Dual Cultivation God Returns - Chapter 1038 -

“It sounded before when you answered Sister Baihu that you also considered the angle of the Steward…”, Xue Bing noted as they were following the group to a distant canyon.

Wu Long smiled, since it was Xue Bing’s attempt to make Fen Baihu feel better by bringing back the point she made. What made him even more amused was that this simple and even a bit clumsy method completely worked as Fen Baihu’s mood instantly became amicable toward the icy beauty again.

Wu Long decided that it was better to introduce the situation in a bit more detail, so that both beauties understood his choices, “That Steward is the top-ranking servant of the Family, and the one who oversees the battle of succession so at least outwardly he is completely impartial. Privately, we don’t have enough data to determine who he favors of the three…”

“Three?”, Fen Baihu turned a questioning look to him.

He nodded and explained, “There are three heirs in total. The one with the strongest position is the oldest one, who is not here because this little struggle was beneath him to even participate in – his maternal family is the most powerful one as he is the son of the official First Wife, a descendant of a bigger noble family from the Wei Dynasty”

“So this mission to buy the Heaven Turning Pill is to help the two we see”, Xue Bing nodded, understanding the situation.

“Yes, it was given by the Family Ancestor, their grandfather, to even out the playing field a bit. Though it is also necessary since the Patriarch has been stuck at the peak of the Essence Gathering Realm for the past 10 000 years and could soon be nearing the end of his lifespan leaving the Family without an Ancestor-level figure after the current one passes”

He then explained the situations of the two, “Of the two sons below, the older one was born of a Concubine whose family is also nobles from the Wei Dynasty but slightly weaker in standing than the family of the first son’s mother. They are able to compete since they are allied with the maternal family of the 4th prince who is fighting for succession, unlike the maternal family of the first son which does not hold affiliation with any of the prince factions. They have a concubine themselves, but she did not produce an heir, only a princess leaving them out of the race. The other, youngest son, is an accidental illegitimate son of the Patriarch, taken into the family since his talents were recognized by the Family Ancestor, although it also could be to use him as a foil in the battle of succession. It is only speculation and conjecture based on what information I have, but the Family Ancestor might have wanted to prolong the battle of succession until the Imperial one has a final result, to pick the right heir for their family that has the best standing in the overall Imperial Court”

“I take it you are not a fan of the Patriarch since you’re thinking of supporting one of the sons? That’s why you’re not approaching the more stable power holder, the Steward, who is the stand-in, I assume, of the Patriarch? Or the Family Ancestor since he comes up more than an Ancestor-level figure should in such matters…?”, Fen Baihu scratched behind her ear, finally seeing the picture a bit more clearly but also seeing new confusing details, and Wu Long’s hand immediately followed this motion to also rub behind her ear which made her once again close eyes in pure bliss.

“Yes”, Wu Long nodded, “Although it is also because the two sons are right here while the Patriarch and the Family Ancestor only exist for me as figures in the reports at this time. I am far from knowing every bit of circumstance, and having met neither it is not conclusive, but from what I do know, I am not favoring either of the two of the older generations. It is actually one of the reasons I am interested in the Crimson Arrow Manor more now than initially, because perhaps we can achieve a clean break from the older generations, and obtain the ‘clean slate’ family led by the new generation – thus absorbing less unstable risk factors into our Sect”

He explained in a bit more detail, “The Family Ancestor had his son fairly early, but for some reason held onto his power for far too long. It is unclear whether it was the cause or consequence of that, but the Patriarch spent the vast, no, I would even say absolute majority of his life playing around, only taking up the position about 30 years ago, when he was also abruptly wed to the wife and concubine, very clearly in order to produce an heir. The Family Ancestor made a deal with a Dual Cultivation Sect to help ensure there would be heirs from both the First Wife and the Concubine, but it seems like whatever they provided was a bit too effective, as there appeared an illegitimate heir on the side as well. As for that Patriarch taking up the position, that too, was more of a formality as he didn’t take actual reigns of power over the family which are still mostly held by the Family Ancestor, though slightly eroded by the maternal families of heirs. And your assumption about the Steward is correct, he is the loyal servant of the latter, while only formally serving the former”

“Heh, so a power-hogging old man and a weak indecisive puppet old man, both not that far from their deathbeds, acting through the proxy of that guy over there”, Fen Baihu gave out another merciless verdict, “Does he have no ambition of his own though? Surely he must be seeing the same possible power vacuum that you see the opportunity in”

“Hmm, hard to say. The report said he is very loyal to the Family Ancestor, that is something that is treated as an established fact, but who really knows?”, Wu Long also looked at the Family Steward.

The group of the Crimson Arrow Manor reached a distant canyon, stopping at a high point that gave them a good vantage point over the entire lower regions, with Demonic Beasts roaming the wild forests and riverbanks below.

There were also groups of Demonic Beast hunters and Herb Hunters from the Silver Wing City in the canyon, as this was a regular hunting spot of the locals, but it was vast enough to not be overcrowded. Rather, if one didn’t spread their Spiritual Senses it was hard to tell there were other cultivators around at all.

That, however, did not fool the Crimson Arrow Manor members as their soldiers spread in a protective circle, bows drawn in their hands, wary of curious bystanders hiding in greenery of the lower regions, or behind the rocky formations of the canyon highpoints which might not only include the locals but the mercenaries from outside who decided to make a few coins while they were here.