Removing the Firewood from Under the Cauldron

Seeing Lucas Li looking like this, Shen Xuanji could only sigh inwardly.

He knew that even if Lucas Li believed his two ministers, a nail of suspicion had already been planted in his heart. If the other side kept stirring things up, a huge rift could easily form between them.

But he didn’t try to persuade him any further.

Lucas Li’s talent for cultivation was outstanding, and his realm far surpassed his two older brothers. It was inevitable that he was a bit proud, and proud people tend to be arrogant. Don’t be fooled by how much he trusts his strategist—just because he listens to him doesn’t mean he’ll follow every word.

Take this matter, for example. If Shen Xuanji kept defending the two ministers, he might even provoke Lucas Li’s displeasure. That would be a loss rather than a gain.

Second Prince Residence.

After venting his anger with two concubines, Nathan Li gathered all his advisers again.

Victor Li has gone too far. I have to show him a lesson, make him understand that his second brother’s things aren’t so easy to snatch. If you steal from me, you pay the price.

“I want to deal with Victor Li. Give me a plan!” Nathan Li didn’t bother with small talk and got straight to the point.

For a moment, all the advisers looked at each other, and many lowered their heads in deep thought.

A long time passed, but still no one spoke up.

Nathan Li’s face grew darker and darker.

Bang!

Another tea table shattered with a crash. “Useless fools! Why do I keep you around? If you can’t come up with a way to deal with Victor Li today, don’t bother staying in my residence. Get lost—far away as you can!”

Hearing Nathan Li’s threat, the advisers’ faces changed drastically. They started racking their brains. Their cultivation wasn’t high, but Nathan Li treated them well, so none of them wanted to leave.

After another long silence, a thin, middle-aged adviser finally spoke up, trembling: “Your Highness, I have an idea!”

“Speak!” Nathan Li’s face softened a little.

The adviser said cautiously, “Your Highness, we could target the Heaven-Arts Pavilion Outer Branch!”

Nathan Li immediately shot him a look, coldly saying, “The Heaven-Arts Pavilion Outer Branch has hundreds of Nascent Divinity experts. How do you expect me to make a move?”

“You’re right, Your Highness. We really shouldn’t confront them head-on. But we can target the rogue cultivators who take missions from them!”

"Oh?" Nathan Li raised an eyebrow. "Go on!"

With Nathan Li’s encouragement, the adviser’s face lit up. “We can secretly send people to assassinate the rogue cultivators who take missions from the Heaven-Arts Pavilion Outer Branch. We can even spread the word: anyone who dares take a mission from the Heaven-Arts Pavilion will be killed! If no one dares accept missions from the Outer Branch, then the whole thing becomes pointless!”

Hearing this, Nathan Li’s eyes lit up and he nodded approvingly. “That’s a great plan. Go to the accounts office later and collect twenty top-grade spirit crystals!”

“Thank you, Your Highness!”

The adviser hurriedly knelt in thanks, but as he lowered his head, a cold gleam flashed in his eyes.

Sean Xie was a rogue cultivator. After thousands of years of bitter cultivation, he had only barely reached late Out-of-Body stage. Going any further was impossible.

So when he heard the Fourth Prince Residence was recruiting, he rushed to the Royal Capital.

Unfortunately, by the time he arrived, the recruitment was already over.

Just as he was about to leave, the Fourth Prince Residence opened the Heaven-Arts Pavilion Outer Branch. As long as you completed a few missions, you could redeem a Godbreaking Pill from the Pavilion.

To earn enough for a Godbreaking Pill, he accepted more than twenty missions in one go.

As long as he completed all twenty-plus missions, he could exchange them for a Godbreaking Pill.

One of the missions was to find a Spirit Medicine in the forest near the Royal Capital.

He spent two days searching and finally found the Spirit Medicine mentioned in the mission.

He carefully stored the herb in his Storage Ring, grinning. "Twenty Merit Points, in the bag."

"Too bad you won’t live to redeem them!"

A sudden voice rang out.

“Who’s there?” Sean Xie shouted in alarm.

But in the next instant, everything went black before his eyes, and he lost consciousness completely.

Don Zhou and Dylan Zhou were twin brothers.

They were originally cowherd boys from the countryside. One day, their employer’s old yellow ox fell off a cliff. Afraid of being punished, the brothers climbed down after it and, by chance, inherited a rogue cultivator’s legacy.

Twelve hundred years had passed. The brothers had both become Nascent Divinity-stage cultivators, but their biggest headache was that they had no higher-level manuals to continue their cultivation.

Buying Nascent Divinity manuals was far too expensive—they simply couldn’t afford them. And even if they had spirit crystals, people might not be willing to sell.

So the brothers made their way to the Royal Capital.

The founding of the Heaven-Arts Pavilion Outer Branch gave them hope for further advancement. So, the brothers took on three difficult missions in a row, convinced that their bond would see them through.

After several days of travel, they finally reached a valley. Working together, they slew the monsters inside and managed to collect the herb required for the mission.

Just as they were about to celebrate, a black-clad figure appeared.

The brothers immediately stared at the newcomer, wary and alert.

"Die!"

With a chilling word, two sword beams flashed and pierced straight through the brothers’ skulls.

Watching their bodies fall, the black-clad assassin walked over, took their Storage Rings, and, after inspecting the contents, sneered with contempt: "Penniless fools!"

While rumors of the Fourth Prince Victor Li’s marriage proposals at the two Minister Residences were still circulating, a shocking event occurred...

Early that morning, more than a hundred severed heads of cultivators appeared on the official road outside the Royal Capital.

Investigation revealed that all the dead cultivators had accepted missions from the Heaven-Arts Pavilion.

This left those who still wanted to take missions from the Pavilion Outer Branch chilled to the bone.

The next day.

Another two hundred heads appeared outside the Royal Capital—again, all belonging to cultivators who had taken missions.

The once-bustling Heaven-Arts Pavilion Outer Branch suddenly fell silent. No one dared take another mission. Even a fool could see someone was deliberately targeting the Pavilion.

"Bang!"

Victor Li slammed his palm onto the stone table and roared, "This is outrageous! Absolutely outrageous!"

Song Yan also frowned. The enemy’s tactic was truly vicious—cutting off their lifeblood at the root.

"Second Brother, what should we do next?" Victor Li asked Song Yan.

Song Yan thought for a moment. "First, we need to find out who’s behind the killings. Second, we must find a way to guarantee their safety. Otherwise, the Pavilion Outer Branch will have to shut down for good!"

Just then, Bada hurried in. He had personally led the investigation after the incident yesterday.

"Bada, did you find out who did it?" Victor Li asked impatiently as soon as he saw him.

"It was the retainers of the Second Prince Residence," Bada replied grimly.

"Damn! So it was Nathan Li behind this. I’ll go demand an explanation at his residence right now!" Victor Li shouted, preparing to storm off.

But Song Yan sensed something was wrong and called out, "Wait, Big Brother!"