Chapter 195: The Origin of the Razor Clam Clan

　　“My lord, don’t listen to his nonsense!” A sonorous voice came from the outside, followed by a jet of water, and then a man who looked similar to Tie Fei suddenly appeared in the great hall. With a ferocious look on his face, the man said, “These humans are full of cunning tricks! My lord is in no fit condition to strike. Just let me kill them both!”

　　The man gave them no chance to speak as an ordinary steel fork appeared in his hand, and he casually waved it, rolling up a whirlpool instantly which pressed hard toward the two of them.

　　A cold smile appeared at the corners of his mouth. With such a casual wave, he had locked down the waters around both of them, making it impossible for them to avoid the attack. The man was none other than Tie Fan, a nine-stars Martial Grandmaster!

　　Duan Yue’s pupils constricted. With a roar, he jumped before Yunxiao as he wheeled his halberd and created a huge vacuum, which swallowed the whirlpool and formed a huge underwater current, causing the whole great hall to tremble and rattle.

　　“Tie Fan, stop!” The Firefish clan chief shouted with a hint of anger on his face.

　　Taken aback, Tie Fan quickly said, “My lord, you must not be fooled by these two human beings!”

　　The clan chief snorted angrily. “I have my own decision! You just do as you’re told!”

　　Tie Fan looked very worried, but he could not disobey his clan chief, so he choked down the anger and said, “I understand!” But even then, he turned and fixed his eyes on Yunxiao and Duan Yue.

　　“Dad, what Brother Tie Fan said is right. You must not be fooled by these two human beings!” Suddenly, a clear voice came from the outside, and a young Firefish man swam into the great hall. He wore a shining cape, and if not for the fins on the back of his head, he could be considered very handsome in human standards.

　　“Tie Ling, you shut up too!” The clan chief flew into a rage, and his eyes flickered as he said, “You all know the present situation, and maybe this is the last chance for the Firefish clan. If we don’t get hold of it, we will be devoured by the Razor Clam clan sooner or later!”

　　Unconvinced, Tie Ling said, “Have no fear. When I advance into a third-tier Sea Refiner, no one in this sea region would dare to touch the Firefish clan!”

　　There was a tender look on the clan chief’s face as he said distressingly, “Ling’er, do you think a Sea Refiner is so easy to advance? If it weren’t for a fated chance that you obtained the legacy and insights of a senior, do you think you could become a second-tier Sea Refiner at such a young age? In all four seas, none of the third-tier Sea Refiners is less than a few hundred years old. If you want to break through the next tier, there is no hope without hundreds of years. And the Firefish clan cannot wait for so long.”

　　The lifespan of human beings was completely incomparable to that of sea people, who generally could live up to hundreds, or even thousands of years. Some strange races could even live up to ten thousand years. But, there were also many sea people with extremely short lifespans, who could hardly grow stronger and usually just became sea schools.

　　Sea Refiners were equivalent to human alchemists. They were a kind of existence who decomposed and recombined various materials, and their status was extraordinarily exalted, because the ratio of Sea Refiners to sea people was much lower than that of alchemists to human beings. Tie Fan was a nine-stars Martial Grandmaster, but what he held in his hand was just an ordinary steel fork. That showed how rare Sea Refiners were. If such a steel fork were taken to the continent, even a Warrior would not want it.

　　Tie Ling gave a cold snort. “If worse comes to the worst, we can hide. As long as we get through a hundred years, waiting until Brother Tie Fan advances to a Martial Emperor and I a third-tier Sea Refiner, we will seize back everything the Razor Clam clan takes from us, plus interest!”

　　Tie Fan looked at Tie Ling with a wry smile and sighed, “Tie Ling, you are too naïve! The Razor Clam clan will never let us hide in peace for a hundred years. Do you remember how they have kept pushing us over the last twenty to thirty years, to an extent that they almost replaced us to rule this sea region?”

　　Tie Ling said hurriedly, “Does the Manta Ray clan just turn a blind eye to this?”

　　The Manta Ray clan was a C-grade sea clan who ruled a larger sea territory, including that of the Firefish clan. Normally, when there was a conflict under its sea territory, it would step in to mediate. It was an order given by the Bo family to avoid unnecessary slaughter among sea clans.

　　“Hah. Do you still remember what the leader of the Manta Ray clan said thirty years ago when the Razor Clam clan had just arrived here? He said the Razor Clam clan had made a contribution to the sea people and asked us to make room for them to recuperate. He told us to live in harmony with them.” The Firefish clan chief gnashed his teeth and said, “Over the years, the Manta Ray clan must have received a lot of benefits from them!”

　　“In that case, why don’t we complain about them to the B-grade sea clan?” said Tie Ling.

　　All the people present were speechless. Tie Fei sighed and said, “Tie Ling, you are too young! What the world talks about is not reason, but strength. If we are stronger than the Razor Clam clan, everyone will be on our side. On the contrary, the weak can only survive.”

　　Tie Ling said vexedly, “If so, what is the use of those decrees issued by the King of the South Sea?”

　　Everyone’s expression changed drastically while the clan chief bellowed in an instant, “Stop uttering nonsense! If what you said were to be learned by other clans, not only you, but even the whole clan will be implicated by you! Step to the side now, boy!”

　　Looking at the handsome young Firefish man, Yunxiao thought he was very naive and cute. Then, he asked in surprise, “Judging by what you said, this Razor Clam clan seems to have migrated here from another sea region, haven’t they?”

　　Tie Fan said in a voice thick with hatred, “They are from more than just another sea region…They came from another sea. They are originally a clan in the East Sea, and they were an A-grade existence. Moreover, the innate talent of the Razor Clam clan is far superior to us. I fear they will climb atop us in just a few more years!”

　　“A-grade!” Yunxiao was shocked. “If they were A-grade, wouldn’t that mean they once had ten Martial Sovereigns? How did such a mighty clan reduce to E-grade and migrate? Did they offend an S-grade existence?” Apart from the four imperial sea families, there were only a handful of S-grade existences.

　　The clan chief sighed and said, “I don’t know exactly what happened. Last time, I heard from the leader of the Manta Ray clan that they were ordered by the sovereign of the East Sea, the Guang family, to surround and block up a human being thirty years ago. The result was the death of many sea people from A-grade clans. I heard at least one hundred Martial Sovereigns were wounded or killed at that time while all existences above Martial Emperors of the Razor Clam clan had fallen during the mission. That led to a great reduction in their strength, and other sea clans took advantage of the situation and seized their sea territory. To hide from their enemies and recuperate, they migrated to the South Sea.”

　　“F*ck! Which human being is so savage? One hundred Martial Sovereigns!” Duan Yue sucked in a cold breath. Suddenly he seemed to recall something and his eyes lit up as he said, “Could it be…”

　　Yunxiao broke out in a cold sweat. ‘Thirty years ago… the East Sea…’

　　“That’s right! It’s that human being named Gu Feiyang!” The Firefish clan chief said venomously, “That is a name that humiliates the entire sea race!”

　　Duan Yue quickly shut his mouth. Seeing that all the people were aflame with indignation, he knew it would be death for him if he spoke again at this moment. Meanwhile, Yunxiao was dumbfounded. He had no idea that his random killing of a large number of sea people in those days would have an impact even today. He said lamely, “It’s been so many years! That Gu Feiyang might have died long ago, so why do you still bear grudges? We need to always look forward!”

　　“Hmph! Even if he is dead, we must find all his descendants and kill them. Only then can the shame of sea people be washed away!” Tie Fan gnashed his teeth. The ethnic pride of these sea people was strong.

　　Yunxiao was somewhat speechless, but he said, “Rumor has it that he died before he was even married. Let’s drop this topic and discuss how we are going to enter the inner part of Kunwu Divine Tree.”

　　The crowd remained silent, as if they tacitly approved Yunxiao’s suggestion. They all knew this was indeed a perfect opportunity for the Firefish clan.

　　But, Tie Ling still snorted coldly and said, “Why should we believe you? Since you claim you can prolong my dad’s longevity by a hundred years and help Brother Tie Fan advance into a Martial Emperor after entering the Kunwu Divine Tree, you must at least show us some abilities, don’t you think so?”

　　Everyone thought that reasonable.

　　Yunxiao smiled faintly and said, “You’re a second-tier sea refiner?”

　　Tie Ling squared his shoulders proudly and said, “Yes! Within a radius of ten thousand miles, I’m the only second-tier sea refiner!”

　　“Very good! I happen to be an alchemist. Why don’t we have a match? If you win, I’ll obey all your words, but if you lose, I’ll be in charge of this operation, and you all have to listen to me! What do you think?” Yunxiao’s gaze moved between the Firefish clan chief, Tie Fan, and the others.

　　He also wanted to take this opportunity to subdue the Firefish people, lest they became rebellious during the operation.

　　The few Firefish people paused a moment, as if they did not expect that Yunxiao was an alchemist. The way they looked at him became somewhat respectful instantly. As if pricked by Yunxiao’s provocative gaze, Tie Ling snorted coldly and said, “Let’s have a match then, I’m not afraid of you!What do you want to compete on? I’ll let you choose the topic!”

　　Duan Yue laughed in his heart, and he looked at the group of people without saying a word. He was not clear about Yunxiao’s alchemy level, but there would be no problem to suppress these fish heads at least.

　　Yunxiao also narrowed his eyes as he smiled and said, “I think it’s better for you to choose the topic, just pick the one you are best at. Apart from swimming, anything will do.”

　　“Hmph! What a damn human being, how dare you underestimate me!” Tie Ling growled. “Let’s compete in artifact refinement! See whose quality is better and higher!”

　　Yunxiao had to laugh. “Are you sure? Don’t go back on your word when you lose.” At the same time, he sighed in his heart over the sea people’s wits.

　　“How could I lose? Haha! You must be joking. Within a radius of ten thousand miles…”

　　“Tie Ling!” The clan chief interrupted him. “This is not the time for you to play the hero. A match with the human will affect the honor of the Firefish clan and the entire sea race. Compete with fire control, your best ability!”

　　“Wh-what? Fire control? Tie Ling paused a moment. There was a faint expression of resistance in his face, as if he were very disdainful of the suggestion.

　　Yunxiao and Duan Yue were very surprised. Normally, what sea people feared most was fire, and even sea refiners would try their best to search for other natural elements to replace fire when refining. But, according to the clan chief, Tie Ling was best at fire control? Was he not afraid to turn into grilled fish?

　　“Hehe! Human, my son wants to compete in fire control against you. Do you dare?” The Firefish clan chief asked with a smile on his face. Clearly, he had great confidence in Tie Ling’s fire control ability.

　　Yunxiao was very curious. He narrowed his eyes and said, “Good, good, let’s compete in fire control ability! I also want to see how you play with fire. But, what about the conditions we mentioned just now?”