Chapter 513 - 509: The Hai Family Is Not a Monolithic Block

「The Hai Family, Land of the Far West.」

During the family meeting, Patriarch Hai Shixiong erupted in fury. His rage was so immense that his roars were the only sound in the vast hall.

"How could you do this? What did I tell you? Blood Hemp? How could you take something like that to be planted in a secular kingdom? I told you long ago that the Iron-blooded Hall was to buy a plot of land in the Dianchi Kingdom and cultivate it themselves. And what did they do? They arrogantly destroyed an entire kingdom! Whose idea was this? It’s utterly moronic! Do you think secular kingdoms can just be bullied at will? And look at us now! Qin Li has wiped out the Iron-blooded Hall, and the matter of the Blood Hemp can’t be covered up any longer. Tell me, did you mistake my trust for permission to do as you please? The family is this large, and I entrusted such an important matter to you. Is this the result you give me?"

The dense crowd below was utterly silent. Hai Jinzun sat beside Hai Shixiong, his face devoid of expression, his lips pressed into a thin line.

Hai Shixiong took a deep breath and waved a piece of paper in his hand. "’Believed to have been annihilated by Qin Li. The Mysterious Land housing the Iron-blooded Hall has been destroyed and is now inaccessible. All personnel are presumed to have been massacred...’ Presumed! Believed! Besides presumptions, can any of you give me some actual proof?"

Just then, a timid voice rose from the crowd. "Patriarch, we can. We can prove that Qin Li and his group did indeed enter the Dianchi Kingdom. While there, they killed all the Iron-blooded Hall members stationed in the kingdom and seized control of the government directly. Even now, five disciples of the Qin Family remain in the Dianchi Kingdom..."

"Then let’s send people to kill them immediately!" another member of the Hai Family chimed in.

"Kill my ass!"

Hai Shixiong, who never swore in public, finally lost his restraint. He glared at the speaker—a high-ranking steward in the Hai Family, responsible for a huge portion of their business—and jabbed a finger at him. "I’m seriously starting to question my decision to promote you. Kill, kill, kill—is that all you know? What good will killing a few Qin Family disciples do? What about Qin Li? As long as he’s alive, what do we gain from killing his family besides provoking him further?"

Unconsciously, Hai Shixiong had gone from completely disregarding the young Qin Li to placing him on an equal footing with himself. He might not have noticed this shift, but Hai Jinzun, sitting beside him, certainly did.

The man below was left speechless and didn’t dare say another word. With a single sentence, he had drawn the Patriarch’s fire. ’I can’t believe I said that,’ he cursed himself inwardly.

Hai Shixiong fell silent for a moment before continuing in a sinister tone, "Second, there’s another matter I’ve just heard about. Some of you have gotten quite bold, it seems, using the Hai Family’s name to do things that tarnish our reputation. Is anyone going to step forward and admit to this?"

A wave of astonishment rippled through the crowd below. They exchanged bewildered glances. If the first matter Hai Shixiong mentioned was a strategic blunder, a mistake, then this second matter was far more serious.

At best, it was an abuse of power for personal gain. At worst... it was betraying the family! And what do you call someone who betrays the family?

A traitor!

An old man, who looked to be well over seventy, slowly rose from the crowd and cleared his throat. "Patriarch, it is I who was not strict enough with my subordinate. My unworthy disciple impersonated Master Jin to craft and sell inferior Spiritual Artifacts. After being exposed, he had the audacity to hire assassins under the Hai Family’s name. First, he hired Cao Hong, ranked seventh on the assassin list. After Cao Hong failed and disappeared, he hired Tianya, ranked third. It seems Tianya also failed, as Qin Li, the one who exposed my disciple, is still alive and well, while Tianya has vanished. Then, my disciple once again used the Hai Family’s name to hire Blood-Red Sunset, ranked first, and Nightfall, ranked second. There has been no news from them since. I am willing to accept the family’s punishment in my disciple’s place."

As soon as the old man finished speaking, the hall erupted in a stunned buzz. All the high-ranking members of the Hai Family were left speechless. They never imagined that so much could have happened right under their noses without their knowledge. It was true that the Hai Family was enormous and their enterprises were vast, with even minor dealings being massive in scale.

But something like this had never happened before. The implications were simply vile!

’First of all, impersonating Master Jin is an unforgivable offense on its own. And this old man wants to take the fall for his disciple? Is that even possible? Who is Master Jin? He’s someone that even the Patriarch, Hai Shixiong, has to speak to with the utmost respect! To use his name to perform Artifact Refining and create Spiritual Artifacts for others... this... isn’t this just utter madness? What did this person think he was doing to the Hai Family’s reputation?’

’After being exposed, he still dared to use the Hai Family’s name to hire top assassins. The most sensitive part is that Blood-Red Sunset, Nightfall, and Tianya—all three of them are assassins who have killed members of the Hai family before!’

’The Hai Family has been hunting them, with a bounty on their heads!’

’And this person dared to use the Hai Family’s name to hire those three to kill someone else?’

’Is he out of his mind?’

Hai Shixiong glanced at the old man, his brow furrowing. This elder was no stranger—he was his own second uncle.

The only reason Hai Shixiong knew about this was because of a letter from Master Jin. As the foremost Artifact Refining Master in the Land of the Far West, Master Jin hadn’t made a public appearance in many years. Legend had it that he was traveling across the Celestial Essence Continent, searching for all kinds of Rare Metals and minerals, hoping to refine more Treasure Artifacts in his lifetime. As a result, very few people knew his whereabouts.

Somehow, word of this incident had reached Master Jin’s ears. He had written a letter to Hai Shixiong. The letter contained no harsh words; it simply expressed a hope that Hai Shixiong would restrain his family members and ensure nothing like this happened again.

But who was Hai Shixiong? He was the magnificent Patriarch of the great Hai Family!

To receive such a letter—sincere in tone, without a single harsh word—was almost worse than being cursed out. In fact, Hai Shixiong almost wished Master Jin had berated him instead.

The peaceful tone of the letter was more humiliating to Hai Shixiong than a vicious slap to the face.

’Something that a world-traveling wanderer with no fixed abode knows about, yet I, the Patriarch of this family, am completely in the dark? What kind of a joke is this?’

Master Jin hadn’t even mentioned any names in his letter. And because the letter had only arrived today, Hai Shixiong hadn’t had time to investigate before bringing it up at the family meeting. He never expected the culprit to be one of his own second uncle’s people...

This left Hai Shixiong feeling furious but at a complete loss for words.

At that moment, Hai Jinzun, who had been sitting on the dais in silence, spoke up coolly, "Elder Haiming, do you realize the implications of what you’ve just said?"

Hai Jinzun was the Hai Family’s peerless genius, the kind born only once in a millennium. His words carried immense weight. The moment he spoke, all the murmuring from below ceased. The hall, with its five or six hundred occupants, fell deathly silent.

A look of discomfort flashed across the wrinkled face of the standing elder, Haiming. He coughed twice and said, "As I said, an unworthy disciple is the master’s fault. As his master, I will accept the punishment on his behalf!"

Hai Jinzun’s voice turned icy. "Elder Haiming, you cannot bear the consequences of your disciple’s mistakes!"

Haiming’s eyes flashed, shooting out two terrifying glints of light. He straightened his back, and a powerful aura erupted from him, instantly blanketing the entire hall in a tyrannical presence. But in a flash, the aura vanished, leaving many so dumbstruck they wondered if they had been dreaming. ’How could the usually low-key Elder Haiming possess such a powerful aura?’

"Hai Jinzun, within the Hai Family, your status is still not higher than mine! You may be the future Patriarch, but you are not the Patriarch now! The family’s once-in-a-millennium genius?" Elder Haiming let out a pair of mirthless chuckles. "In truth, the one thing the Hai Family has never lacked is geniuses! What can I not bear? The worst is but death! Besides, you are a junior, six or seven generations my junior—a little whelp at the level of my great-great-grandson. Is it appropriate for you to speak to me in such a manner?"

Hai Jinzun’s face flushed crimson. Growing up, no one had ever dared to contradict or defy him like this. Coupled with the Patriarch’s doting, who always brought him to his side during family meetings, Hai Jinzun had developed an arrogant disposition. He never thought that today, a normally inconspicuous family elder would say something that so wounded his pride.

Hai Jinzun flew into a rage, shooting to his feet, ready to erupt.

"What are you doing? Sit down!" Hai Shixiong barked from the side, his voice heavy. "What’s all this noise? Isn’t the family in enough chaos? Have you no shame?!"

Hai Shixiong glanced at the sullen-faced Hai Jinzun as he sat back down, then sighed and said slowly, "Elder Haiming, you are also at fault in this matter. But I believe you did not know beforehand that your disciple would do such a thing. There is absolutely no reason for you to take the fall for him. The most urgent task now is to bring your disciple back. As for his punishment, we will handle it according to family law. I may not have achieved anything world-shaking in my years as Patriarch, but I can at least guarantee my impartiality is beyond question!"

Haiming remained seated, a cold sneer playing on his lips as he thought, ’Impartial? If you were impartial, you wouldn’t let Hai Jinzun sit in that seat! What is he? A genius? Since Ancient Times, countless geniuses have fallen! Besides, if my disciple returns, would he escape death? You want to trick him into coming back just to make an example of him and bolster your own prestige? Dream on! However... that boy, Qin Li... I will never let you get away!’

ACHOO!

Just as he was about to return to his family’s stronghold, Qin Li suddenly sneezed—a rare occurrence for him. At once, both Leng Yao and Shangguan Shiyu looked at him with concern.

Qin Li rubbed his nose and said, "Someone must be cursing my name!"