Chapter 1451: A Miscalculation
Chapter 1451: A Miscalculation
What secret did the jade sword hold? Was it connected to Pure Sea Sect?
Though the sword had come from the Buddhist hall, it had been gripped in the hand of a corpse, which did not make it a Buddhist treasure.
These questions raced through Qin Sang's mind as he studied it. He thought of the seven-story stupa in his own possession, whose purpose he still had not worked out, and wondered whether the two astras might be linked somehow.
He had no intention of trading for the sword, though. What interested him was the seller's motive.
There was a fifty-fifty chance the man in that pavilion was the Chaotic Devil Elder, and he was hardly short of usable astras. Someone like that ought to value a treasure with a hidden secret more.
Is he trying to lure out whoever actually understands it?
At that thought Qin Sang leaned back easily against his chair. Whether the Chaotic Devil Elder was fishing for him or for someone else, he was not about to wade in.
He noticed then that the murmuring around him had died down considerably. The jade sword really did seem to be out of the ordinary. But not enough for anyone to part with a top-grade astra.
A few tried offers, and when the sword's owner refused to budge, they lost interest one by one.
No deal was struck in the end, and Venerable Zhongtai shifted the next bamboo lodge forward.
Inside that lodge, the Chaotic Devil Elder reached out and called the jade sword back. With the sword in one hand and the Lingzhi Ruyi in the other, he wore a look of confusion.
True essence poured in. A faint white orb of light appeared within the jade sword.
The Guanyin on the Lingzhi Ruyi lit up as well, her closed eyes seeming ready to open at any moment.
Had anyone entered the pavilion just then, they would have found that the ripples the two astras gave off were very much alike. The sword's were a little thinner, all appearance and no substance.
Yet unless the two were set side by side, or one had seen the genuine article before, no ordinary person would notice the difference.
"The sword was forged by methods close to those of the Lingzhi Ruyi. I spent two years refining it with the greatest care, until its ripples could pass for the real thing well enough. Mystic Heaven Palace should have bought it just to find out what it was. That would have confirmed the report without alerting the enemy. Why didn't they move? Could I have guessed wrong?" the Chaotic Devil Elder muttered to himself.
Something had failed to be proven. He turned the Lingzhi Ruyi over and over in his hands, and the certainty had gone out of his eyes.
He regretted now that he had never troubled to build up the forces under his command, unwilling in years past to let mundane affairs disturb his cultivation. Things would have been far easier otherwise.
Behind the Myriad Devil Assembly stood an alliance of the strongest factions of Boundless Sea, all holding one another in check. He could push through a few matters of no great consequence, but he could not control it.
After long thought, the Chaotic Devil Elder hung the jade sword back outside.
***
Qin Sang was still turning over the Chaotic Devil Elder's intentions when he saw the jade token in his hand light up. Touching the barrier on the token, he was shifted to Venerable Zhongtai's side.
Both the Seven-Master Buddha Seal and the materials for the Golden Sinking Sword were already in hand, and they had cost him only a single Dark Malevolent Bramble, so he had far more room to work with now.
"Primordial Yin Water, Seven-Colored Herb Fruit, Yin Nether Soil..." Qin Sang put out his call for these spiritual objects without troubling to disguise it.
From what he had gathered earlier, he judged it likely that Valley Master Mu had not fallen. Better still if he were here, since it would give Qin Sang the chance to restore contact.
And even if he had died at the Chaotic Devil Elder's hands, there was no cause for worry. When the Chaotic Devil Elder entered Pure Sea Sect, he had not gone straight for the herb garden, which meant he had not used a soul search, or that the search had failed.
A response came quickly.
The other party had two Seven-Colored Herb Fruits but no interest in any of the three spiritual herbs Qin Sang was holding.
Not until the free exchange at the very end, after several rounds of trading, did he part with two of his herbs and finally get the two Seven-Colored Herb Fruits he wanted, along with the second drop of Heavenly Crown Heavy Liquid.
Each spirit elevation required one whole Seven-Colored Herb Fruit, so he would have to give priority to the Fire Jade Centipede and the Sky-Eyed Butterfly.
As for Primordial Yin Water and Yin Nether Soil, neither surfaced at any point during the meet.
Qin Sang changed tack and asked whether anyone had word of the two, but that yielded nothing either. It seemed like he would have to make another trip to Hundred Flowers Valley.
The trade fair drew toward its close.
Qin Sang let out a slow breath, feeling nothing but weariness. Scheming against these old-timers and probing for each other's limits had drained him about as much as a full battle would have.
His gaze shifted to the jade sword, still unsold.
He had kept an eye on that pavilion all through the meet. The sword's owner had held stubbornly to his terms and refused to lower them even when no one showed the slightest interest.
If that's the Chaotic Devil Elder, why sell the jade sword by itself? Qin Sang mulled it over and could not read the man's purpose.
Before long, Venerable Zhongtai announced the end of the trade fair. The array on the island shifted at speed, the bamboo lodges moving out of position until the arrangement was thoroughly scrambled and every one of them lay hidden in darkness.
Qin Sang rose and left his room, handed his jade token and spirit stones to the puppet maidservant, and stepped onto the bridge of light to leave the island.
Soon evasion lights were flashing in quick succession above Myriad Devil City, scattering in every direction.
Qin Sang did not head straight south. He changed course several times over, watching for anyone following him.
***
On the island at the center of the lake, the Chaotic Devil Elder put away the unsold jade sword, his expression exceptionally grim.
Then his gaze froze, as though something had just occurred to him. He hurried from the pavilion, and with a flicker of his figure he vanished into thin air.
At the edge of Myriad Devil City stood a low, unremarkable courtyard.
The furnishings inside were plain, no different from an ordinary mortal household. Yet at the moment the room held only two mysterious figures in black robes, seated cross-legged and utterly out of place there.
Neither had stirred in a long while, and not a ripple came off either of them. They might have been two dead men.
Between them floated a black devilish eye, opening and closing, sending out threads too fine for the naked eye to catch. The threads ran out past the courtyard, and where they finally led was anyone's guess.
All at once both men opened their eyes and looked toward the door.
A figure had appeared in the doorway without either of them noticing. It was the Chaotic Devil Elder.
"Greetings, Master!" The two scrambled to their feet and bowed together.
"The trade fair is already over. Mystic Heaven Palace still hasn't moved?" the Chaotic Devil Elder asked, his tone dark.
"It's over?" The two started, realizing at once that something had gone wrong, and answered uneasily, "The word our juniors sent back says everything is normal. The three Mystic Heaven Palace elders should still be waiting on news. There's been no movement—"
Before they could finish, the Chaotic Devil Elder spat out a curse at their stupidity and dropped all concealment, turning into a streak of light that shot toward a courtyard in the distance.
The two exchanged sheepish looks and hurried after him.
Boom! A barrier lay hidden in the small courtyard, and several streams of pale cold qi surged at the intruder.
The Chaotic Devil Elder snorted coldly and jabbed out hard with his black bamboo staff, scattering the cold qi outright before charging into the main hall. One glance was enough, and he flashed through into the rear hall.
All he found were three ice sculptures whose auras were indistinguishable from the real people!
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Laughing in his fury, the Chaotic Devil Elder shattered the sculptures with a single sweep of his staff and rounded on his two disciples with a savage glare.
The pair stood dumbstruck. After receiving his orders they had pinpointed the Mystic Heaven Palace elders' residence, taken care not to startle their enemies, and kept watch from the shadows with a secret technique the whole time.