The Transaction

Chapter 561: The Transaction

Faced with the Grand Liang Imperial Preceptor’s command, even these men, who had been carrying Ji Lin’s imperial edict, dared not act presumptuously.

“Yes, this humble one obeys.” In an instant, the surrounding men all scattered, not a single one daring to remain.

Seeing the authority this man held over the others, Li Huowang’s heart began to pound with unease. He started calculating what he would do if the Imperial Preceptor decided to turn on him.

If it came to that, he would have no choice but to use the Cultivate the True to summon Zhuge Yuan and gamble everything on it.

Just as Li Huowang was thinking this, Huangfu Tian’gang tucked the Constellation Sword in his hand back into his sleeve and walked over to Li Huowang empty-handed.

“If you’re waiting for the Director of the Supervisory Heavenly Office, I’m afraid you’ll be waiting a long time. He’s tied up with some trivial matters. How about this: I’ll help you deal with Dice, and this illusion belongs to me.”

“Huh?!”

Both Li Huowang and Shangguan Yuting were stunned. He truly had not expected the other man to say such a thing.

Judging by this, the Imperial Preceptor was stealing the Director’s thunder. Could it be that these two were secretly at odds with each other?

“What? Do you think that just because the Director of the Supervisory Heavenly Office can handle Dice, I can’t? Preposterous. Dice is merely adept at fleeing. As long as I know his location, I can crush him with one hand!”

Li Huowang thought it over carefully. He had already gleaned some information from the other man’s actions. First, the Imperial Preceptor hadn’t directly tried to seize the prize, which meant he didn’t want to have an outright falling out with the Director of the Supervisory Heavenly Office.

Second, the secret of the Supreme Extremity Confluence was very attractive to both the Director of the Supervisory Heavenly Office and the Imperial Preceptor.

Having sorted out the stakes, Li Huowang looked back at the Imperial Preceptor before him. “The Director of the Supervisory Heavenly Office has been kind to me. Doing this… it would weigh heavily on my conscience.”

Huangfu Tian’gang looked Li Huowang up and down with suspicion. “You’re that loyal to her? I wasn’t aware of that. As I recall, you don’t even hold an official post in the Supervisory Heavenly Office, do you?”

Li Huowang pointed at the multitude of eyes covering Shangguan Yuting’s head. “Since there are so many of these, if Your Excellency the Imperial Preceptor could spare another one for this humble one, it would ease my conscience a little.”

If he had two secrets, he could use one to find Dice and the other to find Miao Miao.

Since the Imperial Preceptor had opened his mouth, now was the time to take advantage of him.

Hearing Li Huowang’s words, a look of understanding appeared on Huangfu Tian’gang’s face. “I see. Fine. A good general doesn’t starve his troops. Besides, this grain isn’t mine to begin with.”

With that, Huangfu Tian’gang formed a hand seal with one hand and muttered to himself. He circled around Shangguan Yuting once, then pointed at Li Huowang.

One of Shangguan Yuting’s eyeballs immediately flew out and sank into Li Huowang’s shadow.

Then, with a sweep of his large robe, Shangguan Yuting simply vanished.

It was clear he was very satisfied with this harvest. He reached out and patted Li Huowang on the shoulder.

“Since you’ve accepted this item, when the Director of the Supervisory Heavenly Office returns and asks you where these things have gone, you know how to answer, don’t you?”

Thoughts raced through Li Huowang’s mind before he slowly nodded. “This humble one understands.”

As for whether the Director of the Supervisory Heavenly Office would blame him when she returned and found Shangguan Yuting gone with nothing to show for it, Li Huowang could no longer afford to care.

Ji Lin was about to be enthroned. He couldn’t rest easy for a single moment until Miao Miao was saved.

“Mm. The child is teachable.” Huangfu Tian’gang nodded with satisfaction.

“Imperial Preceptor, when do we move to hunt down Dice?” Li Huowang asked, his tone tinged with urgency.

“Right now.”

Hearing the man’s confident reply, Li Huowang immediately headed toward a river at the base of the mountain.

To use the secret of the Supreme Extremity Confluence, he had to use the reflection on the water’s surface.

As he rushed toward the river, Li Huowang looked at the Imperial Preceptor beside him, who was using the technique of shrinking the ground to an inch, and couldn’t help but ask, “Imperial Preceptor, if Dice is so heinous, why aren’t you and the Director of the Supervisory Heavenly Office even a little bit anxious?”

This was a question that had been weighing on Li Huowang’s mind for a long time. Now, he finally had a chance to ask it.

“Heh. The Dice who planned the seizure of the Divine Mountain’s Ghost Eye has already been slain. What’s the point of killing another one? The Zuowandao are like the grass in Qingqiu. Burn it all down, and it will grow right back.”

“As long as the Zuowandao is severely weakened, that’s enough. In this day and age, there are far more troublesome things than them.”

“The Zuowandao die out, and after a while, they can come back?”

Li Huowang’s eyes widened. Even in his memories of Hong Zhong, he had never heard such a claim.

“As long as there is one person left in this world who tells a lie, the Zuowandao will never be wiped out.”

Hearing these words, Li Huowang’s heart trembled as if he understood something. He looked up at the bright, sunny sky above.

This world was far stranger than he had imagined. There was still so much he did not know.

A winding forest stream appeared before Li Huowang. Knowing he was about to kill Dice, his breathing grew heavy.

He bent down and scooped up a bowl of water from his own reflection in the stream. The reflected eyes in the water swayed with the current.

Li Huowang took a deep breath, silently recited Dice’s location in his heart, and then gently slapped the water onto his forehead.

In an instant, Li Huowang’s entire body shuddered as if doused with cold water. The next moment, all sound around him vanished—no sound of running water, no birdsong, not even the Imperial Preceptor’s heartbeat.

But in its place, Li Huowang saw another perspective. The perspective of a eunuch.

It was a young eunuch. He followed his foster father into the treasure room to offer incense, then respectfully followed him back out.

When he saw the solemn palace hall outside, Li Huowang immediately realized where they were. This was the Grand Liang Imperial Palace! That young eunuch was Dice!

Li Huowang snapped his eyes open and immediately felt his body wobble. That other perspective hadn’t disappeared; it had overlapped with his own!

Everything from both perspectives was piled on top of each other, creating a very chaotic scene. But at this moment, Li Huowang could no longer care about that. He said to the Imperial Preceptor, “Dice is inside the palace! He’s one of the young eunuchs preparing the enthronement ceremony!”

“Haha! How rare. This thing actually works.”

A delighted expression appeared on Huangfu Tian’gang’s face. He pulled his right hand from his sleeve, and the Constellation Sword was instantly in his grip.

“Go!” The Grand Liang Imperial Preceptor tossed the longsword into the air, then kicked the hilt with force. The entire sword shot toward the north, trailing afterimages.

But that wasn’t all. Huangfu Tian’gang grabbed Li Huowang by the collar, stamped off a treetop a few times, and caught up to the flying sword, landing directly on the blade.

He carried Li Huowang along as they stood on the swiftly flying sword, heading straight for the capital.

The shifting between two perspectives, combined with the feeling of being light-headed and disoriented, left Li Huowang feeling dizzy and groggy.

But this sensation quickly faded. Li Huowang was already getting somewhat used to the dual perspectives.

By this time, the two of them had arrived over the capital city.

“Imperial Preceptor! Dice is running! He knows you’re here!”

“Hmph! He won’t get away!” The Imperial Preceptor stomped on the sword’s hilt. The Constellation Sword instantly flew upward and landed back in his hand.

As he raised the longsword in his hand toward the sky, a thunderclap, as sharp as a land-splitting explosion, cracked through the air. BANG!

Heavenly thunder struck the dozens of ritual altars arranged around the palace. The purple scriptures that had already been prepared in wooden basins were instantly ignited by this divine fire.