ChapterC.2566 – True Motive
Luo Lao'er urged, "Uncle, you must believe me. Luo Zang will never let the Fenglei clan go, and neither will Monarch Mu."
Fenglei Guanqin solemnly replied, "I've already found a way to meet with Monarch Luo. As long as I can speak to him, I'm confident that the Fenglei clan will be safe. At worst, I'll sacrifice our businesses. Besides, didn’t you tell me that Luo Zang was also captured by Tu Shuangshuang? Just because you're fine doesn't mean that he is as well."
Luo Lao'er fell silent. This was true. It was indeed possible that Tu Shuangshuang had killed Luo Zang. After all, Luo Zang's status was quite different from Luo Lao’er’s.
Lu Yin pulled his domain back. The Fenglei clan had not yet reached the point of true desperation. The plan that he had discussed with Wang Wen could only be initiated once the Fenglei clan was close to abandoning hope, so Lu Yin needed to wait a little longer.
If Wang Wen's speculations were accurate, then Monarch Mu was pushing this hard because she wanted to reach an agreement with another universe and send Xia Shenji back to his own universe. It would not take too long to collect the resources that were required for that deal. Thus, the Mu family would likely be taking action again soon.
Lu Yin could technically choose to get involved by disguising himself as someone from the Mu family and suppressing the Fenglei clan himself, or he could even force the old lady from the Mu family to take action. However, Lu Yin was so confident in Monarch Mu’s impatience regarding the matter that he decided to not do anything yet. The less he did, the less likely he was to be exposed.
Since he had some free time on his hands, Lu Yin decided to examine the calligraphy scroll that he had acquired. He still found it quite surprising that he had come across the Fifth Mainland’s ancient writing in the Sixverse Academy.
At the same time, in a place where the sky was gold, and the land, clouds, rivers, and seas were all bathed in a golden light that gave the place an unparalleled majesty, people in golden robes `were somberly focused on their cultivation. No one was speaking to anyone else.
A different sky swiftly passed by, like a silhouette of time. It swept across the golden sky to cast a dark shadow over the land.
All of the people quickly looked up. “We greet Sovereign Shao Yin.”
"We greet Sovereign Shao Yin."
"We greet Sovereign Shao Yin."
Countless voices rang out as a formidable power erupted from every corner of the land.
Countless people looked to the sky, their gazes fervent, as though gazing upon their god.
Suddenly, the world froze. In the middle of the sky, the void twisted and spat out a figure that fell to the ground with a resounding thud.
The person was also dressed in golden robes, though they looked disheveled and worn out. The person was none other than Shao Qingfeng.
"Where have you returned from?" a voice echoed from the sky like a drum at dusk and bells at dawn. Shao Qingfeng instantly awakened.
There was no hesitation as he dropped to his knees. "I was in a small universe called Kes. There are no humans there, though it is filled with astral beasts."
"Return to the Sixverse Academy. Your time there is still unfinished," the resounding voice reverberated.
Shao Qingfeng looked up. "Honored Master, is there anything unusual about this disciple?"
"No."
Shao Qingfeng was left confused. Why had nothing happened to him after he was captured by Tu Shuangshuang?
"One of Sage Hua's disciples has revealed themselves as a spy. I have reported this matter to the Great Sovereign, and Sage Hua will be forced to pay a price. As for you, someone intervened in your capture, preventing that spy from delivering you to Aeternus."
Shao Qingfeng felt even more confused. "Then why did this disciple appear in the Kes Universe? Who intervened?"
"We have yet to determine that person's identity. Everyone who was captured appeared in different parallel universes. I believe that the person who prevented your capture does not want Aeternus to succeed, but they also do not wish to aid our Sixverse Academy. Whether all of you lived or died was left to luck."
Shao Qingfeng's eyes flickered. "Honored Master, may I ask who else has returned?"
"Return to the Sixverse Academy. The Voidforce Universe is preparing an interesting trial for you. Prepare yourself for that."
With that, Shao Qingfeng disappeared.
When his eyes opened again, he looked around only to find that he had already been delivered to the Singularity Universe.
Shao Qingfeng soon confirmed that Mu Mu, Luo Zang, and Jiang Xiaodao had all returned, but more than half of the captured students were still missing. Of the missing people, Bai Qian and Xuan Qi were the most famous ones. One held an important status in the Transcendent Universe, while the other was a genius who was being pursued by both the Voidforce Universe and the Cyclic Universe. The absence of the two left both the Transcendent Universe and the Voidforce Universe very nervous.
Ever since the students had disappeared, various theories and speculations had arisen within the Sixverse Academy. Some people had suggested that Aeternus had been targeting Bai Qian due to her status in the Transcendent Universe, while others believed that the kidnapping was merely the beginning of Aeternus's attack on the Sixverse Academy. There was even some speculation that the true target had been Xuan Qi, due to his extraordinary talent.
Rumors were already running wild.
Even so, it had already been confirmed that Shao Qingfeng and the others who had returned had no problems.
As for the identity of whoever had thwarted Tu Shuangshuang's plan and thrown Shao Qingfeng and the others into the various universes, the guesses were even wilder. Some students had even compiled a list of powerhouses who were at odds with the Sixverse Association, while also enemies of Aeternus.
Xu Xiangyin and the other universes’ representatives in the academy believed this to be the case as well, and they left to investigate the matter. The Transcendent Universe was also looking into the situation.
While not many people had been captured, their disappearance had a significant impact on the Sixverse Academy.
…
In the Three Monarchs Universe, Lu Yin stared at the calligraphy scroll with an odd expression.
When the scroll had been introduced during the auction, the auctioneer had claimed that everyone would see something different. Some could see battle techniques, while others might see cultivation arts or even strange phenomena.
As for Lu Yin, at the moment, he was staring at a secret technique.
The secret technique before him was called Flaming Ink, and the concept behind it likened life to ink. Once ignited, the power contained was inexhaustible.
In't this Progenitor Wen's secret technique?
Lu Yin startled to find Progenitor Wen's secret technique on the calligraphy scroll. Progenitor Wen had been born in the Perennial World, and he had also founded Virtue Archives. The man had even been an Array Grandmaster. Did the calligraphy scroll belong to him?
Lu Yin found that hard to believe. How could the great Progenitor Wen's handwriting be so hideous?
The characters on the scroll were nothing more than scribbles. Even a toddler's handwriting would be more attractive than what had been left behind on the scroll. How could Progenitor Wen have written the scroll?
Still, as Lu Yin stared at the scroll, he could not deny that this was Progenitor Wen's secret technique.
Lu Yin studied the scroll for two days, but even after that time, Luo Lao'er still had not sought him out.
During this time, not only did Lu Yin see the Flaming Ink Secret Technique in the calligraphy scroll, but he also saw Literary Prison and the Sevenfold Literary Prison, which were battle techniques that he had previously seen Wen Diyi use. Everything that Lu Yin saw in the scroll was from Progenitor Wen.
Given this, the scroll must have been left behind by Progenitor Wen, but the man had died in the Perennial World’s Dominion Realm, killed while fighting against Aeternus. How had his calligraphy scroll ended up in the Sixverse Academy?
A moment of inspiration occurred to Lu Yin, and he released Tu Shuangshuang from Zenith Mountain.
He had not killed the woman. Since she had a connection to Aeternus’s mysterious Cheng Kong, she was more useful alive.
Moreover, he was very interested in the Bubble Fantasies battle technique. This was not because Lu Yin wanted to learn the technique, but rather because he wanted to understand how it worked through Tu Shuangshuang. After all, Lu Yin would likely eventually face Cheng Kong at some point in the future, so it was best to be prepared.
Tu Shuangshuang looked around before her gaze settled upon Lu Yin. "What do you want?"
Lu Yin raised a hand and unfurled the calligraphy scroll.
The young woman’s pupils contracted when she looked at the scroll. "You have it?"
Lu Yin put the scroll back away. "It appears that my assumption was right—the scroll came from you. You received it from Aeternus, didn’t you?"
Tu Shuangshuang became confused. "How did you know that?"
"Didn't you use that scroll to plot against us?" Lu Yin asked.
Tu Shuangshuang stared at Lu Yin. "What do you know?"
Suddenly, her eyes grew cold. "You planned all of this. Since you already knew that the scroll came from Aeternus, you put it up for auction to draw me out. All of this was your doing!"
Lu Yin finally understood what had happened.
The fact was that Tu Shuangshuang's plan to capture the students was not actually Cheng Kong's plan. Lu Yin had been wondering about this before. Why would Cheng Kong, a powerful Progenitor, plot against mere students? Even if Shao Qingfeng and the others were disciples or relatives of Progenitors, they were still not worth Cheng Kong's attention. If Bai Qian had been the target, then Lu Yin could believe it, as Bai Qian held a very high position in the Transcendent dimension. However, it was quite clear that Bai Qian’s appearance had been a surprise for Tu Shuangshuang.
In that case, why had Tu Shuangshuang laid out a trap for the students of the Sixverse Academy?
It was only after Lu Yin saw the calligraphy scroll that he understood; Tu Shuangshuang’s target had been the calligraphy scroll, or more specifically, Jiang Xiaodao.
The scroll was incredibly important to Tu Shuangshuang. Not only did it contain a Progenitor’s secret technique, but it could also be used to expose her as one of Aeternus’s spies. As soon as Jiang Xiaodao had bought the scroll at the previous secret auction, he had become Tu Shuangshuang’s target, and the only way for her to capture him in the Sixverse Academy was during another secret auction.
Still, there was something that did not add up. During the auction where the scroll had been sold, Tu Shuangshuang had also auctioned off a subhuman woman. The subhuman had been used as a ploy to promote the next secret auction, which Tu Shuangshuang intended to use to capture all who attended. During that earlier auction, the woman should not have known that the scroll would be sold, as she would have simply taken it before the auction. Why had she allowed it to be sold?
"Why was the scroll sold at the secret auction?" Lu Yin stared at Tu Shuangshuang and asked.
Tu Shuangshuang angrily shouted, "Didn't you steal it?"
Lu Yin arched a brow. "Steal it?"
Tu Shuangshuang frowned. "It wasn't you?"
"What happened?" Lu Yin grew increasingly curious.
Tu Shuangshuang stared at Lu Yin, thoroughly confused. After some time passed, she bitterly said, "If it wasn't you, then I am truly just unlucky."
She hid nothing. She had already been captured, and there was no hope of escape.
From Tu Shuangshuang, Lu Yin was able to confirm what had previously just been speculation. Cheng Kong's true plan had been to capture at least half of the Sixverse Academy’s students through a massive secret auction, not merely Shao Qingfeng and a few other of the best geniuses. However, because Xu Xiangyin had opened the Voidchaos Territory early, Cheng Kong's attention had been diverted from the original plan. It had been decided to abandon the Sixverse Academy and shift focus to let Yi Ren steal as many voidforce puppets from the Voidchaos Territory as possible.
Tu Shuangshuang had only taken action because of the calligraphy scroll.
The scroll could potentially expose her as one of Aeternus’s spies, and it had been stolen. Because of that, she had spent some time pretending to be in seclusion, but she had secretly been trying to gather information about the scroll.
Only after discovering the location of the scroll during the secret auction had Tu Shuangshuang learned that Cheng Kong was still scheming against the Sixverse Academy. She had thought that she could create an opportunity to retrieve the scroll, but she had not realized that Cheng Kong had abandoned the original plan in favor of the Voidchaos Territory. She had been left with no choice but to take matters into her own hands. At first, things had gone quite well for her. In fact, if not for Lu Yin’s interference, the scroll would have been recovered, and all of the top students like Shao Qingfeng would have been captured. While there would have been some setbacks, she would have also accomplished something impressive.
Lu Yin sighed. "You truly are unlucky."
Tu Shuangshuang sighed as well, fully agreeing with the sentiment.
"Now, tell me about Cheng Kong," Lu Yin asked.
Tu Shuangshuang regained her composure. "Just kill me."
Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed.
"I would sooner die than reveal my Master's plan," Tu Shuangshuang resolutely declared.
Lu Yin did not bother trying to continue the conversation, and he instead threw the woman back into Zenith Mountain. He could tell that she was determined not to reveal anything at all about Cheng Kong, just like how Xia Ji had once vowed not to teach Lu Yin the Nine Clones Secret Technique. Xia Ji had eventually caved, but by that point in time, Lu Yin had no longer needed anything from the man.
Lu Yin already believed that Tu Shuangshuang would suffer a fate similar to Xia Ji’s.
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