Chapter 230: The Chosen Scapegoat
Chapter 230: Chapter 230: The Chosen Scapegoat
The center of Flying Snow City.
Shi Yutong hurried into the palace. Inside, a lone figure sat cross-legged.
As a Core Formation Master who had lived for several hundred years, Qianxue Master should have been able to face anything with composure.
But right now, she seemed anxious and restless, unable to quiet her mind even during meditation.
Sensing Shi Yutong’s arrival, she couldn’t help but open her eyes and look at her daughter.
"Mother, how are things with Father?" Shi Yutong asked, her expression worried.
Flying Snow City had a Stargazing Platform that allowed for real-time communication with other Main Cities. A year ago, when Mu Yun Master arrived in Silver Moon City, he had used it to report his safety to his wife and daughter.
At the time, Mu Yun Master had said that the situation in Silver Moon City had stabilized, but he couldn’t leave just yet.
But not long ago, the situation in Silver Moon City had taken a drastic turn for the worse.
The Barbarian tribes had taken advantage of the chaos, plunging Silver Moon City into a state of crisis in an instant.
Mu Yun Master had gone to Silver Moon City to provide aid, not to throw his life away. He couldn’t just leave his life behind in Silver Moon City. Seeing the situation was unsalvageable, he had already decided to break through the siege and leave.
The last message received by Flying Snow City was that Mu Yun Master would be breaking out with some of the Silver Moon Sect’s elites and would return to Flying Snow City soon.
Although Mu Yun Master believed that with his strength, breaking through the encirclement of Barbarians and Demon Beasts would not be a problem.
But Qianxue Master and Shi Yutong, mother and daughter, were still very worried about him.
Hearing Shi Yutong’s worried words, Qianxue Master forced a smile. "Don’t worry, Tong’Er. Your father is cautious; he’ll be fine. He’s already broken through. Perhaps he’ll be back in a few days."
"Mother, I don’t understand. Why would the Barbarian Race attack Silver Moon City so desperately, without any regard for their own lives?" Shi Yutong asked, though her heart was still worried for her faraway father’s safety.
But there was nothing she could do at the moment except chat with her mother to ease their mutual anxiety.
Qianxue Master shook her head. She couldn’t understand what the Barbarian Race was after either.
To throw away their own lives just to land a fatal blow on humanity—it was completely illogical. But there was no point in discussing it now.
Right now, she only hoped her Daoist partner would return safely.
Just as the two were talking, suddenly—
CRACK!
A crisp sound echoed from within Qianxue Master’s Storage Bag. Hearing this, both of their faces paled drastically!
...
Beneath the sky.
The Dwarf looked at the puppet before him with disdain. "What? You think you can threaten me with this little secret?"
As he spoke, his Divine Sense instantly swept out in the direction the puppet had come from. At the same time, the banner in his hand shifted, and thousands of invisible Ghosts flew out from it, silently departing.
The puppet stiffly shook its head, a strange voice emerging from its throat. "This junior would not dare threaten a senior. I have merely heard that the high-level Cultivators of the Confucian Sect, the Righteous Dao, and the Demon Dao formed the Immortal Alliance, which long ago forbade Cultivators from wantonly slaughtering mortals to refine Magical Treasures."
"Senior’s actions today could be considered a violation of the Immortal Alliance’s heavenly laws. This junior is merely concerned for you."
Hearing the puppet’s pointed words, a venomous glint flashed in the Dwarf Cultivator’s eyes. ’Once I find the Cultivator behind this puppet,’ he thought, ’I’ll perform Soul Extraction and Essence Refining on them, leaving them in a state where they can neither live nor die’.
He slowly began to speak, planning to placate the other party first. "The Immortal Alliance... Heh, I am an Elder of the Immortal Alliance myself. Do you think they would investigate me based on your word alone?"
The puppet seemed to sense the Dwarf Cultivator’s intentions and spoke again, its voice still stiff. "If Senior is looking for me, you can give up that idea. My location is far beyond the reach of even your Divine Sense."
"Hmph!" The Dwarf snorted coldly, not abandoning his search.
He was a Nascent Soul Cultivator; he couldn’t afford to lose face by backing down before a mere Core Formation junior.
"I am not threatening you, Senior. I just wish to ask for a small favor, and I believe this matter will be of great benefit to you as well." The puppet offered him a way out.
"Beneficial to me?" The Dwarf narrowed his eyes, his sinister gaze fixed on the puppet as he said coldly, "Then I’d like to hear it. Just what tricks are you trying to play, junior?"
Although he had just acted as if he didn’t care about the threat, or even about the Immortal Alliance.
But if he truly didn’t care about the Immortal Alliance’s heavenly laws, why would he have traveled all the way to the Land of the Far North to collect Life Souls, all while staying hidden and not daring to reveal his tracks?
However, as an old monster who had lived for seven or eight hundred years, he knew that in a situation where he was being blackmailed, he couldn’t show the slightest weakness.
Now that the other party had offered a way out, he went along with it.
At the same time, the banner-souls he had released continued to sweep an area of several thousand li, searching for the person controlling the puppet.
Agreeing to the other party’s conditions was the worst-case scenario.
He had always believed that only the dead could keep secrets.
The puppet spoke slowly, its voice stiff and flat. "Soon, the remaining seven City Lords of the Land of the Far North will surely report this matter to the Great Zhou. When that time comes, I ask that Senior find a way to push the blame onto that Ice Flood Dragon and push the Immortal Alliance to take action to exterminate it!"
"The Ice Flood Dragon?" The Dwarf couldn’t help but be a little surprised to hear this.
He had originally thought that, having finally gotten some leverage on a Nascent Soul Cultivator, the person would try to demand some benefits, such as Spiritual Materials, Cultivation Techniques, Magical Treasures, or Pills...
But who would have thought that the other party would want him to push the Immortal Alliance to kill the Tier Four Ice Flood Dragon in the Ice Sea?
What deep-seated hatred did he have for the Ice Flood Dragon?
Suddenly, the Dwarf seemed to think of something. He spoke with some uncertainty, "Are you a surviving Cultivator from the Celestial Skill Sect, which was wiped out by the Ice Flood Dragon a thousand years ago?"
"Senior has a discerning eye." The puppet did not deny it, but admitted it freely.
Having figured out the identity of the person behind the puppet, the Dwarf shook his head. "Pinning this matter on the Ice Flood Dragon is no problem, but getting the Immortal Alliance to exterminate it won’t be so easy."
That beast is extremely cunning. The moment it senses danger, it will dive into the ten-thousand-zhang-deep Ice Sea to hide. And beneath the waters of the Ice Sea, even a Great Cultivator would be helpless against it."
"I am aware of that," the puppet said with a slow, stiff nod. "But I can only turn to the Immortal Alliance for help."
The Dwarf let out a sinister laugh. "Heh heh... Of course, that’s no problem. I couldn’t ask for more."
"Then this junior will be waiting with eager anticipation!"
As it finished speaking, right before the Dwarf Cultivator’s eyes, the puppet suddenly disintegrated, its pieces falling to the ground.
After getting the Dwarf’s promise, the Cultivator behind the scenes had simply abandoned the puppet.
"Ever so vigilant, junior," the Dwarf said, his expression indifferent.
During their conversation, he had secretly placed a tracking mark on the Tier Two puppet, planning to trace it back to its owner when they retrieved it. Who knew they would be so decisive as to destroy the puppet instead?
The Dwarf muttered to himself, though it was unclear who he was speaking to. "The Netherworld White Bone Banner is repaired. It’s time for me to head back... The Ice Flood Dragon really is a good choice to take the blame, heh heh..."
The next moment, his figure suddenly vanished, leaving behind only the city full of corpses below, and the savage Demon Beasts that were feasting on them.
...
Li Ping finished looking through the recent intelligence reports at Ji Shu Xuan’s shop. There was nothing worthy of note.
He also learned from Xu Guikai that the beast tide was showing signs of dispersing. This, combined with the fact that the spiritual sense in his heart had not given him any warning, finally put his worries to rest.
He chatted with Xu Guikai for a while and took the opportunity to sell him a stack of Spirit Talismans.
Only then did Li Ping leave unhurriedly, preparing to return to his cave residence.
To his surprise, however, everything had been fine when he arrived, but on his way back he discovered that a no-fly Restriction had been activated within Flying Snow City. Aside from the Cultivators of the Flying Snow Sect, no Cultivator was allowed to fly.
In the sky, squads of patrolling Cultivators flew by from time to time, maintaining order in the city.
’What’s this?’ A chill ran through Li Ping’s heart as he secretly wondered what had happened.
Just then, a delighted voice came from behind him. "Fellow Daoist Li, you’re here too! The city was suddenly put under lockdown, and I was so scared. It’s a good thing I ran into you, Fellow Daoist Li, otherwise I wouldn’t know what to do."
Li Ping turned to see it was Bai Yi who had called out to him. He frowned and asked, "Fellow Daoist Bai, when was the city put under lockdown?"
He had been inside Ji Shu Xuan’s shop the whole time and hadn’t noticed what was happening outside.
Bai Yi quickly replied, "Just a little while ago. Fellow Daoist Li, we don’t know what’s going on in the city right now. Why don’t we head back to Changping Square together? We can look out for each other on the way."
Although his spiritual sense hadn’t warned him of any danger, seeing the tense atmosphere in the city, Li Ping was already prepared to flee at a moment’s notice. How could he possibly return to Changping Square now?
After all, he had a habit of carrying all his valuables with him whenever he went out. His cave residence in Changping Square only contained some worthless odds and ends.
Thinking of this, he shook his head slightly. "Fellow Daoist Bai, I need to go see a friend and gather some information. I’m not planning to return to my cave residence for now. You should go back on your own."
After saying this, he didn’t wait for Bai Yi’s reply and walked straight toward the city center.
He left Bai Yi standing there, somewhat stunned. She seemed not to have expected Li Ping to be so curt with a beautiful girl like her. ’Who can even understand this, fellow Daoists? When the city is in chaos, he just leaves a helpless, weak girl like me standing here and walks away... What a turn-off.’
...
Arriving at the city center, he saw that security had been significantly reinforced.
Li Ping took out the access Token Shi Yutong had given him and, after waiting a short while, was finally allowed into the inner layer of the Array.
A short time later, he finally saw Shi Yutong.
But Shi Yutong’s appearance gave Li Ping a great shock.
Her eyes were red, as if she had been crying her heart out not long ago, and her face still bore a lingering expression of sorrow.
For a master "green tea" like Shi Yutong to be unable to even control her facial expressions in front of an outsider, it was clear she had encountered something truly heartbreaking!
"Brother Li, is there something you need?" Shi Yutong tried her best to sound emotionally stable.
Considering that Shi Yutong’s grief was likely related to the lockdown in Flying Snow City, Li Ping didn’t press the matter and touch a sore spot.
In any case, his spiritual sense wasn’t warning him of danger, and the lockdown in Flying Snow City seemed to be an internal measure, not directed outward.
Besides, apart from her sadness, Shi Yutong didn’t seem overly anxious, so there probably wasn’t any imminent danger approaching.