Crippling the Wang Clan

The Azure Winged Wolf had long run away after it sensed Wang Xiang's cultivation, so Xue Bai was now alone again. However, instead of having to fake a struggle against a weaker beast, he could now hide in a tree.

Though Xue Bai wasn't sure if Wang Lin would take the bait, he would most certainly send the other two cannon fodder in to test the waters. Like any other Wang Clan Young Master, Wang Lin cared little for anyone he didn't see on the same level as himself.

However, that category only had Wang Yu in it, as deep down, he even disdained Wang Xiang. Wang Lin looked down on the assassin-type fighter that Wang Xiang, his father, was.

Of how burly and headstrong his father, Wang Chen, was, Wang Lin was raised following those same principles. So he naturally thought Wang Yin was a coward who only used sneak attacks instead of an assassin.

And this guess of Xue Bai's would eventually come to fruition.

A few hours later, Wang Lin rushed over with an excited look on his face.

"Wang Xiang, you haven't let the clan down! Where is that trash?" Wang Lin yelled out excitedly as he came into earshot.

However, very soon, he sensed something wrong. There was nothing within hundreds of meters of where Wang Xiang's location ping. The area was deathly silent, and he could see neither Wang Xiang nor Xue Bai.

"Wang Che, Wang Xiao stop. Something isn't right here." Wang Lin ordered as he stopped the two.

The other two, also sensing the grim atmosphere, complied obediently and put their guards up.

Forming a tight circle formation, the three started to walk steadily in the direction Wang Xiang's location ping came from earlier. And after a few tensed-up minutes, the group eventually came into view of Wang Xiang's corpse.

"Young Master Lin, isn't that?" Wang Che spoke up, but before he could finish his sentence, Wang Lin cut him off.

"Yes, that is Wang Xiang. Someone killed him and is toying with us." Wang Lin solemnly spoke.

"Then what are we supposed to do, Young Master Lin." Wang Che asked cautiously. "We need to retrieve Young Master Xiang's corpse."

Wang Lin, though a headstrong man, was extremely smart, so after hearing Wang Che's question took a moment to think before reaching a good answer.

"You two go and retrieve Wang Xiang's corpse. But while you do so, make sure to stay separate by 5 meters at the minimum. I will stay here and watch over you two." Wang Lin ordered.

Obeying his order, Wang Che and Wang Xiao cautiously walked toward Wang Xiang's corpse. And whether it was thanks to their cautiousness or something else, Wang Che successfully managed to retrieve Wang Xiang's corpse. And after placing it within his spatial ring, the two started to return to Wang Lin.

Xue Bai, seeing all of this from a tree, was calm and patient. Though he could get those two into his trap and kill them, they were only a consolidation price in Xue Bai's mind.

All three of them were in the Organ Tempering Realm, and the only way for Xue Bai to kill them was either through a sneak attack or the array formation. So taking the two wasn't worth it in his mind.

However, after noticing Wang Lin's position, Xue Bai got an idea.

Notching an arrow on his bow, Xue Bai sent it to Wang Lin's left, forcing him to dodge to his right.

Wang Lin was only a few feet away from the closest formation flag. And once he was forced to dodge, he would enter the gravity field.

Wang Lin naturally saw the arrow flying toward him, but rather than taking a risk to deflect or take the arrow head-on, he played it cautiously and forced himself to dodge it. No matter how ominous a feeling his dodge gave him, he pushed it down and trusted his cautious mind rather than his gut instinct.

In Wang Lin's mind, the shooter of the arrow had to be at least just as strong as himself, so if he didn't dodge the arrow, it would pierce him and most likely take him out of commission for the preceding fight.

So after jumping to his right, Wang Lin shouted, "Who's there!"

But immediately after he shouted, even before he landed, an overwhelming force sent him downward, pinning him into the mud.

"ARG!" Wang Lin grunted as he tried to free himself from the pressure.

Still, like Wang Xiang, no matter how hard he forced himself to stand or how much he forced his body beyond its limits, Wang Lin stayed pinned to the ground.

Wang Che and Wang Xiao were suffering the same circumstances a few meters away, but unlike Wang Lin, they very quickly accepted their situation and didn't struggle. They weren't given the same brutal physical training as Wang Lin was forced through by his father. So not only were they physically weaker than him but also mentally, leading to their weak will.

Xue Bai, still in the tree, however, was ecstatic.

'Sure enough, even if I'm not the protagonist, cannon fodder will always be cannon fodder. Just one arrow sent the man jumping into a death trap like a rabbit.' Xue Bai mentally chuckled as he dropped down from his perch.

"Idiots of the Wang Clan! I, Xue Bai, have arranged your deaths! Be grateful, for you have died to a future God Great Realm cultivator!" Xue Bai arrogantly announced as he landed on the ground gracefully.

The three immobile Wang Clans, both seeing and hearing such a display of arrogance, didn't know how to respond for a moment. Xue Bai landed with such beautiful movements that it was almost theatrical.

However, the three very soon regained their composure as their overwhelming rage brought them back, with Wang Lin the first to respond.

"Xue Bai, do you know what you're doing right now?" Wang Lin spoke rather calmly, to the surprise of Xue Bai.

Xue Bai had thought he was like Wang Xiang and would project by screaming out their grievances in the hope of intimidating Xue Bai out of killing him. But not only did he not yell or accuse, but Wang Lin almost seemed calm about the situation.

"You're awfully calm about this, Wang Lin. I thought you would scream at me like your second cousin. He kept screaming about a war between clans, but in the end, wanted a peaceful death by offering to bait the three of you into my trap." Xue Bai responded to him as he came into the radius of the array formation.

But unlike what he did with Wang Xiang, Xue Bai stayed away from Wang Lin. The son of Wang Chen was much more capable than Wang Xiang. And Xue Bai didn't think he could loot the man without having something go wrong.

However, Xue Bai still was confident that the three were turtles in a jar. Therefore, Wang Lin was dead unless he could summon an elder-level figure for protection. But if it were so easy to do that, then why couldn't Wang Xiang do the same?

Still pinned to the ground, Wang Lin didn't have a change in expression even after hearing that his cousin had baited him out for an easy death.

"That coward feared both death and pain. The title of an assassin was so that he could walk around with his head up in the clan. If he didn't have that, no one would bother to care about him." Wang Lin disdainfully spoke.

"The man is dead. Don't you know you shouldn't curse dead people?" Xue Bai answered as he notched an arrow.

"Why shouldn't I? That Wang Xiang and even his father weren't men in my mind but weak-willed rats with a strong punch. If he weren't useful to the patriarch, Wang Yin would've long been dead." Wang Lin casually responded as he watched Xue Bai kill Wang Che with an arrow.

Following up with another arrow to Wang Xiao's forehead, Xue Bai notched his final arrow and pointed it toward Wang Lin.

"Any last words, Wang Lin?" Xue Bai asked, "You had the potential to be something great. And if you were corrupted by those demons, we could've been friends. So would you like to get something off your chest?"

"I'd rather die in regret than to be friends with trash like you. Kill me, you bastard. However, know that..." Wang Lin spoke before he was cut off.historical

Xue Bai didn't want to be cursed, so he killed Wang Lin before he could say anything else.

However, his previous words were true. Wang Lin had the persona of an early rival of a protagonist. The one who would be a strong youth in the novice village but, after being beaten by the protagonist, would turn into loyal dog number 1.

However, instead of a worthy protagonist, the cliche happened with Wang Yu in their Wang Clan hierarchy. And since he had submitted to the wrong man and had the Demonic Sect corrupting him at an early age, Wang Lin had long turned into something terrible.

So while Xue Bai did feel slightly regretful at the wasted potential of Wang Lin, it was only that much. He would never endanger his life to try and recruit a ticking time bomb, no matter how full of potential it was.

Xue Bai had a Heaven Grade Martial Vein and Bloodline. Nothing was more full of potential than him. So rather than cultivate a white-eyed wolf, why not cultivate himself?

Shaking away any distractive thoughts, Xue Bai looted their bodies before torching them and retrieving his formation flags. He only had two days to enter the top 1000, but he had already wasted the better half of a day toying with the Wang Clan cannon fodder and now needed a lot of catching up to do.

"They should've added a scoreboard to these jade slips." Xue Bai sighed as he jumped into a tree in search of prey to hunt.

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Read the author's note. There is an important statement there.