Dongfang Bai still hated me a lot!
Having changed clothes and restored his original build and appearance, Wang Hao walked toward the Blood Robe Tower, pondering the matter in considerable distress.
Though he had not spoken with Dongfang Bai for long, he could hear the hatred in her voice. That undoubtedly made winning her over much more difficult.
Unless he resolved that hatred, there was no point talking about anything else.
Lost in thought, Wang Hao soon returned to the Blood Robe Tower, where he happened to run into Zhao Dachui, who was returning from drinking with courtesans.
"Brother Chui, I was just looking for you!"
Wang Hao hurriedly stopped Zhao Dachui before he could go back and rest. He really needed the man's help with what came next.
"Something the matter?"
Slightly tipsy, Zhao Dachui looked at Wang Hao and asked in confusion.
"I'd like to ask you to take me to the Samsara Pavilion."
The Blood Robe Tower kept a detailed record of every mission, and the resulting files were stored in the Samsara Pavilion.
However, only the hall masters of Samsara Pavilion were allowed inside. No one else could enter.
The massacre of the Dongfang Lineage back then had been no minor matter, so the Blood Robe Tower was bound to have detailed records of it. He wanted to see if he could find an opening in those files to win Dongfang Bai over, or at least find a chance to clear his own name.
Otherwise, his future wife would slip through his fingers.
"You want to look into what happened to the Dongfang Lineage?"
Zhao Dachui was no fool and quickly guessed what Wang Hao wanted. His expression grew grave.
"Yes. With a fearsome figure like Dongfang Bubai as my enemy, I can't even sleep soundly."
He nodded. He did not conceal that fact, nor was there any need to.
Wang Hao had inherited few memories of those events from his predecessor, and for some reason, his predecessor's memories of that period were somewhat hazy. As a result, he knew nothing of the inside story.
Of course, more importantly, his predecessor had been a mere shrimp with no standing. He had never been in a position to learn the truth about such matters and had only followed orders at most.
"Follow me!"
Looking grave, Zhao Dachui glanced around and motioned for Wang Hao to follow.
They soon arrived at an elegantly furnished little courtyard, Zhao Dachui's residence within the Blood Wind Hall.
Without saying much, Zhao Dachui fiddled with a mechanism at the head of the bed in his bedroom. The bed flipped up, revealing a passage beneath it. He leaped down, and Wang Hao followed close behind.
Below was a secret chamber ten zhang across. The air was fairly fresh, so it evidently had some means of ventilation. It appeared to be where Zhao Dachui cultivated in seclusion.
"My father copied this file on the Dongfang Lineage's annihilation from the Samsara Pavilion half a month ago. You'll understand once you read it."
Zhao Dachui took a rolled-up file from a hidden compartment and handed it to Wang Hao, his expression exceptionally grave.
Seeing Zhao Dachui's grave expression, Wang Hao realized that things were probably not as simple as he had imagined.
By the light of a luminous pearl at the top of the chamber, Wang Hao unrolled the file and examined its contents. The more he read, the deeper his frown became.
"Brother Chui, no matter how I look at it, it seems the Dongfang Lineage was wiped out to silence them."
After reading the entire file back and forth several times, Wang Hao finally noticed something.
Although the account in the file seemed quite ordinary, something strange lurked between the lines. After some speculation, Wang Hao suddenly understood that the Dongfang Lineage had very likely been wiped out to silence them.
Moreover, the person behind it wielded tremendous power. The file mentioned not only the Blood Robe Tower, but also people from the Eastern Depot and even the Brocade Guard.
The Blood Robe Tower was one thing; at most, it was an assassin organization that operated in the shadows. But the Eastern Depot and the Brocade Guard represented the imperial court, and few people in the realm could mobilize both at once.
Wang Hao had a premonition that the Dongfang Lineage massacre was an enormous whirlpool. Anyone caught up in it would surely face ten deaths and no life.
"You guessed right. The Dongfang Lineage really was wiped out to silence them, because they knew too many secrets. And those secrets concerned the person who holds the highest position today."
As he spoke, Zhao Dachui pointed upward, his expression exceedingly grave. Clearly, the person he spoke of was no ordinary figure.
"The emperor?"
At first, Wang Hao was somewhat puzzled, but once he understood, his pupils abruptly contracted and his expression grew grave as well.
Zhao Dachui nodded, folded his arms, and leaned against the wall to one side. "Dongfang Ni, the patriarch of the Dongfang Lineage, advised that person when he was still a prince and did quite a few dirty things for him in secret. The Dongfang Lineage paid a heavy price for it too.
"Three years ago, that person defeated all the other princes, the crown prince, and even the previous emperor, and ascended the throne. To quell public outrage, appease certain factions, and silence the Dongfang Lineage, he secretly ordered the Blood Robe Tower to serve as a cover while the experts of the Eastern Depot and Brocade Guard were mobilized in full to wipe out the Dongfang Lineage.
"According to my father, Dongfang Ni, whose cultivation had reached the Peak Grandmaster Realm by then, was already dead in his study long before they arrived. Judging by the scene, Dongfang Ni was killed with scarcely any chance to fight back. His killer was definitely a Great Grandmaster-level expert, and neither the Eastern Depot nor the Brocade Guard has anyone that strong, so other forces must have been involved.
"Although that last part is only my speculation based on the information available, it should be broadly correct. Don't tell anyone, or even the Blood Robe Tower won't be able to protect you."
At the end, Zhao Dachui gave him a stern warning, afraid that Wang Hao might be unable to keep his mouth shut and bring trouble upon himself.
In fact, he had taken a great risk by revealing this today. If he and his father had not both thought so highly of Wang Hao, he would never have said a word!
"You don't need to tell me how serious this is, Brother Chui. It's just that, from the looks of it, there's no way to settle things amicably with Dongfang Bubai."
Wang Hao naturally understood the risk Zhao Dachui had taken in telling him this, and he was deeply grateful. Still, he felt terribly troubled.
He had originally hoped to find a clue in the files that would clear his name. Who would have thought the truth would be so cruel?
Was this what they meant by cooking the hunting dogs once the cunning hare was dead?
The imperial family really was ruthless!
As for the mysterious force, Wang Hao did not give it much thought. Whether or not they had intervened, his role in the battle that annihilated the lineage would not change. Dongfang Bai would still hate him.
"By the way, Brother Chui, have you reported Dongfang Bubai's situation to the higher-ups?"
A thought occurred to Wang Hao, and he suddenly asked the question.
"Not yet!"
Zhao Dachui shook his head slightly and explained, "This matter is extremely serious and reaches too far. Even my father wouldn't dare report it before getting to the bottom of it."
The matter reached far too wide and even involved the reigning emperor. When Zhao Fengxue, his father, heard about it, his expression had changed drastically. He had even considered killing Wang Hao to silence him, but Zhao Dachui had talked him out of it that day.
On top of that, Wang Hao had demonstrated enough value and was clever enough, which finally made his father abandon the idea of silencing him.
Wang Hao had no idea that he had wandered before the gates of hell several times during this period!
"Could you ask the hall master to suppress the matter instead of reporting it?"
After a moment's silence, Wang Hao said, "I don't want to become a pawn of those powerful people and get dragged into this, only to be discarded one day like the Dongfang Lineage."
Of course, that was not the real reason.
Dongfang Bai was the wife he had already chosen for himself. Once the matter was reported, the reigning emperor would certainly send people to hunt her down with all their might. When that happened, even with the mighty Dugu Qiubai protecting her in secret, she would have a hard time surviving.
After all, that was the power of the entire imperial court!
It was not something an individual could withstand. Besides, who knew whether the Great Ming Imperial Court had other Xiantian Grandmasters on the same level as Dugu Qiubai?
Therefore, it was best to suppress the matter, buying him at least some time.
As long as his cultivation broke through to the Grandmaster Realm, the tenfold potential boost from the Nine Revolutions of Samsara Technique would be enough for him to contend with a Xiantian Grandmaster. Then, even if the Great Ming Imperial Court made a move, he could keep her safe.
At worst, he could take Dongfang Bai overseas to hide for a while, then fight his way back once his cultivation reached the Xiantian Grandmaster level.
"That's not my decision to make, but I can talk to my father."
Zhao Dachui naturally had no idea what Wang Hao was really thinking, but he agreed nonetheless.
After thinking for a moment, he continued, "If possible, you'd better win tomorrow's battle in style. Then I can bring it up while my father is pleased. There should be a good chance he'll agree."
There was no helping it. The matter reached too far and too deep. If it leaked out, his family would surely suffer, so they had to choose carefully.
"Thanks, Brother Chui. Just watch me tomorrow!"
Wang Hao chuckled, looking supremely confident.
With his current strength, as long as he did not encounter a First-Rate genius martial artist, he could sweep straight through the opposition.
"Confidence is good, but don't let your guard down. According to the information I received, those three halls have already joined forces in secret. In tomorrow's battle, I'm afraid you'll face a combined attack from all three."
Zhao Dachui nodded in satisfaction, but still cautioned him.
Although Wang Hao was very strong now, the three halls working together were no weak force either. The outcome was truly hard to predict.
"Don't worry. I anticipated their alliance long ago."
Wang Hao answered with another confident smile. He really had seen this coming long ago.
He had considered many possibilities at the time. Though the three halls joining forces was the worst outcome, it was still within his expectations, and he was confident he could sweep straight through them again.
And the source of his confidence was...
Host: Wang Hao Cultivation: Mortal Realm First Layer Spirit: True Spirit Sword Intent (91/100) Soul: Unawakened Corporeal soul: Unawakened Mind: Unawakened Qi: Unawakened Essence: Bloodline Power (4/100) Fortune Points: 0 Bloodline Divine Ability: Object Storage Cultivation Method: Golden Bell Shield (Complete Integration) Martial skills: Ten Stances of Bloody Battle (peak mastery/transcendent mastery) Lightning Straight-Line Step (Entering the Hall and Inner Chamber/Complete Integration) Thousand Faces Divine Technique (Entering the Hall and Inner Chamber)
Looking at the changes on his status panel, Wang Hao was full of confidence. This was the source of it.
Compared with before, his Bloodline Power had risen from two points to four. Its maximum capacity was tied to his physical strength, which meant his physical strength had improved enormously.
In terms of strength alone, he now possessed the strength of 3,600 jin, enough to rival an expert whose external cultivation had reached Peak First-Rate.
His External Training Golden Bell Shield had also reached the peak of Complete Integration, just one step away from reaching the pinnacle.
But that was not the important part. The important part was that, through yesterday's great battle at the Mystic Water Hall, his Ten Stances of Bloody Battle had finally broken through its bottleneck to reach peak mastery, increasing his combat strength at least threefold.
The Ten Stances of Bloody Battle, perfected by the mighty Dugu Qiubai, was already a sword art no weaker than a First-Rate martial art.
To cultivate a First-Rate martial art to peak mastery, one had to possess at least First-Rate cultivation and peerless talent.
Among the Blood Robe Tower's younger generation, only Zhao Dachui had accomplished that. It was also a major reason Elder Chu valued him.
And now Wang Hao had done it too, and done it better. After all, his cultivation was only at Peak Second-rate.
At the same time, his foundation was much firmer than Zhao Dachui's had been back then, so his combat strength would be correspondingly greater.