Contrary to his niece, Marshal Weiji wasn't rash. However, the death of his family members had upset him, obviously. Still, he had other family members he had to consider first. Indeed, by disobeying Lord Wanghuo himself, his entire family might be sentenced to death on several generations. It really wasn't rare for a family to pay for the crimes of their head, sometimes even for any individual within the family. As such, it forced the family itself to regulate the activities of everyone in it. Among humans, the same was more or less true but the offense that would cause such an extreme punishment was limited to high treason. By killing the entire family, it limited the risk of resentment as well. It was barbaric but oftentimes effective.
Marshal Weiji had a wife and several children, as well as grandchildren and great-grandchildren. As much as he had doted on his niece, he couldn't just throw away everything for her. That being said, he was still plotting against the Blazing Swallow. Knowing that Lord Wanghuo and probably the Sisters of the Abyss themselves were spying on him, he was extremely careful. Unlike his niece, he was always calm and rational. At the very least, he was convinced that he was calm and rational.
For weeks, he prepared several plans and decided to go on with one of them. Thankfully, he wasn't stupid enough to try and use his authority. In this endeavor, he would act as Weiji He, not as a general of the Nalupu Kingdom's army. He even left his armor behind. There was no sign on him that he had ever been connected with the Nalupu Kingdom in any way, shape or form. This was a personal matter and he would treat it as such. Hopefully, it would limit the consequences. At the very least, he was certain that Lord Wanghuo would punish him and no one else. After all, he had proved himself for decades and he was ready to assume the full responsibility of his actions if it went badly. But it wasn't going to end badly.
Weiji He acted alone, not even asking for anyone's help. In fact, he even decided to step down as head of the family. In his stead, he nominated his oldest son. The two men were talking in Weiji He's private chambers where many seals were making spying almost impossible. Some of the Sisters of the Abyss would have been able to eavesdrop but they were busy with other matters. Among the Sisters who were watching the Weiji residence, not a single one could perceive anything in this room.
"Father, this is insane!"
Although he was trying to be respectful, Weiji Fen was as angry as he could be. His face was crimson red. Although his skin was a bit dark and red, like many demons, this shade of red was clearly due to a lot of blood going to his head because of his anger. Both Weiji He and Weiji Fen were 5th-grade Accomplished Demons. Technically, their cultivation was the same as Cao Yun's. Of course, they didn't also cultivate the human path as no demon could due to the absence of meridians and Dantian in their bodies.
Moreover, the two men were around three to four hundred years old. Even among demons, this cultivation speed wasn't that impressive. But the Forsaken Dao Era had also hit them hard. Currently, they were indeed among the most powerful demons on the entire planet. Besides, they were the strongest cultivators in their family. As Weiji He had had his first son when he was merely a hundred years old, his cultivation was a bit higher. But he had been stuck at his current grade for some time, unable to fully develop his Fallen Arrow. To be fair, his life had been much busier than his son's.
"I won't hear a word about it! Weiji Nian was maybe harsh and cruel sometimes but she didn't deserve such a fate. I know you've never quite liked her. But in the end, blood is blood. And she was our blood."
His father's tone was also full of anger. Weiji Fen's anger was out of fear for his father, but also for his own family. On the other hand, Weiji He's anger was because he knew how reckless he was but he couldn't let go of his niece's death. She had been his sister's daughter. But unfortunately, his sister had died. Honestly speaking, he had loved his sister much more than he even loved his children or his wife. After all, he had married for political reasons and his wife was just a means to an end, both for his career and to produce heirs. But his sister and he had been incredibly close.
Moreover, her death had been completely natural so he had not been able to vent his anger. Right now, he was convinced that the Blazing Swallow was behind the death of his niece so he was going to vent his anger. Just like Weiji Nian, he was blinded. His niece couldn't think straight when it came to her son and he couldn't think straight when it came to his dead sister, and by extension, his dead niece.
"She died by her own hands. You have no evidence that the Blazing Swallow was behind it. Even assuming that this wasn't an accident..."
Before his son could finish his sentence, Weiji He slammed his fist into the table between them. Although it was made of Dry Ironwood, the strongest wood available on the Piaolu planet, his fist caused a dent in it. Besides, the wine cups that were on the table flew and broke on the ground. This was a mess. The legs of the table even sunk into the floor despite it being made out of Ageless Marble.
"It wasn't! That entire laboratory was fake. She wouldn't have meddled with poison in such a way. Hell, she wouldn't have known what to do with it. When she used poison, she had the Sun Scorpion Clan prepare it and handle it for her."
Weiji Fen wasn't afraid of his father, but he still didn't want to infuriate him any more than that. Thus, he let go of the issue and didn't try to reason with him about Weiji Nian's death. In his mind, she had been stupid enough to play around with such a deadly poison before, she might have tried it again.
"Even assuming all that, you don't know who was behind her death. And you're just going to attack the Blazing Swallow?! Right now?! The Sisters of the Abyss are supporting them! You're not just going to spit in Lord Wanghuo's face, but you're also going to insult the Sisters themselves?! Have you lost your mind?!"
"This is why I'm making you the head of the family. If you want to distance the family from my actions, I'm fine with it. But if I find the evidence I'm looking for, our name will rise even higher than before. My association with City Lord Sihe is well known even though it's not official. Everyone knows that our family has tight ties with him. If he goes down, we will go down as well. Our fate won't be as bad as his, probably, but we'll still suffer."
"And if you don't find anything?! Even if you're right, if you can't prove it, it will just be seen as City Lord Sihe sending his goon to do his handiwork."
"I do not care. Son, stop trying to reason with me. My mind is made up and I'm ready to face the consequences of my actions. This is a risky bet, but if it pays off, our entire family will soar."
"Father, if you officially make me head of the family..."
"I do!"
From Weiji He's spatial ring, a small wooden tablet appeared. There were several blood seals on it. Such a wooden tablet was used as a family registry. In particular, it contained the list of all the family heads throughout history. The Weiji family wasn't that ancient so there had only been around fifty family heads.
As soon as the tablet appeared, Weiji Fen knelt before his father. Seeing this tablet was akin to seeing the first progenitor of the Weiji family. As it was in Weiji He's hands right now, it made him the head of the family. But he let go of it. The tablet flew from his hands and went to Weiji Fen.
"Son, stand up. Put your blood on this family tablet and you will be the Weiji family's family head. After that, do as you please. I entrust the fate of our family to you. But no matter what happens, do not be as stubborn as me. If something bad happens to me, do not hesitate to forsake me instantly. I am ready to die like a dog, but I won't take you all with me."
Weiji Fen had an instant of hesitation. But he then stood up. With both hands, he delicately took the wooden tablet. After looking at it for quite some time, in complete silence, he brought his right hand to his mouth. Biting his finger, he was able to draw a single drop of blood. His blood, as a middle Accomplished Demon, was extremely heavy and it wouldn't flow down his skin, simply staying where it had been drawn.
Slowly, Weiji Fen pressed his finger on the tablet, right under the blood of his father. Now, he was officially the head of the Weiji family. Thus, he had absolute authority on everyone in the family, even the past generations. If he wanted to, he could disavow his own father. But it was too hard to do, even under the current circumstances.
"Family Head Weiji, this one pays his respect."
Seeing his own father kneel before him and addressing him with so much respect and reverence felt incredibly strange. But it helped him realize what had just happened. This simple act of putting his blood on the tablet had completely changed things now. He was now responsible for the entire family. And he couldn't let his filial affection get in the way of this. He couldn't risk his entire bloodline because of his father's stupidity. But he still didn't want to make the decision. Thus, he was going to force his father to make it for him.
"Weiji He, the Family Head, under the authority of the first Progenitor, forbids you from taking any action against the Blazing Swallow. You are hereby sentenced to a century of seclusive meditation. You might not leave our Weiji residence unless a century has passed or you've reached the 6th-grade Accomplished Demon stage, on pain of banishment."
"This humble one hears and accepts Family Head Weiji and Progenitor Weiji's orders."
Obviously, both men knew that Weiji He was going to disobey those orders. But this would allow the Weiji family to distance itself from his actions. From this moment onward, anything Weiji He did was of his own accord and could not implicate his family. Of course, Lord Wanghuo could see through such an obvious move. But he would have no reason to attack the Weiji family as it would weaken him even more.
After their discussion, Weiji Fen made sure that his order was written down on an official tablet. It was then signed and sealed by Weiji He himself. If he went ahead with his plans, he would officially be banished from the Weiji family. Of course, if his plan was successful and he could prove that everything had been set up by the Blazing Swallow, he might be pardoned by the family head, his own son. Besides, he would get the favors of both City Lord Sihe and Lord Wanghuo.
A few days after accepting and signing the strict orders of the family head, Weiji He disregarded them completely and left the Weiji residence under the cover of night.
Unfortunately, the Sisters of the Abyss who were watching him failed to notice him. Although his stealth wasn't that good compared with Cao Yun or High Mother Lisha, he was still proficient enough that they missed him. Besides, they were not expecting that at all.
Weiji He went straight for Duma City. He was about to get the answers he wanted, one way or another.
-
In the Oasis of Life, Cao Yun was meditating and cultivating. Once again, he had set up array formations all around himself. Although he worked on his Fallen Arrow, most of his concern was on his Soul Embryo. Thanks to his mind cultivation, he was certain that his blood cultivation would go smoothly. In fact, he had no worry until the 8th-grade Accomplished Demon stage. At this stage, he would need to merge all seven Turbid Demons into one. Hopefully, he would succeed thanks to the Drop of Wrath, but this was a completely different process so he couldn't be sure how difficult it would really be until he had reached it.
Even if he got stuck on this stage for quite some time, he was not worried about his blood cultivation. The Drop of Wrath was much more helpful when it came to blood cultivation. After all, it had come from a demon who had at least broken through to Immortal Demon. In fact, he had most likely been much higher than that. Cao Yun didn't think he had gone all the way to the ninth realm, Calamity, but he might have been either a Heaven Traitor or a Conqueror. Unfortunately, his memories were too hazy to know for sure. Besides, Cao Yun was not too familiar with those realms.
Anyway, Cao Yun had decided to focus on his Qi cultivation as much as he could as it would be slower. At the moment, he was still nourishing his Soul Embryo. The process wasn't difficult but it was slow and required a lot of patience. Unfortunately, he hadn't found anything to speed things up without adverse consequences, even through the documents left behind by Cleansed Asura.
Indeed, any method to accelerate the process was riddled with danger and could easily impeach one's progress in the next stages. Since Cao Yun had produced an excellent Soul Embryo, he had no intention of squandering his efforts. As such, he was forced to be patient. Thankfully, his blood cultivation was making him very strong already. But he also wanted to develop his Qi cultivation. After all, among humans, he didn't want to expose his asura cultivation. In a fight, he would be forced to always hide it like he was hiding his human cultivation among demons.
Of course, concealing a part of his cultivation in the middle of a fight was reducing his overall strength. Against most opponent it wasn't a problem. But against a powerful cultivator, it would be a huge problem.