Tuoba Yan touched the Storage Soul Guide Device ring on his finger and took the masked man's corpse out of it.
The corpse had begun to stink.
With a wave of Tuoba Xi's hand, his Soul Power transformed into a gust of force that blew away the veil covering the masked man's face.
After studying him for a while, Tuoba Xi asked, "Who is he?"
"Someone in Soul Hunting Valley who threatened to kill me!"
"Impossible. Soul Hunting Valley is heavily guarded, and I oversee it personally. Petty criminals could never have infiltrated it."
"Grandfather, nothing is impossible. This assassin would rather slit his own throat than reveal the mastermind behind him."
Hearing Tuoba Yan's words, Tuoba Xi instead smiled. "Yan'er, surely you aren't foolish enough to suspect the Pontiff of this?"
Tuoba Yan nodded. "That possibility cannot be ruled out."
Tuoba Xi snorted disdainfully and analyzed, "Setting aside what benefit the Pontiff would gain from killing you, if she truly wanted you dead, it would be effortless! She is a Peak Douluo!"
"Ah..."
Tuoba Yan sighed. "Grandfather, you still haven't taken my words to heart. Because of the Seclusion Chamber Douluo, the Pontiff's heart has already become twisted. Our Tuoba Clan is related to the Qian Clan by marriage, and you oversee the Soul Hunting Squad. If I wanted to uproot the Qian Clan's foundations, the first people I would deal with would definitely be the Tuoba Clan."
Tuoba Xi had been loyal all his life, and Tuoba Yan's words frightened him.
He had devoted his entire life to his duties. All he had ever thought about was clinging tightly to the Qian Clan and borrowing its influence to raise his clan to greater heights.
In the original storyline, that was indeed what he had done.
During the battle of the twin gods, for the sake of the Qian Clan and Spirit Hall, Tuoba Xi had willingly allowed Bibi Dong to devour his spiritual power and Soul Power.
Bibi Dong had always disguised herself perfectly.
From top to bottom, no one in Spirit Hall had doubted Bibi Dong's motives for strengthening Spirit Hall.
If Bibi Dong's true goal was to overthrow Spirit Hall and uproot the Qian Clan's foundations, a chill crept up Tuoba Xi's spine, and he could not help but shudder.
Tuoba Xi paced back and forth in the room. After a while, he followed Tuoba Yan's line of thought and said, "You mean the masked man's purpose in trying to kill you was to drive a wedge between our Tuoba Clan and Spirit Hall, especially our relationship with the Qian Clan?"
"Or even force us into rebellion!" Tuoba Yan added what Tuoba Xi did not dare say. "It cannot be ruled out that Bibi Dong wants to use me to cause damage from within Spirit Hall. If I died and the investigation ultimately revealed Bibi Dong as the culprit, what would you do?"
Loyalty was carved into Tuoba Xi's bones.
Tuoba Xi had never once considered rebellion.
Tuoba Xi narrowed his eyes and said without hesitation, "If someone kills my grandson, how could I remain indifferent? Even if it means mutual destruction, I, Tuoba Xi, will turn the heavens upside down and demand justice before the Grand Elder."
Tuoba Yan nodded. "Exactly. Perhaps that is Bibi Dong's true purpose."
Tuoba Xi shook his head slightly and rejected the idea. "Yan'er, everything you said is merely speculation. Without evidence, we cannot jump to conclusions. I am more inclined to believe that someone suffered a major loss at our clan's hands some time ago and wants to kill you to vent their anger. It could be the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, the two imperial families, or some other clan!"
Some time ago, Tuoba Yan had given Tuoba Xi an idea.
Many clans had been watching the Tuoba Clan's every move, making it difficult for the clan to carry out normal activities.
So Tuoba Yan told Tuoba Xi that they might as well play along. They could aggressively buy up something of modest value and set a trap for those watching the Tuoba Clan, making them suffer losses.
In the end, the Tuoba Clan earned more than a billion Gold Soul Coins from it.
From the two imperial families at the top, to Spirit Hall and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect in the middle, to wealthy nobles below, many had suffered tremendous financial losses in this matter.
It was not impossible that someone had become enraged because of this and wanted to kill Tuoba Yan to vent their personal resentment.
Tuoba Yan nodded. "That possibility cannot be ruled out either. The Heaven Dou imperial family, the Star Luo imperial family, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect... all of them have motives and grounds for suspicion."
Tuoba Xi said, "Enough, Yan'er. Do not mention this matter to anyone. I will investigate it in secret. Before we have evidence, we cannot wrongly accuse any good person. Grandfather swears to you that once we have evidence, I will seek justice for you, no matter who the other party is!"
Tuoba Yan believed Tuoba Xi's oath.
Ever since he had transmigrated, Tuoba Yan had felt the warmth of familial affection from Tuoba Xi.
Tuoba Xi walked over to Tuoba Yan, reached out, patted him on the shoulder, and asked, "You have already graduated from the Junior Soul Master Academy. What do you plan to do next?"
"I want to become the Pontiff!"
"Mm, ambitious. As expected of my grandson."
Tuoba Xi nodded, pride appearing in his smile. "Without the cultivation of a Title Douluo, becoming Pontiff would only make you a puppet of the Elder Hall. Grandfather believes that one day, you will become a Title Douluo."
Tuoba Yan had thought it through.
The Tuoba Clan was one of the eight major clans under Spirit Hall and affiliated with the Qian Clan.
Most of the clan's core members held important positions within Spirit Hall.
Trying to make those core members leave Spirit Hall and establish an independent faction with him was practically a fool's dream.
Qian Dao Liu was a coward.
Qian Ren Xue was love-struck.
And Bibi Dong was a lunatic who wanted to destroy her own foundations.
None of those three, no matter which one, was worth Tuoba Yan's wholehearted support.
No one among the current generation of the Qian Clan was worth supporting, and the Tuoba Clan could not leave Spirit Hall to establish itself independently.
What should he do?
After Tuoba Yan met the clansmen guarding Soul Hunting Valley, he suddenly understood.
He wanted to become the Pontiff.
Since no one was worth supporting, he might as well become the "emperor" himself.
He would firmly hold power in his own hands, command Spirit Hall, unite the world, and dismantle Bibi Dong's schemes.
Tuoba Yan stood in the room, watching Tuoba Xi's retreating back as he opened the door and left.
Sunlight slipped through the crack in the door and into the room, stretching Tuoba Xi's shadow long, long behind him.
The next day, Tuoba Yan was summoned by the Guardian Knights and went to the Pontiff's Palace to meet Pontiff Bibi Dong.
According to Spirit Hall's rules, geniuses who entered Spirit Hall's Sacred Hall directly after graduating from the Junior Soul Master Academy would receive one-on-one training from Spirit Hall.
Spirit Hall would assign at least a Soul Douluo to secretly protect their safety.
Xie Yue and Hu Liena were exceptionally talented, and Ju Douluo and Ghost Douluo had respectively taken an interest in them.
Spirit Eagle Douluo had originally been responsible for the safety of Zhang Ping, who possessed the Golden Waist Flying Swallow martial soul.
Since Tuoba Yan was a fire-attributed soul master and his martial soul shared the same attribute as Spirit Eagle Douluo's, Bibi Dong used that as an excuse to specifically assign her close friend, Spirit Eagle Douluo, to protect Tuoba Yan.
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