Chapter 103: Dongfang Sansan's Analysis

"This is a perfect opportunity to clean up the entire prefecture. The demonic churches may not expose all of their forces, but given how blatant they're acting, they must be desperately searching for something, and we must take full advantage of this opportunity! Both the Hall of Protectionists and White Cloud Warrior Academy's forces must be mobilized for this mission!"

Xue Fuxiao was rather perplexed.

"Aren't you missing the point, Sansan? Shouldn't we be focusing our efforts on finding that piece of jade? There's clearly something special about it. Otherwise, there's no way they would be so desperate to find it, even at the cost of exposing so many people. Surely you don't need me to tell you that!"

"Is there nothing in that head of yours aside from saber techniques?" Dongfang Sansan sighed.

"Am I not correct in saying that?" Xue Fuxiao protested in an indignant manner.

"Of course that piece of jade is the key, but we may not be able to find it, and the same applies to the Church of the Self-Righteous as well. Otherwise, they wouldn't be mass purchasing jade far and wide like this.

“Hence, instead of chasing an objective that is so difficult to attain, it would be much better for us to capitalize on the opportunity presented to us and make sure we get rid of as many demonic church members as possible! Did you not hear that I only issued these orders to the Protectionists and White Cloud Warrior Academy as opposed to the Guardians?"

"What about the Guardians then?" Xue Fuxiao asked.

"Right now, all of them are asking me why this is happening!" Dongfang Sansan snapped.

Xue Fuxiao scratched his head in a sheepish manner, then asked, "What should we do then?"

"I've just received word that ten powerful warriors of the Church of the Self-Righteous are on their way here, and they're being led by none other than Duan Xiyang. At the moment, two cities with populations in the tens of millions are under threat."

Xue Fuxiao was furious to hear this.

"They're threatening to massacre entire cities again?"

"Why wouldn't they? It works everytime."

Xue Fuxiao could heave a resigned and enraged sigh.

"The Church of the Self-Righteous has never cared about the lives of the innocent, and that's why they've never had the heart of the people on their side, and that's the advantage that we've always held over them. Hence, we cannot afford to lose the heart of the people. If we disregard the lives of the masses, how will we be different from the Church of the Self-Righteous? They have a god on their side, yet we..."

"Sansan! I've told you this countless times! There is no god!" Xue Fuxiao interrupted in a furious manner.

Dongfang Sansan faltered slightly upon hearing this, and he offered no response.

Xue Fuxiao pressed his hands firmly down onto Dongfang Sansan's shoulders as he insisted, "There is no god, even if there is one! Do you understand?"

"I understand," Dongfang Sansan replied with a smile. "I won't let that influence my decision-making. A battle between warriors on the Cloud Weapon Archive is going to be inevitable, but this time, you have to make sure to dominate them."

"If Duan Xiyang goes all-out, I'll have to reveal my true power if I want to subdue him," Xue Fuxiao said.

"Duan Xiyang isn't going to go all-out," Dongfang Sansan declared in a confident manner.

"What makes you so confident?"

"If I'm not mistaken, the Church of the Self-Righteous is most likely searching for something left behind by that corpse, namely that piece of jade! We interrupted his resurrection and destroyed his divine avatar, and that's bound to have consequences. Whatever the Church of the Self-Righteous is searching for right now, it must be something of the utmost importance.

“This search for jade came completely out of the blue as well, so it must belong to that corpse. There's a very good chance that it's one of the pieces of priceless divine jade in the possession of the Church of the Self-Righteous. That would explain why they're so desperate to recover it. If my guess is correct, and they manage to recover that piece of jade, then that person's recovery process would be significantly enhanced.

“Given what you told me last time, Duan Xiyang doesn't want to see that person return. At the very least, he doesn't want him to return so soon. This means that even if Duan Xiyang doesn't necessarily fear him, he views him as a pain or a hindrance of some sort. Hence, I predict that you will be evenly matched with Dongfang Sansan on this occasion.

“All you have to do from there is intimidate the other warriors of the Church of the Self-Righteous and exert some pressure upon them. At the same time, that'll also instill within our people a sense of confidence and reassurance, seeing that you've managed to catch back up to Duan Xiyang.

“That way, we can also plant a seed of uncertainty in the enemy, creating the illusion that even we have ways to rapidly enhance the combat prowess of our most powerful warriors. Overall, it'll be a massive net positive for us, do you understand?"

"I do," Xue Fuxiao replied.

"Do you really?" Dongfang Sansan asked.

"I just gotta do as you say, don't I? What more do you want from me?" Xue Fuxiao snapped.

"Tsk! Not only are you stupid, you're also quick to anger whenever your stupidity is exposed!" Dongfang Sansan jibed.

The fact that he was making jokes with Xue Fuxiao clearly indicated that he was in a great mood.

"What about the White Cloud Prefecture side of things? We can't just not search for the piece of divine jade."

"Rest assured, I'll send people there. Your greatest value lies in dealing with the warriors at the top of the Church of the Self-Righteous! In that regard, you are irreplaceable."

"Of course. At least up to this point, I haven't seen anyone capable of taking my place," Xue Fuxiao said in a proud manner.

"You are invincible! I've always firmly believed that!" Dongfang Sansan declared with immense conviction in his voice.

"I am invincible so long as I have my saber in hand," Xue Fuxiao said before departing.

In the wake of Xue Fuxiao's departure, Dongfang Sansan returned to pondering the matter at hand. He couldn't shake the feeling that he had missed something.

He pulled out a map as he began to organize his own thoughts, and he was looking back and forth between the map and all of the information that he had on Formless Divine Jade.

He felt as if he were nearing some type of epiphany, but it remained just out of reach.

Right as he set the map aside with a resigned sigh and prepared to move onto some other matter of interest, he abruptly jumped up as if an electric current had shot up his spine.

The location is the key! There are many earth veins that converge there, but many other places share that trait as well, so why is it that they decided to bury him so deep in our territory? Also, if it really is a piece of Formless Divine Jade, why has it become lost here instead of returning to the headquarters of the Church of the Self-Righteous? What's so special about the White Cloud Prefecture?

Even in this highly worked up state, Dongfang Sansan remained composed and measured as he summoned his assistant, then instructed, "Go and find me all of the information that we have on Sun Wutian, starting from his birth!"

"That... can be arranged, but Sun Wutian's file has already been stored away for several thousand years, and we'll need to search for it in our archives," the assistant said in a troubled manner.

Sun Wutian had already been dead for several thousand years, so his file had been buried under several thousand years' worth of other files.

In fact, there was a very good chance that the contents of his file were no longer even distinguishable.

"His file must be found! That is an order! If it's been damaged, those maintaining the archives are to be held culpable!"

"Yes, Master Nine!"

***

Fang Che felt as if his brain had been twisted into a pretzel, yet he still couldn't think of what the purpose of this jade collection mission could possibly be.

By the time he went out for a second jade purchasing spree, he discovered that all of the shops in the White Cloud Prefecture had already been cleared out, and that left him astonished.

How desperate must the One Heart Church be to be carrying out such a blatant operation?

At the same time, this was also quite reassuring to him. Given how indiscrete the One Heart Church was being about all of this, the Protectionists definitely had to have already caught on.

The One Heart Church had delivered a massive present to their doorstep, and all they had to do was accept it.

At the moment, Fang Che was preoccupied with trying to figure out what this piece of jade could be. What could possibly warrant such a desperate and exhaustive search from the Church of the Self-Righteous?

What they were doing was akin to digging up the entire seabed in search of a rock.

Fang Che didn't know what the Church of the Self-Righteous wanted this piece of jade for, but he was certain about one thing: they could not be allowed to find it!

Hence, Fang Che had been extremely diligent in carrying out this mission, constantly going out to search for jade while even hiring others to do the same.

He already accumulated a mountain of jade in his manor!

Finally, he received a message from Mu Linyuan.

"Gather all of the jade in your study, then vacate your residence for a day and a night."