Chapter 346: Chapter 345: Becoming the Master of the Devil Path (Added by Yinihuakaiwlc)
Several months have passed since Lele City was established.
All the major factions in the Martial World sent big gifts, but there were too many people, so after a discussion, they decided to only allow each faction to bring a few people into the city.
After having a banquet for three days, everyone finally left.
There was one person who didn’t leave though, it was the Young Master of the Revenge Gathering, ’the more he helps, the messier it becomes’ Chou Wuji.
Chou Wuji was an expert in the Array System, and was on par with the well-known masters of formation, so Shi Xiaole specially asked him to stay, hoping that he could set up several exquisite arrays in Lele City in case of emergencies.
"Setting up an array is not a one-day task, especially for a city the size of Lele City, it would require at least half a year."
In the room, Chou Wuji was looking at the architectural plan hanging on the wall.
"Thank you, Brother Chou."
Shi Xiaole expressed his sincere thanks.
Chou Wuji showed two dimples and waved his hand: "You’re too polite, Brother Shi. Actually, I came to find you today to tell you about another matter." He suddenly went to the four corners of the room, adjusted some potted plants, and inserted short bamboo sticks he had prepared.
In an instant, an array aura surged, covering the entire room and preventing any possible eavesdropping from the outside.
Lele City was entirely Shi Xiaole’s territory, but Chou Wuji was still so cautious, indicating that the matter he was about to discuss was of great importance!
Shi Xiaole became solemn, and arranged a layer of Inborn Gang Qi in the room first, then said, "Please speak, Brother Chou."
Chou Wuji exhaled and sat across from Shi Xiaole, staring at him for a long time before saying, "Brother Shi, although we haven’t spent much time together, I can see from your conduct that you are a trustworthy person."
"Brother Chou, what exactly are you trying to say?"
Chou Wuji’s preparations made Shi Xiaole even more curious.
"I..."
A shade of gloom and desolation crossed Chou Wuji’s normally bright and gentle face: "I suspect, that my current dad... is an impostor!"
"What?"
Shi Xiaole’s eyes narrowed.
Chou Wuji gave a bitter smile: "Brother Shi, if it weren’t for your invitation for me to stay here, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to see you after a while."
"How do you know the Assembly Master Chou is an imposter?"
"His appearance, temperament, style of conduct, even his martial art techniques and the most minor habits in daily life are exactly the same as before, but he made a single mistake, my nickname is Little Pigeon, when my father used to call me, he would always emphasize the last part naturally, but this person gives me a deliberate feeling."
Shi Xiaole continued to listen to him.
Chou Wuji spoke with sadness: "Brother Shi may think I am being neurotic, but ever since I began to suspect, I started to observe him secretly and the more I watched, the more I felt that he seems to be acting carefully!"
Shi Xiaole felt a chilling sensation.
If what Chou Wuji said was true, and the current Chou Huakun was an imposter, then who could possibly master all of Chou Huakun’s personal details, down to the smallest bits, and imitate him flawlessly?
Could one person really achieve this?
Chou Wuji’s hand was slightly trembling: "I noticed several other people in the faction, and some of them had also gone out for something. I got the same feeling from them as I did from my current father!"
Shi Xiaole took a deep breath: "So you’re suspecting that someone is secretly infiltrating the Revenge Gathering?"
Ever since he learned the lost art of disguise, Shi Xiaole was no longer fooled by appearances. The Martial World is so vast, who is to say there aren’t others who have mastered the art of disguise and are stirring up trouble under its guise?
But to be able to gather such detailed information on the person to be imitated, train to imitate them perfectly, and produce them in batches, just how terrifying must this hidden Black Hand be?
Chou Wuji nodded: "Since my Revenge Gathering has imposters, other factions must have them too. The most terrifying part is, we don’t know which are real and which are fake. Once the Black Hand behind the scenes makes a move, the Martial World will face an unprecedented catastrophe!"
The room fell silent and the atmosphere was a bit oppressive.
"Brother Shi, I told you this so you can be extra careful, especially with those around you!"
Chou Wuji left, but he left Shi Xiaole full of doubts.
In fact, he had considerable faith in Chou Wuji’s judgment, so he felt all the more that a terrifying storm was brewing beneath the calm surface of the Martial World.
Shi Xiaole shuddered.
The hundreds of people who joined Lele City had been thoroughly investigated and proven to be clean. But if even the Assembly Master of the Revenge Gathering could be swapped, how could these people be guaranteed to be real?
Shi Xiaole had an incredibly strong spiritual sense, so he was sure that the people closest to him are genuine.
In the following days, he started urging Su Yanru, Zhu Ling, Lan Ning, and the others to practice martial arts. His strict attitude surprised them a bit, but no one dared to violate his will, so they all secretly increased their efforts.
While urging others, Shi Xiaole also rigorously trained himself.
However, at his level, in the absence of available essence of the Devil Path to refine, it was very hard to improve his cultivation in the short term. Sword Heart, realm comprehension, and even martial arts understandings were all at a bottleneck and temporarily stagnated.
Shi Xiaole secretly used the Pupil Skill on each of the hundreds of people who had joined Lele City.
The result shocked him. There were actually nine imposters, including three masters at the Spiritual-Passage Realm who, due to their outstanding performances, had been promoted ahead of schedule to be one of the fifty martial arts Elders, and could participate in the major decision-making of Lele City!
"Who operated on you?"
Without closely observing it was fine, but upon closer examination, Shi Xiaole immediately discovered that the faces of these nine people had all been operated on, and their bones were clearly misaligned.
Of course, the person who operated on them was highly skilled, and only his spiritual power could sense it.
"I don’t know. I was secretly trained by someone for three years. One day, I was suddenly drugged and knocked out. When I woke up, I looked like I do now."
"Who sent you?"
"A man named Piao Daye."
"Where is he?"
"He is very cautious. After training us, he immediately moved his base of operation. Even I do not know where he is now."
After a series of questions and answers, Shi Xiaole deactivated his Pupil Skill and took his leave.
The man slowly awakened, rubbed his head and thought to himself, "What just happened? Am I too tired?"
That night, Shi Xiaole mobilized Su Yanru and Zhu Ling to adjust a series of personnel strategies upon hearing this news. Of course, they decided not to move the nine members for fear of startling the snake in the grass, but to re-employ the plan.
Shortly after, Shi Xiaole secretly left Lele City and disappeared.
After disguising himself, he infiltrated several intelligence organizations to investigate the secrets of the Saber Tablet Skill. However, for fear of being infiltrated by members of the resistance, he dared not post any tasks.
"The Saber Tablet Skill is a lost skill, an extinct art of the Demon Sword Sect hundreds of years ago. However, this art is extremely difficult to practice, and even the leader of the Demon Sword Sect only had a success rate of less than 30%."
The Demon Sword Sect?
Shi Xiaole was deep in thought.
Based on the investigation, the Demon Sword Sect was once one of the devil paths in the Great Cold State before being exterminated.
Looking at the Sun Demon Palace and Lunar Demon Palace in Qingxue State, as well as other devil paths in the nearby states, which are led by the Demon Sky Sect in Great Cold State, Shi Xiaole had a bold conjecture.
Could this be a grand conspiracy secretly planned by the devil paths of the eight states?
By switching out people secretly and controlling a significant number of the righteous forces sneakily, they could wait until the timing is perfect to launch a sudden attack. Where would the righteous path find the strength to resist by surprise?
The most absolute fact is that the risk of this plan is very low.
After all, even if someone from the Righteous Path gets the news, it would be impossible to expose everyone in disguise. If the news leaks, they can stop at any time.
Shi Xiaole was a bit creeped out. Whoever came up with this plan must be extremely cunning!
Ding!
"Man, when in the world, should uphold justice, clear the evil, and kill the demons and ghosts in the world with the sword in his hand. System Task 8 has been issued: Limit the host to lead the devil paths in eight states to save the Martial World from its violent situation."
"Task Difficulty: Three Stars."
"Task Reward: A set of first-class martial arts to be chosen at will, and 3,000 reward points."
"Task Punishment: Suspension of the host’s privilege of free draw."
"Does the host accept the task?"
The mechanical sound that had not been heard for a long time was ringing at Shi Xiaole’s ear.
"Leading the Eight Devil Paths?"
Shi Xiaole exhaled a non-existential breath: this mission was too massive.
People in the devil path are not easy to deal with. They are as hypocritical as the righteous path, and they are as fierce and resolute as the righteous path lacks. Moreover, the martial arts of the devil path have always been dangerously bizarre and widely feared.
In short, the world of the devil path is much crueler and dangerous than the general Martial World.
Moreover, the task’s difficulty reaching three stars also sufficiently proves this point.
"If I don’t take action, if the devil path launches an attack someday, Lele City will be affected. On the contrary, this is a good opportunity to counteract the devil path’s plan. With the identity of Xie Xiaofeng as well as Wind God Leg, I can run if I cannot win. There’s also a first-class martial art as a reward. Perhaps..."
With a grit of teeth, Shi Xiaole ultimately decided to accept the task.
There was no time to lose, he could not afford any delay. He immediately ordered Qingfeng to return to Lele City while he traveled to Great Cold State, disguising himself as Xie Xiaofeng.
Qingfeng’s characteristics are way too obvious, it’s impossible to keep him by his side.
...
Great Cold State
In a secluded valley unknown to people, there are fields and houses crisscrossed with paths among the foggy hills that seemed to never dissipate.
"Leader, there is news about the Holy Young Master."
A man rushed to Lan Ye’s front, extremely excited.
"Oh?"
Lan Ye, who was drinking tea, put down his cup and instantly stood up from his chair.
Ever since the Holy Young Master’s unexplained disappearance a year and a half ago, their Lan and Huang families secretly mobilized a large number of manpower. However, they could not find him until now. Some people in the clan even worried that the Holy Young Master had encountered an accident. How could Lan Ye be calm when hearing this news?
"This Holy Young Master has a mysterious origin and strange behavior. He doesn’t seem to trust our Lan and Huang families very much."
Lan Ye thought for a moment and decided to visit his father first.
Firstly, he wanted to give him this good news, secondly, he wanted to test his father’s opinion on the Holy Young Master and his future course of action.
wlc
