Not Sure What to Write

While Qian Jiang and Lu Shouzhuo sat together discussing philosophy and the Dao, Mo Yu was not idle either.

He summoned the intelligence department of his clan and instructed, "Step up the search for remnants of the Qing Xuan sect, especially anyone connected to that fellow called Ye Shu. The moment you find anything, report it to me immediately. Do not delay!"

Mo Yu's expression was grim: "You know well what a threat that man poses to us."

"Yes! This subordinate will spare no effort to get it done."

The shadow guard acknowledged with a cupped-fist salute, then vanished into the darkness, leaving Mo Yu alone in the room, deep in thought.

Since the system could not locate Ye Shu's position, he would send his men to search instead—including Ye Shu's fellow disciples, friends, and even those so-called beloved beauties of his.

"As long as I find them, I don't care if you don't show yourself!"

A cold smirk curled at the corner of Mo Yu's mouth.

He knew well that these Chosen Ones were all people of deep loyalty and affection. All he had to do was use the people close to them as bait, and he would hook them every single time.

The only reason he hadn't wasted manpower on such matters before was that Ye Shu was already dead—no need for such elaborate schemes. Instead, he had focused his energy on the newly born children of fortune.

The system said Ye Shu was of no importance—but that was just talk.

When you actually ran into the man, who wouldn't want to use every trick in the book, throw all caution to the wind, and crush him dead before he could cause any more trouble?

"Hmm... I need to find a way to expand my power."

Frowning, Mo Yu sat on his chair, pondering. By now, all the young prodigies of the Central Province had fallen, all of them serving to elevate Ye Shu's name. More importantly, during that time in the ruins, he had been too busy fleeing to get a proper read on just how powerful that man was.

But there was one thing he knew for sure.

Ye Shu was stronger than him.

"Right now, the Soul-Sealing Hall is badly weakened—barely useful. The patriarchs of the various reclusive clans are all severely wounded and in seclusion, letting the Zhao Family, led by the first female lead Zhao Zhixia, run uncontested. That's extremely unfavorable to my future plans."

"I need to find a backer of equal strength."

Mo Yu muttered softly to himself.

In truth, this had always been a thorn in his side.

If it weren't for the fact that the Patriarch of the Zhao Family was such a strange character—the acknowledged number one figure in the Central Province, yet spending every day sipping tea and watching flowers, practically caring about nothing at all—the situation would have been handled a long time ago. In the original story, his only real contribution was that, when the male lead was born, the old man finally got a daughter in his old age, then immediately rushed to send her off to the Ye family. He claimed it was to look for a token, to give his daughter a happy childhood—but in the end, it accomplished nothing. No token was found, and he ended up giving away his own daughter instead.

That was absolutely terrifying, you know?

I mean, the number one figure of the entire Central Province, sending his own daughter to a small family in the Eastern Wasteland, to be raised as a child bride?

That was beyond unreasonable!

And even more absurd—when the Ye family fell back in the day, several reclusive clans self-destructed along with them, and the Mo family took the brunt of it. Only the Zhao family came through unscathed, and yet the old man did nothing.

No expansion of power. No taking the opportunity to crush his rivals.

Even when his own daughter was forced by the clan elders into a marriage alliance with the Yan clan, he did nothing to stop it. It took the male lead swooping in like a divine soldier from heaven to snatch the girl away and put an end to that farce.

Mo Yu had always thought the Patriarch of the Zhao Family was a strange one.

Otherwise, when Ye Shu split the Central Province open with a single sword strike, the Mo family, the Yan clan, the Liu family, and all the other reclusive clans would have had no chance of survival.

But again, the old man did nothing.

He just sat there, letting that deadbeat father of the male lead grow and develop, all the way to ascension, and only then did the patriarch show up with a shocked face. And even then, he had to wait for the male lead to come bail him out.

In short.

The Patriarch of the Zhao Family was a useless leech.

Even as he said this, Mo Yu couldn't help but feel a twinge of concern.

After all, the man's strength was plain for all to see—no matter how much he loafed around, he remained the undisputed number one on the surface of Zhongzhou.

If Zhao Zhixia so much as whispered a word in his ear,

then on the entire Xuantian Continent, almost no one would dare lay a finger on Ye Shu.

So, with the Patriarch of the Zhao Family in such a dominant position,

was there anyone who could stand against him?

There was, my friends—of course there was.

Mo Yu gently stroked his chin and picked up the latest secret report delivered by his shadow guards.

The beast clan had started stirring up trouble again recently.

Ever since three thousand years ago, when the beast clan's sole ninth-stage peak beast king vanished without a trace, the clan had been leaderless. The various beast kings warred endlessly among themselves, none willing to bow to another, and the clan's strength was whittled away in constant infighting.

It had gotten so bad that they'd retreated to the Demon Beast Mountain Range, reduced to a training ground and treasure-hunting spot for humans. Their glory days were long gone.

Finally, the beast clan took stock and made a painful decision: the chieftains resolved to set aside their conflicts and raise a new leader who could command the entire race. Each tribe could nominate one prodigy to compete, and the victor would gain the resources of the entire beast clan and rule over all.

"Is the plot moving this fast?"

Mo Yu read the report in his hand, recalling the original storyline.

In truth, that legendary beast clan leader who vanished mysteriously never actually died. He had gotten trapped at the entrance while exploring some ancient immortal relic, reduced to serving as a doorkeeper.

And he had a daughter who had been separated from him.

She was also the true dragon descendant with the noblest bloodline and purest lineage in all the beast clan.

In the original novel, the male lead happened to encounter her when he drifted into Zhongzhou.

Seeing that she was strong but greedy for food, he casually took her in as a personal bodyguard and meal companion. Little did he know, she was the lost princess of the beast clan. He helped her rise to prominence in the beast clan tournament, awakened her bloodline, and won back everything that was rightfully hers. In return, the male lead gained the beast clan's full support through that connection.

But—and here's the thing—

remember, the male lead had been dead for fifteen years now.

That lost little princess might well have never met him at all.

Which meant...

This opportunity was his for the taking!

"Though I'm no longer in my prime, it's not really about looks," Mo Yu mused, stroking his chin. "What matters is that legendary ninth-stage beast king—a being who can truly stand toe-to-toe with the Patriarch of the Zhao Family."

"As long as I build a good rapport with them—"

"then I'll have another supreme being of the age backing me. And with that, even if Ye Shu has the Zhao family behind him, I'll still find a way to cut him down!"

"Hmph, hmph!"

At that thought, Mo Yu couldn't help but sneer.

He was confident that when the beast clan gathering came, the so-called chosen one of destiny would certainly show up.

Perhaps he could even nip that threat in the bud right there!

"Tsk."

The more Mo Yu thought about it, the more sound it seemed.

But there was one more thing: as the young master of the Mo family, attending the beast clan gathering all by himself just wouldn't look right. The question was, who would go with him?

The clan's young prodigies had, by now, died off pretty much completely.

Elders from the clan?

They could trail behind at a distance to protect him, but having them by his side the whole way would feel too stifling.

Mo Yu frowned, racking his brain.

Then, finally, a figure holding a crown, with a simple, honest face, surfaced in his mind—Mo Shisan!

After all, what's a young master without his loyal lackey when journeying abroad?

"Send word to have Mo Shisan summoned. He will accompany this young master to the lands of the beast clans."