tuan said loudly, "Prepare for battle!"
A powerful ripple of power swept across the spacious courtyard like a sudden wave. The people around the courtyard didn't dare to breathe loudly.
The orange-red gaseous flames that could be seen with the naked eye filled the surroundings and rolled around. Everything that the naked eye could see seemed to be distorted.
Whoosh —
Inside the tortoise shell, the sound of the bone pieces hitting the tortoise shell was hurried. The courtyard seemed to have blocked out all sounds. The sound of insects, the sound of leaves, the sound of people breathing, everything disappeared. The clattering of the bone pieces became the only sound in the courtyard.
Whoosh —
The clattering grew more urgent until it suddenly stopped.
"Open!"
It was as if an ancient beast had opened its black maw where Yi Tuan was, swallowing everything in the courtyard. The surrounding buildings, people, flowers, and trees all disappeared, leaving only emptiness.
Of course, this was only seen by the hundred or so people sitting in the courtyard. As for the people standing at the edge of the courtyard, other than a large totem in the courtyard and the powerful aura fluctuations brought about by the crimson flame, there were no other major changes.
In the emptiness, everyone's figures blurred. They could only vaguely make out a human figure glowing in flames. Even their silhouettes blurred occasionally, their faces indistinguishable.
Yi Tuan could sense that the person they were waiting for was about to appear. The person who had been predicted to bring misfortune to the Yi family a thousand years ago would soon appear before them.
Soon, several figures appeared in the emptiness not far from them. They were members of the Yi family who couldn't make it back in time.
Another figure appeared with the appearance of the Yi family's totem.
"Yi Qi, Yi Zong?" The Yi family recognized them. Even though they couldn't see their faces, they recognized their auras.
The Yi family didn't ask Yi Qi or Yi Zong about the situation. Nothing mattered now except the impending battle. Why waste time asking about unimportant things?
After gathering, the three elders of the Yi family allowed everyone to get used to the new environment. Some newcomers would feel uncomfortable so they came early.
After a while, Yi Tuan's eyebrows twitched as he looked into the emptiness.
Yi Tuan wasn't the only one. The other two elders also looked over warily.
Everyone else behind them paused. Did someone else come from there?
The Yi Family Head was also racking his brains. He could not think of anyone who had not appeared here while on a mission. Even if there was, they would have appeared a little late. Based on the time, it should have been a few days ago. The Yi family wouldn't make such a mistake. Excluding all these, could it be that the person who appeared now was their enemy this time?
"Knots?!" Yi Tuan couldn't hide his surprise.
With their abilities, they could tell how anyone who wasn't in the Yi family's headquarters got in. The ripples weren't the Yi family's usual method but the long-lost knots. He wasn't familiar with knot divination and only knew a little about it. He could guess what method was used based on the ripples.
Knots?! The rest of the Yi family were equally shocked.
Didn't the Yi family's knots branch disappear a long time ago? Why would they appear here now? No, there was someone else. Yi Xiang knew knots too. This meant that even if the person wasn't Yi Xiang, he was very likely related to him!
Knots were a type of grass.
Together with armour and bone divination, grass was the Yi family's three most powerful divination branches. 'Divination' came from them. Rumour had it that the ancestors of the grass branch only needed to pluck a blade of grass from a mountain to know what they wanted to know. Unfortunately, time passed quickly, and many years had passed. In the end, only the Knotted Rope School was left of the originally complicated Grass School. The other schools had already evolved, more or less adding other materials to assist them. Some had even absorbed the elements of armor and bone reading to create other new methods. The Knotted Rope School was also regarded as the most conservative, stubborn, and unreasonable school. At the same time, it was also the poorest school. This was because the Knotted Rope School did not have the concept of money, nor did they pursue material pursuits. If someone they did not like offered a lot of money, they would not lend a helping hand. As a result, they were gradually pushed aside, becoming destitute and declining.
The last master of knots died a thousand years ago. What made the Yi family gnash their teeth was that the master had taken in a disciple before he died. The master only took in one disciple in his life and that disciple was the thorn in the Yi family's throat — Yi Xiang.
When Yi Xiang left, he took the master's knots legacy with him. Since then, the Yi family no longer practiced traditional knots. Knots disappeared but it didn't affect the Yi family much. Later generations of the Yi family came up with even more powerful divination methods.
The first thought that came to everyone's mind was, "Is there a traitor?!"
"Yi Qi, Yi Zong, who were you with before you came?" Yi Tuan suddenly asked.
Yi Qi and Yi Cong were taken aback by Yi Tuan's question, not understanding why. Was Yi Tuan suspecting them? Suspecting them of betrayal? That wasn't right either. Yi Tuan's voice was stern but it wasn't directed at them. This wasn't the tone of a traitor.
Several people flashed through Yi Qi's mind, including Shao Xuan but he firmly rejected them. It couldn't be that tribesman. Tribesmen couldn't possibly know about the Yi family's core.
Yi Zong was also thinking. The first thing that came to mind was' Yanjiao Shao Xuan 'but he didn't believe it either so he didn't know how to answer.
Soon, the ripples became more obvious. There were even flames, indicating that a figure was about to appear. However, unlike the Yi family, there was no Yi family totem.
Before Yi Zong and Yi Qi appeared, there would be a Yi family totem formed from the fire seed's flames beneath their feet. What did it mean if there was no Yi family totem? They weren't even from the Yi family!
Yi Xiang was also from the Yi family and had Yi family blood in him. This wouldn't happen. Then who was it?
Yi Zong's guess suddenly became eighty percent likely. "Shao Xuan? Is it Shao Xuan from the Yanjiao tribe?! "
What?!
A tribesman?!
And a Yanjiao tribesman?!
Even the three leading figures were stunned. If one could see their expressions, they would be filled with shock and disbelief.
If the speaker wasn't Yi Zong but someone else from the Yi family, they would have been scolded. However, Yi Zong was a genius of the younger generation. He wasn't one to spout nonsense or make random guesses.
While the Yi family was still in shock and disbelief, the flames grew bigger and bigger. Unlike the Yi family's fire seed, the flames were crimson but there was still no totem.
The flames finally condensed into a blurry figure. It was much more blurry than anyone else in the Yi family. It looked like it could scatter at any moment.
"This aura …" Yi Qi looked in that direction as if he had been struck by a bell. "Yanjiao … Shao Xuan!"
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