Chapter 2875: Chapter 2875
"Excellent! Since Li Daoyuan has played the trick of ’shedding the cicada’s shell’ on us, we’ll counter with ’waiting by the stump for a hare’!"
Ye Liuyun’s heart leaped with joy upon hearing this and immediately had Lin Huo agree to the plan. Then, he and his doppelganger disguised themselves as two of Lin Huo’s disciples using the Thousand Illusions technique, accompanying Lin Huo back to the Lin Family’s Artifact Hall.
Lin Qing’ao and the others were instructed by Ye Liuyun to remain within the formation and not leave the Li residence, lest they fall victim to Li Daoyuan’s retaliation.
Along the way, Ye Liuyun also gathered more information from Lin Huo about his background, the better to deal with Li Daoyuan. Even as fake disciples, they had to play the part convincingly to avoid raising suspicion.
Lin Huo even suggested that Ye Liuyun set up a formation in advance to trap Li Daoyuan.
Ye Liuyun pondered for a moment, reasoning that Li Daoyuan was now like a startled bird—hyper-vigilant wherever he went. If the formation were detected, it might arouse his suspicion and scare him off.
"No need. We’ll simply wait for him in your family’s Artifact Hall. As long as he comes within my reach, I won’t let him escape."
Ye Liuyun had already decided: the moment he laid eyes on Li Daoyuan, he would strike using his temporal powers.
"This time, there’s no way I’m letting him slip away again! If he escapes once more, catching him will be next to impossible!"
After Lin Huo brought Ye Liuyun and his doppelganger back to the Artifact Hall, he arranged for them to stay there.
With nothing else to do, they genuinely began learning artifact forging from Lin Huo. Their flames were perfectly suited to the role of disciples, requiring no special effort to maintain the facade. They also dared not extend their divine senses too far, lest Li Daoyuan detect them.
Li Daoyuan soon arrived near Lin Huo’s residence. However, he was extremely cautious, fearing another trap set by Lin Qing’ao. He hesitated to enter immediately, instead spending a long time probing the area with his divine sense from outside.
He was meticulous—without actively scanning, neither Ye Liuyun nor his doppelganger could detect him. As for Lin Huo, though his spiritual sense was strong for an artifact forger, it still fell short compared to Li Daoyuan’s.
As the agreed-upon time passed without Li Daoyuan showing himself, Lin Huo began to grow visibly impatient. Fortunately, his naturally fiery temperament made this behavior unremarkable, so Ye Liuyun let him act naturally.
Meanwhile, Ye Liuyun and his doppelganger busied themselves studying artifact forging. One wielded yang flames, the other yin flames, working together to craft a treasure capable of unleashing fiery attacks.
During this period, Lin Huo had also noticed that these two individuals truly had potential if they pursued artifact forging. So, he casually offered them a few pointers, and their interactions played out convincingly like those between a master and disciples.
Li Daoyuan spent quite some time circling the Lin residence, observing carefully. He found no signs of ambush—neither people nor hidden formations—nor did he detect anything suspicious about their act. Eventually, he decided to approach and meet with Lin Huo.
"You’re late! What took you so long?" The moment Li Daoyuan stepped into the Lin estate, Lin Huo’s spiritual sense detected him, and he immediately voiced his complaint.
"Something came up unexpectedly—it held me back!" Li Daoyuan promptly apologized.
Despite being the strongest in terms of power, he dared not act arrogantly toward masters of artifact forging, alchemy, or formations. After all, he might need their expertise someday.
"Is there a problem with the Soul-Calming Bell I forged for you?" Lin Huo asked urgently.
Unaware that Ye Liuyun had tampered with the artifact, he went straight to the point. Li Daoyuan had previously mentioned issues with the bell, requiring repairs.
"Indeed! Someone else has taken control of it!" Li Daoyuan replied as he strode directly into the forging hall.
"Was the formation on it altered? Did you lend the bell to someone?" Lin Huo quickly surmised.
"Ah, don’t even ask! Just take a look for me," Li Daoyuan deflected, unwilling to reveal Lin Qing’ao’s betrayal lest Lin Huo expose him.
With that, he handed the Soul-Calming Bell over to Lin Huo.
Ye Liuyun and his disguised clone merely glanced at Li Daoyuan when he entered before returning to their forging work.
This time, they confirmed without a doubt that it was indeed Li Daoyuan—both his core and soul were unmistakably his. Now that he was inside, there was no need to rush their move.
Lin Huo accepted the bell and gestured toward a chair, signaling Li Daoyuan to take a seat. He then habitually picked up the artifact and began inspecting it.
After a thorough examination, Lin Huo confirmed, "The formation has been altered—an additional master-subordinate layer was added!"
"Just as I thought!" Li Daoyuan chimed in, then asked, "How long will the modifications take?"
Lin Huo had already identified the issue, but instead of immediately working on the adjustments, he set down the Soul-Calming Bell according to the information transmitted by Ye Liuyun’s slave seal and struck up a conversation with Li Daoyuan. "Half an hour will suffice! But what soul-defense artifact are you currently using? Who crafted it?"
This was his professional habit—whenever he encountered similar artifacts, he couldn’t resist comparing them.
"A Wind-Thunder Fan. It’s not as effective as your Soul-Calming Bell. I took it from someone else, so I don’t know who made it." Li Daoyuan was well aware of this quirk of his and didn’t find the question suspicious.
"Let me take a look!" Lin Huo demanded bluntly, showing no hesitation.
Li Daoyuan frowned slightly, hesitant. He didn’t want to hand it over, but he also feared offending him.
"What are you afraid of? You have nothing to worry about with me! If I wanted to harm you, I would’ve tampered with the Soul-Calming Bell long ago!" Lin Huo declared shamelessly.
Even Ye Liuyun and his doppelganger, overhearing this, thought to themselves that this old man was truly a ruthless schemer.
"Haha, what’s there to fear? I’m just worried you’ll take too long studying it. I need the Soul-Calming Bell urgently!"
Reluctantly, Li Daoyuan laughed it off and summoned the Wind-Thunder Fan, handing it to Lin Huo.
The moment Lin Huo took it, he immediately erased Li Daoyuan’s spiritual imprint.
Li Daoyuan froze in shock. But Lin Huo acted so naturally that he assumed it was part of some test—never suspecting betrayal.
At that moment, Ye Liuyun activated his temporal power, freezing time. His divine soul surged into Li Daoyuan’s consciousness.
Li Daoyuan’s soul was no weakling—even under the influence of temporal power, it managed to react.
"You dare betray me?!" his soul roared in fury.
And the soul of Lin Huo wasn’t entirely immobilized—it could still react somewhat. He knew Ye Liuyun was wielding the power of time. The last time he had been controlled, it had felt exactly like this.
To him, those who could command such temporal power were practically invincible. So he harbored no resentment toward Ye Liuyun for controlling him. Besides, Ye Liuyun’s spatial world was teeming with master artifact forgers. He had already spoken with Qiong Qi, Tong Xin, and the others—they got along quite well.
*"Who told you to provoke someone you shouldn’t have?"* He even sneered back at Li Daoyuan with that taunt.
Meanwhile, Ye Liuyun’s soul had smoothly extracted one of Li Daoyuan’s souls and sent it back into the sea of consciousness.
Li Daoyuan’s remaining soul was still cursing Lin Huo furiously, itching to charge out and fight him to the death. But Ye Liuyun’s soul surged forward again, seizing his other soul and dragging it into the sea of consciousness as well.
