Chapter 1370: The Enemy in the Light, We in the Dark: You Die or I Do

Unfortunately, each of those objects was a State-Protecting Divine Artifact of the state that possessed it, guarded with the utmost secrecy. Obtaining all of them without alerting the Nine Saints was almost impossible.

Unless a state had reached the point of destruction and its ruling house faced ruin, virtually no one besides the Nine Saints and the artifact's holder could even get a look at one of these divine artifacts.

Even Wu Chang had needed considerable effort merely to use the Mountains and Rivers Cauldron. Niu Youdao knew perfectly well the truth behind Chuan Ying's borrowing of that cauldron.

Although the plan seemed almost impossible, Niu Youdao was still making whatever preparations he could whenever the opportunity arose. Otherwise, he would not have forced Hai Wuji to surrender the Stellar Command Token. That had also been one of his principal reasons for rescuing Zhuge Chi in the first place.

After thinking the matter over repeatedly, Niu Youdao finally said slowly, "We'll let the Holy Rakshasa try first."

Yun Ji suddenly remembered something and looked apprehensive. "If you want to bring the Holy Rakshasa out, you'll probably have to suffer at its hands again." She clearly remembered the time the Holy Rakshasa had injured Niu Youdao so badly he nearly lost his life.

Niu Youdao rolled his eyes. "What are you thinking? You actually want to bring it out?"

Yun Ji froze. "We're not bringing it out?"

"How would we?" Niu Youdao said. "Once it reveals its true Butterfly Rakshasa form, it recognizes no kin and is extremely difficult to control. Besides, we still don't even know whether it can defeat the Nine Saints. Bringing it out lightly would be the same as sending it to its death. The Butterfly Dream Illusory Realm is its territory. It has countless Butterfly Rakshasas under its command. Letting it fight the Nine Saints inside the Illusory Realm is much safer."

Yun Ji asked, "You mean lure the Nine Saints into the Illusory Realm?"

"That isn't difficult." Niu Youdao thought aloud for a moment. "The question is whether it can withstand them once the Nine Saints join forces. Can you be certain it could fight all nine at the same time?"

Yun Ji shook her head slightly. "I can't. I only know I'm no match for it."

Niu Youdao thought for a while longer and slowly shook his head. "Then we can't let all Nine Saints go in."

Yun Ji asked, "How do you control that?"

"The Wuliang Fruit affair isn't something the Nine Saints will let go, so the original plan remains unchanged..." Niu Youdao paused without directly answering her question and thought for a while. Then he said, "Release word that the twelve Wuliang Fruits inside the Sacred Realm were stolen thirty years ago and that there are still twelve hidden Nascent Soul experts beneath Heaven. Build the momentum first. Let people's thoughts begin to change. You don't need to handle this. I'll have Hongniang arrange it. The two handlers Lan Ming gave us can be used now as well. Help me contact those few people. I want to meet them."

...

The Nine Saints had openly fought at Boundless Pavilion and destroyed the entire place. That alone had already shaken all beneath Heaven.

Then another piece of news spread: the twelve Wuliang Fruits inside the Sacred Realm had been stolen thirty years ago, and twelve hidden Nascent Soul experts were still concealed beneath Heaven, waiting for an opportunity to overthrow the Nine Saints.

All beneath Heaven was shaken even more violently.

Someone wanted to replace the Nine Saints?

For a time, who knew how many people whispered about it in secret.

At the Shao Residence in the Jin capital, Shao Pingbo sat behind the desk in his study and slowly pressed down the collected reports in his hand. "A counterattack with the force to topple mountains and overturn seas is already taking shape. It seems that side has truly begun. Such audacity is beyond me!"

Shao Sansheng, standing nearby, felt his own heart pounding.

Had that side truly begun openly declaring war on the Nine Saints?

...

In a quiet courtyard of the Chancellor's residence in the State of Song, Jia Wuqun read the same news and remained silent for a long time. After finally setting it down, he sighed and shook his head.

Yuan Cong asked, "Sir, why the sigh?"

Jia Wuqun lifted his brush and wrote one line on his writing board:

The winds are rising, the clouds surging; great change is imminent!

...

Naturally, the Nine Saints heard the rumors spreading outside.

They ignored them.

There was no way to stop countless mouths from whispering in secret, and the Nine Saints continued advancing their original plan in an orderly fashion.

Under strict enforcement, the inspection of personnel inside the Sacred Realm was completed successfully. No additional Nascent Soul cultivators were found.

Once this potential internal danger had been eliminated, the people inside the Sacred Realm began organizing forces to hunt down the fugitive guards from Wuliang Garden.

There were two reasons.

The first was simply that the guards had fled.

The second was that they had escaped before undergoing the inspection, and no one could be certain that none of them had secretly used Wuliang Fruits to break through.

Meanwhile, Wuliang Garden's protective grand formation was rebuilt.

The next stage was to inspect every Misty Pavilion member outside the Sacred Realm.

The Nine Saints could not possibly inspect every cultivator beneath Heaven by themselves. They would still need to rely on Misty Pavilion's personnel to carry out that work. So Misty Pavilion itself had to be thoroughly checked first.

Through Sha Rulai, Niu Youdao learned what the Nine Saints were doing.

Learning that the Nine Saints had ignored all interference and continued pushing forward with their inspection plan weighed heavily on him.

The Zhuge Chi affair and Lan Ming affair had erupted one after another, yet neither had disturbed the Nine Saints' rhythm in the slightest.

Niu Youdao increasingly understood just how much trouble the Wuliang Fruit tree's early flowering had caused.

He could not help worrying.

What would happen once the investigation reached Xi Haitang, Yan Zhutian, Gong Lince, and Wen Hua?

Zhong Guzi did not need to fear. To the outside world he was already dead, so he could hide however he wished.

But what about those four?

Were all four supposed to fake their deaths too?

Or were they all supposed to flee?

If they did, the Nine Saints would immediately grow suspicious. The great sects behind them might be destroyed in an instant.

How many lives would that involve?

...

In a secluded mountain valley, Niu Youdao stood facing four disguised men.

He removed the false face from his own features and smiled bitterly. "Gentlemen, take off your disguises too. We may as well meet face-to-face."

The four looked at one another, then each tore away his false face.

Xi Haitang, Yan Zhutian, Gong Lince, and Wen Hua revealed their true appearances.

All four had known one another before. Seeing who the others truly were brought some surprise, but not much. After all, some of them had personally guided Niu Youdao to meet the others and had already understood much in their hearts.

Niu Youdao opened by explaining the current situation and telling all four of the danger now approaching them.

After listening, Wen Hua asked heavily, "If the investigation truly reaches us, what are we supposed to do?"

No one had an answer.

Silence settled over them.

To some degree, they all regretted it. Who could have imagined the Wuliang Fruit tree would flower early? Who could have imagined a disaster like this would suddenly appear?

Had they known calamity would arrive this quickly, perhaps they should never have accepted the Wuliang Fruits.

But there was no medicine for regret.

Even if they were given another chance to choose, perhaps they would still choose the Wuliang Fruits.

Niu Youdao looked over their reactions. "The reason I asked the four of you here today is to have you prepare yourselves mentally. If matters truly reach that point, then the only thing the four of you can do is flee!"

Xi Haitang's face twitched. "Easy for you to say. Between our four sects, how many disciples are beneath us? How many lives are involved? Once we run, how many people will die because of us?"

Niu Youdao said, "If you don't run and the Nine Saints discover the truth, do you think they'll spare those people? If the result is the same either way, then apart from fleeing, what other choice is there? Surely you aren't planning to sit and wait for death. Which one of you is willing to do that?"

No one answered.

But making such a decision was extraordinarily difficult.

Niu Youdao continued, "If matters really reach that point, there will be no other way. If the investigation truly reaches your sects, remember one thing: warn your own disciples urgently beforehand. Let the entire sect flee together. That's still better than sitting there waiting to be slaughtered. Once we've torn away all pretense and matters reach the point where one side lives and the other dies, then move from the light into the dark and openly oppose the Nine Saints. To put it plainly, that means rebellion. At that point there's no longer any need to fear Misty Pavilion. We can attack the Nine Saints' claws and fangs without restraint. If this many people rebel, do you think the Nine Saints can clean them all out so easily?"

Xi Haitang said, "We don't even know how many Misty Pavilion spies are inside our own sects. Once we move into the dark, can we really remain hidden? I'm afraid the Nine Saints will pull up one radish and bring all the mud with it, tracing the entire chain and uprooting us completely."

Niu Youdao said, "Exactly why you need to prepare in advance. Start considering now how, once things go wrong and you disappear into hiding, you can prevent the enemy from following the vine to the melon. Besides, the Nine Saints have lost the hearts of the people. I believe that once someone truly dares rebel, people inside Misty Pavilion itself will certainly leak information to us. Once enough momentum gathers, we'll definitely find people willing to warn us!"

Gong Lince asked, "Didn't you say before that you intended to stop the Nine Saints from continuing their investigation?"

"I do intend to stop it," Niu Youdao said. "But the Nine Saints haven't been moved by anything so far. Judging from the present trend, we have no choice but to prepare for the worst in advance. That's why I called you here. Of course, the original plan remains unchanged. We still have to keep trying to stop the Nine Saints and force their investigation to end at Misty Pavilion. That means your side also needs to put in real effort. Make certain the supervisory disciples from your sects throw off their restraints and go after Misty Pavilion without reservation. Gentlemen, matters have reached this point. There is nothing left to fear. If we don't make trouble for them, they'll make trouble for us. So the best outcome would be to turn Misty Pavilion upside down and make it impossible for them to continue investigating! My side won't stop either. I'll keep moving against the Sacred Realm from within."

As he spoke, Niu Youdao drew a sheet of paper from his sleeve and handed it to Gong Lince. "Look at this among yourselves. These are the handlers above the men who forced Hong Yunfa to death and the men who warned Zhuge Chi. Lan Ming provided them. The circumstances of both chains are written here. You can have the supervisory personnel from your respective sects begin moving against them."

The four men read the page in turn.

Yan Zhutian frowned. "This may be difficult. If our people suddenly pull these two men out of nowhere, it will be impossible not to arouse suspicion. We may only accelerate our own exposure."

Niu Youdao said, "Sect Leader Yan, matters have reached this point and you're still tying your own hands? The enemy is in the light and we're in the dark. One side lives, the other dies. What is there left that we shouldn't dare do? If you want to avoid making it look abrupt, then manufacture a reason so it won't be abrupt. Kidnapping, assassination, whatever works. Any method that achieves the goal is acceptable. You can use every kind of means against Misty Pavilion's people. Best of all would be to make everyone inside Misty Pavilion fear for his own safety until the investigations can no longer continue! Of course, the people chosen to carry this out must be absolutely reliable. Don't expose yourselves before the matter is even accomplished. With your abilities, I trust this level of precaution isn't beyond you. And I'll spread a rumor from my side to cooperate with you."

Wen Hua asked, "What rumor?"

Niu Youdao said, "After one incident after another, the Nine Saints are extremely dissatisfied with the supervisory personnel sent by the various sects. If they still cannot produce satisfactory results, every one of those supervisors will die."

Wen Hua frowned. "That hardly counts as a rumor. Isn't that essentially the current situation already?"

Niu Youdao added lightly, "Which is why the Nine Saints now intend to have the various sect leaders or senior elders personally lead the supervisory teams. Once that news gets out, the supervisors will be squeezed from both sides, by the Nine Saints and by their own sects. They'll work like mad. That will be perfect cover for all of you."

The expressions of all four men twitched.

Each looked at Niu Youdao strangely.

They had to admit that when this fellow wanted to accomplish something, there truly seemed to be no method he would not use.

Still, it was an excellent idea.

[End of Chapter 1370]