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Chapter 865 Decay of the major families (3)

They walked silently to the center of the courtroom, with measured steps, and lined up, which seemed to be by design as the one with the weakest cultivation base was to the far left and the one with the strongest cultivation base, which was the middle-aged man ended the group to the right.

They were all in the core formation realm, with the weakest being in the third stage of the core formation realm, while those in the middle were all between the fourth and sixth stage of the core formation realm.

The middle-aged man, the strongest of the group, was a quasi-palace stage expert, and among them, his slaughter aura seemed to be the lightest, almost nigh imperceptible. For someone who wasn\'t at the palace realm, they would be unable to detect it.

To them, the middle-aged man looked no different than a scholar who liked enjoying his tea and reading scrolls. He was thin and had a scholarly air about him that accompanied the genial gentleness in his eyes, but behind that face, Yang Qing could see a thick black red mist that clung to his body like a cloak.

That black-red mist had the metallic scent of blood, and even though it seemed harmless, just a tiny portion of it would reduce the weakest group member of the group, the third-stage core formation expert into a bloody pulp within seconds.

Yang Qing nodded in gratitude to Yu Gen before he resumed the long adage routine and speech he had given countless times before which explained the rules of the court, what was expected of those present, and the repercussions should any one of those present be found in violation of the rules of conduct within the courtroom.

After he was done, the middle-aged man looked like he had something to say, so Yang Qing allowed him to do so before he laid out the charges.

The middle-aged man cupped his fists toward Yang Qing as a show of greeting, gratitude, and apology for his interruption.

"Forgive my rudeness my name is Zhang Guiren and I am the high elder of the Zhang Clan. I offer my apologies on behalf of our Clan Leader, Zhang Biwu. He would have liked to be here for the case, but he is the current general in charge of manning one of the border regions that we share with the Five Clovers Kingdom.

Considering the tense state of affairs between our two nations and the vital role our clan leader occupies, it would prove difficult to have him here on short notice. However, he has been apprised of everything and I have been mandated to act as his proxy both in presence and in whatever the court might ask of him.

My words and actions are his..." said Zhang Guiren as he performed another short bow.

"Thank you, High Elder Zhang Guiren for the explanation, and though the presence of the clan leader is usually appreciated, provided they\'re not the one on trial, their presence here is not obligatory and their absence would not reflect poorly on the court or affect our judgment on the matter.

The court understands absences are absent, and we appreciate your consideration and courtesy.." Yang Qing said as he cupped his fists too.

"Now, let\'s move on to the main matter..." Yang Qing said as he turned to face the young Zhang Clan members whose faces and demeanor were completely different from that of the Chen clan elders.

Despite the Chen clan elders being older and with higher cultivation bases, in terms of presence and in how they carried themselves, they were completely different from the eight Zhang clan members before him.

The Chen clan elders had been frantic, and unnerved from the moment they stepped into the courtroom. Anyone could tell they were extremely afraid,but that was not the case with the eight Zhang clan members before him. They were completely unperturbed with zero fluctuations in their emotions. They looked more like soldiers calmly awaiting their instructions from their commander.

Their demeanor wasn\'t all too surprising considering the clan they belonged to. The Zhang clan was a militaristic clan. They had made their bones in war. Their founder, Zhang Ren had been dubbed the mad bull spear of the empire, aptly named so because of the cultivation art he cultivated and how he was at the forefront of expanding their territories when they had just formed.

With his cultivation art, the raving crimson bull of slaughter, a spear art, he spread destruction and fear to all who were unlucky enough to be the target of his spear. The art was a blue-grade art,and just like the rest founding families, it was something handed to him by the red maple spirit.

The art was a slaughter-based art, and thus its users could only gain a deeper understanding of it by engaging in combat. It honed and refined the aura of slaughter to a pure form and based on the sense of calm the Zhang clan members were showing, Yang Qing guessed the art had aspects to it that strengthened the spirit of its users so they could maintain their rationality even when having such a dense baleful qi of slaughter around them.

Because of their founder and the nature of their core cultivation art, the Zhang Clan out of all the other clans always contributed the largest number of experts whenever the Red Maple Empire was embroiled in war, that fact remained true back then when the Empire was just starting and it remained the same now in their war against the Five Clover Kingdom. No one contributed more numbers to that war effort than the Zhang Clan. The battleground was their true home.

They barely had any influence synonymous with a founding clan within their territory, but at the borders where war was waged, that was their true domain.