For a few weeks, Cao Yun didn't receive any message. But confidant that Lord Wanghuo would keep his words, as he could simply do whatever he wanted anyway, he stayed calm. In seclusion, he prepared for his fight. Although it was supposed to be a friendly duel, anything could happen. It didn't happen too often, but people did die while engaging in friendly fights. Moreover, he had the foreboding that Lord Wanghuo didn't really know when to stop.
At the same time, the fight itself was an incredibly good opportunity for Cao Yun. Not only was he going to obtain everything he wanted, he was also about to test himself against someone close to Emperor Weide's strength. Despite being the most powerful demon in the Desolate Sepulcher, Lord Wanghuo's cultivation wasn't as high as Emperor Weide's. Of course, cultivation wasn't everything.
All things considered, Cao Yun couldn't really compare the demon king to the traitor of mankind. After all, they were only separated by a single stage, and they were practicing two different cultivation systems. Although the asura cultivation system shared many similarities with the human cultivation system, such as the way grades and stages were implemented, they were fundamentally different. Besides, Cao Yun could not compare the two men's martial arts prowess. he only knew that they were powerful, but that didn't tell him much.
During this fight, he could get a lot. This might help him in his martial arts and maybe even in his Spear Heart. Indeed, he was having a very hard time developing his Spear Intent into a Spear Heart. Of course, this was to be expected. He had never thought that this would be easy by any stretch of the imagination. But since his cultivation was going as fast as it could, Cao Yun was hoping to improve the other aspects of his strength.
While Cao Yun was getting ready, Minister Renhai worked on his new orders. Dan Yao was secretly appointed as City Lord of Duma City. They would still wait before they would make it public. But no matter what would happen, Dan Yao could claim this title and no one else would be able to steal from it. Moreover, the Sisters of the Abyss increased their protection of Duma City as well.
Minister Renhai was having a headache with Lord Wanghuo's impulsive, and often idiotic, orders. Thankfully, he seldom gave orders as he was too busy trying to entertain himself in various ways. Recently, he had spent an awful lot of time in his harem. But after Cao Yun's visit, Minister Renhai found out that this had had a positive impact on his king.
To speak the truth, Minister Renhai felt more like a regent than a minister. In a sense, he was close for Lord Wanghuo to what Nie Pian was for City Lord Sihe.
Since Cao Yun had ignited a fighting spirit in Lord Wanghuo, he decided to train again. It had been decades since such a thing had happened. Lord Wanghuo's decision surprised many experts whom he invited to spar a little with him. Not a single one was able to excite him. It wasn't that they were necessarily too weak, but he knew them and their style. There was no surprise and no challenge sparring with them. But he had sensed something in Cao Yun.
Hopefully, this duel wouldn't let Lord Wanghuo down. Minister Renhai had seen him this excited a few times. But if things didn't turn as good as he had hoped, he would fall into a depressing phase. This could be a big problem. Minister Renhai was really the man who was holding Sidina together. Even with all his strength, Lord Wanghuo couldn't keep the cohesion of the capital, let alone the Nalupu Kingdom.
Unfortunately, Minister Renhai was simply not very sympathetic to the fates of his own people. From what Cao Yun had read, he was a competent administrator but he failed to consider the consequences of his politics on the life of his people. In fact, the people didn't even enter his mind. Everything was a bit too theoretic for him. He was manipulating numbers and policies, not sentient beings.
Anyway, this wasn't really Cao Yun's problem. In fact, it was even a good thing for his plans. Working with people who were pragmatic and had no great ambitions was easier. They had no surprise. And understanding what they wanted and how they saw the world was easy enough.
The only thing that weighed on Cao Yun's mind was Nie Pian. As a matter of fact, this was also what was plaguing Minister Renhai's mind. He just couldn't see where things were going in Siqian City. City Lord Sihe had clearly lost it. Yes, Nie Pian was helpful as he was preventing the situation from getting worse. But at the same time, he was now more popular and reliable than the actual city lord.
Ironically, many were still acting as if City Lord Sihe was the actual city lord simply by fear of his jealousy. Given that his behavior was so erratic, they were afraid he might see Nie Pian as a traitor trying to usurp his function. And it was in no one's interest to have an unsupervised City Lord Sihe. He would ruin the entire region in a matter of years, if not months.
Minister Renhai decided that the best thing was simply to wait. As long as things were holding, there was no need to take any drastic measure. In fact, intervening might simply make things worse. And he certainly didn't want to take this responsibility. These inclinations of Minister Renhai for safe policies were what had led him and Lord Wanghuo to let the slave trade happen so blatantly.
Although this was illegal and contrary to all the teachings of the Weaver of Souls, they didn't lift a finger. There were many reasons. But the most important factor was that dealing with the issue was much more complicated than simply looking away. After all, it had been good for almost everyone in terms of economy, except for the slaves of course. But the slaves were not really citizens of the Nalupu Kingdom since they were from the desert tribes. Besides, slavery was already recognized as a voluntary practice to pay off debts or as punishment for some crime. Thus, Minister Renhai didn't even try to look into the real situation of those slaves who had been illegally abducted.
Lord Wanghuo's enthusiasm surprised his partners. He fought day and night for several weeks. In fact, he barely ate and didn't drink any alcohol. Even his harem was left unattended. Honestly, the women were quite pleased about this period of rest.
-
In Siqian City, City Lord Sihe wasn't even leaving his chambers anymore. Only Nie Pian was authorized to see him in private. Every day, he was making lists of his enemies and of potential spies. He was going through all the reports he had on the entire Desolate Sepulcher.
In particular, City Lord Sihe, was looking at those who had visited Sidina recently. He imagined that everyone was conspiring with High Mother Lisha and Mo Yun to destroy him. And the Weiji family was the first target on his list. After all, Weiji Fen had asked him for help, but now he was also petitioning Lord Wanghuo almost every day from his house arrest.
Obviously, City Lord Sihe would never help Weiji Fen. And Weiji He's son had written to him out of despair for his current predicament. But City Lord Sihe was seeing him as a threat and a traitor. He was trying to lure him into a trap. But soon, his reply would arrive. City Lord Sihe had bribed the guards. Everything would go perfectly well. He was certain of his plan.
When he had some time, City Lord Sihe cultivated.
As a 2nd-grade Accomplished Demon, he was working on his Unclean Evil. It was related to shame. But strangely, City Lord Sihe wasn't feeling anything at all while working on this Turbid Demon. Instead, there was a powerful sensation of fear and despair. Those were feelings associated with the Corpse Dog. But most demons would only work on this at the fourth grade of the Accomplished Demon realm. Technically, it was possible to work on one's Turbid Demons in any order. But this specific order had been introduced by the Weaver of Souls so it was seen as the orthodox way.
Cao Yun could have confirmed that this was indeed the best order possible to maximize one's chances of success while drastically reducing the risks.
No matter what he was doing, City Lord Sihe couldn't find the tranquility to cultivate for more than a few dozens of minutes. Each time, he saw the faces of those who would betray him.
While City Lord Sihe was basically useless, Nie Pian was running both his business and his office. Now, he was clearly seen as the unofficial city lord of Siqian City. After all, City Lord Sihe had either killed, banished or terrified everyone else around him. Many were certain that he had fallen into some form of Qi deviation. Maybe his Turbid Demons would kill him soon enough. At least, many were hoping for such an end.
Obviously, some were jealous of Nie Pian. But they were also convinced that once City Lord Sihe was dead, they could wrestle his office from Nie Pian's hands. After all, he was of low birth and was even a criminal. Hell, he had been a slave. They might keep him to run things. But they would never let him have any real power. Thus, many were hoping for City Lord Sihe to come as soon as possible, afraid that Nie Pian might solidify his position.
As a matter of fact, they were right to be afraid as Nie Pian was indeed protecting himself. His bad habits had all come back to him and he was diverting large sums of money away from Siqian City and the City Lord. He had stolen from Boss Gui and now he was stealing from City Lord Sihe. The old man either didn't fear anything, or the lure of money was too much for him to resist under any circumstances...
At last, the reply sent by City Lord Sihe to the Weiji family had arrived. In fact, it had arrived two days before the fight between Cao Yun and Lord Wanghuo. But, of course, no one knew about this upcoming fight, for obvious reasons.
-
Weiji Fen was called by the guards. Being ordered around in his own house was humiliating but he had no choice. Despite all of his father's efforts to distance himself from his family, the Weiji family had to suffer because of his rashness. And Weiji Fen would grovel before anyone if it meant he could help his bloodline even a little. Desperate times called for desperate measure.
Weiji Fen was petitioning everyone he could think about, either discreetly or more formally. For example, he kept on trying to get an audience with Lord Wanghuo. Although he knew that this was impossible, he still tried. In fact, Weiji Fen was even ready to give his own daughters to Lord Wanghuo's harem if he could elevate their position. Even if he couldn't protect the entire Weiji family, simply saving even one of his daughters, or any Weiji daughter, would be good enough. Truly, he had abandoned any pretense and any honor. But he didn't care. Unlike his father, he was ready to stomach a lot of humiliation in order to protect his bloodline.
Maybe Weiji He's selfish actions had impressed that upon him. Or maybe Weiji Fen was simply this kind of man. His family was more important than his name or reputation. This was quite rare among demons, even among humans to be honest...
In the main room of the Weiji residence, a guard was waiting for Weiji Fen. The guard was a woman. She had long red hair and piercing green eyes. Her armor was perfect with a few decorations of war on it. Honestly, most of them were clearly from menial tasks but she was wearing them proudly. Weiji Fen knew what kind of guard she was. This woman, Nühe Wang, only cared about her career. Similarly to him, there was nothing she would do if it could advance her goals. But their goals were drastically different.
She was sitting in the seat reserved the family head as though this residence was hers. Although she had little authority, she was always abusing it whenever she could. On the opposite, she was a sycophant to those of higher standing. Before the downfall of the Weiji family, Nühe Wang had even offered herself to Weiji Fen as a courtesan. Because he had refused, she felt humiliated and was clearly getting her revenge right now.
"Ah?! You're finally here?! I've been waiting..."
"This humble one is terribly sorry, my Lady."
Hiding his distaste of the woman, Weiji Fen's tone pleased Nühe Wang very much. She stood up with a smirk on her face while the man who had rejected her was kneeling before her prestigious armor.
"City Lord Sihe deigned to reply to your supplications."
From some clothe covering the lower part of her armor, she took out a small letter with the seal of City Lord Sihe. Immediately, Weiji Fen knew that City Lord Sihe had bribed her. And indeed, he had. Without any hesitation, she softly threw the letter toward Weiji Fen. Quickly, he took it in hands.
"This humble one thanks the noble lady. This humble one thanks City Lord Sihe."
Eventually, Weiji Fen opened the letter. He didn't dare to have too many hopes. Most likely, the letter was to tell him that Siqian City couldn't support him. But simply getting a reply was a positive sign. It meant that City Lord Sihe still felt some connection with the Weiji family. If he wanted to cut all ties with them, he wouldn't have bribed a guard to give him a secret letter.
With trembling hands, he broke the seal and opened the letter. As he was reading it, his face got darker and darker.
Looking at the despair on Weiji Fen's face, Nühe Wang was quite pleased. She had humiliated herself in front of such a moron. But his rejection had been a boon in disguise. Otherwise, she would be in the same situation he was in right now. She had to be more careful in the future.
What changed Weiji Fen's face wasn't the content of the letter. No, it was something much more sinister...