Chapter 2639 – Profligate Descendent
"Hey, what trail are we following?" Lele asked, puzzled.
Lu Yin solemnly responded, "This is the path that the spy took."
You Lele did not answer. She refused to believe that Xuan Qi could track the spy with nothing more than Spiral Domain.
On the other hand, Xu Ji felt excited. Could Spiral Domain really expose traces that had been left in the void? Supposedly, Xuan Qi had used the same technique to track down Yun Wu, and it had also trapped a powerful corpse king. Xu Ji had initially been skeptical, but if they really did find the spy, he would have to believe the rumors.
Lu Yin himself was not certain how reliable the information about the spy might be. If they discovered that the information was not accurate, Lu Yin would simply claim that the spy had deliberately misled them with a false trail. No one would be able to refute such a claim, not unless Xu Wuwei himself arrived.
However, Lu Yin was not disappointed with the results, as the information that he had bought proved accurate.
Lu Yin and the rest of the group arrived in front of a very confused woman.
Skinner immediately attacked the woman, and she tried to resist. She used her strange innate gift, which allowed her to split her body into countless pieces that she then spread across a large area. Not a single trace was left behind.
She had thought that she had gotten away after destroying the research data, but as soon as she was captured, she immediately confessed to everything.
After seeing the woman"s innate gift and comparing it to what the surveillance system had noticed in the area before the data’s destruction, it instantly confirmed that the woman was the spy.
It was only Lu Yin"s fifth day in the Transcendent Universe. In just five days, he had already found a spy. The speed at which he provided results astounded the Transcendent Universe.
The Ruling Council turned their attention to Xuan Qi.
He Ran sat straight up when she heard the news. "He caught the spy?"
Ke Jian respectfully replied, "Yes, and he even has more than sufficient evidence."
He Ran was completely astonished. "How did he do it?"
Ke Jian replied, "Apparently, he used a battle technique known as Spiral Domain. Senior Wen Shi might know more."
Wen Shi soon arrived. While he demonstrated very respectful behavior towards He Ran, the man was not subservient, unlike Ke Jian.
He Ran used a somewhat formal tone to speak with Wen Shi. "Mr. Wen, what is Spiral Domain?”
Wen Shi replied, "It"s an incomprehensible battle technique that uses the power of s.p.a.ce. It"s unique to the Voidforce Universe"s Xu Wuwei. When the technique was first used on the Endless Frontier, even the Seven SkyG.o.ds were stunned by it, and they commented that it relied on spatial manipulation. With this, Senior Xu Wuwei…”
Wen Shi gave a rather lengthy explanation, but it boiled down to the fact that Spiral Domain was a truly formidable battle technique.
He Ran’s brow furrowed. She had made sure to be well informed of everything pertaining to Xuan Qi, and she knew that he had apparently comprehended an extraordinary battle technique. However, unlike Bai Qian, He Ran did not care about personal strength. She only pursued perfection. For this reason, she had somewhat overlooked his Spiral Domain, but unexpectedly, she was now learning that it was a battle technique that could astonish even someone like Wen Shi.
"Uncle Mo should have seen it before as well," Wen Shi concluded, as he turned to look towards a corner of the room.
Uncle Mo stepped out, his hands clasped behind his back as he thought back. "I have seen it. Senior Xu Wuwei"s Spiral Domain is beyond understanding, especially for those of us from the Transcendent Universe who rely on energy converters. It"s said that Xuan Qi has discovered many spies by tracking their movements through the void.”
Wen Shi nodded. "It sounds unbelievable, but it isn’t impossible."
He Ran was shocked. "Is such a thing actually possible?"
Uncle Mo smiled bitterly. "Our black energy converters allow us to reach heights of power that most can only dream of, but this shortcut to power naturally comes with a price—we merely use that pinnacle strength, and we are not masters of it."
He Ran turned away, thinking back to everything she knew about Xuan Qi. The young man was growing increasingly valuable, and it turned out that she had still been underestimating him.
It was time to have another talk with her “younger brother.”
"Uncle Mo, please bring Xuan Qi to me," He Ran said.
Wen Shi frowned. "Madam He Ran, Xuan Qi has uncovered many spies, providing a great service to the Transcendent Universe and humanity as a whole. I hope that you will treat him kindly."
He Ran chuckled. "Mr. Wen, you may not be aware of this, but Xuan Qi is someone I regard as my younger brother."
Wen Shi was caught off guard. "I see. I was too hasty with my words."
"Thank you for showing such concern for my little brother, Mr. Wen," He Ran replied with a laugh.
Uncle Mo nodded at his orders and left.
Wen Shi also departed.
After being captured, the spy was taken back to the You family’s territory. While Lu Yin had been out searching for the spy, the You family had not moved any slower than Lu Yin. They had already identified the person who had suggested that the Cloudflow Universe could be responsible for the destruction of the research data.
Identifying the person was one thing, but questioning them was something else entirely. The person who had first started the rumors was actually a member of the Ruling Council, and the suggestion of the Cloudflow Universe’s involvement had come up during a Council meeting.
As soon as Lu Yin heard about this, he became increasingly certain that something was off about the man.
Cloudflow himself had been captured by the Transcendent Universe, and the Cloudflow Universe had been fully a.n.a.lyzed. Despite these details, a member of the Ruling Council had still tried to pin blame on the Cloudflow Universe, and he had even spread rumors about it. Clearly, there was a problem.
A member of the Ruling Council had to know that Cloudflow was a captive. If Zuo Gong was aware of how many black energy converters actually belonged to the Transcendent Universe, then Cloudflow"s captivity should not be a secret to the Ruling Council either. After all, even the natives of the Cloudflow Universe were aware of the matter, so how could the Ruling Council be ignorant?
It was clear that the rumors had been deliberately spread to mislead people.
"What should we do about this person?" Lu Yin asked. Despite how suspicious the man’s behavior was, he was still a member of the group that appeared to rule over the entire Transcendent Universe. This was not someone whom Lu Yin could simply arrest.
You Lele nonchalantly replied, "Father’s already gone to deal with it. When you get back to our place, that man will be waiting there for you."
Lu Yin nodded. As he had expected, You Fang did not fear the Ruling Council at all. All the members of the Ruling Council possessed an important status, but it was nothing more than a facade. To the truly influential people of the Transcendent Universe, it had little weight.
However, before the Bureau members could return to the Ziyou Realm, they were stopped by Uncle Mo. "Xuan Qi, Madam He Ran wishes to see you."
You Lele arched a brow and stepped forward. "Xuan Qi is on his way to visit my You family."
Uncle Mo laughed. "It’s just a quick meeting. This won"t take long."
Lu Yin replied, "I was intending to meet with Sister Ran after this investigation finished, but since you’re already here, Uncle Mo, I’ll go with you and say h.e.l.lo to Sister Ran now."
You Lele gave Lu Yin an odd look. "‘Sister’ Ran?"
"Yes, Sister Ran. What"s wrong?" Lu Yin asked.
You Lele showed her teeth as she scratched her head. White dandruff flew off, which forced Lu Yin to quickly take a step back. Xu Yue, Xu Ji, and everyone else also quickly retreated.
"That’s disgusting, Xuan Qi! You"re nauseating!" You Lele spat out before walking away in disgust.
Lu Yin was speechless. Shouldn"t he be the one who was disgusted?
Uncle Mo"s expression turned cold. Even though Xuan Qi was the one being insulted, the words were also directed at Madam He Ran. You Lele was stepping a bit over the line of propriety. If not for the fact that Lele was the little princess of the You family, Uncle Mo would have already slapped her.
"Uncle Mo, please don"t take offense to her words. Let"s go." Lu Yin politely tried to smooth things over.
Uncle Mo nodded and then escorted Lu Yin away while the rest of the group continued on to the Ziyou Realm.
Once he was standing at the bottom of the flower covered stairs, Lu Yin let out a loud laugh. "Sister Ran, your little brother is here to say h.e.l.lo."
He Ran giggled. "You definitely arrived in the Transcendent Universe several days ago, but you didn’t even think of coming to see me?"
Lu Yin shook his head and helplessly replied, "I"ve been very busy after arriving. The You family suddenly invited me here to the Transcendent Universe to help them hunt down spies. You should know that I"ve already managed to arrest many spies in the Voidforce Universe. I can"t lose face here in the Transcendent Universe, and I also cannot allow you to lose any face. Because of that, I’ve spent every minute of my time here tracking down spies, and luckily, I’ve found one."
"I heard that you found this spy almost instantly with Spiral Domain by tracking her movements through the void. It doesn’t sound like it was all that difficult," He Ran said curiously.
Uncle Mo was staring at Lu Yin, still unable to believe that the young man had mastered Spiral Domain in just half a year.
With a bitter tone, Lu Yin lamented, "If only things were so simple. Sister Ran, do you have any idea how many people leave tracks through the void, or how to differentiate those tracks? It’s rather complicated, and I needed to carefully a.n.a.lyze the movement patterns left by everyone who visited the database before so that I could identify who had left which tracks."
"So much trouble? Things have been difficult for my little brother," He Ran comforted with a soft tone.
Lu Yin smiled. "As long as I don"t disgrace either of us, this much trouble isn’t any problem. There"s nothing more important to me than maintaining your reputation. Everyone knows that I call you Sister Ran."
He Ran was caught off guard by this. "Everyone knows?"
Uncle Mo spoke up to answer, "Xuan Qi mentioned your relationship before coming here, so word of it should have already spread by now."
Lu Yin asked with obvious concern, "Sister Ran, will there be any problems because of this?"
A smile crept across He Ran’s face as she replied, "Of course not. I"m thrilled that you regard me as your sister."
"Of course!" Lu Yin puffed out his chest.
Laughing, He Ran commented, "I never gave you a welcome gift the last time we met. Consider this my attempt to make up for that to you."
A white energy converter floated over in front of Lu Yin.
Breathing heavily, Lu Yin stuttered, "Is this… a white energy converter? The second most powerful energy converters possible? Sister, this is too much!"
A chuckle escaped He Ran. "Not at all. You already have one, so if you don’t need this one, just sell it and buy whatever you do need. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to give you."
He Ran, just give me yourself! I"ll take you back to the Heavens Sect to be our lucky mascot! Lu Yin mentally replied while putting on a show of grat.i.tude.
"Little Brother, I asked Uncle Mo to bring you here because there"s something that you need to be aware of." He Ran glanced at Uncle Mo.
Lu Yin immediately grew serious. "What is it?"
"Xuan Qi, do you know why the You family asked you to come here and a.s.sist them in hunting down spies?" Uncle Mo asked in a somber tone.
"I can’t say, but I thought that it was rather odd myself. From what I know, for many years, the You family has barely shown any concern about their responsibilities for the Bureau, but now they appear to be very concerned, and it seems to have come from nowhere."
"That’s where you’re mistaken. The You family cares a great deal about the Bureau. A very great deal. However, something happened in the past that caused the You family"s att.i.tude towards the Bureau to sour, and it also led to the current situation," Uncle Mo explained.
"The You family once had a wayward descendent known as You Xian…"
Lu Yin silently listened to Uncle Mo"s story. This was the first time Lu Yin had heard any of this information, as he had only previously known that the Ruling Council had used the Bureau to divide the You family"s power. From Uncle Mo, Lu Yin was learning about an alternate version of those events.
You Xian had been a notorious spendthrift in the You family, and he had enjoyed a terrible reputation. He had been regarded as the Transcendent Universe’s model degenerate. The reason for this was that You Xian had squandered all of his family"s wealth as he attempted to consolidate the Bureau.
You Xian had indeed been a spendthrift, but he had been a spendthrift with ideals and goals.
His ultimate goal had been to consolidate all of the Sixverse a.s.sociation"s Bureau branches, transforming it into a cohesive ent.i.ty independent of the Sixverse a.s.sociation that would have the authority to arrest spies and deal with them. To achieve this goal, You Xian had ceaselessly spent the You family"s almost inexhaustible wealth to create a network of contacts from all parts of the Sixverse a.s.sociation.
However, all of You Xian’s accomplishments had become a joke, as he had been seen as a spendthrift who had not only failed to accomplish his goal, but had also led the You family into generations of decline.