Chapter 57: The Devil-Transforming Pill

After the third round, the competition grew increasingly intense.

The continuous battles had taken a toll on everyone’s condition—except for Lin Wuming, who still felt no strain at all.

Part of it was due to his solid foundation.

More importantly, he didn’t need to exert much effort to defeat the other clan juniors; each match was a swift and easy victory, leaving him mostly unscathed.

The situation was becoming clearer by the moment.

When only four contestants remained on the field, nearly everyone believed the final outcome was already set in stone.

No one seemed capable of defeating the rising star, that young man who had already shaken the entire field. Even Lin Wuming himself shared this belief.

That old fox Lin Tiancheng must be out of tricks.

If not, he would’ve played his hand already.

Still, Lin Wuming remained cautious.

And besides…

Why hadn’t he seen that master and servant pair yet?

He’d already searched the whole venue during the earlier rounds.

Could it be his junior sister hadn’t delivered the message?

No, that shouldn’t be.

The young lady from the Liu family had told them her residence before they parted.

He had even reminded his junior sister about it again.

There shouldn’t have been any mistake.

But there was no time to dwell on it.

The next round—the semifinals—was about to begin.

Standing on the stage, his opponent wore a bitter smile.

This opponent was one of the Wang family’s seeded players.

After a long, hard climb to this point, he had hoped to secure at least second place.

But unfortunately, his luck ran out—he drew Lin Wuming as his opponent.

Looking at Lin Wuming’s composed expression and feeling the near depletion of his own spiritual energy, the Wang family youth could only smile bitterly.

He knew he wasn’t as strong as Ji Zikang.

Even at full strength, he couldn’t survive many moves from Lin Wuming—let alone now, nearly drained of power.

Fortunately, this famed young man was known for showing mercy, often prolonging his matches to avoid humiliating his opponents.

At least he wouldn’t lose too disgracefully.

Lin Wuming understood this too.

Whether he prolonged the fight or not didn’t matter anymore—everyone could see he was intentionally holding back.

Still…

[System
Task: Resolve family matters
Current completion: 50%
Current rating: Poor]

The rating was already “poor”—but at least it was just poor, and not “extremely poor.”

That was already a step up compared to previous tasks.

He likely wouldn’t earn the Taishi Sword Soul, but given how powerful it was, he figured he might still get a decent magical weapon—maybe even a spiritual tool if he was lucky.

All in all, not a bad outcome.

He only hoped no more surprises would ruin things…

The Lin family seemed out of moves.

The Liu family’s young miss hadn’t shown up either.

Hmph.

Who says he always ends up with the consolation prize?

This time, it might not be.

Lost in thought, the match began.

The poor soul facing Lin Wuming took a deep breath and steeled himself.

Victory was impossible—but at the very least, he had to give it his all.

“Please.”

He cupped his hands, then assumed a combat stance and launched the first move.

Lin Wuming nodded in return and engaged him.

Their fight was more like a practice spar—Lin Wuming barely used any spiritual energy, keeping the match balanced out of courtesy.

It was easy to see he was going easy on an exhausted opponent.

The audience watched with great interest as the match lasted for nearly half a stick of incense.

However, Lin Wuming’s opponent was clearly starting to falter, already pushed to his limit.

Lin Wuming shrugged—time to wrap things up.

He ramped up the pressure, his strikes sharper and more forceful.

The Wang family youth, barely hanging on, gritted his teeth and tried to endure.

The end seemed near.

But just as Lin Wuming prepared to deliver the final blow and send the opponent off the stage—

A sudden, hair-raising danger surged toward him.

Without thinking, he lunged forward and shoved the Wang family youth out of the way, diving off the stage himself.

The other boy blinked, confused—then turned and saw a massive hand of condensed true energy crashing down from the sky, pulverizing the entire stage with a deafening explosion!

If he had stayed even half a second longer, he’d have been turned into paste!

“Great Elder, what are you doing?!”

From the high platform, the first to cry out was none other than Lin Tiancheng.

But the elder didn’t respond.

His eyes were bloodshot, filled with veins and madness.

Low, guttural growls came from his throat—he looked completely out of control, lashing out indiscriminately.

Yet deep within him, his obsession still whispered his true goal.

“What in the world…”

All around, the elders from other clans showed shocked expressions.

“He’s gone mad!”

“Demonic possession?!”

“Stop him, now!”

The Wang family patriarch was first to act, activating his spiritual power and charging the crazed Lin family elder.

But the Great Elder casually struck back with one palm, sending him flying, face pale and blood surging.

Even before going mad, the Lin family’s Great Elder was already a powerful late-stage Core Formation cultivator.

Now, in this berserk state, he was nearly unstoppable.

The Wang patriarch, barely in early Core Formation, was no match.

What made matters worse—most of the old-generation powerhouses weren’t present at the event.

No one on-site could stop this rampage.

The elder, having swatted away the Wang patriarch, rushed toward Lin Wuming and the Wang youth again—intent on killing them both!

By now, the Lin family had exhausted all conventional means to eliminate Lin Wuming.

So the final, desperate solution was to kill him directly.

But they had no justification for it.

If they attacked Lin Wuming without reason, even with some excuse, it would raise suspicions—and the truth might be fully exposed.

If that happened, the Lin family would be utterly ruined.

Unless…

Unless the one who killed Lin Wuming wasn’t part of the Lin family.

Or better yet—not even human.

The Devil-Transforming Pill.

This was the final gambit prepared by the Great Elder.

He’d acquired this rare and forbidden item long ago in his youth, hidden it for decades—just in case a crisis ever threatened the Lin family.

With it, he could willingly fall into demonic possession, greatly boosting his strength in exchange for losing his mind.

Now was the time to use it.

Once possessed, he would massacre Lin Wuming in the chaos—

And in the process, make his violent actions the biggest story in Luoshui City.

That would overshadow all of Lin Wuming’s brilliant victories and reduce his public impact, making it less likely for the Liu family girl to connect the dots and discover the truth.

Whether their other plans succeeded or failed, Lin Wuming would be dead.

And the Lin family could still claim innocence.

After all, the one who killed him was a “madman,” acting under the influence of a forbidden artifact.

The elder would take the blame alone.

Whether the Lin family rose in glory or fell into ruin, he would be the only sacrifice.

He was willing to give his old, broken body to save the Lin family from destruction—

To wager the family a possible future.