Chapter 1079 - The Real Mastermind

Translator: Aran

"Who are you?"

Zhang Wuxin's expression had turned gloomy.

An invisible force was slowly diffusing into the air of the secret chamber.

"You can stop wasting your effort," Ye Qingyu remarked. Of course, he had observed this Dragon Human channeling his qi. "I've already slain Wei Wubing and searched his soul. Maybe you're slightly stronger than him, but you'll end up just like he did. Tell me what I want to know honestly, and perhaps I can let you die a quick and painless death."

But before his voice had died down—

"Die."

There was a low growl, and a ray of white light shot out from Zhang Wuxin's palm.

It was a bone spur.

It contained an alarming magical force, and it was flying toward Ye Qingyu like a bolt of lightning.

Ye Qingyu exhaled.

A breath of icy qi shot out from his mouth, instantly freezing the incoming spur. It turned into white dust, which soon dissipated into the surrounding air.

"Kill!"

Zhang Wuxin split himself into three mirror images and appeared in an instant before Ye Qingyu. His palms had transformed into knives of white bone, and he slashed at the intruder. This was no longer a martial arts technique of the Dragon Human Race. Evidently, Zhang Wuxin had long realized that it would have been child's play for Ye Qingyu.

Boom!

Ye Qingyu punched.

Zhang Wuxin flew backward.

An icy energy flowed in the secret chamber.

Traces of ice could be vaguely spotted on the four walls, ceiling, and floor of the chamber. Ye Qingyu had set up arrays in the room, long before Zhang Wuxin regained consciousness, to block it from the outside world. His skill with magical formations was so great that even Quasi-emperors had to use their majestic power to forcibly disarm them; there was no way even for them to use talismanic formations to break the arrays. Naturally, Zhang Wuxin had no way of escaping from them.

"Who are you exactly?"

Zhang Wuxin was in terrible shock.

There are not many people in this world who can knock me back so easily. Even our War God, Xu Wuya, could not have accomplished this. Looks like this person... It looks like he really managed to kill Wei Wubing.

"Do you really not know who I am?" Ye Qingyu asked.

Zhang Wuxin looked wary and angry at the same time. A thick black aura surrounded his entire body as he replied, "I don't. Who are you? Why are you looking to find fault with us?"

"Seems like you spent too much effort trying to hide yourself and gaining Xu Wuya's trust. You didn't even bother to learn about what's going on in the outside world," Ye Qingyu said, as if he had just understood something. "If that's the case, the relationship between all of you is not that close to begin with. So, until now, you don't know what happened in the Alliance of Domains. That's good. I can slowly track all of you down with my leads... Haha, didn't you want to know who I am? I'm Ye Qingyu; remember my name. I've come to exact vengeance on behalf of Mr. Ren Puyang."

"Ye Qingyu? The [Ice Sword Killing God], Ye Qingyu?" Zhang Wuxin was shocked. He then began to shake his head and laugh coldly. "Impossible. Your power... Ye Qingyu can't possibly be this powerful. Hehe... Judging from your level of cultivation, you must be at the apex of the human martial arts community. You must be from that batch of people. Why are you trying to conceal your true identity by using the name of your junior?"

Even Zhou Yuexin, who was standing beside them, was in great shock.

This was because she had also heard of [Ice Sword Killing God] Ye Qingyu's name, and her image of this up-and-coming outstanding talent of the Human Race was that his power was definitely not as terrifying as her companion. On the other hand, the human martial arts expert had asked her to call him "Mr. Ye". Could he really be the [Ice Sword Killing God]? At least they are about the same age, she thought.

The young dragon maiden kept trying to figure out his true identity.

"That batch of people? What batch?" Ye Qingyu felt that there was hidden meaning in Zhang Wuxin's words and managed to pick out the part that did not sound right.

Zhang Wuxin had recovered his senses by now. He sneered and remained silent.

He knew that he had given himself away when he was shocked senseless earlier on.

𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"I don't have time to waste on you. Since you're unwilling to speak, I shall use a different method to make you talk," Ye Qingyu said. He summoned the [Blood Drinker Sword Pill] and transformed it into a long sword before slashing it at the Dragon Human.

"Haha, you underestimate me too much," Zhang Wuxin roared. "Wei Wubing was a nobody. Do you think you can subdue me just because you managed to slay him? He's not even worthy of carrying my shoes... I didn't want to reveal my true form, as it would waste all the effort I've spent all these years in trying to transform my body. But now... you've forced my hand."

As soon as he finished speaking—

Countless rays of thin black qi surged out of his body. The secret chamber looked as if it had suddenly turned into a glass container filled with ink, and Zhou Yuexin was shocked. She had caught a glimpse of Zhang Wuxin and noticed that his skin had peeled off as if it was made of thin paper, revealing a monster made up of connected bones. It leaped out of its husk...

A terrifying power pervaded the air of the chamber.

Zhou Yuexin immediately felt as though she was suffocating and her body was about to be torn apart.

"Disperse!"

Ye Qingyu's voice rang out at this moment.

It was as if his clear-sounding voice was a command, and the black clouds filling up the entire chamber dissipated like mist under sunlight.

Clink!

Sparks flew right in front of Zhou Yuexin's eyes.

She got a shock.

She was completely unaware that a sword of bone had come flying toward her, but a blood-red long sword had blocked the attack at the most critical moment. Sparks were created by the collision between the two swords.

Ye Qingyu was wielding the [Blood Drinker Sword].

The sword of bone was held in the bony hands of a creature. Its height and appearance were similar to that of a human skeleton, but it was definitely not human. Its joints and bone structure seemed to be connected in a bizarre fashion, and black flames were circling around it. A blackish-red fire was flickering in its eye sockets.

This was Zhang Wuxin's true form.

Zhou Yuexin felt that it was hard to describe the shock in her heart.

"Fool," Ye Qingyu remarked as he prepared to strike again after knocking Zhang Wuxin back with a blow of his sword.

"You..." Zhang Wuxin stammered. After exchanging a few blows with his opponent, he could sense that something was not quite right. He wanted to flee, but realized that there was no way he could break through the icy array surrounding the surface of the chamber. He had originally put much effort into designing the chamber to make sure it was secure enough to prevent anyone else from discovering his secret. Now, however, it had become a prison of his own making.

Clink! Clink!

Sparks flew, and the sword of bone was shattered.

Zhang Wuxin was slashed by his opponent's sword multiple times, and the skeletal structure of his body looked as though it was about to collapse.

"Who are you? You can't possibly be Ye Qingyu..." Zhang Wuxin roared. "He can't possibly be this powerful. We've set up measures to defend against all beings that possess such strength. You can't possibly have escaped from our scheme. You..."

Ye Qingyu was not bothered about this matter.

"Open!"

With a clear shout, the icy array surrounding the chamber began to glow brightly.

The chamber took up less than one thousand square meters of space, but somehow it expanded suddenly. In an instant, it had become vast and its perimeter now covered hundreds of thousands of meters. This was the essence of a space-time formation. Ye Qingyu had inherited a portion of the mantle of [Formation Emperor] Luoso, and he had spent the past few years to comprehend and incorporate his skills. Now, he was already a top-ranked Formation Master of the universe, and he could create space-time formations in the blink of an eye.

"He's yours. This time, you have to remember more memories," Ye Qingyu said into the air.

A huge, white ferocious beast roared and appeared from the Void in the next instant.

It was the Skeletal Wyrm of War.

"Thank you, master."

It roared with joy.

It had already been pleading with Ye Qingyu in private for a long while, in the hopes that it could devour Zhang Wuxin. This would be incredibly beneficial for its evolution, and after much thought, Ye Qingyu finally agreed to its request.

"Wei Wubing?" Zhang Wuxin asked. He could feel a familiar presence instantly when the creature appeared. "No, you're not Wei Wubing, you..." he said as he was shocked to discover otherwise.

The battle began.

The entire process lasted thirty minutes.

Zhang Wuxin had been seriously wounded by Ye Qingyu after all, and the wyrm had become extremely powerful after absorbing Wei Wubing's memories and strength. Eventually, Zhang Wuxin was devoured by the Skeletal Wyrm of War, and his skeletal structure collapsed. The blackish-red flames in his eye sockets were instantly swallowed up by the wyrm.

"This is..." Zhou Yuexin looked extremely shocked.

This skeletal beast of war was incredibly terrifying, and the aura it gave off was like that of a vile demon from the abyss.

"Try to contain your aura. I'll give you fifteen minutes to tell me what I want to know," Ye Qingyu said. Then he waited patiently.

Fifteen minutes later—

"Master, this Dragon Human... He's the mastermind," the wyrm said respectfully.

Two red rays of light shot out from its pupils, and the holographic image of a martial arts expert from the Dragon Human Race appeared in the air. He wore a suit of battle armor that was purple and gold in color, and he carried a blood-red halberd on his back. He was huge and had an authoritative presence. There was a rare air of royalty about him.

Hmm?

Ye Qingyu's heart trembled.

Is this figure the old Emperor of the Dragon Human Race?

This... How is this possible?

How can a dead Dragon Human be the mastermind?

Unless...

Ye Qingyu's gaze fell on the wyrm.

The huge skeletal figure of the wyrm began to tremble and it knelt upon the floor. "Master, I wouldn't dare lie to you. It really is this person... This time, many memories that I absorbed from Zhang Wuxin are very clear," it said with its head lowered in deference.

Ye Qingyu frowned.

"Mastermind? What mastermind?" Zhou Yuexin, who had been listening in a corner of the room, also asked at this moment. "His Majesty, the Ancient Dragon Emperor, passed away tens of thousands of years ago... What are the both of you talking about?"

"What did you say?" Ye Qingyu immediately turned to her to ask. He had a feeling that he had made a mistake, and hurriedly added, "Do you know this dragon person?"

"Yes, he used to be the Dragon God of our people. He was the person behind the resurgence of the Dragon Human dynasty, and he defeated the vile demons that invaded the domain of our people tens of thousands of years ago. He was then crowned as the Ancient Dragon Emperor, but he died a long, long time ago. It's a thing of the ancient past now," Zhou Yuexin replied confidently.

"Are you certain?" Ye Qingyu realized that he had made a mistake. This holographic image was not that of the Ancient Emperor of the Dragon Human Race.

Zhou Yuexin nodded confidently, "Of course I'm certain. I know that all of us look pretty much the same to other races, and that they can't recognize the small differences in our looks. This is especially true regarding the royals of our race. Due to the purity of their blood, they look even more alike, but we are definitely able to tell the difference. This is because the horns of each Dragon Human are unique."

Ye Qingyu believed her words.

That was because, after close examination, he could spot the difference between the horns of this Dragon Human before them and the Ancient Emperor. He had once seen the corpse of the Ancient Emperor earlier on.

But there was another problem now.

How could the Ancient Dragon Emperor, who had died thousands of years ago, be the mastermind behind the murder of Ren Puyang?