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Thinking about how his son and daughter-in-law, both gifted with exceptional talent, had been envied by Ye Huaicheng's faction over a decade ago, and ultimately ambushed and killed.
A deep hatred flashed across the old man's eyes. But when he thought of Ye Huaicheng's formidable strength, hesitation flickered in his gaze.
Immediately after, his tone weakened as he said, "Ye Huaicheng is a Seven-Star Dou Zun level powerhouse. In the entire Western Desolate Region, there are barely a handful who can confidently defeat him.
You also know, your grandfather is still only a six-star Dou Zun. And although there are two Dou Zun among Feng Lin's group, we cannot be sure those two would even be willing to fight with all their strength!"
Hearing the old man's words, the young man's eyes revealed a trace of helplessness. His grandfather was good in every way, except he was always too indecisive, too hesitant. This personality trait had even affected his cultivation progress.
Otherwise, his grandfather, whose talent had once surpassed Ye Huaicheng, would never have been overtaken in strength.
If it weren't for the fact that their bloodline was the Mansion Lord's direct line, and during his grandfather's generation he had managed to secure the majority of the elders' support because of it, he suspected their faction would have long since lost the Mansion Lord's seat.
However, after taking the position, his grandfather's indecisiveness remained unchanged. This led to more and more elders within the mansion growing dissatisfied with him.
By now, he estimated nearly seventy percent of the elders had secretly shifted their allegiance to Ye Huaicheng's faction.
They were only waiting for the next Mansion Lord election to permanently trample their bloodline down.
After all, in the chaotic Western Desolate Region, only someone like Ye Huaicheng, who dared to fight and gamble, was more suited for survival. And with his grandfather's personality, he was doomed to be nothing but a loser.
"Grandfather, Ye Huaicheng is now frantically pulling elders to his side and suppressing those who support us. It's obvious he's paving the way for his son. The moment his son breaks through the Dou Zong bottleneck and steps into Dou Zun, that will be the day you're forced to step down!"
The young man looked at the hesitant old man and reminded him helplessly.
Beside them, a middle-aged man also wore a bitter expression after hearing the old man's words.
During the reign of the previous Mansion Lord, because of his excessive favoritism toward his son, he had failed to properly teach the current Mansion Lord how to rule.
So after this mismatched leader—whose mindset could not match his power—took over, a string of disastrous decisions followed.
The once overwhelmingly strong direct bloodline of the Mansion Lord fell into decline. All sorts of authority and resources were seized by the Great Elder's faction.
Even the Young Mansion Lord and his wife had been killed in a scheme orchestrated by Ye Huaicheng over ten years ago.
The reason Ye Huaicheng dared to make a move back then was because he was certain this Mansion Lord wouldn't risk mutual destruction.
Had it been someone else in power, they would have stormed to Ye Huaicheng's door immediately.
He and several elders could have held Ye Huaicheng at bay, while the others slaughtered the Great Elder's descendants to the last one.
Back then, the Mansion Lord's faction commanded over eighty percent of Qing Mu Mansion's elders.
Compared to the meager handful under the Great Elder, they were vastly superior. With just those few, there was no way the Great Elder could have stopped the Mansion Lord's retaliation.
If it had come down to it, in the end, the Great Elder could only have stood by helplessly, watching his family members die one after another in front of him.
Thinking of the late Young Mansion Lord, the middle-aged man couldn't help but feel a wave of regret.
If he had not perished back then, by now, the Young Mansion Lord would at least be a Dou Zun powerhouse. If that were the case, nothing would be a concern anymore.
At this thought, the man looked toward the young man again.
A trace of pity flashed in his eyes. This son of the late Young Mansion Lord lacked neither skill nor talent. The only thing lacking was enough time to grow.
"If we really fight the Grand Elder to the death, won't outsiders laugh at us? And no matter who wins or loses, Qing Mu Mansion will lose a large amount of top-level strength. By then, much of our territory will just be devoured by other factions."
"This won't do. After all, many elders are already dissatisfied with me as Mansion Lord. If I don't want the position anymore, then I won't. At worst, I'll just step down and live an easy life as a carefree elder. That would actually be more relaxing."
The old man hesitated for a moment, then immediately objected.
Hearing this, the young man and the middle-aged man nearly coughed up blood in anger.
Did he really think that after stepping down he could enjoy a carefree life as an elder?
Most likely, once he stepped down, he'd be sent on dangerous missions every few days. And when he came home, he'd discover—ah, his grandson had vanished!
After all, judging by Ye Huaicheng's current actions and ruthless character, his clear goal was to completely eradicate the Mansion Lord's bloodline.
That way, his own family could firmly occupy both the Mansion Lord's and the Great Elder's seats.
And this old fool still thought that after he stepped down, the other side would just happily stop and leave two ticking threats alive?
Even in dreams, things wouldn't be that good!
"Grandfather, Ye Huaicheng is vicious and merciless. Think about how my parents died! Even if you give in, he'll never let us go!"
The young man clenched his fists tightly, shouting at the old man in desperation.
"Uh… you make sense. In that case, Wensen I'll leave this matter entirely in your hands. When there's a result, just report back to me."
Being shouted at like that, the old man finally felt his grandson's words were reasonable. Embarrassed, he spoke up.
"Alright, I'll try to make contact with Feng Lin later."
Hearing this, the young man named Ye Wensen nodded helplessly. In the current situation, he could only step up himself. Then, turning to the middle-aged man, he said, "Elder Han, I'll have to trouble you to come with me."
"Young master, just give the word."
Hearing this, the middle-aged man hurriedly cupped his hands in response.
Meanwhile, while the few from Qing Mu Mansion were deep in discussion, on the other side Lin Feng and his group—under the gaze of many eyes, they slowly walked into VIP Room No. 16.
"Honored guests, please."
The maid leading them arrived at the door, pushed it open, then gestured toward the room and bowed slightly. Seeing this, Lin Feng and the others nodded and strode inside.
Sweeping his eyes around, Lin Feng saw that the room wasn't particularly large, about thirty square meters.
In the center of the room sat a few sofas and a coffee table.
At the front wall of the room was a single seamless crystal pane. Through the crystal, one could clearly see the situation inside the auction hall.
However, when Lin Feng had looked up at this room from below earlier—from the outside, all one could see was a pitch-black crystal wall. As for the interior of the room, it was completely hidden.
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