Chapter 1457: That Man

The one who spoke was a young man, seated at the end of the hall. He wore a simple, cloud-colored long robe, and he exuded a calm and ethereal demeanor.

All eyes were on him.

Dao Zangtian was certainly no stranger to this youth. He was the young man of talent he had recruited not long ago, Sui Wuhan.

Dao Zangtian smiled and said, "Wuhan, go on."

The young man named Sui Wuhan stood up and smiled faintly. "The one chosen by Sheng Gujin is definitely no ordinary person. There are two clear indications of this. As everyone knows, the world within the Sea of Life is protected by karmic prohibitions laid down long ago by the Transcendent One.

"Those above cannot descend, and those below have even less chance of ascending. Yet Lady Sheng not only went down, but she even came back up. Have any of you truly considered how terrifying that is?"

Everyone frowned at once as Sui Wuhan continued, "And not only did she come back up, she brought countless living beings with her. In other words, she managed to ignore all the tribulations and karmic consequences of the Myriad Tribulation Starry World.

"And clearly, she doesn't possess that level of power herself. In other words, her ascension must be related to that child."

Everyone's expression darkened.

Dao Zangtian's eyes narrowed into slits.

"So far, it seems Sheng Gujin's descent was a move in a larger game, and her return was another move. The greatest problem we have now is that we don't know if she's playing this game alone or if someone else is pulling the strings.

"And what role does the father of the child in her belly play in all this? A pawn or a player?"

The Daoist holding a compass suddenly said, "She's too weak to use the Main Universe as her chessboard."

"That's true." The scholarly elder nodded. "Otherwise, she wouldn't need to rely on trickery and schemes."

Another person added, "If she dares target the Brahma Heaven Kingdom, she should be aware that the Grand Preceptor there is no pushover."

Someone else said, "She wouldn't dare, and she is not capable of doing that."

Dao Zangtian looked at the standing Sui Wuhan. The young man then solemnly said, "And precisely because everyone thinks that she can't or she won't... that is the most terrifying thing here."

All eyes turned back to him.

Sui Wuhan's expression grew serious. "We all think it's impossible. That she doesn't have the power. That she won't dare... But she's doing it anyway. What does that mean? It means she holds a trump card unknown to us!"

Everyone frowned even deeper.

Sui Wuhan pressed on, "I firmly believe that this trump card is related to that child and that man. Suppose, just suppose, that the child and the force behind that man are far beyond our imagination... and we choose to act against them.

"What will happen to us? Won't we be entangled in boundless karma?"

The scholarly elder immediately shook his head. "That's an overreach. If the force behind that youth was truly so terrifying, why would he be struggling in that world?"

The Daoist holding a compass countered, "But what if Wuhan is right? What if?"

The scholarly elder opened his mouth, but said nothing. He dared not argue. After all, Sui Wuhan said, "suppose."

The Daoist holding a compass glanced at Sui Wuhan. "Wuhan has considered things more thoroughly than we have. If we're going to treat them as enemies, we must plan for the worst, or we risk underestimating them and bringing disaster upon ourselves."

Sui Wuhan humbly said, "Even if I hadn't said anything, I'm sure all of you elders and the young master would have considered it. This is my first time participating in such a meeting, so I got a little excited and may have overstepped. I ask for your forgiveness."

With that, he sat down again.

Everyone looked at him with a new gleam of admiration in their eyes.

Dao Zangtian said, "No need to overthink, Wuhan. There is no one here who envies talent. Since this is a meeting, it's only right that we speak freely. If you have more thoughts, by all means, share them."

Sui Wuhan thought for a moment, then said, "Young Master, forgive my boldness, but must you kill that youth?"

Dao Zangtian nodded. "Yes."

Sui Wuhan said, "You do not wish to kill him merely out of anger. It is for the dignity of the Dao Cang Lineage and for your own Dao Heart, is it not?"

Dao Zangtian stared at him, saying nothing.

Sui Wuhan slightly lowered his head in respect but remained composed.

"

Haha!

" Dao Zangtian suddenly laughed. "Wuhan, you truly surprise me."

Sui Wuhan said, "Young Master, if I may speak bluntly, right now, we must not act against him. In fact, not only should we not kill him... we should do the opposite."

Dao Zangtian looked intrigued. "The opposite?"

Sui Wuhan nodded. "Yes. Everyone believes we want him dead, so let's do the unexpected. Let's draw him to our side."

His words shocked the entire hall.

Dao Zangtian looked at Sui Wuhan but said nothing.

Sui Wuhan solemnly said, "No matter what Sheng Gujin's schemes are, if we can win him over directly, we will be disrupting all of her plans. Not only that, the world will see the great magnanimity and vision of the Young Master."

"Brilliant!" the Daoist holding a compass clapped and laughed. "If Ye Guan agrees, then he'll become one of us. No, he will be a dog of the Dao Cang Lineage! Controlling him will be easy by then. Just imagine, Ye Guan, once a sworn enemy, ends up becoming your subordinate.

"Whose face would get slapped? Naturally, the Holy King Hall's face. They would be utterly humiliated and filled with resentment toward their own Hall Master..."

Dao Zangtian said calmly, "And if he refuses?"

The Daoist holding a compass chuckled, "Even better. We can find a small excuse, provoke conflict, and stir up a scandal. His name will be ruined throughout the Main Universe. He cultivates the Dao of Order, preaching equality among all beings, so he values his image a lot.

"With a bit of manipulation, everyone will hate him. And we won't even need to act directly, just pull strings from the shadows."

The scholarly elder interjected, "But won't this give him time to grow? I've heard his talent is not bad."

Sui Wuhan suddenly laughed. "Even a hundred years won't be enough for him to grow into a threat. On the contrary, if we mobilize everything to hunt him down now, wouldn't that make us look weak? As if we're afraid of him?"

The Daoist holding a compass nodded. "Exactly. Giving him a little time is harmless. Wuhan's plan is solid."

The scholarly elder hesitated for a moment, and then he nodded. A little time, indeed, wouldn't change much.

Seeing everyone nod, Dao Zangtian suddenly declared, "Then we'll do as Wuhan suggested. Wuhan, you are fully in charge of this matter."

Sui Wuhan stood and bowed respectfully. "Young Master, to carry this out, I'll need some authority... and funds."

Dao Zangtian replied, "Whatever you need, take it from the Dao Treasury."

Sui Wuhan bowed again. "I will handle this matter perfectly."

Dao Zangtian said, "Meeting adjourned."

With that, he stood and left.

Everyone else followed suit.

***

Brahma Heaven Kingdom

A towering pavilion that was massive in size had four walls nearly a thousand meters high. Each one was lined with dense shelves filled with ancient books.

A middle-aged man in a long robe was sitting in front of a long table. An ancient book was in his hand, and he was reading intently.

Just then, a man walked into the pavilion. He bowed respectfully. "Master."

The middle-aged man set down the book and smiled. "Xuan Ru, that Lady Sheng has laid out a chessboard. Interested in playing against her?"

"I've been wanting to for a while."

"Then let me test you, what do you think her goal is with this chessboard?"

"I don't know."

The middle-aged man chuckled. "You rascal."

Xuan Ru continued, "Whatever her goal is, it's definitely related to that man."

The middle-aged man handed him the book on the table. "This is that man's Order Dao, the Guanxuan Laws. Take a look."

Xuan Ru took it, swept through its contents with his divine sense, and a moment later, he said, "That man... he's here to start a revolution."

"Then what do you think we should do?"

"Everything Sheng Gujin has done is clearly to provoke us into targeting that man. That alone proves he's no simple figure."

The middle-aged man simply smiled.

Xuan Ru looked slightly puzzled.

The middle-aged man, still holding the Guanxuan Law, smiled faintly. "This Guanxuan Law is rather interesting. If that youth came to the Main Universe to establish order, then his ultimate goal must be to unite all the powers under his banner. And Sheng Gujin exposed his Order Dao to the world..."

He looked at Xuan Ru. "What do you think her real motive is?"

"Simple. She wants us to kill him; she's using a borrowed knife to kill."

The middle-aged man remained silent, smiling.

Xuan Ru's brows furrowed. "Master... you mean she has another motive?"

The middle-aged man didn't answer. Instead, he asked again, "If you were in charge of this, what would you do?"

"Since she wants to borrow our hand to kill him, we'll do the opposite. We'll rope him in instead of killing him. Offer him something irresistible. Make him ours. Turn a foe into a friend."

The middle-aged man asked, "But he cultivates the Order Dao. Aren't you afraid that he'll establish his Order here and eventually devour us all?"

Xuan Ru said calmly, "The world has always operated on the principle of survival of the fittest. If his Order is truly that good, if he's truly that powerful, so powerful that none of us can resist him, then what harm is there in following his Order?"

The middle-aged man laughed and took out a token, handing it to Xuan Ru. "You'll handle this. With this token, you may mobilize any domestic resource or person, so long as they are beneath me in rank."

Xuan Ru bowed deeply. He turned and began to leave, but after a few steps, he suddenly stopped, turned back, and looked at the middle-aged man. "Master, what do you think about this?"

The middle-aged man smiled and said, "What I think doesn't matter. What matters is that I'm entrusting this matter to you now. It's time you got some real experience. After all, you're the one who will inherit this position of National Preceptor someday."

Xuan Ru nodded and left.

Left all alone, the middle-aged man looked down at the book in his hands and smiled. "Layers upon layers of schemes... how intriguing."

Just then, his smile faded away.

"By my calculations,

that man

should be back soon to kill his past self," he muttered.