Chapter 2716: Shan Barrens
An hour later, Snack Sage was still eating.
Two hours passed, then three. Even after half a day had gone by, he was still eating.
The people in the restaurant did not leave, and they instead all looked at him as though he were a monster.
Snack Sage ate very quickly, and he maintained that speed for a very long time. People did not know if he had a stomach or a cosmic ring that he was shoving all of the food into.
The restaurant owner was about to cry. All of his ingredients had been used up, and he was terrified that Snack Sage would run away without paying his bill.
At this time, a woman entered the restaurant, and she instantly drew everyone's attention away from Snack Sage.
This woman had a face like a charming fox, eyes like autumn water. Her golden robes gave her an air of elegance.
Such a combination of looks in a single person made the woman the focus of everyone's attention the moment she appeared.
Lu Yin also had his attention attracted to this woman. She was someone who belonged to Sovereign Shao Yin, as her golden robes were identical to the ones that Shao Qingfeng had once worn.
Snack Sage looked up. "That meddlesome fox? Why are you here? What rotten bad luck."
The woman looked over, noticed Snack Sage, and gave him a small smile. "What a coincidence, Snack Sage."
Snack Sage instantly grew contemptuous. "Coward."
Lu Yin was left speechless. This man would even insult women. No, he was a Taotie, not a man or a human. It made sense for him to not differentiate between men and women.
The woman was completely unfazed. She walked over to Lu Yin. "I am Shao Gu. You are Xuan Qi, no?"
Lu Yin nodded and asked, "Your name sounds very similar to Shao Qingfeng’s."
"He is my junior brother." Shao Gu said as she sat down naturally.
Snack Sage pushed his scraps of food over in front of the woman. It was clear that he did not want her to stay.
However, Shao Gu was used to such treatment from Snack Sage and ignored his actions. "Snack Sheng never shares a table with anyone. I wonder, how did you pull this off, Xuan Qi?"
Lu Yin pursed his lips. "I don't want to, myself."
Snack Sage frowned and turned to stare at Shao Gu. "If you know my preferences and still insist on sitting here, are you trying to provoke me?"
Shao Gu smiled. "My presence here has nothing to do with you. I wanted to meet Xuan Qi, who is famous in the Sixverse Association."
Snack Sage snorted contemptuously and resumed eating.
Lu Yin looked at Shao Gu. He had seen too many beautiful women before. While this woman was very attractive, it was not to the extent that Lu Yin was attracted to her. At the very least, Madam Nalan was far more attractive than Shao Gu.
The woman continued to stare at Xuan Qi. "Xuan Qi, you should understand the Transcendent Universe quite well."
Lu Yin replied, "A bit, but not too much."
"I was wondering if you had any clues regarding the disappearance of my junior brother, Shao Qingfeng," Shao Gu said.
Lu Yin shook his head and helplessly answered, "When that happened, I had already been driven away by the You family and was no longer in the Transcendent Universe."
"Who do you think attacked him?" Shao Gu asked, staring intently at Lu Yin.
Lu Yin considered the question for a bit. "I originally assumed that he had been attacked by the You family, but you should already know that the You family was collaborating with Sovereign Shao Yin to go after Lord Wei. Thus, it couldn’t have been the You family who attacked Shao Qingfeng. He Ran is also very unlikely. From what little I know, if it wasn’t He Ran, then the only other possibility that I can come up with is a spy."
Lu Yin had originally said that he wanted to kill He Shu, as he needed to earn the You family’s trust, and they had agreed to have him attack He Shu. You Fang had never thought that Xuan Qi would kill Shao Qingfeng instead. If that possibility had come up, You Fang would have never agreed to the attack, as he had to avoid any possible complications while working with Sovereign Shao Yin.
Lu Yin had only returned to the You family after Shao Qingfeng died, so the You family had not been able to even try to stop him.
With the relationship between the You family and Sovereign Shao Yin now exposed, it was clear that, in the Transcendent Universe, neither the You family nor He Ran would have taken action against Shao Qingfeng. This left the only other reasonable explanation of a spy.
As for Lu Yin, no one would guess that Xuan Qi was behind the matter, as what motivation did he have to go after Shao Qingfeng? There was nothing, unless his true identity as Lu Yin was exposed. That would instantly provide ample motive.
Shao Gu solemnly stated, "Those were my thoughts as well, which is why I came to see you, Xuan Qi. You are very good at catching spies, and I would like to ask you to help us investigate this matter. My master will remember your help."
Snack Sage snorted in contempt and shot a very disdainful glance at Shao Gu.
Lu Yin just nodded. "Don't worry, if I find anything, I will let you know."
Shao Gu nodded and stood to leave. However, she suddenly hesitated and turned back to face Xuan Qi. "What do you think about my master?"
Lu Yin was caught off guard. "Sovereign Shao Yin?"
Shao Gu's eyes flickered, and then she turned around and left without waiting for an answer.
On the other hand, there was an ugly expression on Lu Yin’s face, as he knew that he had been tricked.
For a long time, he had made a point of publicly addressing any powerhouses as “Senior,” but he had just reflexively referred to Sovereign Shao Yin directly and without any term of respect. The sudden change in behavior had revealed his true attitude towards Sovereign Shao Yin.
This had to have been Shao Gu’s true reason for wanting to meet Xuan Qi; she wanted to confirm his feelings towards Sovereign Shao Yin, not through words, but by a subconscious reaction.
The truth was that Lu Yin wanted Sovereign Shao Yin to die as soon as possible, and naturally, he felt absolutely no respect for the man.
That attitude had been seen through by Shao Gu.
While she had not been able to see Lu Yin's hostility towards Sovereign Shao Yin, she had been able to see his disrespect.
Lu Yin took a deep breath. "That woman’s a snake."
Snack Sage lowered a haunch of meat, banging it on the table. "You just figured that out?"
"You already knew?" Lu Yin asked.
Snack Sage replied, "Everyone who follows Sovereign Shao Yin is sneaky, though that woman’s the worst. It’s said that she’s the disciple most similar to Sovereign Shao Yin. No one wants to interact with her, as it’s too easy to be taken advantage of."
"She must be very popular with Sovereign Shao Yin," Lu Yin guessed.
Snack Sage nodded. He said nothing more and focused entirely on eating.
Outside the restaurant, Shao Gu was walking away. She had indeed seen Xuan Qi's attitude, as well as the fact that he did not respect her master at all. Why not? Was it because Sovereign Shao Yin had cooperated with the You family, and the You family had driven Xuan Qi out of the Transcendent Universe after forcing him to frame He Ran? Could there be some other reason?
This matter needed to be carefully investigated. The farther removed some people were to Shao Qingfeng's death, the more suspicious they were. Xuan Qi could not escape either.
A few days quickly passed. Snack Sage continued to pester Lu Yin as before, though Lu Yin just ignored him.
He would not need to deal with Snack Sage for much longer. As soon as they got to the Lost Clan’s territory and the Shangsan Festival finished, Lu Yin would be able to get rid of Snack Sage.
There was no way the guy would chase Xuan Qi to the Voidforce Universe, right?
That thought gave Lu Yin another headache, as he realized that if Snack Sage continued to stalk him, it would be impossible to go anywhere at all.
Zhi Bing returned and gathered everyone in outer space.
This time, they were joined by another group of people, which put their number at almost 200.
The Sixverse Association consisted of sixty two parallel universes, which were home to countless cultivators. Despite that, only around 1,000 outsiders were estimated to be qualified to attend the Lost Clan’s Shangsan Festival, which was pitifully low.
This demonstrated just how exclusive the Lost Clan was.
Both the Voidforce Universe and the Three Monarchs Universe were home to cultivation civilizations, just like the Lost Clan. However, both of them had much, much higher numbers of foreigners who cultivated their power.
However, the establishment of the Sixverse Academy meant that the number of people who qualified to attend the Shangsan Festival would gradually rise in the future as more people obtained cards from the Sixverse Academy.
This time, the new group of people included someone that even Lu Yin needed to pay attention to. He had a very high cultivation, even more impressive than Snack Sage’s. On top of that, Jiang Xiaodao smiled when speaking to the man.
Aside from Little Lian, Lu Yin had never seen Jiang Xiaodao be so polite when speaking to anyone.
Finally, Little Lian was also close to the man.
"He’s here too?" Snack Sage was surprised.
Lu Yin was curious. "You know him?"
Snack Sage replied, "That’s Gong Yu, Arrow Sage’s disciple. He’s a real man."
Lu Yin was surprised. For this Gong Yu to receive such praise from Snack Sage, he had to be very powerful.
Xu Jie had been acknowledged by Snack Sage, but Gong Yu had been called a real man. There was no doubt that he was much stronger than Xu Jie.
Arrow Sage? That was another one of the Nine Sages.
...
The Lost Clan’s universe was not small. It was not only home to the Lost Clan, but also to other civilizations. There were cultivation civilizations, technological civilizations, and more.
Zhi Bing had pointed out some of those civilizations to the group as they traveled, but all of the civilizations had been limited to their own world. Due to the Lost Clan’s experiments and the resulting traps that filled the universe, it was too easy for people to encounter trouble when they tried to move through outer space.
The only part of the universe that could truly be considered the Lost Clan’s territory was the area called Shan Barrens. This was the Lost Clan’s core area, and it was very difficult for outsiders to gain access to it.
From a distance, Shan Barrens did not look too strange. It was not as gorgeous as the rainbow wall, nor as impressive as the Heavens Sect. It only had a full moon that illuminated a massive area that was no smaller than the Heavens Sect.
Zhi Bing had everyone stop just outside of Shan Barrens, and he looked at everyone in a more solemn manner than ever before. "Ahead is my Lost Clan’s Shan Barrens. Except for the Shangsan Festival, it is normally impossible for almost any outsider to enter this place. You will be going to the floating island, which is located just outside where the Shangsan Festival is held. Once we arrive, I will ask that none of you act freely during your time here. This area of Shan Barrens is an ordinary area, and it cannot handle any of your powers. Once again, please do not use any power carelessly."
Only after that did Zhi Bing lead everyone into Shan Barrens.
There was no impressive defensive system in place, just cards that floated around Shan Barrens.
However, these cards were the greatest form of defense.
No one had any idea what sort of traps and dangers might be within these cards, but it was clear that none of them would be easy to deal with, given the fact that they were used to protect Shan Barrens.
"I’ve heard that most of these cards are just Ancient cards, but there are Primordial cards hidden randomly among them, and even Immemorial cards. All together, these cards are more than enough to keep Shan Barrens Shou perfectly safe," Jiang Xiaodao whispered.
To the side, Gong Yu solemnly stated, "The Lost Clan is a powerful civilization. Master once said that their power is no weaker than any other member of the Sixverse Association. It’s even said that they have cards that are more powerful than their Immemorial cards."
Jiang Xiaodao shook his head. "I don't believe that."
"I don't either," Xu Yue agreed.
There were many people in this group of foreigners who were talking about the Lost Clan, and they were also mentioning Primeval cards. Some people believed they existed, while others did not. Most people believed that Primeval cards were a legend that the Lost Clan had created to elevate their own worth.
Before long, Zhi Bing had led everyone to a floating island. As the name suggested, it was an island floating in the sky.
According to Zhi Bing, many cards had appeared in front of the island during the Shangsan Festivals. During that time, outsiders were allowed onto the island to try to attract new cards.
After dropping everyone off at the floating island, Zhi Bing left.
The people separated. There were many wooden houses on the island, prepared for people who attended the Shangsan Festival.
People who were not members of the Lost Clan were restricted to the floating island during the Shangsan Festival, and it could only hold so many people. There were more outsiders attending than ever before, and the floating island did not have enough accommodations for everyone attending the Shangsan Festival. Thus, the members of the Lost Clan occupied other floating islands that were nearby.
However, Zhi Bing never prohibited people from visiting the other islands, and so one man soon went to another island to visit a friend. The outsiders who possessed the Lost Clan’s cards had to have contacts within the Lost Clan.
As expected, Snack Sage continued to hound Lu Yin, who was completely fed up. Because of that, Lu Yin made a promise. If Snack Sage could defeat everyone on Hanging Island, he would compete with him again.
This was too enticing for Snack Sage, as challenging others was his favorite pastime. "Don't you dare go back on your word, haha!"
With that, Snack Sage pulled out his sign and rushed over to where other people were staying. He then sat down, aggressively blocking the exit of an older cultivator’s accommodations.
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