I Believe You

Back in his room, with the door closed, Mo Fan drifted out from the ring.

"What are you planning?" Mo Fan asked.

Since the incident at Yunxiao Temple, Mo Fan gradually realized that Mo Qingkuang was also a person, not just an emotionless puppet on strings. Many times, he let Mo Qingkuang make his own decisions and even consulted him for his opinions.

Mo Qingkuang understood that Mo Fan was not asking about Li Sheng's matter and replied, "Ancestor, I believe that Li Sheng can be controlled."

"His talent is far inferior to mine, and in the days to come, my strength will increasingly surpass his. He poses no threat to me and can become a spy placed beside Han Kongming."

Mo Fan nodded, "Continue."

From his initial impulsiveness, Mo Qingkuang had come a long way. With Mo Fan's frequent guidance, he had gradually made some progress. At the very least, he had become a bit more thoughtful.

"Han Kongming's family and Yan'er's family have irreconcilable conflicts, so I can only be his enemy. Although I will soon surpass Han Kongming, he is different from Li Sheng. Han Kongming has the backing of the Tianxuan royal family, and his family at least has a Martial King."

"If we have no way to deal with that, I hope to gather information through Li Sheng, which may be useful in the future," Mo Qingkuang continued.

"Not bad, you've grown." Mo Fan said appreciatively.

Although he found Mo Qingkuang's methods quite clumsy, the fact that he was willing to think through problems was a good sign. Mo Fan knew he would eventually be resurrected and couldn't always stay by Mo Qingkuang's side. If Mo Qingkuang continued to be recklessly aggressive, even with great strength, he would easily suffer.

Luckily, the development of events had not gone beyond Mo Fan's understanding of the original plot, so he decided to let Mo Qingkuang handle it.

"Ancestor, where do you think Lin Yang is hiding?" Mo Qingkuang finally asked after a moment of silence.

He wasn't particularly concerned about the autumn hunt, the spirit-ascension array, or Xu Kong and the others. What truly troubled him was Lin Yang's whereabouts. The vast territory of the Blue Flame Empire made finding Lin Yang like looking for a needle in a haystack.

He had learned that the Youth Alchemist Competition would be held about a month before the Dream Flame Baptism. This meant that Lin Yang would not show up for nearly a year. Was he supposed to just wait around?

Mo Qingkuang found this hard to accept.

Understanding that Mo Qingkuang was obsessed with troubling Lin Yang, Mo Fan wasn't too surprised. Lin Yang was the chosen one in this world, destined to become the strongest. Mo Qingkuang's persistent efforts to chase and surpass him were his only chance to become the ultimate power, so Mo Fan wouldn't stop him.

As for where Lin Yang was, Mo Fan wasn't a god; he couldn't know that. However, recalling what Fu Qing mentioned about the autumn hunt, Mo Fan thought of an opportunity.

During this autumn hunt, the defenses of the Blue Flame Empire would be wide open. Not only would the students of the Blue Flame Royal Academy participate, but the entire nation, from low-level warriors to Martial Venerables and even Martial Kings and Martial Emperors, would be caught up in a treasure-seeking frenzy.

At that time, Lin Yang would also be going out with the large group to seek treasures. During this autumn hunt, Lin Yang would be searching for some of the materials needed for the Resurrection Pill and preparing materials for refining the Dream Flame.

Mo Fan couldn't just watch him take these things away; after all, he also needed them for his own revival.

So, during this autumn hunt, Mo Fan would guide Mo Qingkuang to compete with Lin Yang.

"During the autumn hunt, you should have a chance to encounter him. You know, he likes to be where the action is," Mo Fan smiled and gave Mo Qingkuang a relatively certain answer.

Lin Yang, being the protagonist, was always in the thick of things and always ended up benefiting.

Mo Qingkuang was greatly excited to hear this. Initially, he had only planned to participate in the autumn hunt without much enthusiasm. But now, since Lin Yang would be there, he couldn't let him have all the fun alone.

He clenched his fists secretly and said, "I understand, Ancestor. I will make good preparations this month."

"Mhm." Mo Fan nodded. "Are you going to challenge the Spirit Ascension Array tomorrow?"

"Yes. Ancestor, do you think it's appropriate for me to choose Ning Xian, the eighth seat?" Mo Qingkuang asked.

Ning Xian was the eighth seat of the Upper Academy of the Blue Flame Royal Academy.

She was also the only female among the top ten seats, twenty years old, and had a Water Spirit Body. It was said that she was the most beautiful person in the Blue Flame Royal Academy. She was also the only female student who had not shown any infatuation with Xu Kong.

Mo Fan looked at Mo Qingkuang with an odd expression. "Are you sure it's not because you have your eye on the young lady?"

He hadn't expected the situation to develop so subtly. Mo Qingkuang had ended up choosing Ning Xian.

It wasn't that there was anything wrong with Ning Xian—she wasn't easy to deal with. Being in the eighth seat wasn't something achieved merely through beauty.

Mo Fan had thought Mo Qingkuang would choose an opponent from the lower twenty seats, but he had directly chosen Ning Xian, who was among the top seven in strength.

As for Ning Xian, she was one of the red-faced confidantes Mo Fan had arranged for Lin Yang.

During the autumn hunt, Lin Yang had encountered her and snatched a herb she valued. Later, due to various reasons, they had taken refuge together from a powerful beast, spending over ten days together in life-and-death situations, and eventually developed feelings for each other.

Now, Mo Fan increasingly felt that he was cultivating a second Lin Yang. Since leaving Tiannan City, Mo Qingkuang had almost followed the same path as Lin Yang, and now he had inadvertently chosen Ning Xian, who was originally related to Lin Yang.

Mo Fan was somewhat pleased, thinking with a bit of malicious delight: Lin Yang, you're out of luck. My little descendant is treading your path, leaving you with nowhere to go.

Mo Fan knew Lin Yang's path very well. Mo Qingkuang would walk it very smoothly. With a series of deliberate preparations, was it possible that fate was gradually shifting towards Mo Qingkuang?

Of course, he wouldn't tell Mo Qingkuang this. He was more inclined to believe that Mo Qingkuang was still unchanged.

However, Mo Qingkuang would never admit that he chose Ning Xian because he found her easy to deal with and also very pleasing to the eye.

Mo Qingkuang quickly waved his hand. "Ancestor, please don't wrong me. I am completely devoted to Yan'er and loyal!"

"Really?" Mo Fan looked at him with a half-smile, doubting his loyalty to Han Yan'er.

How could he have won over the young lady if it wasn't for the ancestor's guidance? Without him, he'd be single for a lifetime.

Seeing Mo Fan's skeptical expression, Mo Qingkuang grew anxious and continued to explain, "Your descendant is really not interested in beauty! The seventh seat, Ling Chen, is severely injured and unable to be challenged. I have no confidence in the top six seats. I can only settle for the eighth seat."

"Mhm, I believe you..."

"You must believe me..."