Going Against the Grain

Looking at the words Xiao Lin left in the Blood Sect's medicine warehouse, Zi Yan blinked her small eyes, looking completely bewildered.

Are there really people who choose to expose themselves?

Forgive her; she doesn't quite understand Xiao Lin's actions.

"Alright, all done. We can go now, to the next one!"

Looking at his masterpiece, Xiao Lin showed a satisfied expression, and at the same time told Zi Yan to leave.

And so, filled with doubt, Zi Yan opened another Spatial Passage and left the Blood Sect's herb warehouse with Xiao Lin.

Throughout the journey, Zi Yan repeatedly showed an expression of wanting to say something but holding back.

"Little girl, I know what you want to ask, but you must understand that the human heart is the hardest thing to grasp. Don't be fooled by the sentence I wrote; the more I act this way, the less the Blood Sect will suspect that it was Jia Nan Academy who did it!"

Xiao Lin explained with great certainty.

He was afraid that if he didn't explain, Zi Yan would burst!

"Ah? Is that so?"

It's clear that Zi Yan is still somewhat confused about this.

This is normal, though. Even though Zi Yan has lived for who knows how many years, her mental age is actually the same as her physical age!

Do you expect an eight or nine-year-old child to understand these things?

"Don't worry, I've already assured the First Elder that you'll know the results in a few days. Now, let's choose the next unlucky one."

As he spoke, Xiao Lin handed the stack of documents to Zi Yan to choose from again.

Of course, Xiao Lin had already extracted the information on the Black Hell Alliance in advance.

Hearing Xiao Lin say that, Zi Yan's attention was quickly diverted.

After all, for her, high-quality medicinal herbs were the most important thing!

As for the other things, let the adults worry about them.

Soon, Zi Yan drew the next lucky winner – the Ghost Emperor Hall!

This is also a Dou Emperor- level force.

In fact, the list of information that First Elder Su Qian gave to Xiao Lin was all about the forces in the Black-Corner Region that had Dou Emperor level or higher expert in charge.

It's important to understand that for the Jia Nan Academy's size, forces below the Dou Emperor level have virtually no impact on the academy.

Even forces at the Dou Emperor level have limited influence over Jia Nan Academy.

However, because Jia Nan Academy has never really taken care of the Black-Corner Region, there are now more than a dozen Dou Emperor- level forces in the Black-Corner Region!

In this situation, another ambitious Dou Zong- level force emerged.

If this Dou Zong- level force were to unite all the Dou Emperor- level forces in the Black-Corner Region, it would pose a severe challenge to the Jia Nan Academy.

If no Dou Zong- level force emerges, Jia Nan Academy may continue to ignore the development of the Black-Corner Region.

But that's not possible now.

If this Dou Zong- level force were to unite with more than a dozen Dou Emperor- level forces, it would be extremely dangerous for the Jia Nan Academy students who were training in the Black-Corner Region!

This is precisely why First Elder Su Qian was immediately interested when Xiao Lin merely mentioned the idea of weakening the various forces in the Black-Corner Region to him.

Jia Nan Academy allows the existence of Dou Emperor forces, and even Dou Zong -level forces, in the Black-Corner Region.

However, we cannot allow this Dou Zong- level force to have ambitions, to have designs on the Jia Nan Academy, and to want to unify the entire Black-Corner Region!

Of course, it would also be unacceptable for the Jia Nan Academy to simply and annihilate these forces without any justification.

That would mean that no one stronger than Dou Emperor would ever come to the Black-Corner Region again.

As a result, the students of the Jia Nan Academy also lacked experience.

Otherwise, if Mang Tianchi had already swept away the Black-Corner Region when he first established Jia Nan Academy, how could the Black-Corner Region have existed for so many years?

The reason why Jia Nan Academy is famous throughout the Northwest Continent, and even attracts young people from the Central Plains, is because of its good reputation.

Therefore, there are many things that Jia Nan Academy is not in a position to do.

Even in the Original Work, when Jia Nan Academy was purging the Black-Corner Region, it was because Han Feng had first gathered a bunch of desperados who wanted to take advantage of the Jia Nan Academy.

Therefore, it is essential for Xiao Lin to keep his operation secret this time.

At the same time, he also wanted to incite internal strife among the various forces in the Black-Corner Region without making any connection to the Jia Nan Academy!

This is also why Xiao Lin deliberately left that line of text before leaving the Blood Sect's medicinal herb warehouse.

As for his intentions, I believe they will be revealed soon.

Not long after Xiao Lin and Zi Yan left the Blood Sect's herb storehouse, an Elder of the Blood Sect wanted to retrieve some herbs from the storehouse.

To his astonishment, he discovered that the entire Blood Sect's medicinal herb garden was so empty that even rats could run through it...

After a moment of stunned silence, he did not hesitate at all and immediately ran to report the matter to Fan Lao, the sect leader of the Blood Sect.

Fan Lao also rushed to the medicine warehouse immediately.

When Fan Lao saw that all the medicinal herbs he had painstakingly collected over the years had vanished in an instant, his vision began to darken.

As for his complexion, it goes without saying that even describing it as so black it looked like it could drip water wouldn't be enough!

"Who did this? Who was it? I'll skin him alive and grind his bones to dust!"

Suppressing the urge to vomit blood, Fan Lao let out a hysterical roar.

Never before had Fan Lao been so angry.

These are medicinal herbs that their Blood Sect went through a lot of trouble to collect!

But what about now?

There wasn't even a dreg of the medicine left; how could he not be furious?

After roaring, Fan Lao turned around and stared intently at the Elder had first discovered that the Blood Sect's medicinal herb storehouse had been emptied, his gaze seemingly capable of devouring anyone in its path.

This Blood Sect Elder, who was only at the Dou Ling cultivation level, trembled like a leaf when faced with the bloodthirsty gaze of the sect leader.

"Sect Master, I... I don't know either. When I first arrived at the medicine warehouse, this was the scene I saw."

Suppressing his inner fear, the Elder of the Blood Sect finally managed to utter a complete sentence, his voice trembling.

At the same time, as he finished speaking, Fan Lao stared intently at him.

Judging from Fan Lao's expression, he clearly wanted to confirm whether the Elder was lying to him.

Just as this Elder of the Blood Sect was about to kneel down under Fan Lao's gaze, he suddenly noticed what appeared to be a line of words on the wall of the medicine storehouse.

"Sect Master, Sect Leader, look! There seem to be words on that wall!"

Upon discovering this anomaly, the Elder of the Blood Sect immediately spoke up.

"Um?"

Upon hearing this, Fan Lao instantly appeared in front of the wall.

The Elder from the Blood Sect followed closely behind Fan Lao.

Jia Nan Academy did it.

These six short words caught the attention of Fan Lao and the Blood Sect Elder.

"That's right, Sect Master, the theft of our medicinal herb warehouse must have been done by the Jia Nan Academy! In the entire Black-Corner Region, only a handful of forces could pull off such a thing, and Jia Nan Academy is one of them!"

Upon seeing these words, the Elder of the Blood Sect immediately became excited.

"Slap"

"Bang"

But before he could finish speaking, Fan Lao slapped him across the face.

Instantly, this Elder of the Blood Sect was slapped by Fan Lao and slammed into the wall next to him.

"Idiot! If Jia Nan Academy really did this, would they be stupid enough to leave such a message? What's wrong with your brain?"

At this moment, Fan Lao was absolutely furious!

How could he have such stupid subordinates?

If he hadn't been certain that this Elder was incapable of stealing all the medicinal herbs from the Blood Sect's herb storehouse, he would have slapped this disgraceful wretch to death.

However, Fan Lao never imagined that his cleverness would backfire.

Xiao Lin's move was merely a use of the idiom "to conceal something obvious."

He left this message to mislead Fan Lao, the leader of the Blood Sect.

For instance, if he had previously been speculating which faction had stolen their Blood Sect's medicinal herb storehouse...

But at this moment, he immediately ruled out Jia Nan Academy!

After all, in Fan Lao's mind, what power would be foolish enough to steal someone else's things and then leave a note on the spot identifying themselves?

Therefore, the theft of their Blood Sect's medicinal herb warehouse could absolutely not have been done by the Jia Nan Academy!

"Zong, the sect leader is wise."

The Blood Sect Elder, who had just gotten up from the ground, quickly began to flatter them.

After Fan Lao said that, he immediately realized that he had made a foolish mistake.

He deserved that slap!

"Hmph, what a treacherous fellow! Not content with stealing from my Blood Sect's medicinal herb storehouse, he also wants to frame Jia Nan Academy, attempting to make my Blood Sect and Jia Nan Academy fight to the death. What a vicious heart he has!"

Don't let me find out who you are, or even if the King of Heaven himself comes, I won't let you off the hook!

Fan Lao's deep voice echoed in the Blood Sect's medicinal herb storehouse.