Chapter 122 (2): What is Dongfang Sansan Plotting?

"How come 120,000 were unearthed on the first day, but that dropped all the way down to 30,000 on the second day?"

"Of course the quickest progress was made on the first day," Yang Luoyu explained. "By the second afternoon, the majority of the ore had already been excavated. In total, there were only 185,000 premium Amethysts, and there were tens of millions of pieces outside of that, but all of inferior quality.

“Master Nine has instructed me to deliver only premium Amethysts to you as he says that anything else of an inferior quality would only be an insult to you. Additionally, I have come here with a letter from Master Nine."

Yan Nan gave a cold harrumph as he took the letter from Yang Luoyu, and he opened it to find a very amicably-worded message from Dongfang Sansan, providing a detailed run down of the entire excavation process while also emphasizing that Bing Qianshan and Xue Fuxiao had personally overseen the ore vein's excavation.

Essentially, Dongfang Sansan was saying: "Even if you don't trust me, surely you trust those two!"

Yan Nan gave another disgruntled harrumph.

They're not my friends or allies, why should I trust them? They'll just say whatever you tell them to say! You think I don't know that?

At the very end of the letter, Dongfang Sansan raised a proposal that immediately drew Yan Nan's interest.

Dongfang Sansan had proposed a series of friendly matches between the prodigies of the younger generation from both sides, which would be reserved only for Warlords, Kings, and Emperors.

Dongfang Sansan proclaimed that this would be an opportunity for the young prodigies from both sides to familiarize themselves with one another.

After all, the future was theirs, blah blah blah...

Yan Nan was completely flabbergasted by this letter.

Firstly, the tone of the letter was extremely friendly and intimate, as if the two sides had forged an alliance.

Are we supposed to be close friends? Why are you getting so chummy with me all of a sudden?

It then immediately occurred to Yan Nan that Dongfang Sansan had to have been plotting something again.

He's digging a hole for me! I don't know what he's up to, but he's definitely trying to screw me over!

Even though there was no obvious trap that he could identify, Yan Nan had learned over the past several thousand years that he was no match for Dongfang Sansan when it came to playing mind games.

The tone of the letter was very friendly, but that still didn't change the fact that this was essentially a challenge, and if he didn't accept the challenge, then it would be a display of weakness on his part.

In any case, there was no reason for him to turn down the challenge because he was certain that victory was his for the taking!

"I have to discuss this matter with the other deputy popes first before I get back to Dongfang Sansan."

"That's fine. I'll inform Master Nine to await a response from you."

"I'm surprised Dongfang Sansan was willing to send you, Yang Luoyu," Yan Nan mused. "You're a warrior on the Cloud Weapon Archive, so it would be a huge loss for the Guardians if you were to die here."

"You and I both know that the so-called Cloud Weapon Archive doesn't actually hold any weight for those truly at the top," Yang Luoyu said with a smile. "In fact, in your eyes, it's most likely nothing more than a joke. None of you or your fellow deputy popes are on the Cloud Weapon Archive, nor is Master Nine, and that's not even to mention all of the most powerful warriors in the top sects all over the continent, so there's really no credibility to the list at all.

“In any case, here I stand, and I have no intention of running or hiding. If anyone wants to come and kill me, let them come! I won't even retaliate! Master Nine has sent me to deliver ore to you, and it would only please him for me to die here."

"You're a courageous man," Yan Nan chuckled. "I know Dongfang Sansan is trying to pull the wool over my eyes with this paltry amount of Amethysts, but I'll accept it. By the way, I heard that one of Xue Fuxiao's descendants was intimidated into shitting himself, is that right? What're they doing in the Xue Clan? If that's the extent of the prodigies that the Guardians have to offer, then I don't think there's any point in holding these friendly matches at all!"

"I'll be sure to relay your message to Master Xue," Yang Luoyu said in a serious manner.

He could already envision Xue Fuxiao's reaction to this message, and he decided that he was going to bring Bing Qianshan with him.

𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Otherwise, he would have to bear the brunt of Xue Fuxiao's wrath on his own.

Given Bing Qianshan's personality, Yang Luoyu was sure that he would gladly accept a beating as long as he could be present to witness Xue Fuxiao's reaction.

Yan Nan was very pleased. He always came off second-best against Dongfang Sansan, but at least he could pick on Xue Fuxiao a little.

Yan Nan fell into a contemplative silence as Yang Luoyu departed.

What exactly are Dongfang Sansan's intentions? I have to consider this matter carefully before I make a decision.

***

Yang Luoyu departed through the main entrance of the headquarters, and he was in no hurry to leave as he casually took in the scenery around him.

Meanwhile, countless enemy warriors were glowering at him in fury and resentment.

He had killed many people from the main church and spoiled many of the main church's plans, yet right now, he was strolling through their headquarters as if he were on a sightseeing tour!

They wanted nothing more than to mob him and kill him on the spot, but they would embarrass Yan Nan in doing so, and thus, they could only look on in helpless frustration.

Not only did Yang Luoyu not leave right away, he spent an entire day in the city, purchasing a bunch of specialty local products to take back with him.

Only after his entire spatial ring was filled to the brim did he finally swagger his way out of the city.

Many of his old rivals were furious at his nonchalant display, but they knew that he was untouchable here.

He had been sent here to deliver Amethysts to Yan Nan. If he were to die here, then Yan Nan would never hear the end of it from Dongfang Sansan.

***

Meanwhile, Yan Nan had already arranged a meeting with several important figures, namely the third, fourth, fifth, seventh, and eighth-in-line deputy popes of the main church. They were Bi Changhong, Chen Gu, Bai Jing, Yu Hanyan, and Xiang Beidou, respectively.

Duan Xiyang was also present, and aside from those in seclusion, all of the highest-ranking members of the main church were present.

Duan Xiyang didn't want to come. He had no interest in attending a meeting where he would have to be in the presence of a bunch of deputy popes, but he just so happened to have been instructing Yan Beihan in spear techniques, so he had been forced to come here by Yan Nan.

At this point, everyone had already read the letter, and Yan Nan asked, "What do you think Dongfang Sansan's intentions are?"

"Friendly matches?" Chen Gu scoffed. "There's no friendship between us and the Guardians! This is a complete joke! On top of that, these aren't even battles to the death! Dongfang Sansan must've had his head jammed by a door recently!"

"I think you're the one who had your head jammed by a door!" Yu Hanyan sneered. "Have you still not learned your lesson even after all these years? Every time we've underestimated Dongfang Sansan, we've always been made to pay! How about you stop spouting nonsense and actually have a good think about what his intentions could be?"

Everyone fell into deep thought upon hearing this.

"This is why I've gathered all of you here," Yan Nan said. "Dongfang Sansan never does anything without an objective, and it's up to us to figure out what his objective could be."

"I think we should be focusing our attention on one of the stipulations here," Yu Hanyan said. "Why is it that Dongfang Sansan specifically proposed for the matches to be restricted to only Emperors, Kings, and Warlords? It seems purely arbitrary, but there must be some underlying reason."

"Could it be that Dongfang Sansan simply wants to see as much of our young prodigies as possible?" Xiang Beidou speculated. "The Emperor, King, and Warlord tiers encompass the vast majority of our most prominent young talents."

"I disagree!" Yu Hanyan immediately opposed. "If he simply wants to see as much of our young prodigies as possible, then why doesn't he include a bunch of other cultivation tiers as well? Why not propose friendly matches from the Warrior tier all the way up to the Sovereign tier? Wouldn't that give him a much more comprehensive picture of all of the young prodigies that we have?"