Inside the restrictive light shield, Li Yan looked at Zhuo Lingfeng. He sensed an aura of death from him. At this moment, Huchen Wuding also felt that the atmosphere had changed.
"Uncle Sang, why did you stop me? We don't need to participate in the final assessment. Although I didn't defeat my opponent with an absolutely convincing reason, I believe Mother knows that I won. Participating in the final assessment is meaningless. The Fourth Branch will definitely send out their strongest person, someone skilled in using poison.
"If it were a direct fight, I believe Uncle Sang would definitely win. But did you hear clearly? The final assessment will be set up by the Ancestor himself. This means it probably won't be a direct fight between two people, but an assessment conducted according to his rules. It will definitely involve the way of poison, which is not what you are good at, Uncle Sang," Huchen Wuding said anxiously.
"Hehe, Young Master, you can't refuse to participate. I believe he will find a way to make you participate. After this competition, you will become the next successor. You must work harder, be more diligent, so that your mother can rest in peace in the netherworld," Zhuo Lingfeng said, his eyes filled with gentleness. But his last, seemingly out-of-place and assertive sentence, suggested that Huchen Wuding was definitely the next successor.
After he said this, a hint of determination appeared in his eyes. But his expression and words made Huchen Wuding suddenly uneasy. He didn't know why Uncle Sang would say such a certain thing.
Beside them, Li Yan, who had been silently watching ever since he was enveloped by the light shield, hadn't said a word. He frowned from time to time, as if thinking quickly.
"Uncle Sang, what are you talking about? I've already admitted defeat. Why are they still forcing me to compete? And you seem so certain that you will be the final victor. Did the Ancestor give you a voice transmission? That's not right either. If he wanted me to win, a single word from him would have been enough just now. There's no need for this extra step," Huchen Wuding's mind was racing, but the more he thought, the more confused he became.
"Young Master, listen to me. When I remove the light shield in a moment, just agree to the final assessment. Trust me, you will be the final winner," Zhuo Lingfeng said with a smile.
"That won't do, Uncle Sang. You must be hiding something from me. If you don't tell me, I won't agree to the final assessment," Huchen Wuding still shook his head, his unease growing, though he didn't know where it came from.
"Young Master, if you don't agree to the assessment, we might never be able to leave the Huchen family..." Zhuo Lingfeng shook his head helplessly. But before he could finish, Li Yan suddenly interjected.
"It's not just that we can't leave the Huchen family. It's that you and I will have to die here." As soon as he said this, Zhuo Lingfeng looked at Li Yan without any surprise. He had always found Li Yan mysterious. It didn't surprise him that Li Yan could guess the outcome.
But Li Yan's words made Huchen Wuding's face change drastically. He said anxiously, "Brother Li, what are you talking about? My Huchen family is not an evil cultivation sect. Although we are ruthless in our fights, I've never heard of us being indiscriminate killers."
Li Yan's usually dark face had also turned pale. Zhuo Lingfeng looked at Li Yan with an apologetic expression. "Fellow Daoist Li, this is all my fault. I've brought this disaster upon you. So, let me be the one to solve it. I believe that then, Fellow Daoist Li should be able to leave safely and also obtain the 'Netherworld Order' you need."
Hearing their conversation, Huchen Wuding was not only confused but also felt a trace of fear. "Uncle Sang, Brother Li, what are you two talking about? Why is Brother Li in mortal danger one moment and safe the next?"
Zhuo Lingfeng looked at Huchen Wuding with affection and patted his shoulder. "This matter is actually quite simple. How did Fellow Daoist Li guess the outcome so quickly? Fellow Daoist Li, you are not a cultivator from the Blood Leaf Sect, are you?" Zhuo Lingfeng looked at Li Yan again. This was the first time he had truly asked this question.
"Hehe, whether I am a Blood Leaf Sect cultivator is not important. What's important is that this matter is not really your fault. I can only blame myself for coming to your door. As for how I guessed, it was from your last two sentences and your expression that I figured out the general idea."
"Oh? Which two sentences?" A strange expression appeared on Zhuo Lingfeng's face. His expression had been agitated just now, so he hadn't hidden it. But he was sure that the words he had spoken, though they might have revealed some emotion, had not revealed any information. He believed that only the Huchen Ancestor and he should know about this matter.
Although Huchen Wuding was anxious, he had gradually calmed down. He had been unsettled by Uncle Sang's expression just now. Now that Li Yan was speaking, he also looked at him intently.
Li Yan thought for a moment and said, "The first sentence. You just said to Huchen Wuding, 'When I remove the light shield in a moment, you just agree to the final assessment. You will be the final winner.' On the surface, this sounds like you are certain to win the competition. But in my opinion, it has another meaning. Do you mean that you may not necessarily win, but you are still certain that Huchen Wuding will ultimately win the successor position? Let's not talk about why Huchen Wuding will definitely be the final winner for now, but this meaning is unquestionable.
"From this point of view, holding this assessment is truly meaningless, isn't it? Since Huchen Wuding will definitely win in the end. But why does the Huchen Ancestor still insist on holding this assessment? It's for no other reason than to kill you, and at the same time, not to arouse Huchen Wuding's suspicion."
As soon as Li Yan finished speaking, Huchen Wuding's calm face flushed red. "That's impossible! Why would the Ancestor want to kill Uncle Sang? If I win the successor position, it's thanks to Uncle Sang's nurturing care. They should be grateful. How is that possible? How is that possible?" By the end, Huchen Wuding looked completely incredulous.
A look of desolation appeared in Zhuo Lingfeng's eyes. He placed his hand on Huchen Wuding's back and sent a powerful stream of spiritual power into his body, calming his turbulent blood and qi. But his gaze towards Huchen Wuding was filled with reluctance. Li Yan looked at Huchen Wuding until he gradually regained some composure. "All of this is because you are in the middle of it. Others, because they haven't spent time alone with you, don't understand your situation, so they can't guess. If I hadn't spent these days with you, I would never have been able to guess either.
"Yesterday, after the Huchen Patriarch came, you didn't give him a good look, and your relationship was even hostile. On the contrary, because Fellow Daoist Zhuo was worried about you and appeared behind you, you showed great concern for him. I can understand this feeling. Through these few days, I can also see that you treat Fellow Daoist Zhuo as an elder, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say you treat him as a father.
"But when all of this happens in the Huchen family, if I'm not mistaken, everything that happened between you and the Huchen Patriarch yesterday and in the courtyard should have been known to the Huchen Ancestor in detail.
"As the Patriarch's son, your dissatisfaction with the Huchen Patriarch for various reasons is not excessive, and it can even be said to be reasonable. But this is limited to your relationship as biological father and son, so you don't feel there's anything wrong. But in the eyes of outsiders, this is different. It means that you have lost your emotional connection with the Huchen family and have formed a bond with an outsider.
"If your performance today had been mediocre, it wouldn't have mattered. The Huchen family wouldn't care if you were there or not. But today, you won the first place in both rounds with a ninth-level Qi Condensation cultivation. This bond is no small matter. You must return to the Huchen family, you must acknowledge the Huchen family. Otherwise, one day, when you become the Patriarch, or even the Ancestor, wouldn't Fellow Daoist Zhuo become the Supreme Ancestor? Would the Huchen family still be named Huchen then?
"Therefore, Fellow Daoist Zhuo must die. And my identity is also of unknown origin. It's not impossible that they think I'm Fellow Daoist Zhuo's disciple. So I must die too.
"When the Huchen Ancestor proposed the final match, it was already determined that you and Huchen Jianghai couldn't fight. On our side, the strongest combatant is Fellow Daoist Zhuo. This is to force him to fight. I think Fellow Daoist Zhuo had already guessed the reason then.
"The last sentence Fellow Daoist Zhuo said in the plaza, 'Allow me a moment to recover, give me half an incense stick of time,' should also have expressed this meaning." At this point, Li Yan paused. There was another sentence he hadn't said. The Huchen Ancestor's reason was not just because of the father-son-like relationship between Huchen Wuding and Zhuo Lingfeng, but because, in the eyes of outsiders, the relationship between Zhuo Lingfeng and Huchen Wuding's mother was unclear. For a family, reputation is crucial, especially the reputation of the current and future Patriarch. So, from any point of view, Zhuo Lingfeng had to die, and he himself was just a pitiful appendage.
Huchen Wuding had also heard Zhuo Lingfeng's last sentence just now. But at that time, in his ears, it was just Uncle Sang trying to resolve the assessment as soon as possible, agreeing to use half an incense stick of time to persuade him to agree to the assessment. Now it seemed it was to arrange his final affairs.
Zhuo Lingfeng sighed. "Fellow Daoist Li is brilliant. I just wanted to say a few words to the Young Master. In fact, whether you agree or not, even if you don't, the final result will not change. For a Nascent Soul cultivator, this is extremely easy, especially since it's an assessment he personally arranged."
Huchen Wuding was a smart person. But as Li Yan said, he was in the middle of it all. He didn't think his attitude towards Huchen Wandong would cause other problems; it was just his way of expressing his dissatisfaction with his father. Now that Li Yan had pointed it out, he had connected the dots.
"So, the Ancestor will always have a reason for me to win, to first establish this title, and then use various reasons to separate me from you, such as letting me go into seclusion to comprehend the family's secret manuals. Finally, he will secretly make a move against you. When I come out, he can just say that you have already left.
"At the same time, the Ancestor letting Uncle Sang come back means he is not afraid of Uncle Sang telling me all this. As long as Uncle Sang dies, with my feelings for him, I will surely hold a grudge. But if I want to retaliate, or even take revenge, I must become the strongest. I will have to cultivate diligently. And to achieve the best cultivation results, I must stay within the family to have a chance to obtain cultivation resources. As time passes, perhaps hundreds of years later when I successfully form my Nascent Soul, I will have already seen through all this and will not think of retaliating against the family.
"Even if I still hold a grudge after forming my Nascent Soul, it's another matter whether the Huchen Ancestor will still be alive. And even if I do retaliate, who is the target? He probably wouldn't attack my descendants. In the end, I would still be a member of the Huchen family. This still achieves their goal. He has calculated everything. What a fine calculation indeed."
Huchen Wuding said, his anger gradually rising. For the sake of a family, a Nascent Soul cultivator had actually started scheming against a small Foundation Establishment cultivator. And even if it had become an open conspiracy, there was no solution.