Fishing in Troubled Waters

Furious, Wan Tiansheng chose to conceal himself once more. Meanwhile, Marquis Xia suddenly charged out from another pocket of space, clutching someone in his hand! No, not a person! It was a divine character constantly shifting between the form of a human and a glyph. Marquis Xia’s hand was like a millstone, grinding down on the divine character over and over. Flickering continuously between character and human form, an eerie laugh drifted out. "Xia Xiao'er, you’ve hidden yourself deep! Eighth-stage Sun Moon... Who would've thought!" The previously grinning Marquis Xia flew into a rage on the spot! A world-incinerating fury! With a wave of his hand, he erected a barrier, terrified that anyone might overhear his real name. "You mangy bastard! You dare call me by my name? You’re dead!" Marquis Xia was livid! Indeed, his name was Xia Xiao'er—Xia the Second. His unreliable father had given it to him. One could hardly expect someone who named a technique "Innumerable Saber Strikes of Heaven Cleaving" to come up with anything decent. That was why outside, he only ever went by Marquis Xia! "Dead?" The illusory silhouette chuckled softly as it began to shatter apart. "I know you people want to lure me out, but... who am I? There are far too many Invincible experts in the War God Hall and the Quest Realm, and I'm just one of them. This is merely a divine character; my true body never came. Go ahead and investigate!" "Hahaha!" Go investigate! Did they dare? Could they find anything? Never! Suspecting there was a traitor among the human Invincible experts was nothing new. The real problem was that divine characters were closely guarded secrets. Cultivators in the Invincible Realm usually dual-cultivated, and the experts of the War God Hall had divine characters too. How could anyone investigate? Who would conduct the investigation? Who could possibly know whose divine character had broken, or who had formed how many divine characters? The silhouette laughed heartily. "Xia Xiao'er, do you know why those people didn't come? If they did, would it have helped? It would only destroy mutual trust. Less trouble is better than more trouble, so why bother? I’m only targeting the Multiple Divine Characters Faction, not everyone. Can't I just have a grudge against that fellow? He’s already dead. Don't tell me a living Invincible is worth less than a dead pseudo-Invincible?" Marquis Xia's face darkened! Yes, this was the mentality of the Invincible experts! Not just one person, but many. Over the years, this person had done only one thing: set traps to eliminate the experts of the Multiple Divine Characters Faction. No one knew who it was, and aside from targeting the faction, they had never struck against anyone else. Investigate? How could they investigate! There was simply no way! Even Hong Tan could deduce that there was a traitor among the Invincibles; how could those top experts not realize it? Yet the methods of an Invincible were far too numerous. Unless each of them opened their sea of will completely to let others probe inside, it was entirely impossible—nobody would agree to that! Today, what came were merely a few divine character avatars, not the true body at all! With a cold face, Marquis Xia glared at him. "Don't get too arrogant! Do you really think we can't dig you up? Just you wait! My old man already has clues. Now that you dared send a divine character avatar into Great Xia Manor, you won't escape!" "Escape?" As the silhouette burned itself away, it laughed. "Why should I escape? Where is the evidence? Will you just grab an Invincible at random and kill them? How many Invincibles in the Human Realm are there for King Daxia to slaughter? Why not let me kill Liu Wenyan, and then I’ll wash my hands of this completely. How about that?" "Fuck off!" Marquis Xia cursed furiously, gritting his teeth. "Did the fifth head leave something behind that you stole?" "Hahaha, haven't you already guessed?" "You dog bastard!" Marquis Xia exploded with rage! Just as he thought! "It really was you! Back then, my old man said the fifth head mentioned leaving something behind right before he died. There was no reason for it to vanish, and no reason for Hong Tan and the others to hide it!" "It really was your handiwork, you beast!" Marquis Xia fumed, but he quickly reined in his temper and asked, "Why? You already advanced to Invincible. Has the human race mistreated you? Are all the other races your fathers? Why betray humanity?" "Betray humanity?" The silhouette, burning down to ashes, chuckled. "Did I betray humanity? I kill enemies too, and I guard the Human Realm! I simply didn't get along with that fellow. We had a grudge—can't I take revenge? Exacting revenge and setting up an enemy on the All-Heavens Battlefield is completely normal, isn't it?" "Just because that guy was a genius, does killing him mean I betrayed humanity? Xia Xiao'er, don't pretend to be so selfless. Back in the day, your own old man trapped and killed his enemies on the All-Heavens Battlefield too. If he could do it, why can't I?" Marquis Xia said coldly, "Bullshit! Even if my old man set a trap to kill someone, he killed members of the All-Races Sect..." "Exactly!" the silhouette said with a chuckle. "Then... could this fifth head of yours not have been a member of the All-Races Sect as well?" The silhouette laughed. "Xia Xiao'er, you're too naive! Could he really not have been? Do you truly believe he never cooperated with the All-Races Sect? You only believe what you want to believe! The fifth head... the hope of human Civilization Masters... did he have to be a good person? Was it impossible for him to betray humanity?" The silhouette's laughter grew louder and louder! Gradually, the divine character finished incinerating itself, leaving behind one last haunting remark: "Don't overestimate that so-called fifth head. Even without me back then, he never would have succeeded in attaining the Dao!" "One final piece of advice for you... stop investigating. There's no point. I won't strike again. If your digging makes everyone panic and causes the Invincibles to stop trusting one another, heh, then the Human Realm will truly be finished!" "Bastard! Damn you!" Marquis Xia cursed loudly! It was precisely because of such concerns that even though the Xia family knew certain things, they didn't dare speak or spread them recklessly. The next moment, Marquis Xia tore the barrier open and roared, "Bastard! Cult Master of the Primordial God Sect, very well! I'll be waiting for you in Great Xia Manor! Come with your true body—don't give me this avatar crap!" "..." A heartbeat later, he bellowed, "Longwu Guards, hear my order: attack! Wipe out the All-Races Sect strongholds!" "Sir!" Raging shouts resounded across the area as squad after squad of Longwu Guards deployed! Right at that moment, outside the walls of the Great Xia prefectural city, a flash of saber light illuminated the entire sky! Boom! A tremendous roar rang out. High above, a sun and moon arose, only to be obliterated in an instant. Countless people turned their heads toward the sight as the saber light died away. Beside Su Yu, Zheng Ping said in surprise, "The manor lord... who did he kill?" He had killed a Sun Moon Realm cultivator! Marquis Xia soared into the air, his eyes blazing across all directions. A moment later, he shouted, "The Cult Master of the Blood Fire Sect has been slain, dying as he deserved! The All-Races Sect certainly had the nerve to try and fish in troubled waters!" Zheng Ping was startled. The Cult Master of the Blood Fire Sect—that fellow had actually snuck in here! What terrible luck. He had disturbed Xia Longwu during his secluded cultivation and was cut down on the spot! Xia Longwu did not show himself. Aside from that single beam of saber light, there was nothing. The army of Longwu Guards began to march out in force! They sped off in all directions! ... Up in the air, Liu Wenyan said nothing. He glanced at Marquis Xia nearby, a strange look flashing through his eyes, before paying him no further heed. Suddenly, he spun around and slashed with his axe! Slash! Shan Tianhao was cleaved clean in two. Marquis Xia raised a hand, looking as if he wanted to stop him... Liu Wenyan gave him no chance. He swung the axe once more, bringing it down with a vicious chop! Bang! The body pulverized, and every divine character shattered. Liu Wenyan murmured softly, "You’ve been prancing around for far too long! For Great Xia Manor, I’d still show some courtesy, but outsiders can forget it! I was hoping to kill a Sun Moon, but it turned out to be a fake. What a pity!" With that, he looked at Marquis Xia nearby and said with a smile, "Fatty Xia, I'm giving you face by not killing the people from Great Xia Manor, but you wouldn't expect me to spare the outsiders, would you?" Speaking, he stepped through the void and brought the axe down again! A Shanhai cultivator trying to flee was caught as the void shattered instantly around him, exploding with a bang as he perished! Liu Wenyan's face paled slightly. Walking through the void once more, he sighed, "It seems there are some things I won't be able to pursue to the bottom. Relying on your Xia family really was relying on nothing." Marquis Xia snapped angrily, "Relying on nothing? If the Xia family hadn't protected you, were you going to rely on your ruined Liu family? All those years you were in Nanyuan, my old man guarded Nanyuan for a full eight years!" "Damn it, not only do you show no gratitude, but you're also talking nonsense!" Liu Wenyan didn't reply. All around them, the other Shanhai experts fled in panic. Even Shan Tianhao, a ninth-stage Shanhai, had been split in two by a single axe strike; who dared linger? Scene after scene today had left them utterly shaken! Over there, Zhou Mingren frowned slightly, then spoke up: "Liu Wenyan, you are at the end of your tether. Do you really want to trade your life for ours?" Liu Wenyan looked at him and smiled. "Old Zhou, if you advanced to Sun Moon, I wouldn't be able to kill you. Otherwise, take an axe strike from me. I don't care if you have an agreement with the Xia family—you were the one who talked about digging up Zhang Ruoling's grave!" Zhou Mingren frowned. Over on the other side, Jin Yuhui was being brutally battered by Hong Tan, his physical body already mangled and several of his divine characters shattered. Seeing this, he shouted, "Liu Wenyan, I'll take a strike from you..." "Screw your ancestors!" Hong Tan cursed furiously. You want to run? Dream on! Liu Wenyan was at his limit. He had shattered an Eternal Divine Character and just killed Shan Tianhao and another Shanhai; he had no strength left to kill these half-step Sun Moon experts. You want to slip away? Hong Tan brought his longsword down across the sky. With a deafening boom, the banner in front of Jin Yuhui was completely shredded! Jin Yuhui went all out! A divine character manifested, unleashing a towering sea of blood that flooded the fields and hills! "Hong Tan, do you really think you can beat me?" Jin Yuhui roared! At the same time, several Shanhai cultivators charged in that direction. "Hong Tan, do you want to spark an all-out war between our two academies?" Hong Tan cursed loudly and cleaved down again, parting the sea of blood! "All-out war?" "What does that have to do with me? Wan Tiansheng is the academy head, not me!" With that, he unleashed dozens of sword strikes in rapid succession, grinding away large swathes of the blood sea. A divine character emerged once more, looking rather dim. Once Hong Tan finished his barrage, he turned on his heel and bolted! Several Shanhai experts rushed in. Just as they were about to pursue him, Jin Yuhui regained his composure, raised a hand to stop them, glanced in that direction, and barked, "Leave!" Without another word, even with his primary divine character injured, he stopped prolonging the fight and swiftly led several Jiutian Academy elders away. "Retreat!" In other directions, various Shanhai cultivators dispersed as well. Near Zhou Mingren, Elder Sun and several others hurried to his side. Zhou Mingren was unperturbed, stating calmly, "The few of you are all at your wits' end. Hong Tan only has a fraction of his strength left. Liu Wenyan, do you really think you can make us stay?" Liu Wenyan caught sight of Xia Yunqi and the others from the corner of his eye. Indeed, their condition was very poor. Opposite them, several Shanhai experts still remained. Zhou Mingren was a half-step Sun Moon. Though Hong Tan was slightly stronger than him, battling Jin Yuhui had cost him enormous energy; making Zhou Mingren stay was practically impossible. "Fine. If you can take one strike of my axe and survive, then we'll let today's matter rest!" Zhou Mingren waved his hand, signaling the others to leave, and said calmly, "You can try. You could have killed me with your first strike, but by now you've used several moves. It won't be enough!" Liu Wenyan didn't bother to argue. With a low roar, he brought the axe down! In the sky, a blazing sun appeared, followed by surging waves, dense stone pillars, and a towering mountain! Boom! The stone pillars burst, the waves evaporated, the mountain collapsed, and finally, the blazing sun dimmed. Zhou Mingren spurted a mouthful of blood. Without a word, he turned and flew away! Elder Sun and the others quickly followed! Just as Hong Tan was about to pursue them, his face abruptly changed! In midair, Liu Wenyan and the others began falling one after another. Not just him—Xia Yunqi and the rest plummeted as well, severely wounded! "Senior Brother!" "I'm fine..." Liu Wenyan finished speaking, his head tilted to the side... and he passed out. ... Everything had happened far too fast. Before Su Yu could see much of anything, it was all over! Beside him, Xia Huyou rubbed his shoulder and said helplessly, "Can you let me down now?" It was bad enough that Su Yu had flattened himself on the ground, but he insisted on using Xia Huyou as a shield. Not as a mattress, but as a tortoise shell—draping Xia Huyou right over himself. Fat as he was, he wasn't too heavy, and Su Yu could easily bear the weight. Su Yu turned his head and snapped irritably, "You were lying on top of me, and I didn't even complain!" Xia Huyou felt like swearing! I was lying on you? Damn it, weren't you the one who grabbed me? Su Yu had no patience for him, frowning. "What on earth just happened!" He couldn't make heads or tails of the scene before him! It was a complete muddle! As for that person who attacked from the shadows, he hadn't caught anything. That person's subsequent clash and conversation with Marquis Xia had been sealed off by Marquis Xia's barrier. The only thing he seemed to have caught was a single phrase—Xia Xiao'er? Who was that? Marquis Xia? Su Yu scrambled up hastily. He didn't dare run toward the battlefield right now. Even though he saw Liu Wenyan crash to the ground, energy was raging and willpower was churning wildly over there; heading in would get him killed. Right now, his sea of will was uncomfortably swollen. All six of his divine characters were frantically absorbing the lingering resonance of the divine characters, while the little hammer absorbed ravenously and pounded his sea of will! Su Yu simply began circulating the Water Art, absorbing that willpower. Beside him, Xia Huyou was doing the same, and many others were doing it too, including that old ghost Zheng Ping, who was opening divine apertures to absorb the willpower. Su Yu's actions hardly stood out. Both Zheng Ping and Xia Huyou actually noticed, but they didn't have time to care; this kid indeed possessed a cultural art! Zheng Ping said with some regret, "What a pity. My Yunhui didn't come. An Eternal Divine Character shattered—a sight not seen in a hundred years! Such a pity!" The resonance was dissipating quickly. Going back to fetch his grandson now would be too late to absorb anything, so he might as well absorb more himself. As a warrior, cultivating divine apertures was no easy feat. While he spoke, Su Yu paid little attention, still thoroughly confused. "Grandpa Zheng, was the person who struck later killed?" "No!" Zheng Ping had merely been a spectator today, neither intervening nor having anything better to do. He laughed and said, "He got away! It was the Cult Master of the Primordial God Sect. No wonder his strength was so formidable. His true body didn't come; it was a divine character avatar!" "The Cult Master of the Primordial God Sect?" "Yes, the strongest cult master in the All-Races Sect, at peak Sun Moon. That fellow worships the Primordial God Race, serves as their loyal lapdog, and once traveled to the God Realm to undergo the divine body transformation of the Primordial God Race. He's practically a half-god!" Zheng Ping continued, "It looks like Marquis Xia and the others set this up just to bait him. What a shame it didn't succeed! Still, that fellow didn't have an easy time either. It looks like three of his Eternal Divine Characters were destroyed; his strength is bound to suffer severely!" "The Cult Master of the Primordial God Sect?" Su Yu felt doubtful. Was that really it? Not an Invincible? Not the Invincible expert his martial uncle had mentioned, who might have stolen the fifth head's research? "Then that beam of saber light earlier..." "That was the manor lord stepping in to kill the Cult Master of the Blood Fire Sect! It makes sense. When the Primordial God Cult Master came, he came as a divine character avatar. Divine character avatars generally cannot travel alone; he must have attached himself to that cult master. Who knows whether the fellow carried it intentionally or if the avatar hitched a ride secretly? It ended up dragging him down. Otherwise, a Sun Moon expert hiding his tracks wouldn't have been caught so easily!" Zheng Ping was at the peak of Shanhai and possessed broad experience, which cleared up quite a few questions for Su Yu and the others. So the attacker really was an expert of the Primordial God Sect? While Su Yu was still pondering this, Xia Huyou yanked him and ran toward the distance! "What is it?" Su Yu still wanted to check on Liu Wenyan, and his grandmaster was over there too... "Hurry!" Xia Huyou said urgently, "Are you stupid? Head outside the city! A Sun Moon expert was killed—origin qi has scattered, and divine characters blew up. Go absorb it! Origin qi and willpower are returning to heaven and earth; go cultivate! We've hit the jackpot! My... Manor Lord Xia split him in two with a single saber strike, obliterating the body and shattering everything. The physical items are gone, but the willpower and origin qi are still there! That place is better than a secret realm right now!" Su Yu's eyes lit up, and he immediately gave him a thumbs-up! Right! That made total sense! Just then, Zheng Ping realized it as well. He abruptly turned and sprinted toward the Civilization Academy. My grandson! Right! Hurry and fetch my grandson to cultivate! Cultivating over the remnants of a slain Sun Moon—how magnificent was that? As for this area, forget it. The resonance here had been churned and scattered by all the Shanhai and Sun Moon combatants. But outside the city, where a Sun Moon expert had just died, the energy would linger for quite some time. ... Not far away, Hong Tan treated Liu Wenyan's injuries while asking, "Was that kid who just ran off my grand-disciple?" Wu Yuehua, her lips stained with blood, didn't bother looking at him. She called out toward the distance, "Qi'er, head back to fetch your sister, then go over there to cultivate! It should last until tomorrow morning—hurry!" Wu Qi said nothing, stepping into the air and racing toward the academy! Only after Wu Qi left did Wu Yuehua say, "Yes, he's your grand-disciple. What of it? You don't recognize him?" "..." Nonsense! Hong Tan didn't bother retorting. How could I recognize him? How could I possibly know him? He looked back at Liu Wenyan... What a headache! The injuries were severe, but that wasn't the main issue. Senior Brother, is pretending to be unconscious really appropriate right now? Wake up! "Senior Brother, wake up!" Hong Tan pinched his philtrum! Liu Wenyan coughed up blood, remaining completely unconscious... Wu Yuehua raised her foot as if to kick Hong Tan, snapping, "What are you doing?" "..." Nearby, Hu Ping and Zhao Mingyue, barely maintaining consciousness themselves, glared furiously at Hong Tan. Hong Tan's face turned completely black! Senior Brother is faking it! Are you all blind? If we don't wake him up, what are we supposed to do next? I rushed on the road for days on end, and the moment I got back, I was thrown into a massive battle, fighting two half-step Sun Moons! Do you think that was easy? And every single one of you is jumping down my throat! Believe it or not, I'll wash my hands of the whole thing! Hong Tan cursed inwardly, but a smile formed on his face. His youthful appearance quickly aged, gradually reverting back to that of an old man. The others looked at him with some disdain. Pretending to be old, pretending to be frail! A peak Shanhai, half-step Sun Moon, acting like he had one foot in the grave! Was a half-step Sun Moon under seventy years old really old? He was in his prime! Very young, all right! Unable to wake his playing-possum senior brother, Hong Tan had no other choice. Looking around, he said, "Was it really appropriate for Senior Brother to just kill Shan Tianhao like that? Zhou Polong's watchdog, cut down just like that. I'm afraid it will cause immense trouble!" "Coward!" "Spineless!" "Useless!" The three women cursed at the same time! Hong Tan felt so aggrieved he could burst! If you weren't my Eldest Sister-in-law, Second Sister-in-law... I'd strangle every last one of you! Nearby, Xia Yunqi chuckled, thoroughly accustomed to this. Fifty years ago, Hong Tan was the little brother who was always picked on. Now, although Hong Tan was the strongest among them, gathering together decades later to re-experience this warmth felt nostalgic. If that fellow over there wasn't playing dead, it would be even more amusing. Xia Yunqi coughed, spitting out a mouthful of blood, and smiled. "Killed is killed, it doesn't matter! Today, Wenyan unleashed Sun Moon combat power; those people will have some misgivings now. It's good to show our might once, to carve out some status and breathing room for the Multiple Divine Characters Faction, lest everyone think we're all dead!" Coughing again, Xia Yunqi's face turned pale. "Still, you need to be careful. Watch out for secret assassinations! That fellow earlier... was it that beast from back then?" "Definitely!" Hong Tan nodded and said in a heavy voice, "Fatty Xia only knows how to muddy the waters. What Cult Master of the Primordial God Sect? If I were the Primordial God Cult Master, I'd go dig up the Xia family graves! Shifting the blame for everything onto others..." Just as he was speaking, Marquis Xia landed! With a dark face, he grumbled unhappily, "Then what would you have me say? So all of you knew what was going on too, huh? You knew an Invincible was watching you? Is my Xia family so untrustworthy that even Yunqi wouldn't say a word?" Xia Yunqi smiled. "Xiao'er..." "Do you want to spar with me?" Marquis Xia's face grew even darker! "Cough... Second Brother, Second Brother, right? That works, doesn't it?" Marquis Xia was two years older than him. Xia Yunqi was used to calling him Xiao'er since childhood, but he corrected himself with a smile. "It's not that I don't trust you, nor that I don't trust Uncle. I imagine many people have their doubts and hunches about this, but... there's no way to solve it!" Xia Yunqi sighed helplessly. "How do we solve it? Investigate them one by one? You won't find anything! Aside from striking once fifty years ago, that person never struck again. Back then, all the Invincibles were on the move—some in seclusion, some on the All-Heavens Battlefield, and some even operating in other minor realms. How do you investigate that?" "He said he had a grudge against the fifth head!" Hearing this, Xia Yunqi smiled bitterly. "Don't you know the fifth head's temper? He had enemies all over the world! Aside from the Multiple Divine Characters Faction and a handful from the Single Divine Character Faction, he had far too many enemies!" "Very few Invincibles, though!" "Yes, not many Invincibles, but who knows if that was the truth?" Xia Yunqi shook his head. "If we're talking about a mortal grudge that requires killing to the death, there really wasn't one. Who knows if it was just a smokescreen! By the way, was there truly not a single clue this time?" Marquis Xia shook his head. "Then why did you force Wenyan out!" Marquis Xia frowned. "What do you mean I forced him out? I had no interest in bothering with him! Digging the grave wasn't my idea; I just pushed things along. Ten to one, it was Wan Tiansheng's doing!" Xia Yunqi frowned as well. "Wan Tiansheng? What is he trying to do? Even if that fellow really showed up right now, could you handle him? Is Uncle in the manor?" If Uncle—King Daxia—wasn't in the manor, even if the culprit showed himself, it would be useless. Capturing an Invincible was completely out of the question. "No, but Longwu is here. He has a shot at it too!" Marquis Xia explained, adding, "The old man is keeping an eye on some people and ruling others out! Over the years, he's ruled out quite a few. We can't investigate openly, but doing it in secret is fine. The old man has been acting like he has senile dementia these past few years, picking fights with people whenever he feels like it. During a fight, others can't exactly split off a divine character avatar, and the old man's eyesight is sharp enough!" He continued, "Besides, I already guessed that the other party wouldn't be so careless. Even if he came, it was ten to one a divine character avatar!" With a sigh, he added, "He was quite willing to pay the price—three whole divine characters! All Eternal Divine Characters. A loss like that will give him quite a headache!" Wu Yuehua suddenly snapped in anger, "Since you weren't certain, why did you set up this trap? Were you trying to get him killed?" Marquis Xia rolled his eyes, muttering something about women being difficult. "I already said it wasn't me; I just went with the flow! Besides, if Liu Wenyan didn't appear and show his strength, that fellow might have snuck off to Nanyuan. Lately, the old man has had less time to return, and he can't watch over him constantly!" "Even if this alerts the snake, it will force him to restrain himself. Otherwise, was Liu Wenyan supposed to hide forever?" In decades past, King Daxia would return from time to time, and back then, the Liu family was prosperous enough to send people to look after him. Now, King Daxia had little time to come back. Even if it startled the enemy, forcing him to hold back was a good thing, lest Liu Wenyan be murdered silently in Nanyuan. Marquis Xia then said pensively, "There is definitely something wrong with that divine character of Liu Wenyan's. Otherwise, that fellow wouldn't keep fixating on him, even wanting him dead! The research materials stolen back then probably weren't complete, and perhaps they involve this divine character. That's why he took the risk to strike again today, to see if he could seize it!" None of them spoke; that was undoubtedly true. The research materials taken were almost certainly incomplete or required the divine character's synergy, which was why that fellow had fixated on Liu Wenyan all these years, secretly stoking the flames. Wu Yuehua thought for a moment and asked, "Leaving that fellow aside, what on earth does Zhou Polong want?" "Don't ask me!" Marquis Xia said innocently, "I'm not close with him! That guy... anyway, you'd better be careful! If he isn't trying to bait that beast out, then he genuinely wants to wipe you out. Either way, it makes no difference to him. You lot aren't saints either; you were the ones who got his father killed..." "You..." Wu Yuehua was furious, and Hong Tan said helplessly, "What does that have to do with us?" Marquis Xia shrugged nonchalantly. "Nothing to do with me! To be frank, I can guess part of Zhou Polong's motives. Unless Liu Wenyan hands over that divine character, he won't let this go. He might not want it just to advance to Invincible, but whoever holds that divine character is likely who that fellow from the shadows will come after!" Regarding the Great Zhou Manor, he could indeed guess some of Zhou Polong's intentions. The objective truly was that divine character! Whether to advance himself or to use it as bait, that divine character was utterly crucial! The hidden Invincible needed it too! Everything today proved as much! Thus, if Zhou Polong couldn't find that person, he would definitely come demanding the divine character again. Inevitably, if he couldn't get it, he would simply take it by force! In any case, taking it by force carried a veneer of legitimacy for him. Hong Tan sighed. "What a headache! That bastard Zhou Polong... we already said the materials are gone and the character can't be manifested, yet he insists on causing trouble. Now that my strength is exposed, he'll probably think I lied to him intentionally!" "Didn't you?" Marquis Xia said with a grin, "Your Multiple Divine Characters Faction has no shortage of secrets! Innate blood essence, divine character fusion, battle technique splitting..." "What splitting?" Hong Tan snapped, "Back then, I formed a single battle technique—a matching set of two armaments! What kind of nonsense are you spouting!" He assumed Marquis Xia was talking about him. Wu Yuehua and the others gave him strange looks, their expressions practically saying, *Keep pretending!* Hong Tan said in astonishment, "What? I'm telling the truth! I originally had a sword and a shield!" "Then what about Bai Feng?" "What about Bai Feng? Doesn't that brat just have a single sword?" "Is that so?" The others chuckled, and He Qi cursed under his breath, "Drop the act, that's enough! Bai Feng with just one sword? The Dragon Slaying Sword has appeared as four swords in total, though several were ruined..." With a worried tone, he added, "Bai Feng won't be in danger, will he? Director Ji took him away..." "Hold on!" Hong Tan cried out in shock, "What four swords? What ruined several? What do you mean Director Ji took him away?" The others stared at him again! Do you really not know, or are you acting? Taking an act this far is a bit much! Cheating your own people? "Splitting..." Hong Tan suddenly realized something and said in horror, "He split the Dragon Slaying Sword?" "Yes..." "Holy shit!" Hong Tan turned pale with shock. "That kid went wild! Wasn't he afraid of killing himself? Is he dead?" "No, but he's heavily injured and his divine characters are ruined. Director Ji took him away." At that, the others looked somber, uncertain whether he could ever recover. Hong Tan didn't even care about his senior brother anymore. He scooped him up, thought for a moment, tossed him into Wu Yuehua's arms, and leaped into the air, yelling, "Take care of my senior brother for me, I'm going to check on him!" Whoosh! He bolted! Liu Wenyan's eyes twitched slightly as he cursed inwardly! The next instant, he snapped awake, opened his eyes, and immediately coughed up blood. "Yunqi, I need to heal. Build a hut for me to rest in..." Xia Yunqi stared at him, speechless. Build a hut for what? Just heal right here! Liu Wenyan glared at him. Are you building it or not! Hurry up! Without a hut, three pairs of eyes were staring at him—he had no desire to keep his eyes open. "Fine... He Qi, go build a hut..." He Qi ran off to construct a shelter. Liu Wenyan coughed up another mouthful of blood and immediately passed out again! Until the hut was finished, he wasn't waking up! Wu Yuehua and the others glared at him, too exasperated to say anything. Marquis Xia, munching on his melon while watching the spectacle, laughed and said, "You lot had better stay in Great Xia Manor and not run around lately! Seclusion is best; otherwise, this mess won't be easy to settle! And with that half-baked fusion of yours, showing yourselves in public is just an embarrassment. You'd better stabilize yourselves properly!" Munching away and tossing melon rinds carelessly, he added casually, "Remember to pay up. Whatever you broke tonight, you have to compensate for!" "Also, Liu Wenyan, you killed two Shanhai experts. Don't play dead. Later on, you'll have to kill twenty to make up for it, or... you'll be spending the rest of your life in the Vanguard Camp!" "Actually, it's just as well you killed them. If you go to the Vanguard Camp, the Invincible experts are all watching over there, so it's actually safer. Take Bai Feng with you while you're at it—that brat is bound to be targeted now! The All-Heavens Battlefield is actually the safest place. There are many Invincibles watching, and King Daqin oversees the command. Ordinary people don't dare stir up trouble, and even Invincibles wouldn't dare act recklessly..." Right now, the All-Heavens Battlefield was genuinely the safest place. As Marquis Xia spoke, no one objected. Marquis Xia continued, "The Zhou family will definitely cause trouble regardless, so staying in the rear isn't good. Frankly, with all this infighting, no one has the time or energy to watch over you all day! Yunqi, you killed a Shanhai too. The lot of you slaughtered three Shanhai experts; if we don't banish you to the All-Heavens Battlefield, the Xia family won't be able to account for it!" Xia Yunqi nodded. "I know. Once our injuries are slightly better, Wenyan and I will leave." He added, "Hong Tan will stay behind. If everyone leaves, our roots will be gone. At least there are still a few people around—Chen Yong, Chen Yong's student, and Su Yu are all in the academy. Leaving no one to look after them won't do." "Up to you!" Marquis Xia didn't care. He had already walked a fair distance when he suddenly turned back and called out, "Oh, by the way... let me tell you something: Su Yu might be Liu Wenyan's illegitimate son. You probably didn't know that, did you!" With that, he took off running! "You..." Liu Wenyan's eyes snapped wide open as he roared, "Fuck your ancestors!" "I'll be sure to tell my old man!" Marquis Xia laughed uproariously as he sprinted away. You're dead meat! "You... pfft..." Overcome with fury, Liu Wenyan spat out a mouthful of blood and truly fainted this time! Wu Yuehua and the others exchanged glances. A moment later, Wu Yuehua slammed a palm against his chest. Another spray of blood erupted, but Liu Wenyan jolted awake. "Your son?" Liu Wenyan played dead. Bullshit, of course not! But... how was he supposed to explain? He really wasn't! Wu Yuehua said coldly, "No wonder. No wonder before Su Yu even enrolled, after not contacting me for decades, you suddenly called me to look after him. For the first time in decades, you actually called to ask a favor of me!" Liu Wenyan felt utterly stifled! He really isn't! Forget it. Women were unreasonable and twisted everything; he wouldn't explain, and she wouldn't listen anyway! Nearby, He Qi, having finished the hut, overheard this and said in astonishment, "He's Big Brother Liu's son? That explains it! No wonder his talent is so staggering! A tiger father doesn't beget a dog son—it's truly so! I said earlier that he looked just like Big Brother Liu in his youth!" "I..." At this moment, Liu Wenyan wished he could open his eyes, take out his axe, and cleave him in two! You're adding fuel to the fire! Stoking the flames—you really have a knack for it, you bastard! The other Shanhai experts chuckled. Wu Yuehua suddenly asked, "Old Su didn't show up this time. Does anyone know what happened?" Academy Head Su! The deputy head of the Great Xia Civilization Academy, who had previously stood on their side. Yet he hadn't come this time! He Qi sighed, "Don't ask, let it be! Xia Yuwen wants to vie for the post of academy head, and Xia Changqing approached Old Su earlier, proposing a marriage between Xia Yuwen and Su Meng... Xia Changqing certainly planned well: Xia Yuwen marries Su Meng first, then takes that little girl from the Ji family. That way, a peak Shanhai and a Sun Moon would be brought onto his side! Combined with himself, he'd genuinely have a good shot..." "Hmph!" Wu Yuehua sneered coldly. "Wishful thinking! He had his eye on my Qi'er before, without even looking in the mirror to see what he's worth!" No one mentioned Academy Head Su again. He Qi teased, "Yuehua, Bai Feng is actually quite decent..." "My Qi'er wouldn't look twice at him!" Wu Yuehua said with pride, adding, "Besides, he's too weak!" "He defeated Xia Yuwen—he's not weak at all..." "Who knows what will happen to him later? Maybe he's ruined!" Wu Yuehua spoke without regard for consequences, quickly adding, "Marrying Su Yu would be acceptable. He has talent and grit..." The others all stared at her! Are you serious? Did you cook up this rotten idea just because you heard Su Yu might be a certain someone's illegitimate son? That really is rotten! If that were true, Su Yu would technically be a generation above your Wu Qi—what a mess! Liu Wenyan felt it was better to keep playing dead! He couldn't get involved in these matters; let them say whatever they wanted. Still, that kid Su Yu had actually run over here today, which was somewhat beyond his expectations. He certainly had guts and valued loyalty. It was a pity Liu Wenyan would soon have to flee to the All-Heavens Battlefield; otherwise, he could have looked after him a bit more.