Chapter 794: Chapter 793: Infiltration
If you rank the major forces of the West Sea islands, the Qin Building might not be in the top ten, but it would definitely be within the top twenty. It’s said that there is also a Void Origin Realm powerhouse stationed within it.
As the Sect Master of Qin Building, Yan Yuchai amasses power, status, and wealth. She holds countless secrets in her hands, and she herself is an extraordinarily enchanting beauty capable of toppling nations.
There are many who desire to see her, yet cannot, including the heroic figures who have established significant influence in the West Sea islands. They can only hear her beautiful name and secretly fantasize.
Shi Xiaole never would have expected that on his second day of arriving to the West Sea islands, he would meet this unreachably high-profile woman.
The courtyard isn’t that big, with deep trees lining both sides, large lawns, and flower gardens. From time to time, butterflies dance around, spreading a refreshing fragrance.
Soft footsteps sound.
Shi Xiaole pauses as he lifts his cup, turns his head slightly, and finds his gaze unable to leave her.
At first glance, the silhouette passing through the moon gate appears very tall. Upon a closer look, she’s of moderate height. Her dainty steps are not ostentatious, but they radiate an elegant grace that is unlike that of the mundane world. Just her outline and demeanor alone make it apparent that she is a woman of unparalleled beauty.
Her exposed skin and face further confirm this.
Her naturally colored brows, expressive almond-shaped eyes, all outline a picturesque beauty that is on the verge of speaking. Even the surrounding flowers and sunlight seem to dim in comparison to her.
Shi Xiaole averts his gaze without giving her other aspects a glance.
Niu Dali, on the other hand, completely loses control. His dumbfounded expression makes one wonder if his eyeballs are about to pop out of their sockets.
"You are the esteemed student of Mr. Iron Crutch, my apologies for not meeting you sooner."
If Yan Yuchai’s beauty is irresistible, then paired with her intoxicating voice, she becomes a nuclear weapon, causing even the toughest man to soften.
"Uh, uh, Miss Yan, Sect Master Yan."
Niu Dali’s face turns red and he stammers out his words, surprising given that he’s usually very smooth with women.
Yan Yuchai smiles and sits across from them without any hesitation. "Is your master well?"
Upon the mention of his teacher, Niu Dali somewhat regains his composure. "Master disappeared ten years ago. I don’t know whether he’s well or not."
There are many famous people in the West Sea islands, but very few are as renowned as Mr. Iron Crutch. Although he has never shown his martial arts skills, he is very knowledgeable. Many influential people have benefited from him.
There is a mutual sense of appreciation in the West Sea islands, which is why Niu Dali can meet Yan Yuchai in the first place.
This touches Shi Xiaole’s heart.
Niu Dali is using up his favor from Qin Building just for his sake!
Hushing his sentiments, Xiaole calmly shifts his gaze towards the woman opposite him, and gets hit with Yan Yuchai’s sweet smile. He feels as if he was struck steadily in his heart but manages to refrain from losing his composure.
"I had the good fortune to meet your master twelve years ago and I can’t forget his grace. Your master must be carefree and happy."
She changes the subject and smilingly asks Niu Dali, "Niu, aren’t you going to introduce me?"
"Haha, this is my good brother, Shi Xiaole. Despite his humble name, he’s naive and childlike, but he’s also a first-rate talent!"
Shi Xiaole greeted Yan Yuchai immediately.
The latter responds with a polite smile, and as soon as the tea is brewed, she casually starts a conversation with them. Niu Dali is usually a chatterbox, but to his surprise, Yan Yuchai was able to keep up with his pace, seamlessly letting the conversation flow from one topic to another.
Among the three, it was Shi Xiaole who didn’t talk much.
"To be frank, we’ve come here to ask Sect Master Yan for some information."
Seeing the timing was right, Niu Dali conveniently started the discussion.
"Please feel free to ask, brother Niu."
"I want to inquire about two individuals, one named Shi Xuanzhong and the other is the Thousand Dark Poison Emperor."
It’s undoubtedly not an illusion. When Shi Xuanzhong’s name is mentioned, Shi Xiaole clearly perceives Yan Yuchai’s aura falter momentarily before returning to normal flatly.
"The first one requires a deep investigation, as for the Thousand Dark Poison Emperor, coincidentally, about a month ago, someone reported that he had disappeared years ago, and his whereabouts remain unknown."
Shi Xiaole and Niu Dali express their shock simultaneously.
"In the current Thousand Darkness Poison Palace, it’s the emperor’s junior who’s currently in control. Even many within the palace don’t know about this."
Yan Yuchai comments.
"How did the Thousand Dark Poison Emperor go missing?"
"According to an unverified source, he was gravely injured by a legendary expert years ago, he might already be dead."
Niu Dali involuntarily gasps.
It must be understood that a Void Origin Realm powerhouse’s lifespan is 3,500 years, seven times that of a Terrestrial Immortal. Being at the unity of heaven and earth realm makes them very hard to kill. Any death is terrifying news that shakes up the world.
To mention more about the Thousand Dark Poison Emperor, according to his master’s assets, this man’s strengths ranked among the top five in the West Sea islands. Who are these sacred beings that possess such abilities to badly injure or even kill the opponent?
"I won’t keep it from you, Sect Master Yan. Shi Xuanzhong is the benefactor of old Niu, so I hope you can check on him as well. Also, about Shi Xuanzhong’s and the Thousand Dark Poison Emperor’s relationship."
Niu Dali gets up bowing his fists. Shi Xiaole does the same.
Yan Yuchai glances at Shi Xiaole and gets up saying, "Rest assured, brother Niu. At the earliest in three days, and at the latest in half a month, I will get back to you."
Once the two had left, Yan Yuchai’s smile vanished, becoming as lofty and cold as a snow lotus on Sky Mountain.
"Junior Sister, how could they know about Shi Xuanzhong and why are they investigating him?"
Three men appeared, the speaker donned a silver crown and his face was full of solemnity.
"That Shi Xiaole, he should currently be the top genius of the Flying Horse Dynasty, a Kirin. He also has the surname Shi."
Yan Yuchai’s words caused the three men to shudder, as if they were struck by a thunderbolt.
"Junior sister, do you suspect that he is related to Shi Xuanzhong? Impossible, our master encountered that man over a thousand years ago. This Shi Xiaole is only a few years old, isn’t he?"
Another bald man shouted.
"I’m just making guesses. Either way, we need to show some respect to Niu Dali. I revealed some information, let’s see how they react."
After speaking, Yan Yuchai suddenly looked towards the quietest man: "Senior brother, how’s the progress?"
The other two men also looked at him anxiously.
"Don’t worry, we’ve planned this for many years, and we will surely succeed this time!"
...
Intuition told Shi Xiaole that Yan Yuchai was definitely hiding something. However, given the difference in their abilities, even if he knew, he could do nothing. He could only wait for the news.
Ten days flew by in a blink of an eye.
A master from Qin Building delivered the news. After reading the long scroll spread out on the table, Shi Xiaole fell into a long silence.
The records stated that 1,016 years ago, a couple arrived in the West Sea Islands. The man was called Shi Xuanzhong and the woman Ling Yujie.
The couple rarely participated in battles and didn’t hold grudges against anyone. Their strength was unpredictable. Some eyewitnesses claimed to have seen the couple at several well-known dangerous places, seemingly in search of something.
Likewise, several masters had targeted them, but those masters disappeared without a trace after that.
The last time someone saw Shi Xuanzhong and his wife was 1,003 years ago, a span of thirteen years apart.
If the Holy Monarch of the Ghost Lethal Sect is Shi Xuanzhong, then by this timeline, it is almost certain that these two people are them, especially since Shi Xiaole remembers that the City Lord of Queen City, Xia Lingwei, told him that his mother’s name was Yu Ji. (Details can be found in Chapter 402)
Shi Xiaole also remembered the note left by Snow Sword Lord (Chapter 548). He left with Shi Xuanzhong and his wife hundreds of years ago. Does that mean Shi Xuanzhong and his wife made several journeys to the sea?
Many unanswered questions accumulated one after the other. The documents did not mention Shi Xuanzhong’s appearance two years ago. Was it that Qin Building was unaware, or was it something else?
"Alas, it’s a pity that my master is not here, there’d be no need to ask Qin Building then!"
Niu Dali shook his head, obviously dissatisfied with the information. But this was all he could do, he couldn’t exactly go and pressure others.
In the evening, Niu Dali went to call Shi Xiaole for dinner, but found a note in his room, and couldn’t help but look to the sky and stomp his feet.
"What happened?"
Hearing the noise, Qiu Mingyue and others hurried over.
"Xiaole is gone. He said he has something to do, and it might take a few months, or even years. He asked us not to worry."
"Why did Young Master Shi leave without saying goodbye?"
Qiu Rou was somewhat resentful.
Hearing this, Qiu Mingyue sighed: "The things Young Master Shi has to do must be very dangerous, dangerous to a degree where even with his abilities, he can’t guarantee his safety. He didn’t want to drag us down with him, he’s always been a very proud person."
Niu Dali laughed loudly, slapping the table: "Proud? He’s clearly looking down on me! He thinks he can solve everything on his own. In reality, he’s disregarding his friends’ concern. Watch, I’ll make him realize how important we are!"
Qiu Mingyue laughed and felt a little exasperated, but her gaze towards Niu Dali softened. What she admired most was his genuine emotions.
...
After three days, Shi Xiaole arrived at Mysterious Leaf Island by boat.
The scroll given by Qin Building didn’t have much useful information about Shi Xuanzhong, but it provided quite comprehensive details about the Thousand Dark Poison Emperor and the Thousand Dark Poison Palace.
This greatly facilitated Shi Xiaole’s second step of action, which he did not tell Niu Dali about— infiltrating the Thousand Dark Poison Palace.
Unraveling the truth about Shi Xuanzhong’s poisoning required this step.
According to the records, the Thousand Dark Poison Palace had hundreds of Earth Immortals. Apart from the elders from the inner sect, the rest managed various divisions. Among them, fifty-six were eligible to enter the headquarters.
Shi Xiaole targeted Illusion Poison Real Person, one of these fifty-six. This person was proficient in the Illusion Martial Way, which perfectly suited Shi Xiaole’s needs for an impersonation.
The Illusion Poison Palace was one of the top powers on Mysterious Leaf Island. Because it was considered a branch of the Thousand Dark Poison Palace, no one dared to offend it.
As expected, the Array System enveloping the Illusion Poison Palace was a peak Divine Barrier Realm method. In an era where Void Origin Realm experts were scarce, it was practically foolproof. Unfortunately, it was not sufficient to stop Shi Xiaole.
After half an hour, Shi Xiaole silently infiltrated the palace and quickly located the position of Illusion Poison Real Person by using the advanced technique of spirit disembodiment.
Illusion Poison Real Person was a low-level Seventh Tier Earth Immortal. With the addition of his illusion and poison techniques, even a mid-level Seventh Tier Earth Immortal would be wary of him. Ironically, these techniques were futile against Shi Xiaole.
With the Heaven and Earth Changing Great Method combined with his sword technique, Shi Xiaole struck with a thunderous move as soon as he made his move, ending the Illusion Poison Real Person’s life swiftly.
