Chapter 4413: The Mastermind Behind The Scenes
Chapter 4413: The Mastermind Behind The Scenes
The moment this scene unfolded, a roar echoed throughout the entire Crimson Starshade Megaverse. Thunder rang out, and countless people were stunned unconscious. The entire megaverse turned crimson, as if it was the one roaring.
"Damn you! You deserve to die!" A deafening roar spread across the megaverse, followed by heavy breathing so oppressive that it seemed to overwhelm everything, causing countless stars to tremble.
Inside the Blood Tower, Jiu Wen was startled, and he looked up. What is this?
"Jiu Wen, it's now your turn. Take this Blood Tower mirebound artifact and die together with Xi Shangfeng. I have just broken the part of his Path of Dispassion that is tied to forgiving Rang Yu. Now, only you remain." A voice reached Jiu Wen's ears.
He looked around, his expression changing drastically. "It's you. You've come."
"There isn't much time. Break two more parts of his Path of Dispassion, and his strength will completely fall. Isn't that what you've always wanted? That Lu Yin is still too young. His will is not firm, and he wavers too easily. If you break seven parts of his Path of Dispassion now, that boy will definitely be able to deal with him."
"He is a member of Obscura, just like Hong Xia. He won't act."
"Even so, once his sevenfold Path of Dispassion is broken, he will never be able to recover. Leave him for Lu Yin to deal with later on. That boy managed to single-handedly kill a two-law Plume Immortal. Killing a severely injured Hong Xia will not be a problem. Hurry up and break his Path of Dispassion!"
Jiu Wen's gaze flickered. "Why are you doing this?"
"There's no time."
"You're the one who's out of time!" Jiu Wen shouted sharply as he stepped out of the Blood Tower. In his palm, the wine gourd that had once shattered reappeared. "Moon within the wine, heaven within the gourd."
A drop of wine fell into outer space, sending out ripples. In an instant, it enveloped the Crimson Starshade Megaverse and then swiftly swept across the cosmos, spreading far into the distance.
Jiu Wen suddenly turned to stare in a particular direction. There.
He used the wine as a sword and the space within the gourd as an umbrella, opening another world of the Path of Dispassion.
A crimson blade entered the umbrella ribs: Sorrow Without Heart, Forged as a Sword.
There was a sharp sound, and the cosmos was split in two, only for the tear to suddenly halt at one point with a tremendous crash, as if the slash had struck something.
The surging force was like the collapse of a universe, and it pressed down upon the entire Crimson Starshade Megaverse, horrifying countless people. They felt as though their megaverse was being flipped upside down.
The next moment, what appeared before Jiu Wen was a shield.
"Second Furball?" Far away, at a distance equal to fifty years’ travel for an Immortal, Lu Yin had been watching Crimson Starshade all along.
Nineteen years earlier, he had not returned to the Trio, but had instead been watching the Red Dust region.
He had purposely put on a show of abandoning all intentions of settling accounts with Hong Xia in order to force the mastermind behind the scenes to accelerate their plans. That mastermind had schemed for so long solely to deal with Hong Xia, and with matters having reached their current stage, how could they possibly allow Lu Yin to simply give up? If Wei Rong’s suspicions were correct, then the hidden mastermind would inevitably make a move.
As expected, a change had occurred in the Red Dust region. Bei Xia had risen too suddenly and too smoothly, as though receiving the cooperation of the entire Red Dust region. Lu Yin had observed for nineteen years and had determined that this was not due to any sort of direct control, but rather guidance.
Someone had, from a very long time ago, guided the development of a certain type of behavior so that it would shine brilliantly within the culture of chivalry of the Red Dust region. Whoever embodied that behavior would become Bei Xia.
His rise had been sudden, like that of a true child of destiny, but on the day of his wedding, he had suffered a calamity that no one could possibly endure.
That night, Lu Yin had seen it, and so had Hong Xia. This event had forced him to recall his own past, drudging up ancient memories and bringing them to the surface. The suffocating pain and hatred that had reached an extreme instantly shattered the part of his Path of Dispassion that was tied to forgiving Rang Yu.
Lu Yin had waited for this moment, and he had also been waiting for Second Furball to appear.
This was not part of any sort of plan with Jiu Wen. Any such scheme would have definitely been seen through by Hong Xia. It was simply that Jiu Wen understood Lu Yin too well. The young man was not someone who would give up so easily. The moment Jiu Wen saw one part of Hong Xia's Path of Dispassion suddenly break, he had instantly understood Lu Yin's intentions.
Everything was an attempt to force out the hidden mastermind. That individual had always been targeting Hong Xia, but there was no guarantee that they were not also targeting human civilization as a whole. Lu Yin would rather fight openly than be used as a pawn.
As for Hong Xia, Obscura still held him in check. For the next 2,000 years, neither side could make any moves against the other, so Jiu Wen had no need to fear Hong Xia attacking him. Therefore, the one actually short on time was the mastermind behind the scenes, not any human.
Whether the Blood Tower mirebound artifact and Xi Shangfeng were destroyed depended on Jiu Wen, not Hong Xia. This kind of simple coercion was not difficult to see through. Even Hong Xia had not believed it, and yet the hidden mastermind had not dared to take such a risk. They had schemed for countless years for this very moment. If Lu Yin truly gave up on vengeance, all of their plans would completely fail. There was no choice but for the hidden mastermind to make one last, desperate throw.
The moment Second Furball was forced out, the initiative changed hands. Oppressive crimson flooded the cosmos as Hong Xia slowly stepped out, staring at the shield with eyes blazing with killing intent. "So it was you!"
Lu Yin also teleported to Jiu Wen's side and looked at the shield. "I also never expected the one scheming against Hong Xia all this time to be you, Second Furball."
Jiu Wen was even more surprised. A shield?
Second Furball floated in the cosmos while speaking in a low voice, "Humans are truly pathetic. Instead of eliminating this traitor to your own civilization, you choose to help him deal with me. Pathetic! No wonder your Nine Ramparts were defeated."
"Why?" Hong Xia shouted sharply. Another part of his Path of Dispassion had been broken, and this one had been broken in a way that he had never expected. He had discovered the Red Dust region long ago. At the time, he had indeed found it strange that, despite the Second Rampart having already been destroyed, a mortal-level Red Dust region still remained. Still, after observing things for a long time, he had found no problems. Although the region resembled the place where he had been born, it was not the same.
In fact, since such a place had been able to exist in the Second Rampart, it should not be surprising for their current megaverse to have one as well.
Because the region was so similar to his own birthplace, right down to the culture of chivalry, Hong Xia had occasionally walked through that land.
At first, due to his caution, he had only passed through from time to time, recalling the past.
He cultivated the true Path of Dispassion. He could be dispassionate, yet he could still distinguish between right and wrong. He had simply chosen the wrong side. This Path of Dispassion did not include completely forgetting one’s past, so he could still feel nostalgia.
If not for this, he would have never been able to deceive Hong Shuang.
His initial caution slowly faded with time. Much, much later, without even realizing when it started, he had started confusing the current Red Dust region with his place of birth, and he had come to consider the two as the same. But that did not matter; if they were confused, then so be it.
He had never imagined that someone would spend such an immense span of time plotting against him, solely to create an opportunity to break one of the anchors of his Path of Dispassion.
When he had first found the Red Dust region, his twelvefold Path of Dispassion had not yet achieved completion, so how could he possibly have imagined that someone would attempt such a thing?
And yet this shield had done exactly that, and it had continued to work for all those years.
At the very beginning, it had told Jiu Wen what Hong Xia had said after his betrayal and informed Jiu Wen of Hong Xia's abilities. Since that time, the shield had been plotting against Hong Xia step by step.
Not even Lu Yin could imagine the level of hatred or grievance needed to drive someone to do such a thing. He was deeply curious.
"Why did you arrange for this Red Dust region before my Path of Dispassion even fully matured?" Hong Xia shouted again, glaring at the shield.
When the shield replied, its voice was filled with hatred. "Do you think that the Path of Dispassion is some great mystery? To deal with masters of the Path of Dispassion, one must strike at the heart, not with force. Have you forgotten those words?"
Hong Xia's eyes flared widely. "Qiu Huang."
Qiu Huang? Lu Yin was puzzled, and he glanced over at Jiu Wen. He had never heard this name before.
Yet Jiu Wen's eyes also widened. "So that's it... It's Qiu Huang's shield. I knew it looked familiar."
"Who is Qiu Huang?" Lu Yin asked.
Jiu Wen replied gravely, "An extremely powerful being who fought against my Second Rampart during the war against the Nine Ramparts. As far as I remember, Qiu Huang's opponent was Rampart Warden Hong Shuang."
"Weren't the Second Rampart’s primary enemies the Plume Immortals?" Lu Yin asked in surprise.
Jiu Wen explained, "It was war. The Nine Ramparts each supported each other, but our enemies supported one another as well. The Plume Immortals were a formidable enemy, and so was Qiu Huang, though I do not know the exact details."
Lu Yin did not understand. Since even Jiu Wen could recognize Second Furball as being Qiu Huang’s shield, Hong Xia should not have been ignorant of that detail.
Since that was the case, how could he have been schemed against by Second Furball? Or had he somehow believed that Second Furball would never scheme against him?
"Why did you scheme against me? I considered many possibilities, but I never imagined it to be you." Hong Xia's tone grew dark. "Back then, you cooperated with me to deal with Qiu Huang. I helped you regain your life and granted you an opportunity to join Obscura. You should be grateful to me, so why?"
The shield trembled, and an even stronger venom entered its voice. "That was because my master was already doomed to die. My master never imagined that they would be schemed against by a shameless villain like you! They could only place their hopes on me and allow me to avenge them one day. From the moment my master died, I began searching for a way to take revenge.
"To deal with the Path of Dispassion, one must strike at the heart, not with force. I investigated your past and recreated the Red Dust region. Whether or not it could truly hurt you, it was all that I could do.
"It wasn't I who saw through your weakness, but rather my master. My master saw through the weakness of the Path of Dispassion. Hong Xia, didn't you also use that very same weakness to betray Hong Shuang, prompting her to leave and vanish, leaving her life or death a mystery?" As it spoke, the shield’s voice grew louder. "Now that the part of your Path of Dispassion that is tied to forgiving Rang Yu has been broken, breaking seven parts of your Path of Dispassion is only a matter of time! Humanity will never let a traitor like you go! You are doomed!"
Hong Xia flew into a rage. "You're courting death!"
Lu Yin looked at the shield. "Second Furball, allow me to interrupt for a moment. What exactly was Hong Xia's connection to Qiu Huang's death?"
Second Furball's voice turned icy. "Boy, don't believe yourself to be clever. You humans are all so self-righteous! Hong Shuang was like that, and so are you. Be careful to not be schemed against by this traitor.
"Back then, my master, Qiu Huang, accepted the Plume Immortals' invitation and attacked the Second Rampart to fight against Hong Shuang. At a crucial moment, this traitor used the Ten-Eyed Divine Crow's innate gift to ambush my master, forcing them and Hong Shuang into a battle to the death. My master ended up being gravely injured, and at that exact moment, this traitor betrayed Hong Shuang, forcing her to have a death wish while also nearly causing my master's death in battle.
"Even after Hong Shuang fled, my master knew that they could not survive. This traitor knelt before the Plume Immortals and Obscura, yet the Plume Immortals also betrayed my master. With no other choice, my master ordered me to pretend to betray them and cooperate with this traitor. In the end, my master died.
"Before dying, my master's two greatest wishes were to eradicate the Plume Immortals and to kill Hong Xia. If Hong Xia had not betrayed your human civilization and had simply fought to the death on the battlefield, my master would not have minded even if they had died, but this man used my master to restrain Hong Shuang. He did so with the shameful identity of a traitor! He exploited my master! That was something that my master could never accept. My master's dignity was trampled upon! He must die!"
Lu Yin looked over at Hong Xia in surprise. This man actually possessed one of the Ten-Eyed Divine Crow's innate gifts? That was something that Lu Yin had never anticipated. Still, it made sense. Hong Shuang had been part of the group that had killed the Divine Crow, and Hong Xia had always known the corpse’s location. Obtaining one of the Divine Crow’s innate gifts was not impossible.