Region 10
Long Qingwei narrated everything and then sighed again. "We shouldn't have let that traitor in, or we should have killed him much earlier. I thought he helped us solve the danger from the Shadow Phoenix faction, but his motive from the very beginning was to split us. If the Moonlight faction and Shadow Phoenix faction unite now, we will be no match for them without rank-5s like us. It is likely that the disappearance of our clan members is also his doing. He must have leaked this information to Huang Weimin!"
Huang Ling felt a chill when she heard all this. She murmured, "Such a deep scheme. Who is he?" She looked at Long Qingwei and said, "Thank you for telling me. You can leave now. If possible, warn the Shadow Phoenix faction and the Spirit Dragon clan."
One hour later
The corpses of all the Spirit Dragon clan members lay across a one-mile region, and Ren Ying frowned deeply.
He looked at Huang Ling and said in a low voice, "Did you deliberately let him go?"
Huang Ling was surprised. "Didn't I say I killed Long Qingwei?"
Ren Ying looked at her with hard eyes. "You could have killed him in front of me, but you deliberately let him run away so you could have a private chat with him. Do you think I can't see that? For the next month, the antidote will be reduced to three-quarters."
Huang Ling was shocked and shouted, "What do you mean?"
Ren Ying said, "Don't repeat this mistake again, or next time it will be cut in half!"
Huang Ling fell silent and looked at him grudgingly.
"We will continue our journey to Region 7, and you will lead. We'll get back to being a team in front of others." Saying this, Ren Ying moved away to give the couple some private time.
Li Yuxong looked at her and asked, "Why did you agree?"
Huang Ling looked at him and replied, "Your life is more important."
Li Yuxong felt a warmth at her words but still said, "Miss Ling, you don't have to do this."
Huang Ling came closer and kissed his cheek. "You can call me Ling-er."
Li Yuxong was surprised and didn't react for a moment. Huang Ling smiled. "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. I won't let him get away with this!"
Her face suddenly turned serious and she said softly, "Your brother— is his name Li Gang?"
Li Yuxong was surprised. "Yes. How do you know?"
Huang Ling said, "I asked Long Qingwei, that rank-5 warrior from the Spirit Dragon faction. He said it was Ren Ying who ambushed him."
Li Yuxong's face changed. "What?"
Meanwhile, somewhere else
Ren Ying stood at a cave and looked at the river.
"This is the place I first arrived," he murmured, and two lines of tears suddenly poured down his cheeks as he thought of his companions.
"So many things happened. I never thought I would do such things. But this inheritance will be mine." His eyes turned sharp as he wiped away his tears.
He took out a communication token. "An ant escaped the net. He is a burly man, wearing a white robe with the Spirit Dragon faction's emblem on his back. He should have already informed the Spirit Dragon clansmen with his communication token."
"It doesn't matter."
Ren Ying frowned, then changed his tone to a polite one. "No, young master. Our plan has already reached the late stage. If he informs those snakes and chickens, then wouldn't everything we did be for naught?"
Wu Tianlei replied from the other end, "No need to worry anymore. They are no longer a threat to us. Our Thunderous Peak faction is now the strongest among the five factions. We have already surrounded them. Even if they are informed, we will simply destroy them after their battle ends."
Ren Ying said, "Okay," and cut off the communication.
His eyes turned cold and he suddenly laughed. "That idiot. He thinks about fighting all day, brute force with no thought. He thinks he can defeat them with strength alone. But those factions are not idiots, and as soon as they see danger they will not hesitate to form an alliance to counter a common enemy."
His eyes turned deep. "Enemies are really easy to find; even allies are just enemies waiting for a better offer."
He started thinking. 'Anyway, now all of my opponents will be weakened. With the help of my sister-in-law, this inheritance is ninety percent mine. But I still shouldn't let my guard down.'
'What could be the worst case for me?'
Region 15
Long Yifan had already cursed Ren Ying many times. "Don't let me find you, or I will skin you alive."
Huang Weimin laughed as he attacked again. "You thought it was so easy to use our messenger to spy on me? Do you take me for a fool?"
"I sent him as a double agent. He has perfect acting skill, and at first I gave up some resource points just to let you drop your guard, so that I could eliminate you perfectly!"
At the same time he sighed inwardly. If I had known he would leak our resource points, I would have killed him instead.
Huang Weimin was bluffing Long Yifan to further enrage him.
As expected, Long Yifan was angered, but before he could launch a stronger attack, Xu Zhi struck from the side, cornering him further.
He shouted, "If you have guts, then attack from the front!"
Huang Weimin looked at him with disdain and continued attacking. The battle continued for another month.
There seemed to be a deadlock, but the Spirit Dragon faction suffered heavy losses. Their numbers were reduced fourfold. The Shadow Phoenix faction and Moonlight faction also suffered grievously, each losing twice as many warriors.
At this time Long Yifan was speaking with Long Qingwei. They were the only rank-5 warriors remaining in their faction. Many rank-4s and rank-3s had died.
Long Qingwei suggested, "We should leave this place. It is no longer possible to get the inheritance. Once we back off, the others will fight on their own, and we might have a chance to sneak an attack in between."
Long Yifan agreed. He knew his only chance was to gamble — gamble on the fact that the others would fight one another, and he would take the benefit like an oriole.
Retreat is not cowardice — it's the wisdom of those who've bled enough to see what's worth fighting for and what's not.
That night he gathered all the warriors. In a deep voice he said, "We are leaving this region. Return to camp at once."
"Everyone pack up; we will meet here again in an hour and immediately leave."
A few hours later
Long Yifan looked at the map. "Let's go." They had already left the battlefield and were now at the periphery of Region 15.
At that moment countless arrows poured down on them from every direction. Long Yifan was shocked and alerted everyone.
Soon, countless rank-4s and a few rank-5 warriors arrived.
A familiar voice greeted them. "You didn't expect this day, did you, Long Yifan?"
Long Yifan looked at the visitor and spoke slowly: "Wu Tianlei."
"Oh, so you remember me? What an honor! It's a pity that you will perish here," Wu Tianlei said mockingly.
"Do you think you have what it takes to kill me?" Long Yifan sneered.
Wu Tianlei shook his head. "You are being stubborn. I might be weaker than you, but who said I fight alone? We have a few rank-5s as well!"
A huge fight broke out, spilling into Regions 17 and 18.
Long Yifan shouted, "If I survive this, I will make sure all of you pay a hundredfold."
Wu Tianlei laughed arrogantly, "First survive this."
Suddenly, a huge arrow shot toward him, piercing his shoulder.
He groaned in pain and shouted, "Who?"
At that moment many warriors from the Moonlight and Shadow Phoenix factions arrived together.
Wu Tianlei's face changed. He shouted, "Aren't the Spirit Dragon faction your enemy? Why are you attacking us?"
Huang Weimin laughed. "Spirit Dragon faction is indeed our enemy, but now they are no different from snakes with no poison in their mouths. But your Thunderous Peak faction is quite strong and may threaten us."
Wu Tianlei's expression hardened, and the battle's entire situation reversed. The Spirit Dragon, Moonlight, and Shadow Phoenix factions allied to deal with the Thunderous Peak faction.
The whole of Jade Harbor descended into chaos, the fighting spreading through Regions 17, 18, and 19.
The battle continued for a month before they reached a truce. No one wanted to give up the inheritance because of internal struggle, but the fighting caused heavy damage to all four major factions, reducing their combat strength to one-tenth.
Each faction had only a single rank-5 warrior left and a few rank-4s. Only dozens of rank-3 warriors survived, either because they did not take part in the fight or because they were lucky.
The losses were undoubtedly huge.
Region 9, one month later
6th December, Year 42020 of the Elemental Era
Ren Ying was standing on a rock when his communication token lit up. He took it and received the news.
He smiled and then laughed loudly. Huang Ling, who was nearby and feeding Li Yuxong the next dose of medicine, suddenly looked at him as if he were an idiot; her face turned heavy. He opened the token in front of her so she could hear everything.
All four factions had fought and suffered heavy damage. She was still in shock when she heard the devastation inflicted on the Shadow Phoenix faction, and her heart bled. She felt bitter at her fate.
Ren Ying smiled with satisfaction.
He suddenly remembered the moment a month ago, just after speaking to Wu Tianlei.
Ren Ying took out another token and initiated communication. A woman's voice answered. He said only one thing.
"Thunderous Peak faction has encircled that area and is planning to attack when the other three factions are at their weakest."
Tang Liuyue nodded. "I will let Uncle Zhi know. But when are you planning to return?"
Ren Ying thought a moment and replied perfunctorily, "Soon."