Chapter 2524 - 2524: Advanced Deception Techniques

Hearing those words from the elder, Wanyan Hongfeng sighed sadly and said, "Elder, I really feel I am not capable of being the Family Head. This battle at Mount Wendao has already proven it. Not only did I fail to defeat the opponent, but I also let the opponent seize the opportunity to crush our Wanyan Family's trump card, the Long-toothed Rat Swarm, causing the death of so many of our family members. I... I really am not fit to sit in this seat!"

Wanyan Hongfeng's words caused a stir among the people in the room. In fact, the main reason for this outcome in the great war was not Wanyan Hongfeng, but Wanyan Second Master. This battle was orchestrated entirely by Wanyan Second Master. Moreover, at the most critical moment, Wanyan Second Master made everyone turn off their phones, ignoring Wanyan Hongfeng's orders, and fought to the death with Ye Qing and his companions, leading to this result.

The Long-toothed Rat Swarm was annihilated, the Wanyan Family suffered a disastrous defeat, incurring heavy losses. The real cause lies with Wanyan Second Master. By the time Wanyan Hongfeng arrived, the situation was beyond reversal. Furthermore, at that time, the Wanyan Family was in peril. If not for Wanyan Hongfeng's timely appearance, releasing the Long-toothed Rat Swarm to hold back those communities, the Wanyan Family would have suffered even heavier losses.

Although the Wanyan Family suffered a disastrous end to this great battle, in terms of responsibility, Wanyan Second Master should bear all of it. As for Wanyan Hongfeng, he not only had no responsibility but also came over and saved the Wanyan Family, earning credit for it. For the Wanyan Family members, their animosity towards Wanyan Hongfeng was mainly because he killed several members of the Wanyan Family and absorbed their blood, making everyone feel that Wanyan Hongfeng had somewhat lost his mind.

However, Wanyan Hongfeng not only did not mention his achievements but instead took all the responsibility upon himself, which made everyone feel somewhat respectful towards him. Such matters, when responsibility is not his, yet he still chooses to bear it, show that he is indeed a man of responsibility!

"The failure of this battle is not your fault; it's due to Second Brother being too reckless!" stated the elder on the right, frowning deeply, "You don't need to blame yourself for this matter. We all know who is right and who is wrong. Second Brother's recklessness this time caused our Wanyan Family to suffer heavily, and he is truly detestable. Spread my command throughout the world, for anyone who can capture Wanyan Second Brother, dead or alive, our Wanyan Family will vastly reward them!"

The elder's words essentially sentenced Wanyan Second Master to death. Wanyan Family's orders to pursue and kill Wanyan Second Brother were quite similar to the situation when Wanyan Hongsheng was hunted down. The only difference is, when Wanyan Hongsheng left the Wanyan Family, he was already gravely injured and couldn't escape. As for Wanyan Second Master, his situation was slightly better since he wasn't injured. Even if someone were to hunt him, it wasn't certain they could kill him!

But under the Wanyan Family's hunt, how long could Wanyan Second Master survive? Perhaps Wanyan Second Master could never have imagined that after struggling for the family his whole life, he would end up being hunted by them!

A subtle, nearly imperceptible cold smile flitted across Wanyan Hongfeng's eyes, but his expression remained gloomy as he sighed, "Elders, you need not persuade me any further. The mistakes I've made are truly severe. Not only did I fail to defeat the opponent in the battle at Mount Wendao, but I also... caused the deaths of a few of our own. My hands are stained with the blood of our family members. How can I be fit to be the Family Head anymore?"

Hearing these words, everyone's brows furrowed. Their resentment towards Wanyan Hongfeng was mainly due to this issue. Now that Wanyan Hongfeng mentioned it, everyone wanted to see how he would explain this matter.

"Speaking of this matter, I still want to ask you, why did you do this?" the elder on the left said in a deep voice, "You killed our family members and absorbed their blood, what exactly were you trying to do? Killing family members without any reason is a grave taboo, warranting punishment by family law!"

Everyone looked at Wanyan Hongfeng, wanting to know how he would explain. In fact, this matter puzzled everyone the most—why did Wanyan Hongfeng suddenly kill his own family and absorb their blood? What on earth happened? Did Wanyan Hongfeng go mad?

Under everyone's gaze, Wanyan Hongfeng sighed bitterly, speaking in a low voice, "Three elders, I am the Family Head of the Wanyan Family, sharing deep blood ties with everyone present here. If there wasn't a special reason, how could I possibly kill my own dearest ones?"

The crowd acknowledged these words, and the three elders all nodded. One elder asked in a deep voice, "Then what exactly is your reason? Why did you do this?"

"This whole thing is my fault!" Wanyan Hongfeng sighed, "The three elders were on the mountaintop battling the heads of the Sword Saint Sect and did not know what was happening below. At that time, I was fighting against the Jiao. The strength of that Jiao was indeed extremely powerful, reaching the very peak of the Unity of Heaven and Man Realm and was about to transform into a dragon entering the next realm."

The three elders slowly nodded, as they learned of this matter afterwards, leaving them quite shocked. The strength of such a creature as Fat Jiao was beyond what the three could withstand. However, they couldn't fathom how this connected to Wanyan Hongfeng absorbing blood.

"In that situation, I knew I was no match for the Jiao. Seeing it about to transform into a dragon, I was desperate and devised a means to deal with it!" Wanyan Hongfeng paused, taking a deep breath, seemingly unwilling to recall that matter, making everyone feel even more that he genuinely intended to repent.

"What method did you use?" an elder said in a deep voice, "How does this relate to your killing of family members and absorbing their blood?"

"This is entirely my fault!" Wanyan Hongfeng sighed once more, glancing around at everyone and said, "In order to kill that Jiao, I used a forbidden method, which was entering the Mad Demon State."

"Mad Demon State?" The three elders' expressions changed immediately. The Wanyan Family practitioners all learned the Demonic Sect Technique, so they were certainly familiar with the term Wanyan Hongfeng mentioned.

"Indeed, the Mad Demon State!" Wanyan Hongfeng nodded.

"How could you, with your strength, enter the Mad Demon State?" an elder immediately asked, "To enter the Mad Demon State, one must at least be in the King Realm, the realm of the Dual-Winged God. Although you are at the pinnacle of the Unity of Heaven and Man Realm, you haven't crossed that realm yet. How could you unleash the Mad Demon State?"

"I knew I could not unleash the Mad Demon State, so I used another method." Wanyan Hongfeng sighed, "I augmented the Mad Demon State technique with the Blood Curse of the Corpse Ghost Dragon, temporarily boosting my power!"

"Blood Curse?" The people in the room exchanged looks; they were unfamiliar with the Mad Demon State, but the Blood Curse was a well-known Ultimate Technique of the Corpse Ghost Dragon, which could significantly increase one's strength for a short period, undeniably powerful. However, employing this Blood Curse was not easy, requiring self-sacrifice. But at that time, they did not witness Wanyan Hongfeng self-harming.

"I used the Blood Curse to rapidly elevate my strength to the threshold of the next realm, then enter the Mad Demon State to kill the Jiao. However, as I am not originally trained in sorcery, utilizing the Blood Curse wasn't that straightforward. To use the Blood Curse, I needed to rely on some external substances..." At this point, Wanyan Hongfeng sighed again, "But what I never expected was, while relying on these external substances, an accident happened."

"What exactly happened?" one elder asked in a deep voice. Wanyan Hongfeng's explanations, one sentence followed by another, left them still unclear.

"In using the Blood Curse, I relied on an external drug to accelerate blood circulation to cast the Blood Curse!" Wanyan Hongfeng explained, "However, when I took out this drug, the Jiao scattered it, the substance wafted out and contaminated several family members!"

At this point, Wanyan Hongfeng sighed guiltily, "The drug was intended to stimulate blood flow in peak Unity of Heaven and Man practitioners, potent in its effects. When Peak Masters came into contact with the drug, they would go berserk, lose humanity, become beast-like creatures attacking anyone in sight. Those few members, once contaminated, would quickly lose their senses, and there was no cure. I had no choice; if they went berserk, they would surely attack our own people, and I had to kill them to... preserve the rest of the family!"

After Wanyan Hongfeng's explanation, everyone in the room fell silent. At that moment, they finally understood why Wanyan Hongfeng had killed those few people. Essentially, he was protecting the family all along.

"So, that's how it was!" The elder in the center finally spoke, looking at Wanyan Hongfeng, "This matter, cannot be considered your fault. You were also fighting desperately for the family, considering the welfare of the family!"

The two elders beside him nodded along, and the people in the room gazed at Wanyan Hongfeng with softened expressions. Knowing why Wanyan Hongfeng had to kill people put an end to their suspicions of him.

"I still don't understand..." a voice suddenly sounded loudly in the room, "Since you killed them, why did you also absorb their blood? What does this mean?"

This statement immediately garnered considerable support; everyone turned to Wanyan Hongfeng, waiting for him to provide another explanation. This is indeed a crucial question: you could argue killing was out of necessity, to protect the rest of the family. But absorbing blood—what kind of action is that? Could a person really do such a thing?