Chapter 2236: Master
Chapter 2236: Master
Wu Taibai, Xia Shenguang, Wang Xiaofan, Bai Weiwei, and Mr. Tang had all been stopped over the Sea. The three people blocking the path to the Mountain were Headmaster Wen, the God of Food, and the third was actually the old man who was the guardian of the library.
Lu Yin and Kui Luo did not reveal themselves, and Progenitor Smoke stayed next to the two and simply stared into the distance.
"Headmaster, why can't we approach the Mountain?" Xia Shenguang was clearly frustrated.
"This is still part of my Virtue Archives, and I owe you no explanation. Return to the academy."
Xia Shenguang frowned. "If this is part of Virtue Archives, then you should allow us students to approach the Mountain."
He had already spent several days trying to convince the headmaster to allow him access to the Mountain, and the others with him were no different. None of them had had the slightest success.
Headmaster Wen simply stopped talking. A Semi-Progenitor’s strength suddenly pushed Xia Shenguang and others back to the academy. "Go back. This place should not have appeared at this time."
"This has to be the work of Kui Luo. No one else would do something like this." The God of Food was feeling quite the headache.
Headmaster Wen shrugged. "Why did you have to antagonize that old bastard? Our academy will only suffer if he targets us."
The old guardian of the library popped in. "Let's just go find him and get rid of him. I don’t know how we’ll handle whatever other plans he has."
"That old man studied here in Virtue Archives when he was young, and both he and his brother were expelled for their behavior. They know the academy very well." Headmaster Wen sighed.
Lu Yin was able to overhear the conversation from the distance, and he gave Kui Luo an odd look. "You were expelled?"
Kui Luo gritted his teeth. "That’s bullshit! My brother and I left this trashy school to go wander the universe! Who was expelled?"
Lu Yin said, "Actually, the academy’s treated you pretty good. Virtue Archives has always known that Kui Luo was actually you and your brother, but they never let anything leak. If they had ever said a word, you and your brother would have had a rough time of things being chased by the four ruling powers."
Kui Luo was the most notorious Semi-Progenitor in the entire history of the Perennial World. He had been chased and hunted down by the four ruling powers, as well as other major players, including even the Lu family. And yet, the two brothers had never been caught, all because Kui Luo was actually two people: Kui Zhe and Luo Or. Lu Yin had always assumed that the fact that Kui Luo was actually two people was a secret known only by the Lu family, but he had just learned that Virtue Archives had always known as well. For some reason, the academy had never revealed the information to anyone.
Kui Luo snorted contemptuously. "Do you really think that they did that out of kindness? It’s because they don’t dare to let anything leak. Many people have studied in Virtue Archives over the ages, and they will never reveal anyone’s secrets to the rest of the world. If they did, how would they ever be trusted ever again? How would they be able to maintain their neutrality? They would have been disbanded ages ago."
This was a valid point.
Lu Yin looked back over at Headmaster Wen and the others, and then at Progenitor Smoke. "Senior, would you be willing to help this junior approach the Mountain and Sea to see if I can receive its inheritance? Otherwise, I can at least see if it has a master."
Progenitor Smoke replied, "There’s no need for that. This Mountain and Sea already has a master."
Lu Yin was caught off guard. "It has a master? Who?"
Progenitor Smoke rolled her eyes. "How should I know? All I can tell is that it has a master. I just tried to move my wei close to it."
"So are you saying that, even if Headmaster Wen and the others weren’t blocking the Mountain, people still wouldn’t be able to get close? Then why are they there?" Lu Yin felt quite puzzled.
Kui Luo cackled. "There are only two reasons why they don’t want anyone to learn that this Mountain and Sea has a master. One, the master wants to remain unknown and the second is to maximize the value out of this place. Why do so many powerful organizations focus on this place? Because of this Mountain and Sea. If it’s discovered that it has a master, then what will stop the four ruling powers from moving against Virtue Archives? If they find out who the master is and aren’t happy about it, then they might just kill that person and take the inheritance for themselves.”
Lu Yin took a deep breath. "Given how serious the academy is about this, it seems pretty clear that the master of this Mountain and Sea is not an ally of the four ruling powers."
This thought caused Lu Yin’s eyes to light up, as he was also working against the four ruling powers, which meant that the master of this Mountain and Sea was on Lu Yin’s side. It would definitely be best to not let the four ruling powers learn about this matter and instead have it remain hidden.
Since the Mountain and Sea already had a master, then there was no point for Lu Yin to get closer to it.
Progenitor Smoke returned to the pocket dimension inside the mirror, and Kui Luo left the Mountain and Sea. As for Lu Yin, he went to meet up with Liu Shaoge and swapped places without issue. Once again, Lu Yin became Yu Hao.
Headmaster Wen and the other Semi-Progenitors who belonged to Virtue Archives were all guarding the Mountain, and with Lu Yin’s current strength, no one could detect Liu Shaoge swapping to Lu Yin.
Xia Shenguang and many others were still unwilling to accept the Headmaster’s decision, and they continuously tried to leave the academy to approach the Mountain. However, they were all repelled again and again by Headmaster Wen. After half a month, the enormous tree finally disappeared, and the matter ended.
Lu Yin returned to his residence atop the stone pillar, and then he reviewed everything that had recently happened. The four ruling powers had to be in absolute chaos at the moment, but there was no way they would make it public when they had no evidence or proof of anything.
This was best for Lu Yin; as long as the four ruling powers did not move too aggressively, they would not be investigating him.
Lu Yin’s first priority was to get the final two parts of the restriction method from Bai Teng and Wang Zheng.
After seeing the Higher Realm, Lu Yin had become quite anxious. As soon as he captured the leaders of the four ruling powers, he had known that Shenwu's Sky would definitely share their theory that the Celestial Frost Sect was attempting to seize complete control of Star Alliance. With all four leaders missing, it meant that someone could absolutely take control of Star Alliance. With this knowledge, where would they hide the members of Star Alliance?
Star Alliance would be considered an incredibly powerful force by any organization in the universe. As long as a Progenitor did not get involved, Star Alliance could win practically any conflict. Lu Yin was certain of this because Yu Chuan had told him that there were Semi-Progenitors in Star Alliance.
Elsewhere, Headmaster Wen and the others were feeling quite bewildered that the four ruling powers had not interfered in the Mountain and Sea that had appeared in Virtue Archives. That was not how the four ruling powers normally handled things.
"The four ruling powers don’t have any time to deal with us right now, as they’re dealing with their own crisis. Wang Zheng and Long Ke have both disappeared." Headmaster Wen was quite stunned by the news he had heard.
The old guardian of the library was similarly surprised. "First Xia Xing, then Bai Teng, and now both Wang Zheng and Long Ke have gone missing. What's going on? Doesn’t the Celestial Frost Sect have Long Ke imprisoned?"
Headmaster Wen shared all the recent news.
The God of Food exclaimed, "Who on earth is able to kidnap the leaders of the four ruling powers at the same time? Long Ke must have been controlled by someone. Honestly, I noticed that, when he returned to the Island of Hope, his eyes were dull. It seems like he must have been controlled by someone back then as well. While he attacked Wang Zheng at the Wang family’s home, he was then knocked out by the Xia family’s Xia Yuan, and then he was captured himself."
Headmaster Wen said, "So, Shenwu's Sky, the Wang Family, and the White Dragon Clan all suspect that the Celestial Frost Sect is moving alone to gain control of Star Alliance, which is why Wang Zheng and Long Ke were captured. They think that Bai Xian’er is behind all of this."
The God of Food quickly grew somber. "Bai Xian'er… If it’s her, then it’s possible that the Celestial Frost Sect really is behind everything. That girl is unfathomable. She’s so young, from the same generation as the Seven Heroes, or possibly even younger. Her cultivation has improved too quickly, and I can’t even guess how strong she must be by now. Her talent is practically unheard of throughout history."
"The Celestial Frost Sect has always appeared strong to the outside world, while Shenwu's Sky and the other two have always been wary of the Celestial Frost Sect. With them three joining forces, it doesn’t really matter if the Celestial Frost Sect is guilty or not—the other three will make sure to suppress the Celestial Frost Sect’s growth. In some ways, I expect them to be hoping that Shenwu’s Sky’s suspicions are correct," the guardian of the library commented.
Headmaster Wen nodded. "That would be fine. If they’re busy dealing with each other, then they won’t have time to make trouble for us. Still, Xia Shenguang and the others will definitely send a report to the four ruling powers about what happened here recently. We’ll have to eventually deal with them."
"I’ll stay here for now. It’s best for me to be the one to handle this sort of thing," the God of Food suggested.
At the same time, Xia Shenguang and Wang Xiaofan were both submitting reports regarding the giant tree that had appeared and covered all of Virtue Archives. As they were submitting their reports, they also learned about what had happened to Wang Zheng and Long Ke.
"My father’s missing?" Wang Xiaofan was shocked. He stared at the image of a person on his communication crystal. "What's going on?"
The person on the other end shared all that had happened.
Wang Xiaofan's face fell. "Long Ke attacked my father?"
"At this moment, everyone believes that Long Ke is being controlled by someone. He was likely controlled when he returned to the Island of Hope before, and the Celestial Frost Sect is the primary suspect. Shenwu's Sky, the White Dragon Clan, and our Wang family have all sent reports to our Progenitors in an attempt to put some pressure on the Celestial Frost Sect. As long as our patriarch is not dead, he will certainly be rescued."
Wang Xiaofan exhaled and looked up. The Celestial Frost Sect?
The Middle Realm and the Lower Realm were both quite peaceful at this time, but the Higher Realm had become turbulent.
Shenwu's Sky, the Wang family, and the top members of the White Dragon Clan all made a trip to the Celestial Frost Sect to demand that their leaders be returned.
Bai Su had no idea how to handle the situation. His own sect master had also gone missing, but people were coming to him and accusing the Celestial Frost Sect of attacking the others. Long Ke had clearly attacked Wang Zheng, and he had even used a slipper that had been given to him by someone from the Xia family. Bai Su felt like the others were joining hands to attack him.
Bai Su had been contacted by both the Wang family and the White Dragon Clan as soon as Wang Zheng had disappeared. But to his surprise, they had barged into the Celestial Frost Sect’s gates and threatened to call out their Progenitors.
This was the most chaotic the four ruling powers had ever been ever since they had banished the Lu family. Even to the public, the four ruling powers were practically at each others’ throats.
Bai Su and Wu Yao did their best to defend the Celestial Frost Sect, but every explanation that the two men offered appeared feeble before the convincing story that Shenwu’s Sky painted of all the crimes the Celestial Frost Sect had supposedly committed.
As things stood, only a Progenitor could induce a period of temporary peace for the four ruling powers.
A Progenitor did appear, but not one associated with any of the four ruling powers. Instead, it was the Progenitor of Humility’s Gate, Mu Xie.
As soon as the middle-aged man emerged from the void, everyone from the four ruling powers bowed as one. "We greet Progenitor Mu Xie."
"We greet Progenitor Mu Xie."
"We greet Progenitor Mu Xie."
...
Countless voices rang out at the Celestial Frost Sect’s gate, echoing in all directions.
Mu Xie had the appearance of a middle-aged man with an elegant mien and a calm demeanor. Although there was a slight smile on his face, his eyes seemed capable of peering through everything.
"There’s no need to be so polite. This Progenitor was asked by Senior Progenitor Bai to uncover the truth of this matter," Mu Xie stated indifferently.
Everyone offered another bow.
Bai Su heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Progenitor Mu Xie, for coming here. I ask that you bring justice. My Celestial Frost Sect has never attacked Sect Master Xia Xing, Patriarch Wang Zheng, or Patriarch Long Ke."
Semi-Progenitor Xia Ziheng then spoke up. "Several months ago, Xia Xing, the patriarch of my Shenwu's Sky, disappeared. When we investigated the location of the attack, we found evidence that he had been attacked by Realmless’s assassins. We also found evidence that the Lu family’s Lifeseizer Palm was used during the attack, but that technique is identical to the Celestial Frost Sect’s Celestial Suppression. While that caused us to make some guesses, the events at the Island of Hope played out shortly after…"
Xia Ziheng shared all of his conjectures and then offered a bow to Mu Xie. "Progenitor Mu, if the Celestial Frost Sect is not behind all of this, then who else could have captured Bai Teng without the God of Food seeing anything? After Xia Yuan and the others arrived at the Wang family’s homeland, someone impersonated Xia Yuan, took control of Patriarch Long Ke, and forced him to attack Patriarch Wang Zheng…"
Next, the Semi-Progenitor from the Wang family who had tried to stop Lu Yin from escaping stepped forward. This man also made sure to be completely truthful about everything that he had witnessed.
Bai Su grew angry. "What a farce! Are they using nothing but speculation to accuse my Celestial Frost Sect of these crimes? There is no denying that Bai Teng, our own sect master, has also disappeared! Long Ke was the one who attacked Patriarch Wang Zheng, and Xia Yuan helped in the attack. And yet, they are all accusing my Celestial Frost Sect of orchestrating everything! It’s absurd."
The two sides kept arguing and contradicting each other, though with Mu Xie present, no one dared to devolve to actual violence.
Suddenly, Wu Yao spoke up. "There are certain details that we can no longer keep hidden."