Afterwards, Song Yuheng and his father were sent away to heal their injuries.
As for Chu Feng and Hong Qiang, Yin Gongfu led them to a palace where they could stay to rest. As for Jiang Wushang, due to the fact that he was still in the period of receiving his punishment, he had no choice but to continue mining day and night.
At this moment, Yin Gongfu had arrived at Chu Feng’s residence alone. He said that he had an important matter to discuss with him.
“Senior Yin, Wushang was wrongly accused. The person that framed him was none other than that Song Yuheng,” Chu Feng said to Yin Gongfu.
“Jiang Wushang told you about it?” Yin Gongfu asked.
“Senior already knew?” Chu Feng asked.
“Yes. I already knew that Song Yuheng and his father planned all that to frame Jiang Wushang. However, there is nothing that I can do about this matter,” Yin Gongfu sighed.
“Senior, you are the person in charge of this place. How could it be that you can do nothing about this?” Chu Feng asked.
“You’re mistaken. The person who is truly in charge of this place is Lord Duan, Duan Jidao. Back then, what happened with Jiang Wushang was personally decided by Lord Duan. Thus, there was nothing that I can do,” Yin Gongfu said.
“Senior Duan Jidao is actually a person who cannot distinguish between right and wrong?” Chu Feng asked.
“It is not that Lord Duan is a person who cannot distinguish between right and wrong. Rather, he is someone that is disinclined to bother to distinguish. He also did not wish for Song Yuheng’s reputation to be swept away, and for him to end up being burdened with the criminal charge of wrongly accusing Jiang Wushang.”
“Although Lord Duan was fond of Jiang Wushang, between Song Yuheng and Jiang Wushang, he chose Song Yuheng,” Yin Gongfu said.
“Senior, Song Yuheng is already over a hundred years old, whereas little brother Wushang is still very young. Although Song Yuheng’s current cultivation is above little brother Wushang’s, little brother Wushang will definitely surpa.s.s him in the future. Furthermore, in terms of their character, the two of them are simply worlds apart. I truly do not understand why Senior Duan would choose Song Yuheng over little brother Wushang,” Chu Feng was extremely confused.
“Chu Feng, do you know why Song Yuheng is deemed to be the person with the highest chance of becoming Lord Duan’s successor?” Yin Gongfu asked.
“Could it be that there’s some sort of secret?” Chu Feng asked.
“Indeed, there are some secrets. Regarding this matter, it must be mentioned starting from Lord Duan’s past. This matter is an enormous secret that very few people know about. However, I am willing to tell you about it. I hope that you can keep this confidential, and not tell this matter to anyone else,” Yin Gongfu said.
“Senior, please rest a.s.sured. This junior will definitely not do anything detrimental to senior,” Chu Feng said.
“Although it is the first time that we have met each other, I trust you,” Yin Gongfu stood up and patted Chu Feng’s shoulder. The gaze with which he looked to Chu Feng was filled with confidence and trust.
For some people, no matter how long one knew them, it would be extremely difficult for them to be trusted. However, for some other people, one would feel trust just from knowing them for a short period of time.
However, this sort of trust was something that only those with exceptional perception and the ability to distinguish between right and wrong would feel.
As for Yin Gongfu, he was a person with exceptional perception and the ability to distinguish between right and wrong. Through how Chu Feng had stood up for Jiang Wushang, and how Yaojiao Guang thought so highly of Chu Feng, Yin Gongfu knew that Chu Feng was a person worthy of being trusted.
After all, trust was something established by how one handles matters, and not simply through familiarity.
Yin Gongfu did not directly tell Chu Feng the secret, but instead asked Chu Feng, “Firstly, I’ll tell you a secret. Do you know why Lord Duan is not someone from the Imperial Clans? Do you know why he, a person from the Royal Clan, possesses an Imperial Bloodline stronger than even the people from the Imperial Clans?”
“Senior Duan Jidao’s bloodline is an Inherited Bloodline. If his talent is not exceptional, then it must be that he encountered an enormous fortuitous meeting,” Chu Feng said.
“You’re correct. The fortuitous meeting that Lord Duan encountered could be said to be the most fortuitous meeting to ever have happened to anyone. He obtained the inheritance of Emperor Huang,” Yin Gongfu said.
“Emperor Huang? Are you talking about one of the Five Emperors, Emperor Huang, Huangfu Shou?” Chu Feng asked.
“Precisely,” Yin Gongfu said.
Hearing those words, Chu Feng’s expression became complicated. His heart was extremely restless.
They all say that this was an enormously grand era. Emperor Gong’s successor had appeared. The Beast Emperor’s successor had appeared. And now, even Emperor Huang’s successor had appeared.
It was definitely no coincidence that this existence that has never appeared before now appeared in this era.
That being said, while Chu Feng was feeling restless, he was also feeling joy. Duan Jidao was Emperor Huang’s successor. Further, he was currently finding a person to succeed him. If Jiang Wushang was able to become his successor, wouldn’t that mean that Jiang Wushang would become Emperor Huang’s successor?
Although the current Jiang Wushang was no different than a lowly prisoner, Chu Feng felt that there were no absolutes in this matter. Perhaps Jiang Wushang would still have the opportunity in the future.
However, Chu Feng did not tell Yin Gongfu about what he was thinking. Instead, he continued to quietly listen.
“Emperor Huang, Huangfu Shou, was an enormously powerful existence. For Lord Duan Jidao to obtain his inheritance, he naturally also became a grand character in his era.”
“Back then, the Duan Dynasty was only able to rise in power because of Lord Duan Jidao. Unfortunately, the people from the Duan Clan were too adherent to old ideas. Not only had they ruined the Duan Family, they also ruined Lord Duan Jidao,” Yin Gongfu sighed and shook his head.
“Exactly what happened back then?” Chu Feng hurriedly asked. He knew that the Duan Dynasty had originally possessed the chance to surpa.s.s the Four Great Imperial Clans. Yet, they were suddenly exterminated. Because of that, Duan Jidao disappeared for thousands of years. Even now, very few people knew that Duan Jidao was still alive.
“This will have to begin with a love story. Lord Duan Jidao fell in love with a woman. The two of them were in love with one another. Their feelings for each other were superb. However, due to the fact that that woman was Lord Duan Jidao’s aunt, the people from the Duan Family were utterly against them being together.”
“Lord Duan Jidao made a firm resolution to marry none other than her. As such, the Duan Family’s voices of disapproval were completely ignored by Lord Duan. Thus, when Lord Duan Jidao left the Duan Family to do some training, they forced the death of that woman.”
“When Lord Duan learned of this matter, he become incomparably furious. Enraged, he ended up killing his entire clan,” Yin Gongfu said.
“The Duan Dynasty was actually ruined by Senior Duan Jidao himself?” After learning of this matter, Chu Feng was also extremely shocked.
“That’s right. To become enraged over a beauty, one could do anything. This holds even more true for Lord Duan Jidao, as he is a very pa.s.sionate person.”
“Furthermore, although that aunt of his was also considered to be a Duan Clansman, she was actually not from the same branch as Lord Duan Jidao. Merely, her age was several hundred years older than Lord Duan’s. That was the reason why the people from the Duan Clan did not approve of it. If the people from the Duan Clan had not been so inflexible, such a disaster would not have happened,” When mentioning this matter, Yin Gongfu felt a great amount of pity. It was true, this was a tragedy, an enormous tragedy.
“Indeed. Love is free, how could others forcibly stop someone from loving another?” Although Chu Feng felt that what Duan Jidao did was wrong, he could very well imagine that if someone were to force the death of his lovers, he too would definitely not let them get away. Thinking about it that way, Chu Feng was able to understand Duao Jidao.
“After Lord Duan calmed down, he discovered that he had killed all of his clansmen. Because of that, he felt an enormous burden and pain, and began to blame himself incessantly. Had it not been because he had obtained Emperor Huang’s inheritance, and did not wish for Emperor Huang’s strength to die off in his hands, he would’ve already killed himself.”
“Although he did not commit suicide, living was extremely painful for him. He was depressed for an extremely long time, over a thousand years.”
“It was only after many years pa.s.sed that Lord Duan began to discover that his health was growing worse and worse by the day. After discovering that he would be unable to continue on for another hundred years, Lord Duan arrived at this place and established the World’s Hidden Valley. He began to find outstanding members of the younger generation from the Royal Families to grant them Imperial Bloodlines and nurture them. He wanted to find his successor from among them,” Yin Gongfu said.
“Could it be that Song Yuheng is thought of that highly by Senior Duan because of what happened in the past?” Chu Feng asked.
Hearing that, the gaze with which Yin Gongfu looked to Chu Feng changed to one of admiration. Then, he nodded and said, “Chu Feng, you’re very smart. You’ve guessed correctly.”