A life of clearness

Chapter 280: Holding a grudge
"Two possibilities."

"First, he wants you dead. The survival rate of the White Robe Trial is one in ten thousand. How much does he know about you? How can he be sure that you will survive? If he wants you to die, the probability of achieving this goal is much higher."

“It’s just that—” Number One Under Heaven dragged out his voice, “Based on my intuition, this possibility is not very high.”

"Oh?" Rong Qing was quite interested. "What do you mean?"

"Because you don't have to participate. This White Robe Trial can attract you, but you don't have to go. What's more, I think the second possibility I'm going to talk about is more likely to be true."

"That Changfeng, or the people behind him, think you can successfully become the Inspector. Once you become the Inspector, you will be a great help to their group. Otherwise, why would they bother to tell you a lot of things and waste your time and trouble just to let you die?" Number One Under Heaven shook his head, "It's too cost-effective."

The price/performance ratio is too low... Rong Qing was speechless. Was this a disparagement of her?

After saying this, Number One Under Heaven put his hands together in his sleeves and circled around Rong Qing, looking her up and down.

"Master, what are you doing?"

"I'm wondering, who is so discerning to recognize talent?" Number One Under Heaven was puzzled. "You seem to be quite low-key. Just by looking at you, they can tell that you are a talent worth investing in? This... is unlikely."

He shook his head. "Unless they knew you before. Do you have any idea?"

"Changfeng, I'm sure I've never seen him before."

"That Changfeng should be just a small fry, don't worry too much about him." He waved his hand, "It's just a hunch, you can't possibly have no idea about the power behind him."

"..." Rong Qing's eyes went blank and she began to recall her previous conversation with Changfeng.

Since Changfeng represented the power behind him to make a friendly initial contact with her... Rong Qing believed that Changfeng couldn't have given her no hints at all.

Rong Qing was in deep thought for a long time, and Number One Under Heaven was waiting quietly beside her, not rashly disturbing her thoughts.

half an hour.

"No way..." She suddenly blurted out.

"What did you think of?" Number One Under Heaven asked hurriedly.

"I thought of a possibility, but," she shook her head and smiled bitterly, "I think it's unlikely."

"Tell me about it. Any possibility you think of is not groundless." He motioned Rong Qing to continue, "Because there are always some clues that you don't pay special attention to that remain in your memory, forming a hint that makes you think of a certain possibility."

"I guess," Rong Qing pursed her lips, "the power behind Chang Feng is probably from one of the aristocratic families in the aristocratic family alliance."

Of course, the number one in the world would ask, “Why?”

"Because without the intervention of the Venerable Realm, unless there is a major event that triggers a cross-spiritual war and requires communication with the Venerable Realm, the fighting between the forces within the subordinate spiritual realms is their own business. The separatist situation of the Xuanfeng Realm is not static, and it is normal for some forces to rise while others fall. The changes in the strength of each force do take a long time, and it will take tens of millions of years to see obvious changes, but everything needs an opportunity."

"This cross-border war is such an opportunity. With prior preparation and proper operation, the strength of Xuanfeng Mansion can be reduced. Xuanfeng Mansion is only a branch mansion, and the loss of its strength will not have much impact on the foundation of the Underworld." At most... when Xuanfeng Mansion reports its annual performance to the main mansion, it will be criticized by all thirty-six prefectures, and their benefits and bonuses will be cut, and the budget allocated to Xuanfeng Mansion for the next year will be drastically cut.

But Rong Qing thought it was unlikely that Xuanfeng Mansion would be completely overthrown. I guess the alliance of noble families also thought so.

"The foundation of the alliance of noble families lies in the Xuanfeng Realm. The decline of Xuanfeng Mansion's strength means the increase of the strength of noble families. In addition, the duration of cross-realm wars can easily be thousands of years. With such a long period of time, coupled with the withdrawal of a large number of inspectors, the internal turmoil of Xuanfeng Mansion is enough for the noble families to unite and fish in troubled waters to improve their strength."

"What you said makes sense." Number One Under Heaven asked again, "Then why do you think it was a certain family? To deal with Xuanfeng Mansion, the aristocratic families should be united and work together."

"Going undercover in Xuanfeng Mansion," Rong Qing smiled and waved her hand, "How can we be united?"

Being an undercover agent has always been a high-risk profession since ancient times, and aristocratic families can only send their most loyal subordinates.

"The alliance between the aristocratic families is called an alliance, but each family has its own calculations. You haven't seen it in the Forest of All Dharma Steles..."

Rong Qing told Number One Under Heaven roughly about how Yan Wuji had forced the yellow-robed male cultivator, who was at odds with him, to take up residence in the body of a female cultivator.

"Although this is just a dispute between the younger generation, it also shows from the side that the struggle between the noble families has never stopped. In this case, they will never act collectively. Otherwise, if the loyal subordinates they have worked so hard to train are secretly killed by undercover agents from other noble families, they will really have no place to cry."

"So, not only did each family send undercover agents into Xuanfeng Mansion, but they also had no idea about the other families' undercover agents."

"...The only thing I can't figure out right now is which family is helping me?"

Doing good deeds without leaving your name? This is really not like the style of a noble family.

"You still need to think about this?" Number One Under Heaven was puzzled. "Could it be that you have offended all those noble families in the Forest of All Dharma Steles?"

It’s no wonder that the number one in the world looked at Rong Qing thinking hard and the more he looked at her, the more likely it seemed to him.

"Not really..." Rong Qing took a breath. "We can use the process of elimination, first eliminating the Yan family."

The virtual fire of the Yan family's ancestor almost burned Rong Qing to death. If Wangchuan had not arrived in time, Rong Qing would have been turned into ashes.

She holds a grudge very hard, and when she becomes strong enough, she will first target the ancestor of the Yan family.

"The Shen family... can also be ruled out."

"Logically speaking, they are in urgent need of you." Rong Qing also mentioned some of the grievances with Shen Zhanyan in her narration. Although Shen Zhanyan's soul was sealed, causing her to completely miss the opportunity of the Forest of All Laws Stele, for the Shen family, the gains and losses of this small section were nothing.

The Shen family has been suppressed at the bottom of the aristocratic families for too long. How glorious it was in the past, how humiliating it is now. Their determination to return to the top is unquestionable. In this case, they can completely ignore the past grudges and win over Rong Qing.

"If you dare to bet on me, you must understand me. But Shen Zhanyan can't be said to understand me now." Rong Qing narrowed her eyes slightly.

If it was the original Shen Zhanyan, Rong Qing had fought with her for a long time, and they had a relatively deep understanding of each other before. But this time it was different, Shen Zhanyan was suppressed by Rong Qing without any resistance, how could she understand Rong Qing?

(End of this chapter)