[Special Event — Western Frontier Trap]
[Your descendant Li Yunlin was ambushed by the Peerless Hall in the Western Frontier.
Though the ambushers numbered over a hundred, they vastly underestimated his capabilities.
Without even needing to unleash the Skyveil Hall, a single sweeping strike of his long spear executed the Void Refinement technique, 'Skyveil Slash.'
Every cultivator below the Void Refinement realm was annihilated, body and soul.
Condensing twenty-five rules into that single strike, he instantly slew an early-stage Void Refinement cultivator and departed the Western Frontier with elegant ease.]
[Acquired Family Will: 20,000]
Li Yunlin had safely departed, but his Old Ancestor wasn't having such an easy time.
Beneath the Blood Moon, a cluster of black fire seemed to suddenly ignite.
Shrouded in the dark mist, Li Wei stared at the glowing panel before him.
Unseen by the others, a bitter expression crossed his face as he tallied the numbers under his breath.
"Over the years, I've saved up nearly a hundred and thirty thousand. Plus this twenty thousand from Yunlin, that makes a hundred and fifty thousand... Fuck, coming out this time cost me another hundred thousand."
"In other words, after all these years, I've barely banked fifty thousand Family Will. Why is my appearance fee so damn expensive? Can't the system give me a discount?"
The people surrounding him, of course, could not hear his internal, heartbroken wails.
Li Wei was finally experiencing the same suffocating pressure Uncle Rain had once faced.
To his left stood Ba Siyu; to his right, Min Tiange. In front of him was the painted-face, tattered-clothed He Qianxia, and blocking his rear was an old acquaintance—Dharma Master Hongzhen.
The Dharma Master had vanished during the battle at the Dusheng Nunnery; to think that upon her reappearance, she had already broken through to the Body Integration realm.
The clown-like figure, He Qianxia, was a stranger to him, yet the aura he exuded was undeniably extraordinary.
And Ba Siyu... heaven only knew why he was mixed up with this crowd.
The man was obsessed with weighing the pros and cons, arguably even more calculating than Supreme Elder Pu Ci.
The moment Li Yunlin arrived, these four had shown up.
Though Li Wei appeared calm on the surface, his heart was exceptionally heavy.
In the past, despite the presence of the Blood Moon in the Western Frontier, Min Tiange hadn't dared to show his face—even Mahayana experts wanted him dead.
But now, Min Tiange and Ba Siyu had joined forces.
There was only one explanation: Min Tiange had transitioned from the shadows into the light, finally gaining legitimacy.
The four cultivators surrounding him didn't speak a word, yet their intersecting auras had already locked down the entire space. The cloudy sky above could transform into a crushing Dao Domain at any second.
Still, sensing that Li Yunlin was safely out of range, Li Wei breathed an inward sigh of relief.
After a tense standoff, Min Tiange finally broke the silence, his voice heavy. "I have met Li Xinnian of your Li Clan."
Li Wei remained silent.
"We are the same kind of people," Min Tiange continued. "Many years ago, I invited your clan to join me. He agreed, yet you never followed through."
"..." Li Wei paused for a moment before replying smoothly, "The time is not yet ripe. We have already been plotting in the background."
After all, spouting a little nonsense wouldn't cost him a piece of flesh.
"No, you haven't," Min Tiange scoffed.
"It is the most amusing thing I have encountered in a long time. I never expected it, yet I believed his words for nearly a century. Right up until your Li Clan evacuated the Western Frontier, I was still buying into his lies."
Li Wei was left momentarily speechless, wondering how Xinnian's words could have been so incredibly convincing.
Suddenly struck by a thought, Li Wei mentally opened Li Xinnian's status panel.
Beneath the 'Destined Villain' trait, there were several others—one being an innate ability to easily persuade wicked people...
He just hadn't expected that Xinnian's silver tongue could deceive someone as astute as Min Tiange, let alone string him along for a century.
"Uncle Rain died in your Azure Cloud Prefecture," Min Tiange said, taking a deep breath. "Did he die with dignity?"
"He did."
Although he didn't know why Min Tiange was asking, Li Wei still held a measure of respect for Uncle Rain.
He replied earnestly, "He stood alone within his Dao Domain, and his Dao assimilated into heaven and earth."
"You are a man of few words." Min Tiange let out a quiet sigh of relief.
"You handled the matter well. I never liked Uncle Rain. Even after having the Dao Seed planted in him, he always looked down on me. Yet, I still held the utmost respect for him. Do you know why?"
Because you're a masochist, Li Wei thought dryly.
Outwardly, he said in a deep voice, "I'm listening."
"He was always loyal to the Imperial Dynasty, loyal to the Human Emperor. Back when I saved him and offered him the Dao Seed, do you know what he asked me?"
Min Tiange's expression filled with reminiscence.
"He asked me if swallowing it would make him forget His Majesty.
I have already investigated and confirmed that he went to see the Empress prior to his death. Does Your Excellency know why he went to Azure Cloud Prefecture?"
"Because the Empress told him that Azure Cloud Prefecture was a threat to the Dynasty. If he eliminated this threat, he would once again be the Imperial Dynasty's honored Uncle Rain.
He had been hunted by them for tens of thousands of years; even I could sense how incredibly excited he was at the prospect of redemption.
But by making that trip... the Empress remained the Empress, while Uncle Rain remained a traitor in the eyes of the world."
Hearing this rhetoric, Li Wei felt a prickle of agitation.
He had heard this exact kind of speech before.
Whenever Xinnian bewitched demonic path cultivators, he always appealed to their emotions and reason first, before painting a grand, illusory picture of a shared future.
"We have always been the same kind of people."
Min Tiange's gaze turned surprisingly gentle.
"We have common enemies. You killed Uncle Rain, you harbored the fugitives of the Grand Tower and the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems, and Li Xinnian deceived me—none of it matters. We share the ultimate goal. I am willing to give your Li Clan one last chance."