Since entering the Southern Li Royal Palace, Luo Lie has always focused on cultivation. If there were any matters to handle, he would have the head guard, Su Qiusheng, deal with them. Therefore, he had only met the chief steward, Tailai, once when he first entered the palace. At other times, any issues were reported to Su Qiusheng, which inadvertently made Tailai's position seem lower than Su Qiusheng's.

Luo Lie never expected that this Tailai was actually Chong Houhu's man.

He was secretly glad that he had never interacted with Tailai.

Even so, it still made Luo Lie very displeased that such an insider could openly hold a high position in the Southern Li Royal Palace.

Tailai first met with Liu Hongyan and Chong Houhu, and finally came before Luo Lie, bowing respectfully, "Greetings, Young Prince."

"Hmm." Luo Lie clasped his hands behind his back and nodded slightly, very calmly.

His lack of anger was so serene that it seemed devoid of any human emotion, and the indifference in his eyes made Tailai inexplicably uneasy.

As the chief steward of the Southern Li Royal Palace, Tailai was very familiar with Luo Lie. He thought that if he appeared like this, it would surely anger Luo Lie, but things did not go as planned, and all his pre-prepared responses were rendered useless.

"Young Prince, the old prince indeed had another son. Only I know of this, and the old prince left a blood letter regarding this matter back then," Tailai said.

Luo Lie replied indifferently, "Oh, so he is a bastard."

Tailai's heart sank again; Luo Lie's calmness made him feel something was off.

Little did he know, this Luo Lie was not the same as before, so it was strange for him to feel anything.

"The blood letter is here." Tailai took out the blood letter.

Luo Lie did not take it. He knew that Luo Chihang's appearance was orchestrated by Chong Houhu.

At this point, he had to admit that Chong Houhu was truly cunning. Even though everyone believed, even he himself believed, that Luo Lie never practiced martial arts and could not possibly pass the three trials, he still prepared a backup plan by introducing a supposed illegitimate son of the Southern Li King, Luo Chihang.

The problem is, who dares to say that Luo Chihang is really the illegitimate son of the Southern Li King? Tailai is clearly Chong Houhu's man, and he could easily forge a blood letter to turn an unrelated person into the deceased Southern Li King's illegitimate son. After all, the Southern Li King and his wife are dead, and no one else knows or can confirm it.

Given this, Luo Lie decided not to dwell on Luo Chihang's identity. Since it was pointless to worry about it, he might as well acknowledge it and see what Chong Houhu intended to do.

"I understand, you may leave," Luo Lie said, never glancing at the blood letter.

Tailai stared blankly at the neatly folded blood letter in his hand, turned to look at Chong Houhu, who was also taken aback by Luo Lie's calmness.

The shrewd Chong Houhu did not become agitated by the slight change in the situation. He smiled and said, "Since even Luo Lie acknowledges Luo Chihang as the son of the Southern Li King, then it is simple. I propose that we decide the heir to the Southern Li King today. Let Luo Lie and Luo Chihang undergo the Overlord's Trial simultaneously, and the winner will gain the inheritance. What does the monarch think?"

To read the uncut version, go to pawread dot com.

Liu Hongyan was furious.

This completely altered the previous agreement.

Luo Lie only needed to pass the three trials to secure his inheritance and become the future Southern Li King.

Now, he must surpass Luo Chihang to do so. Who doesn't know that Luo Chihang is the second-ranked young talent in the Northern Waters Kingdom? Apart from Chong Zhanyuan, no other young person is his match. More importantly, Luo Chihang has already passed the three trials before, not only passing but doing well, and he has experience, making it easier for him to pass again.

This gives Luo Chihang almost all the advantages.

In this way, it is equivalent to Chong Houhu forcibly seizing the inheritance of the Southern Li King.

"That old fox is too vicious!" Liu Hongyan cursed silently.

Many were secretly shocked by Chong Houhu's move, as it was too ruthless. Some even suspected whether Luo Chihang was Chong Houhu's illegitimate son.

Just as Liu Hongyan was about to object, Luo Lie spoke up, "Does the Black Dragon King think it's appropriate for a bastard to compete with me, the legitimate heir, for the Southern Li King's inheritance?"

Chong Houhu looked down at Luo Lie, glancing at him from the corner of his eye, directly ignoring Luo Lie, and said, "It's getting late, let the Overlord's Trial begin."

Luo Lie couldn't help but get angry; this old thief was too much.

What was even more infuriating was that those responsible for the Overlord's Trial didn't wait for Liu Hongyan, the queen, to speak and started acting directly. They only followed Chong Houhu's orders.

Openly disregarding the monarch! Liu Hongyan clenched her fists, suppressing her anger, and could only pin her hopes on Luo Lie.

Luo Lie didn't shout or curse provocatively; he intended to fight back with action.

You want to take my inheritance of the Southern Li King? Then I'll make sure you can't! You ignore me? Then I'll slap you in the face! You think you're the high and mighty Black Dragon King? Then I'll make you lose face!

Luo Lie nodded to Liu Hongyan and Xue Bingning and strode towards the Overlord's Trial arena.

Luo Chihang, walking beside him, arrogantly raised his head, confident of victory. As they moved, he provocatively said, "Luo Lie, if you don't want to become a laughingstock, just give up and let me be the next Southern Li King."

"Who will be the laughingstock is still uncertain," Luo Lie replied with a cold smile.

"Haha..." Luo Chihang laughed wildly, "I know you've received the monarch's favor and have been working hard for the past half month, but so what? In half a month, even with the most basic techniques, can you reach Body Refining Level Three? And at Body Refining Level Three, I can crush you with one finger, for I am at Body Refining Level Five."

"Let's see if you can still laugh so brightly later," Luo Lie said as he stepped into the first trial.

Luo Chihang sneered and entered the adjacent passage.

The Overlord's Trial consisted of four stages, with the fourth being a mystery, while the first three were independent.

The first stage was a narrow passage 100 meters long and only three meters wide, with walls five meters high on either side. In this passage, a hundred Golden-Clawed Wolves would be released.

The Golden-Clawed Wolves weren't particularly strong, roughly equivalent to Body Refining Level Three. The problem was that in such a narrow space, a hundred of them were not easy to deal with. More importantly, the first stage had a very stringent requirement: no injuries were allowed, not even a scratch. Under these conditions, one had to reach the end of the 100-meter passage and break through the sealed door to reach the second passage, which was the second stage.

Bang! Bang! Two heavy door-closing sounds echoed.

The entrances to the two passages were sealed off.

Spectators, positioned high above, could clearly see everything happening below.

As the entrances closed, square holes began to appear on the floor of the 100-meter passage, and one by one, the Golden-Clawed Wolves howled as they emerged.

However, when the Golden-Clawed Wolves appeared in the two passages, people noticed a difference.

The wolves in Luo Chihang's passage were normal Golden-Clawed Wolves.

In contrast, the wolves in Luo Lie's passage were different. Each wolf had a hint of gray-green on its claws, clearly indicating poison, and there weren't just a hundred of them, but as many as one hundred and twenty.

"This is unfair!" Liu Hongyan said in a deep voice, "Who did this?"

Chong Houhu leisurely watched the two passages and, without looking at Liu Hongyan, said, "It was I who did it. I believe that if both face the same competition, it would be unfair to Luo Chihang. He has never received the Southern Li King's nurturing and has achieved everything on his own. Compared to Luo Lie, who has been fully nurtured by the Southern Li King, he is at a disadvantage. Therefore, for the sake of fairness, I requested this."

Almost everyone, even those on Chong Houhu's side, had a few words pop into their minds.

Shameless! Despicable! Malicious! Vicious! Who doesn't know that Luo Lie doesn't practice martial arts? Where is the nurturing? Who doesn't know that Luo Chihang is the second-ranked young expert? Who dares to ensure that Luo Chihang isn't your illegitimate son, secretly nurtured by you? Using such tactics, besides being called vicious, it can only be said that Chong Houhu is too insidious. Even with a guaranteed victory, he ensures multiple layers of insurance.

With such a ruthless Chong Houhu intervening in the Overlord's Trial, Luo Lie's victory is uncertain, and even his survival is in question.

Even if Liu Hongyan wanted to stop it, it was too late.

The first stage of the battle had already begun.