Chapter 2287: Misgivings And Deals

Back in the Celestial Frost Sect, Bai Su had no idea why Wu Yao suddenly wanted everything about Yu Hao to be investigated. After all, investigations had already been conducted, as the sect was diligent and cautious. However, there was something different about this investigation, as Wu Yao wanted to know every last detail regarding Yu Hao, even down to the way he ate his food.

As the most powerful organization in the entire Perennial World in the current era, any time the Celestial Frost Sect decided to do something, it would be carried out quickly and with great efficiency. Bai Su soon received every scrap of the information available about Yu Hao in a short amount of time, including everything that Yu Hao had ever said while in Virtue Archives.

Suddenly, the acting sect master’s communication crystal trembled, and he looked down to check. Xiao Qing?

"I told you not to call me unless it’s important," Bai Su said in a threatening tone. Xiao Qing was his most important pawn, as well as his only one.

Xiao Qing replied, "I just remembered something, and it's very important!"

"Go ahead."

"Before I managed to get close to Yu Hao, I accidentally saw that he has a saber. It has an odd shape, and it seemed rather familiar when I first saw it, but I could not remember where I’d seen it before. I was just cleaning the courtyard when I suddenly remembered where I’d seen the weapon before—it was in a book."

"What did it look like?" Bai Su felt a bit puzzled.

Xiao Qing described the knife.

Bai Su was a bit taken aback, but after Xiao Qing mentioned the name of Progenitor Chen, the acting sect master suddenly remembered that he was hearing an exact description of Progenitor Chen's saber.

"Are you sure that that’s what it looked like?" Bai Su was shocked.

Xiao Qing replied, "Absolutely. I saw it the first time I visited Yu Hao, and I only saw the weapon by accident. He quickly put it away when he noticed that I saw it, but I was still able to remember what I’d seen. It just felt too familiar. I’ve been thinking about it since then, but it was really hard to remember.”

Bai Su's expression was terrible. Progenitor Chen’s saber? Yu Hao actually possessed Progenitor Chen's saber? Just what was going on? Was Yu Hao related to Progenitor Chen? That was impossible. Progenitor Chen had died in the Forsaken Land. The only explanation was that Yu Hao was a member of the Xia family. Even though the Xia family had hated and ostracized Progenitor Chen, they had spent more time and effort studying Progenitor Chen's life than almost anyone else. They had researched his battle techniques, secret arts, and even his saber.

It is no secret within Shenwu's Sky that many members of the Xia family would copy Progenitor Chen's saber style, as it was not considered forbidden.

If Yu Hao really did have the same style of weapon as Progenitor Chen, then the most likely answer was that he was already a part of Shenwu's Sky.

"Say nothing of this to anyone!" Bai Su ordered before quickly passing the information along to Wu Yao, as well as the acting sect master’s own deductions.

Wu Yao's reaction was even worse than Bai Su's, especially when he looked up and saw a group of Shenwu's Sky disciples walking past: one of them was wearing a copy of Progenitor Chen’s saber.

Wu Yao glared towards the valley, wishing that he could kill Yu Hao. Wu Yao understood everything now; it was all a part of Shenwu's Sky's elaborate plan. Yu Hao was the bait that Shenwu's Sky had set out to deal with the Celestial Frost Sect.

This meant that Yu Hao had been a part of Shenwu’s Sky from the very beginning. This person was not Yu Hao, but a certain genius from Shenwu's Sky impersonating the man. It was even possible that Xia Shenfei had sent one of his nine clones to replace Yu Hao. Shenwu's Sky was always a rival. They had lured the Celestial Frost Sect into extending themselves to recruit Yu Hao, and at the same time, had caused one of Xia Xing's clones to disappear while also capturing Wang Zheng and Long Ke. Everything had been blamed on the Celestial Frost Sect, which had resulted in the Celestial Frost Sect being targeted by the other three ruling powers.

The best piece of evidence was that, when Wang Zheng had been attacked, Xia Yuan had been the one to pull out the offending slipper. After that, Long Ke had been knocked unconscious by Xia Yuan as well.

The ploy had misled everyone from the very beginning. Everyone had believed that someone had controlled or replaced Xia Yuan, but in truth, that might have been the real Xia Yuan the entire time! It did not actually matter. In fact, it was even possible that the person posing as Yu Hao might have been involved in Xia Xing’s disappearance.

After all, Yu Hao had been near the Island of Hope when Sect Master Bai Teng had disappeared.

Everything added up. Someone from Shenwu's Sky had impersonated Yu Hao, and then they had found an excuse to cause Xia Xing's clone to disappear. After that, Bai Teng had been dealt with at the Island of Hope, and Long Ke had been controlled and made to attack Wang Zheng. Shenwu’s Sky must have even been the one to leak word that Yu Hao was Grandmaster Gu Yan’s apprentice.

It had also been Shenwu's Sky which had cooperated with the Wang family and the White Dragon Clan to go after the Celestial Frost Sect.

Everything had been planned and arranged by Shenwu's Sky. It was all their doing. No wonder Yu Chuan had never been allowed to interact with people from any of the other ruling powers; they could not afford to allow Yu Chuan to let anything slip.

Wu Yao got to his feet, his expression completely transformed as he reviewed all of the information about Yu Hao that had been sent over by Bai Su. It was no wonder why such a fantastic coincidence had occurred. It was naturally impossible for such a peerless genius to appear out of thin air, which meant that Yu Hao was most likely one of Xia Shenfei’s nine clones. The Nine Clones Secret Technique made the members of the Xia family unpredictable, as no one ever knew what all of the clones were up to or who they were. Clearly, Yu Hao had to be one of Xia Shenfei's clones.

If not for Mu Shang learning the truth from Grandmaster Gu Yan himself, as well as the fact that Bai Su had a spy within the White Dragon Clan, the Celestial Frost Sect might have never learned the truth.

Shenwu's Sky was truly malicious.

Wu Yao stared into the valley from outside. At the same time, Lu Yin stared out of the valley from within.

Lu Yin had simply wanted to lead Wu Yao to suspect that Yu Hao was a member of Shenwu's Sky from the beginning. If this happened, Wu Yao would not dare to cause any problems while inside Shenwu's Sky, and he also would not dare to expose the matter. If others did not speak to Grandmaster Gu Yan themselves, they would learn nothing. Still, it was likely that more people would soon start visiting the Array Grandmaster, and there was no chance that the four ruling powers would ever be willing to let “Yu Hao” escape. This visit to Shenwu's Sky was the end to Lu Yin’s time as Yu Hao.

He needed to rescue the members of Star Alliance before everything fell apart, but he had no ideas of how to proceed. He had done his best to accomplish his initial plan, which meant that he needed to come up with some alternative.

If there was no other option, then he would simply have to use the strength of the Fifth and Sixth Mainlands to confront the Perennial World. The four ruling powers controlled Star Alliance and Crimson Garden, which held some of the Lu family’s survivors. As for Lu Yin, he had captured the Perennial World’s army that they had sent after him.

Outside the valley, Wu Yao truly wanted to go visit Yu Hao and expose him as a fake to his face, but the old man restrained himself after thinking things through. He was still in Shenwu's Sky, and there was no telling how they would react if he exposed them.

Shenwu's Sky was a long way away from the Celestial Frost Sect, and there was no telling what might happen while crossing that distance. Since Shenwu's Sky had plotted against the Celestial Frost Sect, then there was no way that things would stop at this point. Shenwu’s Sky might even be prepared for even more drastic measures, and that made Wu Yao very wary.

At the same time, he was curious to see how long the fake Yu Hao would continue the charade and what his final goal might be.

Wu Yao continued to act as though nothing had changed. He sat calmly outside the valley and just allowed everything to play out without interfering.

Lu Yin heaved a sigh of relief. Fortunately, Wu Yao had been the one to learn that Grandmaster Gu Yan had no apprentice. If an impulsive Semi-Progenitor had learned the information, Lu Yin might have been attacked without hesitation.

Two days later, Shenwu's Sky initiated the planned training experience for Virtue Archives’ students. This was done at the God of Food’s request. If the man had not stepped forward, Shenwu's Sky would have simply tried to use resources to entice the students, which would have been an easier option than what the Wang family and the White Dragon Clan had done.

Lu Yin intended to go with the students, but Xia Xing used that opportunity to meet with Lu Yin and deliver the star essence that Lu Yin had been anticipating.

"Why is there so little?" Lu Yin was far from satisfied.

Xia Xing shrugged and said, "It’s everything I was able to get my hands on."

Xia Xing gave Lu Yin 30 billion star essence, and he actually was not lying. This was all that the man had access to. He had not only pulled from Shenwu's Sky’s treasury, but even his own stash.

30 billion star essence was not a lot. Well, it was a lot, but it was insignificant compared to what Lu Yin had stolen from the Junior Progenitor Planets.

At the moment, Lu Yin spent star essence in sums of tens or even hundreds of billions, so it made sense for him to look down on 30 billion.

However, if Xia Xing had not shown himself capable of drawing the broken saber, he likely would not have been able to access even a few tens of billions of star essence. Patriarchs were really just administrators, and Xia Xing was nowhere close to being the master of the Xia family.

As for a puppet sect master like Bai Teng, things were even more pathetic. That man might not even be capable of accessing a few hundred millions star essence, which was pitiful compared to Long Ke and the other patriarchs.

"Forget it. It’s still better than nothing." Lu Yin was irritated, but he still reluctantly stored the star essence he had been given.

Xia Xing leaned forward. "The blood?"

Lu Yin casually tossed the man a small bottle of blood. "It's yours."

Xia Xing looked at the small bottle in his hand and could not stop himself from asking, "Why is there so little?"

Lu Yin stared at the sect master. "Just what do you think Progenitor Chen's blood is? It let you take over the role of your main body after allowing you to break free from the control placed on you by the Nine Clones Secret Technique. You now want to pay me for more of Progenitor Chen's blood. That’s not a bad amount to obtain for 30 billion. Find a way to get more resources, and we’ll talk again."

Xia Xing frowned. "But this isn’t enough."

"This is the deal. If you don’t like it, go ahead and try to pay someone else 30 billion star essence and see how much of Progenitor Chen’s blood you can get. Who else can provide you with the opportunity to draw that broken saber?"

Xia Xing sucked in a deep breath and suppressed his frustration. He helplessly stated, "The higher my status in Shenwu’s Sky is, the more help I can offer you. Isn't that what you want?"

Lu Yin nodded. "That's why I'm even willing to make this trade, but that doesn't mean that I'm willing to give you the blood for free. If that’s all, you can go."

After a moment, Lu Yin warned, "Just a fair warning, but it would be best for you to wait for more of Progenitor Chen's blood before you use any of it. If you waste it, you’ll never be able to replace it."

Lu Yin had not given Xia Xing Progenitor Chen's blood, so he needed to find some way to dissuade the sect master from using it immediately, as the fake blood would be discovered as soon as Xia Xing tried to absorb it.

Lu Yin intended to milk Xia Xing for as much money as possible.

Xia Xing stared at Lu Yin. "Since you’re saying this is a transaction, I have some news for you. It should be worth some more blood."

Lu Yin's eyes flickered. "Tell me."

Xia Xing was too valuable for Lu Yin to take advantage of the man. Even with the Death Seal, there was no way that Lu Yin could control the man with the threat of death, as the man’s death would instantly expose Lu Yin. Xia Xing understood this as well, so their current situation was really a matter of mutual restraint.

Only after the Yu Hao disguise was no longer of any use would Lu Yin truly be able to control Xia Xing with the Death Seal.

Xia Xing understood this as well, which was why he had proposed a trade.

"It’s news that concerns survivors of the Lu family. Show me Progenitor Chen's blood, and then I'll decide whether it’s worth this information or not," Xia Xing stated. He had decided to give everything he had in order to get as much of Progenitor Chen's blood as possible. He intended to use whatever it took to threaten Lu Yin.

As long as Xia Xing could draw the broken saber, any crime that he committed would be forgiven. He did not believe that Progenitor Shenji could not remove the restriction that Lu Yin had placed in his stellular vortex. As long as the saber was drawn, Lu Yin would die.

Lu Yin stared at Xia Xing for a long moment, and then pulled out another bottle of blood. It was much larger than the first bottle that had been offered. "Satisfied?"

Xia Xing stretched out his hand.

Lu Yin tossed the bottle over. "Your news had better be worth it. I shouldn’t have to tell you the consequences if it’s not."

Xia Xing’s eyes blazed as he stored the blood away. It was enough. The two bottles combined should be enough to meet his needs. "Shenwu's Sky will host an execution of all of the surviving members of the Lu family."

Lu Yin's expression changed drastically. "What was that?"

Xia Xing replied, "I only learned of this after merging with the previous main body. Over the years, the four ruling powers have successfully captured quite a number of people loyal to the Lu family. When Kui Luo reappeared, it was thought that there was a good chance that you had returned with him, so it was decided to execute all of the living members of the Lu family in order to draw you out. There should be a few dozen people, and the idea is to have their blood spread across the Perennial World in order to wash away all their sins."