Exposed

The flames of war spread. Across block after block, the private retinues of the noble clans fought off the insect swarm pouring through the canopy, but the arrival of the two Saints crushed their morale almost instantly. A devastation from the top down. As a former frontier stronghold and the capital of Xize Province, Zhenxi Prefectural City lacked no high-level cultivators among its noble clans. Once resolved to resist the enemy, they had kept a close watch on every development within the city. The Third Young Master of the Prime Minister's Manor's preparations and the miserable plight of the first three Saints to breach the city had filled them with confidence in victory, yet that confidence was shattered into pieces in an instant. The blood-soaked white wolf—a Saint in its own right—struggled to rise from within the crater, while the aura radiating from the figure enveloped in dragon silhouettes above was like an immortal descending to earth, suffocating them under its weight. Above the western wall, the sea of scorching flames swirling around the old man seemed capable of incinerating the firmament, rapidly degrading the city defense array patterns. The moment these two newly arrived Saints made their move, the seemingly favorable situation inside the city collapsed instantly. Yet under the present circumstances, they had no way out; they could only pin their hopes on the Third Young Master of the Prime Minister's Manor, praying he could deal with these two terrifying Saints. Those thoughts from the clan leaders never reached the Third Young Master, however, for Xu Yuan had no attention to spare for anything else. Ever since the White Emperor and the hunched old man appeared, merely their distant gazes had set his mind swaying unstably. This was finally the right flavor. The performance of Mu Xingyi’s family had almost made Xu Yuan forget the despair-inducing pressure of a Saint. Especially the White Emperor in the sky. The aura wafting off him even reminded Xu Yuan of the Emperor of Sien, who that night had attempted to overturn the entire Great Yan imperial capital single-handedly. That the Linlang had suffered an instant defeat at the hands of the White Emperor did not surprise Xu Yuan in the slightest. If anything, he was quite curious why, given the foolish wolf's habits, it had taken the initiative to challenge the White Emperor at all. There were worlds of difference even between world bosses. Not to mention that in Cangyuan, the Linlang was classified merely as a support-type battery; the real world boss was someone else entirely. Indeed, it was Jiayi—the very girl he and Li Junwu had tied up and left dangling for the better part of a day. Sadly, the little Divine Maiden currently couldn't shoulder the responsibilities of a "jinchūriki," so the Linlang had to take the fall in her place for now. Glancing out of the corner of his eye toward where the Linlang had landed, Xu Yuan had assumed it was already getting up, only to see a blood-soaked white wolf lying on the ground with its tongue lolling out, breathing more out than in, seemingly on the brink of death. "......" Seeing this, Xu Yuan's eyelid twitched involuntarily, and his face instantly darkened. If this foolish wolf died that easily, it never would have survived for tens of thousands of years. The other side had a pair of reverse-smurfing clowns, but his side was hardly better—the match-fixers were openly throwing now. Suppressing his thoughts, Xu Yuan looked toward the White Emperor. To his surprise, while the hunched old man had immediately begun dismantling the city defense formation after entering, the White Emperor hadn't taken any further action after descending through the canopy. He didn't pursue the Linlang to press his advantage, nor did he come to execute Xu Yuan, nor did he strike toward the Zhenxi yamun. He simply stood in the void, silently watching the battle. What was the White Emperor... waiting for? Xu Yuan couldn't figure it out right away, but he soon noticed that the Linlang wasn't the only one faking it on the field. The fluttering white-robed Pavilion Master of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion seemed to be acting as well. He had only been contemplating the situation for a couple of breaths, yet that was already enough time for the Pavilion Master and Tianye to trade dozens of blows. Yet Tianyuan hadn't done so. After teleporting over and parrying Tianye's lethal strike, she had merely remained in a standoff with Tianye, showing not the slightest intention of going on the offensive. One had to realize that although Tianyuan had intercepted Tianye, a lethal attack aimed at Mu Nuo was still brewing over at the Zhenxi yamun—and in the kid's current crashed, unresponsive state, he couldn't possibly dodge it. Pondering for a moment, Xu Yuan had a rough guess as to the Pavilion Master's intentions. Tianyan had once mentioned that the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion, dedicated to the eternal prosperity of humanity, had seemingly never cooperated with non-human races. To ensure that Zhenxi Prefectural City was overturned, the Pavilion Master needed to rescue Mu Nuo to preserve combat strength, but she also needed Xu Yuan's hands to weaken Mu Xingyi's family so that they could pull them up by the roots afterward. Or even... With these thoughts in mind, Xu Yuan's gaze swept past Tianyuan with hesitation and glanced up at the lofty White Emperor. No way... Could their appetite really be that huge? But if that were truly the case, then he could somewhat understand why the White Emperor was standing by as a spectator. Keeping these thoughts in mind, Xu Yuan fixed his eyes on Tianyuan and tentatively retrieved the chest of Source Crystals from his sumeru ring once more, aiming it down at Mu Xingyi's shattered form at the bottom of the crater. As an Insect Saint, Mu Xingyi had immense regenerative capabilities. Left alone, even if Tianyuan stood by, there was a high probability he would intercept the strike meant for his son. If Xu Yuan's suspicion was correct, Tianyuan would turn a blind eye to what he was doing. And just as Xu Yuan had thought, Tianyuan remained right where she was, displaying no intention of interfering with his actions. His hypothesis confirmed, Xu Yuan couldn't help but click his tongue. Fewer than ten people on the field, yet together they probably had more than ten thousand scheming minds between them. "Brother Xu... wait." A raspy voice drifted up from the bottom of the crater beneath his feet. At this critical juncture, Mu Xingyi chose to send Xu Yuan a voice transmission, speaking in rapid succession: "Have you considered why these three Saints stepped in to save our lives?" Naturally, to ensure the fall of Zhenxi Prefectural City. Xu Yuan heard it, but had no intention of replying. Evidently, while Mu Xingyi's combat prowess was abysmal, his mind was sharp enough to grasp the Pavilion Master's motive as well. Yet so what? His greatest confidence in defending the city was the discord among the six Saints to begin with; now that their conflict was exposed so quickly, he was naturally more than pleased to see it. The iron chest of Source Crystals, sufficient to sustain the city defense formation running at full capacity, spun as it plunged toward the ground. As it fell, Mu Xingyi's raspy, insectoid voice came once more: "Brother Xu! Have you not considered how the armed forces currently in the prefectural city could ever hold back these three supreme Saints? Not to mention there is still the Saint surnamed Wen!" "......" The iron chest continued its descent. As the urgent words reached his ears, Xu Yuan's pupils shrank slightly in spite of himself. He understood what Mu Xingyi was getting at. Judging by the raw display of power from the White Emperor and the hunched old man, breaching the city would be as easy as turning over a hand for them even if they left Mu Xingyi and Madame Wan to die. Just as he had told Li Junwu earlier, Zhenxi Prefectural City was no longer a frontline border stronghold, but a transit hub behind the lines. Without the demands of war, although the foundational array of a fortress remained, its power was long past comparing to a true military stronghold like Beifeng. If only one or two Saints attacked, even of the White Emperor's caliber, relying on the formation, the military array, and the Linlang could hold them off. The problem was that the opposing side had three—no, four. From what Mu Xingyi implied, there was also that scholar surnamed Wen. With all four Saints combined, breaching the city would not be difficult at all. So, were the sects rushing so urgently to save Mu Xingyi because they feared some unrevealed trump card in his hand? At this thought, a glimmer of half-belief and half-doubt flashed through Xu Yuan's eyes. No way... Was the levitation stone ring exposed? How could such a secret have leaked? Is there a traitor among the high ranks? Impossible. Those currently in the Prime Minister's Manor who knew about this were all people who chose to die to prove their loyalty in Cangyuan after his old man passed away. Here, Xu Yuan's train of thought ground to a halt. Wait... Among those who knew the secret of the levitation stone, there seemed to be one more whose whereabouts were unknown. Orenli.