Chapter 2230: Convergence
"Is this what the Progenitor of Shenwu"s Sky"s decided on?" After hearing Xia Yuan"s story, Lu Yin had another question.
Xia Yuan replied, "I don"t know about that. All that I know is these deductions came from Ancestor Ziheng."
"Where’s the letter? Show me," Lu Yin commanded. He realized that he had greatly underestimated the friction between the four ruling powers. He had deliberately gotten close to Bai Weiwei, left behind traces of the Lifeseizer Palm during the battle when Xia Xing had disappeared, and then even orchestrated a supposedly impossible heist of robbing nearly all the star essence from the Junior Progenitor Planets. Finally, the fact that he had kidnapped Bai Teng had created one too many connections, and Shenwu’s Sky had started to put the pieces of the puzzle together.
Lu Yin could even see how, if he did not know that he was the real culprit behind everything, it could be seen that the Celestial Frost Sect was the most suspicious party. It was not unreasonable for the Celestial Frost Sect to have deliberately sown confusion. After all, what other reason could there be for Bai Teng’s disappearance?
The timing of Bai Teng"s kidnapping was just too convenient, and the fact that Long Ke had been present and looked suspicious made things even worse. Since both the robbery of the Junior Progenitor Planets and Bai Teng’s disappearance had taken place without the G.o.d of Food noticing anything, it meant that a Semi-Progenitor had to have taken action. All of the events lined up perfectly to support Shenwu’s Sky’s conclusion, or rather, their conjectures.
Lu Yin let out a long breath. Everything was an unintentional result of his little ploys. He had not tried to orchestrate any grand plan, and he could not even be thought of as having enacted a clever plan. Rather, his actions had been mistakenly interpreted as cleverness. The main cause of this misinterpretation was that no one believed that a mere Envoy could accomplish all that Lu Yin had pulled off, and even most Semi-Progenitor were not capable of doing so. However, Shenwu’s Sky’s conclusions also showed how close they were to seeing through the truth of the matter.
Lu Yin looked at the jade slip that contained the message for w.a.n.g Zheng. The message had been personally written by Xia Ziheng, and in it was all of Shenwu"s Sky"s conjectures. It also stated that they had already formed an alliance with the White Dragon Clan to stop the Celestial Frost Sect.
Lu Yin had no idea if w.a.n.g Zheng would be willing to join the alliance, but it was clear that the man would at least become very wary of the Celestial Frost Sect.
Lu Yin started thinking; how should he influence the situation?
It was clear that Yu Hao"s presence had continuously fanned the flames, and that was because almost everyone believed him to be Grandmaster Gu Yan’s apprentice. As soon as Yu Hao became sufficiently influential, the four ruling powers would absolutely contact Grandmaster Gu Yan directly, and then Lu Yin would be exposed as a fraud.
It was vital to reduce Yu Hao"s importance.
Lu Yin could see that Shenwu’s Sky’s letter to w.a.n.g Zheng not only presented the sect’s conjectures, but also served as a warning for w.a.n.g Zheng to be careful of the Celestial Frost Sect’s attempts to deceive him.
If their various suspicions proved true, then the Celestial Frost Sect would be targeted by both Shenwu"s Sky and the White Dragon Clan. All they needed to do was determine the w.a.n.g family’s position.
Lu Yin"s eyes flickered. The w.a.n.g family was the only one still missing from the tripart.i.te alliance, which meant that, if they were attacked in the coming days, the attack was practically guaranteed to have come from the Celestial Frost Sect.
In that case, did it mean that all that Lu Yin had to do was attack the w.a.n.g family?
"Senior, might I trouble you to share with my Shenwu’s Sky if you are old?" Xia Yuan asked while staring at Lu Yin. While this man looked quite young, given his strength, he had to be an old monster. It was quite likely that the man was using a disguise. Xia Yuan’s greatest fear at the moment was not that this person really was from the Celestial Frost Sect, as there was no point in hiding that.
No, Xia Yuan was afraid that this powerhouse would purposely get closer to the Celestial Frost Sect and cause them to raise their guard. However, even that fear was predicated on the a.s.sumption that the Celestial Frost Sect had not yet realized that the other three had learned the truth.
Lu Yin stared at Xia Yuan. "I"m not a part of any of the four ruling powers."
Xia Yuan"s eyes flashed. "Given your strength, you can’t be nameless, Senior. This junior doesn’t dare to ask for your name. All I would ask of you is to allow me to wait for a short while. Shenwu’s Sky will not forget your kindness."
"Is anyone from the White Dragon Clan going to come?" Lu Yin asked.
Xia Yuan saw no reason to hide anything. "Yes."
"Who?"
"This junior doesn"t know. Ancestor Ziheng was the one who got in touch with the White Dragon Clan."
"Why doesn’t Shenwu"s Sky simply reach out to w.a.n.g Zheng directly with a communication crystal? Why use this method?" Lu Yin asked, as this did not seem very logical.
Xia Yuan was genuinely surprised by the question. "Senior, do you not know that conversations held with communication crystals can be intercepted?"
"How does that work?" Lu Yin had never heard about this before.
Xia Yuan replied, "Communications crystals transmit conversations and images by causing the two crystals to both resonate with the same frequency. In fact, the communication crystals are made from a material that can transmit vibrations through the void. The resonance that forms is a spatial phenomenon, so as long as someone who has comprehended the power of s.p.a.ce is involved, then it is possible to intercept communications. There are people in the Celestial Frost Sect who have reached the void G.o.d realm of their domain, and while it’s impossible for them to intercept all the communications that occur in the Perennial World, doing so on a targeted basis is certainly possible, such as targeting communications to and from the w.a.n.g family."
Lu Yin knew very little about how communication crystals functioned, but this was not what he had expected. Could communications through crystals be detected by someone who had mastered their domain to the void G.o.d level?
Wait, did that mean that Mr. Tang could have intercepted Lu Yin’s call to Realmless? That call had been made from inside Virtue Archives.
"Are you saying that it’s easy for a domain master to intercept conversations made with communication crystals?" Lu Yin hastily asked.
Xia Yuan answered, "From what this junior understands, it is not that simple. After all, this is something that involves the power of s.p.a.ce. Still, as far as we are concerned, if there’s even a remote chance, we won’t take the risk."
Lu Yin heaved a sigh of relief. This was good to hear, as it meant that Mr. Tang had most likely not overheard Lu Yin’s conversations that had taken place through his communication crystal, not unless the man had been purposely spying on “Hao Yu.” However, this also meant that it was not entirely impossible.
Still, Mr. Tang was a fellow instructor in Virtue Archives, so even if he learned that “Hao Yu” had contracted Realmless to attack Xia Xing, Mr. Tang clearly had not shared that information with Shenwu"s Sky. If he had, the Celestial Frost Sect would not be under suspicion.
Of course, it would be best if Mr. Tang did not know, and that was the most likely case.
Xia Yuan told Lu Yin everything. Lu Yin then imprisoned the man on Zenith Mountain, along with the other person from Shenwu’s Sky. After that, he called Lei Wu.
"I"m from the Hidden Earth Society," Lu Yin stated.
Lei Wu let out a sigh of relief. "That"s wonderful to know. I thought that you were really from the Celestial Frost Sect."
Lu Yin gave Lei Wu a sharp look. "It would be best if you forget about everything that just happened."
Lei Wu quickly replied, "Senior, don"t worry. This junior doesn"t remember anything."
There was a moment of silence, and then Lei Wu asked, "When would Senior like to go to the w.a.n.g family’s headquarters?"
"I’m waiting for someone else to arrive and go with me," Lu Yin answered.
Lei Wu felt rather puzzled.
Lu Yin then proceeded to alter his appearance to that of Xia Yuan while standing in front of Lei Wu, much to the amazement of the man and his grandson.
Lu Yin looked at the two men. "Your only job is to get us to the w.a.n.g family’s headquarters. What happens after that has nothing to do with you, so just act as you normally would."
Lei Wu did not dare ask any more questions. "This junior understands."
Lu Yin nodded. He had decided to impersonate Xia Yuan and approach w.a.n.g Zheng with that disguise, just to see if there might be an opportunity to capture the patriarch. Besides, it would be much better to enter the w.a.n.g family’s headquarters with someone who knew the place a bit.
Elder Qing Xing had mentioned a legend regarding the orb of light in the sky above the w.a.n.g family’s headquarters. Supposedly, that orb had once burned a Progenitor to death. Lu Yin was under no illusions that he was powerful enough to force his way in.
The White Dragon Clan’s representatives arrived two days later, and the person who appeared was quite a surprise to Lu Yin: Long Tian.
Lu Yin had a.s.sumed that the White Dragon Clan would send someone from a branch family, like Xia Yuan. The fact that they had sent Long Tian was quite a surprise.
Of the four most recent Junior Progenitors, Bai Shaohong was dead, and w.a.n.g Su was imprisoned in the Fifth Mainland. As for Xia Shenfei and Long Tian, they were the only two still in the Perennial World, Lu Yin had run into both of them on his trip.
Long Tian was accompanied by a powerhouse from one of the White Dragon Clan’s branch families, who had nearly reached his third stellular tribulation. This man was quite powerful, comparable to Xia Yuan. As for Long Tian, he was at the same realm as Xia Shenfei, a one-tribulation Envoy.
The Perennial World’s four Junior Progenitors surpa.s.sed all others from the same generation. Wu Taibai, who had once been one of the Sixth Mainland’s Daosource Three Skies, was right at the cusp of becoming an Envoy. The Fifth Mainland’s true universe had been drained, which prevented elites like Yuhua Mavis from increasing their cultivation level. Without that restriction, they would have been able to reach about the same level as Wu Taibai. Out of everyone who could be considered Lu Yin’s peer by age, the most powerful were undoubtedly the Dao Chosen from the Heavens Sect era.
Each of the former Dao Chosen had become a two or three-tribulation Envoy.
Lu Yin could not help but wonder what sort of reaction there would be if he dragged the former Dao Chosen into the Perennial World and had them compete with the best geniuses of the current generation.
Long Tian"s innate gift was Seizing, and he could even seize s.p.a.ce, which was similar to the void G.o.d level of domain cultivators. Lu Yin actually wanted to see the expression on Long Tian’s face if he ever ran into Chu Yuan"s ability to control the power of time.
"Brother Xia, we meet again." The powerhouse from the White Dragon Clan was familiar with Xia Yuan, and he stepped forward to greet him.
Lu Yin was worried that he would expose himself, so he coughed and said, "Let"s go as soon as possible. I’ve suffered a few injuries, so I can"t delay."
Long Tian frowned. "If you’re injured, then why did Shenwu’s Sky send you? Was there no one else available?"
Lu Yin flinched at the proper time, and then looked rather offended. "My Shenwu’s Sky has many powerhouses, and all I need to do is warn a few people. Is that not your goal in coming here?"
"Even if the Celestial Frost Sect wants to attack all three of our powers, it"s impossible for them to move so quickly. Their level of strength can’t overwhelm the rest of us, and the Progenitors are still watching. Your Xia family is growing increasingly prudent." Long Tian made no attempt to act polite.
Prudent was just a polite way of calling them timid.
Lu Yin had no idea why Long Tian was being so rude to the Xia family, but he answered in a frigid tone. "My injuries are merely a small inconvenience. When we visit the w.a.n.g family, I hope that Junior Progenitor Long will say a few more words so that the w.a.n.g family will clearly understand the current threat facing us."
Long Tian had only said a few words so far. There had to be a reason why he was acting so rudely towards the Xia family.
When Lu Yin had been using the alias of Long Qi, Semi-Progenitor Ni Huang had engaged Long Qi to the Xia family’s Xia Taili. Not only had this blatantly ignored Long Tian’s sister, Long Xi, but it had also isolated his father, Long Ke. Essentially, Ni Huang had created a new main family of the White Dragon Clan, and even though Long Tian had managed to safely return from the Dominion Realm, it was quite possible that his family would be replaced as the main family of his clan.
No one knew if Long Xi was dead or alive, and Long Tian’s father had been captured by the Celestial Frost Sect. He was in a terrible mood. Furthermore, Xia Shenfei"s time spent infiltrating Realmless and then exposing them had contributed greatly to the entire Perennial World, causing the other Junior Progenitor to completely overshadow Long Tian. The young man was feeling quite depressed.
Long Tian desperately needed to save his father and restore the dignity of the main family of the White Dragon Clan. On top of that, he was eager to accomplish something great, as he did not want to be surpa.s.sed and left behind by Xia Shenfei.
This was the primary reason why Long Tian had made the trip to visit the w.a.n.g family. He intended to lead the alliance between the White Dragon Clan and the w.a.n.g family against the Celestial Frost Sect.
"Are you the only one who came from Shenwu"s Sky?" the three-tribulation Envoy asked.
“Xia Yuan” replied, "There’s no point in sending too many people, as the Lei family can only get two people through at a time."
Long Tian looked towards Lei Wu, who was standing outside the room. "Let’s not waste any time. Let"s go."
It was necessary to either fly or teleport to reach the w.a.n.g family’s headquarters from the cities below it.
Dozens of beams of light connected the cities to the floating hand, and they were the main means of transportation. Lei Wu led Lu Yin and Long Tian towards one of them.
Not everyone was allowed to ascend to the w.a.n.g family’s headquarters. Aside from members of the direct family itself and independent cultivators who had sworn loyalty and become the family’s va.s.sals, the only other people given access were some small families who were responsible for purchasing daily goods.
Lei Wu was allowed to freely come and go because his family had been a.s.signed the task of stocking spices and seasonings for the w.a.n.g family.
Spices were not considered an important material, which meant that Lei Wu actually needed to pay to receive such a job. Otherwise, it would have been a.s.signed to someone else.
Lu Yin and Long Tian followed Lei Wu up to the w.a.n.g family’s headquarters without encountering any issues. The other powerhouse from the White Dragon Clan stayed in the Lei family home, waiting.