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**
"Heh, those guys from the Sky Serpent Mansion are idiots, and those old fogies in the Imperial Family aren't any better. Go ahead and fight for victory, I'm leaving this damn country soon!"
Xuan She cursed under his breath as he walked toward the spirit tablets of the Sky Serpent Empire's Imperial Family.
Hidden in the shadows, Xiao Lin kept a close watch on Xuan She's every move. Xiao Lin wanted to know what exactly Xuan She's purpose was for coming to this Ancestral Hall. He didn't believe for a second that the man would come here for no reason.
Moreover, Xiao Lin had overheard every word of Xuan She's complaints. Because of this, Xiao Lin was even more certain that Xuan She had a specific goal in mind within this Ancestral Hall.
"Perhaps I'm about to discover quite a significant secret!"
Xiao Lin thought silently to himself.
In truth, Xiao Lin didn't know that the so-called deal between the Sky Serpent Empire's Imperial Family and the Jia Nan Academy was entirely fabricated by Xuan She.
That's right, that deal never existed in the first place!
The order the Emperor of the Sky Serpent Empire had given to Xuan She was to use whatever means necessary to get the Jia Nan Academy to send someone to attend their upcoming Founding Ceremony.
Thus, Xuan She had gone to the Jia Nan Academy to negotiate with Grand Elder Su Qian.
He claimed the Empire was willing to offer three Tier 7 Pills, ten Tier 6 Pills, and permission for the Jia Nan Academy to recruit students within the Sky Serpent Empire's borders as conditions to have the Academy send Xiao Lin.
After receiving an answer, Xuan She returned to the Sky Serpent Empire and naturally told the Emperor a completely different story.
Since Xuan She was one of the four Dou Zong ancestors of the Imperial Family, the Emperor never imagined that he would have other motives or would dare to deceive him.
This was also the reason why, since Xiao Lin's arrival in the Sky Serpent Empire, the Imperial Family had never mentioned the matter to him from start to finish.
The Emperor simply didn't know the deal existed!
One could say that Xuan She was banking on the fact that the Jia Nan Academy would not proactively bring up the matter. After all, the Jia Nan Academy was a neutral power with the nature of an academy; many things were inconvenient to discuss openly.
Was Xiao Lin supposed to take the initiative to talk to the Emperor about the payment after arriving? That would be a joke!
Once word of such a thing got out, the reputation of the Jia Nan Academy would likely be ruined. Furthermore, the fundamental reason the Sky Serpent Empire insisted on having someone from the Jia Nan Academy present—
Aside from having an extra Dou Zong expert to pressure the old Mansion Master of the Sky Serpent Mansion into ending his secluded cultivation early—was mainly for deterrence and to have the Academy stand behind the Imperial Family afterward.
After all, in the Emperor's eyes, even if the Imperial Family suppressed the Sky Serpent Mansion, quite a bit of turmoil would still erupt within the Empire after the battle.
At that time, having help from the Jia Nan Academy would undoubtedly be very useful for stabilizing the situation. One had to know that the reputation of the Jia Nan Academy was quite effective in the Northwestern Region.
However, no one expected Xuan She, the middleman, to keep all of this hidden. This string of misunderstandings had caused Xiao Lin to develop dissatisfaction toward the Imperial Family.
That led to the current scene of Xiao Lin sneaking into the Imperial Palace. Xuan She certainly never imagined that the casual lie he told as a middleman would eventually bring retribution upon his own head!
That retribution was coming very soon.
At this moment, Xuan She cautiously patrolled the Ancestral Hall once more.
After confirming no one was there, he made his next move.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Xuan She casually flicked out a strand of Dou Qi.
In an instant, the spirit tablets of the Sky Serpent Empire's ancestors were all swept onto the floor.
Watching this scene, Xiao Lin was dumbfounded in the shadows. Right now, Xiao Lin just wanted to shout, "What a piece of work!"
Truly, whether in his past life or this one, this was the first time Xiao Lin had seen a descendant treat their ancestors' spirit tablets in such a manner. Even though these were just inanimate objects, it was a blatant display of disrespect toward one's forefathers!
Even if you had never met these ancestors, acting this way could be described as straying from the realm of being "human." Of course, based on Xuan She's actions, he truly didn't deserve to be called "human."
At the very least, any normal person wouldn't be able to do such things today!
To think, even when Xiao Lin entered the Ancestral Hall, he never thought about doing anything to these spirit tablets. Yet, he hadn't expected that these tablets would ultimately be swept to the ground by Xuan She, a descendant.
"A person without any bottom line like this deserves to be killed!"
In his heart, Xiao Lin had already sentenced Xuan She to death.
It wasn't that Xiao Lin had a grudge against Xuan She, but there are some things and some people that, once seen, if you have the power to intervene and don't, it truly goes against one's conscience!
However, although Xiao Lin had already sentenced him to death in his heart, he still wanted to see what this man without a bottom line was actually up to.
The answer was soon revealed.
After sweeping the spirit tablets to the floor, Xuan She didn't even give them a second glance. Instead, he turned his attention to a secret door behind where the tablets had stood.
"There's actually a secret door here? Strange, why didn't my Heaven Realm Soul discover its existence?"
Seeing that secret door, Xiao Lin couldn't help but feel a bit puzzled.
His Heaven Realm Soul, which had always been invincible in the past, had failed to detect a single secret door this time. Xiao Lin found it truly baffling.
But soon, he realized the reason.
Under his gaze, Xuan She walked up to the secret door. On the surface of that door, there was a tiny groove. Then, Xuan She condensed Dou Qi onto the index finger of his right hand and made a cut across the palm of his left hand.
Immediately, blood dripped from Xuan She's left palm.
Under Xuan She's control, all of the blood dripped into that groove. As the blood entered, the secret door seemed to come alive, swallowing every drop of Xuan She's blood until it was completely clean!
This turned out to be a secret door that could only be opened using the blood of the Sky Serpent Empire's Imperial Family.
Bloodline—this term practically ran through the entire world of Dou Qi.
It wasn't that a so-called bloodline only existed once one reached the Dou Di class.
In fact, the Magical Beast tribes, as well as many ordinary people, also possessed bloodlines.
Just like the current Xiao Clan; even though they had lost their former Dou Di bloodline, could you say that the Xiao Clan no longer possessed a bloodline at all?
Obviously, that was impossible!
The same logic applied to the Sky Serpent Empire's Imperial Family.
Precisely because the key to opening this secret door was the blood of the Imperial Family, Xiao Lin had failed to discover it when he earlier scanned the Ancestral Hall with his Heaven Realm Soul power.
To be honest, if it weren't for Xuan She, Xiao Lin likely would have missed this secret door within the Imperial Ancestral Hall today.
**
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