The Target of a Conspiracy, The Wang Clan
The feeling of entering the cultivation journey was great, and Xue Bai was going to test out his new power, but something unexpected happened that stopped Xue Bai from doing that.
With his liver connected to his Spiritual Qi vascular system, an excess strand of Spiritual Qi went into his liver, giving it a small evolution.
And now, significantly stronger than before, the liver finally managed to complete a job it had been wanting to do for years.
Unaware of what was happening inside of him, Xue Bai stood up to feel his new power, but suddenly he felt a black ball go up his throat. Thinking it was bile, Xue Bai turned his head to the side to puke it out.
But instead of the refreshing feeling one would feel after they freed their airways, once Xue Bai saw what exactly he had thrown up, his face turned pale.
What he threw up wasn't food, bile, or anything else a human should throw up, for that matter. Instead, it was a worm curled up into a ball.
The worm in question was blood red, and though it was curled into a ball, you could still tell that it was at least a foot in length when stretched out.
On the bright side, however, the worm was dead after Xue Bai threw it up.
"Wait, that was in me?" Seeing himself throw up something so big terrified Xue Bai.
As his thoughts were reeling from the thousands of questions boiling in his mind, Li Rou's voice came from behind.
"Bai'er, what in the heavens did you just throw up?" Li Rou's eyebrows shot up, and her face was deeply confused.
However, Xue Bai wasn't the one to answer. Instead, a furious Xue Feng did. And in a voice that seemed to make the air tremble, Xue Feng started to speak.
"That's a Vein Swallowing Worm."
While Li Rou was much more knowledgeable than her husband, she didn't have a clear line of sight to the worm and was confused about what exactly it was. But after Xue Feng, who saw it completely, mentioned its name, Li Rou immediately became distressed.
"But that's been banned throughout the Baishen Plane by the Righteous Alliance! Only demonic sects would dare to use these!" Li Rou said in a panicked tone.
"That's exactly why I'm furious. A mere demonic scum HAS TARGETED MY ONLY SON!" Xue Feng roared in anger.
Though Xue Bai had guessed what it did from the name, he still asked what it did.
Xue Feng was still a step away from going insane, but since his son had asked him a question, he decided to stop screaming. Taking deep breaths to calm himself down, Xue Feng started to explain what they were.
"They are a special type of Gu that are raised to swallow the premature Martial Veins of children. And their usage is even more sinister. In order to cripple a young child, all you have to do is to make a child under 11 swallow it, and as long as the Martial Vein isn't a realm higher than its rank, the Vein Swallowing Worm will consume it. But the most aggravating thing about it is that it's almost impossible to detect once swallowed." Xue Feng spoke in an ice-cold tone.
Xue Bai's face turned pale after hearing that. But since it had already happened, he steeled himself and asked his follow-up question.
"Why?"
"Because it dies as soon as it eats the Martial Vein of the child. Then it decomposes by itself and soon be excreted by the child who swallowed it. So you wouldn't even know you had it the entire time. Only thinking that you were born a cripple." Xue Feng continued.
Xue Bai understood what had happened to him at this point. How could he not? He had been the target of a conspiracy to ensure that Xue Feng didn't have an heir.
And once he looked at the Vein Swallowing Worm once more, it made even more sense.
"So it being red meant that I had a fire element, Martial Vein?" Xue Bai asked tentatively.
Li Rou had a fire element Martial Vein, and while it wasn't 100% guaranteed, most of the time, children would inherit the element of their parents.
Xue Feng nodded at his son's inquiry before asking his own question.
"Bai'er who did this, and don't you dare tell me that you don't know or that you're not sure. I know that you know, and hiding it will only make this matter worse. So you will tell me which demonic scum is plotting against me THROUGH MY OWN SON!" Xue Feng's anger was almost tangible at this point. Because of that, at the same time, the temperature around them was starting to decline rapidly.
Even the still-asleep Xiao'er had curled up subconsciously to protect herself.
Although Xue Bai gained some cultivation, he still couldn't fully handle the aura his father was subconsciously releasing.
"XUE FENG! Your son is the victim here! Don't you dare coerce him!" Then, seeing that the children couldn't protect themselves, Li Rou yelled back as she put up a shield of Spiritual Qi to protect the two children.
"Li Rou, I, Xue Feng, can handle any type of villainy, any matter of combat! But some demonic scum has tried to plot against me through my own son! How can I, as a man, take this!" Xue Feng was riled up even more seeing Li Rou.
Thankfully, just as the two were about to go against each other, Xue Bai answered the question.
"Duke Wang, I'm almost certain it's Duke Wang. I didn't even know this was in me. The memories didn't include this. The version of me in my memories also thought he was a cripple by fate." Xue Bai answered.
Each of the four starter continents had its own main villain that one would finally face off with just before leaving for the Central Continent. The main villains in the Southern Continent Arc, where Huo Long rose, were Duke Wang and his clan.
The reason? They were subordinates of a demonic sect in the Central Continent by the name of the Blood Saber Sect.
On the Southern Continent, there were three major sects, and each of them was a part of the Righteous Alliance and was consequently a righteous sect.
So even though they would constantly be at each other's throats during times of peace, at threat of a demonic sect appearing in their homeland, they would drop all fights against each other to unite against the invaders.
And like clockwork, every few decades, the Blood Saber Sect would invade the Southern Continent, trying to gain a stable foothold on it.
This way, they would gain more resources and a larger funneling of talented disciples and fodder. They were a demonic set, after all. Using humans as furnaces and blood bags was their signature marker.
However, after decades of failure and the loss of countless disciples, the Blood Saber Sect became tired of openly trying to expand into the Southern Continent and being targeted by three sects of equal strength.
So to get around this, they hatched a plan by choosing various high-ranking groups and corrupting them, turning them into subordinates to support them when they decided to branch out openly.
And since Duke Wang and his clan were already tainted beyond redeemability, they became the sect's first target. Also, besides their horrible morals, the Wang Clan were large enough to be a supportive combat force but not big enough to alert the three sects.
Xue Bai knew this, and he also knew that they were the only group of power in the Southern Continent with the support of a demonic sect with access to the Vein Swallowing Worm. Hence, he was 100% certain that Duke Wang was the culprit.
"Duke Wang! WANG YICHEN, THAT SNAKE-EYED BASTARD!" Xue Feng yelled. He looked as if he was about to leap out of the courtyard and find the man so he could fight him to the death.
"Father, wait!" Xue Bai quickly yelled out. He didn't want his father to do anything drastic. So before the man did, Xue Bai explained the entire situation to them.
"So, what you're telling me is not to attack the man who ordered to have you to live as a cripple but still stay alongside him like good friends." Xue Feng asked angrily.
"No, you didn't let me finish. The reason I never knew that I was plotted against wasn't that I was oblivious, but instead, the Wang Clan and their backer got destroyed." Xue Bai continued.
And while to him, such a thing was normal, once Li Rou and Xue Feng heard it, they were slightly skeptical.
In order to become a sect on the Central Continent, especially one strong enough to try and branch over to a different continent, there at least had to be a Spirit Fusion realm cultivator within the sect. So how could such a power be wiped out?
"Which expert did they provoke that's strong enough to wipe them out?" Xue Feng asked, "Is it another sect from the Central Continent?"
He was both curious about the answer and skeptical about it all.
"No, you two have already met the culprit." Xue Bai answered vaguely.
However, his words confused them.
"The strongest person we've met was the Emperor, and even then, he was only in the Spirit Awakening realm." Xue Feng retorted.
"He's not strong enough to do it currently, but he will soon enough." Xue Bai seeing his father calm down from his previous state, decided to tease him and answer indirectly.
"To destroy a sect on the Central Continent, they would at least need a high Black-grade Martial Vein. There hasn't been a person born with a Marital Vein ranked that high on the Southern Continent since ancient times." Li Rou answered.
But since her son looked so adamant, she started to recall all of the people she had recently met in hopes of remembering who their son was talking about.
Xue Feng was a little sharper, and he easily noticed the smile on his son's face. Then, knowing that they were getting teased, he grabbed Xue Bai and started to shake an answer out of him.
Unable to escape his father's vice grip, Xue Bai eventually yielded and revealed the answer.
"It was the kid I was trying too hard to become friends with. Remember the Young Marquis Huo Long I brought to the Dukedom for extra training?" Xue Bai confessed much to their disbelief.
Not believing Xue Bai, both of his parents raised their eyebrows.
"Bai'er sure he's talented and has low Black-grade Martial Veins, but that's still not enough to destroy a sect in the Central Continent."
"To start even the lowest grade sect on the Central Continent, one must at least be in the Spirit Purification Realm. And even then, that's far beyond Huo Long's potential."
But at their questions, Xue Bai stopped answering. He had revealed too much and even questioned whether it was the correct move.
The only way to persuade them was to tell them that Huo Long was also a Child of the Plane. But even then, it would most likely only make them question whether his memories were really true or not.
"It's fine if you don't believe me, but promise me this. Neither of you will interfere with Huo Long's life for the next three years. That means any secret protection you've put around him, call them back. Also, if you have any plans to meet him again, cancel them. This is as important as my life. He needs to be left alone until the 6th month of 975!" Xue Bai spoke seriously for once.
That's when Huo Long would regain his cultivation base and potential. Interfering before that could cause a butterfly effect that could mess up everything Xue Bai planned for.
Though they were still doubting Xue Bai, his parents agreed. Paying attention to Huo Long wasn't worth it, so this promise would only save them resources.
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