Chapter 496: The Fish Takes the Bait

The middle-aged man in simple cloth robes had a trace of expectation in his gaze. “So long as you assist me, Fellow Daoist, I’ll agree to anything you request. I guarantee I won’t disappoint you.”

Weng Jiu looked at Su Yi too.

The way he saw it, although his master had yet to reveal his identity, someone with Su Yi’s powers of discernment must surely have realized how lofty his status was.

Furthermore, last night at the Song of the Sandy Creek, Su Yi didn’t refuse to assist them; he just said they’d yet to offer sufficient sincerity.

They’d come here today to do just that!

But against all expectations, Su Yi just asked, “What’s your relationship with Hua Xinfeng?”

“Hua Xinfeng?” The middle-aged man looked at Weng Jiu in confusion.

Weng Jiu hurriedly whispered, “My lord, that’s one of the numerous fake names the princess uses while out wandering.”

When Su Yi heard this, the corners of his lips twitched imperceptibly.?Just as I thought! Hua Xinfeng, that woman, really is crafty. From beginning to end, she never revealed her true name!

The middle-aged man said forthrightly, “I won’t keep it from you, Fellow Daoist. She’s my seventh child and youngest daughter, and her real name is Xia Qingyuan.”

Su Yi took out the dragon sparrow jade pendant. “Yesterday, when you found me at the city gates, it’s because you sensed this jade pendant’s presence, right?”

When the middle-aged man looked at the jade pendant, he looked somewhat conflicted. He nodded. “That’s right; it’s something Little Seven’s mother left behind when she left this world. Little Seven always carries it with her.”

Su Yi exclaimed, “Are you saying her mother is a descendant of the dragon sparrows?”

The middle-aged man looked melancholy and dazed. A long time passed before he said, “Most likely. I once tried to discover the answer, but even now, I cannot be certain.”

Su Yi could tell that the middle-aged man and Xia Qingyuan’s mother had a unique relationship, so he didn’t pursue that line of questioning. Instead, he asked, ?“Do I need to return the jade pendant to you?”

The middle-aged man shook his head. “Little Seven entrusted it to you, so you should keep it safe for now.”

Su Yi didn’t refuse. He put the pendant away, then asked directly. “I can help you, but I have two conditions.”

The middle-aged man’s eyes lit up, and he cast aside his scattered thoughts. “Please, speak openly.”

Weng Jiu, however, was a bit nervous. He was worried that Su Yi would demand something exorbitant or overly stringent.

Su Yi didn’t waste words. He directly announced his conditions.?“First, I need cultivation resources.?Second, I want one of the talismans needed to visit Sumeru Immortal Island.”

The middle-aged man and Weng Jiu looked at each other. Both were flabbergasted; it seemed they dared not believe their ears.

Su Yi smiled faintly. “What, did you think I’d seize the opportunity to rip you off?”

The middle-aged man shook his head. “It’s not that; I just wouldn’t have guessed that your conditions would be so simple and easy to fulfill….”

Weng Jiu inwardly nodded. These conditions… were indeed a bit?too?easy!

To the point that Weng Jiu felt a bit ill at ease!

“If you wanted me to repair the formation personally, my conditions wouldn’t be so simple. All I’m going to do is tell you how to repair it. To me, this is no more difficult than turning over my hand; it doesn’t count for much at all,” said Su Yi casually.

The middle-aged man in simple cloth robes had a strange look on his face. For a moment, he didn’t quite know how to describe his emotions.

He’d spent close to a thousand years trying to find a way to repair the formation. He’d poured an immeasurable amount of effort and resources into this endeavor, but he’d yet to resolve this seemingly impossible problem.

Yet now, Su Yi described it as “no more difficult than turning over his hand”.....

The middle-aged man didn’t know whether he ought to feel happy or ashamed.

“It’s?really that easy?” Weng Jiu couldn’t help but blurt. He was dumbstruck too.

Su Yi smiled dryly. “For you two, it’s perhaps harder than ascending the heavens, but to me, it’s indeed so trivial that it’s not even worth mentioning.”

He disdained exaggerating about such a thing!

The middle-aged man took a deep breath, then said with great conviction, “Regardless, so long as you can help me resolve this problem, you’ll be doing me an enormous favor! I naturally won’t disappoint you, Fellow Daoist!”

“Tonight, I’ll go into the city to survey the base and layout of the foundation. Come back this time tomorrow, and I’ll give you the answer you’re looking for.” As he spoke, Su Yi rose from his wicker chair. “It’s getting late. I won’t keep you here for lunch.”

He was effectively kicking them out.

The middle-aged man still had a bellyful of unspoken words, but he could only hold them in and laugh, “Then I’ll have to disturb you again tomorrow.”

He was just about to leave when Weng Jiu suddenly recalled something. “Fellow Daoist, according to the intelligence I’ve received, at least three groups in Nine Tripod City view you with enmity.”

“Tell me more,” said Su Yi in surprise.

Weng Jiu said, “The first group is from Cloudsky Divine Palace, and they’re led by the inner sect grand elder Huo Tiandu. He’s a mid-stage Spiritual Manifestation cultivator, and he’s accompanied by two early-stage Spiritual Manifestation cultivators.

“The other is the Huo Family. Huo Yunsheng, whom you killed, was the heir of Family Head Huo Mingyuan as well as Huo Tiandu’s grand-nephew.”

None of this surprised Su Yi.

Cloudsky Divine Palace was one of the Great Xia’s four great orthodoxies, and their disciples had been killed. Wen Xinzhao simply didn’t have the strength or qualifications to stop them from seeking revenge against him.

And the Huo Family was one of the Great Xia’s three great clans. Huo Yunsheng had been killed; there was no way they’d remain unmoved.

Weng Jiu continued, “The third group that’s after you is the Qingyi Dao Sect. They suspect you were involved in Third Elder Li Miaohong’s death.?They’ve dispatched?Daoist Masters Lei Feng and Ting He, two Spiritual Manifestation cultivators. They plan to locate you in Nine Tripod City and use you to find the true killer.”

He paused, then added, “Representatives of all three factions—Cloudsky Divine Palace, the Huo Family, and Qingyi Dao Sect—have already entered Nine Tripod City.”

Su Yi’s eyebrows shifted upward in mild surprise; he hadn’t anticipated that the Qingyi Dao Sect had uncovered his involvement.

The middle-aged man smiled amiably. “Fellow Daoist, rest assured. I’ll naturally help you resolve this; you needn’t trouble yourself over it.”

His words were casual, yet he spoke with an air of contemptuous pride.

It was as if he were saying, “Stopping Spiritual Manifestation cultivators from two of the four great orthodoxies and one of the three great clans is but a trivial matter to me.”

However, Su Yi immediately refused his good intentions. “No need for that.”

Both the middle-aged man and Weng Jiu were dumbstruck.?No need? Don’t tell me he doesn’t know how severe the consequences of the three factions’ Spiritual Manifestation cultivators targeting him will be?

When he saw their reaction, Su Yi thought for a moment, then decided to offer a sentence in explanation. “I need opponents to sharpen myself with, and now, they’re delivering themselves right to my door. If you intervene, you’ll only spoil my good time.”

“.....” Neither of them knew what to say to that. They looked at each other at a complete loss for words.

A young Origin Palace cultivator saw Spiritual Manifestation cultivators as his whetstones!?

These were men accustomed to wind and rain, but even they almost wondered if they’d misheard. They dared not believe that an Origin Palace cultivator would say such a thing.

If word spread, they feared no one in the world would believe it!

After all, it seemed far too frenzied and arrogant; most would see it as mere fantastical nonsense.

After leaving Azurecloud Court and replaying their interaction with Su Yi, the middle-aged man couldn’t help but ask, “Ol’ Jiu, tell me: just what kind of person is that kid?”

Weng Jiu pondered for a while before responding, “A strange one.”

The middle-aged man couldn’t help but laugh. “He may be unorthodox, and he may be inordinately proud, but none of that matters. So long as he can repair the Nine Tripods Suppression Barrier Formation, he’ll be our benefactor.”

He paused, then added, “A benefactor who did us a favor as enormous as the heavens themselves!”

Weng Jiu smiled. “Now that you mention it, we can’t overlook the princess’s contributions. Might you forgive her running away from home now?”

The middle-aged man snorted coldly. “Rest assured; no one in this world dotes on Little Seven more than me. However, it’s precisely because I doted on her excessively that she turned out so lawless and out of control. This time, I must polish her character properly.”

However, a moment later, he changed his tune. “Of course, she really was instrumental in us obtaining Su Yi’s aid. When I get the chase, I’ll naturally reward her.”

As he said that last part, he couldn’t help but smile, and his gaze was utterly doting.

Weng Jiu said, “My lord, we… really aren’t going to get involved in Su Yi’s enmities?”

The middle-aged man’s eyes flashed with a strange light. “We won’t get involved. I’m curious to see just how he plans to handle those Spiritual Manifestation cultivators.”

Weng Jiu nodded, then brought up something else entirely. “My lord, the curtains open on the Orchid Terrace Dharma Assembly in just ten days. Dark currents are surging throughout Nine Tripod City, and countless modern geniuses and monsters of the ancient era have gathered here, including quite a few of suspicious origins. Should we clean them up?”

The middle-aged man waved dismissively. “This is Nine Tripod City. They could be far braver, and they still wouldn’t dare to act up here.”

….

Late that night, Su Yi had Yuan Heng hire a carriage for him. He then rode it into the city’s center.

The Nine Tripod Suppression Barrier Formation covered all of Nine Tripod City, and it had nine bases, all in different parts of the city.

Su Yi actually already knew a way to repair the formation, but in the interest of preventing slip-ups, he nonetheless chose to examine the formation in person. That was unquestionably the more reliable approach.

Of course, he had another purpose for this expedition too—

He wanted to use himself as bait to see if he could draw out any of his enemies!

The night gradually darkened.

Su Yi took the carriage, running all across the city. From time to time, he called the carriage to a halt to survey the places where the Divine Tripods were sealed.

The so-called “Divine Tripods” were magic treasures used to establish the formation. Each was ninety feet tall, with three legs and two protrusions. They were made of matchless divine materials, and each was covered in different Dao Markings and formations.

Although the markings and formations were severely corroded, Su Yi could tell that the marks covering the nine tripods were all the work of an Imperial Realm cultivator.

In other words, in the distant past, the Nine Tripod Suppression Barrier Formation was an imperial-level formation!

Alas, the corrosion and destruction of thirty thousand years of the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness had severely damaged this unfathomably powerful ancient formation. Even if circulated at full force, its power was nowhere near what it once was.

Cultivators subordinate to the imperial clan, the imperial guards, were stationed near each of the tripods.

In truth, even without guards to keep watch on them, no one could steal these treasures; whenever someone got near, the power of the formation exploded them.

The imperial guards’ primary mission was to warn others from getting too close and throwing their lives away…

After making a circle throughout the city, Su Yi leaned back and closed his eyes. It was only after beginning his return trip that he suddenly re-opened them, and his gaze shifted slightly.

It seemed… a fish really had taken the bait?