"King Ying?"

Song Lin finally realized who it was. Was Wu Yi in danger in the Capital?

Isn't the Capital supposed to be the safest place? The Seven Great Taoist Alliances are all there, each with its own experts stationed.

Although the struggle for succession lurks in the shadows, outright murder shouldn't be possible in such a place.

Generally speaking, succession battles are fought covertly, with the Taoist Alliance maintaining order on the surface.

While any means can be employed in the battle for succession, certain actions cannot be exposed publicly.

For instance, one cannot duel someone on the streets and kill them outright or use a spell in the court to obliterate a minister out of spite.

The rule of succession is that cultivators deal with cultivators and mortals deal with mortals.

Struggles must remain hidden; assassinations are acceptable, but by the rules, Heavenly Masters must not avenge themselves. However, those below a Heavenly Master are free to seek revenge.

Thinking this through, Song Lin summoned Xiangling.

Half an hour later, Song Lin met up with Xiangling, and the two set off for the Capital.

The Capital lies slightly to the northwest, toward the upper-left center of the world.

The two flew over eight thousand miles, with Song Lin using the Transformation Technique on the way to take on the appearance of another person.

Xiangling, who also carried the Taiqing Yellow Divine Seal, learned the 72 Transformations under Song Lin's guidance.

Finding it fascinating, Xiangling exclaimed, "This is delightful! My Thirty-six Heavenly Gang Divine Demon Dharma Forms already allow for thirty-two manifestations. With the 72 Transformations, can't I summon over a thousand entities?"

Of course, such powerful mana consumption was beyond what she could handle.

Soon, the two arrived at the Wu State Capital.

Seeing the Capital for the first time, Song Lin couldn't help but marvel at its grandeur. A thousand years of accumulation made it more flourishing than many large cities of his past life, enriched with an ancient charm.

Six-story wooden buildings with red lacquer, seven-story pagodas with white walls and black tiles, and rows of high-rises in the Inner City. The Imperial City stood even more majestic, utterly dominating the view of the entire metropolis.

Roughly estimating, Song Lin figured the city housed at least five million people.

The city walls were fortified with suppression enchantments, and demon-spotting treasure mirrors hung high above the gates.

Most skyscrapers within were reinforced with spells; otherwise, such structures would collapse under their own weight.

"I once heard that only members of the Taoist Alliance are allowed to construct buildings higher than three stories. Residents must purchase such accommodations from the Taoist School," Xiangling explained.

"What about those who can't afford it?"

Xiangling gestured toward the west side of the city, where countless tiny mud houses stood.

Sewage flowed openly, the stench unbearable.

Of course, Song Lin couldn't smell it, but just seeing the scene was enough to imagine the odor.

"Let's go. Enter the city quietly and avoid revealing our identities," Song Lin instructed.

He didn't want to attract unnecessary attention.

After all, his title of Shadow Heavenly Master might have already spread here, and he wanted to avoid some War Fanatic trying to step on him to rise in rank.

Hongwen Academy.

Currently, intense arguments erupted inside, the cause being an incident involving Wu Yi's faction.

Several commoners had reported that members of Hongwen Academy had kidnapped young girls. Officials investigating the matter ended up discovering that the culprits were associates of King Ying.

One culprit confessed outright and even accused King Ying of ordering the act.

A mob of commoners now surrounded Hongwen Academy, shouting:

"Return my daughter!"

"My daughter is only sixteen!"

"Hand over the real criminal!"

Among the crowd, some were genuinely enraged parents, while others were planted agents.

Public outrage surged while Wu Yi remained composed and unshaken.

His disciples, however, were beyond agitated.

"This has to be a conspiracy—it's too coincidental. Liu Qiang accused His Highness one moment, then supposedly killed himself out of guilt the next. Clearly, they're silencing witnesses."

Many knew the Taoist School had plenty of methods to extract the truth. The real mastermind likely understood this well, too.

"No rush. The innocent will clear themselves," Wu Yi replied with an indifferent smile before turning to his disciples. "Have you completed today's lessons?"

The disciples were baffled, wondering why he cared about coursework at such a critical moment.

"As I've told you all before, a gentleman must remain unperturbed even if Mount Taishan collapses before him. Why panic over this trivial matter?"

Left without a choice, his disciples grudgingly withdrew, leaving Wu Yi alone to read, detached from the outside chaos.

Soon, another disciple arrived to seek an audience.

This disciple was extraordinarily tall and looked more like a military officer than a scholar.

"Your Highness, the mob outside is on the verge of breaking in. Several students have already been beaten. Should we summon the government to suppress them?"

"No need. You may leave," Wu Yi replied, issuing a curt dismissal.

The disciple hesitated but ultimately left.

In the darkness, a mirror reflected the scenes within the hall.

Before the mirror stood Ao Jie, the Yin King, Taisu, and Nan Jing.

"Does this man have some hidden card to play?" Nan Jing inquired.

"Impossible. We've monitored him closely without noticing anything unusual," Ao Jie replied.

Ao Jie had invested considerable effort in securing the position of literary leader, keeping Wu Yi under surveillance since the beginning. Every move Wu Yi made was under his watch.

"If that's the case, the time is ripe. Now we can move to expel him," Nan Jing suggested.

Expelling Wu Yi would be the first step, followed by intercepting and killing him on the road—this task was assigned to the Yin King and Taisu.

In this way, they could seize his position and completely eliminate Wu Yi and Song Lin from the competition.

All the power Wu Yi had meticulously built would then transfer to the Holy Might Taoist School.

This was the goal set by the Holy Might Heavenly Master.

As mighty as Song Lin was, he couldn't possibly kill every member of the Heaven and Earth Xuanmen Alliance.

A small faction of Spirit Treasure Sect experts secretly protected the Eighth Prince.

Song Lin's Yinghua School had recently infiltrated the core of the succession battle.

Before long, Ao Jie led a large group of students to confront Wu Yi in force.

Most of these students were allied with the Dragon Lord, hailing from noble families that often clashed with Wu Yi's faction of poor family scholars. Now, under Ao Jie's lead, they seized the opportunity to strike.

"King Ying, your lack of morality makes you unfit to serve as the director of the academy. I've already submitted a petition to the Yan King to have you removed from the post," Ao Jie declared righteously, presenting the Yan King's decree.

The students around him joined in, their accusations piling up, pinning all blame on Wu Yi.

Not far away, the Yin King and others looked on with quiet amusement.

Song Lin daring to participate in the battle for succession was audacious without measure. A fool without foresight only sets themselves up for failure.

In response to the barrage of accusations, Wu Yi merely smiled faintly and said, "Why rush? What makes you so certain that I'm the culprit?"

"Sword Guard, step forward!"

"Present!"

The tall, burly disciple from earlier stepped out of the crowd.

With a single wave of his sleeve—

Whoosh!

Black mist spread across the air, revealing the Thunder Mansion Ghost Soldiers emerging from the haze. They held a fierce and malevolent soul in their grasp.

The students gasped in shock before recognizing that the soul belonged to Liu Qiang.

Liu Qiang's ghost pointed at Ao Jie and roared, "You wretch! You broke your promise! You clearly said if I framed King Ying, you'd help pay off my gambling debts. Why did you kill me?!"

The crowd immediately erupted in uproar.

But it didn't end there.

A group of five Taoists emerged from the throng, dragging out five suspicious-looking individuals.

"Are all of these men claiming to have lost daughters? Please, everyone, follow the Donghua Taoists to verify whether they even have daughters at home," one Taoist announced.

The five were exposed as plants in the crowd, and when the Taoists closed in, two of them resorted to using spells.

The crowd finally realized the truth.

True victimized parents turned their furious gazes upon Ao Xing.

Ao Xing, meanwhile, stared at the Sword Guard, shocked to realize that the man was a cultivator. How had they managed to communicate such information?

Only now did he understand that Wu Yi had outwitted him.

"Fake! It's all fake! Don't believe Wu Yi—he's full of tricks!" Ao Xing shouted.

"Silence!"

Wu Yi stepped forward. The gentleness on his face vanished, replaced by an icy demeanor.

Facing Wu Yi, Ao Jie, despite being a Tribulation Crossing Cultivator, instinctively took half a step back.

Realizing his momentary hesitation, Ao Jie attempted to compose himself, but the aura had shifted.

"Why so eager to expose yourself, hmm? Scaly and slimy, cold-blooded creatures like you can't hide your fishy stench no matter how human you try to appear. Begone!"

"Who gave you Dragon Clan the illusion of nobility? You're nothing but demons leeching off the Human Clan. What contributions have you ever made to humanity?"

"You... you're courting death!" Ao Jie, humiliated for the first time, exploded in fury. The entire palace trembled as he prepared to strike Wu Yi down.

"Calm yourself! Don't fall into his trap!" the Yin King covertly transmitted to him.

Ao Jie hesitated upon hearing this, realizing that acting now would indeed play into Wu Yi's hands.

"Hmph! We'll see about this!"

Ao Jie left with his group in tow.

Thus, this round of confrontation concluded with Ao Jie and the Dragon Palace faction retreating.

In the crowd, Song Lin and Xiangling quietly observed the entire drama, though their focus lay elsewhere.

"Taoist Master, that pair over there seems rather suspicious," Xiangling transmitted.

Song Lin nodded subtly.

Not far off stood a man and a woman emanating a transcendent aura. Others might not discern their nature, but Song Lin's Qi Observation Technique revealed their extraordinary cultivation levels.

They seemed particularly interested in Wu Yi.

As the commotion settled, the pair departed, with Song Lin and Xiangling trailing them from a distance.

...

Meanwhile, the case of the missing girls was officially closed, ruled as Liu Qiang's doing.

Yet anyone discerning the truth knew who the real culprit was. From this point on, Wu Yi fully gained control over Hongwen Academy.

Within the palace.

Wu Yi curiously inquired, "Sword Guard, how did you retrieve Liu Qiang's soul? By all rights, they should've destroyed it to silence him."

"Fake. Why should only they be allowed to fabricate evidence?" the Sword Guard replied with a sly grin.

Days later.

Wu Yi and his group embarked on an errand outside the academy.

Boom!

In a desolate countryside, the skies churned with wind and thunder.

"Hahaha! Wu Yi, your grandpa has arrived!"

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