"By the way, Master Xia, come to the Heaven God Temple in a month’s time, there’s a secret matter to discuss."

Wang Ye said mysteriously.

The matter of becoming the leader of the Blackwater Secret Realm, naturally, needed to be kept confidential.

Xia Yurou, upon hearing this, said no more and nodded solemnly.

"Yes!"

Wang Ye gathered his pen and paper and flew towards the Heaven God Temple.

During the following period, Wang Ye devoted himself to cultivation, striving to enhance his strength further.

Meanwhile, the reply Wang Ye sent to Qin Tianba reached the Blackwater Palace of the Blackwater Alliance.

Endless dark clouds shrouded the Blackwater Palace, occasionally revealing a gap and letting through a dim light of the cloud.

Below the sky was a splendid and magnificent pavilion, with two giant millennia-old willow trees outside the grand entrance.

The huge trunks of the willow trees had turned black, with only a few green willow buds sticking out like fingers.

Two enormous pillars stood at the entrance, with black dragons coiling around them, each dragon about a hundred feet long, their eyes as large as red lanterns, coldly scanning the surroundings.

A dragon’s roar sounded.

Soon, an azure dragon flew out from the black clouds, atop which stood a man in a patterned robe, his hair blood-red, his expression extremely sullen.

He held an envelope in his hand.

This man was Qin Xin, the Divine Machine Pavilion Master of the Blackwater Palace, responsible for collecting information.

Quickly, the azure dragon landed before the gates of the Blackwater Palace, and he dismounted from the dragon in sadness, holding the envelope high as he entered the palace.

Though the exterior of the Blackwater Palace was dignified and solemn in appearance,

inside the palace was a scene of birds singing and flowers blooming, a place of earthly prosperity.

Countless charming and alluring women danced and sang within the palace.

Beside them sat many elders of the Blackwater Palace, drinking and celebrating.

At this moment, the Blackwater Alliance Leader was sitting on a large chair, with a young girl in his arms on each side, his chubby cheeks glistening with oil.

A table before him was laden with fine wines and delicacies.

Soon, Qin Xin approached the Blackwater Alliance Leader Qin Tianba.

"Leader, I have important matters to report to you."

Qin Xin said, his expression grave.

Qin Ba, indulging in pleasure at that moment, showed a hint of annoyance at seeing the uninvited guest.

"Speak, what’s the matter?"

Seeing this, Qin Xin felt as though he’d been slapped in the face and didn’t want to linger there a moment longer.

He promptly handed the letter over, saying,

"This is a reply from Wang Ye, the Sect Master of Tianyong Mountain, for you to review, Leader."

Upon hearing this, Qin Batian sneered coldly, disdainfully scolding,

"What is Tianyong Mountain worth? What is Wang Ye worth? Do I have to read their letter? Are you blind? Can’t you see I’m busy? Read the letter’s content to me."

After speaking, Qin Batian took a cup of fine wine handed over by the girl next to him and drank it again.

Qin Xin quickly read the letter.

"Greetings, Leader, I am preparing for next year’s position of Blackwater Alliance Leader, and indeed have no time to attend your wedding, please forgive..."

Bang!

After listening to the letter,

Qin Tianba was furious, heavily smashing the wine cup in his hand onto the ground, where it bounced a few times on the red carpeted floor, then rolled to the middle of the Blackwater Hall.

The dancers, seeing Qin Batian angry, fell to the ground, trembling all over.

They all knew Qin Batian was an alliance leader who killed without batting an eye, and he wasn’t someone they could offend.

"That Wang Ye dares to want to be the leader, isn’t he clearly trying to overthrow me?"

Qin Tianba, infuriated, his face turned a shade of wine red.

For so many years, he had never encountered someone daring enough to blatantly want to seize his position as alliance leader.

Qin Tianba didn’t care about money, nor martial arts, but he did care about the leader’s position above all.

Because having the leader’s position meant having everything...

He immediately cast his gaze toward a cold-faced man in a black robe and said coldly,

"Leng Xin, go and kill Wang Ye for me."

"Yes!"

Leng Xin bowed and then suddenly disappeared in the Blackwater Hall.

Seeing Leng Xin leave, Qin Batian gave the two girls beside him an evil smile.

"We should go rest!"

With that, he embraced the two girls and quickly walked towards the Looking Spring Tower.

...

The next day, a dagger was embedded in the forehead of Qin Tianba, his body had become extremely stiff.

The two women knelt in fear in front of the bed.

Soon, an elderly man with frost-white hair entered, and upon seeing the dagger in Qin Tianba’s forehead, surprise flickered in his usually calm eyes.

"Who killed the leader?"

Zhao Daoren asked coldly.

His insightful gaze swept over the two women kneeling on the ground.

The two women, terrified, their faces pale, shook their heads individually and said,

"Alliance Leader Zuo, we truly don’t know."

"When we woke up this morning, we found a dagger in the leader’s forehead; he wasn’t breathing."

The two women hastily described what they had witnessed.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Daoren’s expression calmed down, knowing Qin Tianba was extremely skilled and cunning, that the women by his side were very loyal to him.

These two women had no motive to kill him.

So who exactly killed the leader?

His wise old eyes flashed with doubt as they scanned the surroundings.

He went to the window, inspecting closely, but found no traces of anyone entering through it.

He moved to the bed, looking up, saw no traces on the tiles above of anyone tampering with them.

This...

"It must be the work of Wang Ye from Tianyong Mountain."

Zhao Daoren said in a sinister tone.

In the entire Blackwater Alliance, only Zhao Daoren had the nerve to assassinate the leader.

Turning coldly to the two women, he ordered,

"You two must not let the news of the leader’s death get out. Wait for my decision after consulting with the Ten Great War Gods."

The two women quickly nodded, saying,

"We wouldn’t dare!" 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"We’ll do whatever the Alliance Leader Zuo tells us to do."

Upon seeing this, the Alliance Leader Zuo waved his somewhat withered old hand, signaling the two women to leave.

The two women quickly stood up from the ground and ran out the tower.

...

After a short while, more than ten middle-aged men gathered in the pavilion.

These middle-aged men were all dressed in exquisite robes, looking dignified, clearly men of high status.

Upon seeing the Blackwater Alliance Leader had died, their faces showed signs of sadness, some even crying out loud on the ground.

Zhao Daoren looked at the Ten Great War Gods and said,

"The leader has met with misfortune. Should we publicize this news?"

Zhao Daoren’s brows furrowed deeply; if the news of the leader’s death were to be made public, what would happen next?

If not publicized, how shall they fool the many cultivators in the entire Blackwater Secret Realm?

"Since the leader has died, this news should naturally be made public immediately, and the next leader should be elected at once, as the Blackwater Secret Realm cannot go a day without a leader."

A black-robed man said with half-closed eyes.

This man was named Lin Xihai, who had long coveted the position of alliance leader.

He wanted to become the leader because, as the leader, he would have everything beautiful, the most beautiful women, the most luxurious palace...

"Hmph, Lin Xihai, you heartless man, now that the leader’s body isn’t even cold yet, are you so eager to become the leader? Aren’t you moving a bit too fast?"