“Well, now you owe me a favour!” Mei Tianmo smiled enchantingly, her body moving as the aura of a Second-tier Martial Lord enveloped the Second Elder. In an instant, she rushed towards him and struck with a palm.
Bang!
The Second Elder spat out a mouthful of blood, his body flying back a short distance, his aura rapidly weakening.
Finished, Mei Tianmo clapped her hands and returned to Lin Xiao’s side.
“You, you!” The Second Elder was horrified. He hadn’t expected Ling Hu to be so ruthless. He had only spoken a single sentence, yet Ling Hu had this powerhouse seal his cultivation.
What shocked him even more was that Ling Hu’s figure was already charging towards him, a palm striking into his body.
“Pfft!”
Blood sprayed as Ling Hu’s palm unleashed a surging suction force.
“You, you…” In terror, the Second Elder’s aura faded, his body turning into a desiccated corpse like Ling Xun’s before him.
“Hiss!” The others gasped. Ruthless, far too ruthless. The Second Elder, an Eighth-tier Martial Venerable, had merely interjected and was killed by Ling Hu.
The elders aligned with Ling Lie trembled, and even the neutral elders were deeply displeased, but none dared to speak.
Even Ling Zhongqian and others from Ling Hu’s faction were shocked by his methods.
They could hardly imagine that the youth they had once protected so carefully had grown to such a level.
Ling Lie’s heart trembled as well. The fallen elder was of his senior generation. Though Ling Lie’s cultivation was higher and he was the clan leader, he had always treated him with respect.
Yet, for merely speaking out, he was killed by Ling Hu.
Only now did Ling Lie realise how ruthless Ling Hu was. His earlier words were no mere boasts.
“Ling Lie, I’ll give you one more chance. If you don’t reveal what happened back then, your fate will be the same as his,” Ling Hu said, withdrawing his hand as the Second Elder’s corpse collapsed to the ground.
Ling Hu stepped towards Ling Lie, his steps light but carrying a heavy weight felt by all.
They could sense the intense killing intent radiating from Ling Hu. They were certain that when he reached Ling Lie, he would strike without mercy.
Tap! Tap!
As Ling Hu’s footsteps approached, Ling Lie’s heart trembled with each step.
Facing Ling Hu’s gaze, he felt an overwhelming sense of fear.
When Ling Hu was two steps away, Ling Lie’s mental defences finally collapsed. He hurriedly said, “I’ll talk, I’ll talk!”
“Four years ago, a Fourth-tier Martial Lord from the Cao family, tens of thousands of miles west, took interest in this region and wanted to control it through a pawn. They approached your father, asking him to submit, but he refused. In a moment of ambition, I aided the Cao family powerhouse in attacking your father. He was severely injured. Because of his Heavenly Flame Emperor Tiger physique, the Cao family powerhouse didn’t kill him but took him away.”
Ling Lie spilled everything in one breath. He had no choice. Apart from him, no one in the Ling clan knew of this, and finding evidence was impossible.
Yet Ling Hu didn’t play by the rules. Evidence or not, it was useless. If Ling Lie didn’t speak, he’d be killed on the spot, so he chose to confess.
Hearing that his father was gravely injured and taken away, Ling Hu’s killing intent surged, his eyes as cold as eternal ice. He spat out, “The Cao family!”
“The Cao family again!” Lin Xiao’s expression also turned cold. He hadn’t expected the Cao family, already controlling five cities, to be so ambitious as to meddle in a region tens of thousands of miles away, even interfering in the Chaos Lands.
He was also slightly surprised that Ling Hu’s father had the Heavenly Flame Emperor Tiger physique. It seemed Ling Hu’s Heavenly Flame Sacred Tiger was inherited from his father, only purer and of a higher grade.
Though the Heavenly Flame Emperor Tiger was a tier below the Heavenly Flame Sacred Tiger, if fully developed, it could rival a Martial Emperor.
This meant that, given time, Ling Hu’s father could have become a Martial Emperor. No wonder the Cao family powerhouse took him away.
Controlling him would mean controlling a future Martial Emperor for the Cao family.
After hearing Ling Lie’s words, the Ling clan elders’ expressions turned cold. To seize the clan leader’s position, Ling Lie had collaborated with the Cao family to attack the former clan leader.
Though the former clan leader, Ling Xiao, was only a First-tier Martial Lord, his Heavenly Flame Emperor Tiger physique allowed him to contend with Third-tier Martial Lords, intimidating even the Su and Guo family leaders. He could even escape a Fourth-tier Martial Lord.
If Ling Lie, a First-tier Martial Lord, had joined forces with Ling Xiao, the Cao family’s Fourth-tier Martial Lord would have gained no advantage.
Instead, Ling Lie not only failed to help Ling Xiao but allied with the Cao family powerhouse, leading to Ling Xiao’s defeat and capture.
In the end, Ling Lie became clan leader, secretly serving the Cao family.
This effectively made the Ling clan a vassal of the Cao family.
Though the Cao family was powerful, they were tens of thousands of miles away. How could the Ling clan, a significant family, willingly submit to a distant power?
At this moment, the elders’ gazes towards Ling Lie were filled with coldness.
“What about the Black Seal Poison in my body?” Ling Hu’s murderous gaze bore into Ling Lie as he asked.
Facing Ling Hu’s overwhelming killing intent, Ling Lie didn’t dare conceal anything and answered truthfully, “The Black Seal Poison in your body came from an ancient site I stumbled upon five years ago. My breakthrough to Martial Lord four years ago was also due to that opportunity.”
The Ling clan elders’ expressions hardened again. As Ling Hu had claimed, Ling Lie had indeed poisoned him with the Black Seal Poison.
Ling Hu had been truthful all along, never slandering Ling Lie or his son.
Seeing Ling Hu’s unrelenting killing intent, Ling Lie hurriedly added, “Ling Hu, you can’t kill me. If you do, the Cao family powerhouse will surely come. Four years ago, after leaving me as their pawn, the Cao family lacked the resources to control this region directly, only sending someone annually to collect tribute.”
“But recently, the Cao family envoy who came to collect tribute inquired about the region’s situation and said they would send a Fourth-tier Martial Lord and a Third-tier Martial Lord to help me deal with the Su and Guo families.”
“That’s in three days. If I’m not there, they’ll come looking. Even with a Second-tier Martial Lord, you can’t resist the Cao family’s powerhouses. Only if I’m alive can you avoid their attack.”
