Chapter 812: Secret Tip-Off

Under Niu Youdao's manipulation, Yan Baoru had indeed returned here. She had waited until Myriad Beasts Sect, Ling Sect, and Tianxing Sect arrived.

Now Jin, Han, and Song had arrived as well.

Yan Baoru remained guarded and withdrawn around Myriad Beasts Sect, Ling Sect, and Tianxing Sect. But when the forces of Jin, Han, and Song appeared, her eyes flickered. She seemed increasingly tempted to make a move.

Wei Duo reacted much the same way to the arrival of Jin, Han, and Song. He too looked eager to approach them, yet did not dare. He knew none of them well, and going over rashly would be awkward.

Ximen Qingkong knew exactly what he was thinking. Wei Duo wanted news of Niu Youdao. Earlier, when they encountered the three neutral sects, he had already asked around, but none of them had known anything about Niu Youdao.

"Wait here for me." After giving the instruction, Ximen Qingkong went over to the newly arrived forces of the three states. He at least knew one or two people among them.

After asking around, he returned with news of Niu Youdao. "Niu Youdao joined forces with that group of overseas cultivators. Whether he's alive or dead still isn't certain. He may have escaped, or he may have died under the joint encirclement of Yan, Wei, and Qi..." He roughly related what he had learned.

"Thank you!" Wei Duo thanked him, caught between joy and worry.

He was glad that Niu Youdao had somehow found a large number of helpers and might still be alive.

What worried him was that even if Niu Youdao had survived, the hurdle directly before them would probably be impossible for him to cross. Wei Duo could not help, and he feared that even if Ximen Qingkong acted, he still would not be able to escort Niu Youdao safely out.

He truly did owe Ximen Qingkong thanks.

Searching for Spirit Seeds had never been Ximen Qingkong's objective, so he had plenty of time. During the long period Wei Duo had followed him, Ximen Qingkong had put real effort into helping him correct his stutter.

Of course, it had not disappeared completely. His speech was still somewhat stiff when he spoke continuously. It was a problem built over many years and could not be eradicated entirely in such a short time.

Whether Wei Duo thanked him or not did not matter to Ximen Qingkong. He helped because he was willing to. Had he been unwilling, Wei Duo could have knelt and begged and it still would have made no difference.

After learning that Niu Youdao had survived this long inside the Secret Realm and stirred up so much trouble besides, Ximen Qingkong himself was surprised. Niu Youdao's vitality was astonishingly tenacious. No matter how many times he was pressed down and ground into the dirt, he stubbornly refused to die. Against the tide, he had even managed to mix with that pack of demons and monsters and take the initiative to rob the seven states of their Spirit Seeds. Clearly, he had no intention of meekly submitting to death.

In fact, some things did not even need to be asked about directly. Jin, Han, and Song naturally had dealings with the three neutral sects here—Myriad Beasts Sect, Ling Sect, and Tianxing Sect. As people from both sides exchanged information, the neutral sects inevitably heard rumors about Niu Youdao running with the overseas group.

Naturally, Jin, Han, and Song did not reveal that they had joined forces to annihilate Zhao's contingent.

Listening to Ling Sect disciples nearby discussing Niu Youdao, Yan Baoru was filled with complicated thoughts. She had long known that Niu Youdao had joined forces with the overseas group. What she had not realized was that he himself had been their bait, luring people from the seven states into ambushes.

Some things were easier not to know. Now that she understood, Yan Baoru was consumed by regret. She hated herself for being so stupid. When she had seen Cai Jinqi and the others ambushed, she should have been able to work it out!

Such simple reasoning, and she had only understood it now?

If she had realized it from the beginning, she could have warned Yan in time and strangled Niu Youdao's scheme before it took shape. Then Niu Youdao might have been driven to his death, and she herself would never have suffered that humiliation because she followed him. What a disgrace beyond bearing!

The more she remembered the miserable sight of herself begging for mercy, the more bitterly she regretted it.

What she did not know was that, with hindsight, she was simply thinking too much. Outsiders often found it impossible to make an accurate judgment about many things. When information was asymmetric, even if the truth was placed directly in front of you, you still might not understand what you were seeing.

Taking another step back, she and Niu Youdao were fundamentally different kinds of people. Niu Youdao was the sort who, whenever possible, preferred to solve a problem without personally resorting to force.

Before Yan Baoru had suffered a loss, if she could solve something directly with her own strength, she would never have gone back to inform on him and then slowly waited for Niu Youdao to walk into a dead end. Given an opportunity, she still would have followed him and looked for a chance to strike herself.

...

In the ancient forest, Misty Pavilion controlled the core area around the exit.

As for everyone else, the principle was first come, first served. Myriad Beasts Sect, Ling Sect, and Tianxing Sect had arrived earliest and occupied the most favorable ground closest to the exit. The moment it opened, they would be able to leave immediately.

Jin, Han, and Song, which arrived later, occupied the more peripheral areas.

They had plenty of people and did not need to crowd everyone into the small space around the exit. Nor was there any need to fight the three neutral sects for position.

Instead, they deployed their manpower around the perimeter, waiting for prey to come to them and preparing to intercept, seize, and fight.

A whole crowd waited there harboring ulterior motives. Misty Pavilion's people merely watched coldly and did not interfere.

Night fell, and campfires burned throughout the area around the exit. While wandering about, Yan Baoru waited until no one was paying attention, slipped into the darkness, and quietly approached the outer positions held by Jin, Han, and Song.

She hid for a while in an obscure corner of the darkness. Once an opportunity appeared, she flicked something out with a finger. Then, using the terrain she had studied on the way in, she silently withdrew at once and rapidly left the area.

"Who's there!" A Han disciple sensed the disturbance. Spiritual power instantly protected his body and halted the incoming object in midair as he shouted sharply.

Several Moon Butterflies flashed out, darting toward the place from which the object had come. Several Han disciples rushed over as well, but found no one.

Other people who heard the warning hurried over from behind and went on guard. The Han disciple who had stopped the object with his spiritual power discovered that a scrap of cloth was suspended in front of him. He reached out as lightly as if plucking a flower and took it into his hand, then examined it by the glow of the Moon Butterflies.

One glance was enough to shock him.

There was writing on the cloth, and its contents made clear that someone was secretly tipping them off.

He immediately crumpled the cloth in his hand and hurried away to report to his sect Elder.

...

At the joint command center of Jin, Han, and Song, several men sat around a campfire.

Qiyun Sect Elder Taishu Shanyue of Jin; Baichuan Valley Elder Shi Ru and Wushang Palace Elder Dao Wufeng of Han; and Lingxiao Pavilion Elder Cheng Mantang and Heaven-Splitting Palace Elder Fu Juyan of Song were discussing contingencies around the fire.

What if they failed to monopolize first, second, and third place?

They were debating whether they should settle for less: concentrate all three sides' Spirit Seeds in the hands of one party so it could secure a place in the rankings, then divide the reward among the three afterward.

The proposal came from Song. Han neither accepted nor rejected it, saying it could be considered. Taishu Shanyue, however, opposed it flatly.

His reason was that the approximate number of Spirit Seeds held by the various forces could be estimated. The calculation might not be exact, but it would not be wildly wrong.

Excluding the three neutral sects, the seven states each accounted for three factions, while the overseas group could be counted as two more. That divided the total Spirit Seeds into roughly twenty-three shares.

Jin, Han, and Song had originally possessed nine shares. The overseas cultivators had taken two, leaving seven. Then the three states had turned around and jointly robbed Zhao, gaining another three. That meant their side now controlled the equivalent of ten shares.

Yan, Wei, and Qi had likewise originally held nine shares. The overseas cultivators had also taken two from them, leaving seven. Afterward, the four shares the overseas group had seized from other factions might very well have fallen into the hands of Yan, Wei, and Qi. If so, the opposing side could already hold eleven shares, one more than their own.

And if the overseas group had also handed over the equivalent of its own original two shares during that same incident, then the other side might hold as many as thirteen.

The point of dispute was whether, under the circumstances at the time, the overseas group would really have handed even its own two shares to Niu Youdao. Moreover, no one could confirm that the Spirit Seeds had actually fallen into the hands of Yan, Wei, and Qi. Nor was it certain those three states would cooperate to take the rankings. So there was still hope that by concentrating their own Spirit Seeds, this side could secure first place.

No matter what anyone said, Taishu Shanyue absolutely refused to agree to backing down.

He knew exactly what Han and Song were thinking. If necessary, safety came first for them. The moment he gave ground, Han and Song would stop putting real effort into helping him rob others. How could he allow that?

If Jin failed to take first place, he would already have enough trouble facing his sect when he returned.

The Spirit Seeds in his own hands had never been robbed by the overseas group, so he possessed more than either Han or Song. By rights, he ought to receive a larger share of the reward. Yet he had already swallowed his pride and agreed to split the prize evenly with them. That was concession enough. How could he retreat again? If he agreed, he would find it extremely difficult to account for himself after returning. What would everyone in Qiyun Sect think of him?

Besides, Qiyun Sect was not the only Jin faction that had entered. It could not eat too greedily. Once the reward was obtained, a portion still had to be divided among the others. If he kept yielding and reducing the prize, how much would actually be left for Qiyun Sect in the end? Was he supposed to toss them scraps like beggars?

The argument went back and forth. Just as Taishu Shanyue was stewing in anger, a Han disciple arrived and presented the secretly delivered scrap of cloth to Baichuan Valley Elder Shi Ru.

Shi Ru's expression darkened slightly after he read it. He voluntarily passed the cloth to the others, then questioned the disciple about what had happened.

After reading its contents, the others each showed a different expression.

The secret message claimed that Niu Youdao had already colluded in the shadows with Myriad Beasts Sect, Ling Sect, and Tianxing Sect. To avoid interference when bringing the Spirit Seeds out, he had handed both the Spirit Seeds he had seized and those belonging to the overseas cultivators to the three neutral sects. He intended to use their privileged position to carry the Spirit Seeds safely out of the Secret Realm, thereby helping him take first place and save his life.

No one knew who had secretly sent the warning, and the disciple could not explain either. Shi Ru waved him away, then turned back to the others. "What do all of you make of this?"

Taishu Shanyue shook the cloth in his hand. "It says a vast quantity of Spirit Seeds, enough to guarantee first place. How many would that have to be for someone to state it so confidently? Could Niu Youdao's harvest be far greater than we estimated?"

Heaven-Splitting Palace Elder Fu Juyan said, "Old Taishu, you don't actually believe this, do you? Whoever passed the message was sneaking around and didn't dare show himself. This could very well be an attempt to sow discord. Those three sects have always remained neutral. How could they possibly help Niu Youdao do something like this?"

Taishu Shanyue raised his eyes, a trace of savagery appearing on his face. "Don't forget: at the beginning, who would have imagined that pack of overseas demons and monsters would help Niu Youdao? Yet the reality is that Niu Youdao truly did join forces with them."

Lingxiao Pavilion Elder Cheng Mantang said, "That's only your own assumption. A message like this suddenly appears at a time like this. Don't you find that suspicious?"

"It is suspicious," Taishu Shanyue said. "But that doesn't mean it's impossible! Have you considered this? Everyone knows the exit is a deadly hurdle. Even if Niu Youdao managed to seize a vast number of Spirit Seeds, he would have great difficulty taking them out safely." He raised a hand and pointed toward the exit. "Having those three sects carry the Spirit Seeds out for him would absolutely be the safest method!"

[End of Chapter 812]