Chapter 270: Deeper Deductions
With each revelation coming out of Han Xuhan’s mouth, Elder Shen’s clarity grew, and the deductions in his mind became more profound.
At this stage, even if Han Xuhan refused to elaborate any further, Elder Shen could already picture the entire plan. The opening he had been seeking to demystify all of Han Xuhan’s schemes had appeared just in time.
Time seemed to slow down around him as he pondered deeply, meticulous to the utmost. To find a way out of this scheme was not easy, and to revise his own schemes in accordance with it was a monumental task.
In a moment, Elder Shen summarized the results of his deduction.
Question: Why did Han Xuhan replace himself with a senior disciple?
Basic Deduction: He’s already at his limits, and afraid of facing the fully unleashed might and wrath of a desperate Chen Yan, who has already reached the Soul Reformation realm.
A few thousand spirit stones aren’t worth the risk of being murdered or crippled for life intentionally or unintentionally, both of which are highly likely to happen in the third round.
Both combatants have probably exhausted their most deadly tricks and techniques. It won’t be possible to win through scheming alone.
So, a senior disciple proficient in Mystic Arts would have a far higher chance of victory against Chen Yan in the third round!
But was that all?
Deeper Deduction: Disciple Han Xuhan has a far-reaching vision. He probably knows that if he ever intends to enter the Inner Court of the Crimson Snow Sect, he’ll need the help of an internal member of the Inner Court.
Coming from mortal roots, he has no such connections, so he can only forge one!
So, he has trapped Chen Yan into betting the unaffiliated Voidboat ticket as the prize of this contest.
He himself has no use for the ticket, which means he can only hand it over to the senior disciple named Qing Hua, who has already proven her loyalty and reliability by choosing to face Chen Yan in the place of Han Xuhan, bearing all risks herself!
What an intricate strategy! It was like a chess move that gave a check to the enemy’s King, built a wall of threat around the enemy’s deadliest move, and at the same time, cleared the way for a Pawn to transform into a Queen!
To think that a lowly mortal with barely half a year’s interactions with the world of cultivation could conceive such a plan and put it into motion despite so many obstacles...
For a moment, Elder Shen’s heart was so disturbed that his Body of Falsehood nearly dissipated from the loss of control. Fortunately, he recovered just before Kong Ye from nearby could notice the chaotic aura.
Question: How is Han Xuhan so certain that Qing Hua will be accepted by the Inner Court as long as she has the Voidboat ticket?
Basic Deduction: If he’s aware of the prejudice against any disciple associated with Xuan Zi, he should know that even the most outstanding disciple from the outer court will find it impossible to survive in the Inner Court.
So, sending Qing Hua there five years prior to his own advancement, just to use her as a reference to clear his own entry, was nothing but a gamble.
Could disciple Han Xuhan be truly gambling on her chances? Unlikely!
Hence, it can only be assumed that Han Xuhan does not know these unspoken secrets at all! He’s under the misconception that Qing Hua can establish herself easily in the Inner Court and act as his golden thigh in the future!
Although this conclusion partially clashed with a conclusion of his previous deduction, Elder Shen’s instincts leaned towards it.
Even most of the Elders of the Outer Court aren’t aware yet. So how could a newly recruited disciple know about the politics in the Inner Court?
Could he have learned it from Xuan Zi?
No, Xuan Zi certainly wouldn’t go around publicizing these matters. His hold over the outer court is not stable enough yet. Even a rumor conveying this knowledge could lead to an insurrection.
However, this gave rise to new questions.
If Han Xuhan really does not know, why would he choose Qing Hua? Why would he design a plan so intricate and foolproof? The outcome speaks for itself, does it not?
Deeper Deduction: Did Han Xuhan choose Qing Hua, or did Qing Hua choose Han Xuhan?
Han Xuhan might not know those secrets, but Qing Hua might! She’s a senior disciple with a great background, after all!
Elder Shen recalled a very recent incident involving a disciple named Qing Hua. She had allegedly made the sect master furious with her conduct, going as far as to leak the details of the mission she had been given by Xuan Zi.
In consequence, she was punished with a mission that was no different from being exiled.
If Qing Hua plays her cards well, she can use this punishment as proof of her disloyalty towards Xuan Zi.
The unaffiliated Voidboat ticket can serve as proof as well, showing that she wants to enter the Inner Court not as a proper disciple of the Crimson Snow Sect, but as a representative of the royal family behind her!
This means, whether Han Xuhan knows the truth or not does not matter at all. It’s enough for Qing Hua to know, and as long as she succeeds, Han Xuhan’s entry into the Inner Court can only be guaranteed through her!
Incredible! Truly incredible! These two partners are not only scheming against their enemies, but they’re also scheming against each other to ensure that their own interests suffer no harm!
Han Xuhan is controlling Qing Hua to fight a Soul Reformation realm cultivator in his stead, using the opportunity to enter the Inner Court as bait. Qing Hua has kept Han Xuhan in the dark about the fact that if she wins, she will not only be in control of how she enters the Inner Court, but also control how Han Xuhan enters the Inner Court!
Having deduced this far, Elder Shen concluded that there were no more benefits to looking into this matter further. He was afraid that if he discovered any new intricate detail hidden in their schemes, he’d inevitably suffer a catastrophic qi deviation.
At the worst case. his Dao heart would birth a heart demon...
Shuddering, he pushed the fear away and switched his focus.
Question: Having deconstructed the enemies’ strategies, what should be done to guarantee that they still lose?
Basic Deduction: The key to everyone’s plan lies with the Voidboat ticket. So, whoever controls it, controls the outcome of the contest, regardless of the victories and losses of the duels.
If Chen Yan wins, the voidboat ticket will be returned to him. The insurrection against Xuan Zi could still be launched by relying on his victory speech.
To rile up the disciples in the gallery and get them to commit a few crimes that Xuan Zi wouldn’t forgive, the other Elders would have to get involved. But if the ploys succeeded, the net positives would outweigh the losses.
Of course, according to what Han Xuhan told his martial siblings just now, he probably had one last card to play if Chen Yan won the third round.
Perhaps Xuan Zi will suddenly show up and vote in Han Xuhan’s favor to break the tied result of the first round. So the overall outcome of the contest will be:
One clear win for Han Xuhan’s side
One win for Chen Yan’s side, and
One round where Han Xuhan’s disqualification gave Chen Yan a default victory, for which Qing Hua could appeal to the Sect Master and ask for a rematch.
But would Xuan Zi really show up to support Han Xuhan openly?
Or was Han Xuhan’s final card something else?
If it were the latter, Elder Shen himself would stop him, even if it exposed him to Kong Ye’s perception.
But if Chen Yan loses the third round, the voidboat ticket must not be allowed to fall into Qing Hua’s hands. So, the best course of action right now would be to hide the ticket preemptively!
With Elder Shen’s cultivation of the Deceptive Dao path’s techniques, it was quite a simple task to trick someone like Qing Hua or Han Xuhan into mistaking a fake ticket for the real thing.
Even if they took the ticket to Kong Ye for verification, and then raised a ruckus about being handed a fake prize, a counter-claim could be raised that this was another scheme of Han Xuhan!
The entire outer court has witnessed the depths of his schemes today. How could they not believe the Elders if they claimed that Han Xuhan had already hidden the real ticket and was just trying to bully Chen Yan?
Then, Chen Yan could use the opportunity to voice his indignation and trigger a soft launch of the insurrection.
But would that be enough? What if Han Xuhan, or Qing Hua, or Kong Ye, or Xuan Zi had other cards to play?
Deeper Deduction: If Chen Yan were to die as a direct or indirect outcome of the duel, then some hidden routes will open up and throw everyone’s plans into chaos!
On one hand, Chen Yan’s death would trigger the animosity of the entire Disciplinary Committee, and many more Elders would side with Elder Shen to oppose Xuan Zi.
On the other hand, it would drag the powerful clan behind Chen Yan out of the shadows. Losing a young talent who has just stepped into the Soul Reformation realm would definitely make them furious!
And finally, it wouldn’t be difficult to ’prove’ that Chen Yan’s death was orchestrated by Xuan Zi. So, Plane Inspector Fang Xie will have a real reason to directly impeach Xuan Zi and suspend his authority as the Sect Master of the Crimson Snow Sect!
In short, this simple move could rival Han Xuhan’s most brilliant tactic and overturn the balance of this contest in Elder Shen’s favor!
Elder Shen’s deductions came to an end. In reality, only a few seconds had passed since he had started thinking.
Disciple Qing Hua had just reached the center of the dueling field. Chen Yan stood across from her, radiating a livid aura.
Looking at the two contestants, killing intent slowly flooded into Elder Shen’s gaze.
A/N: The unusual writing style of this Chapter is a homage to the novel: The Eighteen Levels of Hell: Lying Is Forbidden Here. Originally, I hadn’t intended to design so many schemes in this climax, but reading this novel inspired me to go all out and see the result, haha.
