The elders grew more suspicious the more they were unable to learn anything at all. Still, there was an undeniable detail; if Shang Qing was on the same side as Yao Xuan, then Shang Qing should have left with Unseen Light. If he was a trespasser, he would have no reason to stay behind since the excursion to the Dominion Realm had already ended.
It was for this reason that no one actually believed Shang Qing to be a trespasser. Their repeated questions were only to satisfy the desires of some important people within the Celestial Frost Sect.
After a while, the elder stopped his interrogation. He stared at Shang Qing, and the old man’s face relaxed. “Have you heard of Humility’s Gate?”
Shang Qing was caught off guard. This was the first time anyone had asked him this question. “I’ve heard of it.”
“You are to travel to Huaiyuan Gate to assist the Gate’s acting Gate Master, Long Qi. Of course, you also have the option of staying on the Junior Progenitor Planet and awaiting the Junior Progenitor’s return,” the elder stated.
Shang Qing’s expression remained unchanged, but his heart was in turmoil. Acting Gate Master Long Qi? Isn’t that just Lu Yin? What happened? Hasn’t it only been a few days? He’s already keeping Princess Long Xi captive on Zenith Mountain, which means that she’s effectively disappeared. Yet nothing happened to him, instead he became an acting Gate Master? Really?
Shang Qing was not naive. He had been raised and trained by the Hall of Honor since his childhood, so he was very well informed. But even he had no idea how Lu Yin had pulled off such a thing. Shang Qing was confident that Lu Yin had no true connection to the White Dragon Clan, but Shang Qing had grown a bit suspicious of the authenticity of Lu Yin’s identity.
Seeing Shang Qing go unresponsive, the elder believed that the youth was unwilling to go, so the elder solemnly said, “The sect’s decision has been made.”
Shang Qing was momentarily stunned by this information, and he could not help but ask, “Why? I wish to wait for the Junior Progenitor to return. He promised to give me a high position within the Celestial Frost Sect.”
Shang Qing’s response cleared away any residual doubt that the elder might have held towards the youth. The elder’s expression grew much gentler, and he felt like he was looking at one of his sect’s youths as he looked at Shang Qing. “We already know how you feel about our Junior Progenitor, but even if he returns, he would still ask you to go to Huaiyuan. You should know how the Junior Progenitor feels about Long Qi. Didn’t Miss Yu Chen tell you?”
Shang Qing shook his head.
The elder patiently explained, saying, “The Junior Progenitor has long admired Long Xi, the White Dragon Clan’s princess. However, she ended up marrying Long Qi, which made Long Qi a thorn in the eyes of our Junior Progenitor. If you can eliminate Long Qi for our Junior Progenitor, he will be very happy upon his return.”
Shang Qing’s eyes lit up, and he was clearly very excited.
Just as the elder was about to continue sharing additional information, Yu Chen arrived. She respectfully asked, “Elder Xi Zi, could you give me a moment with Brother Shang Qing?”
It was only at that moment that Shang Qing learned that the elder was named Xi Zi. Shang Qing was not very clear about the Celestial Frost Sect’s internal situation, but based on Yu Chen’s behavior, it seemed that Elder Xi Zi had to be someone very important within the sect. Most elders were very respectful towards Yu Chen, but Elder Xi Zi was completely indifferent.
Elder Xi Zi nodded, but he did not move.
Yu Chen was not bothered. She moved behind Elder Xi Zi and then focused on Shang Qing. “Brother Shang Qing, do you and Long Qi know each other?”
“We saw each other in the Dominion Realm.”
“Did you become friends?” Yu Chen pressed.
Shang Qing thought for a while. “I saved him during our return.”
Yu Chen frowned. “Why did you never mention this before?”
Shang Qing frowned. “Why would I? We had to fight against the withered creatures together, and none of us would have returned without us all working together.”
Yu Chen’s eyes flashed. “Did Long Qi say anything to you?”
Shang Qing shook his head.
Yu Chen fell deep into thought for a bit, but then she smiled at Shang Qing. “What do you think of our Junior Progenitor?”
Shang Qing’s eyes instantly snapped wide open. “I want to join the Celestial Frost Sect!”
Across from the youth, Elder Xi Zi showed a gentle smile, and his eyes grew increasingly softer. This child clearly held the Celestial Frost Sect as his goal, and his eyes clearly indicated his admiration and longing. The only issue was that he had been born into a lowly situation, but such a past could always be erased.
Yu Chen asked several more questions, but Shang Qing did not immediately have any answers, so he had to think through his responses.
However, this reaction helped to eliminate any doubts that Yu Chen had held, and finally, she only had one last question left: “Brother Shang Qing, Elder Xi Zi just told you that our Junior Progenitor would be delighted upon returning if you had already eliminated Long Qi for him. Would you be willing to do so?”
Shang Qing felt confused. “Since Long Qi is set against our Junior Progenitor, then why do you want me to go to Huaiyuan Gate? If you can come up with this plan, then he should have as well.”
Yu Chen smiled gently. “No matter what reason he might have for his request, you can still go there and report his actions to me. Then, I can tell you how to proceed.”
Shang Qing nodded. “I understand.”
Before long, Shang Qing was taken away from the Celestial Frost Sect’s Junior Progenitor Planet.
Yu Chen stared towards the Middle Ocean. It seemed like she was still able to see Shang Qing’s back.
“You don’t believe him?” Elder Xi Zi asked.
Yu Chen respectfully replied, “In a normal situation, there should be no reason for Long Qi to seek out anyone from my Celestial Frost Sect, or anyone with even a close relationship to us.”
“Then why are you sending him?” Elder Xi Zi was surprised at this decision.
Yu Chen frowned. “I don’t know about this situation. The only explanation that I can come up with is that Long Qi is not worried about us using Shang Qing against him. Either the two of them already knew each other from before, or the events in the Dominion Realm forced their interests to coincide.”
“If that’s true, then sending Shang Qing there is useless,” Elder Xi Zi pointed out.
Yu Chen smiled. “Even an enemy holds value.”
Elder Xi Zi glanced at Yu Chen in surprise. “Do you believe that Shang Qing is our enemy?”
Yu Chen did not deny it. She was used to assuming the worst possible outcome. However, as she had said, it did not matter even if Shang Qing did help Long Qi. She was fully confident that she would still be able to gather useful information from whatever Shang Qing decided to share, and then she would also be the one to ultimately deal with Long Qi. A tool did not need to be aware of its role in order to be useful. Even the ignorant could be properly used.
Liu Tianmu also received notice from where she was staying on the White Dragon Clan’s Junior Progenitor Planet. She immediately set out towards Huaiyuan Gate in order to assist acting Gate Master Long Qi.
Liu Tianmu had been stunned when she first received the request for assistance. She was also unable to understand how Lu Yin had accomplished such a feat. Personally, she had been trying to come up with a plan to leave the Junior Progenitor Planet when Lu Yin had offered her an easy path out. He really could go anywhere.
Huaiyuan Gate was one of the Middle Realm’s Nine Gates. It was also the Gate that was the most antagonistic towards Lu Yin.
After all, Lu Yin had lived in the Yinshan District for a period of time, and he had treated Huaiyuan as a field where he harvested merit points. In the end, he had revealed everything that he had learned from Guan Yun’s memories, but that also meant that, in the short term, Lu Yin had no more leads on how to gather merit points at Huaiyuan Gate.
However, he also had not spent any time contemplating such a thing. Was there any reason to earn more merit points? Rather, Lu Yin wanted to slip away. He wanted to gather everyone together so that they could escape to the rendezvous point at the right moment.
Lu Yin looked up at Cai Shu who was up in front. At the moment, Cai Shu was Lu Yin’s greatest obstacle.
“We’re getting close to Huaiyuan Gate,” Cai Shu reported.
Lu Yin looked past the older man and saw a strange sight off in the distance.
Huaiyuan Gate was surrounded by rings of rivers that flowed in space above the Middle Realm, and they were all flowing vertically. The rivers were held in the sky by some mysterious force, and each one contained islands and various creatures. Naturally, Huaiyuan Gate could also be found within the rivers.
Huaiyuan Gate was the strongest of the Middle Realm’s Nine Gates. This was because there were two Envoys stationed at the Gate while the other eight Gates only had a single Envoy each.
This was also why Guan Tong had been able to become the Gate Master of Huaiyuan Gate to begin with.
But with the recent events, Huaiyuan Gate had fallen from being the strongest of the Nine Gates to being the weakest. Lu Yin did not even need to guess to know that the people currently stationed at Huaiyuan Gate had to all be furious at him at the moment. They had been waiting for a new Gate Master, but it was impossible for any of them to expect a Hunter realm child to arrive.
That was the truth of the matter for most people in Humility’s Gate. A Hunter was essentially a rookie, and were unqualified to be captains, let alone Gate Masters.
The moment he saw Huaiyuan Gate, Lu Yin felt his communication crystal vibrate, startling him. He was actually receiving a mission from the Fourteenth Gate. Specifically, it was a mission from Gate Master Xiao with command over some of the Fourteenth Gate’s personnel, and it was for Lu Yin to act with discretion.
Was Lu Yin still a part of the Fourteenth Gate? He felt confused.
Given that Lu Yin had received a mission and support from Xiao, Lu Yin decided that he should continue to consider himself as a member of the Fourteenth Gate!
Huaiyuan Gate’s headquarters was situated above the intersection of the rings of rivers, and the base actually occupied half of one river. It was on an island that floated within the middle of the river, and it was isolated from the water by a massive bubble. There were nearly a thousand cultivators living in the Gate, and other than people who wanted to speak with a recruiter or turn in a recommendation, everyone else needed to climb up to the Gate from the bottom.
The river was home to many creatures, and there were many very powerful ones. This represented the status of the Gate.
All of the cultivators based out of Huaiyuan Gate were present to greet Lu Yin when he arrived. No matter how much disdain they might feel for a child at the Hunter realm, they did not dare to show any form of disrespect given Humility’s Gate’s strict rules.
Lu Yin looked up and watched the water flowing above the giant air bubble. He could hear the calming sound of gurgling water, and occasionally, a massive creature would drift by. It was quite a relaxing vista, though it was a truly odd sight. At this thought, Lu Yin looked around to see thousands of pairs of eyes staring at him. He smiled at them. “I am Long Qi, the acting Gate Master of Huaiyuan Gate, appointed to this role by the Middle Realm’s Supervisor.”
“We greet the Gate Master!” Thousands of cultivators bowed as one. Out of everyone present, there were nearly ten Enlighters, and the rest were Hunters, Cruisers, and Explorers.
Any one of the people before Lu Yin could act arrogantly in the outside world, as they all represented Humility’s Gate, which no one dared to cross. But at this moment, they all bowed to Lu Yin.
Even an ordinary person would feel rather smug in such a situation, even if they tried their best to resist it. After all, Lu Yin was only a Hunter. However, this demonstration meant nothing to Lu Yin. He was the master of the Outerverse who oversaw seventy two weaves. There were not many sights that he had not already seen. After all, he had already seen the Daynight Flowzone be trashed before him, so there was no need to mention the army arranged in front of Lu Yin at this moment.
With the Guan brothers absent, Huaiyuan Gate’s most powerful member was an Enlighter with a power level slightly above 400,000. However, the man was a weakling in Lu Yin’s eyes. After all, any of his peers that had gone to the Dominion Realm could defeat every single person in Huaiyuan Gate.
Still, this was only the power of a single Gate, and there were nine Gates in just the Middle Realm. Normally, that also meant that there were at least nine Envoys in the Middle Realm, as well as Qing Chen, who was a Semi-Progenitor. This was a massive force within the Middle Realm, and not even Daynight Flowzone could come close to comparing to it.
After a few polite words, Lu Yin dismissed everyone back to their normal responsibilities.
The most powerful cultivator present approached Lu Yin and respectfully introduced himself. “Your subordinate, Chen Xiazi,1 greets the Gate Master. May I show the Gate Master around the base and turn over all authority to you?”
[1] Chen Xiazi literally means “Chen the blind.” ☜
