Shi Ao had led many of his clan's experts, along with cultivators from the other major Demon Race clans, into action. They had possessed overwhelming strength, and by all rights, there should have been no problem taking down the Mysterious Spirit Bee Race. Yet in the end, Ling Tian and the others had all escaped unscathed. His failure had earned him plenty of criticism within the clan, and many of the higher-ups believed he lacked the aptitude to become clan leader. That misunderstanding had persisted until Shi Kuang brought word of Ling Tian back to the clan. Even someone who had crossed the Tribulation and become an immortal considered Ling Tian a formidable opponent, so the Golden Lion Clan's higher-ups began to reassess what Shi Ao had said before.
Though they now knew they had misunderstood Shi Ao, the higher-ups' decisions were not easily reversed. They did little to change how they dealt with him, merely returning the experts who had once been assigned to protect him and treating him a little better.
After this incident, Shi Ao had grown disillusioned with his clan and long since abandoned his ambition to become clan leader. If not for the promise he had made to Ling Tian, he probably would not have come to Chaos City to attend this year's Cultivator Assembly.
Shi Xin and Shi Heng had personally taken part in the operation against the Mysterious Spirit Bee Race, so they knew Shi Ao's keen strategic mind and sympathized with his predicament. Though they were slightly dissatisfied with the higher-ups, they directed all their resentment at Ling Tian, the culprit behind it all.
Ignoring Shi Xin and Shi Heng's complaints, Shi Ao watched the matches onstage intently. Ever since arriving on Chaos Star, he had questioned Shi Kuang and the others