Seeing a huge wave of Villain Points pour in, Lin Fan froze for a moment, then his eyes widened and he perked up. "Holy shit, what's going on? A windfall from heaven?"
"System, what does this mean?"
Lin Fan excitedly questioned the system, throwing everything that had just happened to the back of his mind. Sure enough, surviving a great calamity brought blessings in its wake.
Only after asking the system did he learn that this was a newly unlocked function!
The Protecting One's Own Function!
When his elders acted on his behalf in a way that qualified as villainous behavior, he could receive the corresponding Villain Points.
Lin Fan's eyes lit up. He now had quite a few more ways to earn Villain Points. With his invincible backing, as long as he kept stirring up trouble... hehehe!
"Fan'er, are you all right?"
Before Lin Fan could say more, Lin Dong and Ji Ningshuang rushed over. A fragrant breeze swept toward him, and Lin Fan felt his body enveloped in softness. He realized Ji Ningshuang was hugging him, her eyes slightly red.
Somewhat embarrassed, Lin Fan said, "M-Mother, I'm fine!"
Ji Ningshuang looked him over from every angle. Fortunately, Lin Fan was completely unharmed, and only then did she breathe a sigh of relief.
After checking that Lin Fan was all right, Lin Dong finally turned to the dead Great Emperor. After examining him, he could not help frowning.
"Damn it!"
"This was a deathsworn! There's no way to trace his origins..."
"Heh, a late-stage Great Emperor Realm deathsworn, just to kill my son. What an extravagant investment!"
He looked coldly at Great Emperor Chiyan and the others, his meaning plain without saying it. His icy, terrifying imperial might rolled out in every direction. Anyone could see that this man was very likely connected to the Wang Clan.
Who could afford such an extravagant investment?
Only the supreme imperial Wang Clan would be willing to send a Late Great Emperor to his death as a deathsworn. Other orthodoxies simply lacked the means.
As for motive, only the Wang Clan had one as well.
Perhaps they had sensed how monstrous Lin Fan's talent was, posing something of a threat to their Wang Teng, or even to their status as a supreme imperial clan, and could not resist trying to snuff him out.
Coupled with their stalling earlier...
Clue after clue... pointed to the Wang Clan.
Yet Lin Dong simply could not find concrete evidence, much less a reason to kill them.
Fortunately, the ancestors had made preparations, and Fan'er was unharmed.
Otherwise, even if it meant an open break, Lin Dong would have gone to war with the various orthodoxies! The Lin Clan was not isolated and without support. There was also Ji Ningshuang's lineage, the supreme imperial Ji Clan.
"Heh!"
"Since the Lin Clan does not welcome us, I shall take my leave."
Seeing that the plot had failed, Great Emperor Chiyan could not stay long. He casually found an excuse, flicked his sleeve, and gave a cold snort, preparing to leave with the group of experts behind him.
"Since you're already here, why not stay?"
"Our Lin Clan will naturally show you the hospitality of a host and hold a banquet for you all."
Before Lin Dong could question them, Lin Fan spoke with a chuckle, sneering inwardly. The Wang Clan had nearly gotten him killed. How could he let them leave so easily?
Even if he could not kill these people now, he had to scrape a layer of skin off them before they left, didn't he?
Lin Dong and the others froze. What was this brat trying to do?
He wanted nothing more than to kill those old bastards, and a banquet was absolutely out of the question. But he said nothing, wanting to see what mischief his son was brewing.
"No need. Thank you for your kindness, little fellow."
Great Emperor Chiyan paused, an ominous premonition rising within him. Realizing it was Lin Fan, he froze, even giving him another appraising look. He could not understand what Lin Fan was trying to do either, but then waved his hand and made to leave.
"Old man, don't go!"
"Fine, then. This... you're the ones insisting on leaving. Don't say our Lin Clan didn't welcome you."
Lin Fan earnestly invited Great Emperor Chiyan to stay, but seeing them insist on leaving, he could not help looking regretful. Anyone who did not know better would have thought the two were close. Suddenly, Lin Fan turned toward Lin Dong and changed tack.
"Dad! Where are the Wang Clan's congratulatory gifts?"
Lin Dong froze, then revealed a meaningful smile. "What congratulatory gifts?"
Seeing Lin Dong's expression, Lin Fan deliberately raised his voice. "No way, no way! Don't tell me that mighty powers of Archaic-the supreme imperial Wang Clan and imperial clans like the Feng Clan and Luo Clan-actually came empty-handed to congratulate someone?"
"Who visits someone to offer congratulations empty-handed?"
"How could the mighty Wang Clan be so stingy? Dad, could you have made a mistake? We wouldn't want to wrongfully accuse them."
Lin Fan acted as though the commotion could never get big enough, wishing he could tell everyone on the entire Ancient Continent.
Watching father and son sing in harmony, Ji Ningshuang could not help covering her mouth with a soft laugh before resuming the demeanor of an icy beauty.
At these words, Great Emperor Chiyan and the others, who had only taken two steps, staggered and nearly tumbled out of the sky. They had known Lin Fan was up to no good.
So this was where the brat had dug his pit?
The group could neither leave nor stay.
"Exactly! Who visits without bringing gifts? If word got out, wouldn't they die of shame?"
Just then, a hearty laugh rang out, stepping in at just the right moment to twist the knife. "Hehe, our Ji Clan has come to congratulate the Lin Clan on producing a peerless monstrous genius! One day, he will surely sweep across Archaic!"
"Young friend, we meet again!"
Lin Fan looked toward the voice. It was Senior Ji Dameng of the Ji Clan, who had shown concern for him a few days earlier. He had quite a favorable impression of this man and gave him a slight bow as a junior.
"Welcome, Senior Ji!"
As he spoke, his gaze landed on the gift in Ji Dameng's hands, and he said politely, "Oh, you're already here, Senior. Why bring a gift? You're treating us like strangers, hehe!"
"Haha, good lad!"
Ji Dameng laughed heartily, feeling that this brat Lin Fan suited his tastes perfectly. "Enough of that. Promise this old man one thing. Cultivate hard from now on, and one day sweep across Archaic and suppress every stray cat and dog out there."
As he spoke, he did not forget to glance at Great Emperor Chiyan. Clearly, he had long found the arrogance of the Wang Clan's Wang Teng intolerable.
Unfortunately, no one in the Ji Clan could stand above him. Now there was Lin Fan, with half the Ji Clan's blood in his veins and the potential to suppress Wang Teng. How could he not be delighted?
"No problem. I'll suppress them all."
Lin Fan chuckled as he accepted Ji Dameng's gift. With his taboo physique, his talent for reaching the ultimate limit of every realm, and a tiny bit of assistance from the system, he was confident he could sweep aside any prodigy or monstrous genius.
"Eh, we've been talking all this time. Why haven't we seen the Wang Clan's gifts, or anyone else's?!"
Ji Dameng spoke in surprise, not forgetting to cast a pointed, mocking glance at Great Emperor Chiyan and the others. By the end, his tone had turned cold. "Hmm? Or did you come to the Lin Clan with ulterior motives?!"
These words undoubtedly pushed the Wang Clan and the others into a pit of fire.
If they did not produce gifts, wouldn't that confirm that the Wang Clan and the others had come not to offer congratulations, but to kill Lin Fan?
If that happened, they would be in serious trouble!
The presence of Lin Dong, Ji Ningshuang, and the other Lin Clan experts turned cold. Their terrifying presence locked onto the experts from the Wang Clan and the other factions, as though they would strike at the slightest disagreement.
At the same time, Great Emperor Chiyan and the others felt a chill, as cold and sinister as though it came from the hells of the Nine Nether. A presence of death also locked onto them, and their pupils contracted.
The Immortal Annihilation Formation!
The Immortal Annihilation Formation that had instantly killed a Great Emperor had locked onto them!!
The meaning was self-evident. If the Wang Clan and the others failed to produce gifts, the Lin Clan would have a reason to kill them.
The Immortal Annihilation Formation would activate without hesitation.
Their fate would be the same as that Great Emperor's just now.
Lin Fan watched Wang Kun and the others coldly. No matter what, he would not lose out. If the ancestors killed the Wang Clan's people and the others, he would get Villain Points. If the Wang Clan gave gifts, those were resources.
Gifts, or their lives!
Surely these mighty Great Emperors, experts whose might awed entire regions, could tell which mattered more?