Chapter 40

Chapter 38: The Initial Signs of Conspiracy

In the next battle, the main combatants of the Yuwen family, due to severe injuries, lost to the Qian family.

Now, the Qian family, like the Tuoba family, had entered the final day of the competition with a perfect record.

The two major families would determine the strongest family.

"Xiao Ye, are you not injured? Shouldn't we let us fight tomorrow?" Tuoba Wei said.

Tuoba Ye shook his head and said, "I am not injured at all. I will fight tomorrow. I want to sweep through the three major families so that they won't dare to provoke the Tuoba family in the future."

"Alright, be careful!" Tuoba Wei reminded him.

"Xiao Ye, you should rest now," Xia Yuxuan said with concern.

Tuoba Ye returned to the training ground, but instead of resting, he immediately began to practice.

After the intense battle with Du Hao, he had many insights. He needed to practice to turn these insights into strength.

With the Divine and Demonic Body, Tuoba Ye continuously transformed his physical body, hoping to turn it into a Divine and Demonic Body.

Although his insights were not enough to cultivate the Divine and Demonic Body, they did significantly increase his physical strength, reaching 80,000 pounds.

For an eight-year-old child, 80,000 pounds of strength was astonishing.

If he had had 80,000 pounds of strength earlier, he could have easily defeated Du Hao without using the Overlord Divine Fist.

However, he failed to make further progress, indicating that cultivating the Divine and Demonic Overlord Body required more than just effort.

The third day of the competition was uneventful.

The Qian family, Yuwen family, and Du family's conspiracy did not succeed. They had expected to severely injure the Tuoba family's strong members with the combined strength of the Yuwen and Du families, allowing the Qian family to easily win.

The Qian family's victory would have been the most beneficial for the three major families. However, they suffered a heavy loss, not only losing a large amount of gold but also elevating the Tuoba family's reputation to its peak.

The Tuoba family alone had invested over ten million gold coins, and with a sixfold return, they would receive nearly 100 million gold coins.

The side bets were official, and no one dared to default. Even if the Qian family had to go bankrupt, they had to pay out.

This time, the three major families had planned to make a huge profit, but after the fake fights, they still had to pay out a significant amount of gold, ultimately losing over 60 million gold coins. This was a huge sum for the three major families, enough to severely weaken them.

Three days after the competition, the Tuoba family received all the gold coins they had bet on.

The three major families plotted in secret, unable to swallow their anger.

"This time, we not only failed to strike the Tuoba family but also lost 60 million gold coins, severely weakening our three major families. We cannot sit idly by; we must find a way to eliminate Tuoba Ye. Otherwise, if he grows up smoothly, the next hundred years will be dark for our three major families," Du Yusheng said solemnly.

Qian Duoduo said, "The Tuoba family is now in a strong position. They must have placed the largest bets this time, sweeping a large amount of gold coins from us, which will significantly increase their strength."

With a large amount of gold, they could purchase a large number of innate martial god-level slaves, the fastest way to enhance their strength.

Of course, they could also buy a large amount of resources to cultivate family disciples, making them advance rapidly.

If a family disciple could enter a cultivation sect, it would also require a large amount of gold, but it would strengthen the family's power.

The Tuoba family's large amount of gold was a huge threat to the Du family, Yuwen family, and Qian family.

Especially for the Qian family, their business at the Treasure Attraction Tower had already been affected, and now with the Treasure Gathering Tower having a large amount of gold, their business would become even more prosperous, while the Treasure Attraction Tower would decline. The Treasure Attraction Tower was the Qian family's main source of income, and if it collapsed, the Qian family's power would quickly decline, possibly even being removed from the list of the five major families.

"Right, we must eliminate Tuoba Ye, or our three major families will really be finished," Yuwen Lingfeng said.

The three major families reached a consensus, but they had no plan on how to deal with Tuoba Ye.

Qian Duoduo sighed, "Tuoba Ye is too powerful and hard to deal with. Even if we hire assassins, I doubt any would be willing to take the job."

"If all else fails, we must use the strategy of borrowing a knife to kill," Du Yusheng said.

"Borrowing a knife to kill? Do you mean to have the Southern Wilderness army deal with Tuoba Ye, like we did with Tuoba Xiong?" Yuwen Lingfeng asked.

"Exactly. Besides this method, we probably have no better way. We must take this opportunity to eliminate the three major strong members of the Tuoba family. Tuoba Xiong is still resisting, Tuoba Jie's strength has increased rapidly, and he has established a foothold in the Southern Border. Together with Tuoba Ye, these three strong members are a huge threat to us. To ensure success, our three major families must send some loyalists to assist the Southern Wilderness army in eliminating all three of them," Du Yusheng said.

Yuwen Lingfeng hesitated for a moment and said, "Since we have no other choice, we must fight our way out. If Tuoba Ye stands in our way, we must eliminate him."

"I have no objections, but how can we get Tuoba Ye to the Southern Border and separate him from Tuoba Jie and the army? We must discuss this clearly in advance. If we are to act, we must do it thoroughly and leave no traces. I think we should buy more Southern Wilderness slaves and hire more assassins if necessary," Qian Duoduo said. "Most of the Southern Wilderness slaves were captured by the Tuoba family and harbor deep hatred. They would be happy to deal with the Tuoba family."

Du Yusheng said, "We must be cautious. If the Emperor finds out, our three major families will be in serious trouble."

The heads of the three major families began to discuss, and they deliberated for an entire night before parting ways.

After the family competition, Tuoba Ye's name spread throughout the Warring States.

He now dared not go out, as many people came to the Treasure Gathering Tower, hoping to see Tuoba Ye in person.

Tuoba Ye found it troublesome and hid in the training ground, focusing on enhancing his cultivation.

He had been practicing the first transformation of the Nine Transformations of the Divine and Demonic Body even more intensely, hoping for a breakthrough. Although there was no progress in the Divine and Demonic Body, his physical strength increased rapidly, reaching 90,000 pounds in less than three months. It was very difficult to increase physical strength after a certain point, and without a significant breakthrough, it was hard to improve.

Tuoba Ye had no significant breakthrough, yet his physical strength increased by 10,000 pounds, which was remarkable.

As for his essence energy cultivation, Tuoba Ye did not slack off either. He progressed rapidly and smoothly advanced to the Sixth Rank Innate Martial God level after three months.

His rapid improvement was largely due to the continuous battles, especially the intense battle with Du Hao, which gave him significant insights.

These three months were very peaceful, and the business at the Treasure Gathering Tower became even more prosperous.

The family competition made Tuoba Ye famous in the Warring States, and the Treasure Gathering Tower also gained fame. Many newcomers to the Divine Capital would come to the Treasure Gathering Tower to trade treasures.

The business at the Treasure Gathering Tower reached new heights, and even the Chamber of Commerce Alliance could not stop it.

One day, while Tuoba Ye was practicing, Xia Yuxuan received a family letter from Tuoba Jie in the Southern Border.

After such a long time, Tuoba Jie finally had news, and Xia Yuxuan was naturally very excited. The last time she received news about Tuoba Jie was when the Eight Dragon Guards went to the Southern Border.

"Xiao Ye, come and see, your father has sent a family letter," Xia Yuxuan found Tuoba Ye, eager to share her joy.

Xia Yuxuan, who had been busy with the business at the Treasure Gathering Tower, had fewer smiles on her face.

Tuoba Ye knew that Xia Yuxuan was always worried about her father but could not help in any way.

Seeing Xia Yuxuan's long-lost smile, Tuoba Ye was also very happy: "Mother, open it quickly and see what Father says."

"Alright, let me see!" Xia Yuxuan was so excited that her body trembled.

Opening the letter, the first part described Tuoba Jie's journey to the Southern Border.

After such a long time, with the Spirit Attraction Talisman and constant battles in the Southern Border, Tuoba Jie's cultivation had progressed rapidly, reaching the Eighth Rank Innate Martial God level.

"Xiao Ye, your father is now an Eighth Rank Innate Martial God, which is great!" Xia Yuxuan couldn't help but shed tears of joy.

"Father is truly powerful; he must have stabilized the situation in the Southern Border," Tuoba Ye said happily.

With the Eighth Rank Innate Martial God cultivation and the spirit talisman given by Tuoba Ye, killing a Ninth Rank Innate Martial God was not difficult, and stabilizing the Southern Border was certainly not a problem.

"Yes, your father has completely taken control of the military," Xia Yuxuan said with a smile, her bright eyes still glistening with tears.

Xia Yuxuan continued reading, and her expression soon changed: "Xiao Ye, your grandfather is not dead; he is just trapped."

"Grandfather is still alive, that's good news!" Tuoba Ye said happily.

"Your grandfather is trapped deep in the Southern Wilderness. Your father received the news and has decided to go rescue him alone. He doesn't want the Southern Border army to suffer heavy losses, so he won't take the army with him. Going alone into the Southern Wilderness is too dangerous!" Xia Yuxuan said anxiously.

"What! Father is going alone into the Southern Wilderness!" Tuoba Ye exclaimed. "This is not good. Grandfather is still alive, and after such a long time without news, now there is news, which is very suspicious. Father's journey will be fraught with danger!"

"Xiao Ye, both your father and grandfather must not be in danger. You must think of a way," Xia Yuxuan placed all her hopes on Tuoba Ye.

Tuoba Ye sighed, "There is no other way; I must go myself!"

"Xiao Ye, you are also taking a risk, and I am even more worried," Xia Yuxuan said.

"Mother, don't worry. My strength has improved a lot recently, and it's hard to find an opponent. I can easily kill my way into the Southern Wilderness. Besides, once I find Father and Grandfather and join forces with them, we can wreak havoc in the Southern Wilderness," Tuoba Ye said with a smile.

Xia Yuxuan said, "Xiao Ye, you should take the Eight Dragon Guards and Zhan Meng. They are strong. Also, we can buy some more innate martial god-level slaves for you to take along for support."

"Mother, I will go alone. This way, I can reach the Southern Wilderness as quickly as possible. Moreover, if I truly need to go deep into the Southern Wilderness, Zhan Meng and the Eight Dragon Guards might not be much help," Tuoba Ye shook his head and refused.