Chapter 2237: Redirection

Everyone turned to stare at Wu Yao, even Bai Su. The acting sect master felt completely confused. Hiding something? What are we hiding? Wait, it wasn’t really us, is it? Is there going to be a war? What do I do?!

Bai Teng’s first impulse was to find a place to hide. He was only the acting sect master, and he did not want to die. He had only been given this temporary position because no one in the main line of the Bai family wanted it. However, Bai Teng was fully aware that his position was intended to only be held briefly. He did not want to die, and he simply wanted a comfortable life.

Numerous thoughts flashed through Bai Su’s mind in an instant, and his expression changed constantly.

𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Wu Yao looked incredibly somber. "The truth is that Forgotten Ruins God is likely the one behind everything."

Everyone's expressions changed drastically. "Forgotten Ruins God? The Skygod?"

Even Mu Xie's expression changed. "Forgotten Ruins God?"

Wu Yao nodded and continued, "In order to avoid arousing any suspicions, we never said anything, but now, we can no longer remain silent."

He looked towards the people from the Wang family. "Forgotten Ruins God has already shown herself, and she has done many things to develop Redbacks. My Celestial Frost Sect noticed a few clues, and we’ve discovered that she is the most likely culprit behind the attack when Patriarch Long Ke was being controlled."

"Ridiculous! If Forgotten Ruins God showed up, then why didn't your Celestial Frost Sect make things clear from the beginning? On top of that, how can you even be sure that it was Forgotten Ruins God? Clearly, your Celestial Frost Sect attacked, and you’re using the name of Forgotten Ruins God to deceive and dominate the Perennial World!" Long Tian spoke up. As a member of the White Dragon Clan’s main family, even if his cultivation was greatly inferior to a Semi-Progenitor’s, he still was qualified to speak at this gathering.

Wu Yao looked at Mu Xie. "Progenitor Mu, the reason why my Celestial Frost Sect kept the matter of Forgotten Ruins God’s appearance secret was out of respect for the Wang family. However, there are some things that need to be revealed now."

The Semi-Progenitor looked back at the Wang family. "The true name of Forgotten Ruins God, one of the Seven Skygods, is Wang Miaomiao. She is the matriarch and founder of the Wang family from the Heavens Sect era."

Everyone was shocked, even Mu Xie, as this was something that he had never heard of before.

This was something that no one in the entire Wang family was aware of. In fact, even Progenitor Wang Fan might not know about this. After all, when this information had been revealed in the Fifth Mainland, it had been a surprise to Wang Si, let alone everyone else.

"Nonsense! While it’s true that there was a Redback in my Wang family, that was Wang Xiaoyu! She instigated the war between the Fifth and Sixth Mainlands and caused Progenitor Chen willing to fight the Sixth Mainland to the death. We have never had any other Redbacks!" an older member of the Wang family shouted angrily.

Wu Yao replied, "It’s definitely not nonsense. The truth is that Wang Miaomiao was the one who used the Sit and Forget that trapped the four Junior Progenitors in the Dominion Realm. How else could Wang Xiaoyu have deceived Progenitors as a mere Semi-Progenitor? The most likely method used to control Patriarch Long Ke is also the Wang family's Sit and Forget."

"Where’s your evidence?" No one in the Wang family believed these accusations, and no one else did either.

The Perennial World had not lost their history like the Fifth Mainland. The four ruling powers were aware of what had taken place during the Daosource Sect era, and even had some small bit of knowledge regarding the Heavens Sect era. Naturally, the Wang family knew the name Wang Miaomiao. They had simply never thought that their founder matter would be dragged into the current matter. Wang Miaomiao was a truly ancient existence.

Mu Xie stared at Wu Yao. "Does your Celestial Frost Sect have any evidence?"

Wu Yao held his head up high. "Of course. Our evidence originally belonged to the Lu family. Wang Miaomiao's identity was something that Lu Tianyi, the patriarch of the Lu family, was aware of. When the Lu family was exiled, my Celestial Frost Sect obtained some of their documents, including some that belonged to Lu Tianyi. The fact that Wang Miaomiao is the Seven Skygods’ Forgotten Ruins God was in the Progenitor’s personal notes.”

Regardless of whether or not the Wang family believed these allegations, Wu Yao would only dare to say such things if he already had indisputable evidence.

Half a day later, the people from Shenwu's Sky, the Wang family, and the White Dragon Clan all left the Celestial Frost Sect. Right after the dispersal, a group of powerhouses from all four ruling powers rushed to the Middle Realm’s Yinshan District and started frantically searching for Forgotten Ruins God, whom Wu Yao had brought up.

Inside the Celestial Frost Sect, Bai Su went to speak with Wu Yao. "Is Forgotten Ruins God really behind everything?"

Wu Yao said nothing at all. Bai Su was simply a puppet, and he was not qualified to know about certain matters.

The leaders of the four ruling powers had all disappeared, and Wu Yao had no idea who was truly behind it. He had pushed everything onto Forgotten Ruins God because Bai Xian'er had told him to do as such. He had not expected the woman to deliver instructions to point fingers at Forgotten Ruins God.

Shenwu’s Sky and two other major powers had united against the Celestial Frost Sect. While they had predetermined that the Celestial Frost Sect was the guilty party, they did not have conclusive evidence to support those claims. Since everything was truly nothing more than speculation, the Celestial Frost Sect had simply needed to provide a more reasonable possibility.

If there was evidence that the Seven Skygods had captured the four ruling powers' leaders and left evidence implicating another party, then everyone could readily accept it.

As for evidence, there was no true evidence. The Celestial Frost Sect had only been able to prove that Forgotten Ruins God was indeed Wang Miaomiao. Nothing more. There was absolutely no evidence that Forgotten Ruins God had taken action.

Bai Xian'er had ordered Wu Yao to pin all the crimes onto Forgotten Ruins God, and this worked to resolve the conflict. It was not really important if Shenwu's Sky and the other two powers believed that Forgotten Ruins God was the culprit, as all that mattered was that their aggression needed to be redirected. Without reliable evidence indicating who had kidnapped the leaders of the four ruling powers, there would only be suspicions and no confirmations.

Knowing this, Wu Yao stared down towards the Middle Realm. Who was the true culprit? Did Bai Xian'er know? Was it possible that she really was the one behind everything?

She was already the most likely suspect as far as Shenwu's Sky and the other two parties were concerned.

Far away, in Virtue Archives, Lu Yin was ignorant that the Celestial Frost Sect had succeeded in temporarily averting a crisis. While Lu Yin could create misunderstandings, Bai Xian'er could similarly redirect those misunderstandings. Everything depended on the methods employed.

Lu Yin continued waiting for the four ruling powers to start making trouble in Virtue Archives. He was not waiting for them to make trouble because of the missing patriarchs, but rather because a Mountain and Sea had appeared within Virtue Archives.

The four ruling powers were very concerned about the Mountain and Sea that was hidden within the academy, and they definitely would not ignore the appearance of such a thing, not even if they were engaged in their own conflicts.

But even after Lu Yin waited for multiple days, enough time for him to give two lectures, there was still no movement from the four ruling powers. Lu Yin decided that it was time to speak to Bai Teng and the others and get the restriction methods from them as soon as possible.

…

Who could ever have imagined that the day would come when the leaders of the four ruling powers would all be collected and imprisoned on a mountain?

Lu Yin looked at the trapped form of Bai Teng. He then looked over at Xia Xing's clone, Wang Zheng, and Long Ke, feeling a wave of pride. He managed to capture the leaders of the four ruling powers, but he might soon be able to do the same thing to their Progenitors.

The Lu family had once been capable of controlling the entire Fifth Mainland by summoning dead champions with their Champions’ Stage and avatars of living powerhouses with the Investiture of the Gods. Lu Yin would soon become capable of doing that as well.

The bindings slowly faded, allowing Bai Teng to regain his freedom. He opened his eyes and saw Lu Yin.

Lu Yin was not using his true appearance at this moment. If he revealed himself as Lu Xiaoxuan, it would be impossible to discuss anything with Bai Teng. There was no denying that Lu Xiaoxuan wanted revenge and would gladly kill Bai Teng, which meant that the sect master would never reveal anything about the restrictions used to control Star Alliance. For this reason, Lu Yin used the face of a stranger, and it was a very average-looking face at that.

Bai Teng looked at the stranger before him. The sect master’s eyes flickered as he tried to remember if he had ever seen this person before. He desperately tried to understand who his captor was.

"Don't bother. You have no information about me whatsoever, though your four ruling powers will have to deal with me a lot in the future," Lu Yin spoke slowly.

Bai Teng's expression fell. "Who are you? Why did you capture me?"

Lu Yin clasped his hands behind his back. "Do you know about the Dealcut Association?"

Bai Teng’s eyes flared. "Are you from the Dealcut Association?"

Lu Yin intended to pose as a member of the Dealcut Association when speaking to Bai Teng. After all, Lu Yin needed a reasonable motivation to ask for the restriction method placed on Star Alliance. No matter what, Bai Teng was the sect master of the Celestial Frost Sect, not some average person. Lu Yin was worried that Bai Teng would connect his kidnapper with the remnants of the Lu family, which would be a problem. Lu Yin had no chance of capturing any other high-ranking member of the Celestial Frost Sect, which meant that Bai Teng was his only chance to get their portion of the restriction.

However, Bai Teng’s reaction made it clear that he was familiar with the Dealcut Association, which meant that Lu Yin’s original plan had to be scrapped. There was no telling just how much Bai Teng knew about the Dealcut Association, and there had to be someone incredibly influential supporting the association. Could that person actually be Bai Teng? This thought prompted Lu Yin to quickly answer, "I was hired to capture you by the Dealcut Association."

The man’s expression instantly changed. "The Dealcut Association paid you to capture me?"

Lu Yin remained calm. Even if Bai Teng secretly controlled the Dealcut Association, there was no problem with him making such a claim. After all, was it possible that there were no traitors within the Dealcut Association?

Bai Teng's face contorted in an extremely ugly manner. "Who paid you?"

"I don't know. My contact was a young man named Zuo Shan, and he paid me enough to justify the risk in capturing you. Things have become quite chaotic outside, and the Celestial Frost Sect is frantically searching for you, but it’s hopeless. They will never find you," Lu Yin stated. There was a hint of a smile on his face.

Bai Teng's eyes grew dark and cold. There was indeed someone with the name of Zuo Shan in the Dealcut Association. The young man was Zuo Lingzhu's nephew. Lu Yin’s guess had been quite accurate; Bai Teng did indeed have a great deal of knowledge of the Dealcut Association. He was not the one controlling the secret society, though he was cooperating with them.

The sect master of the Celestial Frost Sect was nothing but a puppet, but Bai Teng wanted to truly gain control of his sect. To achieve that goal, the Dealcut Association was but one of the man’s methods. He had been trying to spread his influence, and the Dealcut Association was able to easily gain access to the rear battlefield’s resources, and much of that access was directly due to Bai Teng’s support. He had never expected them to send someone to capture him. What was the purpose?

"The Dealcut Association hired you to capture me? Why? If it's because the four ruling powers have been trying to wipe them out, I really can’t do anything about that. Shenwu's Sky got their information from Realmless, so there’s nothing that I can do to help," Bai Teng replied.

Lu Yin said, "The Dealcut Association wants to learn your portion of the restriction method used to control Star Alliance."

Bai Teng's expression instantly changed. "You’re the one who captured Xia Xing's clone!"

Lu Yin's mouth curled up into a smile. "Not bad."

Bai Teng was left puzzled. "The Dealcut Association is insane to go after Star Alliance…"

He had assumed that he had been targeted because the four ruling powers had started trying to eradicate the Dealcut Association, but it seemed that his capture was simply part of a larger plan. After all, Xia Xing's clone had been captured even before Realmless’s headquarters had been destroyed.

"That’s none of your business, and it’s none of mine either. I’ll keep this simple: give me the restriction method, and I won't kill you. Don’t tell me, and you die now. Those are the Dealcut Association’s orders," Lu Yin said.

"I want to speak to Elder Qiu!" Bai Teng demanded.

Lu Yin's eyes flashed. Elder Qiu? The man who controlled Ceaseless Impetus on the rear battlefield? Was he the leader of the Dealcut Association? "No one is coming from the Dealcut Association. I’m the only one who will be speaking to you. Talk to me, or die."

"If I die, it will be completely impossible for the Dealcut Association to get that restriction method," Bai Teng replied. "If you already went after Xia Xing, you must be really determined to get it, and only a few people in the entire Celestial Frost Sect know it. Who could you guys target other than me?"

Lu Yin stared at Bai Teng. "Wrong. Not ‘you guys’ but ‘those guys.’ I have nothing to do with the Dealcut Association."

Bai Teng's eyes lit up. "What are they paying you? I’ll double it if you just let me go."

Lu Yin arched a brow, feigning interest. He moved closer to Bai Teng. "Can you afford that?"

Bai Teng snorted contemptuously. "Anything the Dealcut Association can afford, the sect master of the Celestial Frost Sect can as well! Of course I, Bai Teng, can afford it!"

"But you’re nothing more than a puppet sect master. In fact, there’s already an acting sect master in place: Bai Su," Lu Yin retorted.