Chapter 1699 — How Very Sad
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
And as for the total number of great clans — if one were to be added, that would be fine enough, but if the number stayed the same, then one clan was destined to be purged! Yet by the agreement made among the great clans in the beginning, to guarantee the quality of the great clans, it was better to have none than a poor one; so any clan that did not measure up would certainly be struck from the ranks of the great clans at this assembly!
Seated at the head of the meeting room was Yu Shuixing, with Yu Feng standing behind him. As the host of the great clan assembly, it was only natural that the Yu family sat at the head; the younger generation had come merely to broaden their horizons, and naturally did not take seats.
Next, seated in the meeting room were the old master of the Liu family, Liu Zhenhu; the old master of the Wu family, Wu Gonggao; the old master of the Yang family, Yang Daocha; the old master of the Song family, Song Xiangwen; the old master of the Sun family; the old master of the Chen family, Chen Kuanglan; the man in charge of the An family, that is, An Liwen's father, An Mingyue; and the current head of the Xiao family, Xiao Ji, with his younger brother Xiao Ben standing behind him. They had not brought Xiao Wangba and Xiao Wangdao!
The ones left — somewhat conspicuous and out of place — were Kang the Divine Physician and Kang Guifeng of the Kang family. The two of them sat at the very end, but once this great clan assembly concluded, the rankings would likely be redrawn.
"Everyone is here, and we are all old acquaintances, so I will not waste words!" Yu Shuixing made a gesture for silence and spoke slowly. "The great clan assembly is a rule of long standing, and you all understand it well. The first stage is the re-ranking! The superior rise and the inferior fall — an immutable law of ages. And the standard by which a great clan's standing is assessed is a comprehensive judgment based on the clan's wealth, the level of its ** practitioners, and the backing and background of each family!"
Everyone knew this rule, but what usually came out of it were four strongest clans and five somewhat weaker ones — the so-called Four Great Clans and Five Minor Clans. In truth, there was no specific individual ranking.
Naturally, the Yu family, with the greatest overall strength, had always played the role of leader.
This first stage filled Old Master Chen Kuanglan with sorrow. His family had originally held a great advantage at this great clan assembly. Chen Yuxuan had actually become a cultivator of the early Mystic rank, and added to that was the Chen family's ambiguous betrothal arrangement — at this assembly, there should have been no question of their securing a place among the Four Great Clans!
But because Chen Yuxuan had meddled in matters that were not his concern, he had been beaten into a cripple. This time, the Chen family was thoroughly finished; they likely would not even hold a place among the Five Minor Clans.
"The second stage is the settling of grievances. If any of you have conflicts between you, speak them now, and I and the others will help mediate. If mediation fails, then by the old rule, it can only be settled by force! Of course, if you waive your right to pursue the matter, then you may never bring up the old grievance again. This is the rule by which we great clans have lived in peace all these years! Everyone's aim is to make a little more money and have a little more time to **; if we are forever spending effort and time on old feuds and passions, I doubt anyone wishes to see that!" Yu Shuixing continued, though as he spoke, he glanced at Old Master Chen Kuanglan of the Chen family.