Chapter 3163 — Keeping the Secret

Lin Dongfang took the contact card, glanced at it, and tossed it casually onto the table. "Fine. You may go."

"Yes... but, Old Master, if I may make so bold as to ask—you are so powerful, and Master Wei Zhao is your grandson, and that Mr. Yang is his **. So why does he not speak of it? If word of even a hint were to leak out, who in the cultivation world would not show him respect?" Ancestor Huangquan asked, puzzled. "From what I know, the master has many enemies. Each time he has escaped by the narrowest margin, yet this is a little too..."

"Heh heh, Huangquan, you wish to ask me why I let Little Yi roam about out there without lifting a finger, is that it?" Lin Dongfang knew the men of the Blood-Robe Huangquan Sect would sooner or later raise this question. If he did not resolve it cleanly, they might not think much of it now, but afterward they would surely grow suspicious—and if they guessed at **or anything close to it**, that was precisely what Lin Dongfang did not wish to see. So he had long since prepared his answer.

"Indeed, Old Master. The master is out there—to say nothing of the threat from our own Blood-Robe Huangquan Sect, even the ancient Eastern Clan and the Mingri Fu Mingri Sect are enough to keep him occupied. Why... do you not step in?" Ancestor Huangquan nodded and asked in confusion.

"Do you think that if I intervened in everything, Little Yi could have grown this quickly?" What Lin Dongfang said was part truth and part falsehood—three parts true, seven parts false. After all, he had discussed the matter with Mr. Yang Zhao and with Mo Kongwu: if Wei Zhao was to grow, he could not lean too heavily on outside strength.

And back then, Mo Kongwu had cast a divination for Wei Zhao. Only by letting Wei Zhao make his own way would he gain more and greater fortunes. True, this meant Wei Zhao would meet many unforeseeable dangers—but in the end, each would be survived by the narrowest margin.

Human intervention from outside forces could occur three times a year; that would not disturb the normal trajectory of Wei Zhao's life. Once it exceeded three, his life's course might veer astray—and this was precisely why Mo Kongwu had set the rule of three interventions each year.

Of course, this aid was limited to the elders of the older generation. Er Goudan and Wei Zhao's other underlings were not included in this count; they were Wei Zhao's own friends and circle of power, cultivated by Wei Zhao himself, and had nothing to do with outside forces.

Only by letting Wei Zhao develop freely would he gain more unexpected fortunes—and those fortunes were the most crucial condition for breaking the board that had been laid down all those years ago. Making Wei Zhao face ever more brutal trials was, in the end, a minor matter.

The chief reason, above all, was still that group of people who had departed back then!

Now it seemed that Wei Zhao's development was unfolding just as Mo Kongwu had calculated: nearly all the inheritors had become Wei Zhao's people. These people would be a mighty aid to Wei Zhao in breaking that board. Without their help, Wei Zhao could never have reached such a height in cultivation or gathered such connections.

But none of this could possibly be told to the men of the Blood-Robe Huangquan Sect. So Lin Dongfang skirted the weighty and seized the light, throwing out a question of his own.

"That... probably not..." Ancestor Huangquan paused briefly, then grasped the crux of it. How could a flower grown in a greenhouse reach such heights? If someone behind the scenes had smoothed over every matter, Wei Zhao would have lost all pressure—and where then would come the drive to advance? How could he have gone from the Yellow Rank to the Heaven Rank in under a year?

At this thought, Ancestor Huangquan could not but deeply admire the bold resolve of Lin Dongfang and Yang Zhao—to cast a junior into the mundane world and let him develop freely. What courage that required?

"No wonder the master has grown so fast!" Ancestor Blood-Robe nodded in wholehearted agreement.

"Of course, if a situation truly arose that could not be resolved, we would step in." Lin Dongfang's next words left the three of them drenched in cold sweat.

A situation truly beyond resolving? Did that mean the three of them striking out to slay Wei Zhao? At the thought, they were both shocked and terrified. Had they truly acted on hot-headed impulse and moved against Wei Zhao back then, they would surely be corpses by now.

Lin Dongfang was one thing—but that fellow surnamed Yang from years ago was a ruthless man, a madman. Had he taken action, there would have been no chance to beg for mercy and become underlings; they would simply be dead.

"Ha ha, from now on, with the three of us as your underlings, there will be no need to trouble the Old Master to stir himself. In this cultivation world, with the three of us going forth together, there is rarely anything we cannot settle!" Ancestor Blood-Robe hastily pledged, thumping his chest.

"Indeed. Let the Old Master live here in peace and seclusion; running errands is something the three of us can handle well enough," Ancestor Huangquan chimed in with a hurried nod.

"When I return, I will overhaul the intelligence division from top to bottom and have it focus solely on news of the young master," Ancestor Yinsen said quickly as well.

Lin Dongfang pondered for a good while, and at last nodded at the three men's proposal. "Good. But do not interfere too much in Little Yi's growth. Watching is fine, but do not act! Unless there is a danger so dire that you have no choice but to act—and even then, you must inform me the moment it is done!"

Informing him beforehand would of course be possible too, but it would waste precious time. Sometimes danger came in an instant; by the time word was sent, the danger might well have already struck. So Lin Dongfang granted the three the power to act first and report afterward.

Of course, Lin Dongfang did not reject their proposal outright. As Wei Zhao now rose to ever higher levels, having these three to help keep watch would put Lin Dongfang's mind at ease. After all, though he had many channels of information, one more pair of eyes was always one more measure of strength.

"Thank you for your trust, Old Master!" Far from finding anything amiss in serving Lin Dongfang, the three felt honored. Back in the day, the Mad Leopard Patriarch of the Mingri Fu Mingri Sect had taken pride in being an underling to Lin Dongfang and his companion, swaggering with arrogance wherever he went—and in truth, they had always envied him deeply.

After all, to serve as underling to an expert of the Heavenly Dao was a glorious thing; others could not find the chance even if they sought it. Yet what somewhat disappointed the three was that this identity was clearly to be kept hidden—Lin Dongfang did not intend to let them make it public. His seclusion was for the sake of tempering Wei Zhao, and word of this could never be allowed to leak out, unless they had a death wish.