He Furen.
Chen Yan guessed the reason why Wen Hongli chose to abandon continuing to maintain the barrier.
It was precisely to liberate He Furen.
In other words, within the Daoyan Arena right now, it was highly likely that Wen Hongli was facing a situation of one against four.
"Do you remember, the last time we met was about three hundred years ago?"
He Furen recalled with a smile:
"When Senior Mo came to our Kongshan Sect's Imperial Law Court back then to discuss the Dao with Supreme Imperial Law Elder Huo, I, your junior, was Supreme Imperial Law Elder Huo's tea servant. I even poured tea for you, Senior Mo, at that time."
As he spoke, He Furen laughed a couple more times, then shook his head:
"However, I never expected that when we meet again, Senior Mo, you would have already fallen to such a state, truly..."
Because they could do nothing.
Even if he was beaten into a sorry state by Yue Chi, unable to fight back at all, he was still a Myriad Transformations Realm cultivator.
With just a casual palm strike, he could turn everyone in the ruins of the Water Mirror Pavilion into a bloody mist.
Oh, except for Ye Xiu.
Although he couldn't contact Mo Zheng on the spiritual sense level right now.
Mo Zheng could still protect him and transmit his vast true qi through the Martial Spring Realm to Ye Xiu's meridians.
"After news of your fall came, Supreme Imperial Law Elder Huo also spoke to me about you."
He Furen said:
"Supreme Elder Huo Mu told me that you, Senior Mo, always looked down on others from a high pedestal, regarded everyone else as fools, and never knew when to stop while you were ahead. That's why you ended up in that situation..."
Immediately after, He Furen paused for a moment, then continued:
"I must say, Supreme Imperial Law Elder Huo's judgment of people is really accurate. Do you think, why would we trust you completely?"
"What on earth are you talking about..."
Ye Xiu said.
"Or rather, from beginning to end, you were just a pawn for us, not a partner, Senior Mo."
He Furen completely ignored Ye Xiu, continuing to speak only to Mo Zheng within the ring.
As for why Ye Xiu lost contact with Senior Mo, the reason was simple.
Just as Ye Xiu had said when he first appeared in the ruins of the Water Mirror Pavilion, even during the peak period of Heavenly Summit Mountain, when mentioning the world's top-tier illusion arts, people often thought of the Weaving Dreams Tower.
While Mo Zheng was scheming against others, others were also scheming against him.
To make it easier for Ye Xiu and Mo Zheng to operate on Heavenly Summit Mountain, Xiao Bo'an used illusion arts to transform Ye Xiu into his own appearance and transformed himself into Ye Xiu's appearance, staying behind in the Water Mirror Pavilion.
And while casting the illusion, Xiao Bo'an also left a curse using his essence blood.
When this curse was activated, the spiritual connection between Ye Xiu and Mo Zheng would be severed for a period of time.
During this time, it would be enough for He Furen or Wen Hongli to complete their greatest "mission" on Heavenly Summit Mountain.
From start to finish, everything Xiao Bo'an did, including the cooperation plan, was just a deception against Ye Xiu and Mo Zheng.
However, because of Chen Yan's "unexpected intrusion," He Furen's, or rather Huo Mu's, chess game was thrown into complete chaos.
Just like Xiao Bo'an's death.
After Xiao Bo'an died, the curse he left with his essence blood was passively activated, leading by a strange coincidence to the severing of the spiritual connection between Ye Xiu and Mo Zheng.
And after discovering something had happened at the Water Mirror Pavilion, He Furen and Wen Hongli also began to change their strategy, abandoning the continued maintenance of the barrier, then letting He Furen break free to handle the aftermath in the ruins of the Water Mirror Pavilion.
There was about half an hour left before the barrier completely collapsed.
It didn't matter. As long as they could complete the "mission," even with only half an hour, it was completely enough to slaughter everyone on Heavenly Summit Mountain.
It was time to begin.
He Furen reached out his hand and gently grabbed at the air.
Then, a massive gray-black hand materialized from the air and grabbed towards Ye Xiu.
Mo Zheng tried to resist, manifesting faint blue light points in mid-air, but they shattered in an instant.
Unable to utilize Ye Xiu's physical body, Mo Zheng was completely no match for He Furen.
Ye Xiu immediately became unable to move.
Immediately after, He Furen's index finger casually hooked backward, and Ye Xiu's body was flung to He Furen's feet, landing on the ground with a dull thud.
Then, another wisp of innate true energy rippled from He Furen's side, easily hooking the ring from Ye Xiu's hand and landing in He Furen's palm.
"My apologies, Senior Mo."
He Furen said with a smile.
Immediately after, twelve extremely fine strands of gray-black innate true energy pierced through the ring in He Furen's hand. In the next instant, the figure of an old man wearing a gray Daoist robe materialized above the ring.
His body was also pierced by twelve strands of gray-black innate true energy.
"He Furen, you rat!"
Mo Zheng cursed loudly.
However, facing Mo Zheng's fury, He Furen still maintained that uncomfortable smile on his face.
He did not pay attention to Mo Zheng.
Instead, he turned his head to look at Lin Xinyang beside him.
"Xinyang, come here."
He Furen said softly.
"..."
Lin Xinyang did not move, just stood there, staring directly at this master who had taught him for twelve years.
For him, twelve years was already the majority of his life.
But for his master, who had been a tea servant under Huo Mu three hundred years ago, what did twelve years even count as?
"Xinyang?"
He Furen called Lin Xinyang's name once more.
Lin Xinyang had once trusted his master immensely.
He had once firmly believed that the reason He Furen brought the Kongshan Supreme Imperial Law Token here was to uphold justice for his junior martial sister Qin Yue of Qingchan Peak.
But as the investigation deepened, Lin Xinyang felt more and more that there were many suspicious points and a strong sense of incongruity.
In the end, after integrating all the clues and lines of thought, and clarifying the sense of incongruity, he discovered that the person with the problem was precisely his own master.
And after talking with Chen Yan on Cang Luan Cliff, he became even more convinced of his judgment.
Kongshan Sect, Yuanhua Mountain Dignity Elder, He Furen.
That is, his own master, was the mastermind behind everything that had happened on Heavenly Summit Mountain.
"I thought about it, that there would be a traitor within the sect, Master."
Lin Xinyang stared directly into He Furen's eyes and said slowly.
"Did you think it was me?"
He Furen asked with a smile.
"I thought about it, but... I didn't want to believe it."
Lin Xinyang answered.
"..."
Hearing this, He Furen fell silent for a moment. Then, that uncomfortable smile on his face grew even stronger:
"That really is a pity."
A massive palm imprint descended from the sky, smashing Lin Xinyang into a bloody mist.
In the next instant, an immensely powerful aura erupted from the ruins of the Water Mirror Pavilion.
Immediately after, the enormous shadow of a black snake materialized directly above the Water Mirror Pavilion.
A former Ninth Realm Dao Union great demon.
The Black Flood Dragon Remnant Soul.