The Mastermind

Inside the royal mausoleum, Ling Yun let out a long breath of relief as he watched the figures battling in the distant sky.

"I never thought my... royal father would be so capable."

Ling Yun realized he had underestimated the Spirit King's Manor-or rather, he had underestimated his father.

What should have been a hopeless death trap had ultimately been turned around because of him.

Looks like there's no need for me to intervene.

Ling Yun thought to himself.

He wanted to save the Spirit Devouring Spell as a trump card to protect his life, not waste it on someone else. After all, he knew someone was already watching the royal mausoleum from the shadows.

The royal mausoleum was his place of refuge, and nothing could be allowed to happen to it. For now, outsiders still saw him as nothing more than a crippled heir.

If he left the royal mausoleum because of the crisis there, the secret of his restored cultivation would likely spread.

Rebuilding a dantian was no ordinary feat. The Eastern Desolation had no terrifying existences in the Creation Realm, so naturally, no one could have rebuilt Ling Yun's dantian.

With the possibility of a Creation Realm expert ruled out, only a heaven-defying treasure could have rebuilt his dantian.

So if word of Ling Yun's restored cultivation got out, countless eyes would turn to him-not just in the Ling Kingdom, but likely across the entire Eastern Desolation.

When that happened, the mastermind who had crippled his dantian might even stop at nothing to strike at him again.

Although he now had some ability to protect himself, until he found out who the mastermind was, he had no intention of exposing himself too early and being put on the back foot.

After all, the enemy was in the shadows, while he was out in the open.

Thus, when he saw a full five Primordial Spirit Realm experts take action, Ling Yun felt the pressure ease considerably.

"Even if they can't stop those two Moon-Gazing Sect elders from escaping, they can still resolve the Spirit King's Manor's immediate crisis."

Ling Yun stood atop the royal mausoleum, gazing at the full moon rising in the distance, his heart shaken.

Even from so far away, the terrifying aftershock caused by that full moon still reached him. Fierce winds sent the surrounding leaves tumbling down, howling without end.

"Hmm?"

All of a sudden, Ling Yun's expression grew grave. He instinctively concealed his presence, seeming to melt into the night and blend seamlessly with everything around him.

Someone... has come.

His pupils contracted as he thought to himself.

Through the Heavenly Eye Spell, he sensed dark figures moving furtively at the entrance to the royal mausoleum.

It really is those people from last time.

Ling Yun recognized their presence.

Without a doubt, the newcomers were the ones who had trespassed in the royal mausoleum last time!

Who would come to the royal mausoleum?

What's so special about the royal mausoleum?

As the questions ran through Ling Yun's mind, he kept his senses trained on the dark figures without relaxing for a moment.

At the foot of the royal mausoleum's mountain range, the moonlight finally let Ling Yun see what they looked like.

Wh... what?!

Looking at the two faces, Ling Yun's eyes filled with disbelief.

Those two are from the Spirit King's Manor!

Ling Yun compared their faces with the original owner's memories and instantly had his answer.

One of them is the original owner's third uncle, and the other is a guest elder of the manor.

Ling Yun suddenly understood.

The Spirit King had been lured away, and no one's attention was on the royal mausoleum. Amid the chaos, the mastermind no longer had any misgivings and had decided to make a move tonight.

He simply had not expected the third uncle, a blood relative of the royal household, to have turned traitor.

What kind of gain could make the original owner's third uncle turn traitor and strike at his own ancestors? This is simply...

For a moment, even Ling Yun could find no words to describe such a talent.

As the two drew closer, Ling Yun finally heard what they were saying.

"I really didn't expect you to be one of Master's informants too, Third Master!"

The guest elder spoke with a smile, a hint of teasing in his voice.

Ling Guang laughed. "What's so strange about that? Rather than be a powerless nobody in the Spirit King's Manor, I'd rather follow Master and work with him on his grand plans!"

The guest elder nodded in wholehearted agreement, and the lingering distance between him and Third Master finally vanished. "Now that the time to reap the harvest has come, we've finally learned each other's identities. I must say, Master's planning is truly profound. It's absolutely foolproof!"

Looking at the royal mausoleum, Ling Guang took a deep breath and nodded. "Since Master has given the order, we'll wait here."

The guest elder nodded. "Very well. But before that, why don't we finish that brat off once and for all?"

"We let him get away with his life last time. I never thought he'd cling to it for this long."

Their conversation reached Ling Yun's ears as they spoke as though no one else were present.

In an instant, a vicious light flashed in Ling Yun's eyes as he hid in the shadows, and his heart turned utterly cold.

I never thought the ones who attacked me would be my own people! What a fine backstab!

Ling Yun was furious.

The feeling was not especially strong, but it was genuine, born from his fusion with the original owner's memories. It was his own emotional response.

The ones spying on the royal mausoleum and the ones who attacked me are the same group. Then who's the mastermind behind them?

Ling Yun suppressed the emotions churning inside him and began to think rationally.

There had been too many coincidences and sudden changes recently. Ling Yun had a feeling he was not far from the truth.

Chen Ling killed Dai Cheng, bringing a formidable enemy to the manor. Meanwhile, the mastermind spying on the royal mausoleum waited for a chance to act. It's as if everything had been planned step by step to reach this day!

Suddenly, Ling Yun finally connected everything that had happened during this time, and a chill rose in his heart.

What a scheme! It seems the mastermind behind all these incidents is the same person!

Having thought it all through, Ling Yun could not help clenching his fists.

When he had first transmigrated here, he had been at a low point in his life and had even suspected Madam Wang was the one who had attacked him.

He had never expected that entering the royal mausoleum to lie low would lead him to stumble upon one secret after another. He had gained something from his loss; his life was not meant to end.

And now you want to kill me?

Ling Yun could no longer suppress his killing intent. Still, mindful of his concerns, he put on a black robe in the shadows to conceal himself.

Since no one knows I've rebuilt my dantian, I'll keep it that way.

If I don't say anything, who will know I was the one who did it?

With a sneer, he stopped concealing himself and appeared on the path the two had to take.

Under the night sky, Ling Yun stood dressed in black, watching the two enter his field of vision. The eyes hidden beneath his robe curved into a smile.

"You can be my first opponents."

As he spoke, Ling Yun paused, shook his head, and corrected himself.

"Oh, I suppose you don't count as opponents."

The next moment, he unleashed his full presence and charged at them.

"Who's there?!"

Ling Guang and the guest elder were startled, but they reacted swiftly, each drawing a weapon and meeting him head-on.

"Be a pair of good dogs in your next lives,"

Ling Yun said in a low voice.

Two pale flashes of sword light streaked past, piercing straight through their dantians.

"Ah... no... my... my cultivation!"

Both screamed and collapsed, their weapons falling beside them as they clutched their dantians tightly with both hands.

Scarlet blood pooled across the ground. The dantians they had cultivated for half their lives were like punctured balloons, their spiritual essence leaking away. Their cultivation fell out of the Core Formation Realm in an instant, and within a few breaths, they had dropped to the Body Tempering Realm, with no spiritual essence left in their bodies...

At that moment, Ling Yun felt exhilarated. Making his enemies experience the destruction of their own dantians was as satisfying as it got.

"Who are you?! I'll kill you!"

Ling Guang roared, his eyes bloodshot. Having utterly lost his senses, he snatched up his weapon and charged at Ling Yun like a madman.

"Die-"

Ling Yun's eyes were icy. This time, he gave Ling Guang no chance to live. Sword light flashed again and plunged straight into the space between his brows, sending a thin spray of crimson blood into the air.

Ling Guang's eyes flew wide as he crashed backward, kicking up dust all around him. He died with his eyes still open.

His face was smeared with blood, and even as his consciousness faded, he could not accept it.

"No... don't! Don't kill me!"

The guest elder, still alive, paid no heed to the pain in his body. He looked at Ling Yun in terror, tears and snot streaming down his face as he pleaded desperately.

Ling Yun's expression shifted. "Tell me who your master is, and I'll spare your life..."

The guest elder shook his head violently, fear flashing through his eyes.

"Tell me, and you still have a chance to live. Refuse, and you die now."

Ling Yun threatened him.

The guest elder gritted his teeth, finally steeled himself, and shouted, "I'll talk... I'll talk!"

"My master... is..."

The words were on the tip of his tongue, but he could not get them out. Suddenly, the guest elder raised his blood-covered hands and clutched his neck, his face flushing red with agony.

"Cough... ugh..."

He could not speak at all, as though someone were strangling him.

The sight gave Ling Yun a shock.

Suddenly, he noticed that the guest elder's eyes had turned utterly strange. Eerie green flames swallowed his pupils, a chilling sight.

"It's... it's that evil art from before!"

Ling Yun was both shocked and furious.

Before his eyes, the eerie green flames finally spread over the guest elder's entire body, burning him to ash that scattered with the wind.