Nobilis of War
Chapter 3 Elders' Attitude

The outer disciples of the Chu Clan murmured among themselves when they saw Darren heading toward the Elders Cabinet. The very fact that Darren was still alive shocked them. After all, they had heard tha Evan had killed Darren. The outer disciples could not figure out how Darren had survived.

Darren, however, just ignored them.

Darren had arranged for Belle to return home. He wasn't worried about her safety now. According to the family rules, females didn't have the right of inheritance. Since Belle was not a threat to any of them, none of the Chu Clan members saw her as a target.

After a while, Darren arrived at the Elders Cabinet.

The Elders Cabinet was a unique place within the Chu Clan. No one, except the chief, had the right to enter without permission.

It was said that all the elders in the Elders Cabinet were cultivators of the Spirit Realm. Only major family events could bring them out of the cabinet.

However, the elders took no action when they heard the news of the death of the chief. That was strange.

Darren knocked on the plain gate and shouted, "Darren Chu, a ninth generation member of the Chu Clan, requests permission to meet the elders."

A great clan, like the Chu Clan, had strict rules and could be cruel if the rules were not followed.

For example, why did the Elders Cabinet disregard the fact that others had preyed on Darren, the son of the chief?

Because members whose talent for martial arts was lower than the Yellow Degree would never gain the recognition of the family. What was worse, such members would be expelled from the Chu Clan as soon as they were sixteen.

Darren was only fifteen now. So, despite his inferior martial arts talent, he had the right of inheritance. That was why Evan had attacked him.

The gate opened with a creak.

A disciple in grey walked out. When he saw Darren, he frowned and asked, "Why are you here?"

"I'm here to request the Elders Cabinet to protect Belle and me." Darren shared his purpose bluntly.

"You are not qualified. As you are inferior to the Yellow Degree, you are not considered as a member of the Chu Clan," the disciple replied to Darren with a disdainful look. The disciple, as a servant of the elders, had lived in the Elders Cabinet for years. Although he had few chances to go out, he had heard that Darren was only a mediocre talent in martial arts.

"And you are unqualified to make this decision. You are only a servant. What gives you the right to decide on behalf of the elders? What's more, even the elders don't dare to violate the rules of the Chu Clan. Did you think that a servant like you can change the rules now?" Darren retorted harshly.

"You!" The disciple turned grim-faced with anger. He wondered when this untalented martial artist had changed into this confident man. "Well! You will see."

After a moment, a voice came from inside.

"Go back to where you came from. You are inferior to the Yellow Degree, so your life or death is of no concern to the Chu Clan."

The voice was as loud as thunder, although the speaker couldn't be seen. Darren marveled in his mind as stories of the powerful level of the elder's cultivation base were, indeed, true.

Darren bowed respectfully and said, "Sir, I've reached the Yellow Degree. People of the Chu Clan are preying on me. As the son of the chief, I ask for the elders' protection."

"Oh?" In the blink of an eye, an elder with a frail build appeared in front of the gate. He looked at Darren doubtfully.

The talent of every immediate family member was on record in the Elders Cabinet. The elders knew that Darren was only a cultivator of the Ordinary Degree. Why did Darren say that he had reached the Yellow Degree? The possibility that his talent for martial arts had changed was as unrealistic as fairy tales. The elder thought that Darren was lying.

"Hey! You! Don't you know that lying to the elders will only bring you severe punishment? Everyone knows that you are only a loser of the Ordinary Degree. And now, you have the nerve to cheat the elders," the disciple, standing beside the elder, sharply rebuked Darren. He accused Darren of being untruthful. He thought that Darren was scared enough to make up a lie to seek the Elders Cabinet's protection. "Well, don't you know that being irreverent toward your young master will lead to your death?" Darren retorted with a sharp glare.

"Ha-ha! You are only a dying loser. Young master? You don't even compare with a dog. Bah!" the disciple said to Darren, scornfully. He thought to himself, 'Only a person's talent, not background, matters in this world. A loser like you is a nobody.'

"Shut up!" the elder reproached the disciple as he could not stand the disciple's taunts. The disciple trembled with fear and kept silent.

"Kid! Although we are the elders of the Chu Clan, we can't do whatever we want. Of course, we don't want to see our family members prey on each other. But this is how this world works. This is the law of the jungle. Since you are the son of the chief, I will provide you with protection for three days. You can run as far away as you can during these three days. You can go now, kid." Then the elder intended to walk away. He had broken the rules by providing Darren with protection for three days.

"Sir! I'm telling the truth. I've reached the Yellow Degree. Please carry out your duty to check my talent for martial arts, sir," Darren pleaded again.

"You!" Apparently, the elder had lost his patience. He yelled at Darren, "You have had your chance, but you threw it away. If I check and replace out that you are lying, you won't even survive six hours." Darren could tell that the elder was not bluffing. If Darren failed to get any protection, Evan would resume his attacks at once.

The second the elder finished his words, he hovered in front of Darren. Then he stretched his hand over Darren's head.

The disciple said nothing but smiled. 'He's so screwed this time, ' he thought with a smirk.

However, the elder didn't say a word for a while. During the silence, his facial expression changed fast. The eyebrows on his dismissive face frowned. Then he widened his eyes with a shocked look. "You are at level two of the Yellow Degree!"

The elder, staring at Darren, was struck dumb with amazement. He could not believe the result. Darren was at level two of the Yellow Degree. 'Is there a mistake in the former record?' he wondered. Only nature's gifts or rare elixirs could upgrade a person's talent for martial arts, but both were challenging to acquire.

"Sir, please carry out your duty to protect my sister and me," Darren said, calmly.

The protection of the Elders Cabinet covered the whole faction. If Darren got their protection, his sister would be included as well.

Although the elder still had many doubts, the rules didn't allow him to refuse Darren's request. "Accepted. I, Abner Chu, the elder of the Chu Clan will carry out the duty to protect you. But the protection will expire in two months. After two months, your life depends on your fate. Don't ask me the reason. You should go now."

The Elder Abner, with a mixture of emotions on his face, turned and disappeared behind the gate.

The disciple, however, was stunned to hear that Darren was at level two of the Yellow Degree. And, he had succeeded in gaining the protection of the elder. 'Damn it! I fucked up this time. I'd better run for my life.'

Then the disciple turned and slid behind the gate.

Darren didn't follow him. After all, he had no right to walk into the Elders Cabinet. Besides, Darren knew that he would have many opportunities in the future to teach the disciple a lesson. "Two months?"

Darren wanted to ask the elder about the reason, but he controlled his curiosity. Everything that had happened recently was bizarre. The Elders Cabinet did nothing to avenge the death of his father. There must be an extraordinary reason for their lack of action.

"Two months later, the Ilmen Sect will start recruitment among the clans. Once I pass the test, no one in the Chu Clan will prey on me anymore. Even the royal members have to show respect to the Ilmen Sect."

Darren had made his plan, but he was not highly confident about whether he would pass the test. After all, the Ilmen Sect wanted super-geniuses. However, he was only at level two of the Yellow Degree. His only tiny chance to pass the test was to reach level seven of the Yellow Degree, like Nicholas Chu.

In the adytum of the Elders Cabinet.

"What happened, Abner?" the Chief Elder with white hair asked with his eyes closed.

"This is so weird. How's this even possible? A cultivator of the Ordinary Degree upgrades to level two of the Yellow Degree," Abner Chu said. Upon hearing him, the other two elders opened their eyes at the same time. Doubt reflected in their expressions.

"What? Is this real?" The Chief Elder could not believe it as well.

"Yeah! It's true. I've checked it out," Abner Chu said reverently.

"Never mind! Perhaps he gained rare elixirs by chance. Although he has upgraded his talent, he is only at level two of the Yellow Degree. There's no great future for him. This is a critical period. You two also felt the aura of the man in black that day. I think you will remember his power. We would all have died with his first attack had we also been his target that day."

"I guess he is a strong cultivator of the Mysterious Realm."

"Yeah, I agree with you. Our chief was at the ninth stage of the Spirit Realm, but he was beheaded with only one blow. The man in black may be a cultivator of the Mysterious Realm. Such a powerful being is rare to see. It's even few and far among the royal members. The man in black perhaps comes from one of the foreign sects. The best alternative for us is to wait out this critical period. If one of the members from our young generation passes the test and becomes a disciple of the Ilmen Sect in two months, we will gain a little more assistance."

"Yes, Chief Elder! We should provide Nicholas, Blake, and Leo with as many resources as we can offer. As long as one of them passes the test, it will be a great relief for us."

"All right! Let's focus on our cultivation instead of such a little deal. Only those three geniuses deserve our attention. They are the future of the Chu Clan."

Then the three elders began their meditation.☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐