So at the very end, Father still had a mind as clear as a bright mirror, knowing that the culprit was not sent by him.

“Second, do not compete with the Crown Prince for the throne,” the King of Wei squeezed his arm so tightly that his five fingers were almost digging into his flesh. “He is your elder brother, and although not broad-minded, he has strategy and decisiveness. If you assist him with all your effort, Wei will surely prosper and fulfill my—fulfill my dying wish!”

Xiao Yan was stunned, and said in a low voice, “Father!”

The King of Wei shook his head repeatedly: “I know you resent the mother and son, and resent me, for the death of Noble Consort Shu. For years I have felt guilty for failing to protect your mother and for being unable to give you justice…”

Xiao Yan clenched his teeth tightly.

“But I have not treated you poorly these years, allowing you to act recklessly many times.” The King of Wei stared at him and said, “I cannot kill the Queen, cannot depose the Crown Prince—if you were in my position, you would surely understand! My good son, this is for the sake of Great Wei!”

Xiao Yan’s Adam’s apple moved, but he remained silent.

“Promise me, promise me!” The King of Wei urged repeatedly, his breath growing weaker.

Xiao Yan gritted his teeth until they creaked, but he could not withstand his father’s gaze. He had to bow his head and say, “I promise you, as long as the Crown Prince does not move against me, I… I will not raise a blade against him first.”

“Good, good,” the King of Wei was greatly comforted. “That’s my good son!”

“Third, third…” His gaze was becoming unfocused, yet he forced himself to remain alert. “Listen carefully, Yun Ya… you must not follow his every word.”

“??” Wasn’t it Father himself who had always followed Yun Ya’s every word? Had he suddenly come to his senses?

“When I first met him, I was just a young man. Even then, he said he would help the Xiao family compete for the realm, but only after I seized the throne.” The King of Wei took a long breath, feeling an emptiness in his heart. “I fear that after my death, he will make the same demand of you. This man’s ambition is too great; he will never be satisfied with just the position of State Preceptor. Remember to guard against him. If you truly cannot control him, then you should… you should…” He made a gesture of slitting a throat.

Xiao Yan said in a low voice, “Son understands.”

“I’ve long known this man’s intentions were impure, but he has great talent and great abilities. I had no choice but to use him.” The King of Wei coughed once and spat out a mouthful of black blood. “Thirty-three years ago, I sought the divine fortune-teller Cao Budao to find a direction. Cao Budao was already dead, but he had left divination lots pointing to two paths for me. One was to contentedly remain a prince, enjoying family life until dying of old age. The other path was to usurp power and seize the throne, achieving unprecedented greatness for the Xiao family, but I… but I would not live to the age of sixty.”

Xiao Yan was deeply moved.

The “age of sixty” refers to one’s sixtieth year. The King of Wei was now fifty-seven, indeed not yet reaching the age of sixty.

Only now did Xiao Yan understand why the King of Wei had favored Yun Ya in recent years and was obsessed with the Dragon-Tiger Golden Elixir—it was because deep down, he still wanted to defy fate and extend his life.

Yet on the other hand, the King of Wei had also stubbornly insisted on attacking the Kingdom of Yao and crossing the Wufu Snow Mountain—he feared his time was limited and he would not fulfill his ambition of achieving great merit. This heaven’s favorite was simultaneously deeply afraid of his approaching end; in this particularly contradictory state of mind, he was especially irritable toward any opposing voices!

“The divination lot also said that if I chose the second path, I would disturb the workings of Heaven, and a demon star would appear to assist me. Yet, it would be both my making and my undoing.” He said sternly, “Yan’er, you know who it is!”

Xiao Yan, with tears in his eyes, nodded repeatedly.

The King of Wei breathed heavily twice, his complexion turning even more ashen: “This is like negotiating with a tiger for its skin, but I… but I have no regrets.”

Just then, the guard outside reported: “The State Preceptor has arrived.”

Yun Ya had come.

The King of Wei, drawing on some unknown strength, grabbed Xiao Yan’s collar and pulled him close, his voice lowered to a whisper: “In the imperial bedchamber, under the bed, the first hidden compartment on the left, go look! This is Heaven’s secret, not to be shared with others.”

As he finished the last word, Yun Ya lifted the curtain and entered, along with the Medicine Master.

The Medicine Master had already revealed the basic truth, and Yun Ya had put aside his usual nonchalance. He bent down, his face solemn: “Your Majesty, please rest assured, I will do my utmost to assist the new king.” At this point, pleasantries would only waste time, so it was better to get straight to the point.

The King of Wei said in a low voice: “The fate of Great Wei is still in your hands. You once said you would help my Xiao family compete for the realm…”

Yun Ya nodded: “That promise remains unchanged.”

The King of Wei gave a short laugh: “Do not interfere in the affairs between the brothers. Otherwise, otherwise…”

With a cold smile still on the corner of his lips, his gaze froze, and this sentence was never completed.

Yun Ya slightly bowed his head stepped back twice and looked at the King of Wei with complex emotions. This old man and he had known each other for many years; the intricacies of their entanglements and agreements were too complicated to explain to outsiders.

Of course, from now on, only one person remained who knew these things.

Xiao Yan’s eyes reddened, and he fell at the King of Wei’s bedside, weeping loudly!

Although he was the second son and had lost his mother-consort at a young age, the King of Wei’s deep love and kindness toward him had never diminished. Among all the monarchs of the six kingdoms, only the ruler of the rival Kingdom of Yao could treat his children as fairly as this.

With the King of Wei’s death, his mind was now filled with the bond between father and son.

Yun Ya walked out of the carriage and exhaled a long breath.

The setting sun was blood-red, twilight had arrived. He looked up just in time to see the last red glow disappear over the mountain peaks in the west.

Imperial Judge Wu Chen was standing outside the carriage. Everyone else kept their distance, giving the King of Wei and his son space. Yun Ya glanced at him: “Did the assassin self-destruct?”

“Yes.” His face showed shame for not having been able to capture a live prisoner. “But correspondence with the Crown Prince was found among his belongings.”

Yun Ya’s brow twitched slightly: “Where was the secret message stored?”

“In a fine gold cylindrical tube, very sturdy.”

A cold smile curled at the corner of Yun Ya’s lips: “It seems he also knew the power of his soul explosion.”

The sunlight had vanished, darkness had descended, and in the night, the Wufu Snow Mountain remained only as an indistinct silhouette, like a beast crouching on the ground, selecting its prey.

Today, this great mountain has indeed swallowed many lives, including officers and leaders from both Wei and Yao, cultivators, and even the State Preceptor and the monarch.

In this battle, both Wei and Yao suffered heavy losses.

The Medicine Master hurried over and found a large carriage to treat his wounds. Although the injuries Yun Ya had received at Cliff Mountain had healed, the Medicine Master still sensed something wrong and frowned: “Your heart energy is weaker, has my lord suffered a serious injury recently?”

“Mmm.” Yun Ya had kept his eyes closed to rest. “At Cliff Mountain, I fought a fire spirit and was somewhat injured, then used blood tree pollen to nurse it.”

“That’s not enough.” The Medicine Master’s brows were almost knotted together. “You’ve only just recovered some vital energy with the help of the Ao Fish’s inner pill, you must not fight anyone shortly!” He suddenly remembered something, looking at Yun Ya’s pale face. “Oh! You even dueled with An Ruzhen today! This won’t do, you must rest well afterward, preferably bed rest!” He knew Yun Ya’s constitution too well; although the man before him seemed all-powerful, he was afflicted with a serious illness.