Translator: Subudai11 Editor: Chrissy

  "You mean, this dwarf is your direct descendant, and the true master of Cloud Country? In other words…"

  It was easy to infer the meaning of the words from the dull voice, but the conclusion to that was simply shocking. Although Wang Lu was well-informed, thinking about this ended up jamming his thought.

  "That is to say, you are the founding father of the Cloud Country, the ancestor of the royal family? Then Cloud Country is not simply a mortal world country. Well, this is also very normal. In this world, there are a lot of great cultivators who have no future in making a breakthrough. Seeing that their lives would be done and that their descendant could not inherit their cultivation, they leave their sect and establish political power in the mortal world. As long as they don't interfere too strongly in the mortal world operation, and do not abuse their immortal cultivation power, generally they would not be stopped… This ugly dwarf is your direct descendant but he wants to turn Cloud Country upside down, meaning that in the past, he had probably suffered some grievances, and thus was hell-bent on revenge against society? If that is the case, then that makes sense. If I might be so bold to guess, perhaps this dwarf is the legal next in line for the monarchy, but because of his dwarf deformity origin compared to his normal brother, he suffered a palace coup and was even persecuted. But by lucky chance, he did not die, and it thus led to the current situation."

  While Wang Lu slowly told his guess, the dwarf in mid-air suddenly regained his consciousness. He sneered several times and said, "Yes, you guessed it right. If I had not been born disabled, the throne of the Cloud Country should have been mine! On the poetry, song, classics, on the theory of justice, and its practical application, I am better in any of these than my useless brother! Just because he was born with complete and perfect physique, everyone began to put pressure on me. Finally, they even broke both of my legs and kicked me out of the palace to wander destitute outside. A dignified prince of Cloud Country actually lived like a beggar to survive!"

  Wang Lu said, "But now you're Peak Jindan Stage cultivator, why would you still cling to the gains and losses in the past?"

  "You said it right. Change in power will bring change in vision. Before I stumbled on a rare fortuitous encounter, I cherished everything in this Cloud Country, because they are my treasure! However, when I set foot on the path of immortal cultivation, I found out how naive I was before. There is simply no comparison between the great freedom that one gain from immortal cultivation and the previous palace intrigue. The king of the Cloud Country may be impressive, but in the eyes of cultivators, to kill those so-called kings, we only need a single move."

  Wang Lu asked, "Since you have this awareness, why don't you let go of the past?"

  "Let go of the past? Do you know what sustains me in my darkest hour of despair? Do you know what sustains me from the long pain and torment when I used my own blood and essence to produce dead aura when I first refined the corpse worm? Do you know that when I reached Jindan, I almost disappeared? Do you know what makes my primordial spirit stay condensed and not scattered?"

  Wang Lu sighed. "Hate?"

  "Correct, hate! After I cultivated necromancy spell, my vitality continued to reduce and disperse. I self-taught myself with the incomplete book left behind by a predecessor. During which, I don't know how many times I almost fire deviated and almost vanished, and only a trace within my primordial spirit that I can grasp to support me. When I successfully reached Foundation Establishment, I was able to wash my marrow and change my tendon, and when I reached Jindan, I can shed my mortal body and exchange my bone, but I never replaced this ugly body of mine. Because I want to always remind myself the source of my hatred! I have been telling myself that everything that I do now is to one day destroy that usurper. From the moment I was driven out of the palace, I never forget this hatred! And the best way to take my revenge is to destroy this country. Although my brother is mediocre, he is indeed like the previous me, very much loves the Cloud Country. Therefore, as long as I destroy the Cloud Country before him, I can make him feel my pain!"

  "Well, that's also a reason, but, the object of your hatred is your brother—right now, most likely you've done it, you have implicated his daughter. Yet, you want to vent out your anger to the entire Cloud Country. The innocent civilians of Cloud Country completely have nothing to do with your gratitude and grudges toward the palace."

  That dwarf laughed. "Nothing to do? Everything in this Cloud Country originally belongs to me, and I can do anything I want with them! Why should I care about other details as long as I can hurt the person that I hate?"

  Wang Lu has had enough questioning him. In fact, he actually has no interest in the gratitude and grudges of the dwarf. The reason why he induced the dwarf to talk about this was so that another person can hear it.

  Wang Lu turned his head and asked that dull voice that suppressed everything, "Senior, you have heard it. This direct descendant of yours has admitted everything. If you want to clean up your house, no need to care about me, by all means."

  With that, Wang Lu sighed, thinking that fortunately, he was a professional who could stay calm in times of danger. If he was impulsive and clashed head on with this kind of big killing device, even if he died ten times, it would not be enough. The situation difficulty of this immortal dream land was really against the heaven. Even a slight mistake could cause him to lose his life. Fortunately, he was the person who opened the trail here. If it were other people, they would most likely die here. At present, fortunately, the crisis has passed. This founding father who inexplicably appeared in the royal tomb was not some unreasonable monster, as long as he was willing to listen to reason, Wang Lu would not be in any danger. Thus, as long as he personally cleaned up the house, the plot in this chain should end, right?

  However, when Wang Lu just breathed a sigh of relief, he heard the founding father of the Cloud Country sneer and laugh, which was as sharp as sword. Wang Lu's body was punctured with pain and his Jade Mansion trembled.

  "Clean up the house? What a joke! Why would I want to get rid of my direct bloodline? A gifted descendant who could cultivate to Peak Jindan all by himself?"

  Wang Lu was startled and his facial expression gradually stiffened, but he still said, "Well, if you really like him, then that's up to you. If you want to replace the King of Yunyang with this violent dwarf, which would destroy the country's destiny that has been accumulating for thousands of years… that's also up to you."

  "Country's destiny?" That voice turned even colder. "By usurping the throne, he had openly defied the rules that I had set up millenniums ago, and the country should've been cursed! Now I am afraid the royal bloodline has already withered!"

  Wang Lu was surprised to find that this Cloud Country's founding father had actually taken the dwarf's side! Moreover, he actually left a curse in his bloodline? However, King Yunyang indeed only has Princess Yunyue as his family, which was a bit strange. Usually, the royal family only worried about the size of the family that continued to grow. So if the bloodline was actually cursed, it was indeed reasonable.

  However, upon reaching this point, Wang Lu suddenly felt that there was nothing else for him to do.

  What should he do next? Change side? Immediately helped the founding father and the violent dwarf to destroy the whole cloud country and kill King Yunyang and Princess Yunyue?

  But it was highly likely that it was not a good idea.

  However, except that, what would be the reason for him to stand on the side of King Yunyang?

  From a moral point of view, King Yunyang was not really a moral person. Although he had prevented the slaughter on Fog Root Mountain, several hundred people might have already died, let alone the sin of King Yunyang for having the intention to kill could not be erased. From the legal point of view, the throne of King Yunyang was not legitimate. Although the error came from King Yunyang's parents or even grandparents, a son paying the debt of his father was perfectly justified.

  Finally, from the perspective of power, King Yunyang was just a mortal. His opponents were Peak Jindan Stage and an unfathomable old demon ancestor. The two sides really could not be compared.

  Taken together, the best choice now seemed to just walk away and put everything down. However, it was difficult for Wang Lu to accept this negative attitude.

  While he was hesitating, Wang Lu suddenly glanced at the ancient monument in front of the royal tomb and his eyes quickly turned sharp.

  A large block has collapsed from that quaint and heavy stele due to strong corrosive poison. When the poison flowed down the surface, many of the ancient words and patterns that were carved on that ancient monument were also eroded.

  "So that's why…"

  An idea flashed through Wang Lu's mind. He finally has vaguely guessed correctly the direction of the plot.

  This ancient monument was built in the same period as when the Cloud Country was established. It was highly likely that this was not just a simple monument. This monument was carved with ancient writings and patterns not to decorate it to be attractive, but they did serve a real purpose. However, after a long time has passed, the significance of this ancient monument has already been forgotten.

  If he was not mistaken, this ancient monument was not really to suppress the fate of the nation, but to suppress the founding father.

  When he dispatched that evil cultivator who stood on top of the monument, it was done in such a quick way that it did not even give that evil cultivator the opportunity to move, and he thus became a pool of pus water.

  As a result, this pus corroded the ancient monument. It has also been damaged by the dwarf when he was lurking in the royal tomb. In short, this caused the old devil to be released.

  This was the so-called hidden plot. If he was a bit late in his progress, for some reason, he wouldn't have triggered this.

  Unfortunately, once it was triggered, the situation immediately turned for the worse. Moreover, in the face of this founding father, he was vulnerable, unlike the previous opponents where his defense was invincible. Even a roar from the other side could make him on the verge of collapse. Meaning that the gap in strength was nearly insurmountable.

  However, because of this, suddenly Wang Lu somewhat saw the light. Since the enemy could not be fought through force, then there was no need to fight the enemy. This must be solved in a rather tricky way, for example…


  Wang Lu cleared his throat. "Senior, the bloodline of the King of Cloud Country is not withered."

  The dwarf said with a cold smile, "Everyone in the royal family has died, leaving behind only two people, and you say it is not withered? Moreover, the daughter is dying."

  Wang Lu also sneered. "Yes, it was you who instructed your dog to poison her, turning a young girl into an alien in appearance. What a pity, she was initially the hope of the royal blood, far exceeding you, a deformed waste!"

  "What are you talking about?"

  Wang Lu lowered his voice and said word by word, "All these years, you have been lurking in the depths of the royal tomb, yet you still haven't seen Princess Yunyue? That child has an aptitude of heavenly spirit root."

  "What?"