"We can directly go and ask for her," Zhu Yi said calmly. He said it simply in a straightforward tone.
Xu Yunsheng fell silent. After a long while, he shook his head and laughed. He was normally serious and thorough, but because of his upbringing he was forced to be slightly cunning. While he has many thoughts in his mind, he was not open about them.
Hence, according to his own mentality, he only thought of secretly saving her. However, he had forgotten that his own master and grandmaster were both very decisive.
Lin Feng liked to plan before he act and take every factor into consideration. However, once he had decided something, he would do it without any hesitation.
Zhu Yi was gentlemanly and chivalrous. He knew about the many devious ways to do something but he was uninterested in using them. If he were to do something, he would do so openly and righteously. If justice was on his side, it was even better.
For Xu Yunsheng, if he were to do it, it would be extremely difficult. As a spy of the Great Zhou Empire, he could not wriggle free from the control of the Great Zhou and save his sister even if he had an unlimited amount of items the Great Zhou Empire coveted. Hence, without any room for movement, he could only allow himself to be manipulated by others.
However, Lin Feng and Zhu Yi were different. To them, a family member of a second-generation disciple had been kidnapped. They could just ask for her directly.
Zhu Yi did as he said. When he reached Tianjing City, he went to his residence in its outskirt and settled there. Then, he sent the household manager of his residence to Liang Yuan, the Crown Prince of the Great Zhou Empire, to invite him over.
He signed off his invitation as the Xuan Yi Master, Zhu Yi, of the Celestial Sect of Wonders. The meaning was clear; he did not come in the capacity of a subject inviting the Crown Prince over, but instead in his capacity as a cultivator seeking to meet with a fellow Daoist.
When Liang Yuan received the invitation, he was unsure why was he invited. After he knew that Zhu Yi brought his disciple, Xu Yunsheng, to the Great Zhou Empire, his heart sank and he knew that even though it would not be a pleasant encounter, he still had to make the trip down.
When the two of them met, Zhu Yi said without directly, "My disciple, Xu Yunsheng, said that his sister, Xu Miaoying, is under the care of the Great Zhou Empire for many years. Today, I"m here to retrieve her to allow the two of them to reunite."
"For such a happy occasion, I am sure that you will not refuse."
Liang Yuan raised his head to look at Xu Yunsheng and said nothing. The Great Zhou Empire cultivators whm he brought along looked on darkly.
Xu Yunsheng said uneasily, "For such a small personal affair, isn"t it too troublesome to get so many people? After all, the person in charge of this matter on the Great Zhou Empire"s side is the Crown Prince Liang Yuan."
Even though he would have to undergo the ten years of hard labor, Xu Yunsheng was filled with love for his own sect till the point he felt uneasy and regretful that the Celestial Sect of Wonders would come into conflict with the Great Zhou Empire over his sister. This was not in his sect"s favor.
Liang Yuan looked at Zhu Yi with a heavy expression and said, "Could there be a misunderstanding here? To what I know, the disciple of the Xuan Yi Master comes from the Great Qin Empire, which has never gotten along well with us, the Great Zhou Empire. It may sound slightly ludicrous but now, even when both the Great Zhou and the Great Qin are in the same camp, there is still tension between the two of us."
What he meant was that he did not believe that Xu Yunsheng"s sister was under their control. Instead, it was a trap by the Great Qin Empire to stir conflict between the Great Zhou and the Celestial Sect.
Liang Yuan looked at Zhu Yi with an odd gaze. He did not expect that after Xu Yunsheng"s ident.i.ty was exposed, Zhu Yi and the Celestial Sect of Wonders did not eliminate him but instead, brought Xu Yunsheng along to the Great Zhou Empire.
On the other hand, Liang Yuan"s heart was filled with regret. Looking at the situation now, Xu Yunsheng was utterly useless to him.
Hearing that, Zhu Yi"s expression did not change. He raised his right hand and gently tapped on his forehead and asked, "Do you not know of what we speak?"
A beam of light shot from his forehead and clouds enveloped half the room. The clouds rolled and from within, one could hear conversations.
"How confident are you of becoming the First Disciple?"
"Your performance daily plays an important part. Other than that, the internal compet.i.tion in the sect is important too. Other than sparring with members of the same sect, you must also prove yourself against members of other sects."
"Master and the rest will be watching the fight intensely and consider its outcome thoroughly to see who performs the best."
"Do your own preparations and prove yourself when the time comes, you do not need to worry about anything else."
"We will take care of the sparring between the various powers and we will try our best to help you become the First Disciple. However, you yourself must play a part too."
One of the speaker was Xu Yunsheng. It was very clear who the other speaker was.
Liang Yuan arched his eyebrows. He overheard the entire conversation as he was right next to it when it happened. He was very clear on its content.
Looking at it now, Xu Yunsheng was exposed way earlier than he had thought. The Mana Trace ZhuYi had placed on him did not reveal itself normally but once Xu Yunsheng used Voice-Projecting Crystals or any other magic items to communicate, Zhu Yi"s Mana Trace would react and record the conversation.
Zhu Yi"s gaze calmly swept through the group of cultivators behind Liang Yuan. Finally, his gaze fell upon the cultivator surnamed Shao.
"The mana from the conversation appears similar to our friend here."
The Nascent Soul stage cultivator surnamed Shao said nothing. If he were to really show off his mana to verify, it would match.
Zhu Yi smiled and said, "Can it really be that you know nothing it, Daoist Liang? Then, it"s an action that you had taken on your own accord. Even so, it"s fine. It doesn"t matter if you want to report it or not, but now that I"m here, shouldn"t you explain everything to Daoist Liang here?"
"If you don"t report it now, then you are deliberately setting a trap for your master, which is a capital offence."
Zhu Yi"s tone was calm but every single of his words were as sharp as knives.
Xu Yunsheng looked to the side and realized suddenly, "Unless master kills Liang Yuan, this will not result in an all-out conflict between our sect and the Great Zhou Empire."
"Neither Grandmaster nor the Zhou Emperor Liang Pan, or even the Marquis of Xuanji, would intervene in this."
Lin Feng"s Steel Tree Avatar and the rest were resting in the other rooms of Zhu Yi"s residence. Hence, it appeared that Lin Feng had no intention of interfering.
Because it was not at his level.
In the Celestial Sect of Wonders, while Xu Yunsheng was an exceptional successive disciple, he was still young. On the Great Zhou Empire"s side, he was nothing more than an exposed spy. Great Zhou would not risk its relations with the Celestial Sect over this.
In the same vein, if Liang Yuan was really did not know about it, Zhu Yi would not act on him personally as long as he was not too stubborn.
However, if he were to kill a Nascent Soul stage cultivator under him, it would be more than enough to p.i.s.s Liang Yuan off. A useless, exposed spy against a Nascent Soul stage cultivator. Liang Yuan naturally knew which was more important.
There was no honor nor face in espionage.
Hence, Lin Feng would not personally intervene in this matter. He himself knew how to handle this and hence, he left it all to Zhu Yi. All he needed was final report from Zhu Yi when it was over.
In the same light, Crown Prince Liang Yuan would not elevate this matter to his father, the Emperor Liang Pan, unless he wanted to show himself as incompetent. Since the matter won"t blow up, Liang Pan himself would not intervene too.
As Xiao Yan and Zhu Yi matured, Lin Feng would hand more matters over to them for them to take care of.
If they did well, then they could build on this experience for successive tasks. If they messed up, then they must learn to resolve it themselves.
It was just like when the Path of the Heaven-Born of the Samsara Sect came into conflict with Zhu Yi, Xu Yunsheng and Ying Luozha in the Kunlun Mountains. Even if Lin Feng knew about it, he would not care about it. To take care of such an insignificant matter was not showing love to his disciples but rather, showing how bored he was.
In reality, if not for Shen Qifeng"s curious att.i.tude, Lin Feng may even hand Shen Qifeng over to Zhu Yi to take care of. He himself would not personally come in
To Lin Feng right now, only people of Liang Pan"s and Zhu Hongwu"s level could arouse his interest.
Liang Pan too shared the same att.i.tude. Both considered the overall benefits and interests of the Great Zhou Empire and the Celestial Sect of Wonders. For matters concerning their subordinates, they would allow their subordinates to settle amongst themselves.
Regardless whether it"s the Celestial Sect of Wonders or the Great Zhou Empire, they were both superpowers in the Divine Lands. If the two of them were to come into a direct conflict, then it would surely be a large-scaled and prolonged war that would be enough to change the entire political landscape of the Divine Lands.
For such a conflict, it would not be just between the Celestial Sect of Wonders and the Great Zhou Empire. It would involve the Great Void Sect, the Mount Shu Sword Sect, the Great Qin Empire, the Samsara Sect, the Purple Clouds Sect, the Heavenly Master Sword Sect, the Royal House of the Northern Tribes and many other powers. All of them would make their own plans in response to such an event.
Even the demons of the Barren Expanse would pay attention too.
After he had understood all these, Xu Yunsheng felt relieved and he even smiled slightly, thinking, "I"m too insignificant. Such a small matter like mine will not raise a huge fuss."
At that moment, Zhu Yi"s voice sounded in his heart, "Your care for our sect is admirable. You don"t have to worry. Ever since Grandmaster opened the sect, he always believe in one principle: whoever joins our sect shall get the justice he/she deserves."
"If Liang Yuan does not give in and worsen the conflict between our two sides till it"s uncontrollable, our sect still will not back down. We"ll go to war if necessary."
Xu Yunsheng nodded his head, "I understand."
On the other side, the cultivator surnamed Shao"s face turned red and then white. After a long while, he sighed and said, "Your Highness, this is all my doing. I have lost face for the Great Zhou Empire, please punish me as you see fit."
Liang Yuan said nothing. Zhu Yi said calmly, "We can discuss this afterwards. Please send my disciple"s sister over as soon as possible. Separation between kin is a painful affair and I"m sure no one here wants to suffer that."
The lips of the cultivator surnamed Shao trembled as he said, "The girl is no longer in Tianjing City..."
Zhu Yi looked at him and then said, "Daoist Liang and I can share a hearty meal together while you fetch her."
The cultivator surnamed Shao felt his breathing growing heavier.
He understood Zhu Yi perfectly.
Since I"m here to claim a person, you better produce her. I don"t care where you get her as long as she comes to me unharmed. If you do so, we will leave in peace. If not, don"t even think of leaving.