Calming the Storm

Inside the great hall of the Spirit King's Manor.

The entire leadership of the Spirit King's Manor had gathered there, not even having had time to deal with the chaos left by the great battle.

The Spirit King knew he could not hold on much longer. With only a breath left in him, he was forcibly suppressing the strange poison.

"It all began three months ago..."

Madam Wang composed herself and began recounting everything that had happened during that time, without leaving out a single word.

"Heaven and Earth Academy took an interest in Ling Yun and wanted to take him in as a core disciple of the inner sect, asking him to report to the academy.

"..."

A long while later, Madam Wang had explained everything, concealing nothing, including how they had stripped Ling Yun of his status as heir.

Throughout her account, the Spirit King's expression remained utterly grim. Everyone else in the hall was too afraid to speak, their heads bowed and their hearts full of dread.

In particular, when she spoke of Ling Yun being crippled, an incomparably terrifying pressure erupted from the Spirit King, leaving everyone swaying on their feet and struggling to breathe.

"Heaven and Earth Academy?"

At last, the Spirit King murmured under his breath, his expression icy.

Madam Wang continued, "Since then, Heaven and Earth Academy hasn't had any contact with our manor. As for Ling Yun... they don't seem to care."

Even Madam Wang found that somewhat strange. When Ling Yun revealed his cultivation, Heaven and Earth Academy had valued him highly enough to send an envoy to invite him in person.

A core disciple of the inner sect was indeed worthy of such treatment from a major power like Heaven and Earth Academy.

But after Ling Yun's mishap, Heaven and Earth Academy had not even asked about him. Madam Wang had simply assumed that the crippled Ling Yun was no longer of any value and was not worth their attention.

Even so, a trace of doubt had lingered in her heart.

"...A month ago, King Chen's Commandery Princess came to our manor..."

At that, a fierce light flared in the Spirit King's eyes.

"So it was King Chen!"

The Spirit King's heart was filled with questions, but no matter how hard he pondered them, he could find no answers.

He did not understand. King Chen had once been nothing more than a minor figure in the Core Formation Realm, a vassal king on the border who would have had little contact with a king like him.

How had he suddenly become the mastermind behind the harm done to the manor?

"He started laying his plans eight years ago..."

"He'll stop at nothing!"

The Spirit King ground his teeth, but though willing, he was powerless to act.

"There is only one true secret in the Royal Mausoleum, and that is our branch's 'Forbidden Heart.' Could they be the ones who came for it?"

A possibility suddenly occurred to him, and he immediately grew tense.

"They haven't shown themselves in a thousand years. Who knows how far they've recovered? If they really are the ones who struck at the manor, that can only prove they've already begun paving the way for the next age of chaos!"

In the great hall, everyone watched the silent Spirit King, their hearts pounding all the harder.

Ling Fei was not there. Ever since returning from the Royal Mausoleum, he had become quiet and restless.

Madam Wang knew what he was thinking about.

At fifteen, Ling Fei was a year younger than Ling Yun and still had the temperament of a child. There was no way he could come to terms with this string of upheavals in such a short time.

Madam Wang's heart ached for him, but she also knew that saying more would do no good, so she had let Ling Fei go back and rest.

What had happened to Ling Yun had shaken her no less than it had Ling Fei, but she had more to bear. Until the Spirit King finished entrusting everything to her, she could not allow herself to be struck down by those complicated emotions.

"Where is Third Brother?"

The Spirit King, seated at the head of the hall, suddenly asked.

Everyone exchanged looks, none of them knowing.

With one upheaval after another, they had paid no attention to the people around them and did not even know who was missing.

"Your Highness, it seems... Guest Elder Zhao isn't here either."

Someone spoke hesitantly.

"Missing?"

Everyone felt a weight settle in their hearts and dared not think further.

Leaving the guest elder aside, the Third Master, Ling Guang, was a member of the manor's bloodline. How could he possibly be absent on an occasion like this?

"Never mind. All of you, withdraw and put an end to the chaos in the manor."

The Spirit King waved them away and ordered them out.

In the end, only the Spirit King and Madam Wang remained in the great hall.

"Your Highness, Ling Yun..."

Madam Wang had only just opened her mouth when she saw the Spirit King's Qi surge through his body like a breached dam, instantly triggering a terrifying collapse.

"Cough-"

The Spirit King coughed up a mouthful of black blood.

When the black blood struck the floor, it actually gave off a sizzling sound and corroded a hole in it.

Streams of black poisonous gas surged all over his body. His face was ashen, his teeth chattered, and even the scenes before his eyes grew blurry.

"Your Highness!"

Madam Wang turned pale with shock and was about to rush over, but the Spirit King shouted for her to stop.

"Don't come over! This is the Sinister Insect's poison. I can't control it anymore. If you come near me, you'll be infected by it too..."

As the Spirit King spoke, he coughed up another mouthful of blood.

"No... what do you expect me to do? What do you expect me to do..."

Madam Wang could no longer hold herself back. Tears poured down her face, and she was utterly helpless.

The Spirit King managed to suppress his Qi. He shook his head and said with a self-mocking smile, "There's no turning back the heavens."

"Listen, a great upheaval is upon the world. You must look further ahead..."

"Yun'er is gone. I'll go find him, but if he blames you, I won't speak for you."

"From the moment he was born, I placed tremendous hopes in him. He was... different from the others. It's just a pity that, in the end, Yun'er couldn't make it through this tribulation."

The Spirit King's expression suddenly relaxed as never before, and he poured out all these words at once.

"Do you know why Fei'er became so hostile toward Yun'er?"

A trace of loneliness flashed through the Spirit King's eyes.

"They were so close when they were little. Why did things turn out like this..."

Madam Wang was already sobbing too hard to speak. She and the Spirit King were only a zhang apart, yet they could not touch each other.

"It was... it was me. I wanted my son to become a dragon. I was too anxious for his sake. I put too much pressure on Fei'er. I made Fei'er compare himself with Ling Yun in everything. It was all me. I made their relationship what it became..."

"I was wrong..."

As Madam Wang spoke those three words, she felt an unprecedented regret for the person she had been.

"Ha ha..."

The Spirit King stared blankly, then suddenly laughed.

"You should blame yourself. This is what you owe the two children, and it's also... what I owe them."

"From now on, you must raise Fei'er well. The manor's future can only rest on his shoulders."

"I hope... he can grow strong enough to protect himself and the manor before the great chaos begins."

After saying this, the Spirit King slowly let the relaxed expression fade from his face. He became as he had been before: stern and serious.

Watching him, Madam Wang finally stopped crying.

"Three things."

The Spirit King let out a breath.

These were the last things he could do for the manor.

"First, the Royal Mausoleum holds a great secret of our ancestors-the Forbidden Heart that protects the Five Branches of the Ling Clan! It is the greatest protection our ancestors left us descendants, and also the Ling Clan's final strike before its destruction."

"In the future, when the age of chaos erupts, you must remain forever on this land, living and dying with the Ling Clan until the last person falls. This is the mission of the Five Branches of the Ling Clan."

"Second, when Ling Fei turns eighteen, have him seek an audience with His Majesty. After he returns, he will lead the Spirit King's Manor from then on. Assist him until he can truly stand on his own."

"Third, someone infiltrated the manor as a spy before. Third Brother and Guest Elder Zhao have most likely defected. Everything that has happened recently is because someone covets the Forbidden Heart left behind by our ancestors. But you needn't worry too much. There is an incomparably terrifying forbidden array in the Royal Mausoleum that almost no one knows about."

"If anyone courting death goes there, they will most likely die. What I fear is that, once the existence of the forbidden array is exposed, someone with designs on it will infiltrate the mausoleum and learn the Forbidden Heart's true secret. So, from now on, seal the Royal Mausoleum. No one is permitted to approach it."

As Madam Wang listened to the Spirit King's instructions, her heart filled with overwhelming shock.

The Forbidden Heart!

She had never heard of any of these secrets before.

But she also knew that this concerned the survival of the manor!