Chapter 965: Three Swordsmen

Caught off guard, Wuzhou was struck by the slap and was sent flying a thousand meters away. When he stopped, the right side of his face was swollen.

Wuzhou was stunned, but rage overtook him as he glared at High Goddess Tianyun. "High Goddess Tianyun, why did you hit me?! You...!"

He was truly on the verge of losing it.

He wanted to retaliate, but a chill went down his spine when he saw the killing intent in her eyes. Earlier, he had managed to hold his ground against her because they had yet to fall out with each other.

However, the killing intent in High Goddess Tianyun's eyes told him that she was not joking at all.

The Tianxing Ruler was absent, so there was no one capable of punishing her.

If she were to find an excuse to kill him, he'd die a tragic death.

With that in mind, Wuzhou suppressed his fury.

It was better to swallow his anger for now.

Seeing that Wuzhou had chosen not to escalate the situation, High Goddess Tianyun withdrew her gaze and turned to High Goddess Tianxuan.

"I've said everything I needed to say. Do whatever you want."

With that, High Goddess Tianyun turned around and left.

After a moment of silence, High Goddess Tianxuan said, "Wuzhou, work with Prime Minister Mu to stop the Second Hall Master. Don't let him leave the Tianxing Civilization until my return.

"If he tries to force his way out, kill him on the spot."

After saying that, High Goddess Tianxuan disappeared into the horizon.

Wuzhou glanced in the direction where High Goddess Tianxuan had left for a long time.

Eventually, he turned around and left as well.

Prime Minister Mu was seated at the head of the long table in the Cabinet Hall, and there were two mysterious figures dressed in black robes on either side of him.

Second Hall Master Qiu Baiyi was sitting across from him.

Wuzhou was also present, but unlike the others, he stood there with a sullen expression on his face.

Prime Minister Mu stared at Qiu Baiyi and sneered, "Second Hall Master, you came up with quite a marvelous scheme."

Qiu Baiyi appeared puzzled. "What do you mean by that, Prime Minister Mu?"

Prime Minister Mu picked up a nearby teacup and took a slow sip. "Second Hall Master, let's speak frankly here, shall we?"

Qiu Baiyi sighed softly and asked, "Prime Minister, why do you think I'm here?"

Prime Minister Mu silently stared at Qiu Baiyi.

"Our Evil Dao Alliance has signed a peace treaty with the Tianxing Civilization, yet shortly afterward; your civilization unleashed Tianxing Flames to annihilate our Evil Universe.

"Prime Minister, don't you think that violates the treaty? So what do you think I'm here? Isn't it for an explanation?"

Prime Minister Mu frowned. "That's irrelevant. I'm referring to Ye Guan."

Qiu Baiyi responded, "Yes, Ye Guan is indeed the enemy of our Evil Dao Alliance, but what does that have to do with me if the Tianxing Civilization wants to kill him?

"Frankly, Prime Minister, you want to kill him because you believe that he tarnished the reputation of your civilization and is unworthy of being a part of it.

"That's why you want to get rid of him, but you didn't expect him to be so strong, am I right?"

Prime Minister Mu stared coldly at Qiu Baiyi. "As far as I know, you met with Enforcement Officer Cui Yin."

Qiu Baiyi didn't deny it and nodded slightly. "Indeed. As allies, I warned him at the time that Ye Guan must not be underestimated. Unfortunately, he didn't listen to me. His guards were present during the conversation; you can ask them to verify whether I'm telling the truth or not."

Wuzhou's expression became grim at that.

Prime Minister Mu glanced at Wuzhou, and then he shifted his gaze to Qiu Baiyi. He then sighed and sipped his tea.

Qiu Baiyi said, "Prime Minister Mu, Hall Master Wu, I believe that the most pressing issue right now isn't about assigning blame to your own people or allies, but Ye Guan.

"You've all witnessed his strength, but what I want to emphasize is his terrifying talent. Not long ago, I could easily kill him, but now, I fear I'm no longer capable of that.

"His growth has been astonishingly rapid, and if left unchecked, he will become a significant threat in the future.

"Most importantly, he managed to walk away brazenly, and he has even taken one of your civilization's prized Tianxing Fruit. If word of this were to spread..."

Qiu Baiyi glanced at Prime Minister Mu, leaving his sentence unfinished. Sure enough, Prime Minister Mu's face turned grim. If this incident were to spread, the Tianxing Civilization would be greatly humiliated.

Wuzhou suddenly spoke in a low voice, "Prime Minister, Ye Guan could've been captured, but High Goddess Tianyun..."

"Shut up!" Prime Minister Mu interrupted with a thunderous roar that echoed throughout the hall, causing it to tremble.

Wuzhou was stunned into silence.

Prime Minister Mu glared at him and said, "Step aside and wait for my orders.

Wuzhou's face turned even paler than a corpse, but he dared not disobey.

Swallowing his fury, he retreated in a hurry.

Qiu Baiyi stared quietly at his back profile.

Prime Minister Mu then said, "Second Hall Master, you should not bother plotting against him. He's a martial artist, and he's not worthy of your schemes."

Qiu Baiyi chuckled. "Prime Minister, you've misunderstood me."

However, Prime Minister Mu was not interested in engaging in further pleasantries and cut straight to the point. "What is the origin of that young man?"

By this point, it was obvious, even to the dullest minds, that the young man was anything but ordinary.

Prime Minister Mu had lost his temper at Wuzhou, as the latter was causing internal strife at such a critical moment instead of focusing on the real issue.

Even worse, he was doing it in front of outsiders. He was truly dumb.

"His name is Ye Guan, and he comes from the Guanxuan Universe. He's the ruler of that civilization."

"What about its tier?"

"Several powerful figures have joined them. Based on their strength, they can be said to be a Tier Four Civilization, but he has powerful backers."

"He has backing?"

"Yes, there are three swordsmen behind him."

"How strong are they?"

"I don't know."

Prime Minister Mu stared at Qiu Baiyi without speaking.

Qiu Baiyi continued, "Prime Minister, don't overthink it. I'm not hiding anything. I simply don't know, as I haven't fought them myself.

"However, one thing is certain—I can't take on all three of them. As for a one-on-one fight... I can probably hold my own."

Qiu Baiyi understood that when dealing with someone as astute as Prime Minister Mu, it was unwise to lie outright. It was better to use half-truths mixed with some obvious truths.

Prime Minister Mu withdrew his gaze and returned to drinking his tea. He lowered his head so that Qiu Baiyi wouldn't be able to read his thoughts through his body language.

Qiu Baiyi, too, fell silent and reached for his tea, only to realize no one had served him any tea. He chuckled to himself, thinking how deeply ingrained the Tianxing Civilization's arrogance was.

Despite the peace treaty between the Evil Dao Alliance and the Tianxing Civilization, Qiu Baiyi knew that they still did not regard the Evil Dao Alliance as anything significant. However, he wasn't offended.

The Tianxing Civilization had been dominating the vast expanse for so long, so it would be odd if they were humble.

"Second Hall Master," Prime Minister Mu said, "Have you really not fought anyone connected to Ye Guan?"

𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Qiu Baiyi nodded. "No, I haven't."

Prime Minister Mu nodded. "Second Hall Master, due to concerns that Ye Guan may have allies, we've sealed off the borders of the Tianxing World. No one is allowed to enter or leave. So you may need to stay here for a while. My apologies for the inconvenience."

Qiu Baiyi wasn't upset at all, and he even smiled. "Alright."

Prime Minister Mu stood up and left the hall.

Qiu Baiyi leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes with a smile playing on his lips.

***

After leaving the Cabinet, Prime Minister Mu went directly to the Tianyun Academy to meet High Goddess Tianyun.

Jing An and High Goddess Tianyun were seated together inside the grand hall. When Jing An saw Prime Minister Mu, she stood up and moved to the sidelines.

Prime Minister Mu bowed toward High Goddess Tianyun and smiled wryly, "I didn't expect things to escalate to this point, High Goddess."

High Goddess Tianyun remained calm. "Prime Minister Mu, is there something you need?"

Prime Minister Mu nodded. "The Evil Dao Alliance's Second Hall Master wanted to use our Tianxing Civilization to eliminate Ye Guan, but the conflict between us and Ye Guan has already crossed the point of no return."

"Are you here to ask me to kill Ye Guan?" High Goddess Tianyuan asked.

Prime Minister Mu solemnly replied, "High Goddess, what we need now is unity. The Tianxing Ruler is absent, and we need your help."

Disappointment flashed in High Goddess Tianyun's eyes. "The Cabinet has no authority over me. Prime Minister Mu, please leave."

Prime Minister Mu's face darkened.

High Goddess Tianyun frowned. "Are you leaving or not?"

As Prime Minister Mu was about to leave the hall, he paused at the doorway and asked, "High Goddess, is an outsider really more important than one of our own people?"

High Goddess Tianyun replied, "Prime Minister, they only wanted to leave the Tianxing Civilization. They had no intention of harming us."

Prime Minister Mu turned back to look at her. "Everyone must follow the divine laws. Yi Nian broke the divine law by insisting on being with a man from another civilization.

"The Hall of Enforcement simply wanted to arrest her for her mistake. What's wrong with that? High Goddess, the Hall of Enforcement hadn't done anything wrong. Yi Nian is the one at fault here."

"Prime Minister Mu," Jing An chimed in, "Yi Nian hadn't done anything wrong. Do you really believe that Yi Nian had brought Ye Guan here just to introduce him to her teacher?

"No, she brought him back to help our Tianxing Civilization. Ye Guan is willing to share his pagoda with us on Yi Nian's account. However, you treated both of them in such a cruel way.

"You're never going to understand what our civilization has lost—no, you'll never know..."