“Hey, you’re still here?” After going through some matters with Jiang Xiao, Zhou Bao returned to the Inner Yard, and found to his surprise, that White Tiger was in his study room, waiting for him.
“I was just curious to find out how this matter was resolved so easily!” White Tiger gave Zhou Bao a puzzled look. “Before I came, I was worried that things would get out of control!”
“Do you think I’m that silly?” Zhou Bao laughed coldly. “Your stance is even more aggressive than the Palace’s. Even if I had full confidence in myself, I would not be so silly as to take on the five biggest sects all at once!” At this point, a glum expression came over Zhou Bao’s face. “If I recall correctly, I am also a member of the Immortal Palace. I’m even one of the 28 constellations. Why does the Immortal Palace consider me to be an enemy? They even dared to scheme against me at the Infinite Star Sea!”
White Tiger’s expression remained unchanged. He smiled. “You’ve misunderstood. The one who schemed against you at the Infinite Star Sea was Divine Wind Palace, not the Immortal Palace. At that point, we thought that concealing your identity would be hugely advantageous, so that’s why we cooperated with them. As for the details, I was about to explain to you in person, but little did I realize that you’ve already received the news!”
“I also know that that damn Zhi IX has been stirring up trouble among us!”
At this moment, White Tiger was finally convinced. “I have really underestimated you. Even Wang She is probably not aware of this news. Likewise for Golden Rooster. Seems like you have a better source for the latest news!”
“Don’t try to test me. It would be useless. You’re right, I do indeed have other news sources. But I won’t share them with you!” Zhou Bao laughed coldly. “Why exactly are you still here?”
“Mainly because of what you told me earlier. But I must correct one point: Zhi IX is indeed plotting against you, but only on the terms that you do not accept today’s condition!”
White Tiger added gently, “In fact, I had a discussion with him before I came here. Even if you were to disagree, we would not fight with you directly. Zhi IX has already drawn up a list of attacks to use against you. They have prepared themselves very well, but they did not expect that you would agree immediately. All his set-ups are of no use now. Seems like after Zhi IX received the news, he had a firsthand experience of what it feels like to be defeated!”
“Am I Zhi IX’s enemy? Why is he treating me like this?”
“Zhi IX is on very good terms with Mingyi School. He thinks he is an intellectual and likes everything to be meticulously planned. He pursues the kind of world where every move and every thought are like chess pieces; all within his control and every move is calculated. And you, you are the disobedient chess piece that messed up his entire plan. Of course he wants to eliminate you. It’s nothing personal.”
“Damn, how unlucky I am to come across a lunatic like him!” Zhou Bao swore. “Then, is there a way to eliminate this Zhi IX? He is really a thorn in my side! If he could not find trouble with me now, he would definitely try to find trouble with me the next time. Why not eliminate him once and for all?”
“You want to fight with Zhi IX? It will not be easy. Although his cultivation and strength are both not very impressive, he’s one of Yu Taixu’s top man. If something happens to him, Yu Taixu will definitely come after you!”
“Yu Taixu?”
“That’s right. Yu Taixu, Lord of Divine Wind Palace, Family Head of the Yu family!” At this point, White Tiger seemed to recall something and immediately flashed a huge grin. “I heard that Divine Wind Palace incurred huge losses this time at Azure Heaven. Not only did they lose quite a few Venerable Realm Genuine Immortals, but Yu Taicang lost his own blood brother as well. The Lord of Heaven Realm, Yu Taicang, has been stuck in the Azure Secret Area and his fairy weapon has gone missing. That caused a great damage to his pneuma!”
“No…? Is this some sort of trick played by Divine Wind Palace? A Genuine Immortal at the Lord of Heaven Realm could easily kill a Venerable Realm Immortal with a mere snap of his fingers. He’s still trapped even though he has a fairy weapon?” Zhou Bao had an odd expression on his face with a hint of incredulity. “I think Divine Wind Palace is releasing such false news so that they can keep the Azure Secret Area to themselves. You guys may have fallen into their trap. Anyway this would not be the first time!”
Hearing Zhou Bao’s ruthless snide remarks, White Tiger looked a little unhappy. However, he didn’t know how else to explain it either. The defeat of the four great sects by Divine Wind Palace at the Azure Secret Area was an indisputable fact. Whenever this subject was brought up, the four great sects always felt completely mortified. Divine Wind Palace was much more powerful than them and this was the outcome.
Of course, the only reason why they were able to clear the scene so easily was because Divine Wind Palace had honored their commitment and to the enormous losses at the Azure Secret Area.
“This news is accurate. In Divine Wind Palace, Yu Taicang is presumed to be dead already. Recently Yu Taixu has been busy trying to reincarnate what is left of Yu Taicang’s spirit in the Golden Book of Fate. News has it that he is furious!”
“Reincarnating his spirit!” Zhou Bao’s eyes twitched. “If that is so, then he must be aware of the events that took place in the Azure Secret Area right?”
“Psh, I doubt. Although that little bit of Genuine Spirit had once been connected to Yu Taicang, it had been severed by a huge gust of energy when he entered the Azure Secret Area. Therefore, nobody knew what had actually happened in the Azure Secret Area. One only knows that Yu Taicang had perished together with his fellow Genuine Immortals, leaving Divine Wind Palace much weaker now.
“A few Venerables and a Lord of Heaven Realm Immortal shouldn’t matter too much to Divine Wind Palace right?”
“Doesn’t matter? The entire Divine Wind Palace has only three Genuine Immortals at the Lord of Heaven Realm. There are a limited number of Genuine Immortals of the Venerable Realm. With such a huge loss occurring at the same time, it can be considered an enormous damage even to Divine Wind Palace!” A hint of sadistic joy could be detected in White Tiger’s speech.
“Can this really be confirmed? A Genuine Immortal of the Lord of Heaven Realm with a fairy weapon, together with so many other Venerables, perishing at the Azure Secret Area. How is that possible?”
“I can only say that Divine Wind Palace really had rotten luck this time. Now everyone is speculating that there could be an Ancient Mighty Expert hidden in the Azure Secret Area. We did not encroach on his territory the previous time we were there, so that’s why he allowed us in. But with Divine Wind Palace’s ambitious plans, of course they would end up in a situation like that!”
“Ancient Mighty Expert?” Zhou Bao looked solemn as he coughed out the four words, resisting the urge to burst into laughter. “Is that even possible?”
“Why not? The 33 Heavens have their own masters. Plus with Azure Heaven becoming so eccentric over time, it is highly possible that the Emperor of the Azure Heaven has been asleep all this while in Azure Heaven. Perhaps he is already in control of the Origin of the Great Ways in the Azure Secret Area. When Divine Wind Palace brought in the copy of the Golden Book of Fate and their fairy weapons, they were like feeding meat buns to chase away dogs! They were totally helpless!”
“Now that you’ve put it this way, it is highly possible. Hehe, feeding meat buns to dogs. There is no going back. This time Divine Wind Palace has really met with misfortune. Their strength has been seriously diminished and they even lost a fairy weapon. Given that they have to compensate the four great sects for so many things, they must have suffered a huge loss in their pneuma!”
“I know what you are thinking about. However, don’t be over positive. This time Divine Wind Palace had been very decisive in their judgment, playing a game of benefits that easily trapped us. At the same time, they also took out the Infinite Star Sea’s Void Map. Most importantly, even though Divine Wind Palace has suffered damage, they are still stronger than the four great sects combined. They had three Lord of Heaven Immortals. Now they have lost one and are left with two. The other four great sects, besides us Immortal Palace, only have one Lord of Heaven Immortal. As for Venerables, the Divine Wind Palace is definitely in the lead. Therefore, unless the four great sects come to a consensus to collaborate and are willing to pay a huge price in order to defeat Divine Wind Palace, there is no way we can control them!”
White Tiger’s words were realistic and at the same time had a trace of helplessness. Zhou Bao could detect traces of melancholy and despair in his tone. Divine Wind Palace had been acting on their own terms for too long already. However, their strength was seriously very powerful. Although Immortal Palace was second in terms of power, they still lagged far behind Divine Wind Palace. More importantly, it was difficult for Immortal Palace to form a collaboration. In fact, among the five great sects, the rules in Immortal Palace were the most liberal. Everyone had a lot of leisure time and everyone was impossibly idle. One of the two Lord of Heaven Realm Genuine Immortals mentioned by White Tiger was truly a lazy bum. It was possible that even if Immortal Palace was in a state of fatal danger, he would not bother to lend a helping hand.
“It seems that Divine Wind Palace, ultimately has the greater advantage!”
“That’s right. In the end, Divine Wind Palace has the upper hand!” White Tiger lamented helplessly. “I wanted to help you in secret for today’s affair. But I did not expect that you would be so good with your words – I wouldn’t know how to do you a favor!”
“Forget it. You’ve already helped me so much this time!” Zhou Bao smiled, “if it was not for your secret support, we would not have struck a deal!”
“You are a smart guy. I will not say anything more. Your sudden cooperation this time really messed up Zhi IX’s plan. At the same time, you allowed us to act without any worries. I believe after a while, it would be time to travel to the Infinite Star Sea. Are you planning to go?”
“I am very interested in the Infinite Star Sea. However, with what is left of my little life, I’d better take it easy. I won’t be going to the Infinite Star Sea. Recently there have been some obstacles in my practice. I would need some time to break through that.”
“Obstacles? You are planning to break through the Mysterious Realm?” White Tiger asked, smilingly.
“No, I’m not that silly. If I surpass the Mysterious Realm so quickly, people would come after me. However, even if I don’t surpass the Mysterious Realm, I need to get more information about some things” At this point, he scratched his head helplessly. “I have been improving my strength really quickly. But It feels like my foundation is a bit weak!”
“Good that you can see that. However, I don’t seem to see any signs of weakening in your foundation!” White Tiger looked at Zhou Bao. “Alright, since you have stuff to do, I will not force you any longer. The voyage to the Infinite Star Sea would start in three years If you change your mind, inform me at least half a year in advance. I will make the arrangements!”
“No problem!”