Douluo Dalu 5: Rebirth Of Tang San

The Peacock Great Demon King waved his hand and said, "No need to reconsider. Peacock Demon clan, all elders step forward."

With his command, the elders sitting in the front row on the Peacock Demon clan's side all stood up.

To become an elder, one needed to have reached godhood. At this moment, there were sixteen elders of the Peacock Demon clan standing up. Including the queen consort, there were seventeen. This meant that apart from the Peacock Great Demon King, the clan boasted at least seventeen god-level experts, among them some Great Demon Kings as well.

The elders bowed slightly to the Peacock Great Demon King.

The Peacock Great Demon King calmly said, "According to the queen consort, over eighty percent of you do not think Little Mei is suitable to inherit the position of clan leader. Do eighty percent of you oppose me as the clan leader?"

Wang Han, one of the Great Demon Kings, stepped forward and respectfully said, "Clan Leader, as you just mentioned, under your leadership, our clan has prospered for thirty years, and Kali City has flourished. This is all thanks to you. We would never oppose you; no one is more qualified to be the leader of the Peacock Demon clan than you. However, what Her Majesty said reflects our thoughts as well. The bloodline of the Peacock Demon clan needs to remain pure, so we hope the position of clan leader can be inherited by a pure-blooded member."

The Peacock Great Demon King looked at Wang Han, a hint of disappointment in his eyes. "Cousin, I didn't expect even you to question my decision. Do you know why I chose Little Mei to inherit the throne? It's not out of any personal motive. It's because only she can lead the Peacock Demon clan forward. Only she can give the clan a real chance to reach the pinnacle again."

Wang Han lowered his head and did not speak further. But his stance was clear.

The Peacock Great Demon King then looked at the queen consort. "To impeach me and overturn my decision, you need eighty percent of the elders, right? You must be quite confident. So, let's proceed. If fourteen elders oppose me, then the ceremony ends here, and so does my leadership."

Upon hearing his words, the queen consort was shocked. She had indeed prepared for this, but she had never intended to impeach the Peacock Great Demon King. Whether in the Peacock Demon clan or in Kali City, his prestige could hardly be any higher, and she did not want to break ties with her husband. She was confident in preventing him from passing the position of clan leader to Mei Gongzi, but she could not possibly strip him of his title. Moreover, if he weren't mortally wounded, she might not even achieve the former.

Looking at the calm Peacock Great Demon King, however, she suddenly realized that perhaps her confidence might be misplaced.

At this moment, the Peacock Great Demon King gave her no time to ponder, and coldly said, "Elders who support Little Mei inheriting the position of clan leader, step to the right. Those who do not, stay where you are. We will decide things today, and we will do it out in the open."

With these words, the elders couldn't help but look up at the Peacock Great Demon King.

The queen consort turned around, looking intently at the elders.

Wang Han raised his head, his gaze complicated and his expression bitter as he looked at the Peacock Great Demon King. "Your Majesty, I am sorry."

The Peacock Great Demon King ignored him, his expression calm as he looked at the other elders.

At that moment, among the sixteen elders, a figure slowly stepped forward, moving to the right.

As this figure stepped out, both the queen consort’s and Wang Han's pupils constricted instantly. Wang Han exclaimed, "Sister Yu, you…"

Yes, the one who stepped out first was none other than Wang Yu, Wang Han's younger sister, who was also at the Great Demon King level.

When the Crystal Phoenix Demon Emperor arrived, she and her brother Wang Han fought against the two Phoenix Great Demon Kings together. Now, she was the first to step out… on the side opposing her brother.

Wang Yu moved to the right without hesitation, then looked at her brother with a calm gaze. "I support His Majesty’s decisions because his decisions are correct. Ask yourselves, has the clan leader made any wrong decisions in the past thirty years? Any? Brother, you should understand my words the most. I know that if today's ceremony doesn't succeed, our nephew will be the most likely to inherit the throne. But I cannot go against the clan leader's will. I'm sorry."

As it turned out, the reason Wang Han sided with the queen consort was the queen consort’s promise—as long as Mei Gongzi did not inherit the throne, the heir would be Wang Han's son.

The queen consort's biggest weakness was that each of the sons born to her and the Peacock Great Demon King was worse than the last. For example, Wang Yan was one of the more outstanding ones among the legitimate sons, which… well, said it all.

But Wang Han's situation was different. He had a son who was seven years older than Mei Gongzi. He was truly outstanding, and had been strictly taught by Wang Han since childhood. Now, he had considerable strength; in fact, he could be considered the best among his peers. Wang Han had always supported the Peacock Great Demon King, but in such times, who wouldn't look after their own personal interests?

What he’d never expected was that his sister would stand against him. His face turned every color of the rainbow, and he simply couldn’t find any words to say.

While he stood there in stupefaction, several figures slowly walked out. Led by the one who appeared to be the oldest among elders—third-highest in rank after Wang Han and his sister—no fewer than seven people moved to the right side.

Out of seventeen elders, nine now stood on the right, indicating their support for the clan leader.

The queen consort had remained perfectly calm until now, but when she saw this scene, she turned pale. Although she had guessed there might be issues when the Peacock Great Demon King announced a public decision, she hadn't expected that more than half of the elders would choose to side with her husband. These elders had previously communicated their support for her! How could this be…

"Second Uncle, didn't you say that bloodline purity is the most important?" the queen consort couldn't help but say to the third-ranked elder.

The elder sighed and said, "His Majesty gave me a reason I couldn't refute. I believe that His Majesty's decisions are indeed for the future of our clan."

"You..." the queen consort was so angry that she turned to the Peacock Great Demon King, "I wonder if His Majesty can also give me a reason I can't refute!"

The Peacock Great Demon King sighed and said, "Even if I did, you still wouldn’t agree with my decision, so what's the point?"

His cold gaze swept over the elders who still stood on the queen consort's side.

"We are facing a great enemy, and each of you should know that the biggest problem for our clan comes from the outside, from those who want to occupy Kali City. Yet, despite knowing this, you disregard the fundamental interests of our clan and oppose them for your selfish gains. Are you intent on driving our Peacock Demon clan to its destruction?"

For a moment, those elders were speechless. Under the immense pressure of the Peacock Great Demon King's powerful aura, their faces looked rather unpleasant.

The Peacock Great Demon King looked at the queen consort again, "The results of the selection are out now. It appears that I will not be impeached today, Grand Elder."

The queen consort said coldly, "That is fine by me, but our clan has rules. If there are objections to the clan leader's heir, the elders' council can request the Hundred Birds Greet the Sun[1] ceremony to determine whether the heir has the right to inherit."

The Peacock Great Demon King said calmly, "Are you sure you want to do this? You should know that proposing Hundred Birds Greet the Sun means challenging the authority of the clan leader. If you fail, the proposing elder will be stripped of their position and bear all the consequences."

1. The original phrase is actually “hundred birds pay homage to the phoenix,” and it’s a four-character idiom (chengyu) often used as a blessing, because it refers to an extraordinary person to whom everyone must bow. However, the author actually replaces the “phoenix” character with the “sun/yang” character, clearly to serve as a reminder that the phoenix is not necessarily the king of birds in this novel. ☜

the poing team's Thoughts

The saying used here stems from a Chinese folk legend—the phoenix used to be a plain-looking bird, and it worked tirelessly all year round to store food for hard times. One year there was a drought, and the food gathered by the phoenix saved all other birds from starvation. In order to express their gratitude, each picked their most beautiful feather and offered it to the phoenix. This is how the phoenix became the king of birds and the most beautiful among them. Interestingly enough, the peacock is an important symbol in Chinese culture because it’s considered to be an earthly form of the heavenly phoenix, so basically the authority of the peacock is derived from that of the phoenix.