Chapter 490 – Schemes Behind the Curtain, Undercurrents Beneath the Plot - Part 3

The next day.

In Swallowcloud Province, inside a mountain cave near Bloomtown, Li Yuan sat cross-legged, examining the Earthfire Sword he had taken from Wei Huosheng, along with the three fiery banners that came with it.

He turned them over in his hands, tested their weight, their balance, and tried to channel power into them. But it was no use.

In this world, spirit artifacts had a form of

binding

. When forged, they required the owner’s

source blood

to claim them. Without it, they simply wouldn’t respond.

Fourth and fifth rank spirit artifacts required source blood to bind. While third rank ones may not rely on blood exactly, they surely had to have some other form of binding mechanism.

All this meant these treasures weren’t usable by him. But they

could

be broken down as materials.

Li Yuan gripped one of the flame-colored banners and fell into thought.

The battle from a few days ago still played vividly in his mind. And he had come to a sobering realization. He was sorely lacking in skills suited to his current realm, and even more so in proper gear.

That whole fight? It had felt like he was rolling up his sleeves, relying purely on brute strength, trying to beat an old master to death with wild punches. Meanwhile, his opponent had shown up with a full combat toolkit, executing one polished move after another.

If the enemy hadn't been so well-prepared with those tools and skills, the yellow-robed man would’ve been roasted to ashes by his first breath of flame.

Li Yuan shook his head lightly. He found himself missing the old days, those early stages of cultivation where he could allocate skill points and grow steadily.

He missed the Human Soul cultivation system.

That time had been hard, yes. But it was simple. Every bit of effort produced tangible results. It was honest, rewarding. No tricks, no shortcuts. Just grit and growth.

But now? When had he gone from being a skill oriented fighter to a full-blown

Hulk smash

?

He set the banner aside for the moment, crossed his arms, and rested his chin in his hands, deep in thought.

Then suddenly, his mind locked onto something. The red and black stones he’d seen during the battle with the yellow-robed man. If he wasn’t mistaken, those stones had to be Heavenly Fire Spirit Stones and their opposite, Yin stones.

The yellow-robed man hadn’t panicked during the ambush, and throughout the battle, he had intentionally avoided doors. Clearly, someone had tipped him off ahead of time. And the trump card he relied on was precisely those stones.

But here was the problem.

Those stones were

consumables

. He’d burn through them in a fight and fast. And if he was a visitor from another continent, he couldn’t have brought that many. There was no point in hauling too much across such a vast distance. And yet...he had them. A lot of them.

Now this raised the obvious question.

If Cui Huayin, Jing Shuixiang, and the others had all managed to travel from this land to the Eastern Sea’s Immortal Domain, then that meant there was some form of transportation network between the two.

But that made little sense at first glance.

The Jade Capital was nowhere near the Eastern Sea. And more importantly, none of the envoys seemed capable of flight. This had been clear from what Yan Yu had reported about the Revival Tree God’s limitations.

Li Yuan’s earlier fight with Wei Huosheng confirmed it too. The man had been desperate to escape, yet not once did he try flying.

All of it pointed to the same conclusion.

Envoys, here in this continent, were partially suppressed.

So what did that mean for logistics?

Right now, the yellow-robed man couldn't afford to leave the Jade Capital, not in such a critical moment. But he still needed a steady supply of spirit stones. This left only two likely scenarios.

The first possibility was that the Eastern Sea’s Immortal Domain sent reinforcements. But in a battle at this scale, fourth rank fighters were already useless. Only third rank cultivators mattered. And how many of those could the Immortal Domain even spare on short notice?

If they misunderstood his last message and mistook

him

for someone from the Deathless Tomb, then it was very likely they’d send a larger contingent to reinforce this side. But Li Yuan had no idea how deep their bench was. If they were overflowing with powerhouses, why had they sent only

three

third rank fighters into such a high-stakes conflict to begin with?

The second possibility was that the Eastern Sea’s Immortal Domain wasn’t sending people; they were sending supplies, spirit stones, tools, and resources.

With enough spirit stones, the yellow-robed man could at least hold the Jade Capital steady. And the most likely route? Airships across the sea to the coastline. Then from there, inland cargo ships would sail upriver, delivering the goods all the way to Jade Capital.

But such a delivery route, with airships flying overhead, would inevitably be seen by commoners. That went completely against the Immortal Domain’s core principle of mystery and concealment.

That meant...a hidden logistics node, an ordinary-looking transfer station that was anything but ordinary, and was almost certainly in place somewhere along the route.

There was, of course, another possibility. They might be dispatching disciples directly to deliver the spirit stones by hand.

A storm of possibilities surged through Li Yuan’s mind, each thought flowing like a dark tide beneath still water.

After a long time, he finally opened his eyes and smiled faintly in the dim light of the cave.

He had a theory now.

And theoreticals required practicals.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Jade Capital.

“This disciple, Gongyang Qin of Mountain Hall, greets the Empress Dowager. I was instructed to deliver this scroll, the

Mountain Style Vital Blood Secret Manual

. The hall master asked me to personally place it in your hands.”

A yellow-clad girl with delicate features, accompanied by a palace attendant, arrived at the Clear Mind Hall and presented the scroll with both hands.

A calm voice came from within the residence. “Enter.”

Gongyang Qin stepped inside and immediately saw her.

The woman seated at the desk was not someone she could gaze at casually. Her very presence radiated an aura of untouchable power, a calm, commanding authority that filled the entire hall. She was reviewing memorials, one hand steadily flipping through the scrolls.

Gongyang Qin couldn’t help but marvel inwardly.

The Empress Dowager was also a sixth rank cultivator, just like her. And yet...she felt leagues above.

She stepped forward and offered the scroll.

Xie Wei took it silently.

Gongyang Qin smiled and said, “The hall master worked tirelessly all day yesterday. But even after returning, he stayed up through the night to personally write this for Your Majesty. He said this is for the Empress Dowager. It must be perfect. Not a single error allowed. I won’t entrust it to anyone else, not even the elders.’”

Xie Wei nodded gently, then asked curiously, “Does the Mountain Hall not keep any written copies?”

Gongyang Qin smiled. “Your Majesty may not know, this secret manual is one of our hall’s most sacred skills. It’s normally passed down by word of mouth only, never committed to paper.”

A flicker of genuine emotion crossed Xie Wei’s face. She sighed lightly and murmured, “Your hall master is very thoughtful indeed.”

Gongyang Qin, sensing her task was done, began to take her leave.

But just as she turned, she caught sight of a tall, broad-shouldered palace attendant walking toward Clear Mind Hall. He was strikingly handsome, even elegant, but clearly just a servant in the eyes of the court.

She slowed her steps. At the turn of a hallway, just as they would have passed each other, she stopped and quietly slipped behind a yellow wall, hiding herself for a moment.

She waited, then slowly walked forward again. As she strolled past the corridor, she cautiously tilted her head and let her gaze sweep toward the Clear Mind Hall. And then her pupils contracted sharply.

Bathed in the warm light of morning, she saw that

palace attendant

standing behind the Empress Dowager, gently massaging her shoulders. The expression on Xie Wei’s face had shed all its dignified restraint. What remained was simple, visible comfort.

Gongyang Qin swallowed hard and turned away in a hurry.

She was one of Shi Shanbai’s most trusted confidants. She

knew

how to recognize critical intelligence when she saw it.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Some time later.

That handsome attendant, Chang Xin, also left Clear Mind Hall.

Only then did the Empress Dowager’s expression shift. A look of profound distaste flickered across her face.

She rose, entered the inner hall, and changed into a fresh phoenix robe. Only then did that disgust finally fade away.