A nighttime conversation

After the banquet ended, Nie Li went to find Yang Xin.

"Little brother Nie Li, are you really going to give the Sacred Family those pills? It truly pains your big sister to watch."

"All right, Sister Yang. I never trusted anyone from the Sacred Family, and I never will. So when we give them more pills, add these medicinal ingredients to every batch..."

Nie Li took out a list he had prepared long ago. The additional ingredients listed on it were all common as dirt.

Each type of pill needed only one extra ingredient.

But the effects would be as different as heaven and earth. Every pill they took would speed up their cultivation considerably more than a normal pill, but their soul force would become unbearably unstable in exchange. Even if they reached Black Gold One-Star, their actual combat strength might not be enough to defeat someone at Gold 5-Star with solid foundations.

The pills also contained a mild toxin. As small amounts accumulated, things would get truly entertaining when those taking them used large amounts of soul force.

Smiling, Yang Xin tapped Nie Li on the forehead. "You, honestly~~"

That night, in the Courtyard.

Ye Zong tilted his head back and gazed at the moon amid the stars.

"Father."

Ye Han appeared before him.

"Han'er, what is it?"

What followed was simply this: Ye Han already knew that Ye Ziyun's talent had been fully brought out, that her strength was astonishing, and that she had Nie Li backing her. The position of City Lord was therefore beyond his reach. He had come to declare his resolve to Ye Zong: from now on, he would devote himself to assisting Ye Ziyun.

Ye Zong was deeply moved by those words. He had always thought his Han'er was excellent in every respect, except that his thoughts ran a little too deep. If he could come to terms with this himself, that would be wonderful.

After Ye Han left, Ye Zong remained where he was for a while, then suddenly looked in a certain direction. "Who's there? Come out!"

"Hehe, your senses really are sharp, Father-in-law."

Nie Li's figure gradually appeared before Ye Zong.

"The Vanish Combat Technique? Is that the Shadow Demon Spirit?"

"That's right. I came to test it. Looks like a Black Gold Rank expert can sense me, while a Legendary Rank expert would know exactly where I am."

Nie Li chuckled for a moment, then turned his gaze toward the direction in which Ye Han had left.

"I heard your entire conversation."

Ye Zong said, "I know. Otherwise, I wouldn't have waited until Han'er left before making you reveal yourself."

"The problem is, I don't believe Ye Han would give up just like that."

Neither did Ye Zong. He did not believe Ye Han could come to terms with it so quickly either, so he would give him some time to slowly digest it.

"I saw far too many things in Ye Han's eyes that shouldn't have been there. And Father-in-law, in my previous life, all Zi Yun ever told me about Ye Han was that he was your adopted son. She refused to tell me anything more. When Glory City fell, I never saw so much as a trace of him. Zi Yun is kindhearted by nature. She could tell me everything even about Shen Yue, whom she had been engaged to long before, yet she refused to say anything about Ye Han. Do you know what that means?"

Listening to Nie Li, Ye Zong began to think back. Ye Ziyun was indeed very kindhearted. Her only grievance was that Ye Zong treated his adopted son, Ye Han, even better than he treated her, his own daughter. Ye Han was also so outstanding that no matter how hard Ye Ziyun cultivated, he always loomed above her. He could almost be called a shadow over her childhood.

But those were merely family conflicts. Ye Ziyun could even talk about her engagement to Shen Yue, yet when it came to Ye Han...

Family conflicts could not explain that attitude.

"Besides, you've placed high hopes on Ye Han since childhood and raised him to become City Lord. And apart from you and Supreme Elder Ye Ming, perhaps everyone else in the Wind Snow Family has reservations about his origins. If he can't become City Lord, his position in the Wind Snow Family will become extremely awkward. Do you think time can wash that away? Would he choose that for himself?"

Ye Zong fell silent for a moment. He believed most of what Nie Li said. The small portion he refused to believe was precisely because Ye Han was the adopted son he had picked up off the street and raised from childhood, the boy in whom he had placed immense trust and hope.

"Perhaps, if we give him some time, Han'er will come to terms with it himself."

Ye Zong shook his head, clearly unwilling to discuss the matter further.

Nie Li looked at him with the frustration of someone who hated seeing iron fail to become steel. He had lived for hundreds of years. Hadn't he eaten more salt than Ye Zong had eaten rice?

One look at a person's eyes and expression was usually enough for him to know what they were thinking.

Ye Han was definitely not merely someone whose thoughts ran a little deep, as Ye Zong put it. Those thoughts might well be a bottomless abyss.

Perhaps he would have to prepare a few more layers of insurance.

After returning to his own courtyard, Ye Han punched a tree, leaving a fist-shaped indentation in its trunk.

With his other hand, he took a letter from his pocket. His old classmate Shen Xiu had secretly slipped it into his clothes halfway through the banquet.

Shen Xiu had also whispered something to him, words that stayed in his heart every moment: "Are you really willing to watch the position of City Lord, which should have been yours, slip away?"

"No, the position of City Lord is mine, and Zi Yun will only ever be mine. No one can take away what belonged to me in the first place!"

A trace of madness flashed through Ye Han's eyes.

The fifth day.

Nie Li kept track of the time. Only two days remained until the fourth Sky Screen, and it was time for him to act.

An old man in gray robes approached him with a smile, carrying a booklet.

His name was Ye Shuo, and he was the fourth-ranking figure of the Wind Snow World in Glory City. He commanded a mysterious force that normally handled intelligence and assassinations for the Wind Snow Family.

What Nie Li had asked him for was information on members of the Sacred Family's main line and collateral branches.

"Oh, these two will do. Lord Ye Shuo, please let the City Lord know that I'm going out for a while."

Ye Shuo could more or less guess what Nie Li intended to do, and he marveled inwardly at the boy's sheer audacity.

Nie Li altered his appearance slightly, changed his hairstyle, and put on a different set of clothes, leaving himself utterly unrecognizable.

Then he activated the Shadow Demon Spirit and left the City Lord's Mansion, heading straight for the Sacred Family's territory.

The Sacred Family's estate was scarcely smaller than the Wind Snow Family's. In addition, the Alchemist Association had allocated them a considerable supply of cultivation pills the previous night, so large numbers of servants were transporting the pills back.

However, priority would go to the young masters of the direct main line. Only afterward would outstanding members of the collateral branches receive any. Those further down would get nothing.

After all, the Sacred Family's direct line had always been domineering and arrogant. Relying on their status and position, they could be said to stop at no evil.

They ate the meat, and only when they were in a good mood would they toss those beneath them a little broth to drink.

And those were precisely Nie Li's targets this time.