A Name Shakes a Region, Calculation

Chapter 643: A Name Shakes a Region, Calculation

“What’s this, Brother Wei? After a hundred years in this place, have you grown attached to it?” the scholar said, a faint hint of mockery in his tone.

“Attached? No. But after so many years, I do have some feelings. A man is not made of grass or wood; who can be emotionless? Besides, back then, Cloud Elder of the Falling Cloud Sect treated me like his own son. He not only taught me the Dao and its techniques, but also saved my life from danger on several occasions. He even overcame objections and nearly let me take control of the sect. I cannot simply ignore that kind of debt. I will not allow you two to take this Spirit Eye Tree,” the disheveled elder transmitted from within the light barrier, his expression utterly flat.

“Fine, fine! So Brother Wei truly intends to be a real elder of the Falling Cloud Sect. But don’t forget, the moment we reveal your true identity, do you really think a spy from the Heavenly Fiend Sect can continue living comfortably here?” the man transformed by Du Dong said, his anger turning to a cold laugh, his voice dripping with hidden threat.

“You need not remind me. I am well aware of that. Do the two friends here know why I am semi-confined to this sacred ground, unable to freely return to the Falling Cloud Sect? I had long since aroused the suspicions of my two senior uncles. Lacking concrete proof, they simply stripped me of my authority within the sect and trapped me here. Of course, I have also received great kindness from the Heavenly Fiend Sect. The token Brother Du showed me was indeed the sect leader’s genuine article. So, while I cannot let you move the tree, I can give you some of its liquid essence. That will be my repayment for the great debt I owe the Heavenly Fiend Sect,” the disheveled elder said, his voice unnervingly calm.

“What? Just the liquid essence? I…”

“Fine. Giving us the liquid essence is acceptable. If we can get our hands on the liquid, we aren’t really that fixated on the tree itself. After all, our Demon Dao and the Heavenly Alliance possess countless heavenly treasures. Even without a Spirit Eye Tree, we can still find plenty of Spirit Eye Springs and Spirit Eye Stones.”

Just as the scholar was about to argue further, Du Dong’s expression suddenly softened, and he spoke in full agreement.

The scholar was taken aback, but then he glanced at Du Dong. After a moment of thought, he fell silent.

After all, his orders were to follow this young master of the Thousand Illusion Sect in everything. He didn’t know when the Righteous Alliance had gotten so close to the Six Demonic Sects, but watching how the other party handled this was good enough.

“Since the two friends agree, I will now throw the prepared liquid essence out of the restriction. Let me be clear: if either of you tries to ambush me the moment I temporarily open the prohibition, don’t blame me for being ruthless,” the disheveled cultivator said coldly.

“Hehe! Rest assured. We wouldn’t do anything so foolish. After all, the Verdant Heaven Vine is the greater matter. This tree is secondary,” Du Dong promised, his expression unchanged.

The disheveled elder nodded. He reached into his storage pouch and pulled out a small white bottle.

“Prepare yoursel—”

“Prepare for what? To hand our three sects’ supreme treasure over to the enemy?”

Before the disheveled elder could finish his sentence, a red light flashed. Over a dozen faint sword-threads shot up from beneath him, instantly binding the caught-off-guard elder tightly, rendering him completely immobile.

At the same time, a yellow light flickered at the cave’s stone door. Old Man Fu and the others appeared there, their faces dark, blocking Du Dong and the scholar’s escape route.

The scholar and Du Dong’s expressions shifted drastically at the sight.

It was then that the figure of the blue-clad child appeared from behind the bound disheveled elder.

“Good. Very good. We old relics knew all along that the Righteous and Demonic paths had planted quite a few spies among our three sects. You were all under heavy suspicion. We simply lacked concrete proof, so we couldn’t bring ourselves to eliminate you for the sect’s sake. After all, all of you are Core Formation cultivators. If we killed one by mistake, it would be a great loss to the sect. But now that you’ve jumped out on your own, I no longer need to be so discriminating,” the child said, his small face cold and hard as he stared at the pair.

“Blue… how are you here? What about outside…” the Bai-surnamed cultivator stammered, his face full of disbelief. Du Dong, meanwhile, managed a forced smile and asked despite his livid expression.

“Did you really think that Old Monster Fen and Golden Mirror Scholar could keep us occupied? Right now, they should be trapped by the two fellow Daoists from the Falling Cloud Sect, leading their teams. The sounds of attack outside were all fakes I had people create. Otherwise, why would you obediently make your move? This way, we can not only give you Righteous and Demonic scoundrels a painful lesson, making you think twice before provoking the Heavenly Alliance, but also thoroughly clean out the spies within our sects,” the child explained flatly, without a hint of deception.

“What? The two senior uncles aren’t outside?” The scholar, who had barely maintained his composure, finally showed a flicker of panic.

“Senior Brother Bai… you… you are really a spy for the Righteous Alliance?” The white-clad young woman stared at her cultivation partner, her voice trembling as she asked, her face draining of all color.

Hearing this, the panic on the scholar’s face momentarily faded. It was replaced by a bitter smile. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end, no words came out.

“I don’t want to bully the young. Will you two surrender yourselves, or must I exert myself a little more?” the child said, pursing his lips as he delivered the ultimatum.

At those words, Du Dong and the scholar’s expressions changed.

But just then, a streak of white light flew in from outside the door.

As the light converged, the sweat-soaked figure of Old Man Jiang appeared before them. The moment he materialized, he cried out frantically to the child:

“Uncle Blue! Something terrible has happened! Fellow Daoist Cheng of the Falling Cloud Sect sent a transmission talisman. They and the accompanying cultivators fell into an ambush laid by the Heavenly Fiend Sect and the Thousand Illusion Sect of the Demon Dao! They are locked in a bitter struggle and urgently need reinforcements!”

Hearing this, all the cultivators of the three sects in the room were thrown into an uproar. Weren’t they supposed to be the ones ambushing the other side? How had they fallen into an enemy trap instead?

The child was also startled, but after a moment’s thought, he understood and began to curse loudly.

“You little demon bastards! You used a trap-within-a-trap trick on us old relics! Watch me skin you alive!” As he finished, he opened his mouth without a second thought, and a fiery red, rainbow-like streak shot out. He intended to kill the two before him in one blow, then go rescue the cultivators of the three sects.

But in that instant, the bound disheveled cultivator suddenly let out a loud roar. One of his arms swelled to several times its normal size, turning a deep purple-red as it shot towards the child’s face with ferocious force.

Given the cruel glint of his five fingers and the flickering purple light, if that claw landed solidly, it would certainly crush the child’s head.

The child’s face showed a flash of alarm. His own magical treasure had just left his mouth, and the enemy’s ambush was so sudden. With no other choice, he sucked in his stomach and puffed out his cheeks.

A ball of scorching red light shot out from his mouth once more, meeting the disheveled cultivator’s purple demonic claw head-on.

A sizzling sound, like flesh meeting a hot iron, suddenly rang out. The disheveled cultivator’s clawing motion was slowed for a moment. Seizing the opportunity, the child’s form blurred, and he instantly teleported out of the light barrier within a flash of red glow.

“Heavenly Fiend True Lord!”

The child coldly uttered the title of the successive sect leaders of the Heavenly Fiend Sect, then stared at the disheveled cultivator without a word. At the same time, he pointed a single finger in a certain direction. The rainbow streak that had been shot out circled and flew back, transforming into a lifelike, crimson, strange serpent, baring its fangs and bristling.

“Hehe! I didn’t expect Brother Blue to recognize me so quickly. I, the sect leader, have long heard of your esteemed reputation, ‘Fire Dragon Child.’ It’s a pity this is only a borrowed body for spellcasting. I cannot truly have a bout with you. Truly a shame,” the disheveled cultivator said, his head half-lowered as if unconscious, but a lazy, utterly unfamiliar voice slowly emerged from his mouth.

Seeing this bizarre scene, the image of Extreme Yin Patriarch’s “Possession Art” immediately surfaced in Han Li’s mind. Though there were some differences, it was definitely a similar demonic cultivation technique.

And from what Han Li knew, this kind of technique required an extremely complex set of preliminary preparations on the target before it could be performed. It seemed that the Heavenly Fiend Sect Leader, when sending the disheveled cultivator to infiltrate the Falling Cloud Sect, had already set up a contingency measure in advance.

Now, Du Dong, by some unknown method, had activated the possession technique at this moment.

After a rapid assessment, a thought suddenly struck Han Li. His expression turning serious, he transmitted his voice to the little fox spirit hidden in his sleeve:

“Silvermoon, return to the quiet room immediately. You must take on the appearance of my heavily injured self. Don’t let anyone discover I am not in the room. As for how to explain my survival just now, improvise. As long as you don’t expose my cultivation level or identity. I will hurry back as fast as I can.”

Seeing how solemn Han Li was, Silvermoon knew this was important to him. Without a word, she sank directly into the ground from his sleeve and returned to the quiet room.

At that moment, the Heavenly Fiend True Lord, now within the light barrier, raised a hand and tossed the small bottle of liquid essence to Du Dong and the scholar, who had already moved closer to him. Then, looking somewhat regretfully at the Spirit Eye Tree, he said calmly to the two:

“Take this back with you. I will keep this Fire Dragon Child busy for a while. But I won’t be able to buy you much time. You two, take care of yourselves.” Having said this, the Heavenly Fiend True Lord made a decisive move. His form shot forth, and in a single flicker, he was beside Old Man Jiang. With a sinister grin, his purple giant claw came crashing down towards the old man’s head.