Having made brief contact with the All-Races Cult, Su Yu was in no rush.
Soon, he turned to the others and said, "Stay on standby. Starting now, we will continue taking missions. I'm going to Nanyuan to take a look."
"Right now?"
Bai Yi found Xuan Jiu increasingly incomprehensible. Nanyuan was crawling with experts at the moment; it was extremely dangerous.
What was there to see right now?
Could he even enter the city?
"I'm going to verify whether the ruin is real or fake," Su Yu said solemnly. "Barring any surprises, many people will soon come to us to purchase intel on its authenticity. The Heaven Hunting Pavilion is a guarantee of credibility—an intelligence organization. We must determine the truth, lest the ruin turn out to be fake and people get scammed!"
Su Yu continued with grave conviction, "The Xia family could very well have fabricated a fake ruin to divert the attention of all races and pave the way for Xia Longwu's Dao attainment. We must be on guard! For now, provide this information free of charge to all holders of the Heaven Hunting sub-rankings. Tell them to wait until our Heaven Hunting Pavilion verifies the ruin's authenticity!"
Hearing this, Bai Yi felt a jolt in his heart.
What a man, this Xuan Jiu!
While everyone else was going mad over the ruin, Xuan Jiu remained unswayed by external distractions. In fact, high-ranking figures in the Heaven Hunting Pavilion had harbored similar suspicions; the ruin at Nanyuan emerging at this precise moment had already raised doubts among the upper echelons.
Yet Xuan Jiu had realized it independently and was even willing to investigate personally—that was truly extraordinary.
Bai Yi no longer looked down on Xuan Jiu in the slightest. Xuan Jiu's earlier arrogance and recklessness toward the All-Races Cult had left him exasperated, but these few short sentences made him look at him in a whole new light.
Truly, by this point, almost everyone believed Nanyuan held a ruin.
Too much evidence pointed toward it!
Su Yu over in the ancient city, the ruins discovered in the Human Realm's other three Yuans, the faint traces of Heaven Yuan Qi mentioned by Xuan Jiu, King Daxia having lain low here for many years, and the multiple divine character faction choosing to remain in this place...
All kinds of evidence indicated an overwhelming probability that a ruin lay here.
Yet now, Xuan Jiu claimed it might be a trap set by the Xia family.
"Are we really announcing this to the public?"
Su Yu said in a heavy voice, "Of course. Even though it is merely a conjecture, we must inform everyone so they stay vigilant against the Xia family! The Xia family is neither benevolent nor kind. Allowing everyone to congregate in Nanyuan is, in my view, the biggest red flag. Given the Xia family's overbearing nature, conceding so easily makes me suspicious!"
Bai Yi nodded repeatedly in deep agreement. "Very well, I will make the arrangements immediately to inform our clients to await our pavilion's verification! Xuan Jiu, if you can confirm the truth and uncover concrete evidence, that intelligence alone will be priceless!"
"I will!"
Su Yu chuckled. "As an ancient city resident steeped in dense death qi, I'll uncover the source of the Heaven Yuan Qi in no time! Nobody detects Heaven Yuan Qi more easily than people like us!"
"Then entering the city... you must be careful!"
Bai Yi sounded worried. "There are numerous Sun Moons in the city right now. You might not be able to hide from them."
"No matter. I lay low in the Great Xia Prefectural City for days; doing so here is even less of a problem. I possess concealment techniques. Ordinary Sun Moons cannot detect me at all!"
"Then take care!"
Bai Yi cautioned him once more. At this point, he genuinely considered Xuan Jiu a rare talent.
Bold, meticulous, powerful, capable of independent judgment, and immune to outside distractions...
In any case, Bai Yi's goodwill toward him surged to the brim.
When he first arrived and the Eighth Elder told him to take orders from Xuan Jiu, Bai Yi had felt some resentment, but right now, he felt Xuan Jiu was thoroughly dependable.
Having racked up a wave of goodwill, Su Yu quickly slipped away.
As for raising this doubt, some people were bound to be skeptical anyway. Having himself bring it up and then verify it would make the act far more convincing.
If they found no flaws whatsoever, wouldn't that make the Heaven Hunting Pavilion look incompetent?
After all, he was the chief of the Heaven Hunting Pavilion stationed in the Great Xia Prefecture!
...
Soon, every expert in possession of a Heaven Hunting sub-ranking received a notification.
A free, friendly notification from the Heaven Hunting Pavilion.
It advised them to temporarily leave Nanyuan, stating that the matter of the ruin might not be authentic. The Heaven Hunting Pavilion harbored doubts, conveying Su Yu's theory that it was very likely a diversion designed to shift attention away from Xia Longwu's Dao attainment.
They were advised to wait for the Heaven Hunting Pavilion to confirm the truth!
Once the message went out, the experts holding sub-rankings began contacting the factions backing them, and before long, word spread.
The ruin's authenticity was uncertain!
It could very well be a trap!
Everyone should wait for the Heaven Hunting Pavilion, the number-one intelligence organization in the myriad realms, to verify the facts.
People placed considerable trust in the Heaven Hunting Pavilion's intelligence. With this announcement, the attitudes of the various experts in Nanyuan City began to shift.
...
Inside Nanyuan City.
At that moment, experts from various factions had gathered.
Quite a few of Yuan Qingdong's friends had arrived as well.
In a large courtyard in Nanyuan, these people congregated together, men and women alike. One of them, a plump woman, had her brows tightly furrowed. "Why hasn't Yuan Qingdong arrived yet? And what do you all think of the Heaven Hunting Pavilion's speculation—is it real or fake?"
"Zhang Ying, what's the rush?"
Inside the main hall, a youthful-looking man smiled broadly. "Yuan Qingdong was injured, so he won't be here that quickly! Great Xia Prefectural City only reopened its gates today. He was heavily wounded, so he'll probably have to wait a while before coming over. As for the Heaven Hunting Pavilion's message..."
"Their speculation isn't baseless!" the man said softly. "Xia Longwu is on the verge of attaining the Dao, and right at this juncture, this whole mess broke out in Nanyuan, with talk of a ruin emerging..."
Zhang Ying countered, "The ruin wasn't announced by the Xia family; people deduced its existence because of Su Yu. The Xia family hasn't made any major moves in all this, have they?"
She didn't quite trust the Heaven Hunting Pavilion.
Instead, she suspected the pavilion might be saying this deliberately to make everyone leave so they could seize the ruin for themselves.
This point was not without merit.
Someone chuckled. "That's also possible. Of course, we won't leave easily either. Whether the Xia family is diverting attention doesn't matter. We are safe here. No matter what, the Xia family wouldn't dare lay a hand on us, so there is no need to worry."
The others nodded.
Indeed. They were all descendants of Invincibles. The Xia family still needed the Invincibles' assistance and would never act against them. Why care so much?
Real or fake, when the time came, the truth would naturally reveal itself.
Soon, they dropped the topic and moved on to other matters. Someone remarked with a smile, "I heard the geniuses in the minor realms are about to return. Wonder how their cultivation has progressed. I visited once a few days ago, and some have already entered the Shanhai Realm. I even heard a few families have nurtured Sun Moons. Is that true?"
Reaching the Sun Moon Realm was exceedingly difficult.
Here in the Great Xia Prefecture, only Hong Tan had broken through to the Sun Moon Realm.
Sun Moons of the multiple divine character faction were extraordinarily powerful to begin with.
Breaking into the Sun Moon Realm would place them beyond the Fifth Generation's branch.
"There are!" someone chuckled. "Zhang Ying, your family has one, don't they?"
Zhang Ying snapped, "How would I know!"
The others laughed, unbothered. Among the Eight Great Families of the Quest Realm—Zhou, Yuan, Zhang, Zheng...
This Zhang family was not founded by an Invincible who opened a prefecture, but their ancestor had attained the Dao not long after the prefectures were established.
Prefecture founders had to divide their attention between both fronts, whereas the Zhang family had no prefecture, meaning their core lay entirely within the Quest Realm, making their influence there larger and stronger.
These non-founding Invincibles ironically had more energy and resources to open minor realms and nurture more experts.
Unlike the prefecture-founding clans, whose domestic expenses were enormous, spreading their resources so thin that no amount was ever enough.
"This Heaven Hunting Pavilion is quite handy!"
Someone smiled. "They've only just established themselves in the Human Realm. Otherwise, across the myriad realms, very little information ever escapes them. Since they plan to investigate whether the ruin is real, let's wait and see!"
The others nodded; they still trusted the Heaven Hunting Pavilion's intelligence capabilities.
...
Throughout the city, experts were discussing the news.
Likewise, commanders of the Great Xia Prefecture's Dragon Martial Guards stationed in the city gathered together. A Sun Moon commander asked with doubt, "Old He, you were the first Sun Moon stationed in Nanyuan. How credible do you think the Heaven Hunting Pavilion's information is?"
Had the Xia family really fabricated this on purpose?
If so, the frustration they had endured lately made sense, as it was all an orchestrated scheme by the Xia family.
Old He, a Sun Moon expert, frowned for a long time before replying, "The news didn't originate from our side. It was deduced by everyone because of Su Yu. Back then, Su Yu said the ruin was at Starfall Mountain, and no one doubted it... Later, Starfall Mountain proved false, so everyone came to Nanyuan... The Xia family... the Great Xia Prefecture didn't really do anything."
He didn't think this looked like the Xia family's handiwork; the Xia family had barely gotten involved here.
Soon, Old He added, "Of course, if this truly is the handiwork of the Manor Lord and the Marquis... then it would explain why the Marquis and the others didn't drive out those outsiders. I actually hope it is their plan, but I fear those bastards from the Heaven Hunting Pavilion will expose it, causing the Manor Lord's Dao attainment to fail!"
How complicated!
He couldn't help cursing again, "Those beasts from the Heaven Hunting Pavilion are more hateful than the All-Races Cult!"
If it really was the Xia family's plan, exposing it made them utterly detestable!
If it wasn't the Xia family's plan, everyone felt somewhat despondent that it had nothing to do with them. With the ruin drawing the attention of all under heaven, it didn't align with the Xia family's interests.
If the ruin were seized by outsiders, wouldn't the Xia family suffer a colossal loss?
It was complicated!
Their hatred for the Heaven Hunting Pavilion grew deeper, yet even while hating them, they had to keep abreast of the pavilion's news to determine the ruin's authenticity.
If the Heaven Hunting Pavilion declared it fake, people might not necessarily believe it and would still investigate.
If the Heaven Hunting Pavilion confirmed it was real... then the ruin was undoubtedly authentic!
As for the Heaven Hunting Pavilion acting in cahoots with the Xia family... What a joke! Who would put on a play using so many Sun Moons?
How many Sun Moons had the Heaven Hunting Pavilion lost already?
Of course, the Xia family had also lost a direct descendant—Xia Xinyi had been killed.
Generals had been slain as well!
For the first time in hundreds of years, the Xia family had even sealed their city for days, losing all face. Who could possibly be acting?
Just then, a Sun Moon expert said hurriedly, "Word from the Marquis! Monitor the entire city. Heaven Hunting Pavilion operatives may arrive to verify the ruin, possibly that Xuan Jiu. If we spot Xuan Jiu this time, we must tear him into ten thousand pieces!"
"Understood!"
The group rushed out, their auras erupting. A Sun Moon commander bellowed, "Beasts of the Heaven Hunting Pavilion may infiltrate this place! Everyone in the city, unleash your aura and reveal your identity, or don't blame us for being merciless if you are struck down by mistake!"
"Whoever discovers a beast of the Heaven Hunting Pavilion, report it to the Xia family immediately for a lavish reward!"
"Slaying one will also earn a reward!"
"Slaying Xuan Jiu will earn one million merit points from the Great Xia Prefecture!"
"..."
The entire city stirred in an instant.
Auras surged forth one after another. People preferred to be careful rather than get killed by mistake by the Xia family.
The Heaven Hunting Pavilion had said they would come to determine the ruin's authenticity; perhaps someone had already sneaked into the city.
The small city wasn't large, so if an expert concealed themselves, they would easily be discovered.
...
At that moment, a group of White Masks, led by Bai Yi, kept watch several dozen li away from Nanyuan.
Sensing the fluctuations within Nanyuan City, one White Mask laughed. "Xuan Jiu really provoked the Xia family this time. As soon as they heard we were coming to investigate, the Xia family ignored everyone else and targeted us specifically."
"That fellow Xuan Jiu has tremendous guts!"
"Enforcer Bai Yi, does the Heaven Hunting Pavilion have intelligence sources for information inside the city?"
Bai Yi nodded slightly but said nothing more.
Naturally, they did.
While the Four Departments of the Heaven Hunting Pavilion had only recently moved into the Human Realm, the East and West Pavilions had previously deployed personnel. Nanyuan had drawn attention long ago, so people had naturally been planted there.
...
Outsiders were speculating, waiting, and judging whether Xuan Jiu would go to Nanyuan to investigate.
As for Su Yu... naturally, he had no intention of going.
Did he have nothing better to do?
Did he not already know whether it was real or fake?
Why on earth would he go!
At this moment, Su Yu was contacting Xia Huyou. "That ruin your family is setting up, have you sorted it out yet? What's the situation?"
"We set up a mystic realm and pumped in some Heaven Yuan Qi, preparing to let it leak out gradually. But since it's only a mystic realm, we're still a bit worried someone might see through it..."
Xia Huyou was still somewhat anxious. "You're full of ideas. How do you think we can make it look more authentic? Sun Moons might not see through it, but once an Invincible arrives, they'll likely spot the flaws."
Su Yu roasted him, "Your family has planned this for so many years, yet there are such gaping loopholes?"
"Nonsense! We weren't originally planning to use a ruin to lure people in; we're just going with the flow. How could there be so much preparation?"
An ancient ruin—ordinary people might not understand how to fake one, but could Invincibles be fooled?
It was only because no Invincible had come to Nanyuan for a thorough inspection yet; otherwise, problems would have been spotted long ago.
Su Yu pondered and asked, "Is there no real ruin? I mean, the ruins where your great-grandfather and the others attained the Dao back then—were they all destroyed?"
"Not necessarily," Xia Huyou explained. "However, real ruins have had their resources drained dry, and ruins cannot be moved; they are anchored in specific spaces."
"Then this ruin has a massive loophole. What did your second grandpa say?"
"He said we won't let Invincibles come for now. When an Invincible does come, that'll be the moment we spring the trap, so whether it's real or fake isn't that important."
"Reckless nonsense!"
Su Yu felt deeply ashamed of their lack of rigor. What if an Invincible really sneaked in?
What then?
What if it wasn't the traitorous Invincible?
Seriously!
Su Yu's brow furrowed tightly; this was genuinely troublesome.
The ruin was fake, and there was nothing they could do about that. Could they really conjure up a real ruin?
Su Yu fell into deep thought. Xia Huyou soon chimed in, "Didn't you fake things on the All-Heavens Battlefield before and fool a lot of people?"
"Yeah, but the circumstances were different. No Invincibles showed up that time."
What a headache.
Xia Huyou quickly said, "If all else fails, let's just leave it at that. Actually, that mystic realm is quite sturdy. The Xia family bled heavily for it this time; the mystic realm space is huge, and the Xia family built several replica ancient structures inside. The style, decorations, and everything else are very close to a real ruin."
"Then where is the difference?"
"It cannot bear an Invincible!"
Xia Huyou explained, "A mystic realm space is ultimately outlined by divine characters; the space is actually quite fragile. You know that in the Cultural Academy, bringing in objects belonging to Invincibles can cause spatial instability! If an Invincible comes and sees this ruin, they'll likely deduce that it falls short of an Invincible-tier ruin. They might not suspect it's fake, but they'll probably think it's just a minor ruin..."
Su Yu understood!
The Xia family was capable of counterfeiting too.
The only issue was that the space wasn't sturdy enough. At a single glance, one would know it couldn't sustain an Invincible's Dao attainment.
How could such a ruin possibly be a formidable Invincible ruin, let alone a Half-Emperor ruin?
Xia Huyou added, "Furthermore, we also hope this ruin can link up with the multiple divine character faction. That way, members of the multiple divine character faction can enter it—especially Director Hong Tan, who is currently in deep seclusion... We hope he can go in and instantly advance to the second or even third tier of the Sun Moon Realm, making everyone believe it was all thanks to this ruin! That would bring the ruin to that person's attention and make them value it!"
Of course, his advancement would be funded with Su Yu's money.
Five hundred drops of Sun Moon Xuanhuang Liquid—intimidating, wasn't it?
Even the Great Xia Prefecture didn't possess such reserves!
Su Yu grasped their intentions and said speechlessly, "Advancing is fine, and we can find a way to link it, but can you guarantee that no Invincible will sneak nearby to investigate the ruin?"
"No."
"Then isn't that a total disaster?"
Xia Huyou, however, was quite philosophical about it. "Man proposes, Heaven disposes. If we really fail and luck isn't on our side, then so be it. It just means Heaven didn't favor our Xia family!"
"You..."
Su Yu was speechless. Good grief, you people are utterly irresponsible.
Can't even fake something properly!
If an Invincible really came along and it wasn't the traitor, then this plan would be mostly ruined.
This wouldn't do!
With this thought, Su Yu suddenly asked, "The space isn't stable enough, but is the Human Realm's space stable enough?"
"Of course. The Human Realm is a major realm after all, capable of sustaining Invincibles attaining the Dao, so naturally it is."
"Then just slice off a piece of the Human Realm's space to fabricate the fake ruin."
"That won't work. Slicing the Human Realm's space would cause spatial fractures and collapses. Everyone would notice."
"..."
The matter reached an impasse.
Su Yu had actually been thinking of his research institute back in the Great Ming Prefecture, where Hu Xiansheng had left behind a spatial slicing machine capable of severing space.
However, judging by the scale, the ruin was vast; slicing off too much space could easily cause spatial collapse and alert others to anomalies.
The Xia family was truly unreliable.
The operation was already underway, yet they were telling him that crucial issues were still unresolved.
Fuck!
These unreliable people were actually banking on luck; Su Yu was completely dumbfounded.
"Are there any treasures in the ruin?"
"Yeah, plenty of Heaven Yuan Qi."
"Get lost!"
Su Yu cursed and quickly followed up, "You guys are truly irresponsible. At least have a Heaven Yuan Fruit Tree, a Sun Moon Xuanhuang pool, and maybe some ancient corpses..."
"Ruins rarely contain ancient corpses, so don't worry about that."
Su Yu couldn't be bothered to argue further. After sizing things up, he gritted his teeth. "Fine. I'll provide the good stuff. I still have plenty of Sun Moon Xuanhuang Liquid. We'll make a fake Sun Moon Xuanhuang pool. As for the Heaven Yuan Fruit Tree... you guys craft a fake tree, and I'll hang fruit on it!"
Xia Huyou hesitated. "Um... don't you know what a ruin looks like?"
"..."
Nonsense, how would I know?
"A ruin doesn't necessarily have a Heaven Yuan Fruit Tree. Also... Su Yu, is your ruin really not in Nanyuan?"
In your ass!
Su Yu rolled his eyes, utterly exasperated. Fine, everyone was so convinced there was a ruin in Nanyuan largely because of him.
It was all because he was born in Nanyuan that everyone believed it.
Rubbing his chin, Su Yu said, "Also, we need to forge ancient tomes and ancient cultivation techniques. What I inherited was cultivation techniques, so it makes no sense if there are none. Preferably, extraordinarily powerful ones..."
Both Su Yu and the Xia family could produce these things.
The Xia family didn't care much about authenticity, thinking a rough facsimile would suffice. But Su Yu believed it had to be more dependable, polished, and flawless.
If you fake something and make it look too shoddy, the risk for Su Yu was simply too great.
Reckless gambles weren't Su Yu's style.
He needed things to be airtight!
He had to guard against the possibility of an Invincible actually sneaking over to investigate; if that happened, countless flaws would be exposed.
"Cut the crap, Fatty. Your Xia family needs to craft realistic-looking Heaven Yuan Fruit Trees immediately, and I'll produce the Heaven Yuan Fruits..."
Heaven Yuan Fruits, a Sun Moon Xuanhuang pool—Su Yu could fabricate all of these.
Even the techniques were within his power to forge.
The Great Xia Prefecture probably had some genuine ancient texts lying around; they had to be willing to bleed heavily and bring those out too to meet expectations.
Now, the only missing piece was that the space wasn't sturdy enough.
At a glance, an Invincible would know it couldn't sustain an Invincible's Dao attainment.
"By the way, does the appearance of a ruin come with a huge commotion?"
"Some do, some don't. Some spatial openings cause massive disturbances, while others open with very little noise."
"Then ours will be the kind that opens with a bit of a commotion... Ideally, it should project images of the items inside. That way, people will believe it's genuine, and even more people and experts will come!"
"Can you... handle that? My Xia family really doesn't have much good stuff left."
Stingy bastards!
Su Yu cursed inwardly. Fine, if I have to supply it, so be it. If we win, it's still mine.
If we lose, everything is gone anyway.
It amounted to the same thing!
Right now, the only remaining problem was spatial stability.
Who could solve this issue?
With that in mind, Su Yu promptly sent a voice transmission to Zhu Tiandao. Perhaps the Great Ming Prefecture could resolve this issue. Their technological prowess was well-developed, and they had experience with counterfeiting.
Last time, they had even prepared to fake a breakthrough for him by fabricating breakthrough phenomena.
The Great Xia Prefecture was far too focused on slaughter and knew very little about such trickery.
...
In the Great Ming Prefecture.
Zhu Tiandao glanced at the message, a strange look in his eyes. He had assumed they were using a real ruin, but it turned out to be a fake. Had that brat Su Yu not brought out his own ruin?
Well, he had taken it seriously too.
"Spatial stability isn't high enough..."
The Xia family hadn't communicated with him, but Zhu Tiandao didn't care. If not for Su Yu, the Xia family wouldn't have told him anything at all, and might even have suspected King Daming of being the traitor—a distinct possibility.
Now that Su Yu trusted him enough to share details, Zhu Tiandao felt somewhat gratified.
However... elevating spatial stability to the point of sustaining an Invincible's Dao attainment—if only it were that simple! The difficulty was immense.
Passing off a fake as genuine was no easy feat.
After pondering for a while, Zhu Tiandao replied, "It's not impossible to boost spatial stability, but it will come at a steep price! I can give you a few options. First, fuse a large amount of Heaven and Earth Profound Light into it. That stuff naturally stabilizes and strengthens the physical body, and being born of heaven and earth, it can also reinforce space.
"Second, shatter a large number of divine characters. Shattered divine characters also have the effect of stabilizing space.
"Third, integrate one or more Heaven armaments into it; that works as well.
"Fourth, and generally the sturdiest option, is a carrier. Such treasures are priceless and nearly impossible to acquire. Merging one into the space will also stabilize it, as these items can withstand the scour of the River of Time. Do you know what a carrier is?
"Fifth, Heaven Yuan Qi—boundless amounts of it. Heaven Yuan Qi also stabilizes space.
"Sixth, formations—powerful formations!"
"..."
Zhu Tiandao listed several solutions in succession. Su Yu's mind stirred. "Manor Lord, a carrier can reinforce space?"
"Nonsense! That thing can bear the power of an Invincible, so naturally it can bear a minor space. It's vastly sturdier than divine characters! Uniting the three incarnations requires supreme treasures, or they cannot be borne. Don't you even understand that?"
Zhu Tiandao continued, "However, such items are exceedingly rare! Supreme treasures of heaven and earth are few and far between. Most have already been claimed by Invincibles and quasi-Invincibles at the ninth tier of the Sun Moon Realm. As for the Great Xia Prefecture, I doubt they have any; even if they do, it would have to be reserved for Xia Longwu.
"Don't ask me either—the Great Ming Prefecture doesn't have any. Someone here wants one right now and can't obtain it."
He was referring to Niu Baidao; Old Niu was still short of one.
Old Niu had only one, with which he had fused one incarnation, and still needed another strong carrier for the second. That was why Old Niu hadn't returned this time—he was hunting for treasures on the All-Heavens Battlefield.
As for the Human Realm... finding one was virtually impossible now, as too many Invincibles had attained the Dao here hundreds of years ago.
"Ruins usually contain carriers, which is one reason ruins are so powerful. A ruin without a carrier isn't an Invincible ruin..."
Su Yu understood!
He felt a pang of heartache. He only had two; was he supposed to throw them in as well?
Come to think of it, this was the Xia family's scheme—why should he bleed so much?
If an accident happened and the fake ruin was looted by outsiders, wouldn't he vomit blood from the loss?
When it came to counterfeiting, Su Yu was willing to pay a heavy price.
If this were his own plan, he wouldn't hesitate to invest heavily. The trouble was, this wasn't his plan!
Helpless, Su Yu sent another transmission: "Manor Lord, so I just toss a carrier inside?"
"Of course not! Instantaneously strengthening the space is remarkably difficult. If you're willing to part with it, shatter a carrier and fuse it into the space, merging it with the mystic realm's divine characters. If you have enough wealth, throw in two more, and it'll look completely authentic!"
Zhu Tiandao teased, "If you're rich, you can give it a shot. Two for someone to attain the Dao with, and one to reinforce the space. Three would be plenty. Even an Invincible wouldn't doubt it—only a fool would joke around with three carriers! If the human race acquired such things, we might actually gain another Invincible. Right now, many ninth-tier Sun Moons are missing only this to attain the Dao..."
Is that how it works?
Su Yu realized!
Understood!
To fool an Invincible, one had to bleed heavily. In that case, with three carriers, no one would suspect a thing.
One shattered to enhance spatial strength, two hidden in the ruin as perks for the inheritor, combined with all the other matching assets—a fake ruin could practically function as a real one!
Heaven Yuan Qi for body forging.
Sun Moon Xuanhuang Liquid for reinforcing acupoints.
Carriers for attaining the Dao as an Invincible.
Right, and preferably add some treasures for the Lingyun Realm's nine changes. That way, if someone truly obtained this ruin—paired with formidable cultivation techniques and great talent—they might genuinely achieve Invincible Dao attainment.
Wouldn't that make it an authentic Invincible ruin?
"Carriers... I only have two!" Su Yu thought. One was a dragon pearl, the other was Heaven Gold Profound Iron.
Soon, he thought of that dragon horn treasure box. Could there be one inside it?
If so, that would make three!
Cult Master Tianyi valued it so highly; perhaps it was prepared for his own Dao attainment.
With this in mind, Su Yu flew swiftly toward the Great Xia Prefecture. He needed to find the Xia family... No, he would find Wan Tiansheng and do the counterfeiting with him. The Xia family wasn't professional at all; Su Yu felt partnering with them was far too perilous.
A bunch of cheapskates without capital for counterfeiting—who could they possibly fool?
Only willing investment brings returns.
If the forgery succeeded, retrieving the goods afterward would mean minimal loss; it was just to put on a show for everyone.
If he couldn't retrieve them afterward... then he would suffer a catastrophic loss!
Everything he had earned on the All-Heavens Battlefield—Su Yu was prepared to throw it all in this time. If they succeeded, it might turn into an enormous windfall. If an Invincible was slain, wouldn't an Invincible's corpse be worth a fortune?
Did Invincibles possess Heaven armaments?
That traitor probably had plenty of Sun Moon divine characters, didn't they?
Wealth is sought amid danger!
Su Yu pondered. In truth... he was prepared to lose everything with zero returns; he simply wanted the plan to be more thorough, more flawless.
Perhaps the Xia family truly couldn't produce these items and had reluctantly settled on an unconvincing ruin—it was just too fake!
But this time, they were betting their lives!
This wasn't child's play!
Among the lives being wagered were many people Su Yu couldn't bear to lose—Hong Tan, Bai Feng... Su Yu didn't want a minor flaw to lead to disaster for everyone.
As for wealth and resources—if they were gone, he could just scam and plunder more!
...
Xiuxin Pavilion.
When Su Yu brought out the massive quantity of Sun Moon Xuanhuang Liquid, two carriers, over a thousand portions of Heaven Yuan Qi, and precious treasures like Devil God Fruits, Wan Tiansheng's eyes reddened slightly.
"Su Yu... how about we don't bother faking it? These items are enough for a normal person to cultivate all the way to Invincible without needing to look for any extra resources. How about we call it off?"
Wan Tiansheng was truly stunned!
You are far too extravagant, far too generous, far too filthy rich!
Placing these items right here—aren't you afraid I'll rob you?
I genuinely want to rob you!
To tell the truth, these treasures alone were enough for a normal genius to cultivate straight to Invincible—provided they had the talent and qualifications, of course; otherwise, no amount of treasures would help.
This brat Su Yu was truly loaded.
I knew about the other things, but two carriers—I genuinely had no idea.
Such items were priceless and virtually impossible to find outside.
Even obtaining one was extraordinarily difficult!
He surmised that Su Yu had scavenged them when those Invincibles' past and future incarnations were obliterated last time. The kid's guts were truly boundless.
Soon, Su Yu took out another box. "There might be another one in here. Cult Master Tianyi valued it immensely; nine times out of ten, it's a carrier! The dragon pearl is too conspicuous. We'll shatter the dragon pearl and fuse it into the space. If this box contains one, then the other two can serve as inheritance treasures... That way, no one will doubt it."
Wan Tiansheng roasted him internally. Suspect it? I suspect you're an idiot!
Of course no one will suspect it! The Great Xia Prefecture was founded relatively recently and suffered heavy expenditures. Including Ye Batian and himself, several carriers had already been consumed, leaving the Great Xia Prefecture in a perpetual deficit long ago.
Where would they find the wealth to fabricate such a forgery?
If you spoke of it, neither the Invincibles of all races nor those of the human race would believe this was a fake ruin created by the Xia family.
If the Xia family had such capital, they would have long since nurtured another Invincible.
Even if that failed, they would have produced a quasi-Invincible!
Not just the Great Xia Prefecture—across the entire Human Realm, not a single prefecture could forge such a ruin unless they joined forces. The catch was, if they joined forces, how could they be sure they weren't teaming up with the traitorous Invincible's faction?
"You... sigh, truly professional!"
Su Yu nodded, proudly declaring, "When it comes to counterfeiting, I'm a professional! Director, passing off a fake as genuine is the only truly reliable way!"
Wan Tiansheng was helpless. If these things were left alone for a few hundred years, it would become an authentic Invincible ruin; right now, it was merely a bit too fresh.
Extravagant indeed!
Then again, this kid's way of doing things was genuinely reliable. Wan Tiansheng had also known a loophole existed, but... sorry, he had no money either, and had no way of fabricating a luxurious fake ruin.
His original idea had been to spring the trap the moment an Invincible arrived.
Now it seemed they might be able to wait!
Ideally, an Invincible would truly come and spread the word!
The ruin is real.
And Su Yu soon added, "Not only that, I also plan to make use of the divine character battle art monument to radiate fluctuations of multiple divine character battle arts, linking the ruin to the multiple divine character faction. That way, it'll be even easier to draw out the traitorous Invincible. If he doesn't appear and the ruin is seized by the multiple divine character faction, an Invincible might be born from it, which all races will take with utmost seriousness!"
Wan Tiansheng remained silent.
Brat, do you have any idea that by pulling this off, you might... genuinely attract multiple Invincibles from all races?
I'm scared!
What if I can't hold the line?
Wan Tiansheng felt helpless. I wanted to lure out the traitorous Invincible, and hopefully kill another one, but brat, I feel like you're setting a trap for me—the kind where you won't stop until you get me killed!
Linking it to the multiple divine character faction on top of that—aren't you afraid all races will completely lose their minds and send seven or eight Invincibles?
As if sensing his thoughts, Su Yu gritted his teeth and said, "If it really comes to that, Director, please trouble yourself to send me to the entrance of the passageway to the All-Heavens Battlefield!"
"Hm?"
Wan Tiansheng's heart stirred. He looked at Su Yu once more and said nothing further, roughly understanding what he had in mind.
He let out a sigh. This kid... is he really planning to involve himself in the realm of Invincibles?
Chapter 461