Chapter 2809: Him Again
Shock and uncertainty blossomed in Bai w.a.n.gyuan"s eyes. Xia Shenji was clearly also involved in this matter, so why was he acting as though he was targeting him?
Things were taking a very bad turn.
"Senior Great Sovereign, we are not."
"Jiu Yao, what are you doing with them?" Lu Yin suddenly shouted.
Jiu Yao was not stupid, and he had also realized that something was very wrong. However, he did not dare to speak a single word. There were Progenitors all around. He had never seen so many powerful cultivators in his entire life.
Beyond the Tea Ceremony, 9.99 million people were also observing this scene. While 9.99 million people had been granted this privilege, many more people had accompanied many of these chosen individuals to observe the Tea Ceremony, and because of this, people kept sharing all that happened there. At this time, countless people were paying attention to the recent developments at the Tea Ceremony.
Many people immediately recognized Luo Lao"er.
"Why is Luo Lao"er there?"
"Didn"t he disappear along with Monarch Mu?"
"Is he actually qualified to attend the Tea Ceremony?"
...
Bai w.a.n.gyuan bowed low. "Senior Great Sovereign, I don"t know anything about what Xia Shenji just mentioned. We simply wished to attend the Tea Ceremony."
w.a.n.g Fan also spoke up. "Exactly. We simply hoped to attend the Tea Ceremony."
"Do you take us for fools?" Lord Xu demanded in an icy voice.
Mu Shen shook his head. "They are treating the Great Sovereign as a fool."
"This is interesting," Lord Wei said with a laugh.
An ugly expression appeared on Bai w.a.n.gyuan’s face.
Sovereign Shao Yin quickly turned to face the Great Sovereign. "Master, actually-"
"Sovereign Shao Yin, the Great Sovereign asked them a question, not you." Mu Shen"s voice was calm, despite abruptly cutting Sovereign Shao Yin off as soon as the Sovereign tried to speak. The difference in strength made it hard for Sovereign Shao Yin to croak.
"Speak!" the Great Sovereign shouted fiercely. Her voice stirred the sky and shook the sequence particles themselves, producing a roar that echoed in everyone’s minds.
Bai w.a.n.gyuan and w.a.n.g Fan were startled, as the shout had nearly caused them to faint.
The peerless pressure that radiated from the Great Sovereign rose higher and higher. The stars in the sky above were eclipsed and replaced, and even phenomena similar to stellular tribulations started to appear.
There were no further thoughts of obfuscating the truth again, as there was no doubt that they would be struck down by the Great Sovereign for doing so.
Bai w.a.n.gyuan stopped hesitating or even giving much thought to what was happening. He was cornered that he had no way out. If he could not prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Lu Xiaoxuan was a spy, this day would likely not end well.
"Senior Great Sovereign, Lu Xiaoxuan is a spy that the Aeternals placed in our universe. The Heavens Sect’s Jiu Yao and the Sixverse a.s.sociation’s Xuan Qi have provided evidence." w.a.n.g Fan reacted even faster than Bai w.a.n.gyuan and stepped forward to answer the Great Sovereign.
Despite hearing the same statement from Xia Shenji, w.a.n.g Fan’s accusation still shocked everyone who heard him.
Lu Yin was the Origin Universe’s Dao Monarch and the master of the Heavens Sect. While the Heavens Sect was not the same as the ancient organization, the name still represented the greatest heights that humanity had ever reached. At its pinnacle, not even the Aeternals had dared to attack the Heavens Sect.
At this moment, the Heavens Sect’s Dao Monarch was being accused of being a spy. This spat in the face of all that anyone with knowledge of the ancient era understood.
Everyone looked back at Lu Yin.
The young man’s face was a blank slate that revealed nothing at all.
Lord Wei grew intrigued. "You accuse Lu Xiaoxuan of being a spy and bring up this accusation during this Tea Ceremony. You must have evidence."
With how things had developed, Bai w.a.n.gyuan and the others needed to make a desperate move.
"Exactly. This man is Jiu Yao, and he is currently the gatemaster of one of the Heavens Sect’s Twelve Heavenly Gates: the Bloodlines Heavenly Gate. He can prove Lu Xiaoxuan’s strange behavior, as well as the fact that he has tacitly cooperated with Aeternus. Whenever Lu Xiaoxuan has faced true danger, the Aeternals have helped him.
"There is a person in Aeternus by the name of Ye Bo. Jiu Yao can also prove that, whenever Ye Bo takes action, Lu Xiaoxuan is in seclusion. Ye Bo only takes action for a very short period of time, similar to Cheng Kong. Correspondingly, Lu Xiaoxuan’s periods of seclusion are exceptionally brief.
"It is normal for cultivators to spend thousands of years in seclusion, but Lu Xiaoxuan spends no more than a few years in seclusion each time. More often, he spends just a few months in seclusion, and occasionally, only a month or two. He has maintained this pattern for decades, which is impossible for most people.
“In order to provide further proof, Sovereign Shao Yin has specially asked Xuan Qi to cooperate with our investigation, which has resulted in him confirming all that we have been told by Jiu Yao.
"Not only that, but Whiteless G.o.d, one of the Aeternals’ Seven SkyG.o.ds, is hiding within the Heavens Sect and cooperating with Lu Xiaoxuan. If everyone from the Heavens Sect is arrested and investigated one by one, Whiteless G.o.d will be found..."
Bai w.a.n.gyuan had clearly prepared his case. Everything that he said seemed logical, but while it was true that he was using existing facts to prove that Lu Yin was a spy, those facts had nothing to do with Lu Yin. That was the purpose of Jiu Yao and Xuan Qi. In order to better present his case, Bai w.a.n.gyuan had even brought up the possibility of finding Whiteless G.o.d.
The mention of Whiteless G.o.d had a great impact on everyone.
Whiteless G.o.d was the most mysterious of the Seven SkyG.o.ds, as well as a grave threat. This was because Whiteless G.o.d was the one in possession of the list known as Aeterna, which listed all of Aeternus’s spies and Redbacks. This was not limited to just the Origin Universe, as it also included the Sixverse a.s.sociation.
Sovereign Shao Yin was also dragged into the matter by Bai w.a.n.gyuan. The Progenitor felt that the Sovereign’s behavior was off, but at this juncture, it was impossible for Bai w.a.n.gyuan to leave Sovereign Shao Yin out of things. If there was a problem like Bai w.a.n.gyuan suspected, then Sovereign Shao Yin needed to be placed at the forefront as a shield to protect and save the rest of them.
Their only options were to prove that Lu Yin was a spy and have everyone make out well, or all of them would fall together.
Sovereign Shao Yin"s face betrayed his bad mood. Everyone had some level of selfishness, and he was no exception, much less when it involved Bai w.a.n.gyuan.
The Sovereign had always prided himself on acting on his own self-interests and having no bottom line, but he had never antic.i.p.ated being deceived by Lu Yin and being defeated by his own arrogance. Similarly, the Sovereign had not expected Bai w.a.n.gyuan to dig a hole for Sovereign Shao Yin to lay in.
Many people turned to look at him.
"So, you have been cooperating with Sovereign Shao Yin and Xuan Qi, correct? That child is quite trustworthy," Lord Xu said with a smile.
Great Elder Shan Gu nodded. "I have also heard of Xuan Qi. If he has identified a spy, then it is reliable."
The man then turned to address Lu Yin, "Dao Monarch Lu, do you have anything to say in your defense?"
Lord Wei also spoke up, "Xuan Qi has captured spies in my universe as well, and even identified He Ran as a spy. After that, she disappeared entirely. She may have fled in fear of being punished. Xuan Qi"s words are indeed credible."
Lu Yin glanced at Lord Wei. It was a surprise for the man to speak up in Xuan Qi’s defense. How could the man truly believe He Ran to be a spy?
During the few times that Lord Wei had spoken during the Tea Ceremony, he had generally been in agreement with Lord Xu and the others. If Lu Yin had not personally felt Lord Wei’s aura, he would have suspected that it was Bai Qian pretending to be Lord Wei.
Did Lord Wei truly believe the allegations presented by Bai w.a.n.gyuan and the others, or was the ruler of the Transcendent Universe simply following along with what Lord Xu and the rulers were saying?
All of the people speaking were important individuals, and most of them were peak powerhouses. Many of the others agreed with the allegations, and they stared at Lu Yin with curiosity and wariness.
Bai w.a.n.gyuan let out a sigh of relief. Sovereign Shao Yin had made the right move. Xuan Qi was truly famous in the Sixverse a.s.sociation.
The Progenitor turned to look at Sovereign Shao Yin, only to find that the Sovereign"s expression had become even uglier. What was going on? Even after they had made so much progress and were so close to success, why was the Sovereign reacting in such a manner?
Wait. Bai w.a.n.gyuan suddenly reacted and he turned to look at Luo Lao"er again. Xuan Qi won’t betray us, will he?
Bai w.a.n.gyuan was growing increasingly nervous due to Sovereign Shao Yin’s att.i.tude. They were so close to success, which meant that the Sovereign’s behavior suggested that the weapon prepared to destroy Lu Yin once and for all was about to backfire on them.
The Progenitor stared at Luo Lao"er. "Xuan Qi, tell us your conclusions."
w.a.n.g Fan had similar suspicions as Bai w.a.n.gyuan, and he was also staring at Luo Lao"er.
"May I ask, where is my brother, Xuan Qi?" Xu Heng spoke up, and his voice rang like thunder in Bai w.a.n.gyuan"s ears, nearly stunning the Progenitor.
w.a.n.g Fan looked at Xu Heng and then at Luo Lao"er. Brother? That man must be very familiar with Xuan Qi, so why is he saying that Xuan Qi isn’t here?
Bai w.a.n.gyuan stared at Luo Lao"er in a daze. He finally understood. It was no wonder why Sovereign Shao Yin had tried to stop them. It was no wonder why he looked so upset. This person was a fake. This was not the real Xuan Qi.
As soon as Bai w.a.n.gyuan and the others arrived, Sovereign Shao Yin had tried to stop them, indicating that the Sovereign knew that the Xuan Qi with them was a fraud. In that case, was the real Xuan Qi already present at the Tea Ceremony? That was the only reason why the Sovereign would not have been able to give them an advanced warning.
Without that warning, it was too late for them to retreat or change tactics.
Bai w.a.n.gyuan and w.a.n.g Fan both looked at Lu Yin. He was the one behind this.
Sovereign Shao Yin closed his eyes. He had tried to speak on several occasions, but each time, he had been shut down. This Tea Ceremony did not only have Lu Xiaoxuan present, who had deceived the Sovereign and who was actually Xuan Qi, but also Lord Xu, Mu Shen, and several others who were helping Lu Xiaoxuan.
The Sovereign had no choice but to watch as Bai w.a.n.gyuan and the others stepped into Lu Xiaoxuan"s trap.
"Where is my brother, Xuan Qi?" Xu Leng asked as well, clearly confused.
Xu Wuwei also reacted with surprise. "Exactly. Where has Xuan Qi gone? You said that Xuan Qi has verified the evidence proving that Dao Monarch Lu is a spy, so bring out Xuan Qi."
"Have Xuan Qi come out," Xiu Ci agreed.
Lu Yin turned to grin at Sovereign Shao Yin.
The Sovereign’s glacial eyes turned to stare back at Lu Yin. "Lu Xiaoxuan is Xuan Qi."
There was a moment of silence. Then, laughter erupted.
Xu Wuwei, Xu Heng, Xu Leng, and several others were unable to contain their mirth.
Bai w.a.n.gyuan and w.a.n.g Fan"s faces grew ashen. They instantly understood what had happened. The little b.a.s.t.a.r.d had altered his appearance again and created the persona of Xuan Qi. However, before visiting the four ruling powers, he had found someone else to impersonate Xuan Qi. The Progenitors had no idea how Lu Xiaoxuan had managed to deceive Sovereign Shao Yin, but the Sovereign had just been forced to expose that the Xuan Qi cooperating with the four ruling powers was an imposter.
That despicable, shameless little b.a.s.t.a.r.d!
The two Progenitors were livid.
This was the third time, the third time, that they had been deceived by Lu Xiaoxuan.
Xu Wuwei laughed so hard that he could not breathe. "Shao Yin, do you understand what you just said? You just said that Lu Xiaoxuan is Xuan Qi! Are you saying that you want Xuan Qi to prove himself to be a spy? Hahahaha!"
More people started laughing.
Sovereign Ninth Lotus frowned and gave Sovereign Shao Yin a look of irritation. "Don"t be ridiculous."
Sovereign Shao Yin’s entire body was trembling. He was utterly humiliated, and he wanted nothing more than to slap Lu Yin and Xu Wuwei dead. Clearly, the old b.a.s.t.a.r.d had to have known that Lu Xiaoxuan was Xuan Qi, just like Lord Xu. How many of the people at the Tea Ceremony had known the truth? Those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds!
Shan Gu smiled as he looked at Sovereign Shao Yin. The Lost Clan had been waiting for a day like this for a very long time.
If not for Sovereign Shao Yin instigating trouble, the Lost Clan would have never gone to war with the Cyclic Universe. That war had caused the Lost Clan to lose two of their powerhouses. It was a grudge that they had never forgotten.
Things would not end well for Sovereign Shao Yin.
"Shao Yin," a majestic voice reveberated.
Sovereign Shao Yin went stiff, and then slowly turned around to face the Great Sovereign. He kneeled down and spoke, "Master."
"Repeat what you said."
Sovereign Shao Yin"s face was pale, and his pupils kept fluctuating. "Master, your disciple is ignorant and was deceived by others. I implore Master to adjudicate on this matter."
Lu Yin sneered before turning to face everyone. "Everyone, allow me to formally introduce myself to you. I am Lu Yin, Dao Monarch of the Heavens Sect. The four ruling powers know me as Lu Xiaoxuan, while the Sixverse a.s.sociation knows me as Xuan Qi."
Nearly everyone was stunned. Was Lu Yin really Xuan Qi?
Xu Heng and Xu Leng remained calm, as they had known about this beforehand. Lu Yin had made it a point to share the truth with them before the Tea Ceremony.
There were a few people present who knew the truth, but most were shocked by this reveal.