12dz Chapter 75 Celebrating Victory
Chapter 75 Celebrating Victory
In front of the Dao Sect's mountain gate, True Person Xianmi stood still, his gaze sharp as lightning, piercing through layers of clouds and mist, locking onto the direction Li Qingyi had left in.
"What a cunning brat! He's using the power of my Daoist sect to solidify his own identity."
With his centuries of experience, Xianmi saw through Li Qingyi's scheme at a glance.
However, he still had some questions. Why did this young man go to such great lengths, even risking his life to ascend to the Dao Sect? Was it merely to take advantage of its power?
What is the real purpose behind this?
"Could it be that from the moment he embarked on the Path to Heaven, he was scheming to exploit the Dao Sect?"
As soon as this thought crossed his mind, Genmi's expression darkened.
He carefully recalled every detail of his interactions with Li Qingyi—
That seemingly respectful and humble attitude, and the unwavering rhetoric even under pressure...
"Could I have really been tricked by this brat?"
The more Genmi thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
Having roamed the cultivation world for hundreds of years, he actually experienced the feeling of being schemed against by a sixteen-year-old boy, which left him with mixed feelings.
Just then, the space trembled slightly, and a shimmering white ball of light, which only a Purple Mansion Realm cultivator could perceive, silently appeared before him.
"A message from the sect leader?"
Xianmi dared not delay and immediately probed the ball of light with his divine sense.
The information within the light cluster is concise and clear:
A portrait of Li Qingyi, drawn with spiritual power, with a line of small text attached beside it—
A true disciple of the Master of Tingyu Pavilion.
Genmi's brows furrowed tightly.
For some inexplicable reason, he had an inexplicable sense of unease.
His fingers moved subtly within his Taoist robe, employing the art of divination to trace Li Qingyi's origins.
The result was nothing.
"Illusions of heaven are obscured? Or does he possess a rare treasure?" Xuanmi withdrew his fingers from his calculations, his eyes gleaming. "This kid is truly interesting."
Just then, someone finally reached the top of the road to heaven.
The first to step into the mountain gate was Li Xuanwei, who had met Li Qingyi once before on the stone steps.
Li Xuanwei was slightly out of breath, and there was sweat on his forehead, but his demeanor remained calm.
His gaze swept quickly across the empty white jade platform, and finding no trace of Li Qingyi or Ling'er, a sense of doubt arose in his heart.
"Given their speed, they should have been here already. Where did they go?"
Unfortunately, no one would answer his question.
Before long, Genmi saw that all five people who had passed the first round of trials had arrived, so he did not delay any longer.
He waved his sleeve towards the direction of the mountain below, and the Tongtian Road that stretched straight into the clouds instantly dimmed, turning into a stream of light that disappeared into his sleeve.
Immediately afterwards, the massive jade gate slowly closed, isolating the inside from the outside.
"Follow me for the second round of trials."
……
On Immortal Gu Peak, bamboo shadows swayed and a gentle breeze blew.
Yuan Huang, who had been lying on the bamboo chair with his eyes closed to rest, suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze suddenly sharpening.
"You truly have surprised me... time and time again." A pleased smile curved the Emperor's lips as he murmured to himself:
"Before the news even spread throughout the Xuan Kingdom, they knew to rush to the Dao Sect to borrow their strength. Their grasp of timing and speed in gathering intelligence truly impressed me."
As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Miaoyi, dressed in a black dress with a graceful figure, came lightly to his side with a freshly brewed cup of fragrant tea and bowed slightly.
"Senior, please have some tea."
Emperor Yuan sat up and gently placed the feather fan he had been holding on the stone table in front of him. He took the teacup, lifted the lid, and a delicate aroma of tea immediately filled the air.
He took a small sip and nodded approvingly.
"Excellent, the tea soup is clear and refreshing, with a long-lasting sweet aftertaste. It's even better brewed than the one made by Yu Die."
Lin Miaoyi lowered her head humbly:
"My skills are rudimentary, and I dare not compare myself to Miss Yudie."
"Ha..." Emperor Yuan chuckled lightly, placed the teacup back on the stone table, and asked seemingly casually:
"Tell me, what major events have occurred in Youyue recently that warrant attention?"
Lin Miaoyi was slightly taken aback, then composed herself and softly reported:
"Father's plans in Xuan Kingdom... seem to have been sabotaged."
The Xuan Kingdom's royal family is using the fact that the Listening Rain Pavilion Master previously struck at the Xuan Kingdom from afar, along with recent events, to exert pressure on us and demand an explanation.
"Oh?" Emperor Yuan raised an eyebrow. "Then what are your father's plans?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Miaoyi immediately lowered her head, hesitating for a moment, unsure whether she should reveal such a secret.
Emperor Yuan, however, seemed to have seen through everything, and said quietly:
"You don't need to be troubled. Go back and tell your father that if he really wants to start a war, the first thing he should do is to eliminate the Listening Rain Pavilion, the biggest obstacle."
Lin Miaoyi was startled; she hadn't expected that Emperor Yuan could guess her father's thoughts.
Seeing that her expression remained calm, Emperor Yuan spoke indifferently:
"Often, a calm expression can mask underlying turmoil. It's wise to subtly reveal certain emotions to mislead outsiders."
Lin Miaoyi humbly replied, "I am deeply grateful for your guidance."
After hesitating for a moment, she finally couldn't suppress her doubts and asked softly:
"Senior, this junior is foolish. The Listening Rain Pavilion is clearly a force within my Youyue Kingdom, so why... why has it become an obstacle instead of a helper?"
Emperor Yuan picked up the feather fan from the stone table again, slowly lay back in the bamboo chair, and lazily waved the fan, asking a question instead of answering:
"Do you still remember what principles Tingyu Pavilion adheres to?"
Lin Miaoyi blurted out:
"If you take someone's money, you're obligated to solve their problems."
As soon as she finished speaking, she seemed to instantly understand something. "You mean... Listening Rain Pavilion... it doesn't truly belong to my Youyue Kingdom? But..."
"When has Tingyu Pavilion ever publicly acknowledged that it is a force of Youyue Kingdom?" Emperor Yuan interrupted her.
"This..." Lin Miaoyi was speechless, her mind racing.
Indeed, Tingyu Pavilion has always presented itself as an independent assassin organization and has never stated its position in any official setting.
"Does Senior mean that as long as the Xuan Kingdom's royal family pays a sufficient price, they can also persuade the mysterious Listening Rain Pavilion Master to take action?"
Thinking of this possibility, Lin Miaoyi felt a chill rise from the bottom of her heart.
Emperor Yuan did not answer again. He simply lay on the bamboo chair, closed his eyes, and smiled meaningfully as he gently waved the feather fan in his hand.
The mountain breeze rustled the bamboo leaves, adding to the air of mystery.
……
Xuan Ce City, a small courtyard in the south of the city.
Ling'er, who had just returned to the courtyard, circled around Li Qingyi twice before finally unable to resist teasing her:
"Tsk tsk, Mr. Li, just how many secrets are you hiding that I don't know about?"
Li Qingyi lied without changing her expression, "This was already my biggest secret, and now you know it too, don't you?"
"Tch, I'd never believe you." Ling'er rolled her eyes at him, naturally not believing his nonsense.
She dropped her joking expression and asked seriously:
"Honestly, why did you deliberately expose your identity in front of those rogue cultivators? You should know very well that Tingyu Pavilion is a universally hated entity in Xuan Kingdom."
Li Qingyi shrugged helplessly. "There's nothing I can do. I'm the kind of person who holds grudges."
"Fine, if you don't want to talk about it, then don't," Ling'er said irritably.
She knew he didn't want to talk about it, and asking again wouldn't help.
She knew in her heart that Li Qingyi would never do something meaningless; there must be a deeper meaning behind his actions, but she just couldn't figure it out yet.
She said no more, turned around and went straight back to her room.
Watching Ling'er close the door, Li Qingyi turned and walked towards Huanzhu Tower.
He walked down the bustling street, and in a deserted corner, he quickly activated his disguise technique. His face blurred for a moment, and he regained his previous appearance.
At the same time, with a thought, the green puppet in his sea of consciousness silently appeared at the entrance of another alley, heading in a direction completely opposite to its original form.
With her mind focused on two things at once, Li Qingyi's main body moved forward steadily.
Most of his mind was focused on the Azure Puppet, vigilantly sensing his surroundings.
The image of the gray-robed monk at the foot of the mountain kept replaying in his mind.
"That person... their aura is concealed, and they act cautiously; they are most likely a spy for the Listening Rain Pavilion."
He wasn't entirely sure at the time, so he took the opportunity of announcing his identity to carefully observe everyone's reactions once again.
Only the gray-robed monk reacted quite differently.
"Is it someone specifically monitoring me?" Li Qingyi wondered, somewhat puzzled.
Ultimately, he decided not to make a move on the spot, but instead planned to lure the snake out of its hole, find a secluded place to capture it, and interrogate it thoroughly.
However, despite circling the city several times and using all his divine sense, Qingkui still couldn't find any trace of the gray-robed cultivator.
"They didn't follow me? I'll test them again." Suspicion grew in Li Qingyi's mind.
While he was pondering, his true form had already returned to Huanzhu Tower.
Upon entering the building, Li Qingyi immediately began arranging how to deal with the Foundation Establishment cultivators.
"No!" His eyes flashed.
"We must make arrangements in advance. What if that Foundation Establishment cultivator has already arrived in Xuan Ce City and is lying in wait, only coming to find me on that day?"
After making this assumption, Li Qingyi felt that her last sense of security had disappeared.
The first step is to obtain information about the other party and know who the enemy is.
There are now three ways to obtain intelligence: Huanzhulou, Tingyuge, and Ling'er.
Just to be on the safe side, Li Qingyi planned to use all of them.
"Someone come here!" Li Qingyi shouted, and immediately someone came up from downstairs.
He stood outside the door, his tone respectful: "What are your orders, Master?"
"Go find Deputy Tower Master Leng and ask her to investigate which Foundation Establishment families have been wiped out in recent years."
"Yes, sir!"
After finishing her business, Li Qingyi immediately got up and headed to the Tingyu Pavilion branch.
The Green Puppet is still wandering around the city.
He was constantly distracted, looking around.
To Li Qingyi's surprise, Qingkui was unable to detect the gray-robed cultivator despite activating his divine sense along the way.
"Could it be that he abandoned the mission? That shouldn't be the case..."
Surprised and puzzled, Li Qingyi arrived at the Tingyu Pavilion branch.
The atmosphere at today's branch is completely different from usual.
The dimly lit underground chamber was several times more lively than usual, with many unfamiliar faces that Li Qingyi had never seen before.
They sat or stood, their aura chilling, their gazes seemingly casually sweeping over the entrance.
The branch leader sat in the main seat and greeted Li Qingyi with a smile when she entered.
"You have truly impressed me." The leader's voice carried a hint of admiration.
"In just two days, not only did they complete several difficult tasks, but they also defeated the Moon Demon..."
Oh, no, it should be called Huanzhulou now. They've even brought Huanzhulou under their wing. Truly, the younger generation is formidable!
Li Qingyi understood in her heart, but her face remained expressionless:
"You flatter me, Chief. I was just lucky and got some simple tasks that I was capable of handling."
"A simple task?" The leader's smile faded slightly, and his gaze sharpened.
"Hunting down that demonic cultivator at the fifth level of Qi Refining is probably no easy task, is it?"
"You flatter me, leader. That mission... didn't it fail?" Li Qingyi shrugged, her tone relaxed.
That task was fabricated by Li Qinglian; the requirement of a demonic cultivator's head to complete it was completely fabricated.
Now that the employer has been forced out and the head is gone, it is naturally considered a failure.
"Failure is failure, but daring to take on the task speaks volumes." The leader's voice gradually turned cold.
As soon as he finished speaking, the atmosphere in the secret room suddenly changed.
An atmosphere of impending doom rose, and the unfamiliar assassins, who had been sitting or standing, all turned their gazes toward Li Qingyi.
An invisible killing intent wove into a net, enveloping him.
The leader was far from calm. He could sense that Li Qingyi, who had hidden his strength and joined Tingyu Pavilion, had seriously threatened his position.
"Hmm?" Li Qingyi's heart skipped a beat. "I remember this part wasn't in the last simulation."
He quickly recalled that in the last simulation, he had charged in and swiftly killed the leader.
Seeing that their leader was dead and that they themselves were powerful, the others could only pretend that nothing had happened.
"So that's how it is..." Li Qingyi suddenly realized, a cold smile curling at the corner of her lips.
"So it turns out this leader has been planning to get rid of me all along. These unfamiliar faces are probably just henchmen he's hastily gathered."
He glanced around, taking in the cold, menacing faces, but showed no fear, instead offering a calm smile:
"With such a grand display today, Chief, are you perhaps planning a banquet to celebrate my victory?"
His smile was natural, and he showed no fear whatsoever.
They seemed oblivious to the murderous aura surrounding them, a aura powerful enough to suffocate even ordinary Qi Refining cultivators.
In the simulation, he could kill the leader with a single sword strike. In reality, with his cultivation approaching the sixth level of Qi Refining, he had no reason to be afraid.
As for the other worthless scoundrels, Li Qingyi didn't care at all; they were only fit to be his slaves.
Li Qingyi's nonchalant attitude inexplicably made the previously confident leader feel a sense of unease and pressure.
He discovered that he couldn't see through this young assassin at all.
The two locked eyes, the atmosphere tense and ready to fight.
The leader's fake smile vanished completely, replaced by murderous intent in his eyes. He slowly raised his right hand, his magical power concealed.
At the same time, Li Qingyi held her breath and concentrated, her sword energy surging like a river, ready to be unleashed.
His fingertips twitched slightly, and he had already locked in several possible solutions in his mind.
In an instant, under everyone's gaze, the leader made a move that left all the assassins present speechless.