Chapter 659: Double Feint
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
“Do you know Saren Gaowa’s current whereabouts?” Meng Qi asked pensively.
Agula shook his head, looking lost. “How would I know...?”
This disappointed Meng Qi. If Saren Gaowa was somewhere nearby, the Primogenitor’s “support” would give him a chance to eliminate a hidden danger in advance.
Though Kill-stopping Cultivator could be considered his savior, he would not sit still for her to kill him.
Since there was no such opportunity, then he would continue roaming the Jianghu while concealing his whereabouts. When he obtains the strength of a grandmaster in a few more years, he would not need to fear enemies like Kill-stopping and Crying Elder.
He questioned Agula further about Saren Gaowa but learned nothing else. Agula continuously lamented about, falling into the trap known as the Wolf-slaying League.
When he saw that there was no progress, Meng Qi changed the subject and said casually, “Ba Tu is dead.”
Panic once again colored Agula’s expression. “I know.”
“Then did you know it is the work of Shamans?” Meng Qi smiled as he stared into Agula’s eyes.
Agula shuddered, his fright deepening. “I know...”
“Tell me the reason for his assassination.” Meng Qi spoke as if everything was within his grasp.
Agula looked at him in alarm while shaking his head vehemently. “I don’t know! I don’t know! The League ordered me to complete a transaction with members who conduct private trades in the north and south. I happen to discover several shamans from Jinzhang hiding among them.”
“When the transaction was complete, Ba Tu tracked one of the caravan members and followed him out of the city. Then his body was discovered outside the city walls. I’m in the dark as to what he had learned.”
“Shamans from Jinzhang?” Meng Qi frowned. Those were the direct descendants of Gu Erduo, the Great Khan of the grassland, as well as the most unique group of shamans. They belonged to the Changsheng Denomination in name but they obeyed the Great Khan of Jinzhang and no one else.
“Is the Cao family working together with Gu Erduo?”
When Meng Qi was done thoroughly questioning Agula, he comforted the latter by promising to help him fake his death and hide in the Great Jin Dynasty. This way, Agula would be able to leave the Wolf-slaying League for good.
After Meng Qi saw Agula off, two silhouettes instantly appeared in his room: Primogenitor Lingbao and Jiang Zhiwei.
“The Cao family is skilled in beguiling its own people. Though the son of the Master’s first wife is a grandmaster and is currently in Changle, there is no sign of internal strife. Just what are they collaborating with the grassland over...?” The Primogenitor denied the possibility that someone in the Cao family was colluding with outsiders to usurp the Master’s position.
Without any evidence of the violent deaths of the two shamans from Jinzhang, they could not use it to revolt against a top aristocratic family.
Jiang Zhiwei thought it over before saying, “Whatever their plan is, it doesn’t affect our goal. Well, at most, we can pretend it is to mislead others and mobilize the Cao family.”
The way she spoke resembled her sword art. No matter how she tried to change or how garish she became, she would always get straight to the point.
“Yes.” Meng Qi nodded while smiling. “We can make striking the Cao family and investigating their collusion with the grassland our ‘true goal’. They’ll have no choice but to believe this. Primogenitor, please wear an indistinct mask but use your Primogenitor Lingbao’s martial arts when the time comes. That way, those who know will know it’s the Primogenitor. Those who don’t will believe it’s Senior Master or Master Lu secretly sounding them out. Since they’re guilty, this will prompt an unnatural response from them.”
“Good idea.” Primogenitor Lingbao nodded in agreement. He added after a short pause, “Let’s wait for a few more days. We’ll make ourmove when Cao Feiyue takes over the grandmaster’s duty to guard the Earth Fairy Lake. Since she belongs to the direct line of descent, she ought to know something about the collusion with the grassland. This makes it easier to dupe her into opening the door.”
If the grandmaster guarding the Earth Fairy Lake knew nothing, he or she would suspect the “crisis” of the family and discover flaws from there.
Meng Qi grinned. “That is great. I still need to observe Cao Tai so I don’t immediately expose my identity.”
Near evening, in the Phoenix Pagoda south of the city.
Cao Xianzhi had been waiting for some time when Meng Qi and Jiang Zhiwei arrived. With his hands behind his back and a handsome face, he exuded an air of calmness.
“The Master has rejected your suggestion,” he said slowly. “But since I hid your identities from him, he would not be able to guess that the treasury is located in one of the forbidden areas for the time being.”
Meng Qi nodded. “We will have to depend on ourselves then.”
This development was within their expectations.
Cao Xianzhi sank into silence. He glanced at Meng Qi and Jiang Zhiwei and sighed. “I am sure you didn’t just leak the news about the treasury just to seek cooperation with us. You must have done so in consideration of the fact that we belong to the same path. I am truly ashamed that all I can do is let you know of this matter.”
“What is it?” Meng Qi asked solemnly.
Cao Xianzhi took in a deep breath. “Back then, what our family found on the ice eye of the Earth Fairy Lake was not the remains of one Earth Immortals, but two.”
“Two?” Meng Qi and Jiang Zhiwei’s expressions both turned solemn.
...
Several days later, Primogenitor Lingbao detected Cao Feiyue’s arrival on the island. She entered the depths of the thousand-year Frigid Crystal under the protection of layers upon layers of formations. This gave the Primogenitor no chance to attack her.
Moments later, the grandmaster who was on guarding duty flew away. The entire process was carried out within a controlled grand formation and left no flaws for the Primogenitor to exploit. Even if he could capture the departing grandmaster, he would not make it in time to break into the “ice doors”.
With a slight nod, he flew back to the inn. He took out a small flag engraved with strange patterns that looked like eyes.
“Flag of the Micro and the Macro. I refined this with my Heavenly Knowing and harvests of my cultivation of the Conjuration of the Taoist Trinity skill. This allows my doppelganger to temporarily wield the strength of my physical body, as well as equip my true entity with the unique powers of my doppelganger. It is currently restricted to a single use,” the Primogenitor said, introducing the item as he handed it to Meng Qi.
He must pay the price if he wanted to comprehend the Seven Strokes of Heaven Interception!
When he was done speaking, he handed a map that detailed the disposition of troops and a charm to Jiang Zhiwei. “These are the failed products of the Immortal-slaying Sword Formation that I refined. It is only effective against opponents beneath the grandmaster level. With these, you will be able to entrap the Peerless Master Pros of the Frost Fire Valley.”
“This is a top-grade Distraction Charm that can help you sneak into the outer layer of the protective spell.”
Though the completion of special tasks was still required to refine objects on the level of divine weapons in the dimension of the Dominator of Samsara in Six Realms, it was simpler than making a direct exchange for it. The process that Primogenitor Lingbao went through to refine the map was also the same process that he took to gain a better grasp of formations. Thus, he did not care for the Dominator’s help.
...
In the north, the nights came early as the season advanced into winter. In the depths of the snow-laden valley, was a blue flame calmly burning in defiance of common sense.
Not only was there a formation laid over the valley, the Peerless Master Pro of the Cao family, Cao Fei, was on guard as well. There were also several disciples of the family who were cautiously drawing support from the blue flame to refine weapons.
Frost Fire was said to be a fire used to refine divine weapons. The fire did not produce a high temperature. In fact, it engulfed fire and could create a scene of ice and snow. The Cao family happened to discover such a flame in this valley. Since the flame was nearly strong enough to refine divine weapons, they decided to ‘keep’ it for the use of their disciples. It was better than having outsiders waste the fire.
Cao Fei was a man of a small stature and calm bearing. He sat near the flame with his back straight and his eyes partially closed. The crackling and rattling of the “burning” flame did not disturb him.
Suddenly, his expression changed. He grabbed at the air, creating a whistling gale that congregated into a vortex. Out of nowhere, he forced the manifestation of a green silhouette.
“To think there’d be someone sneaking into the Frost Fire Valley! Fortunately, the inner layer of the formation caught the intruder!”
The green silhouette was Jiang Zhiwei. Donning an expressionless mask, she calmly brandished her sword.
Her green sword light came flying and filled every corner of the world like it was the cold moonlight enveloping the earth. The light seemed to wash the sky clean.
Cao Fei felt the piercing nip in the air before the sword even arrived anywhere near him. The chill that he felt was also the result of the fright the swordwillcaused in him!
“Azuremoon Washing the Sky? Azuremoon Sword Sect!” Shock gripped Cao Fei’s heart. An Immortal Form with lightning entwined around it instantly appeared behind him. He extended his palm, the triggered Frost Fire giving rise to Lightning Fire. The fire obliterated Jiang Zhiwei’s Sword Qi, engulfing the moonlight.
The moment he thrust his palm, the words of the Master of the family rang in his ears. There was a treasury hidden somewhere on the family grounds and he must stop anyone trying to break in and steal from it!
“Did this intruder come here for that reason?” The thought had barely occurred to him when he saw the green-robed figure wearing an expressionless mask toss an unadorned map at him.
The figure’s swordwill surged to the firmament. The black, white, green, and red lights seemed like four dragons that destroyed everything in their paths as they spiraled upward.
Cao Fei turned pale with fright. He instantly activated the Frost Fire and the formation, which allowed him to barely block the attack.
“What a terrifying formation map! I don’t think I can last much longer; I must request backup from the family with the secret technique!” He made his decision.
In the Cao family manor in Peijing.
On the orders of the Master of the family, a grandmaster turned into a fleeing light and dashed out of the grand formation.
Just as he was about to exit through the temporary gap in the formation, a figure appeared out of nowhere in the air. Tall and well-built, he appeared lofty and simple. His jet-black hair was secured with a wooden hairpin. He wore an azure Taoist robe and a strange, featureless mask.
In his hand was a green sword. In a leisurely motion, he brought the sword down.
The sword light split apart before splitting yet again, continuing over and over. To the grandmaster, this stroke managed to manifest tens of thousands of changes. These changes would interact with one another before continuing to change, as if it wanted to birth countless transformations of no rhyme or rhythm.
The sword light continuously absorbed all the forces around it as it was being transformed. The grandmaster felt a chill as if he was about to be absorbed to be a part of the sword light as well.
The chaos continued to persist violently as if it could not be reversed until it reached the end of the universe. It absorbed the strength to move and travel from those in its vicinity. There was nothing but chaos. The grandmaster felt as if his flesh and blood would be thrown in disorder and join the chaos.
He became aware of the loss of the Force of Heaven and Earth as everything was flowing toward the culmination of the chaos. In other words, they were developing into an everlasting deadly stillness.
“Immortal-slaying Sword!”
The grandmaster was certain that he would already be dead if the target of this sword strike was not the grand formation of Peijing.
The chaos absorbed even the power of the grand formation of Peijing. He could not escape the effects of the chaos either. Fortunately, an alert Cao Jianzhi instantly activated the full strength of the formation in response. Otherwise, the single sword strike might just shatter the formation!
Right now, they had isolated the grounds from the outside world!
On the main isle above the Earth Fairy Lake, the disciples guarding the surroundings were bewildered to see a stream of light rising from Peijing from a distance.
Right at this moment, a figure flew down on an irregular trajectory and crashed in front of the disciples.
“Brother Tai!” one of them blurted out when they saw Cao Tai with a bloodied face and a mangled body.
A struggling “Cao Tian” could barely speak. “S-Seek help... Cao Yuanzhi... The plan has fallen through... The grandmaster attacked...”
“What?” The disciples were perplexed.
With a thud, the head of “Cao Tai” fell to the ground. Blood gushed out of his Seven Apertures as he exhaled his last breath.
“Brother Tai!” When the disciples came up to examine “Cao Tai”, they found him to be utterly lifeless. They could not help panicking.
Having received a comprehensive education from the family, they soon recovered from their shock. One of them instantly rushed to the main entrance of the Frigid Crystal of Wanzai.
In the Cao family manor in Peijing.
The Master of the Cao family held a long ruler condensed out of purple Thunderclaps in his hand as he waited to make his move after accumulating power.
Doubt and anger were reflected on his wrinkled face. He could not help glancing at the two other persons in the room.
One of them was an elegant and carefree middle-aged man, dressed in a wide robe. His face was exceptionally handsome with a charm like that of a devil. His jet-black hair was secured with a wooden hairpin; there was not one speck of white to be found.
The other one was as silent as stagnant water in a deep pool. He had straight eyebrows atop a pair of bright eyes and a tall nose. Though he was good-looking, his lips were on the thinner side. It made him look like a fickle-hearted person. The lack of emotion in his eyes made him look callous.
They were “Evil Master” Han Guang and “Mad Prince” Gao Lan!
The two gleaming stars of the former generation!