A golden phantom rose behind Ma Deju.
Chu Tian stared, his mouth agape, utterly bewildered.
Lin Ran and the others wore similar expressions.
A dragon… it was truly a dragon.
The divine Eastern Dragon, only ever seen on television, in novels, and… in the Heavenly Dao world.
To see one appear before him now, he could barely believe it.
Though since his rebirth, he had entered the martial arts world and witnessed peculiar things,
this divine creature, deeply ingrained in the hearts of the Dragon people, still left him stunned.
It was just that the dragon behind Ma Deju was ethereal, presumably their so-called dragon soul!
Even stranger, this dragon’s front two claws were dangling limply!
“This…” the young woman said, speechless.
Ma Deju replied with a helpless expression, “You see? Not only has my little sister’s dragon soul dispersed, but my dragon soul’s claws are also broken!”
“At the time, I intended to resist with my physical body, but I still underestimated Brother Tian…”
“The dragon soul automatically activated to protect me, and then this happened!”
After he finished speaking, the old woman and the young woman’s expressions turned grim.
“What are we going to do? Our family only has you two to compete, one is crippled, and the other is maimed…”
“In the next decade, our Ma family will…”
As the young woman spoke, her gaze inadvertently fell upon Chu Tian.
She sighed, then fell silent!
Chu Tian felt even more awkward.
He didn’t understand why the eight great families placed such importance on this conference.
However… it seemed that this time, the Ma family didn’t even have anyone capable of competing.
Chu Tian wanted to help them resolve this, but after much thought, he could find no solution.
*Ding dong…*
The courtyard gate was knocked upon.
“Ma Family Head, the Eighth Master requests your presence!” someone called from outside.
“Let’s go. We’ll go and resolve the matters of these brats first!”
The old woman stood up, gesturing for Chu Tian to follow.
He knew this day would eventually come, but he didn’t understand why the Ma family was protecting him.
Before he could even ask, the Luo family had already arrived.
“Child, don’t worry. Friends of Ma Juzi are children of our Ma family.”
“If he hadn’t instigated this, you wouldn’t have resorted to hitting people, would you?”
“Rest assured, with me here, no one will dare touch you!”
The Ma family’s grand-aunt was indeed astute.
At a glance, she saw what Chu Tian was thinking.
Chu Tian nodded, “Thank you, Grand-aunt!”
“No need for thanks. If you win first place this time, marry that Luo family’s eldest young lady, and thoroughly slap the faces of the Zhang and Luo families!”
“However, whoever takes first place and gains the qualification to marry the eldest young lady Luo, their first move will be against you!”
“After all, you are a blemish on her, and even more so on the family that marries her.”
The old woman continued, then looked at Chu Tian with a benevolent smile.
Her last sentence held a profound meaning.
“Uh…” Chu Tian was speechless. It seemed this was the real reason they were protecting him.
Slapping the faces of the Zhang and Luo families… it appeared the eight great families were not a monolithic entity.
There were still internal conflicts among them!
For the eight great families, Chu Tian’s identity could naturally not be concealed.
His acquaintance with Luo Luo in the mortal world, and the fact that they lived together in the same villa, was likely already known to them.
“Then the Ma family?”
Chu Tian asked tentatively.
“The Ma family would never marry into the Luo family!”
Ma Deju snorted from the side.
Chu Tian understood. Seeing Ma Deju’s expression, it seemed there was some hidden history, or even animosity, between the Ma and Luo families!
The group, led by members of the Luo family, arrived at the mountainside.
There stood a magnificent grand hall.
From below the mountain, this hall was already visible.
Upon approaching, the visual impact was even stronger.
Entering the hall, there were quite a number of people.
Chu Tian observed closely, and found that all members of the eight great families were present.
He inwardly mused, “No way? Does this matter require an eight-family interrogation?”
“Grand Madam Ma!”
Among the seven other families present, besides the Eighth Master Luo, the rest were her juniors.
They all rose to bow to her.
Either this old Madam Ma had excellent personal relationships,
or her aura of authority was simply too immense.
She didn’t put on airs, returning their greetings kindly before taking her seat below the main seat, on the right side.
Chu Tian glanced at the seating arrangement and realized the Ma family was indeed quite influential.
The seating order here clearly followed ancient hierarchical arrangements.
Below the chief seat, the left side was considered superior, followed by the right.
Below the chief seat, the right was the third seat.
Below the second seat, the right was the fourth seat.
Below the first seat, the left was the fifth seat.
…and so on.
The seat occupied by old Madam Ma… didn’t this imply the Ma family ranked third among the eight great families?
Furthermore, old Madam Ma had not grabbed the seat!
Before they arrived, everyone else had already taken their seats.
This was the seat reserved for the Ma family.
Luo Lingshan sat opposite old Madam Ma, to the left of the main seat…
He did not stand up, nor did he greet old Madam Ma.
Old Madam Ma, likewise, did not even glance at him before sitting down.
As soon as her posterior touched the stool, she closed her eyes and began to rest.
The Eighth Master Luo had been staring intently at Chu Tian since they entered.
Chu Tian, unyieldingly, stared back.
He saw the anger in Luo Lingshan’s eyes.
Conversely, Chu Tian was smiling cheerfully, as if to say, “What can you do to me?”
He was originally a typical case of the barefoot unafraid of the shod.
A lone commander, at worst, he would fight with his life.
Now, with the promise from old Madam Ma, he was even less inclined to conceal his true nature.
He was inherently an unsettled element.
The other families, even more so, scanned Chu Tian up and down with keen interest.
A bunch of cunning old foxes, wearing smiles, their thoughts unreadable.
Finally, Luo Lingshan shifted his gaze and glanced at Lin Wenshan, who was sitting to the right of old Madam Ma.
Lin Wenshan understood his meaning and said, “Ma Family Head, we are here to discuss the distribution of resources after this ranking.
And to confirm the participants for tomorrow’s martial arts competition. Bringing an outsider like this is likely inappropriate, wouldn’t you say?”
Chu Tian had initially thought the Ma family head was old Madam Ma, but it turned out to be Ma Deju’s aunt.
Facing Lin Wenshan’s questioning, she smiled gently and replied, “Where is there an outsider?”
Her statement stunned not only Lin Wenshan but also made Chu Tian ponder inwardly.
This aunt had a truly remarkable talent for speaking falsehoods with a straight face. Did they really expect others not to see such a living person standing here?
Lin Wenshan hesitated for a moment, then pointed at Chu Tian and asked, “Then… who is this person?”
“Oh, you mean him? He’s Chu Tian, the first place in the literary competition this time.”
“Also, he’s a classmate of the Luo family’s eldest young lady.”
Upon hearing the last sentence, everyone’s brows furrowed slightly.
Chu Tian.
Classmate of the Luo family’s eldest young lady.
These two pieces of information, when combined,
seemed to have a commonality with the information previously obtained.
Could it be that he was the man, Chu Tian, who cohabited with Luo Yi in the mortal world?
As Ma Lingling’s voice fell,
*Crack…* a faint sound.