The last Asura Sovereign

The door opened and Punya entered the clan hall with a steady gait. The elders stopped talking and looked at the door at one. Seeing the figure entering was the clan leader they became excited. They had waited the whole night for this moment. They were going to get their answers now. When Punya walked to his seat, he noticed the eyes and expressions of the elders, most of them were anxious, sleep sleep-deprived, some of them had nervous expressions, some had greedy looks and among them, one face stood out. This face was smiling and looked like wanting to take a punch. Only one person in the whole clan had this irritating face, the fifth elder. All the other elders and deacons present were here today for answers, only the fifth elder was here for fun. Giving the fifth elder a silent glare, he sat on his seat. As soon as he sat down, the elders began to question him at once.

Seeing elders making a noise like some kids in the classroom, Punya released his killing intent and pressure of the eighth level of foundation building realm. Although he had stabilized his realm at the ninth level, he had hidden his cultivation realm. Although the highest realm in the clan hall was also at the eighth level of foundation building realm, Punya was a battle cultivator, so he was easily able to suppress them. The clan hall instantly became silent. Only two elders looked at him suspiciously. The first and second elders were also eighth level of foundation building realm so they could guess Punya’s strength, but now it seemed like he had grown even more stronger than before. The two elders looked at each other and sighed. There was joy and pain in their eyes. The backs of the elders and deacons were drenched in sweat. They knew the clan leader from when he was young and weak. Along the way they had forgotten he was one of the strongest people in the clan. He hadn’t shown his strength before the elders in a while so they had forgotten he was a battle cultivator at the eighth level of foundation building realm. They had always viewed him as a young boy who had just taken the position of clan leader.

The elders looked at Punya with fearful expressions except for one punchable face with a smirking expression. No one knew why the fifth elder was still smirking. From entering the clan hall to sitting on his seat and exerting pressure, Punya had always maintained a stoic and serious expression befitting of the clan leader but looking at the face of the fifth elder he nearly broke his character. This elder only came to the hall if there was a drama unfolding. Punya had to ban him for a month because he brought popcorn and sunflower seeds to the clan meeting. There were many spirit crops lookalike from Earth in the cultivation world. Some had exact flavor and properties whereas some were different. The other elders were quarreling and he was eating and watching like a bystander. Looking at the still smirking face, Punya had half a mind to replace all the heritage stones in Skill pavilion and make the fifth elder engrave them all.

But Punya got the effect he wanted. Showing his power here was a strong reminder to the elders about who the boss was. The palpable silence that followed served as a testament to the impact of his actions. With a composed expression, Punya calmly addressed the elders, inquiring, "What was the reason for the disturbance in the clan hall earlier?" The clan hall was still silent then an elder gathered the courage to speak. “It is because the elders were discussing about pressuring you on how to make the inheritances free for them”, a voice cut the elder who was about to speak. Everyone was taken aback by what they heard, and their initial shock soon turned into anger at the person responsible for making such thoughtless and disruptive comments. What kind of idiot says things like that in such situation?

They turned towards the sound of the voice and saw the fifth elder still smirking. They wished they could pummel this troublemaker. Cursing the fifth elder silently, the elders turned to Punya and decided to explain to him before things escalated. The tension was palpable in the hall and the first elder opened his mouth to speak but then the sound of crunching came. Everyone looked at the fifth elder again. No one knew when but he had a small bamboo bucket filled with popcorn. He was looking at the elders and had an expression of enjoyment on his face. Seeing everyone in the hall and even the clan leader glaring at him, he put away the bamboo bucket in his storage ring and stood up “I know, I know, I will ban myself for a month.” Saying this he walked away from the clan hall with still a smirking expression on his punchable face.

When he walked away, he seemed to have taken the tension in the room with him. After a moment Punya spoke, “Is what the fifth elder said true?” The first elder Shyam hurriedly spoke hoping to placate the clan leader “No-no, the fifth elder was just joking. We wouldn’t dare to take the clan resources for free. We were just wondering where the inheritance came from.” The rule in the Rijal clan was strict in the case of favoritism. This was the rule set by the ancestor Hemanta while founding the clan. While it could be bent a little, it should always be in the favor of clan, not an individual. Even when Punya became the clan leader, it was because of the talent he had shown and there were no other suitable candidates at that time otherwise even the supreme elders wouldn’t want to bend the rules. The rule of meritocracy once bent for individual gain will be superseded and it will gradually go downhill from there. A person may thrive but the clan as a whole will head towards gradual destruction due to internal conflicts.

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