Chapter 2227: Testing The Waters
Headmaster Wen looked at Xia Shenfei and calmly replied, "Out of respect for your recent contributions to humanity, we’ll just forget about this matter. I don’t want anything unpleasant to happen in my academy, neither for you nor my students."
Xia Shenfei looked somber. "This junior understands."
Headmaster Wen then took Nong Siniang away, and Xia Shenfei let out a burp. He had watched the match between Liu Que and Nong Siniang, and Xia Shenfei was also quite curious about Nong Siniang’s newfound strength that had forced Liu Que to make a second move. There was too vast a difference in strength between the two for something like a battle technique to compensate for it.
The only possibility was that Nong Siniang had observed someone who had the combat strength to cross realms and defeat Liu Que while having the same level of cultivation as Nong Siniang use the technique, but there was no one like that in Seed Garden. It had been completely impossible for Nong Siniang to force Liu Que to use that much strength in the past. Thus, for her to suddenly gain such strength, something had to have happened while she was studying in Virtue Archives. Xia Shenfei was very curious about who the responsible party might be.
It was quite impressive for anyone to have a combat strength sufficient to defeat Liu Que while only having Nong Siniang’s cultivation. In fact, it would have been beyond even Xia Shenfei in the past.
However, since the headmaster had interfered, Xia Shenfei had to drop the matter.
He was in Virtue Archives to see Yu Hao. Xia Shenfei had always felt that there was something rather strange about Yu Hao’s sudden appearance, or rather, everything else that had occurred since then. While it could be just a coincidence that so many incidents had occurred after Yu Hao’s return, Xia Shenfei found that true coincidences were exceedingly rare.
It was just a short time later that Xia Shenfei found “Yu Hao” by the lake shore. Lu Yin was preparing for his afternoon class, and was quite surprised to see Xia Shenfei arrive. "Xia Shenfei?"
Yu Hao should absolutely be able to recognize Xia Shenfei.
A smile spread across Xia Shenfei's face. "You and I have never met."
Lu Yin's eyes flickered. "Who wouldn’t recognize one of the four Junior Progenitors? We certainly did meet before."
Xia Shenfei stared into “Yu Hao’s” eyes. "When and where was that?"
Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed as he stared back at Xia Shenfei. The young man calmly stared back at the professor, just waiting for an answer.
All of a sudden, a person shot over, causing Lu Yin and Shenfei to look over at the same time. It was Liu Que, and he stared intently at Xia Shenfei. Liu Que’s eyes were filled with excitement and bloodlust. "You’ve finally shown up."
Xia Shenfei laughed. "It looks like this one’s a battle maniac. This is going to be a bit of a pain."
He then looked back at Lu Yin. "Yu Hao, we'll see each other again."
Xia Shenfei then tore through the void, fleeing the area. As for Liu Que, he instantly grew serious. "Xia Shenfei, don't run!"
The student instantly took off after the Junior Progenitor.
Lu Yin remained quietly standing in the same place, though his expression fell. Xia Shenfei had been testing his identity of Yu Hao. Had the two ever met? Lu Yin had no idea, and neither did Kui Luo. Xia Shenfei had always stayed in the Higher Realm, so if he had ever met Yu Hao, it would have had to be there, decades ago.
Lu Yin had taken a risk, as he had not known if the two had any history between them. The gamble had paid off, as it seemed like Xia Shenfei had indeed met Yu Hao before. However, when had that happened? And where?
Lu Yin hurried back to the stone pillar that was his residence. After arriving, he took out Zenith Mountain and entered. He needed to speak with Xia Taili.
Xia Taili was surprised by the question. "Yu Hao? How do you know about him? Are you back in the Perennial World?"
Lu Yin said, "That's right, I'm back in the Perennial World."
Xia Taili instantly got excited, only for Lu Yin to smash her with reality again. "But I’m not letting you go. I can’t risk you getting away and reaching out to Shenwu's Sky."
Xia Taili gritted her teeth. "Are you going to keep me your prisoner forever?"
"While people may not stay in seclusion for an entire lifetime, it's perfectly normal to train for tens, hundreds, or even thousands of years at a time. It’s perfectly common for cultivators to stay in seclusion for long periods of time," Lu Yin replied.
Xia Taili wanted to beat this bastard up, but the difference in strength between had already been made clear. She suppressed the urge.
"However, as long as you tell me about Yu Hao, I can let you go." Lu Yin offered a condition.
Xia Taili sneered. "Do you think that I’m an idiot? Why would I care if you release me just a few years sooner?"
"Two years," Lu Yin offered.
Xia Taili stared at him, her eyes large. "Two years?"
Lu Yin nodded. "That's right. I'll let you go, completely free, within no more than two years."
"For real?"
"As long as you tell me the truth."
"Deal!"
"Start talking."
Xia Taili pursed her lips, and she started to get a bit worried. "I’ll have to think about this… Yu Hao isn’t someone very well-known. He just happened to marry into my Xia family. Honestly, I wouldn’t even remember him if not for the fact that he’s pretty good-looking. He’s from..."
Xia Taili did not say very much, as she knew very little about Yu Hao. Lu Yin also did not say anything to jog the girl’s memory, as he did not want to tell Xia Taili about what he was doing.
"Right, that guy also almost became my big brother’s sworn brother one time." Suddenly, Xia Taili remembered something important.
Lu Yin's eyes lit up. "Your big brother? Xia Shenfei?"
Xia Taili nodded and laughed. "My big brother’s a drunk. He spends all his time drinking, and he even ended up getting betrayed in the Dominion Realm because of it. Even though he likes to drink, he doesn’t drink very high-quality wine. When he drinks too much, he sometimes likes to force people to admire him. If that person is someone whom my brother admires, he’ll push to become sworn brothers. Wu Taibai was one of those people. My brother said that Wu Taibai has a long-term vision and the courage to do what he believes in, even if it’s something outrageous. So, my big brother tried to force Wu Taibai to become his sworn brother, but Wu Taibai shot him down!”
"Then, there was a weird little fruit that’s like a living creature in Seed Garden. My brother thought that it was cute, so he tried to become sworn brothers with it, only to be rejected by the Nong family. As for Yu Hao, my brother admired him because he’s the best looking man in the Perennial World. He tried to become sworn brothers again, only to be stopped by Semi-Progenitor Xia Ziheng."
Lu Yin blinked. "So, in the end, Yu Hao didn't become sworn brothers with your brother?"
"Of course not! That guy just married into one of our branch families. More specifically, he married that bitch Xia Zhitong. There’s no way he deserves to become my big brother’s sworn brother," Xia Taili spat out.
Lu Yin felt a bit curious. "Other than that, was there anything else that ever happened between Yu Hao and your brother?"
"There shouldn’t be. Yu Hao never went back to the Higher Realm, let alone Shenwu's Sky. He and Xia Zhitong are my Shenwu's Sky biggest embarrassment." Xia Taili clearly thought very little of Yu Hao.
After she finished her explanation, Xia Taili gave Lu Yin a suspicious look. "Why do I get the feeling that you’re interested in the connection between my big brother and Yu Hao?"
Lu Yin set a hand on Xia Taili's shoulder, and to Xia Taili’s great confusion, told her, "Thank you."
With that, Lu Yin left Zenith Mountain.
Xia Taili was completely stunned, and she could not help but think that she might have just been tricked.
That same afternoon, after Lu Yin’s lecture had finished, Xia Shenfei returned to repeat his previous question. "When and where?"
This time, Lu Yin became angry. "I know that your Xia family never liked me, but I've changed! Even if Semi-Progenitor Xia Ziheng still feels the same way as back then, he wouldn’t dare to try stopping you from becoming my sworn brother now. Do you still want to try?"
Xia Shenfei arched a brow. So this man really was Yu Hao. Only four people knew about that particular matter: Xia Shenfei himself, Yu Hao, Xia Ziheng, and Xia Taili, who treated the whole thing as a joke. Taili was still in the Forsaken Land, and Xia Ziheng was a Semi-Progenitor. Thus, the only way for this person to know about that matter was for him to be the real Yu Hao.
After spending so many years as a part of Realmless, Xia Shenfei had developed a habit of seeing beneath the surface. He always considered the worst possible option, and in the current situation, Yu Hao might be an imposter who was powerful enough that not even Semi-Progenitor Xia Ziheng could see through the disguise.
However, if this person was a Semi-Progenitor in hiding, then it would still be impossible for him to know about Xia Shenfei’s previous exchange with Yu Hao.
The only possibility left was that this person was indeed the real Yu Hao.
After staring at “Yu Hao’s” face for an extended moment, Xia Shenfei took a sip of wine. "I hope the day will come when you can take me to visit Grandmaster Gu Yan."
The drunkard then turned around and stumbled away.
After Xia Shenfei left, Lu Yin let out a sigh of relief. He had passed this test, but if Xia Shenfei had more doubts, then it would not be nearly that easy to deal with him. A few things needed to be sped up.
The more actions that Lu Yin took, the higher the possibility that he would expose himself. This time, Xia Shenfei had arrived to test “Yu Hao,” but the next visit might not just be a test.
Lu Yin would not underestimate the four ruling powers. They were victims of their own cleverness, but Lu Yin was just as susceptible to make the same mistake as them.
He needed to strengthen his position even further.
Lu Yin left Virtue Archives to go see Yu Chuan, only to discover that the man had been taken away. Lu Yin immediately reached out to Xia Ziheng, using the contact information that he had been given.
"Star Alliance doesn’t belong to my Shenwu's Sky, and their members are required to report to the four ruling powers as a whole. Yu Chuan’s been absent for too long, so he needed to return. Don't worry, though. We won't let anything happen to him," Xia Ziheng replied.
Lu Yin asked about Xia Shenfei as well, but Xia Ziheng had not known that Xia Shenfei had gone to visit Virtue Archives.
This news let Lu Yin breathe a sigh of relief. No matter how suspicious Xia Shenfei might be of him or what his arrival might suggest, it was something Lu Yin could deal with for the time being. More importantly, it was not Shenwu’s Sky that was doubting Lu Yin’s identity as Yu Hao.
Before the call ended, Xia Ziheng made it a point to warn Lu Yin not to get too close to Bai Weiwei. It seemed to Lu Yin that his attempt to pin Xia Xing’s disappearance on the Celestial Frost Sect had worked, though it might have been too effective. Xia Ziheng did not sound suspicious of the Celestial Frost Sect, but rather certain that there was evidence proving their guilt.
However, Bai Teng had also disappeared, so why did Xia Ziheng sound so certain?
Lu Yin found the matter slightly confusing, but he did not care enough to look into it. As long as no suspicions were directed towards Yu Hao, he did not care what they thought of each other. For the time being, it was more important to appease Progenitor Smoke.
In the pocket dimension within the mirror, Progenitor Smoke gave Lu Yin a weird look. "You want me to poke myself with a needle? What a genius…"
Lu Yin shrugged. "Kui Luo isn’t around, and I have no idea where my senior brother might have gone. My strength is clearly not enough to help you or release you any further."
Progenitor Smoke rolled her eyes. Still, she gripped the needle-like weapon and stared at the fog. Slowly, her hand rose. Fog gathered around the snow-white hand, condensing more and more. An unimaginable amount of fog gathered together, merging and roiling.
Lu Yin's eyes widened. He had never seen Progenitor Smoke actually release an attack before. He had only ever seen the woman use her wei to hide things, people, and actions. Lu Yin had no idea how powerful the Progenitor’s attacks were.
Lu Yin could not see the power of the gathered wei, but he could at least sense that an unfathomable power had gathered at Progenitor Smoke's hand. It felt as oppressive and overbearing as the simulated universe in Lu Yin’s chest, and with a flash of light, the needle-like weapon stabbed deep into the fog, opening an ever-widening hole. When the fog finally stopped moving, Progenitor Smoke's eyes were glowing. "Not bad."
Lu Yin felt quite curious. "Senior, how much of your strength were you able to release?"
Progenitor Smoke glanced over at Lu Yin, a smile still on her face. "Guess."
Lu Yin was taken aback. "This junior truly has no idea."
"Then just forget about it." Progenitor Smoke stretched her waist. "It’s too bad that it’s still not even close to my full strength. In the end, a weapon is a dead thing, so there’s no way that it can completely free me."
"Why don't you use the slipper that this junior used before?" Lu Yin probed.
Progenitor Smoke hated the very idea. "I don't want to, and you aren’t allowed to touch my wei with that nasty thing."
Lu Yin licked his lips and smiled. "See, Senior? This junior did my best to help you. May I ask you for a favor?"
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