Chapter 2689: The Price

Chu Jian looked at Bai Qian, who was standing a short distance away. "Just follow through with the terms that we originally agreed upon. As for Bai Qian, I’ll take her with me, so thank you very much."

He immediately started walking towards Bai Qian.

You Xian and the others calmly watched on. Neither He Ran nor Bai Qian held any value to the You family, which meant that their only possible value was as gifts for Chu Jian.

A small frown appeared on Bai Qian’s face as she watched Chu Jian approach her step by step. This situation was completely unexpected. Where was Lu Yin? He was also supposed to be one of the You family's pieces in this game, but he was a piece far different from what the You family saw.

Suddenly, Chu Jian stopped, and he just stared at Bai Qian. The heat that filled his eyes disappeared and was completely replaced with utter disbelief.

You Xian, You Fang, and You Lele were further away, but they also stared in Bai Qian's direction in utter shock, their faces quickly growing pale.

Bai Qian turned her head to look behind. She had no idea when a figure had appeared there, but someone was standing just behind her. It was a man, but a very strange man. Even so, Bai Qian recognized him with just a glance. He was Lord Wei.

Bai Qian was not alone, as You Xian and everyone else also recognized Lord Wei the moment their eyes fell on him. The man’s bearing and the look in his eyes were identical to Lord Wei's, not to mention the indescribable aura that only Lord Wei possessed.

How could this be? Lord Wei was dead, no?

Silence filled the area as everyone stared at the man behind Bai Qian.

The members of the You family felt their hearts drop and keep sinking. They had been wrong. Lord Wei had not died, as he was standing right in front of them. They had been outplayed, and Lord Wei had not been killed, but merely pretending.

"You Xian, you are very smart," the man said in a calm tone. There was no hint of anger or any other emotion. "Everyone from your You family is very smart, and you actually managed to kill one of my bodies. Fortunately, I hid this from everyone over all these years. If I had not kept a body hidden, it really would have been the end for me."

"Impossible..." You Xian was truly shocked. "This body possesses incredible combat strength as well. How could you have two extremely powerful bodies at the same time? On top of that, the body that was killed possessed manifested thought, which is your innate gift. There are innate gifts that can’t be moved when you change bodies, and...”

The man gave a small smile. "That's simply what you know of me, and that’s also what your ancestor knew of me."

You Xian's pupils shrank sharply, and he understood. They had been the ones being played this entire time.

Lord Wei had deceived everyone from the very beginning, including the ancestor of the You family. The ruler of the Transcendent Universe had hidden a body. The You family had studied Lord Wei for years to determine his strength and abilities, but they had only studied the body that he wanted everyone to know about.

"Innate gift? Why are you so certain that I was using an innate gift? Did I ever tell you that that was my innate gift?" the man continued.

You Xian's fingers trembled. Both Lord Wei’s body and innate gift had been fake, mere illusions projected by Lord Wei. It had been a trap that Lord Wei had set to protect himself from everyone, and it was designed to bring him back from the dead.

The You family's plan had succeeded, and if not for the plans that Lord Wei had put into play countless years ago, the You family would have not only seized control of the Transcendent Universe, but they would have also successfully driven Sovereign Shao Yin and the others away, fully replacing Lord Wei as the ruler of the universe. Unfortunately, they had fallen one move short.

It was not that Lord Wei was smarter than the You family, but that he had set up the game board in his favor before anyone else had even started playing the game. Even the You family’s founding ancestor had not considered that Lord Wei would have such a trick hidden away.

Chu Jian slowly bowed to the ruler of the universe. "Congratulations, Senior, for wiping away all of the chaos. This junior truly admires you."

Lord Wei glanced over at Chu Jian, and as he did so, the man’s eyes grew cold. "When did you gain the right to interfere in the affairs of my Transcendent Universe?"

Chu Jian was unfazed, and he even smiled at Lord Wei. "If we had won, it wouldn’t have been considered interference. But since we lost, this junior will return to my master to be punished. Senior, please don't be angry with me. The punishment that my master will give to this junior will certainly satisfy you."

Lord Wei’s eyes narrowed. "If not for the Great Sovereign, you would already be dead."

"This junior understands. I also understand that it would be inappropriate for this junior to listen to what is about to be said. Please excuse this junior.” Chu Jian offered another bow, and as he straightened, he looked back at Bai Qian. However, after thinking for a moment, he left without saying anything further.

Lord Wei did not stop the Junior Sovereign. Not even he could touch the Great Sovereign’s disciples. The more that one understood the Great Sovereign, the less they would dare to move against him. This was also the reason why Chu Jian felt free to behave so wantonly.

Throughout the entire Sixverse Association, no matter how deeply anyone hated Chu Jian, they could not touch him because he was the Great Sovereign’s disciple. Chu Jian was the Junior Sovereign, which meant that even Sovereign Shao Yin needed to be polite to the young man.

After Chu Jian left, Lord Wei looked back at the three members of the You family. With a casual wave of a hand, a corpse dropped out of the void. It was You Teng.

Even after seeing You Teng suddenly meet a tragic ending, You Xian, You Fang, and You Lele all remained silent.

"I was able to see your You family’s rebelliousness starting from You Ji. That is why I have always worked to weaken your You family's influence. Unfortunately, in the end, you still took action, so you really can't blame me," Lord Wei commented in an indifferent tone.

You Xian replied in a bitter tone, "You have continuously weakened my You family. All those years ago, Ancestor You Ji saw through your intentions to destroy my You family. There is destined to only be one of us, between you and my You family."

Lord Wei sighed. "Looking back, I now see that You Ji died voluntarily. Throughout the generations of your You family, as long as any truly gifted children appeared, I always found ways to eliminate them, but all of them were sacrifices that your family willingly gave up, just for this day. You Xian acted as the disgraced son, and You Lele acted crazy, but everything was nothing more than an act that your family put on. Your plan even succeeded, and I lost a body and was forced to reveal my trump card.

"Everyone was nothing more than a pawn for your You family. What a pity. If only you had sincerely helped me. With the help of the You family, the sequence particle research would have proceeded twice as quickly with half the effort."

You Fang sneered. "Are you trying to claim that you would have allowed my You family to participate in the sequence particle research? Bullshit!"

Lord Wei looked up. "You Ji was the one who doomed your You family, as it was through him that I saw the You family’s rebellion. He’s the reason why I was forced to move against your You family."

"You just want to be the absolute ruler of our universe, like the Three Monarchs! You want to suppress my You family, which is why you turn things around and accuse our ancestor of being hypocritical!" You Lele shouted.

Lord Wei ignored her and focused on You Xian. "Right, that item you just pulled out to threaten Chu Jian is Sovereign Dou Sheng’s emblem."

This comment stunned Bai Qian. Sovereign Dou Sheng? That fully explained why Chu Jian had backed down after seeing the item that You Xian had pulled out, and also why the Junior Sovereign had said that Sovereign Shao Yin would step back.

The Cyclic Universe had Three Sovereigns and Nine Sages. Of the three Sovereigns, only Sovereign Dou Sheng was acknowledged by the Great Sovereign himself. Sovereign Dou Sheng possessed unequaled combat strength, and all who knew him only had a single impression: invincible.

Just like his name, no matter who he faced in battle, Sovereign Dou Sheng would always emerge victorious.

Chu Jian was the Great Sovereign’s disciple, and it was quite possible that he would one day replace one of the Three Sovereigns, but there was not even the slightest chance that he would replace Sovereign Dou Sheng.

Even Lord Wei feared Sovereign Dou Sheng. That man was a powerhouse with peerless combat strength.

How could You Xian have something related to Sovereign Dou Sheng?

You Xian took the item back out and opened his hand to reveal it to Lord Wei. There was reverence in You Xian’s eyes as he said, "Yes, this is Sovereign Dou Sheng’s emblem, and it can be used to make one request of him. Lord Wei, do you think that your body can endure even one attack from Sovereign Dou Sheng? You should know that no rules can bind Sovereign Dou Sheng, and he is also the only person who dares to refuse the Great Sovereign."

Lord Wei stared at the item in You Xian's hand and nodded. "While I am not afraid of being defeated by Sovereign Dou Sheng, I also don’t want to end up in a deathmatch with him. His promise is enough to have me let your You family off."

𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

You Xian breathed a sigh of relief.

"However." Lord Wei’s eyes rose to stare at You Xian. "This favor from Sovereign Dou Sheng must be used to help the Transcendent Universe, and you, You Xian, must die."

"No!" You Fang shouted.

You Xian spoke up in a very loud voice, "Very well!"

You Fang turned to look at You Xian. "Old man!"

"Grandpa!" Even You Lele could not stay silent.

You Xian raised a hand to stop them both as he sighed. "We have betrayed Lord Wei, and thus, our You family needs to pay a price. I was the one to instigate this betrayal, and thus I should be the one to pay the price with my life."

You Fang clenched his fists. "We can ask Sovereign Dou Sheng to take action."

You Xian gave a bitter smile. He had merely been trying to intimidate Lord Wei a moment ago. If You Xian truly wanted to ask Sovereign Dou Sheng to take action, no matter if the Sovereign was able to defeat Lord Wei or not, it would not be worth the price. Ultimately, Sovereign Dou Sheng would not be able to defeat Lord Wei because the Great Sovereign himself would stop Sovereign Dou Sheng from doing so.

On top of that, the moment the You family used the Sovereign’s emblem to make a request of him, who would fear the You family in the future? Sovereign Shao Yin would not be willing to accept being slighted like before.

A single request from Sovereign Dou Sheng was not enough to erase the consequences of the You family’s betrayal of Lord Wei, and both You Xian and Lord Wei understood this.

Truthfully, You Fang and You Lele knew this as well, but they were simply unwilling to accept it.

The You family had spent too many years planning and preparing. From the time their ancestor You Ji had developed the Bestowal Art, he had dedicated his life to studying and researching Lord Wei. The family had constantly sacrificed members to Lord Wei while quietly planning to overthrow the ruler of the Transcendent Universe. All of those plans and preparations had led to the current moment. They had been defeated, but not because of Lord Wei’s capabilities, but rather because of the advantage of time.

If You Ji had developed the Bestowal Art just a bit earlier, even if he had merely been in the same generation as Lord Wei, he would have known that Lord Wei had a hidden body, and the You family’s plans would not have ended in this outcome.

Lord Wei left, and he took Bai Qian with him.

When the man left, You Xian died. He gave Sovereign Dou Sheng’s emblem to You Xian and then killed himself.

As for Sovereign Dou Sheng’s emblem, it was the You family's greatest means of protection, and they could not use it lightly.

You Xian's death only served to pay part of the price that the You family owed. Additionally, the You family lost all authority in the Transcendent Universe, as well as their control over the bestowal art carriers. They could no longer touch the weapons that they had developed.

Instead, the family would not be allowed to do anything at all.

When Lord Wei next appeared, he was at the bottom of the staircase where He Ran normally stayed. Bai Qian was still with Lord Wei. The two saw Ke Jian’s corpse, but there was no trace of He Ran.

Lord Wei checked the entire Transcendent Universe, and he even used his manifested thought to search, but He Ran could not be found anywhere.

Where had she gone?

Lord Wei frowned and returned to the Ziyou Realm, hoping to get an answer from You Fang.

However, You Fang had no answer for the man. While the You family had wanted to capture He Ran to lure Lord Wei out, they had never actually cared about He Ran herself.

When You Fang learned that He Ran was missing, the first thought that came to his mind was Xuan Qi.

The You family still did not understand why or how Luo Qian’s lens had appeared in their Ziyou Realm.

Luo Shan had been helping Chu Jian, not the You family, which meant that Luo Shan had not personally made any dealings with the You family and owed them no explanation.

It had been precisely because of this that no one had noticed that the You family was cooperating with Luo Shan, and not even Lord Wei had grown suspicious.

However, after You Fang considered the matter, the only person capable of sneaking Luo Qian’s lens into the Ziyou Realm was Xuan Qi. This even fell in line with You Fang's original suspicions that Xuan Qi was somehow connected to Monarch Mu's disappearance, and this must have been why Xuan Qi had helped He Ran frame the You family. If it were just for He Ran alone, why would Xuan Qi have helped her against the You family?

While You Fang believed Xuan Qi to be the culprit, he said nothing of his suspicions to Lord Wei.

You Fang hated Lord Wei, so why would he help the man? Additionally, voicing such suspicions would accomplish nothing, as no one knew if Xuan Qi was dead or alive. In fact, at this moment, no one was thinking of him at all.

If Xuan Qi really was the one behind this matter... You Fang’s eyes flickered. If his suspicions were correct, then Xuan Qi held an absolutely incredible status in the Origin Universe.

...