Chapter 152: Divine Weapon Spirit (2)
Razor's Edge Cliff, a sheer cliff face on Eight-Sided Cloudhil, towered 100 zhangs into the sky. It seemed as if it had been cleaved by a peerless expert. This location had become a forbidden zone within the sect in recent decades, with ordinary disciples prohibited from approaching without specific orders.
As the first rays of dawn illuminated the world, a special guest arrived below the towering cliff.
"Grandmaster Yu, you seldom visit me here," said the lean, white-robed middle-aged man with a smile. His long beard fluttered about, unkempt, like a mountain hermit.
The visitor was none other than Grandmaster Bu Yu. The middle-aged man gestured for her to sit. But aside from two stone stools, there were no other seats.
Bu Yu did not sit, instead staring at the white-robed man for a long time before she managed a bitter laugh. "Junior Brother, you are always one step ahead of me."
"Does it matter whether I'm ahead or behind?" The man in white robes sat down with no regard for decorum, his gaze scanning the vast sky and earth. "Your talents far exceed mine, Senior Sister. If you were like me, you'd be nearing the realm of immortality."
"Understanding it is easy, but executing it is not. I cannot still my mind. Even if I were to meditate for 30 years, it would be in vain," Bu Yu shook her head. "Junior Brother, not everyone can be like you."
A faint smile played on the white-robed man's lips, but he refrained from arguing with her.
"Well then, Senior Sister, what brings you here today?" The man in white asked.
"It concerns Wu Yuan," Bu Yu said, explaining the day's events and Gu Wang's various conjectures.
"Shadow Blade? I heard my little fatty mention it," the white-robed man said softly.
"So hes Wu Yuan? A seventeen-year-old Great Grandmastertsk tsk, unbelievable!" The man in white laughed.
"Junior Brother, I need your help to make a decision," Bu Yu said softly. "Who do you think Wu Yuan is? What is his purpose for joining the Cloudstride Sect?"
"Did you bring his detailed records? I've seen them before, but I wish to read them again," the man in white said.
"Understood." Bu Yu nodded, flicking her wrist and sending a scroll towards him.
The white-robed man caught it and his eyes began to scan the scroll meticulously. After a while, his gaze brushed over the words "...fell seriously ill at the age of fourteen, awakened soon after, martial arts cultivation progress skyrocketed..."
His eyelids twitched. Slowly, he closed the scroll.
"Three possibilities! First, he genuinely possesses exceptional talent." The man in the white robe said softly, "If so, then just like the Martial King, he is a prodigy blessed by heaven!"
Bu Yu frowned slightly, this wasn't the answer she was looking for.
"Second, Shadow Blade isn't Wu Yuan, but rather a qi refiner who has left behind a remnant soul to inhabit Wu Yuan's body." The man in the white robe indifferently hypothesized, "This remnant soul could be helping him increase his strength..."
Bu Yu's eyes flickered. Instinctively, she felt that this answer was closer to the truth. Why didn't she interrogate Wu Yuan right away? Because, deep down, she found it hard to believe that a seventeen-year-old Great Grandmaster could exist.
She had contemplated the issue thoroughly. Gu Wang was indeed intelligent, but he knew little about the deep secrets of the Middle Lands thirteen continents. Hence his deductions were based on incomplete information. But Huan Jian was different, he had been exposed to numerous higher-level secrets.
"The third possibility is something I heard bits and pieces of when I was in the Xin Continent." The man in white robes murmured, "Legend has it that when a qi refiner reaches an extremely high cultivation level, their soul can not only manipulate objects and survey its surroundings, but manifest physically and roam the world, traveling through all the continents and oceans in one night, and even reach the stars. They can even abandon their physical body and reincarnate!"
"For these powerful qi refiners, the physical body is just a vessel, the soul is the only true essence of their existence." The man in white robes calmly stated, "Reincarnation is equivalent to a new life, naturally difficult to explain in words."
Bu Yu was left with her jaw hanging, her mind reeling at this newfound knowledge.
Reincarnation? It was a myth. However, she grasped the full implications of his words and couldn't help but inhale deeply, her voice solemn as she asked, "Are you suggesting that Wu Yuan could be a reincarnated immortal?"
"I never claimed such a thing," the man in white shook his head.
Bu Yu furrowed her brows.
"Senior Sister, you're overthinking it," Huan Jian said, his tone light. "In truth, it matters little which of these three possibilities is true. What truly matters is that we can no longer control Wu Yuan."
"Since he dared to follow you up the mountain, it means he's confident he can escape from both of us," said Huan Jian quietly. "I urge you to consider his words, actions, and character. Think about why he was willing to come up the mountain."
"Who he is, is not important," said Huan Jian calmly. "What truly matters is determining the course of action that will benefit us the most."
Bu Yu fell into deep thought. Though she maintained a calm facade in front of others, she couldn't shake her wariness of Wu Yuan and even felt rather apprehensive of him.
"I'd appreciate your guidance, Junior Brother," Bu Yu said quietly. "He has a vendetta against Great Jin, killing Wang Huang and Jin Rensu. He's been living in Cloudstride since he was a child. His family and clan all reside here."
"He has spent over two years on Cloudhill, conducting himself with discipline, devoting himself to cultivation, never stepping out of line," Huan Jian remarked lightly. "If he has truly become a Great Grandmaster, does the Cloudstride Sect possess anything that would entice him?"
Bu Yu was taken aback.
"Just as the Cloud River flows to the east, all worldly possessions will eventually part with us. The might of Great Jin looms over the world. We can't protect the sect with our power alone," said Huan Jian quietly. "Sister, it might be wiser to let go."
"Whatever he wants, give it to him. Whatever doesn't need, give it to him anyway! In the future, if he's willing, our Cloudstride might experience a resurgence. Perhaps we'll even become the second Wu Sect [1], continuing a lineage unbroken for 3000 years," Huan Jian chuckled lightly. "And if he truly is unwilling, could the situation possibly be worse than the army of Great Jin at our doorstep?"
Bu Yu fell silent.
Whoosh~ Suddenly, the white-robed man flicked his hand, and a streak of light flew out, embedding itself firmly into the ground. It was a battle saber.
"This?" Bu Yu stared at the saber in shock: "Junior Brother, this was bestowed to you by the ancestors."
"I have no attachment to the sect. This saber has merely been gathering dust." Huan Jian closed his eyes and said softly, "Senior Sister, I've said all that needs to be said. You are the sect master. However we proceed, I'll leave it up to you."
Bu Yu sighed softly and pulled out the battle saber from the ground. Then, she leaped into the air and scaled the mountain wall. Just as she was about to reach the top of the cliff, a voice called out from the cave. "Senior Sister, Xia Heng's death was my fault. When Great Jins army reaches Cloudhill, I will take action."
Upon hearing this, Bu Yu sighed inwardly. Take action? Her junior brother had not taken action in 30 years.
Is the realm of the immortals, the gate to eternal life, worth abandoning everything in the mundane world for? Bu Yu looked at the fiery red battle saber in her hand.
After a long while, she made up her mind. With a wave, the saber disappeared, and in a single stride, she covered hundreds of meters, swiftly departing from Razor's Edge Cliff.
...
Although the Cloudstride Sect had done everything possible to stem the spread of the news, how could they keep it a secret from the dense population of millions within Cloudhill City?
Wang Huang and three Savant experts had fallen. This was a fact that couldn't be denied. Furthermore, the devastating impact of the face-off between Wu Yuan and Wang Huang in the city, and their conversation which was heard by tens of thousands of people, left no room for doubt.
And so, a mere two days later, when the Cloudstride Sect finally lifted its blockade, the news spread like wildfire. Shadow Blade resurfaced after more than half a year of absence, demonstrating the prowess of a Great Grandmaster, and taking down Wang Huang in a single battle! The Jiang Continent was shaken to the core.
Simultaneously, numerous other tidbits of information were disseminated. For instance, "Shadow Blade is nearly 40 years old", "Shadow Blade supposedly shares a senior brother relationship with the current sect leader of the Cloudstride Sect", "the untold secrets between Shadow Blade and the courtesan", "Shadow Blade is actually a hidden expert nurtured by the Cloudstride Sect", "The age-old friendship between Shadow Blade and Wu Yuan"... These pieces of scattered news caused a dizzying spectacle.
At the same time, two official statements were publicized. The proclamation from the Cloudstride Sect demanding 300 million silver taels of compensation from Great Jinwas especially shocking. It spread through the seven continents of the Central Plains at a mind-boggling speed, drawing attention from powers all around the world! Hundreds of millions of silver taels, even for a great nation, was no small sum. This proclamation alone, in terms of impact, even overshadowed the event of Shadow Blade killing Wang Huang.
In Cloudhill City, within the headquarters of the Cloudstride Sect's Inspection Hall.
"Hall Master, everything has been arranged," a custodian reported, "The whole world is now in confusion."
"Good. Have the fabricated records of Shadow Blade's upbringing and identity been prepared?" Gu Wang asked softly.
"They have been prepared," the custodian nodded.
"Disseminate them once more, intentionally exposing them to the moles of the Pleiades Guild and Starcom Consortium embedded in our Inspection Hall. Once they relay the message back, initiate a major internal investigation. Arrest eight out of ten, and kill all the captured ones," Gu Wang instructed nonchalantly.
"Understood," replied the custodian respectfully.
"To dissuade people from believing a plausible theory, the most effective approach is not to outright deny it," Gu Wang mused, raising his tea cup as he contemplated the teachings of the former hall master. "Instead, replace it with an alternative speculation that appears even more likely!"
It was entirely possible that Shadow Blade was Wu Yuan. Gu Wang knew this all too well, and there would be no shortage of people making the same guess. One could not underestimate the intelligence of the world's major powers, particularly the Great Jin Empire and the Starcom Consortium.
Hence, it was imperative for him to conceal any traces of Shadow Blade as thoroughly as possible. His goal was to establish the notion that Shadow Blade, approaching his forties, was a hidden expert from the Cloudstride Sect. Whether real or fake, it would become increasingly difficult for anyone to discern the truth.
"I don't need to keep it hidden indefinitely, just delay it for three to five years," Gu Wang murmured, a faint smile playing on his lips. "Once Shadow Blade becomes a Heavenly Ranker, it won't matter whether his identity is exposed or not."
...
Several thousand li away from the Cloudstride Sect, in Jinyang City of the Jiang Continent.
"You're saying, Shadow Blade might be Wu Yuan?" The east king's eyes flared with a frigid gleam.
1. sect established by the Martial King
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