Chapter 125.1: Plotting Against the City of No Return? Courting death

After leaving the underground palace, Mi Luo and his subordinates entered the City of No Return.

He looked around, unable to hide his amazement. "In just a few short years, the City of No Return has changed drastically! If those old hermits came out of seclusion and saw how different the world has become, their jaws would've dropped to the floor."

Truthfully, the changes shocked even him. When he first learned about it, he immediately relayed the news to his father, Mi Kong. At this very moment, Mi Kong was actually in Great Sorrow City.

Mi Luo gazed at the City of No Return, occasionally sensing a streak of aura belonging to a Supreme flashing across the sky. Envy flickered in his eyes. "If only these Supremes were under my command..."

He wandered the city for half a day before returning to his inn.

Night fell, and Mi Luo sat cross-legged in meditation, a single candle flickering in the room. Suddenly, the flame wavered. A figure clad in black slipped quietly into the room.

Mi Luo opened his eyes, expression cold. "You're here?"

Despite being on equal footing, the newcomer bowed with extreme humility. "Greetings, Young Master!"

He had once been a peak Mythwalker serving Mi Luo. Under Mi Luo's orders, he swore an oath on his inner demons and infiltrated the City of No Return, eventually breaking through to Supreme. Moreover, he wasn't the only one.

Aside from the early waves of attendees who came purely for the sermons, many of the later arrivals carried other intentions. The nails Mi Luo and his father had driven into the City of No Return were far from few, each sworn by an inner demon oath and trustworthy.

"How did the matter go?" Mi Luo asked in a low voice.

"Reporting to Young Master, the Blood Palace is not as terrifying as rumored. Its members are unprincipled and disorganized. Loyalty is basically nonexistent. Even if we take down the Blood Master, the others probably won't help him. They might even applaud," the black-robed man whispered.

He wasn't wrong. Magnanimity bred malevolence. Human hearts were fickle.

The Blood Palace had just been founded recently. It had neither motto nor doctrine, much less an unified goal. Every Supreme was out for themselves. Sure, some Supremes were grateful to the Blood Master, but others met him with fear and resentment. A few even wished to silence his sermon altogether. After all, the more Supremes there were, the less precious they became.

Mi Luo nodded. "And the Blood Master's cultivation? Any leads?"

He had asked several spies this very question.

"The Blood Master remains shrouded in mystery. But once, during a demon-slaughtering battle, he revealed power roughly equivalent to a mid-stage Supreme. It doesn't seem alarming," the man replied.

Mi Luo frowned. "Even if he's only mid-stage, he still unsettles me."

Truly, anyone capable of preaching the dao and letting others comprehend the Origin defied common sense. Such a man couldn't be judged by normal standards.

Regardless, fortune favored the bold, and his father's lifespan was nearly exhausted. Hence, he had joined forces with several Great Supremes to plot against the City of No Return. They were sure that someone who could lecture and elevate others into Supremes possessed a shard of the Slate of Fate. Nothing else could explain it.

"Young Master, don't let the Blood Master’s mysterious appearance fool you. He's actually half-mad, and his cultivation technique seems to have gone down the demonic path. He forgets things constantly," the black-robed man continued to persuade.

There was no lie in that statement. Anyone who interacted with the Blood Master found him strange. A Supreme with a terrible memory and odd behavior.

Mi Luo's gaze darkened. "Still, what if he's just pretending?"

The man quickly insisted, "If you don't replace him today, someone else will replace him tomorrow!"

This black-robed Supreme was the perfect example of resentment towards kindness. Serving under the Blood Master made him uncomfortable. Guilty, even. The Blood Master had to die so he could finally be at peace.

Mi Luo's emotions churned. "We'll revisit this."

The black-robed man withdrew.

Alone in the room, Mi Luo murmured, "May everything succeed in one stroke. If it does, the Mi family will become the number one overlord of the Flowing Wind World."

In truth, this plot had been brewing for many years. They had been sending loyal Mythwalkers into the City of No Return for ages, filling the city with their spies. Information flowed to Great Sorrow City every day through numerous channels, each consistent.

Finally, Mi Luo made his decision. "We must act after the next thousand-person lecture ends."

If he waited any longer, it would be too late. He'd already reached the limit of how many Mythwalkers he could smuggle in. In a hundred more years, the City of No Return would have over ten thousand Supremes. By that point, it'd be useless to even plot anything.

Now was the best chance. This time, Supremes from both North and South had cooperated to steal information. They had gambled everything on this one strike.

"Hopefully, the Blood Master really is only mid-stage. Hopefully, he’s crazy enough to forego inner demon oaths before the sermon. Hopefully, this succeeds."

He was cautious, anxious to the bone.

***

The City of No Return

The streets bustled as Wang Gai and Li Yunzhi drank together at a tavern.

Wang Gai sighed. "A storm's coming."

Two thousand more peak Mythwalkers had arrived. Soon, all of them would receive the Blood Master's lecture and break into the Supreme realm.

Li Yunzhi glanced around nervously. "Don't you feel something's off about the City of No Return lately?"

Wang Gai's face darkened. "There is."

Blood Palace now had 1,895 Supremes, already more than the entire South. Of course, none of them were mid-stage.

"Someone approached me yesterday," Li Yunzhi muttered.

Wang Gai's expression turned grave. "Tell me. I won't leak it."

Li Yunzhi hesitated, then transmitted the message, “

A Supreme has hinted that Blood Palace would soon face a major upheaval. We shouldn't pick sides lightly

.”

Li Yunzhi's voice trembled. "Do you think the Blood Palace is going to fall apart? Is the Blood Master in danger?"

Wang Gai's gaze chilled.

Li Yunzhi struggled. "We owe him for his teachings... but ..."

He was torn. Of course, he wanted to repay the Blood Master for the grace of imparting the dao. However, logically speaking, it meant the enemy was coming in full force and had already laid out their trap. If he rushed in recklessly, he'd just die in vain.

Wang Gai slammed the table. "A bunch of clowns think they can lay a hand on the Blood Master?!"

The scene of the Blood Master slaying over twenty Supremes was seared into his mind. All of the Northern Supremes were powerless before the Blood Master. Their master could also kill Wang Gai if he so wished.

Unfortunately, Li Yunzhi had missed that spectacle. If he'd seen it, he wouldn't be worried now. Supremes were nothing but ants before the Blood Master.

𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Li Yunzhi muttered, "How can you be so sure? Unless you know something—"

Wang Gai smirked. "Relax. No amount of scheming can hurt him."

"You definitely know something!" Li Yunzhi roared in frustration.

"Could it be that the Blood Master already saw through the conspiracy?" Li Yunzhi guessed, though something still felt off to him. "The Blood Palace is such a loose, messy organization, barely anyone actually pledges true loyalty to the Blood Master. On what basis is he supposed to win? Don't tell me... the Blood Master is the White Supreme's illegitimate kid?"

Wang Gai spat out his tea. "Blasphemy! Don't guess!"

To him, the Blood Master was more terrifying than the White Supreme. The Blood Master wasn't human. He was a demon god!