The Conspiracy of the Shama Clan

At the central square of the Feather Spirit Clan's sacred city, Lin Ruo and several elders were seeing off Mo Tianxiao, Lan Qin, and another Feather Spirit Clan elder whose cultivation had reached the late stage of Mid-rank Overlord Realm.

"Mother, I'm coming too!"

Liya popped out of nowhere, wanting to follow Mo Tianxiao and the rest to the Asura Demon Clan for the agreed meeting.

"No!"

"No!"

Lin Ruo and Mo Tianxiao spoke at the exact same time, their tones resolute without the slightest room for negotiation.

Liya stamped her foot, her face filled with clear confusion. "Why not?"

She looked at Mo Tianxiao with a worried glint in her eyes, and sent a voice transmission directly to him: "You know exactly what I'm worried about. If the Asura Demon Clan finds out the truth about you, they will never let you off the hook!"

Within the entire Feather Spirit Clan, only Liya knew the secret that Mo Tianxiao hailed from the Profound Yellow Realm, and that was exactly the reason she was so anxious about his trip to the Asura Demon Clan.

"Don't worry. Two elders are traveling with me. If anything goes wrong, they will definitely not stand by and watch," Mo Tianxiao consoled her.

"Little Ya, what this young friend Tianxiao says makes perfect sense. Even if danger arises, the two elders will definitely escort him out safely. If you tag along, you'll only end up being a burden."

Lin Ruo stroked Liya's head gently. "Rest assured, young friend Tianxiao has done our Feather Spirit Clan a great kindness. We would never stand by and let the Asura Demon Clan harm him."

"Fine, I get it. But you must be extremely careful, okay?"

Liya pouted and could only give up on her plan. After all, she had only reached the mid-stage of the Dao Verification Realm. If a real crisis broke out, she would not be able to help at all even if she was there.

"Hey Little Ya, with me around, my master won't run into any trouble at all. You can set your mind completely at ease," Lan Qin patted her chest and promised confidently.

"It's time for us to leave."

With those words, Lan Qin grabbed Mo Tianxiao and the other Feather Spirit Clan elder, tore open the space before them, and the three of them vanished in an instant.

"Mother, do you think Brother Mo will really be in danger? Last time he made the Asura Demon Clan lose all face, and with their vengeful, unforgiving nature, they will never let this go easily."

Hearing this, a strange glint flickered in Lin Ruo's eyes. "Tell me the truth. You care so much about him, have you fallen for him?"

"N-no way! Mo and I are just friends..." Liya immediately grew flustered and bashful, lowering her head and not daring to meet her mother's eyes.

Lin Ruo, seeing her daughter's shy little manner, could not have missed what was going on. "Hmph, you're still trying to hide it from me. You really think I know nothing?"

"You already knew, so why did you even ask?" Liya mumbled quietly under her breath, head still lowered, sounding a little sulky.

"You, you silly girl!"

Lin Ruo reached out and tapped Liya on the head. "Tianxiao really is a fine young man. Sure, he's a bit of a playboy, but he's a good person at heart, and I'm not going to meddle in whatever is going on between you two."

"But these past years, the Asura Demon Clan has been acting so unusually quiet, which is nothing like their usual style. Their sudden, abnormal move of inviting so many great clans over now makes me feel deeply uneasy."

Lin Ruo could not figure out what the Asura Demon Clan was really plotting behind this move. Why invite so many powerful clans over, just to execute a few human cultivators in front of all those forces?

Unfortunately, even the undercover agent she had placed within the Asura Demon Clan had no idea what was really going on. If the Asura Demon Clan was planning some grand scheme this time, it must be something extremely important that only their most core members were privy to.

"Mother, does that mean Brother Mo is really going to be in danger?"

Hearing Lin Ruo's words, Liya grew even more worried. If even a powerful expert like her mother had a bad feeling about this, then things must truly be far from alright.

"Alright, don't fret too much. With Elder Lan Qin and Elder Lait around, even if danger arises, they will get Young Friend Tianxiao out safely. Besides, the Shamo Clan would never dare to turn on my Feather Spirit Clan openly in front of so many other forces."

Elder Lait was the mid-stage Overlord Realm later-stage cultivator who had volunteered to answer the summons to the Shamo Clan. With a powerhouse of his caliber around, there was a solid chance of escaping even if they ran into trouble.

"Little Ya, I'm planning to go into seclusion to break through to the late-stage Overlord Realm Great Perfection. Keep this matter under wraps for now, don't breathe a word of it to anyone outside."

"Really? Mother, are you confident you can pull it off?"

Liya's face lit up with unmasked delight the moment she heard her mother intended to break through to the late-stage Overlord Realm Great Perfection.

If her mother could successfully advance to that realm, the Feather Spirit Clan would never have to walk on eggshells around those ambitious schemers of the Shamo Clan ever again.

Lin Ruo smiled faintly and said, "I'd say I have a fifty-fifty shot."

Though she knew she was pushing things, the recent undercurrents from the Shamo Clan had put a bad, uneasy feeling in her gut, which left her no choice but to take the risk and attempt the breakthrough ahead of schedule.

Once her cultivation base broke through, paired with two high-grade earth-tier precious treasures, she was confident she could crush Mo Taiyuan. After that, no matter what underhanded tricks the Shamo Clan tried to pull, she would have nothing to fear.

Meanwhile, out in the Shamo Star Region.

"Patriarch, the patriarchs of the Demon Clan and the Barbarian Dragon Clan are both coming in person this time, to meet with our clan and discuss the plan to annex the Feather Spirit Clan."

A cold, sly smirk tugged at the corner of Mo Taiyuan's mouth when he heard the report. "Excellent. In the end, they couldn't resist the temptation. What's the situation on the Feather Spirit Clan's side? Has that kid Mo Tianxiao arrived yet?"

The Shamo Clan elder nodded. "According to the intel from our mole planted in the Feather Spirit Clan, that human is already on his way here, accompanied by two of their elders."

"Two elders? Who are they?" Mo Taiyuan asked.

A malicious grin spread across the Shamo Clan elder's face. "Lait and Lan Qin."

"Oh? Lait? I thought he was..."

"That's right, Patriarch. Lait is already on our side."

At that, the corners of Mo Taiyuan's mouth curled up. "That man has done well for himself. It's about time we put him to good use."

"Oh right, Patriarch. Besides the Barbarian Dragon Clan and the Demon Clan, the patriarch of the Star Beasts Clan also sent word that he's coming in person, claiming he just wants to catch up with you."

Mo Taiyuan frowned slightly. "Kong Ming? That guy has suddenly taken an interest in executing a human? Or is there some other ulterior motive at play here?"

"Hard to say. But the Star Beasts Clan has always loved watching a good show, and they never have anything better to do. It's entirely possible he really is just here to gawk at the spectacle."

"Forget it, leave him be." Mo Taiyuan waved a dismissive hand, then continued, "Have you finished verifying the identities of all the humans we captured from the Tianxuan Star Region? Are there any cultivators from the Xuanghuang Realm among them?"

The Shamo Clan elder replied, "We've sorted through all of them. Some are loose cultivators from the Tianxuan Star Region, others come from various major human forces. One of them appears to be a disciple of the Azure Mysterious Sect."

"Azure Mysterious Sect? The human race really has some nerve, they actually let us catch a disciple from the Azure Mysterious Sect." A look of disdain crossed Mo Taiyuan's face. The Azure Mysterious Sect was the number one major force of the human race's Tianxuan Star Region, with a heritage no less profound than the Shamo Clan's.

He had simply spent a bit of money to hire some human cultivators to go kidnap a few decently powerful humans for him, never expecting they would manage to grab a disciple from the Azure Mysterious Sect of all people.

"The saying 'money makes the devil turn the millstone' really did come from the human mouth, and it works terrifyingly well on their kind."

"Keep a close watch on those human cultivators. No matter where they came from, as of this moment, they are all cultivators of the Xuanhuang Realm."

Mo Taiyuan had never forgotten the humiliation the Xuanhuang Realm had dealt his people. Not only had they murdered his youngest son, but they had also slaughtered countless of his clan's cultivators.

This time, he was taking advantage of the opportunity to not only discuss the annexation of the Feather Spirit Clan with his various allied forces, but also to lay a trap to hook cultivators from the Xuanhuang Realm. Catching them would be ideal, but it would not be a problem even if he failed.

At the very least, the human who was already in the Feather Spirit Clan had taken the bait. Using him to vent his pent-up anger would be more than satisfying.